Sometimes it astounded Yoongi just how filthy wealthy people in the business industry truly were.

He looked around the well-lit banquet hall, with rows upon rows of white crystal chandeliers as far as the eye could see. There was an orchestra at the back of the room, looking as if they were preparing for a performance. Yoongi refrained from scrunching his nose in disgust. If Yoongi had to sit there and listen to an orchestra performing, he knew he wouldn't last long. He wasn't too mainly into what the wealthy were into, and orchestra had to be the one thing that quickly set him off.

At least he was well dressed for the event. Apart from his apparent dyed hair, he fit in seamlessly with the crowd of socialites. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering that Yoongi had wealth, he just didn't drown himself in it, but still, to the naked eye (or in this case, to the business holders'), they'd be able to tell him apart and single him out. It wouldn't bother Yoongi, but if he was trying to ensure Hoseok to be his by the end of tonight, he had to pull out all stops.

Even if it meant ridiculing any petty businessman, woman, and nonbinary in his way.

"Do you like it?" Hoseok asked, leaning slightly towards Yoongi. Yoongi's eyes snapped up, and he plastered a fake smile, nodding.

"Who doesn't love hours long dinners with pretentious people?" Yoongi remarked casually, causing Hoseok to burst into laughter, receiving off and judgmental looks from others in the room. "Maybe don't be too loud, Hoseok. I don't think you're allowed to have fun at these types of gatherings."

Hoseok rolled his eyes. "I know. All of these people are stuck up assholes who think they're the shit because they have some type of money in their hands. Keep it between you and me, but most of these business people don't know how to handle money properly. The snottier they are, the less experienced."

Yoongi nodded slowly. "What would that make you?"

"One of the best that there is." Hoseok winked exaggeratedly, laughing as Yoongi playfully hit him in the arm. Of course, like all good moments, this one came crashing down when familiar figures walked towards them. Yoongi recognized Rose's sharp, feline eyes. As she approached, they made eye contact, and with a subtle wink, Yoongi prepared himself for what was about to occur.

He'd already called Rose and told her of what he wanted to achieve. Personally, Yoongi didn't want Rose to make a fool out of herself like all women seemed to do when it came to their exes moving on— and Rose quickly agreed, not too fond about losing dignity and composure. So, Yoongi brainstormed on all the possibilities before settling on his strengths.

And what better way to get Hoseok to move forward in everything, in his pursuit of Yoongi, than to make him jealous?

"Hoseok."

Hoseok only grimaced at Rose's sight, offering her a nod of acknowledgment. Already he was mentally preparing himself to have to shut down any advancements Rose made on him. At least, that's what he was planning on doing. There was no way that someone like Rose would let him go that easily. Maybe it was his ego talking, but considering how hung up Rose was on Hoseok, it only made sense that Rose would want to swoon all over him. This would not bode well, considering that he was accompanied to this event by someone he was currently interested in.

If he were honest with himself, Hoseok also didn't want to cause his date, Jihoon, to become jealous of someone like her.

"Hoseok, how have you been?" Rose asked, not unkindly. Hoseok shrugged, keeping a stoic expression.

"I've been alright. Busy with business," Hoseok responded nonchalantly. Rose nodded, humming softly.

"That makes sense. You've always been a businessman before anything," Rose remarked, her eyes drifting towards Jihoon. She arched an eyebrow, drinking in Jihoon's appearance, a sly smile spreading across her lips. "Hoseok, who's this?"

"This is—"

"Choi Jihoon," Jihoon quickly introduced himself, a sort of sparkle in his eyes as he extended his hand out to Rose. "And who might you be? I didn't know Hoseok kept such radiant company."

Rose smiled at the compliment, eagerly shaking his hand. "Rose. I actually used to be in a relationship with Hoseok."

"Hoseok, you let this wonderful gem out of your grasp?" Jihoon tsked softly. "Miss Rose, you are a sight to behold. Any man would be lucky to be in your vicinity."

Hold on, was Jihoon flirting with Rose?

Hoseok didn't know what to think of it. Those compliments spewing out of Jihoon's mouth were a strange sound. He was aware Jihoon went any which way, but Jihoon was interested in him, at least, that's what it looked like to Hoseok. So, why the hell was he flirting with someone like Rose, especially in front of his face?

Rose fluttered her eyelashes, letting her hand linger near Jihoon's, who still hadn't let it go after they shook hands. Hoseok cleared his throat loudly, becoming visibly annoyed at the interactions between the two. Jihoon rolled his eyes, getting the hint that Hoseok was trying to make him. He reluctantly let go of Rose's hand, moving instead to spark conversation with her.

"Where are you sitting?"

A simple, innocent question, but one that only served to sour Hoseok's mood. He could see by the way Rose's expression lit up that she was starting to gain interest in Jihoon, and that was the last thing Hoseok wanted. However, he couldn't do anything about it. He and Jihoon hadn't made anything exclusive, which meant that if Jihoon wanted to flirt his ass off with his ex, Hoseok could only show his disdain, but he couldn't tell him to stop.

Though Jihoon was his date, so that should have counted for something, from the looks of it, it wasn't anything that Jihoon particularly cared for.

Did Jihoon even think of this as a date? Is that why he was acting like this was the proper time and place where he could try to find someone to spend time with?

Hoseok mentally chastised himself at the endless questions swarming through his head. He knew these weren't rational questions that he should be asking himself, but he couldn't help it. It was rare that he ever felt something like this— he couldn't even pinpoint the proper words for what he was feeling. All he knew was that he wasn't enjoying himself in the slightest, and there was nothing more than Hoseok wanted to do than to make it clear that Jihoon was off-limits.

Especially to his ex-girlfriend.

Hoseok tugged on Jihoon's sleeve discreetly, earning a loud sigh from Jihoon. Jihoon turned towards him, expression looking visibly annoyed. Hoseok glared back, making it a point to glance at the table they were supposed to be sitting at. Jihoon turned back to Rose, giving her an apologetic smile.

"It was lovely speaking with you," Jihoon said, gently lifting Rose's hand to his mouth. With a smirk, he placed a kiss on her hand, to which she giggled. Hoseok scoffed, jaw clenching, and he forced himself to look away.

"You know, they'll host a small dance. Maybe you and I could dance together if you're up for it," Rose suggested. Jihoon shrugged, but his face betrayed his obvious interest as he smirked.

"I'd love nothing more, Rose."

Just the name rolling off of Jihoon's lips was getting Hoseok angrier by the second. It wasn't the way someone would usually say a name. No, Jihoon's tone sounded very flirty, very interested, and the only other time he'd ever heard Jihoon's voice develop in such a manner was when Jihoon conversed with him for the first time.

"What the hell was that?" Hoseok hissed as they walked to the table. Jihoon looked at him weirdly.

"I'd ask you the same thing." he shot back. "didn't you see I was clearly trying to make moves on her?"

Hoseok scoffed. "You're here with me, not to sleaze around with my fucking ex-girlfriend."

"Not my fault you let her go," Jihoon mocked Hoseok's voice, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, Hoseok, I may be here with you, but I have the liberty to look around. Nothing is stopping me from doing that. You can't stop me from doing that."

"To hell, I can't," Hoseok muttered. "I brought you here; I can just as easily have someone send you home. I'm not about to spend my night watching you cozy up to Rose."

"Aw, but she's gorgeous," he pouted, looking back to Rose, who was now talking with other guests. "Just look at her. I can see why you dated her. Proportions out of this world. From a scale of one to ten, how was the sex?"

Hoseok pulled Jihoon's chair angrily, forcing Jihoon to sit down. He disregarded that his friends were watching, ignoring when Jihoon glared at him and muttered obscenities. Namjoon raised an eyebrow, curiosity lingering in his expression.

"This is Jihoon, the guy I told you about." Hoseok introduced Jihoon quickly, without bothering to glance at him. "Jihoon, these are my friends. Jimin and Namjoon are both business and romantic partners. Seokjin, you've brought a guest."

"This is one of my photographers, Song Seoyun," Seokjin stated, completely unfazed. "He started working a couple of weeks back for me."

"I'm more than just his photographer, but it is a pleasure to meet all of you." Seoyun smiled politely. "I hope we can all get along well."

Jihoon smiled, nodding enthusiastically. "For a second, I thought I was going to have to deal with Hoseok's constant hovering. I have a feeling Seoyun, and I are going to be great friends."

There goes that tone again.

As Seoyun winked at Jihoon, Hoseok felt the urge to slam his head against the wall, as it all became painfully obvious.

This was going to be a long night.

a/n: me: says i'll stop updating monthly. also me: updates this exactly a month from last chapter. this is only chapter ten, this is ridiculous omg. thank you for sticking by me regardless! after i finish a fervor named adherence, my efforts will move to this book.

upon more revision, there could be at most 30 chapters for project heartbreak. there will be a second update to this coming soon (either later today or in a few days). thanksgiving break is pretty much here, so you'll see me a lot more often haha.

thanks for reading <3