Yuri's POV

"Game on." Hoseok says with challenging eyebrows.

"Oh, you sound confident. But how long will it last?" I take one of my hands and let it rest on his exposed thigh. I can see him visibly swallow and I know I've got him right where I want him.

"You don't know what I'm capable of." He breathes out unexpectedly.

"You don't stand a chance against me." I wink. "I can make you feel certain ways, babe. I already have."

I'm caught off guard when Hoseok places his hand on mine and leans in to speak in my ear. He's so close, I can feel his lips practically against my earlobe. I get shivers down my spine when he opens his mouth, speaking deeply in a voice I've never heard before. "Don't underestimate me."

When he pulls back, I know my face is as red as a tomato. He smirks in victory and someone clears their throat near us. I try to quickly collect myself when we look up to see the beautiful man that's hosting the event, smiling almost knowingly. "Did I interrupt?"

"Nope." Hoseok replies. "This is my best friend and roommate Jimin. Jimin, this is my coworker Yuri."

He extends his hand and I grab it graciously, us both bowing slightly. He smiles beautifully, making a girl weak at the knees. "Nice to meet you, Yuri. Thank you so much for coming out. I hope you're having a good time."

"I am, thank you for doing such a great job hosting. Hoseok didn't tell me that his best friend was fine as hell, though." I chuckle flirtatiously.

Jimin's face starts to tint red and he awkwardly lets my hand go. Hoseok shakes his head, laughing softly. "Sorry, Jimin. I forgot to warn you of how much of a flirt she is."

"Just my kind of woman." Jimin smiles, his eyes shutting and he's honestly unreal. He's prettier than me. "I don't think my girlfriend Sky would appreciate me flirting, though."

I put my hands up in surrender, leaning back in my seat. "And that's the only thing that will stop me. I won't cross relationship boundaries."

"Oh, I like this one." Jimin nods, and I can't help the smile that spreads across my face. "I've gotta go finish my host-ly duties, but have fun! Yuri, nice to meet you again."

"Likewise, and call me Ri." Jimin sees his way over to another table and I fan myself playfully. "My goodness, what a hottie! He's the prettiest person I have ever seen in my life. Why do I even own a mirror with that man waking up everyday looking like that!?"

"Oh, you should see him when he actually puts in effort to dress nicely." Hoseok shrugs, sipping his water.

"It gets better!? Awh hell. Why does he have a girlfriend?" I pout, catching a glimpse of Hoseok trying not to laugh with water in his mouth. I smile and sigh dramatically. "Well, I guess his best friend Hoseok is second best."

He squints as he glares at me playfully. "Hey now. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have met the 'hottie'."

"This is all true."

For the next couple hours, we snack on refreshments and dance to the music. By the time it's all over, Hoseok is helping Jimin clean up and I'm sitting at the table with Jimin's girlfriend Sky. I asked to help, but they refused for us to lift a finger. I feel like a bum sitting here, while Sky could careless as she throws compliments and cat calls at her boyfriend. He bashfully looks down as he's wiping the countertop where the food was and she laughs.

I focus my attention on her and clear my throat. "You have one gorgeous dude over there."

With the brightest smile on her face, she nods confidently. "Oh I know. That's my baby."

"They really don't need help?"

"Nah, they're fine." She reassures me. "So, how long have you and Hoseok been together?"

"Huh?" My eyes widen. "Oh no, we're just friends and coworkers."

"Oh." She simply says, looking back toward Jimin.

I furrow my brows, not one to let anything go. "What do you mean 'oh'?"

"It's just- well. Okay, when you were sitting all in each other's faces, it just looked like you were a couple. You two were very close."

I put my face into my hands too hide my burning cheeks. We would do some shit like that in public. I just have a crush on him, no biggie. "I know it looked like that, but we're just friends."

"For now." She grumbles, drinking from her water bottle.

I'm about to speak when Hoseok screeches from being smacked in the torso with a wet towel. Him and Jimin go back and forth and I can't hide the smile on my face. He's so playful and open with his best friend. I can't wait until our friendship takes off like that. Until then, our little flirting battle will be my focus in building our friendship.

"Hoseokie!" I say and watches as he whirls around to look at me. "You know that T-shirt you're wearing is white, right? You trying to show me all your nips through that wet shirt?"

He smirks at me, catching on that the battle has officially begun. "Ri, if I wanted to show you my nips, I'd lift my shirt over my head right now."

"And what's stopping you?" I smirk back, quickly grabbing my water to sip.

In a swift movement, he takes his shirt off and I choke on my water, Sky coming to my rescue and patting my back. The boys laugh and continue wiping tables.

Sky chuckles, rubbing my back as she shakes her head. "What was that?"

I clear my scratchy throat, coughing slightly. "He thinks he can out flirt me. And it isn't going to happen. He got me there, but that's only because this is the only real time he's actually flirted back with me."

"I'll reiterate. You're just friends for now. There's no way this little 'battle' is going to end with you just being friends at the end. Unless one of you is gay." She shrugs.

"Neither of us are." I say, looking at her.

She nods at me. "Then can I suggest something?"

"What's that?"

"I'm pretty good at picking up vibes. And I can kind of feel this tension between you two. It's obvious you have crushes on each other, otherwise you wouldn't have engaged in this battle of who is more flirtatious with the other. I can also see that you're going to be even better friends the more you get to know each other."

I'm intrigued by her words and she has my full attention as she continues to talk.

"That tension? It's definitely sexual. It's small, but it's there. If you want to be friends, and just friends, I would suggest putting a limit on how far your flirting goes. I would hate to see either of you hurt, even though I just met you."

"I really do appreciate that." I give her a small smile. "I think that we'll be okay. I do agree with setting a limit though. He's kind of off limits to me anyway."

"What does that mean?" She asks.

I look around to see the guys on the other side of the room as they make small talk of their own. I lower my voice as I begin to speak again. "There's a rule where we work that it's best to not get involved with coworkers. It's like the official non-official rule."

"So wait. What if you end up falling for that person later on down the line? Do you just quit? Do you keep it a secret? Do you stop the relationship with them?"

I give her a confused look as she looks at me knowingly. "If you're referring to Hoseok and I, then-"

We're interrupted by the sound of my phone's notification tone. I quickly look at my phone to see it's a text from Yoongi.

Yoongs:
I know we can't be doin
this shit but fuck. I'm so
hard thinking about you
bent over my couch the
other day

I feel my cheeks heat up as I quickly respond.

Yuri:
Fuck Yoongi 😩 we can't
do anything else, as much
as I would love nothing
more

I lock my phone, now feeling bothered by Yoongi. There's no romantic connection there, but the sexual tension between him and me is off the charts. I focus back on Sky and sigh. "We're just friends."

"I believe you. Your cheeks don't lie." She grins.

"Oh fuck me." I lay my head on the table with a tiny bump as I huff.

"Woah, coming on strong huh?" I jump as Hoseok says that in my ear and I smack his arm as he laughs.

"You can't walk up on me like that!"

He contains his laughter, nodding. "I'm sorry. But we're all done. Ready to go?"

He extends his hand and I grab it, letting him walk me out of the studio and to his car. The whole time, my hand felt as if electricity was going through it. I stop before getting to the car and he turns to look at me. I look up at the stars in the sky, and then down to see the moon shining perfectly on Hoseok. His eyes shine in the light of the moon and my heart jumps double time. I've never felt this feeling before, and here I am feeling this way about Hoseok.

I don't know what this is, or what we're even doing now. In this moment, it feels like more than just a crush, and I'm starting to wonder if the whole playful flirting battle we've initiated was a good idea.

°🕊🍃°

Please validate me & tell me this was good! I feel as though it isn't 😩 but enjoy this double update! 💕

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~S.xx