Stupid Jeongguk.

It was always Jeongguk, stupid Jeongguk and his wild shenanigans and outgoing personality that led Yoongi to his wit's end more times than he could ever count. He didn't consider the younger a burden. He loved Jeongguk like a brother, but boy, did that kid run him up a wall sometimes. As any realistic brother does.

The older, more responsible male in the friendship, the 23-year-old Min Yoongi, had been attempting to crack down on a five-page essay due in two days when the darling 21-year-old Jeon Jeongguk began blowing up his friend's phone with overdramatized SOS texts.

Apparently the younger had accompanied their even more outgoing friend to some club a few miles from their college campus, and Jeongguk, lovely Jeongguk, not yet having his license, required Yoongi to pick him. Because for some reason that other friend of the boy's would be staying a lot later than he planned.

Even though Jeongguk still planned on staying pretty late, too. Later than Yoongi fancied hearing his phone explode with the tweeting of his notification tone.

—-

You have (too many) messages from JeonnyBoi

—

SOS, HOSEOK HYUNG IS HITTING ON DUDES IM LONELY

HELP YOONGI HYUNG HE'S LOSING SOBER

I DONT THINK HE'S GONNA LEAVE AT MIDNIGHT LIKE HE SAID

WELL OBVS CUS ITS 12:54

YOONGI HYUNG I LUVS YA PLS COME PICK ME UP SOON I HAV TO BE AT WORK AT TOO EARLY O'CLOCK

ADDRESS - - > [ location sent ]

this club lit tho they playin super juniorrrrr

HEYYYY MAMACITAAA NAEGA AYAYAYAYA

—

A headache rolled into a sweet dessert shell. That's what Jeongguk was to Yoongi, and tragically the older had a terrible sweet tooth and could never turn him down.

So at roughly one in the morning Yoongi regrettably found himself combing through his messy blond hair with his fingers, shoving his arms into a faux leather jacket, and stepping into his combat boots which were wearing thin because he never wore anything else. He didn't see it as a big deal. In fact, it benefited him, because whenever Jeongguk asked what he wanted for Christmas, Yoongi could actually give him a proper answer this time.

Except Christmas and giving gifts wasn't really on his mind right now. As he stepped out of his apartment and into the chilling, late November air, all Yoongi could think about was how much he wanted to be back inside, curled up under a plethora of blankets and with a cup of something warm to drink in his hands. At this point the rest of his essay could wait till tomorrow.

College was never the biggest deal to him, anyway. Yoongi had priorities.

"Jeon Jeongguk, you had better not be drunk when I find you or so help us both, you'll ride home on the roof of this car."

Groaning, Yoongi put the car into ignition, checked to see how much gas was left in the tank, then finally set up his GPS to take him to Cat's Eye.

The most ridiculous name Yoongi had ever heard for a club. Then again, he had never really been to one. They always sounded shady to him, especially the ones where basically anyone could get in as long as they weren't underaged. Hoseok, who Yoongi had known since he started college a year ago, was one of those wild kids who jumped from place to place, anywhere he could find strange beverages and dance on the weekends for a harmless little stress reliever - harmless, he said, though Yoongi begged to differ. If Jeongguk got too influenced and started going to bars and clubs regularly Yoongi would have to step in for a serious intervention.

Fortunately for him this Cat's Eye place wasn't too far away. Not much longer than a fifteen minute drive, according to the GPS, but thanks to the traffic that for some reason actually existed at one in the morning, it took closer to twenty-five.

The club was on a busy street. Of course, because Yoongi didn't have luck, never did, never will, he was convinced. It took an additional five minutes to find a parking spot.

Not even having set foot inside the building and he could already hear music. Not a good sign.

Yoongi braced himself as he stepped up to the entrance, trying his best to subdue the thought of being enveloped in the scent of liquor.

At the door, he was met with a stone-faced man demanding to see his ID - "do I look like a sixteen-year-old boy?" He was tempted to say. Instead, Yoongi took out his ID as requested and showed it to the man, who looked at him judgmentally from head to toe before allowing him entrance.

Let this be the first and last club I ever go to.

As he feared, the strong, bitter smell of alcohol struck him as pop music invaded his sensitive eardrums. The music itself wasn't terrible, Yoongi thought, but he could have done without the excessive volume.

Hoseok and Jeongguk both loved loud music, though, so they were probably having the times of their lives.

Well, Yoongi would have assumed as such, had his friend not texted him earlier in somewhat of a panic. He knew it wasn't too serious. Jeongguk just liked to play damsel in distress sometimes because he knew Yoongi would come to the rescue, no matter the dungeon.

And this was absolutely true, but it didn't mean Yoongi had to care much for the dungeon. He intended to go in, grab Jeongguk by his ears if he had to, and drag him out hopefully in no more than five minutes.

On the contrary it turned out this club looked much bigger than it did from the outside. There were definitely a lot of people here, but oddly enough it didn't feel suffocatingly crowded. Yoongi could actually move and breathe. He hadn't expected that, but he wasn't complaining, either. However his inner voice did complain about the amount of people. Finding Jeongguk wouldn't be as easy as he had hoped.

In frustration Yoongi leaned against the wall he stood beside and took out his phone.

__

me
jeongguk where tf are you

me
you didn't tell me this place was colosseum sized

me
pls answer guk i don't wanna have to go look for you...

—

To his dismay, Yoongi received no reply. Not after two minutes, nor five, nor ten.

Headache in a dessert shell.

"This kid really is gonna make me look for him..."

Yoongi didn't love the smell of alcohol when he first came in here and he wasn't hating it any less now. He didn't like the idea of being here long enough for it to numb his sensory organs. He didn't want to get used to it, nor the alternating purple and blue lights illuminating the otherwise dim club.

There was a cup of hot chocolate waiting at home for him. He just had to find Jeongguk.

Among this sea of strangers.

How am I ever going to find this idiot...?

"Uh, hello-" Yoongi hesitantly approached a woman sitting on a bar stool. She looked pretty sober to him so he took his chance. She made a glance at him with a quirked eyebrow. "Sorry, don't mean to disturb you, but have you seen a tall-ish kid with magenta hair? Just dyed it, he's a child. He was probably wearing Timberlands, hanging around this really loud guy named Hoseok?"

"Sorry, I haven't," the woman replied, peering across the crowd. "My friend ditched me like fifteen minutes ago to go watch Neon, I've been here since then."

"Who?"

"Neon." She gestured at a cluster of people some ways across the club floor. "Might be hard to see from here, but he's over there."

Yoongi still didn't process what the woman was telling him. "I don't know who Neon is."

"The neon dancer," she said and glanced at her phone. "I guess this is your first time here. There's a guy that comes here often and dances, he's really good, I've seen people drop money in his case tons of times, I'm just not feeling up to watching him tonight. But I'd recommend it. It's impressive."

Although he wasn't fully on board with the idea of voluntarily staying here, Yoongi couldn't deny he was curious - not to mention he considered the possibility that Jeongguk could be among that cluster of people watching this "neon dancer."

"Thanks, miss, I'll have to check it out."

He waved politely to the woman before turning his back to her and heading in the direction of the cheering crowd. It wasn't long before he started to make out the word - or name, rather - "neon" being called out several times by a number of people. Yoongi strained his ears to pick out Jeongguk's voice. A vain effort.

There was a fair amount of people watching this guy, whoever he was. It took Yoongi a good few minutes to find his way to the front where he, with his minor challenged height, could see what was going on.

Surely enough he found the dancer that woman had spoke of.

In the midst of the crowd was the one called Neon - with a flowy white shirt and pants, bare feet, but without a doubt most eye catching was the Japanese-style kitsune (fox) mask, lined with a glowing blue that matched the neon blue bracelets on his wrist. The mask covered his eyes and nose so that only his lips were visible.

A short distance from the dancer sat an open case where Yoongi could see money had been dropped into. It was a wonder to him how or why no one had just snatched the case, but then he noticed a bouncer standing nearby, carefully monitoring the people closest to the case.

The thought didn't occupy Yoongi's mind much after that. Something else grabs his attention. Someone, that is.

This dancer.

The flowy white attire he wore complemented his smooth movements, as though the man himself was made of liquid. Graceful energy coursing through his limbs, turning every which way and seeming to pull the crowd's attention each direction he shifted.

Yoongi couldn't help it now. Temporarily, his mission of locating Jeongguk as quickly as possible became a secondary objective behind watching this entrancing performance in front of him.

Entrancing. That was the only word Yoongi could use to describe it. He became entranced, so much so that the proximity of the neon dancer didn't register to him.

Until suddenly he felt a hand touch his own.

And it pulled him from the front of the crowd and out onto the open space on the floor, where it then slid up his arm, tickled the hairs on the back of Yoongi's neck, and finally reconnected with Yoongi's other hand to dance with him. Although the 23-year-old man hardly had to do anything. Neon seemed almost to move skillfully around him while still making the gentlest physical contact, and even managing to guide the several steps Yoongi did take.

All the while he watched Neon. Up close the stranger appeared even more stunning, with that curious yet strangely beautiful mask, lined in its soft blue glow, drawing most of the crowd's attention away from the only uncovered part of his face - but at this distance it was all Yoongi could focus on. The most gorgeous pair of lips he had ever seen, perfectly full, the softest shade of pink. He definitely has lip gloss on.

Yoongi couldn't determine how long this stranger had danced with him. It felt like seconds but he knew it to be more than that. He only realized it was over as Neon lifted Yoongi's hand with his own and pressed a soft kiss to his fingers.

And then he left. The neon dancer, taking up his case of donations from the crowd, soon disappeared behind the bouncer who Yoongi guessed was there to guide him out.

His mind blanked.

"Yoongi hyung!"

Jeongguk's voice snapped him from his daze. Yoongi spun around abruptly to find his friend racing towards him with the biggest smile slapped across his young-looking face, eyebrows peaked in surprise.

"Hyung, I saw that!" The boy whispered harshly. He couldn't stop the giggle of excitement that erupted from his throat. "Hyung, hyung, oh my gosh, I'm not even words, that was so incredible. He totally just handpicked you from the crowd! That's so romantic, I'm gonna cry-!"

"You can cry on the way home 'cus I'm about to whoop you upside your head, boy."

"Hyung, no-"

"You sure Hoseok's staying here?"

"Until they kick him out, he said, yeah."

"Then let's go."

"Okay, fine—ow, ow, ow, hyung, my earrrrrr..."

He dragged the boy away by his ear until they got to the door, then released him and gestured towards his car parked across the street. Jeongguk wasn't dumb enough to argue. So he led the way to the car, hopped in the passenger's side, then waited patiently as his friend climbed behind the steering wheel.

Yoongi drove Jeongguk home without a word.

When he got back to his own apartment Yoongi left his boots by the door as usual, slipped out of his jacket which he hung by the door also, and changed into more comfortable loungewear.

Then he sat up in bed with his eyes starting to close but his mind wide open.

——

end of chapter one.