As it always must, winter break came to an end, and the students of Daesung High had to return to school. Some were okay with this, satisfied with the events of their vacation, others pleased to have had time to simply relax.

And then there were others, relating to both of the aforementioned things, but who also had a vague sense of uncertainty upon returning to school.

Namely Min Yoongi and Park Jimin.

Jimin, having been fooled by Yoongi's words and again by the belief that the boy could never and would never be in love with him, strove to block out the sweet, sweet memory of their tender kisses shared that Christmas morning that no one else knew about.

He really did try. But it just kept coming back, full force, and Jimin swore he could still taste Yoongi on his lips. As vague as it had felt to him, it was also something that he would have loved to continue.

Were it not, of course, for Jimin's strong feeling of being undeserving.

Regardless, he faced a new issue upon the end of winter break. That first day back at school was the first time he would be seeing Yoongi since they had kissed. He didn't know how to act around him.

Neither did Yoongi. He tried to behave as he normally did, offering a quiet but friendly greeting as he passed by Jimin's desk in the morning. But then came lunch, when his friends, plus Jimin's only other friend, joined together at the one table. And Jimin and Yoongi once again sat beside each other.

It felt like there was a bubble around them. Yoongi could see it, in the way Jimin fiddled with his chopsticks, in the slight movements he'd make with his lips and eyebrows, in the random glances across the table. Never at him, though. Almost like he was afraid to, or felt he shouldn't.

And Yoongi just couldn't help but feel guilty.

"What's with you two, huh?" Jin said at some point, cracking a smile as he leaned forward across the table just a bit. "Didn't have enough fun over the break? It's 'cus you bailed on the party, that's why."

Jimin felt his cheeks darken and he shrunk into himself, but said nothing. Yoongi cleared his throat.

"My vacation was fine, thank you." He sighed. "And what difference would it have made if I were at the party? I wouldn't have contributed anything. And besides, I don't really know Jackson or Taemin or Youngjae very well. So if you could just stop trying to guilt-trip me..."

"I'm just kidding, Yoongi. Relax." Leaning back again, Seokjin took a moment to scan Yoongi's face, noticing something was off but he didn't want to say anything to upset him.

Hoseok noticed, too. And Jungkook. By now they were all quite skillful in picking up Yoongi's moods and habits. The boy wasn't so great at hiding things. At least, not since he came out.

"I still need to give you your Christmas gift," Hoseok said, trying to get Yoongi's attention. "I bought it late, but it's wrapped now and everything. I'll stop by your house later today if that's okay."

"That's fine. Thanks, Hobi."

"Did you get me anything?"

"Of course I did."

The redhead beamed. Jungkook shifted his position ever so slightly—a subtle insertion of himself into the conversation.

"I didn't forget about you, Kook, or you, Jin."

"Such a selfless boy, you are. Isn't he, Jungkook?"

Namjoon smiled, gazing across the table at Seokjin who was also smiling, but oblivious to the goo-goo eyes he was currently receiving. Chin resting in the palm of his hand, Namjoon teased, "Did you get me anything?"

"Who, me?" Jin chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that kiss on the cheek not enough for you?"

Hoseok couldn't hold back a snort, recalling his friend's hilarious punishment, which was funny to all but Namjoon.

"Wait, hold on, what happened?"

"His punishment was kissing Namjoon on the cheek," Hoseok explained briefly, still grinning.

"Oh."

At that moment, Jimin lifted his eyes to look at his friend, who looked back at him. And Jimin was puzzled a bit, but also glad, that he didn't detect any bittersweet expression, or regret because of the situation. No, he seemed happy, rather.

"Jungkook won musical chairs, by the way. Straight up savage pushed Namjoon to the floor."

At this, Jungkook's face turned red and he looked down. "It was an accident. I didn't mean to push him."

"It's okay," the victim insisted, laughing. Hoseok laughed, too. And Jin, the loudest.

Namjoon's heart fluttered again.

Meanwhile, flustered Jungkook took out his phone as a distraction, hoping the guys would leave him alone, and although they did drop the subject, this little action of his sparked a new one from Yoongi.

"Have you talked with Taehyung at all?"

Jungkook flinched. Yoongi was gazing curiously at him now, eager to get his mind off things and at the same time really interested in his friend's potential love-life. Of course, he hadn't intended to be pushy or obnoxious when he spurred on the exchanging of the two boys' numbers. He only wanted his friend to be happy.

Jungkook poked his tongue against the inside of his cheek. "We've talked," he said, only loud enough for Yoongi to hear.

"That's good," Yoongi replied with a smile. "What do you think of him?"

"...he's...interesting..."

"Is that a good thing?"

"I think so."

"...he's pretty, too, isn't he-?"

"Oh, please just stop already."

Yoongi giggled, at just enough volume that Jimin could hear him even above the loudness of Hoseok and Seokjin's conversation which he wasn't at all following, though Namjoon certainly seemed to be. He wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but sitting so close to the two made it difficult.

"Did you try using that pickup line I suggested to you?"

"What?"

"You know, just walk into the shop he works at and be like 'hey, Taehyung, did you run out of silverware? Don't worry, I'll be your golden spoon."

"I am not doing that."

"It's clever, though. Give me some credit."

___

He had managed to distract himself successfully for some parts of the day, but the moment school hours were done, that vague feeling of guilt resurfaced in Yoongi. He thought about talking to Hoseok about it, however decided against it and just went home. He figured maybe if he just thought about it out loud to himself, he would feel better about the situation.

But that didn't help, either.

Home by himself—well, Holly was here—the empty space and quietness allowed him space to think. But maybe too much space, he thought. Too much space to think led to overthinking.

Maybe it would be better to talk to Hoseok.

Fortunately, though it had completely slipped Yoongi's mind, Hoseok planned to drop by some time in the afternoon to deliver his gift for his friend. And that's exactly what he did.

It was nearing five p.m. when Yoongi heard a knock at the door. Being in the living room at the time, he rose from the couch and made his way over to the door to answer it only to find his best friend standing there with a gift bag gripped tightly in his hands, a radiant smile across his face.

"Your favorite redhead is here!" He held out the bag. "Ta-da! Sorry I couldn't get it to you closer to Christmas. We were busier than I thought we'd be."

"It's okay," Yoongi said. "I understand."

"...are you okay?"

"Not entirely. You wanna sit down inside?"

"Sure."

With that, the front door was closed and Yoongi returned to his spot on the couch and had to sadly shoo Holly off his resting spot so Hoseok could sit down, too. And things were quiet at first, as Yoongi pulled his small legs onto the couch and Hoseok just watched him with concern. Then he sighed.

"...gift exchange before or after talk?"

"I ordered your gift online and it should be delivered to your house within the next couple of days," Yoongi explained with a soft smile. "You probably already know what it is."

"No, I actually have no clue. Unless you bought me the iPhone X. Oh my gosh, Yoongi, did you buy me an iPhone X??"

"You're hysterical."

Hoseok stifled a laugh, then lifted his hand so that he could place his gift bag on Yoongi's lap. "Guess I'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, here's yours."

The mint-haired boy breathed a soft 'thanks', then slowly took out the tissue paper Hoseok had stuffed inside the bag to give it more volume. In reality, the gift itself was quite small. Yoongi reached inside to remove it.

A box. Inside was a necklace. One with a thin silver chain, and the charm attached to it was a small flag with the colors of the rainbow.

Yoongi just smiled fondly, then put it on, fastening the chain carefully behind his neck. The flag charm reached about halfway down his chest.

"It's beautiful, Hobi."

"You're welcome. Matches your favorite sweater now, huh?"

"I suppose it does."

A bit of silence followed those soft-spoken words, as Yoongi stared at the charm, and Hoseok watched his face concernedly. But he didn't say anything, because he had a feeling Yoongi would speak up when he wanted.

"...Hobi, am I a bad person?"

"What?"

"For kissing Jimin and making up an excuse instead of telling him I have feelings for him. Am I a bad person?"

It was too much at once. Too much to take in, too much Hoseok didn't know about till now, and it was uttered so solemnly, dipped in guilt.

"...you...you kissed..." He blinked. "You...h-hold on, you have feelings for-...and you kissed-"

"Yes, I kissed him," Yoongi admitted, just a little annoyed. "I kissed him, several times now, and Hobi it was absolutely amazing and I can't stop thinking about him and how much I want to kiss him again."

Again. He was almost speechless. With his jaw practically on the floor, Hoseok stared with wide-eyes at his friend whose face was tinted red from the memory of what he'd just described, and what he continued to describe.

"It was so sweet, and pillowy, his lips were like soft pillows, and he's so shy, too, and it's so cute, he's so freaking adorable..."

He sighed, dreamily, and Hoseok—

—Hoseok yelled.

Just once. But loudly. And Yoongi wasn't expecting it so he nearly jumped out of his skin, immediately firing his friend a death glare that would have silenced anyone—except Hoseok.

"Yoongi!!"

"What is wrong with you??"

"What's wrong with me??!"

"That's what I'm asking!!"

"Why wouldn't you tell me sooner?!"

"Look, I didn't know what to do! And what was I supposed to say?? 'Oh, hey, Hobi, guess what? Just now, I was kissing Jimin, you know, that guy who used to bully me but who's my friend now-"

"Uhm, yes, why didn't you tell me exactly that??"

Yoongi heaved a fully exasperated groan, scarcely resisting the urge to kick the redhead in the gut. He resorted to momentarily hiding his face in defeat. Then he leaned back against the couch and gazed up at the ceiling, breathing out deeply.

Hoseok figured now would be an appropriate time to get a hold of himself. He cleared his throat. "...so...where's the issue again?"

"...the issue is," Yoongi began in a low voice, "that I basically manipulated Jimin into accepting my kisses instead of telling him the real reason I wanted to kiss him."

"Which is that you're in love with him."

"I've figured that out, yeah."

"...so why don't you ask him out?"

"Because timing is important, Hobi." He lifted his hand to massage his temples. "There are very few people who even know he's gay at this point. I'm not even going to think about asking him out yet. But that just makes me want to speed up the process...but that's wrong, and I'd never do that." He leaned forward again, and Hoseok could clearly see the look of sobriety on his friend's face. "I just want him to be comfortable with himself more, you know? I mean, I've definitely made progress. I'm not gonna tell you everything, though, I feel like some privacy is necessary. So please don't get offended, Hobi-"

"No, it's alright," Hoseok said quietly, shaking his head. "What happens between you and Jimin is all your business. I still feel a little guilty about how I acted when I found out you two were hanging out. Oh, and to answer your question, no."

Puzzled, Yoongi tilted his head.

"No, I don't think you're a bad person," Hoseok explained, smiling. "You said you manipulated him but somehow I have a feeling that's a dramatic word for whatever you actually did. Besides, I bet Jimin wanted to kiss you, too."

Yoongi bit the inside of his cheek and glanced away. "...that's cute in theory," he muttered. Hoseok stifled a laugh.

"It's cute in reality, too."