Jungkook

"Kookie, give me a hand with the eggs," Yoongi Hyung asks me and I am unsure if I should tell them that I cannot take my ring out of my finger. They will definitely scold me for putting it on the wrong finger.

"Coming!" I stalk towards them while scarfing down my coconut candy. I can hold on for a few more hours.

Expert Hyung dictates how I have to roll the cooked eggs in a pan before spraying some more oil in it and repeat until I have a thick roll like that of cinnamon.

"Gotcha!"I am a baker but I never really learned to cook. I can do the basic home-cooking but when it comes to taking up a notch, I feel performance pressure. "Where is Taehyung Hyung?" I ask as I settle my hands.

"He has gone to pick Jimin up from his place," Hoseok Hyung replies as he docks into the kitchen and checks on the pork.

"Smells incredible in here, babe," he pecks Yoongi Hyung's lips, and cat Hyung offers a chocolate piece to his boyfriend. Hyung is quite smart, doing this for chocolate.

"What about me?" I open my mouth and wait for him to pop the piece.

"You can ask your own boyfriend," Yoongi Hyung answers while chuckling. He usually doesn't make jokes about my misery, but I guess the new year gives him a pass.

I am about to attack them when he forages me with two big pieces.

"Look who's here?" We cock our heads to Taehyung Hyung and in walks Jimin with a champagne bottle in his hand.

"If you look for it, I have got a sneaky feeling you will find that love, actually, is all around." I don't even understand what Hyung just said before he overloads me with another bowl as walks past me to welcome the guest.

I keep working on the eggs and opportunistically also steal chocolates.

"You didn't have to bring anything," Hyung implies to Jimin while I decide to flash them my sexy back.

"Hey, Jungkook," I freeze, but then slowly rotate around. The air suddenly seems to shrink as I gasp for it.

"Hey, Jimin Hyung. Didn't see you there."

The three boyfriends come my way and walk around the kitchen island.

"That's okay. We have plenty of time to talk tonight."

❣

Jimin

He is nibbling instinctively on his lower lips as I near him. I can feel his nervousness around me. When I am in a room, putting my jacket in the wardrobe, Jungkook enters but runs right out after spotting me here.

Yoongi is a splendid cook and Hoseok is a generous host. I can kiss their hands over and over for the dinner they served tonight. They have gone all out.

Taehyung loves Korean so they have started with traditional Manduk, Bulgogi, and Japchae. Hoseok is of course experimental like me when it comes to food, and I can understand as he was in hotel management. There is pork, Tamales, Macncheese, and a chocolate bundt cake that is baked by the little cutie.

I am just too impatient to taste it but I don't want to be disrespectful towards the main course or the chef who has gone through all the trouble.

Towards the end, everyone takes their dessert saucers and walks out on the balcony. I finally eat my cake and take the opportunity to compliment the baker who is in the kitchen. "If I tell you that this is the best chocolate cake I've ever eaten, would you think I am exaggerating it?"

He looks at me, slowly lowering down the dish, and stands straight. "Probably."

"What if I say that I loved this cake so much that you can ask for anything in return and I won't deny it?"

"I'd say you are on." He smiles, still not daring to come closer.

"What is it that you want, cutie pie?" I take a step forward but stop, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. If he was, he would tell me, right? He just seems shy.

"Hogwarts letter. I've been waiting for it for over a decade."

He puts me in a frenzy. How on earth will I ever get that? He isn't the type of person I have met before. With me being overboard, we would have fucked by now. But he is different and I am not sure if I just want infatuation with him. Perhaps more. "I'll try my best." I bow my head a little.

He nods and points his finger at the fridge that I am blocking. I step back and he rushes to put the leftover cake in it. "You can take it back home if you loved it that much." His eyes are at the ground and his cheeks blushing like cherry sitting on whipped cream.

Soon, we kickstart the drinks on the floor.

In three hours, everyone is beat, except Jungkook, who likes to drink slowly.

Taehyung makes an extended eye-lock with Yoongi, and Hoseok seems to know what he is trying to do. As the two start kissing, Hoseok drags them out of the room.

"You should sleep too. It's late anyway. I can show myself out." I ask Jungkook who suddenly grins and scurries towards me, crawling on his knees.

"We don't sleep on New Year."

I cannot help but pat his head with the way he looks.

"Yes!" Yoongi's voice affirms from somewhere while Jungkook drums against me, putting his head over my shoulder.

I bask in the lavender wafting from the cutie who now puts his hands up towards me. "I am cold."

"I will warm you," I feel that I can give him all my love and it'll still be less but suddenly, I look at his middle finger which is angrily red and fairly swollen. "Jungkook?" I look at his face for any sign of discomfort but alcohol seems to have drowned it. "Is your ring stuck?"

He looks down at his hand and pouts. "It hurts, Jimin Hyungie."

"I will take care of you, sweetheart." I get up and pull him with me to put him on the bed. "Where do you keep the thread?"

He points at the drawer.

I bring the thread and try to take the ring out in the traditional way as my mother taught me. It doesn't work. Next, I walk into the kitchen to bring some oil so that I can lubricate it out, but it ends up messily than I expected. Sopa solution, nothing happens there too. I can feel the thumping of nerves around his finger and it turns hot like an iron rod over the barbeque.

"You need to go to an emergency room."

As if the word somehow instill fear in him and his face contorts into a frown before a soft sob leaves him. "They are going to cut my finger down."

I cup his face gently and make him look at me, chuckling a little and wiping a lone tear that escapes. "They won't touch you, but you need to get it out, Jungkook."

❣

I shrug him into a jacket after wearing my own. He is scared, I can feel it. I take Taehyung's car keys from the dresser and waltz out while holding Jungkook's palm.

He is terrified as I sneak peeks at him while driving and we reach the hospital at last. After filling out the form, we sit and wait for about ten minutes and he doesn't let go of my jacket even for a jiffy.

"Jeon Jungkook!" The nurse calls us and I go in with him.

As he settles down on a recliner chair with his hand out for the doctor to cut through the metal, his other hand is in mine and his face is buffeted against my abdomen in fear.

"That's it, sweet. You are doing really good." I commend him and I can see blister formed on his precious, soft skin.

The doctor successfully cuts through the ring and now Jungkook breathes. He gets up and hugs me without sparing a look at his hand. "Thank you," he mumbles softly. "Hyung would have scolded me." His small voice and the gracious tone, it does something to me, births an instinct of protectiveness towards him.

❣