claudia ✨

They only meant to nap for a moment. Just “rest” their eyes for a bit during a hectic day of shopping. But when they awaken in a quiet IKEA, locked in a tiny-home model, Jungkook leaps into action.

Cell service sucks in the metal-roofed warehouse. But Jungkook manages to find a brief window of service—not to call the police, but to search YouTube for survival tips.

“Hyung—it says we have to shelter-in-place,” Jungkook yells as he strips the pillows off the couch to build a “fort” in the living room.

With little cell signal and zero work responsibilities beating down his door, Seokjin declares this the “best day of his life” and promptly plops face-first on Jungkook's pile of cushions for a nap.

Meanwhile, Jungkook works out their "survival game plan". During this time, Jungkook builds a proper pillow fort (around a sleeping Seokjin), and collected all the sample food in the kitchen into one "emergency rations corner".

He grabs a string of fairy lights from the wall and re-routes it to cast a calming glow in their pillowy safe-house.

Jungkook reads that warmth is a "key to survival", so he takes the most important step of crawling into the pillow fort, wiggling up to Seokjin's chest and wrapping his arms around him to keep him warm from the chilly warehouse air.

Seokjin cracks an eye open to the sight of fairy lights under a canopy of blankets, Jungkook's warmth around him.

"You take such good care of hyung, Jungkook-ah," he whispers with a fond smile. He kisses the top of a sleeping Jungkook's head, and pulls him closer before falling back asleep.

But Jungkook heard every word, and feels chest fill with warmth, so proud that he was able to properly care for his hyung.😌

That was truly all he ever wanted.

******

Jungkook wakes a few hours later nestled in Seokjin’s arms, tucked away in their little pillow fort when he realizes…he needs a bathroom.

Like now.

So he tiptoes around Seokjin, snoring in their pillow fort, and stacks chairs and tables until he can scale the wall and quietly unlock the door to the tiny house from the outside.

Seokjin startles awake later to the sound of Jungkook plopping down beside him.

“Hyung, look!”

Seokjin wipes the sleep from his eyes to see Jungkook holding a massive bag of gummies, and Seokjin instantly knows he fell in love with the right man.

“Jungkook-ah, we’re free?” he asks with a sleepy mouth full of candy.

“Yeah…" Jungkook says with a sad smile. "I guess we are. I mean…the warehouse is still locked. But we have the whole place to ourselves!"

“You know what this means, don’t you, Jungkook-ah?”

“We call the police to unlock the doors?”

“Shopping cart race!” Seokjin says as he stands, dusts his hands off, and takes off running.

Jungkook and Seokjin spend the next hour racing flatbed carts down the aisles, assigning the winner based on the best 2 out of 3.

Then 3 out of 5.

Then 6 out of 10.

Next, they raid the candy wall and Seokjin’s heart melts at the way Jungkook stuffs his bunny cheeks, making an angry face when something tastes too good for words.

Then it’s off to the furniture aisles to conduct “important research”—jumping on each bed, and rating it on a scale of 1-10 for its ability to handle “acrobatics and sex stuff.”

Seokjin eventually bounces to the floor and stretches. “Be right back, Jungkook-ah. Hyung’s gotta use the restroom.”

He heads to the back of the warehouse, does his business, and is running back toward Jungkook’s voice—when he stops in his tracks.

It’s a door. An employee exit door.

He gently pushes on the handle.

It’s unlocked from the inside.

Seokjin quietly peeks his head out, a cool breeze hitting his face as he hears Jungkook’s laugh echoing in the distance.

“Oh my god, hyung, you gotta try this bed! I almost did a flip!” Seokjin hears faintly.

Jungkook sounds like a kid again. Vibrating with simple joy, without a care in the world.

Seokjin’s heart clenches and he purses his lips. He knows what he has to do.

“Be right there, bun,” he shouts as he lets the door close behind him, running back toward Jungkook.

He never mentions the door. 💕

It happens the same way every year.

Jungkook rolls out of bed and wipes the dew from his window. He scans the park across the street—looking for the first sign of yellow on the leaves. And when he spots it, he sucks in a breath and bolts for the door, hastily throwing on shoes before running at full speed toward the trees.

The cool breeze whips at his face as he sprints across the park, his chest burning, losing his breath as he finally collides chest-first into him. It's the best kind of pain, feeling his hyung's broad chest against his own—warm and solid and real.

He can't help but throw his arms around him and squeeze as he buries his face into his neck. Seokjin chuckles warmly as he strokes his hair.

"Jungkook-ah, you've gotten too big to hug me this tightly. I can't breathe," he laughs.

"Shut up," Jungkook says, his heart soaring. "…Missed you so much," he admits softly into Seokjin's shoulder.

“I missed you too,” Seokjin breathes into his hair.

Jungkook's hands roam, squeezing his shoulders, his arms, his hands.

He needs to know he’s there—in the flesh. Needs to press into Seokjin’s skin and remember every detail.

“Don’t forget this. You can’t forget.” Jungkook's mind echoes like a drum. Jungkook inhales Seokjin’s woody smell and tries to still his heart.

Seokjin brings their foreheads together. “C’mon, Jungkook-ah, let’s shake off some of this nervous energy. I need to stretch my legs.”

Jungkook pulls back with a pout and Seokjin giggles in response.

“C’mon, bun. We have all the time in the world,” Seokjin comforts with a smile.

But Jungkook knows better—has known for years.

He takes Seokjin's hand as they walk through the park, inhaling the crisp air. He scans the sky and counts the leaves, willing them to stay in place, knowing when the last one disappears, so will Seokjin—until autumn’s color returns again.

🍁🍁🍁🍁

Twitter is an incalculable loss for artistic expression, news, and so many other facets I can’t even begin to count.

This sort of loss of information is impossible with AO3 and how it’s set-up. Obviously an AO3 style model isn’t sustainable for every site bc the moment images get involved the server costs skyrocket exponentially, but now more than ever the theory applies.

AO3 is an archive of our own, donators have direct say via vote about what happens to the site, you help shape it.

As long as AO3 has donation drives and doesn’t rely on advertisers it will remain around as a foremost place of art and freedom of expression. What happened to Twitter can’t happen to AO3 as it currently exists. And that is why we fight tooth and nail to protect AO3 from corporate interests and out of touch billionaires like Musk.

https://twitter.com/devout_jinnist/status/1399037479483809795?s=21