#d:tmtts

If Hoseok had been paying more attention, he honestly shouldn't have felt so surprised.

But he wasn't and that was the problem.

"So you're telling me that your battle tag is Seagull?" Hoseok asks, the tone of disbelief in his voice the only thing that he can really make out.

Jeongguk tilts his head back as he looks up from the floor and nods, mouth set into a firm line. He obviously has no intention of speaking and while that's usually fine and dandy with Hoseok most of the time, right now he'd really appreciate a verbal response.

"Seriously?" He asks again because Hoseok will be damned if he doesn't at least try.

"Yes," Jeongguk mumbles out then, lowering his gaze so that he isn't looking right at Hoseok when he does.

Hoseok runs a hand over his face, not really knowing what to say now except the obvious joke in his head that even Seokjin would applaud him for. "Why? Wanted to be one with the birds, did you?"

Jeongguk doesn't laugh, even when Hoseok does and continues to look down at his socked feet. Hoseok's laughter dies down very quickly after that.

"Sorry, that sounded funnier in my head."

The younger man merely shrugs, not keen on speaking again. And it's not like Hoseok would blame him for that anyway. So he strides forward and settles himself down beside Jeongguk, nudging him with his elbow once he's certain that if Jeongguk were to shove him right back, he won't end up sprawling across the floor.

"Sorry, Gukkie. Really," Hoseok tries again, doing his best to peer up into Jeongguk's face. "Bet you'd make the cutest seagull alive."

That draws an adorable giggle out of Jeongguk, his cheeks flushing the lightest of pinks. Hoseok smiles at him, throwing an arm over his shoulders that's loose enough for Jeongguk to shake off if he wanted to.

But Jeongguk doesn't want to and so Hoseok's arm stays, Jeongguk's body heat quickly making the elder begin to sweat. Not in the it's boiling in here kind of way, but in the I'm a little nervous way. Jeongguk either doesn't notice or pretends not to care.

"So, how do you play this?" Hoseok asks, nodding towards the tv.

Jeongguk hands him the controller, hands on his knees now. "I'll show you, go into practice first then choose the easy mode."

Hoseok does as he's told, nodding when Jeongguk makes a satisfied noise as the game queues him into a skirmish. They wait as it loads, Jeongguk cursing his wifi under his breath as Hoseok begins to laugh nervously as the screen glitches once.

"Sorry. When it does that, it means I have to restart the whole thing. We could play on my computer instead though?" Jeongguk offers as he takes the controller back, quickly exiting out of the game and turning the system off as he speaks.

"Sure. Why not? I have time to kill, anyway," Hoseok replies with a shrug of his shoulders, smiling as warmly as he can when Jeongguk stands up.

Hoseok stands up as well then, quickly walking towards Jeongguk's computer before plunking down in the comfortable gamer's chair that Seokjin had berated Jeongguk for buying. Jeongguk is, if anything, unwilling to listen when it comes to what he spends his money on and Hoseok had tried to change the subject as quickly as he could before things between the two could get ugly. It just hadn't worked is all.

And it's not like Seokjin and Jeongguk usually argue. They don't. But when it comes to money, Seokjin is sensitive. Coming from a rich family always meant that Seokjin has been well-off and though he isn't practically rolling in the money his parents send him every month, he has enough to sustain himself with well over the normal amount needed for the average college student. Because of this, Seokjin likes to buy thingsーnot for himself, but for his friends. He likes buying expensive things for his friends, whether it be for their birthday, an accomplishment, or the holidays. Doesn't matter. Seokjin takes any chance he can get.

So every time Jeongguk goes ahead and buys something on the expensive side (which is often, actually, now that Hoseok thinks about it), Seokjin manages to throw a fit each and every time. Hoseok always plays the middleman, gently reminding Seokjin that Jeongguk doesn't like having things just handed to him and quietly murmuring how worried Seokjin gets when he feels that he could have taken care of things for Jeongguk because he cares.

This gamer chair had been another argument, a bigger one that was far from easy for Hoseok to placate. It almost involved fists, but instead of punching Jeongguk in the face like Hoseok expected, Seokjin merely pulled him in close and hugged him to his chest for a long time. Long enough for the hardened expression on Jeongguk's face to melt and give way to his usual shy self.

So the chair is comfortable, yeah, but Hoseok can't stop thinking about how red Jeongguk's face had flushed when he told Seokjin to keep his nose out of other people's business.

The look on Seokjin's face had been priceless.

Jeongguk leans over Hoseok and pulls up the game on his computer, his veiny forearms all that Hoseok's eyes can see. There's just so much of Jeongguk around him right now, more than Hoseok's ever experienced before, but it isn't unwelcome.

It's justーnew.

The game's startup screen is done loading now and Hoseok squints at it, feeling unprepared for what's to come. "How do I play?"

Jeongguk laughs, a little evilly, and Hoseok feels that he should worry over the implications of that, but when Jeongguk leans even further into his space, Hoseok finds that he really doesn't care.

He wasn't paying attention before, not when Jeongguk could barely look him in the eye without stuttering, but now, now with Jeongguk letting his body tell Hoseok things he never could, Hoseok understands.

It's almost too easy to tug Jeongguk into his lap and press a kiss to his temple, before nudging the flushing boy to show him how to play while sitting on his lap.