cute

• twenty-three •

Yoongi thought he hated kids, and maybe he did, but it turns out he has a major soft spot for a particular trio that just acted like kids. Never in his life would he have thought he'd be voluntarily sitting down to get his nails painted pink, blue and green. Especially not by his friends.

Although, to be fair, Namjoon and Tae were eager to see Yoongi get his nails painted and may have forced him into the living room and pushed him down to take a seat on the floor. Yoongi only protested for a minute before Jimin came skipping into the room, eyes sparkling with excitement and lips pulled back in the happiest smile. It was when the little plopped down on the ground next to him, taking his larger hand in his much smaller, softer ones that Yoongi totally gave in.

And it was when the little finished colouring just one nail a pastel blue, saying 'you're so pwetty Papa' that Yoongi realised he really had a soft spot for Jimin. He really liked Jimin. So, he kept seated and let Jungkook and Jin finished off the pattern across his nails until it was finished.

"Blue suits you," Namjoon smiled at Yoongi who stood from up the floor, thankful to finally get feeling back in his legs.

"You think so?" Yoongi looked down at his hands, fingers spread out wide. Sure, the neon pink, pastel blue and dark green colours didn't go together very well and there was a fair amount of polish across his fingers but for some reason he didn't hate it.

"Yeah Papa, it's weawwy nice on you," Jimin proudly smiled, admiring his work.

"Papa?" Jungkook repeated from the couch, "like grandpa?"

Jimin giggled and nodded his head, "like Jinnie."

"Me?" Jin's mouth fell open in offence, head turning to look at the boy.

"Just kidding," Jimin ran over to the boy sat on the couch, arms open wide. He fell onto the older male, pulling him into a tight hug that Jin didn't refuse.

"Wove you Jinnie."

"Love you too Minnie."

Jungkook sprung up from the other end of the couch, jumping onto and wrapping his arms around both boys. The three all giggled together, managing to pull themselves into a three-way hug that actually looked quite comfortable. Jimin was practically laying on top of Jin who was hugged into Jungkook's side who had his legs tangled with Jimin's.

The three really loved each other. They had gone through such difficult things together and something like that formed a strong bond between people. When Jimin faced his darkest insecurities, these two boys helped turn that ugly reflection in the mirror into something so much prettier. When Jungkook couldn't get out of bed in the morning because of how deep he'd buried himself in dark thoughts, these two boys had crawled under the sheets with him and made everything feel a little warmer. When Jin pretended like everything was ok, these two boys pulled off the mask and made him feel safe and happy again.

They were something of family to each other.

"Want to play cars in space?"

"With ponies?"

The three littles scrambled off the couch and ran down the hallway, going into the main bedroom. They took Jin's toys from there and into the spare bedroom where it would be easier to play with ponies driving cars in space.

Meanwhile in the living area, Yoongi took a seat at the dining table, Tae sitting down next to him.

"Jimin asked me to be his caregiver," Yoongi informed the two men in the room with him, "and I agreed but I don't really know what I agreed to."

Namjoon seemed surprised, cocking up his eyebrow towards the man, "seriously?"

"Uh, yeah?" Yoongi asked more than answered.

Tae gasped next to the man, "I knew it! You can call me cupid from now on."

"What are you talking about?" Yoongi asked the man although he had a feeling he already knew where this was going. Tae wasn't an idiot, he could read people better than anyone would like him to be able to. Except for Jungkook, who really appreciated that he was with someone who could always see past his fake smiles and help to make them genuine again.

"You like Jiminie."

"Of course I do, I like all my friends," Yoongi quickly shot back, neck beginning to heat up.

A smile came over Tae's lips, "if anyone else had tried to paint your nails, you would have hit them."

"I wouldn't hit Jin and Jungkook," Yoongi tried to point out the flaw in Tae's word but the second boy seemed to have been expecting that response because he knew what to say right away.

"No, but you would have said 'no' if they had asked first."

"No-"

"When was the last time you invited over some random guy to fuck?" Taehyung questioned and that was when the room fell silent. The answer was exactly what Tae was looking to hear, 'before Jimin moved in', and Yoongi couldn't give the boy the satisfaction of being right.

He didn't like Jimin like that, he could never because they were just friends and he was just getting caught up in this cute little act of Jimin's.

. . . but why was he so desperately trying to convince himself of this if it was supposedly the truth?

Because it wasn't.

It seemed Yoongi had moved past friendly feelings and was instead heading straight to love. Love. That word was so foreign to his tongue.

He hated that thought, that word.

". . . just tell me how to be a caregiver."