Chapter Text
"-yung?"
"-jin hyung."
Seokjin blinks his heavy eyes. The first thing he notices is his heart still thumping weirdly in his chest, making him woozy and slightly nauseous. He let out a soft groan.
"Seokjin hyung !"
He blinks again, opening his eyes slowly this time. Hoseok's concerned face comes right into his view. A slight relief mixed into his expression. "Thank goodness." He says.
Seokjin sighs and tries to gulp down the nauseated feeling. He looks around. He is still in the coffee shop, laying down on a long couch in another corner of the place. He looks down and sees his feet, still in his shoes, are slightly elevated on some cushions. Hoseok is kneeling beside the couch, right beside his head.
"I-. Did I pass out?" Seokjin asks.
Hoseok simply nods. "Feeling better, hyung ?" He asks. Even when his bright demeanor slightly dimmed than earlier that day, Seokjin still can feels sincerity and also worries in his tone.
"Yeah." He stares at Hoseok while sighing.
Hoseok sighs. "Aigoo. If it wasn't for Yoongi-ssi, I wouldn't know what to do, hyung."
Seokjin bring his gaze to the person behind Hoseok.
Min Yoongi is standing there, face stoic with a hint of something Seokjin can't really read. His arms are crossed in front of his body, sleeves covering them. It seems like he has buttoned his sleeves.
The tattoo.
The bloodied rose tattoo on Yoongi's forearm is the last thing he saw before he was feeling unwell. Their eyes meet, but Yoongi still doesn't have any significance in his expression. It reminds Seokjin to their first encounter.
"You good ?" Yoongi finally opens his mouth.
Instead of answering, he keeps staring at the mysterious guy.
Hoseok realizes what Seokjin is doing. "What's wrong, hyung ?" The brown haired guy asks Seokjin as he turns his head back, trying to know what is Seokjin staring at. Yoongi hasn't stray his gaze away from Seokjin.
"What actually happened?" Hoseok asks, diverting his gaze back to Seokjin.
The man on the couch can't answer because he himself doesn't know what made him out like that. Before the incident, he felt pretty good despite his busy schedules. It is ridiculous if a tattoo was what made him knocked out cold. Seokjin sees Yoongi uncrosses his arms and put his hands inside his pockets.
Seokjin shrugs.
"I don't know." He plainly answers. "I just suddenly got dizzy, and couldn't keep my legs straight." Seokjin sit himself up.
"Oh, slowly, hyung." Hoseok helps him sit straight up. "I will feel bad if it's because of our works." There is a 'ㅅ' again on his lips. "Fainting on your first day of work. Was I too hard to you, hyung ?"
Seokjin brings his legs to the edge of the couch, and put his feet on the floor. He stretches his arms and neck with a soft groan.
The broad shouldered guy shakes his head. "No, it's just a long day for me probably."
Hoseok sighs and stares at him. "Let's finish for today, hyung. I've cleaned everything and closed the shop." He says before looking up to Yoongi. "Can you perhaps take him home, Yoongi-ssi ? You guys are neighbors, right ?"
Seokjin wants to protest. He is an adult, he can go home by himself. Moreover, Yoongi and Seokjin are not close enough to do that even though their apartments are literally side by side.
The 24 year old looks up to Yoongi again, looking for a reaction. Is that a worry on Yoongi's face ? Or is it something else ? His face is not completely stoic, Seokjin can see it.
Yoongi nods. "I'm thinking the same thing the entire time."
Did Seokjin hear it wrong?
"All right." Hoseok stands up. "Let me take out your belongings, hyung. Then we can go home." The 22 year old walks to the counter, leaving Yoongi and Seokjin.
In the end, Seokjin only sighs and brings his hand on his own chest. His heart begins beating normally. His minds rushes to every possibilities he can think of being a medical student.
Dehydration ? Exhaustion ?Arrhythmia ? Anemia ? Cancer ? Is he dying ?
Fudge.
Yoongi approaches him. "Still dizzy ?" He softly asks Seokjin and the latter looks up.
"No. It's just... My heart was beating irregularly."
Hearing that, a twist of pity can be seen on Yoongi's face. "But you're okay, now?"
"I think it's slowly getting back to normal now." Seokjin mumbles.
The pale guy takes out his hand from the pocket and offer him his right hand, palms up, like asking for something. Seokjin looks down at the sudden gesture and Yoongi's face.
"Give me your hand." Yoongi shortly commands.
What is this ? The demanding tone sends heat up to his cheeks again but obliges nevertheless. He gives his right hand, his crooked fingers on Yoongi's palm. The latter then holds it tight, putting his thumb over Seokjin's upper hand. Seokjin can feel the slight warmth and callouses on the surface of his palm and fingers. Yoongi's hands are bigger than he expected.
Yoongi looks down to Seokjin's hand, examines it quietly over the fingers. "I thought my hands are cold, but yours are colder. At least for now." He comments, shortly.
Seokjin has always been slightly self conscious about his hands, particularly with his crooked fingers. He is thankful the guy didn't say anything about it. Meanwhile, he can see Yoongi's nails are short. Really short with uneven ends. Is he a biter ?
But the real question is,
Since when they are close enough to hold each other's hands ?
"Seokjin hyung, here's your jacket and ba- Oh yah." Hoseok comes and looking obviously startled when he sees them holding hands. Seokjin and Yoongi both turn their heads together to him.
Seokjin expected Yoongi to quickly break his grip on his hand, but instead he feels him still caressing the skin on his upper hand, like a sign of reassurance.
He looks up to Yoongi's side profile. His neck, adam's apple, sharp jawline, slightly pouty thin lips, defined nose, naturally sharp edges eyes.
Why does he look so attractive and makes him want to go straight into his arms ? Oh no.
"Did I interrupt something?" Hoseok chuckles.
"No you didn't." Yoongi answers and steps backwards, making a way for Hoseok. "Seokjin-ssi ?"
Seokjin is staring at the shorter guy's face. "Yeah ?"
Yoongi's low chuckles can be heard again after some time. "Can I get my hand back, please?"
Seokjin looks down and finds himself gripping on Yoongi's hand. He can't hide his panic on his face. "Oh oh. I'm sorry." He immediately let go of Yoongi's hand.
"You can hold his hand back after wearing your jacket hyung." Hoseok laughs and gives him his jacket in which he takes gratefully with a soft, voluntarily kick on the back of Hoseok's thigh. "Ow, hyung." Hoseok protests, rubbing the affected area.
A scoff can be heard from Yoongi who looks down. A small smile remains on his lips.
In the end, Seokjin put on his jacket and sling his bag strap over his shoulder. He sighs again. He suddenly remembers about Taehyung. The 8 year old must be really worried by now.
They bid goodbye in front of the coffee shop building. Hoseok takes a bus to go home, and he nearly missed the last one because apparently, the whole fainting incident took a quite long time. Seokjin feels sorry about it.
Hoseok waves his hand at Yoongi and Seokjin.
"Text me when you're home, hyung !" He says.
Seokjin waves his hand back. "Okay."
"Yoongi-ssi." Hoseok slightly bows at Yoongi, with a somewhat full of meaning grin though. Why should he grin that way at him, Seokjin doesn't understand. Still, Yoongi returns the bow.
"Thanks for your help seok !" Seokjin still waving.
Hoseok raises his thumb up while lightly jogs to the nearby bus stop. Seokjin and Yoongi turn their bodies and walk slowly to the opposite direction.
Seokjin takes the right side, wgile Yoongi walk on his left side. "He seems like a good guy." Yoongi comments. "Despite being noisy."
The addition makes Seokjin laughs and readjusts his bag. "Yeah, he is. I'm thankful."
The two of them walks side by side in a somewhat comfortable silence. Seokjin holds the strap of his sling bag, while Yoongi loosely hanging his hands on his sides. The close distance doesn't feel stuffy for Seokjin. He is basically comfortable in other's presence. He doesn't know what Yoongi is thinking though.
But all that Seokjin is thinking about is Taehyung. Maybe also about why he fainted, but the first thing is more important.
What is Taehyung doing right now ? Is he still with Jimin ? Or is he alone in their home waiting for him ? He feels bad but also slightly annoyed when he remembers he insisted to not go inside the coffee shop because of Yoongi.
"Still not feeling well?" Yoongi's sudden question breaks him from his train of thought. The shorter glances at him while keeping his steps.
Seokjin shakes his head, staring on the pavement under his feet. "No, it's just- I'm thinking about my brother." He answers, honestly. "He must be looking for me."
Yoongi nods. "The earlier, right ?"
It's Seokjin time to nod his head. "Yeah. He didn't want to come in."
"Why ?"
Seokjin steals a glance at Yoongi, hesitates to answer the truth. "I don't know." He ends up lying.
The white shirt guy only gets a nod from Yoongi as they arrived at the main entrance of the apartment building. Yoongi opens the glass door, letting Seokjin get in first.
"It's okay. He will understand. You were not well earlier." He says, walking in.
Seokjin sighs and pushes the elevator button. "Maybe you're right. I don't know if I'll tell him about it, though." He looks down and stares at Yoongi's arm. The guy really has buttoned his long sleeves now, the tattoo is completely covered and hidden.
Does he know anything ?
The elevator arrived and they got in. Seokjin takes the left side, and Yoongi on his right. It's literally like their first encounter.
"Anyway," Seokjin turns his head to Yoongi, hands still on his bag strap. "Sorry we didn't really finish the.... Talk." It's hard to find the right word for the activity they both did earlier before he fainted.
Yoongi smiles. "It's okay. We can makeup for it on other days."
Seokjin nods. "Right."
Wait, what ?
The tall guy widens his eyes.
Seokjin doesn't realize he said it loudly before he hears another chuckle from Yoongi. "Well, do you want to ?"
This guy never fails to make him flustered. Maybe it's his directness or something but whatever it is, it can makes Seokjin's ears and cheeks turn red.
"I- I mean, wait-"
While Seokjin is stuttering, Yoongi fish the inside of his pocket and takes a phone out. He unlocks it and gives it to Seokjin.
"Your number?"
Seokjin flustered as he takes the black phone, looking at Yoongi in a disbelief. The latter just calmly looking at him with a tiny, tiny, smile.
"Um, well." Seokjin decided to input his number. He considered putting some fake numbers, but decided not to. He admits they're progressing super fast, but he doesn't know why there is a part of him that is already trusting the pale guy.
Seokjin gives his phone back which Yoongi retrieves. He save the number and clicks on the icon there. Seokjin's phone immediately buzzed in his pocket. He takes it out and there is a call coming from an unknown number.
Yoongi glances at him "Just to make sure you didn't give me some random numbers." He smirks while Seokjin's face is turning red. How did he know ? "You got my number too, now." He adds.
Seokjin only smiles bashfully. The elevator stops and perhaps the sudden motion triggers the wooziness back, nausea is rising from Seokjin's inside. He tries to gulp it down and breathe, reassuring himself internally, that his house is only a few steps ahead of him.
The elevator door opens and Yoongi presses the button to holds it.
"Seokjin-ssi?"
Seokjin groggily glances at Yoongi and the door. "Ah, yeah, yeah." He then walks out the elevator.
A concern gaze is back on Yoongi's eyes. But he doesn't say anything while following him out.
The barista slightly staggers as he walks down the hallway. He is punching in the pin numbers when his vision gets doubled somehow. The buttons in front of him look mush together. He hears a shuffle from inside and a call from Taehyung.
He can feel his body slightly sway but a sudden grip on his upper right arm and a warm, strong support on his back stops him from falling further.
Seokjin groggily glances at his left side and finds Yoongi's worried face, who is apparently holding him in his arms from the back.
"I got you." There is a resssurance in Yoongi's low voice. When did he get here ?
Seokjin weakly chuckles. "Thank you. Just... Slightly dizzy." He brings his hand to his temple which feels slightly clammy.
"You're still not looking well." Yoongi comments.
Seokjin lowly groans as he feels his knees about to buckle. The grip on his arm and back becoming tighter.
All of the sudden, the door is opened, Taehyung is standing in front of them staring, hand holding the doorknob with a set of alarmed puppy eyes.
Seokjin turns his head slowly to the kid.
"Taehyung-ah. Don't run away, please. I'm not feeling well." He tells him, defeated tone colours his voice. He can sees Taehyung's gaze shifted from alarmed to worried. He turns his head to Yoongi. "Can you... Can you help me walk inside ?"
Yoongi only nods.
"Are you... Are you sick, hyung?" Taehyung asks him, eyes looking from Seokjin to Yoongi back and forth.
"I'll be okay. Look ? He helps hyung." Seokjin shows Yoongi who keeps him standing up."Please move aside so we can come in ?"
Taehyung looks troubled before letting some of his guards down and move aside to make a way.
"Just to the sofa, please..." He mumbles to Yoongi.
"Not bed ? You're a second away from collapsing."
Seokjin contemplating for a full 10 seconds, observing the concerned look on Yoongi's face before nodding. "Okay."
"That's my bedroom..." Seokjin points a room to the left side of the house and leans his arm to Yoongi's shoulders for extra support. "Sorry, I'm heavy..."
"It's okay." Yoongi says. If Seokjin is in a right state, he would laugh and smacks Yoongi's back from low-key agreeing that he is heavy.
Seokjin stumbles inside. Yoongi is slightly shorter than him but he is still firmly supporting him from the back. Seokin is trying his best to takes off his shoes but to no avail. Surprisingly, Taehyung crouches down and takes them off.
"Thanks, Taehyung-ah."
Yoongi skillfully takes his one shoe off with his other foot and does the same with it.
They then walk further towards Seokjin's bedroom with Yoongi keeps a steady hand on him. Taehyung is also making a beeline, even opening the door up for them.
Yoongi steadily walks them both inside. Taehyung stays in the doorframe, watching them.
"You may want to take your jacket and bag off." Yoongi says after sitting Seokjin down on the edge of the bed. Seokjin simply nods, eyes about to close but still taking the sling bag off, with Yoongi's help, and his jacket. After everything is off him (except for his clothes, of course), he lay on his bed with a whine. Something drapes over his body, and looks up. He finds Yoongi covers his body with his blanket carefully without staring at him.
"You got my number. You can call me if anything happened." The man calmly says.
Seokjin nods with his eyes closing. "Thank you so much, really." He sleepily mumbles.
"You should get some rest." Yoongi says.
Another nod from Seokjin. "Wait, Taehyung..." He opens his eyes sleepily, rising his head, searching the room.
"He is there." Yoongi calmly informs, motions to the door. "By the door."
Taehyung is indeed standing at the doorway, looking intensely at them, Seokjin sees through his halflidded eyes. The boy is silent."Oh." The older drops his head back to his pillow.
Seokjin feels drunk and wasted. What if he still feels unwell tomorrow ? How can he take Taehyung to school ?
Thanks Mom and Dad for making Taehyung's school 20 minutes away from home.
"I should probably go home." Yoongi states.
Seokjin glances up, Yoongi is there, staring at him, right hand in his pocket.
Seokjin nods again. He gets his right hand out of the blanket, and offers it to Yoongi.
The pale guy raises his eyebrow.
"Handshake." The sleepy guy shortly says.
Seokjin can hear a low, deep chuckle from Yoongi, but he still takes out his hand from his pocket and grips his hand. The taller then grips his hand back, tightly and shakes his hand in a formal manner.
"Thank you. You're being a good neighbor."
Yoongi just scoffs."Thank you, for almost breaking my back twice."
Seokjin is about to protest because he didn't ask Yoongi to help him both time he felt dizzy, but then he can see Yoongi is indeed gripping his hand tightly, caressing the back of his hand again, like earlier.
It doesn't feel weird, it's not sexual or creepy in any way. Seokjin just feels comfortable whenever he is doing that.
Reassured, like everything is going to be fine.
Yoongi caresses his hand for the last time, and says, "I should really go."
Seokjin glances up again. "Okay."
"Text me." Yoongi says, putting Seokjin's hand slowly on the bed, eyes looking soft.
Seokjin smirks, unknowing that an 8 year old is still looking at them by the door.
Yoongi is walking out of Seokjin's room, when he feels a pair of eyes is watching the back of his head. He turns his head around and stares at the kid.
Taehyung, Seokjin's younger brother, is standing in his hyung's doorframe, looking surprised at his sudden stare. The 8 year old still looks alarmed, but his expression is milder than earlier.
Yoongi blinks his eyes several times.
Taehyung is not. He keeps his eyes wide open at the not so stranger in his living room.
"Um." Yoongi starts."Taehyung, right ?"
It takes awhile before the kid nods, eyes still at Yoongi.
The pale guy nods. "Okay."
Yoongi walks to the front door. He feels the kid also walks to the living room. The black shirt guy turns his head back again, finding Taehyung leaning his back on the sofa, palms on the armrest, supporting his body.
"Okay, look," Yoongi puts his hands in front of him, like Chris Pratt in front of a dangerous dinosaur."I'm not a bad guy." He shortly explains, putting his feet inside his shoes. "Okay ?"
The kid is just scanning him from head to toe.
"Oh, and," Yoongi gulps. "Take care of your hyung, will you ?"
Taehyung doesn't answer. He just keeps staring at Yoongi like who-are-you-telling-me-what-to-do.
The pale guy sighs and nods. "Well, okay."
"See you around." Yoongi bids his goodbye as he closes the door of the Kim's Residence.
Taehyung ends up sleeping with Seokjin. He walks to Seokjin's room in his Iron Man pajama, bringing a glass of water and put it on the night stand beside his bed. The kid climbs up to the bed and hugs him, buries himself on Seokjin's chest.
"Hyung ?"
"Hm ?" Seokjin hums sleepily.
"I got water for you."
"Thanks."
When Seokjin is sure he is about to fall asleep, Taehyung calls him again. "Hyung ?"
"Hmm ?"
"Don't be sick."
Seokjin chuckles sleepily. "Okay." He wraps his arm on his brother's small frame, patting on his back.
"Vampire hyung isn't that bad after all." Taehyung mumbles on his shirt.
Seokjin just smiles, eyes closed.
"His name is Min Yoongi. Call him Yoongi hyung next time you see him." He mumbles. "Make sure to greet him properly."
When there is no answer from Taehyung, Seokjin peels his heavy eyelids open and looks down.
Taehyung seems to be silence and in deep thought.
"M'kay."
Seokjin smiles, satisfied. He caresses the boy's hair. "Good boy..."
Then the brothers drift to dreamland, hugging each others.
The apartment is dark. Light only comes from a phone screen that is pressed to a pale cheek and moonlight that bleed through the slightly opened curtain.
"It happened again." Sitting on a sofa in the center of the room, the pale guy closes his eyes. Four of the upper buttons of his black shirt unbuttoned. He is repeateadly brushing his hair back with his fingers. Black sleeve falls to the nook of his elbow.
The red rose on his forearm moves with the arm as he keeps doing the motion. It is illuminated by the dim light of the moon.
"I was." Yoongi sighs, opening his eyes. Eyebrows furrowed. "I was being careful." There is a pressure in his tone, slight annoyance. "But you know so well how it works."
He looks down to his chest. "It's just my fate."
Whatever the other person on the line just said, it obviously triggers Yoongi. He looks offended.
"What do you mean ?"
Yoongi listens at the person's answer as he scoffs. "Don't test me." A smirk bloom on his lips.
Yoongi pierces his gaze through thin air in front of him, full of determination. "I'll make sure to take full responsibility." His voice sounds rough. "Don't underestimate me." He cracks his neck.
"We are responsible, forever, for what we have tamed." He lowly states.
The sharp shapes of his eyes look sharper by the edges.
They glint.