Chapter Text
It was finally January. This new year he had decided to start over. He had decided to move on and move in somewhere else. That’s why early on the morning of the new year’s first day, Yoongi was finally driving to Seoul. It had taken him several journeys to the capital to undoubtedly decide and rent a small space that would become his own little business.
Namjoon had started playing mind tricks on him a few months ago.
“Hyung,” he would say, “my life’s so much better ever since I moved to Seoul, you probably wouldn’t expect this but... I even made a couple of friends, I live in a really good neighborhood, my job is just a couple of subway stations away, and the only thing that’s missing in my life right now is my lovely bestest friend in the world...”. He would sigh while saying this last part to add drama. Yoongi would roll his eyes even though Namjoon couldn’t look at him.
He would often talk about how Seoul schools would be so much better for Yoongi’s son and how the atmosphere of his neighborhood didn’t feel like a big city at all, if that was the thing that worried him the most about moving to the capital. Yoongi had never even hinted about how he’d been seriously considering it. But Namjoon noted how Yoongi never rejected his proposals on moving in together and helping him get on his feet in Seoul. How the older, after a few months, wouldn’t even change the subject, just letting Namjoon give his whole speech on how much better the city life was.
A few months in, the suggestion became more intense. “Hyung, there’s this empty place close to where I live that used to be a restaurant, I think it would suit you very well, it even has an apartment upstairs. It’s so close to my house. I could help you out with everything. Babysitting? I can do that. Help you in the restaurant? I can definitely do that even though I’m incapable of cooking, but I can learn, IQ 148 and all, right? Looking for a cheap delivery person because I am incapable of learning how to drive? I even have someone in mind, he even rides a motorcycle. Say the word, and I’ll ask the real estate agent about it. Besides, you were thinking about coming anyway. You said Jimin missed me. We can all go check it out and see what he thinks…”.
Yoongi hadn’t said yes. But he didn’t say no, so Namjoon figured he would ask anyway, he could arrange the visit easily and you know, they could just take a look, they’d have the whole day to do other stuff after the visit. It’s not that he thought Yoongi was a pushover. But he had seen how much Yoongi had struggled the past years, and how his best friend was slowly losing the spark in his eyes, he’d see how Yoongi smiled less and sighed more, how a crease was now constant between his eyebrows.
Jimin would be turning 7 soon and he would be entering Elementary School next year, it was the perfect timing for him too. He could be raised in a new environment, far away from the judgemental looks he knew the both of them received when small town people realized their family consisted of just them two. He always got questions about his mom from his friends at Kindergarten. Namjoon also noticed Yoongi’s parents’ opinions on the way Jimin had to be raised differ vastly from Yoongi’s own views and often crashed. But Yoongi had a job that kept him away from his son so he couldn’t really trust anyone else but his mom to take care of Jimin (not like he had the money to hire a babysitter, either).
He could also schedule a visit to the said restaurant when Yoongi visited that weekend. Yoongi would be in the neighborhood anyway. The plan was set. And Namjoon was determined about the whole Yoongi moving to Seoul thing.
“Hyung, I have a small meeting set in about half an hour, if you don't mind waiting for me”. Namjoon commented, keeping the straightest face he could pull - even though there was nothing straight about him-.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were busy today? The whole point of us coming was to see you”, Yoongi snapped lightly, although Namjoon knew he wasn’t mad, he understood that Yoongi could think he was bothering Namjoon. “Right, Jiminie? We came aaaall the way to see Namjoon and he’s not even going to spend time with us… What a bummer!”.
Namjoon smiled because that was exactly what he was expecting to hear. “Then you’re coming with me”.
Right by the empty restaurant they were to visit, there was a small family-run bakery that just happened to have a as manager, baker and cashier, the most handsome man Namjoon had ever seen. He thought it would be a nice thing to add to the reasons why Yoongi should move. A little eye candy never hurt anybody.
“Jimin, are you hungry? It’s been a couple of hours since you last ate, right?” Namjoon aimed for the easier target. The kid looked at his father looking for approval, when he saw his father shrugging, he nodded and smiled adorably, knowing that being cute would get him a nicer treat. “There’s a bakery over here that I always go to, let’s go inside and see if you want something. The pastries are the most delicious I’ve eaten in my whole life”.
Yoongi squatted so he could be on eye level with his son. “We can only choose one thing, okay?” Jimin nodded. He took Namjoon and Yoongi’s hands on each of his own and the three of them went into the bakery.
Inside it was pure chaos. One would expect a bakery to have the same atmosphere as a café, because they’re kind of similar. But this was a completely different scenario. It was as if there was a competition over who could talk the loudest inside. There were so many things happening at once. Jimin got closer to Yoongi, almost hiding behind his leg. Both of them hated noisy, crowded places. Yoongi’s son was extremely shy, just like Yoongi himself. Barely talked in front of strangers and would hide whenever someone talked directly to him. Which was the polar opposite of the kid they could see sitting on the counter. The child looked a little taller than Jimin, he was sitting cross legged, talking to some old ladies. They were all cooing over how cute he was and Yoongi had to agree, he was adorable.
Adorable, but in a completely different way was the man who was in the cash register. The first thing that Yoongi noticed was how pink the guy was. He had pink hair, a pink apron over a lighter pink sweater, pink lips. Pink, plump lips. That Yoongi definitely did not stare for too long.
A small tug on his shirt made him escape the trance of looking at the beautiful cashier, so Yoongi crouched to hear what his son had to say. “Appa, let’s look at those”. Jimin almost whispered, pointing at a display fridge full of pastries, that coincidentally—but not really— was the farthest away from all the people and chaos. The pastries sold in the place were… peculiar. Some of them looked like normal korean pastries, but with a twist. For example, there was bungeo-ppang, but instead of a fish, it was a whale, soboro filled with different flavors, mooncakes with actual moons on them, amongst other things.
“Namjoon-ah!”, the cashier shouted. It was loud enough to be heard over the absolute anarchy inside the shop. “Welcome, what do you want? The usual?”. Namjoon blushed when Yoongi looked at him with curiosity. The handsome cashier quickly picked up and decided to embarrass the customer even more: “You here to get you daily dose of my famous, awarded, delicious KORE-PPANG? How much do you want this time? Ten? Yesterday we had to make a whole new batch because you bought so many”.
“Hyung, I see what you’re doing, trying to embarrass me in front of my friend”, the cashier smiled mischievously and did finger guns at Namjoon. “The thing is… Yoongi-hyung has seen me at my worst so nothing will be more embarrassing than whatever is stored in his memory”. Yoongi sighed when a plethora of memories invaded his mind. Namjoon and him had grown up together, so they had enough embarrassing moments to fill a bible-sized book with.
The kid over the counter stopped paying attention to the old ladies when he heard the cashier talk, and for the first time, laid eyes on Jimin. He got down from the counter and stayed by the cashier’s side, kind of imitating Jimin’s posture behind Yoongi. Both kids looked at each other shyly.
“Did you get shy, Taehyungie?”, the cashier asked, looking down to see the child. Taehyung hid even more behind his leg and the handsome guy laughed again. “You were okay talking to all of those ladies and when someone your age comes in you get all shy and hide? It's okay, the kid won’t bite you. He’s here to get my delicious pastries, he won’t bother trying to eat such a boney, meatless kid like you, right?”. Both Jimin and Taehyung laughed. “Tae-Tae! don’t laugh or he will discover your secret!!”
“What secret, uncle?” Taehyung opened his eyes with curiosity and a pinch of fear, as if he really had a secret that no one could ever know of.
Taehyung’s uncle squatted and fake whispered: “He will find out about your bread cheeks!!!!”. The kid gasped as if it was something really serious and covered his face, while at the same time Yoongi and Namjoon laughed quietly.
The cashier stood up again, and with a serious face asked Yoongi: “Hello, sir, welcome to Sugar Daddy, I am Kim Seokjin, this bakery’s resident Sugar Daddy, what can I offer you?”. Namjoon laughed in silence, while Yoongi coughed and blushed furiously. Yoongi wondered if he was flirting with him, and whether it was a normal thing he did to get the customer’s sympathy or it was a special service targeted towards him exclusively.
“Oh, wouldn’t this daddy like some sugar from this bakery?” Namjoon half shouted to embarrass Yoongi even more. “And Jin-hyung, wasn’t the name of the bakery a bit different? Why didn’t I get this special treatment the first time I came here? What was the name, Tae-Tae?”.
“Kim Mooncakes, although we don’t sell only mooncakes. That would be sad. I love other sweets more than mooncakes. Like these ones with strawberries on them. I love strawberries”.
“I think the sweetest thing in this bakery is you, Taehyungie.” The cashier looked at him sweetly, but then had a completely serious face when his eyes returned to Yoongi. “But, sir, the kid is not for sale. Yes, sir, I know he’s cute and has cute cheeks but unfortunately I can’t sell him… mainly because my sister would kill me. Are you interested in selling your little mochi over there?”. Taehyung and Jimin laughed at the jokes. The cashier seemed to be very good with kids… So he was both handsome and good with kids? Yoongi was beginning to tick things on his “People I Might Actually Consider Dating” List.
Namjoon’s phone rang and he made an excuse to answer outside, because it was still too loud inside the bakery for him to talk on the phone. Yoongi and Jimin got closer to the counter to examine the pastries and the handsome cashier started explaining each particular treat. The kids had slowly forgotten their initial shyness, Jimin made questions about the flavours and ingredients while Taehyung pointed out his favorites.
Jimin ended up picking a strawberry flavored cake under Taehyung’s influence, while Yoongi picked up the kore-ppang, as the cashier— Jin-hyung— had teased Namjoon about eating too much of them.
The kid disappeared from their view while Jin tried to make some conversation.
“So you and Namjoon… have been together for a long time, right?”
“We met when we were kids and lived together for some time in college...” Yoongi left the sentence hanging, thinking until Jimin happened. But he would never talk about that in front of his kid. “He’s my best friend”. He cleared, realizing that Jin might have implied that Namjoon and him were in some sort of relationship.
“But I am your best friend, right Appa?” Jimin inquired.
“Obviously, you’re my best friend in the whole world, just don’t tell Joonie”.
“Don’t tell Joonie what?”. Namjoon appeared behind them and Jimin made the gesture of closing his mouth with a zipper, a gesture Jimin had learned recently.
“Oh, it’s nothing, just that we ran out of kore-ppang right when you arrived”, when he said it, he made an exaggerated wink towards Jimin, and he laughed quietly, mimicking the gesture.
At that moment, Taehyung came back from where he was —behind the doors, where they prepared the pastries— with one banana and one strawberry flavored milk in each hand. He touched his uncle's leg and Jin crunched down to hear what he had to say.
“Why don’t you offer it yourself?” Jin asked very quietly. “Okay, but next time you’ll do it, I’m sure he won’t refuse”. Taehyung smiled while Jin asked Jimin which flavor he prefered.
“I’ll have the banana one”. At this, Yoongi frowned.
Jimin loved pink. He would always pick pink colored things: his school backpack was a cloud-printed one with pastel-y shades such as pink, lilac and light blue; when Namjoon dyed his hair pink, Jimin immediately asked Yoongi whether he could have pink hair. Yoongi told him that when he was old enough to dye his hair, he would help him achieve any color he wanted. And lastly, strawberry milk. Some kids in his class started saying that pink was not a color for boys to use. So Jimin stopped wearing his favorite sweater. Then, he stopped drinking his favorite flavor of milk. Then, he would go home and watch shows that in the past bored him to death, the ones with too much violence and forwent the one she actually liked, that highlighted the importance of friendship. Yoongi realized all of these little changes and one day, when they were grocery shopping, he decided to make a little experiment.
“Hey, I noticed you stopped asking for strawberry milk so I’ll just buy the banana flavored ones from now on. Is that okay?” He kept his expression neutral, and payed his whole attention towards his son so he could catch any change in him.
“Appa, no. You know it’s my favorite, let’s take one of each, please”. Jimin looked at him with puppy eyes.
“Oh, I just thought you didn’t like it anymore”.
“Is just that…” Jimin paused, and Yoongi immediately realized he was feeling insecure.
“It’s okay, you can explain it when you’re ready. For now, let’s just choose which flavour you’ll have”. His son pointed towards both the banana and the strawberry flavored drinks. And they continued down the aisle.
After a while, he managed to collect the courage to ask one question. “Is pink a color just for girls?”
And it all sinked. All the weird, minimal changs in his routines. He quickly recovered from the impression, and pretended to be thinking hard.
“Every color is for everyone, sweetheart. If you like it, then it is for you. Colors are not meant to be for boys or girls exclusively” Yoongi managed to say immediately. Jimin adorably put one of his hands under his chin to show he was deeply thinking about something, a gesture he had learned from Namjoon. Yoongi continued: “Did you think your Uncle Joonie was a girl when he dyed his hair pink?”
Jimin kept the thinking posture, but then shook his head.
“Would you like strawberry milk if it was blue?” Yoongi asked. Jimin started laughing, as if the whole concept of blue milk was such a hilarious idea.
“But strawberries are not blue, dad! That’s ridiculous”. Yoongi laughed with him for a while. Jimin, after a while, spoke up again. “It’s just that some kids at daycare said that I was like a girl because I liked pink and purple. They said my clothes were girly, and things like that…”
“Do you like your pink sweater?” Jimin nodded. “Do you like your backpack?” Jimin nodded. “Would you like strawberry milk even if it was blue?” Jimin laughed but nodded anyway. Yoongi decided to play a prank on his son the next time he asked for a snack, and decided to add food coloring into their cart.
“I’ll have the banana one, because Taehyung-ssi likes strawberries the most.” Jimin said quietly. Yoongi quickly changed his expression from worry to a warm smile, of course Jimin would do that. He might be a quiet kid, but he noticed everything and was extremely caring. Sometimes he would even notice when Yoongi was feeling stressed out about his job and would ask him to go on a walk to the park or for the two of them to cook something delicious for dinner and treat his grandparents.
Taehyung smiled, showing a missing tooth and his famous bread cheeks. And walked to give Jimin the banana milk. While he thanked him.
They said their goodbyes and left the bakery. Yoongi was feeling how, for the first time in ages, his heart fluttered at the thought of someone new.
They walked to a small park and sat down on a bench underneath a tree to eat and wait for a closer time to the appointment. That’s when Yoongi decided to ask about it.
“So what’s the appointment for? If it’s something job related, then I think Jimin and I should stay here, I can see there are some games for him to pass the time”.
“No, it’s okay, I need your advice on this, actually”. He stated, tying not to look too suspicious. He looked at his phone and realized that they had spent more time inside the bakery than what he anticipated so he got up and said: “And it’s about time, shall we?” He avoided the first question because he hadn’t come up with a lie to cover up. He could’ve said he was thinking about moving but Yoongi knew he had found the perfect place, for really cheap and his contract wouldn’t finish anytime soon.
They walked back towards the bakery, Yoongi played the uninterested card and tried to not take a peek inside, mainly because he knew Namjoon could read his mind, and they knew each other too well to notice when the other was attracted to someone. Besides, Namjoon had already said the cashier had been flirting.
Right next to the bakery there was another small shop type of building, with a man in a suit right in front of it. “Kim Namjoon-ssi?”
“Yes, hello Mister Choi, this is my friend Min Yoongi and his son Jimin, I hope you don’t mind them joining us”.
“No problem at all! The more the merrier. Hello Yoongi-ssi and Jimin-ssi. Let’s begin the tour”. Mister Choi was around 60 years old, he looked old but he was very cheerful. His aura transmitted a sense of security that definitely had helped him throughout his career as realtor.
And right there, Yoongi understood everything. Namjoon wanting him to go to this ‘meeting’, being all secretive about what it was. The ‘innocent’ stop to the bakery next door so he could meet a potential neighbor. A handsome one, he might add. With a kid who looked around Jimin’s age. And now the tour to a place that Namjoon obviously was not interested in, because he had landed the best housing situation he could find and was definitely not interested in renting —owning?— a restaurant. He then remembered the conversation he had had with Namjoon when he mentioned the availability of this place. He never thought his best friend would go this far for Yoongi to think about the options he might have to get out of the unhappy life he was living, but again, Namjoon had always supported him.
Yoongi looked at Namjoon, who had been analyzing every expression on Yoongi’s face, and smiled knowingly. His friend looked guilty but there was a spark in his eyes, showing that he didn’t regret the trap he had set to his friend.
“We’ll begin with the first floor, where the whole restaurant structure is located and then we’ll move towards the second floor, where there is a partially furnished apartment that can house a family, as the original owners of this place actually built it with that in mind.”
“What type of restaurant was it before?” Yoongi asked, suddenly. He was holding Jimin, who was holding onto him koala style.
“It was a traditional korean food restaurant”.
Namjoon had a notebook where he had written down all of the different questions he had to ask in order to make sure the place was working and ready to run as soon as possible. He made sure the realtor actually made the kitchen equipment work, turning on the ovens and the gas cooker, showing them the water coming out of the tap was clear in both the kitchen and the bathroom. He even brought his phone charger to make sure all the plugs worked. He made sure the realtor showed him something to certify that the equipment had been under proper maintenance and even googled the company to check whether it was a good one. It looked like he was ticking a list while he did the quality check. Yoongi was amazed.
Namjoon didn’t know anything about kitchen equipment. About restaurants. About running a business. His best friend was book smart, but he lacked a lot on the street smart department. Yoongi had to tie his shoelaces for him until they were well into highschool. So, for Namjoon to ask all of these questions, he surely had done some research.
The restaurant wasn’t small. It wasn’t big either. Yoongi thought he could definitely make it work. Having a small pizza restaurant here wouldn’t be too bad. It would be so much better than his current job as a supermarket manager in a fancy neighborhood of Daegu, having to talk to angry and rude customers everyday. There was space for a few tables. The space overall didn’t need much changes to be turned into something that suited Yoongi’s taste in decoration, and became something more modern. Something to suit the vision he had of his own restaurant.
They continued the tour towards the second floor, and the apartment was, again, not small at all. There was a fairly small kitchen, but honestly who needed a bigger one when there was a whole restaurant downstairs? There was space for a living room and two rooms, perfect for the two of them. Yoongi could even fit a small office in the main area. Even though Jimin still slept with him on the same bed, Yoongi knew he had to work even harder for them to move out of his parent’s house and so that each of them could have their own space, and so he could finally raise Jimin the waye wanted to, away from ideologies and prejudices his parent’s generation has. He even considered getting another job, maybe something a few nights a week would do. The thing is, he kind of hated Daegu too. But he was afraid of going anywhere else because then he wouldn’t have his parent’s support. Namjoon doing this for him was proving he would blindly give Yoongi any help he needed, and even make unexpectable efforts for him, such as researching everything about restaurant ownership.
Jimin asked to be taken down, and started walking around the house holding Yoongi’s hands. They both wandered around, silently judging the place, even though the kid had no idea this was his potential new home. Namjoon started asking housing questions, the same ones he and Yoongi had thought about when he first moved out of Daegu. How was the water pressure? Was the electricity stable? Was there any leaking or plumber problems? And other ones that seemed very in tune with the fact that Yoongi could be living here with Jimin: How far is the elementary school? Is the street safe for children to play? Is it a noisy street? Would Jimin be able to sleep at night? Would Jimin feel safe in this new space? Would he grow up in a good environment?
Namjoon knew most of these answers, because he himself had thoroughly researched them before moving to this neighborhood, but he wanted Yoongi to hear the answers from the real estate agent himself. Namjoon had questioned himself over the subject of wanting Yoongi to move to the capital for the past few months. He thought it was selfish and manipulative wanting his best friend to follow him there. He thought it was just him being scared of loneliness and change, so he had made his mission to bring something familiar, and what could be better than bringing his best friend? He had talked about it with some friends and they had reassured him. It wasn’t selfish wanting someone you love to have a better life. For them to be able to be independent and to work in something that they actually loved. It took him a while to internalize that his wish wasn’t out of selfishness, but eventually he was convinced and opportunities started to arise. Almost as if it was destiny.
Then, Yoongi started asking questions too. The important ones that would finally determine whether he could afford to move to Seoul. How much the bills would be? How expensive was it to live in Seoul? How difficult was it for a new restaurant to actually succeed in this neighborhood? Namjoon and he had recollected some this information when he moved, but Yoongi wanted to make sure, he wanted a third opinion on the subject. A professional one wouldn’t be bad either.
They moved downstairs again, and the realtor said the last word: the deposit and renting prices.
They thanked him and said they would get in contact soon.
Namjoon and Yoongi walked in silence to Namjoon’s apartment. A comfortable studio that was on the second floor of a two story small building. Namjoon said in the first floor there was a bigger apartment and that two brothers lived there, and that he had become friends with them immediately.
When they arrived, Yoongi accommodated Jimin on the bed, and put a tv show so his son could rest after the hectic morning they had had. He also did this so he and Namjoon could discuss the whole moving thing while they prepared lunch.
“So…” Namjoon started, after what he thought would be a reasonable time for Yoongi to let the information sink and have his internal debates. Yoongi was skillfully cutting vegetables and stopped when the younger spoke up.
“How insane would it be if I said I want to do it?” He looked at his best friend, eyes filled with hope, sparkling in a way that none of them had seen in ages.
“Hyung, it’s not insane at all”. Namjoon walked over and gently put his hand over Yoongi’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it but I thought you would chicken out last minute if I told you. And I thought you had to see it with your own eyes, see Jimin in there too, you are the only ones that can make that decision anyway”.
“It’s okay, we both know I wouldn’t have even tried to look for an opportunity like this one. The truth is… I’m comfortable. Economically speaking, I’m comfortable where I am right now. But I’m not happy in any way. Living with my parents allowed me to save up lots of money, but I was sacrificing important things like raising my kid the way I want to do it. And my happiness. And my dreams.” Yoongi sighed, his eyes deep in thought.
“Do you think you can make it?” Namjoon went straight to the point.
“I actually think I can, Joonie”.