Chapter Text
Jeongguk has always been fond of daisies.
His best friend (whom he claims he hates but secretly is very thankful for), Taehyung, is the epitome of a short attention span. Jeongguk remembers how shocked he was to walk into their dorm to see fertiliser all over the floor (carpet. it was a carpet floor.) as Taehyung grinned back at him with a toothy smile exclaiming, “this is it, Kookie! I’ve finally found my passion!”
Jeongguk rolled his eyes but continued to water the plants after Taehyung lost interest in them. His own interest was piqued when the sprouts started growing taller, a smile appeared when buds were visible, and he fell in love when the flowers blossomed.
Taehyung’s ambitions may come and go, but somehow, the daisies stuck with Jeongguk.
And so his adoration for the flower is what caught his eye, really. He turned his head and was met with the bright gentleness of the white daisy against the stark contrast of onyx hair and pale skin. His gaze was drawn to the singular flower loosely grasped in the slender fingers of the pale boy, and suddenly daisies weren't the most beautiful thing Jeongguk’s ever seen anymore.
Jeongguk was too entranced by how the boy perfectly compliments the floㅡno, how the flower perfectly compliments the boy, the once favored flower now a simple accessoryㅡand came to an offsetting realization when his mind finally focused on the boy’s face.
His expression was calm and serene. His head was tilted to the side as he slept, and yet tears slipped down his cheeks like rain against the cold glass of a window. Jeongguk felt his eyes widen and lips part as he gaped and he felt he had to do something but didn't know whatㅡso he did nothing. But above all, silence was what Jeongguk feared the most, and so he slipped in his earphones and drummed his fingers against his knee. He couldn't focus, the beat of Suga’s new produced song for Suran simply became an echo that resonated against the concern that just grew larger and larger until the music was left neglected and Jeongguk couldn’t help but glance at the boy so much that the passengers near them gave him smug looks. ((Youth is beautiful, they probably think. I don’t have any bad intentions. Or perhaps I do. No I don’t. I just want to know if he’s okay. (But he is really pretty.))
It took about two more stops at stations until the mysterious boy stirred awake. He gave a sleepy blink and rubbed his eyes and Jeongguk has long forgotten about the beautiful fragility of the daisies at this point because he’s begun to think the deep chocolate hue eyes of the boy with the flower is much more beautiful than the white and yellow of a daisy.
The boy got off on the next stop with a sigh.
* * * * *
“...So you're telling me,” Taehyung started. “That you found your muse, your one and only soulmate, your destined lover on the train?”
Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “All I said was that I saw someone on the train that I thought was pretty. Don't twist my words, Tae.”
“But you'd smash though right?”
Jeongguk gnawed on his bottom lip. It felt uncomfortably wrong to be joking in such a manner when the Boy With Tears (as dubbed by Taehyung) was crying. He somehow felt as if he was disrespecting him.
“...Is that a no?” Taehyung frowned.
“I don't know, Tae.” Jeongguk sighed, shutting the fridge. “We need to go grocery shopping.”
The elder groaned and sometimes (more often than not) Jeongguk really wishes he were older. “But I'm so lazy!”
“Kim Taehyung. You're the only one that's able to drive and the closest grocery store is 30 minutes away by car.” Jeongguk growled.
“I love it when your voice gets all deep like that,” Taehyung threw a wink and shot up in his seat from the couch. “Wait! I'll take you on one condition!”
“Shouldn't you be taking me anyway since technically I'm buying your groceries too?”
“Don't be a smartass.” Taehyung said. “There's this nightclub that's been harboring a lot of attention lately and I’ve been wanting to check it out. You down?”
Taehyung barely caught the car keys Jeongguk suddenly tossed to him.
“When am I ever not down?”
* * * * * *
Jeongguk’s expectations slowly rose with every passing minute that they had to stand out in the bitter cold.
The club itself seemed sleek, with smooth black exterior and gold scripture above the entrance that read “ Alpha .” It was aesthetically pleasing, and he’ll be damned if the club isn’t as impressive as the standard he’s set.
Even for a new place, the line was much too longㅡespecially considering that they’re in the VIP line due to personal connections to the bartender of the club. They’ve been standing in line for about 30 minutes now, so Jeongguk isn’t surprised when the people started attempting to quench their boredom by becoming talkative.
Taehyung, being the social butterfly that he is, naturally mixed into the socializing. Jeongguk strayed away and tried to hide himself from the people in conversations in order to avoid confrontation. Eventually, he caught a familiar mop of rust colored hair weaving through the crowd towards him.
“Jeongguk!” Taehyung beamed. “We’re almost there!”
“Thankfully.”
Taehyung pouted. “You sound upset.”
“Who waits in a VIP line for 45 minutes?”
“The people I talked to said it’s normal,” then, he quickly added, “they also mentioned that it’s totally worth it.”
Jeongguk sighed.
5 more minutes pass until finally, finally they make it inside.
Deafening music spilled out of the small opening of the door that Jeongguk pulled open, until eventually it engulfed him and he became one with the crowd.
He quickly shimmied through the onslaught of sweaty, drunk people and made his escape to the bar. He sighed in relief until his muscles tensed and his body did a little jump that he'll never admit to when a familiar dimpled smile appeared before him.
“Hey, Jeongguk.”
Jeongguk found himself sighing again, running a hand down his face. “I forgot that you're the bartender here.”
“Even though I’m the reason you got in as VIP?”
A slight pause as Jeongguk had to physically restrain himself from sighing again. “I also forgot that I was even in the VIP line. It took 50 fucking minutes.”
“Haha, that’s normal. You look exhausted. Don't you enjoy,” Namjoon gestured toward their surroundings, “this kind of thing?”
“I'm not drunk enough for this.”
“I can fix that,” Namjoon said before handing Jeongguk a glass. Jeongguk took a swing. “Speaking of which, where’s Tae?”
Jeongguk shrugged. “Lost him in the crowd.”
Namjoon chuckled. “You forgot about him, didn't you?”
“What's so special about this place?” Jeongguk asked, less out of spite and more out of curiosity. The club itself was okay, definitely not as extravagant and grand as the other clubs, but there was a decent amount of space and the interior was as aesthetically pleasing as the outside of the building. The club was just alright and Jeongguk can't seem to put his finger on why it was so popular to the point that even the VIP line took anything longer than 5 minutes. (It’s ridiculous. Jeongguk still hasn't gotten over this.)
“Hm,” Namjoon leaned over and propped his elbows on the counter. “Well, what kind of things have you heard about this place?”
The younger boy shrugged. “Just heard that Alpha is popular. Hyped it up a lot. But now that I'm here, I don't think I can quite understand why.”
“Oh, you thought they meant Alpha as in, like, here?”
“What?”
“This is a strip club, Jeongguk.”
Jeongguk’s mouth fell open in an ‘o’ shape. “So…”
“So,” Namjoon dragged out, “Alpha isn't a place.”
Well, Jeongguk be damned, because the lights flicked off the moment things clicked into place for him, and instead powerful lights entranced his focus onto the stage.
Jeongguk at this point was still recovering from his confusion, to the point it took him a couple moments to realize that there was a figure that appeared on the stage. The crowd roared, ( like seriously, Jeongguk thought he was at some korean boy band concert or something) and it took Jeongguk another couple moments to realize that the face of the figure was a bit more familiar than he thought it would be.
Jeongguk thought he would be able to recognize that face anywhereㅡand he wasn't quite wrong, except Jeongguk dubbed the face as the boy with tears and not the boy with bedroom eyes and supple honey thighs that made Jeongguk hard in about 2 seconds.
The boy with tearsㅡAlpha, apparentlyㅡbrushed his hands down the thighs his shorts clung onto perfectly and ran them back up before he tugged on the hem, only to snap it back in perfect tune to the bass in the blaring music. The crowd was still roaring, and Jeongguk was still just dumbstruck, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open. Alpha glided his tongue across his lips before turning around.
Oh, god. He turned around. Jeongguk’s never gotten aroused by a strip show before but holy fucking hell, his ass. The boy with tears’ perfectly sculpted bottom. His well carved back and hip dimples and holy fuck my jeans are just about to rip from how hard I am.
But then Jeongguk remembered the tears, and remembered the setting he's in, and realized there's much more to the boy with tears’ life than just the most beautiful ass Jeongguk’s ever seen. He closed his mouth and regained composure. Jeongguk suddenly felt guilty, his initial concern for the boy growing even larger.
“You seemed to have liked it. What's wrong?” Taehyung slid into the seat next to him.
“That's him.” Jeongguk managed to bite out.
Taehyung blinked at him for a few moments before it clicked.
“Oh, fuck, seriously? Dude, you called him pretty but he's so hot I’d let him fuck me into the next week.”
Jeongguk felt odd, watching him take his shirt off, trying to not let his eyes linger on the curve of his abs, so he turned around and asked (demanded) Namjoon for the strongest drink he has.
* * * * *
“....uk…...Jeo.....guk. Jeongguk.” Jeongguk’s eyelashes fluttered against his cheeks before he registered the soreness on his face from laying on the rough fabric of the arm of his jacket for too long. He sat up.
“You fell asleep,” Namjoon chuckled. “You took a couple sips of my cocktail before you passed out.”
“Dammit,” Jeongguk groggily rustled his hand through his hair before grumbling, “don’t tell me Taehyung already left.”
Namjoon gave him a sympathetic smile. Jeongguk groaned.
“You can sleep in the backroom with me, if you'd like. There's no more buses running right now. You can take a shower in the bathroom connected to the backroom.”
“Thanks, Namjoon. Owe you one.” Jeongguk called over his shoulder before shuffling his feet to the shower.
* * * * *
“Namjoon?” Jeongguk called while ruffling his hair with a towel.
He pondered as to where the dimple faced male may have went, when his gaze absentmindedly fell on a yellow sticky note stuck onto the door.
My roommate drunk-microwaved plastic and it's a really expensive microwave that was a gift from my girlfriend so I’m gonna grab a taxi home to make sure that lil fucker doesn't cause even more trouble. Sorry to leave you alone, Jeon. I feel bad that you have to sleep on the couch but I put the blanket in the dryer so hopefully it’s still toasty by the time you tuck yourself in.
Sleep well,
ㅡJoonie
Jeongguk stopped rustling his hair dry as his eyes almost well up with tears from how thankful he is to be blessed with Namjoon in his life. (Take some notes, Taehyung.)
Jeongguk’s hair was still just the tiniest bit damp when he decided to turn off the lights and throw himself under the covers (yes the blanket is still nice and toasty, god bless, a literal blessing during a chilly night and a stubborn Jeongguk that insists to sleep shirtless even on the coldest nights).
And all was going great, absolutely great, and Jeongguk was almost about to succumb to the sweet comfort of the night until the door clicked open.
Light from the hallway spilled into the room as the door was nudged open. “I’m really sorry Joon but do you mind if I can sleep here again? The restaurant called me and said they were running low on staff for the important vip reservation and I ran there immediately after the show ended because like, they offered more than I usually get, but there's like no more buses and it's really cold so I don't want to walk homeㅡwait, sorry, I’m rambling.”
Jeongguk squinted. “Um.”
The silhouette at the doorway froze. “Um.” They squeaked. “You're. Not Namjoon.”
“Neither are you.” Jeongguk hoped he didn't sound as bewildered as he felt. He didn't know what to do, so he said, “Namjoon had to go home but there’s more than enough room if you'd like to join me. I don't know where the blankets are but this one's big enough for at least 3 people.”
“I could uh. Leave. If you want. Sorry.”
“Nonono, it's fine. Please. The closest hotel is half a mile away and it's colder than satan’s heart out there. I would hate for you to leave. I insist.”
It got so quiet that Jeongguk would’ve thought the figure left, if not for the visual reassurance of the person standing at the door. The figure shifted before walking into the room.
“....Sorry about this.”
“No, please, don't be. I'm sorry for being here in the first place.”
“No, Iㅡ”
“Let's just,” Jeongguk cut in. “Let’s sleep. I'd love to argue further but this blanket is really nice and it's been a long day.”
Jeongguk bit his lip in regret and he prayed really hard that what he said didn't come off as rude, until the boy giggled. He giggled.
“Yeah, you're right. Goodnight then, uh…”
“Jeongguk. My name’s Jeon Jeongguk.”
“Park Jimin.”
“Nice to meet you.” Jeongguk yawned. “Goodnight, Jimin.”
“Goodnight, Jeongguk.”
Steady breathing filled the room before Jeongguk felt himself tugged into sleep.
That night, Jeongguk dreamed about the boy with onyx hair and pearl white skin with raindrops on his face.