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➜ First Meeting
Yoongi would've lied if he said he wasn't a little bothered by the change. They told the group of trainees they wanted to turn the all rappers boy group into a typical idol boy group. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing but Yoongi had, at the time, always thought that it would've been cooler and better to be different and stick to what he considered to be the roots of hiphop. But he was more desperate to debut.
The first person they brought in for the group, they heard, was merely street casted. He felt a little wary at the idea that someone who didn't even have to audition would be thrown into their group and when they heard he was meant to be an actor and just started study on campus, his wariness grew.
"Nice to meet you, everyone," Seokjin said a little awkwardly, "I'm Kim Seokjin. Please take care of me," he added. Yoongi's first thought of the guy was 'cute' and he inwardly scolded himself. He noticed the others seemed to have felt the same because their expressions changed to a mix of intimidated and flustered.
"Min Yoongi," the rapper said as he shook the man's hand. It felt warm. Soft. Yoongi bit his lip and shook the thought out of his head as Seokjin continued down the line of trainees.
"Seokjin will be-" one of the staff started but was cut off.
"The visual?" Hoseok said and everyone looked at him. "Sorry."
"Yes," was the response. No one disagreed. Seokjin was difficult to look at. There was a presence to him that sort of made his good looks glow. It made everyone else feel small.
Eventually, Seokjin and Yoongi spoke a few times and grew closer over shared experiences of the trainee life. His mind didn't let him drop the 'cute' thought though and Yoongi was worried that might end up a future problem. The more he talked to him, the more the vibe he gave off felt different, like part of it felt fake and the other genuine. It confused him. The passion to be a vocalist just wasn't there and so he asked him once if he was serious about debuting. The look of determination in his eyes as he answered would be one Yoongi would never forget. In that, they bonded.
➜ First Talk
One evening, after hours and hours of dancing, Seokjin made a small announcement to the room of trainees that he needed to speak to the manager. Everyone felt a little worried but turned curious when he came back, a light in his eyes.
"We're eating out today," Seokjin said excitedly with clasped hands. He noticed the confused looks the trainees sent each other and rolled his eyes. "It's hyung's treat," he said and suddenly they were all up on their feet and smothering Seokjin with teases of being the greatest hyung and for being so cool and kind. Yoongi was pretty sure the entire dorm had fallen for Seokjin at that point. He asked everyone to dress up a little and they all complied, though a little lost.
The manager drove them to a street they were all a little familiar with and were left even more lost when they stopped across a well known hotel in Seoul.
"Hyung, are we walking the rest of the way?" Yoongi asked as they all exited the van.
"No, we're eating there," Seokjin said as he pointed to the building. Their eyes widened.
"Hyung, that's too-"
"My parents give me an allowance and I want to treat my dongsaengs," he said with a smile. "Now, let's go," he said as he gestured for them to follow. Yoongi pursed his lips when he felt a tug on his heart strings.
That night, everyone secretly agreed that they needed to pool some money together to get Seokjin a present: a Super Mario figurine. It was Yoongi's idea.
Seokjin nearly cried when he opened it.
The next time Seokjin said he had to talk to the manager, the others assumed it would be another hotel buffet but instead he came back with different news.
"I'm making dinner," he said and Hoseok widened his eyes in excitement.
"Ah, hyung, you're finally gonna share your cooking with us?" Jungkook said with a smile and Seokjin simply smiled in return as he nodded. Yoongi figured that in that moment, everyone fell in love with Seokjin a second time and whoever said the way to a man's heart was his stomach knew what he was talking about.
That night, it felt like a party. Everyone laughed and danced and ate until their stomachs could literally not take anymore. They felt happy.
Yoongi stared as Seokjin tried to stop the others from cleaning up. He stared as his hyung was kicked out of the kitchen by the younger ones. He stared as he took a seat next to Yoongi on the ground and sulk about it. He didn't even notice Yoongi was sat next to him.
"Hyung," Yoongi said and Seokjin jumped a little.
"Yoongi," Seokjin breathed out. "I thought you went to sleep."
"Too full to sleep," he muttered as he patted his stomach. Seokjin laughed and Yoongi's chest tingled at the sound. "Thank you for the food," he added.
"I have to treat my dongsaengs once in a while," he responded with a shrug.
"How do you afford all this anyway?" he said and Seokjin looked a little taken aback.
"I told you, parents give me allowance."
"Enough to fill about 10 extremely hungry trainees?" he asked, a little baffled.
"I save a lot."
"But don't they give it to you every month?"
"Why does it matter?" Seokjin said a little angrily. Yoongi raised a hand up in defense.
"Sorry," he muttered, "I was just curious."
Seokjin sighed.
"I just-I don't want to be treated differently because my parents have money," he admitted and Yoongi kind of understands.
"What do they do anyway?"
"Uhm, my dad's sort of important."
"So are the rest of our parents," he said with a raised eyebrow and Seokjin glared.
"I mean he's-he's important in the business industry."
"Is he like a CEO or something?" Yoongi teased but then noticed the sheepish look on his hyung's face. "Wait, what?!" he said as he sat up striaght and Seokjin covered his mouth.
"Shut up," he said and Yoongi looked at him with wide eyes.
"Wait," he said into the other's hand. Seokjin pulled his hand away and sighed. "Your last name is Kim," he said and it's like he put two and two together. "You're THAT Kim's son?" he asked and Seokjin sighed again.
"Please don't tell anyone," he said with pleading eyes. Yoongi was about to respond when the younger ones came back in the room. Seokjin smiled and thanked them for their hard work and they did the same before some headed back into the room for sleep and others, particularly Namjoon and Hoseok, opted to head back to work in the studio.
"I won't," Yoongi said once they were gone. Seokjin turned his head to look at him. "I won't tell," he added as if he needed to clarify. Seokjin smiled and thanked him and Yoongi felt a little special being the only one who knew something about Seokjin.
The truth came out eventually and Seokjin was happy to discover no one would treat him differently, save a bit of teasing but it was fine nonetheless. Yoongi took pride in the fact everyone knew Seokjin told him first.
This did not help the entire 'cute' situation.
➜ Debut Day
Seokjin fucked up. He didn't bother to stop the tears when they exited the stage. The members looked a mix between relief that it was over and either satisfaction or disappointment in their own performance. Seokjin was one of the latter. He tried to explain what happened but just turned into an incoherent mess.
"Hyung, it's okay," Jimin attempted to comfort him but Seokjin was simply angry at himself. Seokjin listened to the comforting words of his dongsaengs and tried to focus on the next stage they would have but his mind kept going back to what happened on stage.
"You can't control everything, hyung," Namjoon told him, "Stuff like this happens and it was only a rehearsal and a pre-recording," he added and Seokjin continued to keep silent. The staff dabbed tissues across his face and he just looked up to stop himself from crying. Yoongi watched, feeling a little helpless.
They moved on to the next performance, which was their first live broadcast. Seokjin's nerves didn't settle but he was determined to avoid any mistakes. He felt more encouraged when they did their cheer but just as they finished waving to the camera and leaving for the stage, he felt a hand grab his wrist. He turned around, surprised to find Yoongi there with a serious expression across his face.
"You'll be fine, hyung," he said, as though he truly believed it, "Just breathe," he added. Seokjin closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he looked at him. "It'll be fine," he said and Seokjin smiled in return.
The performance was perfect. They all happily exited the stage with words of congratulations and thanks to each other and the staff. They still had more to do the next day but their first official live broadcast was over. Seokjin smiled widely before he turned around to hug the members, Hoseok first as he was directly behind him. He then turned his head and spotted Yoongi. He went straight for him and pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you," Seokjin whispered as Yoongi patted his back. He lingered a bit longer and Yoongi stopped patting him to hug him properly. "Thank you," he repeated.
"Anytime, hyung," Yoongi said and Seokjin pulled away to give him a smile.
Yoongi's stomach flipped.
The rest of their debut performances went unbelievably well. Though if anyone noticed that Yoongi and Seokjin had the tendency to whisper words of encouragement to each other right before they went on stage, they said nothing.
➜ First Win: I Need U
The day they received their first win was not only significant to Yoongi for that reason but also for another.
Namjoon gave the speech perfectly and the smiles on their faces grew. The encore stage for I Need U happened in a blur of smiles and laughter and lipstick. They waved to their fans and bowed continuously. It was overwhelming. When they exited the stage, they shifted from hugging each other to thanking everyone on camera. Jimin gave in and cried which made the rest of them struggle to keep the tears in. They of course let it out when they reached their waiting room because it was all just too much. They passed around the trophy and continued to thank their fans, friends and family on camera before they tried to decide how to celebrate.
Seokjin stared at the members spread across the room and he could feel a sob threatening to escape his body. He pursed his lips before he walked out. He figured he would head to the building's roof in an attempt to just breathe and process what just happened. He didn't expect someone to stop the elevator just as it was about to close.
"Hyung," Yoongi said as he walked in. Seokjin smiled.
"Yoongi," he responded and they both looked at each other as the elevator closed. "You did it," Seokjin said and Yoongi quickly rubbed his eyes on his sleeve.
"We all did it," Yoongi muttered. Yoongi didn't cry but he looked pretty close to it. Seokjin just surrendered and let it fall. "Stop crying," Yoongi said.
"Don't wanna," Seokjin responded as the tears flowed. "I'm happy," he added as he rubbed his eyes.
"I'm happy too."
"You worked hard, Yoongi," he said and Yoongi smiled. They both leaned against the wall of the elevator and stared at the floor.
"You did too."
"Not as hard as you," the eldest felt the need to say. "I've seen how much you've been struggling since day one."
"So have I," Yoongi retorted. "Hyung, you came into the company knowing nothing. No training, no intention of being an idol and no faith in yourself to even do so."
Seokjin was taken aback. He turned to look at the younger but his eyes were still focused on the ground.
"You were going to be our visual and of course no one protested because obviously, your looks are something else but you proved that you were more than that. You practiced so hard and worked so hard to get to where you are."
"Yoongi-"
"And I was worried at first because I just thought you were a trainee with a cute face who was awkward and didn't really know much but now you have a voice, you can dance. You've made mistakes but it's only made you grow more."
Before Yoongi could say anything else, Seokjin pulled the other into a hug. Yoongi stood still, caught off guard by the action.
"You worked hard too, Yoongi," Seokjin whispered before he pulled away. He rested his hands on Yoongi's shoulder so that the younger faced him. "You went through hell underground, you went through the auditions and the training. You faced so many walls and so many people that doubted you and your skills. Instead of quitting, you made a name for yourself. You voiced your feelings and let everything flow into the music. I was always so jealous of your producing skills and your determination and thinking about it more only encouraged me to do better."
Yoongi could only stare at him, flustered.
"And I thought you had a cute face too," Seokjin said. "When I met you that day," he added before he released him and turned to face the doors. Yoongi felt a loss for words.
They both stood in silence as they stared at the doors, far too aware of how close the other was to them.
"We didn't even press a button," Seokjin said suddenly and they both stared at the panel of buttons and laughed. Seokjin sighed before he pressed the top floor and they both stood there in silence.
A few people came in and out at different floors, some even congratulated them on their win. Eventually when they were a couple floors away from the top, Seokjin spoke again.
"You still have a cute face, you know," he admitted. Yoongi turned to look at him and Seokjin smiled. Before Yoongi could respond though, Seokjin grabbed his wrist. "Thank you," he said before he pulled him closer and leaned down.
"Hyung," was all Yoongi said before he felt a pair of lips press against his own. He widened his eyes. Seokjin pulled away as the doors opened and walked out. Yoongi was frozen. "I-Hyung," he started when he finally looked at the other.
"Thank you," Seokjin repeated as he stood outside of the elevator with a smile, his face pink and his hands behind his back. The doors closed and Yoongi could only stare. His eyes shifted to the panel and noticed the bottom floor button already pressed and the elevator already moving.
Yoongi leaned against the wall of the elevator as he touched his lips. He was in a daze the entire trip down and back into the dressing room.
"Hyung, I thought you washed off your lipstick already," Taehyung said when he walked in.
"I did," Yoongi responded, though a little distracted.
"Well you missed a spot," Taehyung said and Yoongi wiped his lips. He walked up to the mirror and his heart pace quickened when he realised that he most definitely washed it all off and that that lipstick mark was not there before.
He knew the 'cute' thought would lead to future problems.
He never regretted it though.
End.