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kim seokjin heads up the parks department of a small town that no one knows or cares about, besides the people who live there. and even then... eh; the town is deeply landlocked and doesn't benefit from any beaches, nor is it in important proximity to any of south korea's many beautiful national parks. there are no big or even mid-sized cities nearby and they receive little to no tourism, ever.
to anyone living outside of their city limits, they pretty much do not exist.
and seokjin is okay with that, on the whole. it means that, because there aren't many places for it to go, their small local budget usually lands in the department that's stubborn enough to fight for it. and seokjin has a lot of fight.
but mostly, it means that they're left alone.
-
or they had been, anyway.
-
their city hall is really quite small. less of a hall, and more of a... corridor. but at nine fifteen on this particular wednesday morning, it is practically hopping with activity, all of the department heads squeezed into city hall's only conference room for the Yearly Budget Meeting.
(seokjin tends to capitalize things in his head given their importance. and to him, the Yearly Budget Meeting is of great importance.)
other department heads have in their laps perhaps a folder, to hold the budget proposals they were all meant to be presenting today. some have only a single sheet of paper held lazily in their hands. seokjin has a thick, five subject binder clutched to his chest. he has plans, and this will be the year that he finally get to see them through. he just knows it.
but when this year's budget director stands up at the head of the table, his face is not nearly as excited as seokjin thinks it should be. then he says that it's been decided that all planning and spending decisions would be postponed indefinitely, which can't possibly be right.
except that it is.
seokjin leaves the meeting not five minutes after it's begun, unsure what to do with himself.
-
he arrives back to the parks department office to a cacophony of cheers, which continue until seokjin drops into the seat behind his desk with a defeated sigh. he lets his Master Plan budget binder fall on his desk with a dull thump.
"hold on," jimin pipes up from his small desk to seokjin's right. "didn't the meeting just start? how can you be back so soon?"
taehyung swivels around to face jimin from his own desk, directly next to seokjin's on his left. "unless no one besides seokjin-hyung showed up again, like that one time." he swivels to face seokjin. "is that what happened, hyung? did no one show up again?"
seokjin opens his mouth to answer, but is beaten to the punch by jungkook in the desk adjacent to taehyung's, his voice barely more than a mutter.
"or maybe, the meeting was canceled. maybe, there is no budget this year."
taehyung scoffs disbelievingly, already saying there's no way that would happen, there's always a budget meeting -- when seokjin cuts in.
"no, he's right. there was no meeting, and there will be no budget this year. at least, not for a while."
"but what does that mean, hyung?" jimin asks, not as scandalized as seokjin would like, but asking questions nonetheless. a small victory.
"it means, jiminie-yah, that the governor himself has decided to send people in from daegu - or was it gwangju? - to look over the spending for every branch of our city's local government. it means, put simply, that we're being audited."
-
seokjin won't pretend that he isn't scared about what this will mean for the future of his department.
he knows it may sound silly to anyone else, but he worked hard to build this place up from basically nothing. and even though it still wasn't much compared to bigger cities with bigger spending budgets, he thinks he's done a pretty good job of it. he cares about his job.
more than that, though, he cares about his employees. his people - they've created a bit of a family here, seokjin and his three bright young things. but he'd fought hard to even be allowed to hire so many assistants, and he wasn't about to lose a single one of them now. not to a pair of asshole pencil-pushers. no way.
and if that meant that seokjin would have to fight someone, then he would.
-
"you're not gonna fight anyone, hyung."
seokjin frowns, pointing an indignant finger in the little brat's face. "you just watch me, jeon jungkook!" never mind that it was his birthday today, he needed to learn that there were things more important in life than overwatch and --
"i just got off the phone with yerim down the hall," jimin says, voice forced into sounding nonchalant. but seokjin can hear the trill of excitement just beneath the surface. "she says those auditor guys are heading our way."
seokjin is going to have a heart attack. right here behind his small desk in this tiny government building in their inconsequential little town. he'll never go anywhere and do anything ever again, because he is going to die here.
"hello, hello!" a voice cuts in, a bright ray of sunlight slashing through the dark clouds gathering in seokjin's mind. "i am here and it is lovely to meet all of you!"
the man with the voice like a chorus of songbirds is jung hoseok, and his partner - following behind at a much more sedate pace and with not even a fraction of hoseok-sshi's grinning strength - is min yoongi.
"we're here to audit you!" he says, and somehow, it doesn't sound so very bad coming from his smiling mouth.
-
coming from min yoongi's mouth, however, it sounds terrible. end-of-times bad.
"listen," yoongi sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as if speaking with seokjin has brought him great pain. which seokjin doesn't appreciate one bit, honestly. especially since he was the one rightfully in pain here. "in order to fix whatever the hell mess your city government has somehow managed to make here in the literal middle of nowhere, we're gonna have to cut each department's budget by forty to fifty percent. for whatever reason, the parks department spends the most, so we saved you for last. and let me tell you, it's been an absolute joy so far."
seokjin ignores the obvious snark and pastes on a smile, instead. "but hoseok-sshi said --"
"hoseok says whatever sounds best, because hoseok always goes into things with the very best intentions. then he fucks off as soon as he can and sends me in to do the real work - which, in this case, means gutting your budget like a fish."
seokjin almost cannot believe his ears. but when he opens his eyes again after a deep, calming breath, min yoongi is still there, staring at him with his blank stare and cute button nose.
"you're not very nice," seokjin lets him know. he can feel his face warming and knows that his ears must be positively glowing red. from the other side of the office, where jimin and taehyung and jungkook sit huddled around jungkook's desk, he hears someone whisper an impressed holy shit, seokjin-hyung's about to go in. and they're right. "i'm sorry, but those are real people you're talking about firing. real people with real feelings, my people. and i just don't understand how you can be so... so..!"
"the reason i can be so -" yoongi pauses meaningfully, rolling his eyes as he does so. "- is because i'm not to blame for this mess, your government is. i'm just the poor asshole that got called in to fix it. so i'm gonna go do that, if you'll excuse me."
he gets up from his seat and bows once to seokjin, then again to seokjin's pile of assistants. and then he's walking out the door, seokjin watching the way yoongi's slacks pull across his cute perky butt with a scowl.
"yikes," taehyung winces after a heavy, silent moment. "well he was kinda scary, huh?"
"yeah, but in a kinda hot way," jungkook observes, and the others hum in acknowledgement.
seokjin, too, hates that he has to agree.
-
"and the worst part -" seokjin tries his hardest not to slur his words. it's difficult, but seokjin is a fighter. "the absolute Worst Thing Ever - is that he was so cute!"
"ugh, the worst," namjoon nods sagely, because he is the best friend a person could ever ask for.
seokjin takes another long sip from his beer and then slams it back down onto the table. "exactly! how can someone so mean, be allowed to be so attractive? what kind of cruel joke is governor bang trying to play on me, personally? why does he hate me?"
"i dunno, hyung," namjoon says, slurring his words a lot more than seokjin had. "but i know you don't deserve it."
"you're exactly right, joon-ah! you're always right, my beautiful and smart and talented best friend, i love you. and you're right, i don't deserve this!" seokjin goes to take another pull from his beer, only to find it empty. "i'll tell you what i do deserve, though - more alcohol."
namjoon visibly perks up in his seat and then stands on shaky legs. "i can do that, i'll do that for you. just stay here, hyung, and i'll bring you back some of that funny pomegranate soju you like."
seokjin watches his friend leave with a smile on his face, thanking the universe for allowing them to meet those two short years ago, when seokjin had gone into their local clinic with the tummy ache from hell and come out with a surprise stomach ulcer diagnosis -- and a new best friend by the name of kim namjoon, the sweetest nurse in the entire nation. seokjin was of the opinion that namjoon's dimples alone could end wars, and was happy to discuss tactics for such warfare with anyone willing to listen. and even those who weren't.
anyone, except, of course, min yoongi. what was he even doing here?
"what are you even doing here?" seokjin asks, staring up at min yoongi. normally, he would stand and press his height advantage as intimidation, but. seokjin didn't trust his legs at the moment. he furrows his brows for good measure, though. "this is a private party, i'll have you know! and yooou were not invited!"
yoongi does not seem the slightest bit fazed, cool as an annoyingly level-headed cucumber. seokjin hated cucumbers.
"is that so?" yoongi asks, though seokjin can tell he isn't actually interested in the answer. "because here i was thinking that this was a very much public noodle stall. how silly of me."
seokjin hates being condescended to. he hates it, hates it, hates it.
"yes, well it is very silly of you, because - look, right over there," there are only a handful of small tables scattered around the vacant lot where the noodle stall lives, but it still takes seokjin a minute to locate who he's looking for. when he spots them, jungkook surrounded by his little friends, seokjin thrusts a finger in their direction. "the one with the adorable bunny teeth, it's his birthday today. which makes this his birthday party. and since you weren't invited, i think you should leave now, before --"
"hyung! i'm back, and i've brought you booze!" namjoon skids to a stop just as he's about to run directly into the side of their table. he notices yoongi in the next second. "oh, is this the mean auditor with the cute butt?" he asks, leaning back slightly to check out yoongi's rear for himself. when he straightens back up, he has an almost impressed smirk on his face, eyebrows waggling. which is something seokjin hadn't been aware he even knew how to do. "wow, yeah, looks like it is. so i'll just... leave you to it, then."
seokjin watches, betrayed, as namjoon quickly turns and walks away, taking the bottle of pomegranate soju with him. in that moment, seokjin changes his mind: namjoon is the worst best friend ever. 0/10, would not recommend to anyone, not even his mortal enemies. not even to min yoongi.
min yoongi, who has sat down across from seokjin at the small table and slid over his own bottle of soju.
"it isn't flavored," he says with a odd little grin. "but it looks like you could use it, either way."
seokjin swipes it off the table and takes a long, deep chug. then he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and stares min yoongi down as he asks, bluntly: "why are you sitting here."
"all the other tables are full," is yoongi's simple response. he shrugs, like this is no big deal. but it is.
it is a big deal, seokjin thinks to himself, taking another pull of soju. outloud, he huffs exasperatedly. "yeah, because they're all with us. because this is a party."
"so is this just how y'all usually party out here, or..?" yoongi asks, bit of satoori peeking through his words. he sounds unimpressed, but also like he's trying to hide the fact that he is.
which is pointless, really. seokjin knows very well what outsiders must think of them. he's heard it all before, after all, whenever he's had to play host to other state officials passing through on business. or even from his own family, come down from anyang for a visit.
"as i'm sure you've already noticed," seokjin begins, almost wearily. he's only just noticed that yoongi has apparently had a bowl of warm noodles this entire time, and it makes his stomach pang faintly. "there isn't very much to do in this town... besides take advantage of our few parks programs during the day, and then get drunk with your friends at the noodle stall after dark."
"the parks programs, right," yoongi slurps up a particularly long noodle, and seokjin tries his best not to drool. "and these are programs that you come up with and implement yourself?"
"with the help of my assistants, who are very important to me both personally and professionally, yes. i come up with most of the ideas myself, and then my staff helps me carry them out."
"you should tell me about them," yoongi says, and seokjin - who had just been contemplating reaching over and stealing the man's bowl of noodles - isn't quite sure he's heard correctly.
he frowns, confused. "my kids -- or, ahh, what i meant was - my assistants, or --"
"no, no. i was asking about your programs," yoongi corrects, with an amused quirk of his lips. "tell me about them."
seokjin straightens after having just tipped his head back to get at the very last drops of soju in his bottle, and comes up spluttering. "the parks programs? my parks pro-- you really want to hear about those?"
rather than comment on how many times they've said the word program over the last few minutes alone - seokjin feels like it must have been over fifty, at least - yoongi only nods, that quirk from before now a fully-formed smile. it's nice.
"from you? yeah, i really do."
"okay..." seokjin is still a bit skeptical, but yoongi has apparently noticed him staring down his noodles for a while now, because he silently slides over the leftovers in his bowl. seokjin's stomach growls gratefully as he reels the bowl in close enough to hug to his chest. he sighs, resigned and content enough for now. "but if you want me to talk, noodles won't be enough - i'm gonna need a whole 'nother bottle of soju, as well. and you'd better make sure it's pomegranate, this time!"
"i can do that," yoongi says. and once again, seokjin can't help but notice that he really does have the nicest smile.
-
"code red!" seokjin hisses.
the clinic where namjoon works is always quiet, the same patients coming and going as if on a tightly rotating schedule. but because there isn't ever much action, seokjin never feels as if he's disrupting workflow or getting in the way; at the moment, namjoon is stationed at the head of a long room with beds lining the walls on either side, watching over the longer-term patients. most are awake, but for the few who aren't, seokjin tries to keep his voice down.
namjoon sets down the thick novel he'd been reading, holding his place with a finger while he looks seokjin over with sharp eyes. "what, is it another stomach ulcer? hyung, i thought i told you to better manage your stress or they would just keep coming ba--"
"it's not a fucking stomach ulcer, kim namjoon!" seokjin whisper-shouts, indignant. a patient in the bed closest to namjoon's desk stifles a giggle. seokjin takes a few calming breaths, makes an attempt to lower his voice even further when he continues: "not yet, anyway... i think i might have, um. kissed someone, last night."
"oh shit," namjoon says, loud enough that the patient from before full-on snorts this time.
seokjin motions for him to come in closer, their foreheads nearly colliding in namjoon's haste to do so. "and maybe, possibly, more than kissed someone."
"more than kissed?" namjoon smirks. "why seokjin-hyung, you little slut."
"this is no time to joke, joon-ah, please. i'm in crisis mode." seokjin shoots him a Look, and namjoon relents with a sigh before responding.
"okay, but - and forgive me if this turns out to be a silly question - but why exactly is your having kissed --"
"and possibly mored," seokjin reminds him.
"right, of course -- kissed and possibly mored -" namjoon stresses, obviously still amused. "- why is that a crisis?"
"because, my sweet beautiful best friend namjoon who i love and adore even though you know nothing of the world," seokjin reaches over and pats namjoon's cheek, the innocent lamb. "i have no fucking idea who it was i kissed and maybe mored."
"oh shit," namjoon says again, louder than the first time, and Seokjin can't even bring himself to admonish him. because yeah, oh shit.
-
seokjin walks into the office later that afternoon, very... cautiously.
his three assistants are huddled around jungkook's desk, as they were wont to do, whispering wildly and not as quietly as they probably thought they were. the whispering comes to an abrupt stop the moment they notice seokjin, however, which - isn't suspicious and alarming at all.
but then jungkook coughs pointedly, says, "hyung, we need to talk." and suddenly, seokjin's internal security system is screaming at him; very suspicious! very alarming! retreat, retreat! get out of there before --
"it's about yoongi-hyung," jimin explains.
it's enough to calm seokjin down, at least. as if the plug had been pulled on the speakers blaring in his head, his mind is just left quiet and vaguely confused.
"what, uh..." seokjin starts, hesitantly. "what about yoongi-sshi, exactly?"
slowly, the kids move away from jungkook's desk and come to huddle around seokjin's instead. he feels like he's about to be scolded, a bit. which turns out to be not far off from what actually happens:
taehyung can't meet seokjin's eyes, never a good sign. "you were kinda, really mean to him."
"i was mean?" seokjin has never heard anything more absurd. "me? you're saying that i was --"
"you yelled at him a lot, hyung," taehyung cuts him off, another bad sign. "it was very loud."
taehyung looks so disappointed, and it almost makes seokjin feel somewhat chastened. "yes, well - he deserved it! he was also very mean, you know. in fact, he was mean to me first, to all of us, and he --"
"made sure your drunk ass got home safely and paid off the ridiculous tab you'd racked up with the poor noodle stall man," jungkook snorts. and seokjin lets the brat's casual language slide, because he's too busy being horrified with himself.
"not the noodle stall man," seokjin gasps, hand to his chest.
jimin nods solemnly. "the very same."
"and you said that, ahh --" seokjin coughs, pulls at his collar as if it would actually help him breathe any easier. or rid him of his shame. "you say that yoongi-sshi took me home? how late was this, abouts? like, i didn't - um, with any of you kids, i didn't..."
seokjin trails off, unable to get the words did i kiss and maybe mored any of you last night like a disgusting, unprofessional creep? to come out of his mouth. thankfully, jimin saves him the trouble.
"we barely saw you after a certain point, honestly," jimin assures him. you mean from the moment yoongi-hyung got there, jungkook mutters under his breath, making taehyung have to stifle a giggle. "you pretty much just stayed at your table all night, drinking and talking with yoongi-hyung."
"i thought you said i was yelling?" seokjin asks. he rubs at his temples, trying to recall a single thing from the night before, and failing.
"well, yeah," taehyung says, with a small shrug. "hyung was just very loud, overall, whatever it is you were talking about, so it sounded like you were yelling."
jimin picks up where taehyung leaves off, without missing a beat. "and hyung was incredibly drunk, as well, so you just sounded like you were being very mean about pretty much everything."
"and yoongi-sshi took care of me anyway?" seokjin's full-on holding the sides of his face, at this point. he can feel his embarrassment in the heat flushing his cheeks.
"and yoongi-hyung cleaned up your mess anyway," jungkook reiterates.
seokjin groans into his palms, now completely covering his face. "so i should go apologize?"
"you really, probably should," jimin confirms, taehyung nodding in agreement next to him.
seokjin drops his hands, sighs, and steels himself for what was most definitely going to be a terribly awkward conversation.
-
jung hoseok opens the door to his temporary office with a massive heart-shaped smile already on his face. seokjin is not ashamed to say that it instantly puts him at ease, a little bit.
that ease is disrupted in the very next second, but. it was nice while it lasted.
"are you here about last night?" hoseok asks, and seokjin can feel the breakfast he forgot to eat that morning start coming up his throat dry.
wildly unprofessional! so incredibly, wildly unprofessional! his internal alarms start up again, screeching at him while seokjin clears his throat. "ahh, i don't know what you mean..?"
"the very handsome nurse, kim namjoon," hoseok explains, pulling a familiar -- yup, that was definitely namjoon's cell -- from his pocket. "i asked for his phone number last night, and he gave me his entire phone instead. i hear you two are friends, are you here to retrieve it for him?"
oh ho ho, seokjin thinks, as he accepts the handheld that hoseok holds out to him. joonie, you lovely little tramp, we will be having some words tonight.
"why yes," seokjin says, finally able to return hoseok's smile - with gusto. "kim namjoon and i are best friends, in fact, and i would be more than happy to make sure he gets his phone back safely." seokjin smirks. "would you like his number, in return? i'm sure he wouldn't mind."
hoseok laughs, an almost proud tinkling of bells. "already saved, actually. called myself using his phone last night, after he handed it to me, but by the time i looked up to hand it back, he was already gone."
"like a modern day cinderella," seokjin smirks, loving every second of this.
hoseok laughs again, and for a moment, seokjin forgets why he even came down here in the first place. a pointed cough just behind seokjin's shoulder reminds him.
"oh? i thought you just left for your lunch break, yoongi-hyung?" hoseok wonders, looking at the presence seokjin can feel standing next to him.
seokjin feels him a lot more physically a second later, as yoongi hums and moves to squeeze past hoseok and seokjin in the doorway. he walks deeper into the office and mutters almost to myself, "forgot my wallet."
"got a lot on your mind, eh hyung?" hoseok laughs, playfully teasing. "speaking of -- seokjin-sshi just stopped by to pick up nurse kim's phone. you were right, they are friends!"
yoongi hums again, as he passes by them once more back through the door, wallet in hand. before he can lose his nerve, seokjin spins around and calls out.
"actually!" he blurts. yoongi turns around to regard him, eyebrows raised. "i actually, uh... wanted to talk. would you let me buy you lunch?"
yoongi's eyebrows are hidden by his bangs, at this point, his lips curling at one side. before he can answer, however, hoseok practically squeals in seokjin's ear.
"that's a fantastic idea, seokjin-sshi! see, yoongi-hyung really doesn't have very many friends so --"
"hoseokie," yoongi warns, his tone at odds with the familiar nickname. it's unfairly cute.
seokjin doesn't even need to turn around to see hoseok's pout when he whines, "but hyung, i only say so out of love! you know i only want what's best for you!"
as hoseok continues to give his excuses, yoongi shifts to look at seokjin once more.
"if you're serious about buying me lunch --" seokjin nods his head vehemently, and yoongi nods himself, just the once. "then we should just leave now. hoseok can go all day, if you let him. so let's not."
yoongi turns and begins to walk away, so seokjin hastens to follow, the sound of hoseok's bright voice following them down the hall.
-
"what?" seokjin finally snaps. "what do you keep looking at?"
yoongi pauses the curious surveyal of his surroundings and turns to face seokjin once more. he shrugs. "oh nothing, nothing. just a bit surprised that there's actually a whole 'nother restaurant in town besides that noodle stall from last night."
seokjin blanches slightly at the mention of the night before, immediately attempts to cover his discomfort with exasperated annoyance. he does an okay job, considering.
"yeah, well. we usually end up at the noodle stall more often than not, because it's cheap and close to city hall," seokjin explains. "but i ate my first meal away from home right here in this little basement restaurant, and i've been coming back every monday ever since. plus," he adds, proudly. "the ahjumma that owns this place loves me, so."
"i figured you weren't from here," is all yoongi says. and that just annoys seokjin for real, this time.
"and how did you figure that?"
yoongi shrugs, again. "don't really know, to be honest. you just seem kinda... too big, for a town like this." seokjin must not seem too impressed, because yoongi sighs and elaborates: "i've visited a lot of different places all across the country, met a lot of different people at a lot of different levels of government. but the one thing they all had in common, is that every single one of them was a reflection of their city or town or village. except for you. everything about you screams that you've lived another life - and yet, you ended up here. how?"
"i --" seokjin frowns. he's never been read so easily before - not even by jungkook, the perceptive little turd - and doesn't know how to respond. except maybe to just tell the truth. "i got my first job with local government back home in anyang. just as an intern, mind. but i guess i annoyed one too many people --"
"with your enthusiasm, i assume?" yoongi cuts in, with a small, amused smirk.
"haha, yeah. guess you could call it that," seokjin chuckles, ruefully. "either way, it apparently wasn't much appreciated by the higher ups. and so, not even a year after i was hired, i got transferred. out here, to the middle of nowhere."
their food arrives, then. seokjin pauses to incline his head in a bow and thank the owner profusely. she blushes and waves him off, as usual, and once she's retreated back into the kitchen, seokjin picks up where he left off. he also picks up his chopsticks and digs right into his meal, politeness be damned in the face of good food.
"anyway, this was only meant to be a temporary assignment... which i have since realized means it was also probably meant to be a punishment. but that's where they messed up, i guess - because by the time my superiors in anyang saw fit to call me back to work, i had already decided to stay."
"their loss," yoongi says, mouth full.
seokjin laughs outright, but yoongi doesn't take it back, doesn't laugh with him. just continues smiling that same disarming smile, cheeks puffed out endearingly. seokjin is still annoyed, but somewhat less so.
they eat in silence for most of the rest of their meal, until finally, yoongi pushes his empty bowl into the center of the table, clears his throat like he's preparing to speak. seokjin prepares himself as well.
"we didn't have sex," yoongi says plainly. seokjin can feel his eyes widen to the point of discomfort. "we, uh -- we did kiss, briefly, while i was walking you home, but - yeah, no sex. and i just thought you might be wondering, so i wanted to clear that up."
"oh, i see," seokjin manages to respond. without choking on his own saliva (or the odd sense of disappointment at the back of his throat), even.
"mm," yoongi hums, shortly. he's begun to fidget in his seat, almost imperceptibly. but seokjin notices, same way he can tell the difference between the smile yoongi had worn earlier and the one he's pasted on his face now. "which is for the best, really, what with all the changes going into effect so soon. best not to get too close, or like -- conduct ourselves in such a manner that is inappropriate for government employees of differing rank in a professional setting."
that last bit yoongi speaks woodenly, formal and obviously rehearsed, probably ripped directly from some sort of official handbook or other. but that's not what has seokjin scrunching up his face in confusion.
"hold on," he starts, the smallest edge to his voice. "what changes do you mean? did i miss a memo, or..?"
yoongi goes still. "did... shit, has hoseok not told you?"
"told me what?" seokjin asks, jaw tight to lock down on his panic. "what am i missing here, yoongi-sshi?"
yoongi's got his head in his hands, muttering to himself into his palms. motherfuck, seokjin can just make out. i told hoseok i didn't want to be the one to do this, i'm gonna kill that -- yoongi groans, scrubs at his face, and then drops his arms to look at seokjin properly. his expression is resolute, if a bit awkward.
"the official investigation into your government's finances has revealed that things in this town are a lot worse than anyone could have probably anticipated."
"meaning?" seokjin's fingers grip his empty bowl like a lifeline.
he's just been so on edge this whole time, from the moment they were all told about the auditors being called in, and seokjin was starting to feel - so, unbelievably tired. yoongi's apologetic expression says he seems to know that, as well.
"meaning, that effective tomorrow morning, your entire local government will be shut down until further notice," yoongi shakes his head. "which honestly won't make too much of a difference in a town this size, so that part should be fine. but what it does mean, is that until we can get things sorted out and back on track around here, hoseok and i will have to stay. indefinitely."
and just like that, yoongi's earlier clarification takes on a whole new light. still, seokjin has to be sure. "which would make you my -- boss?"
"something like that," yoongi nods.
"oh."
"yeah," yoongi mumbles, his tone and expression and entire demeanor a restrained mirror of seokjin's own. a lot less pathetic, probably. "oh."
-
later that day, seokjin will return to his office and tell his kids the news. and after he's sent them home early for the day, and for a while after that, he'll sit behind his desk for the last time in no one knows how long. then he'll spot his budget binder out of the corner of his eye, and he'll laugh.
so much for that Master Plan, eh?
---