Chapter Text
Chapter One: All In A Day’s Work
Yoongi tapped his foot impatiently outside of the Fine Arts building of his university, resisting the urge to snap at the music student behind him that had been rehearsing the same phrase over and over for the past ten minutes he’d been waiting for Namjoon to come pick him up.
Sharing a car was such a pain in the ass, and Yoongi honestly cursed the guy who backed into Namjoon’s vehicle some weeks ago. Honestly, what are the rear view mirrors even for? Now here he is, running late in his attempt to get ready for his anniversary dinner after he specifically texted Jimin to come back from dance rehearsal as early as possible.
“Do you mind?” Yoongi snapped, glaring at the guy behind him. “There are literally practice rooms available. Go find one.”
Instead of having the desired effect Yoongi wanted, the musician simply glared back and resumed playing, the trumpet significantly louder and ten times more obnoxious than it had been a few seconds ago. Yoongi pressed his lips together irritably and turned back to face the road, his eyes looking around for his car and almost cheering with relief when he saw his car pull up to the curb, Namjoon rolling down the window in greeting as Yoongi approached the car.
“Sorry,” Namjoon said just as Yoongi opened his mouth to speak. “My asshole of a coworker didn’t show up for his shift on time, I had to stay a little late.”
“It’s fine,” Yoongi sighed, closing the car’s back door once he threw his backpack into the backseat and climbed into the passenger’s seat. “Just book it to the apartment. Jimin’s dance practice ends at like five and he’ll probably be there at any moment.”
“It’s your two year anniversary huh?” Namjoon asked, smirking when he noticed Yoongi’s cheeks flush slightly. “Aww, are you nervous?”
“Shut up and drive,” Yoongi muttered, fiddling with his thumbs as Namjoon chuckled softly to himself. “I’m...I'm thinking about telling Jimin.”
“...Telling him…?” Namjoon trailed.
“You know,” Yoongi said waving his hand around and trying to avoid Namjoon’s gaze. “My powers.”
Yoongi glanced up, expecting a bewildered look on Namjoon’s face just like his parents had given him when he mentioned telling Jimin the truth about his identity. Instead, Namjoon’s expression remained passive, his eyes focused coolly on the road as if Yoongi were simply complaining about Calculus class again.
“It’s that serious huh,” Namjoon mused, his eyes flicking over to Yoongi just as they pulled up to a red light.
“Yeah I-I think it is,” Yoongi said slowly. “I…”
Namjoon looked over at him curiously. “What?”
“Jimin told me he loved me,” Yoongi said, meeting Namjoon’s gaze briefly before looking back out the windshield. “Light’s green.”
Namjoon tapped the gas, nodding sagely as the drove on and said, “Wow. That’s...wow.”
“I know,” Yoongi said. “I said it back of course, and I meant it, but it’s just...Jimin doesn’t even know that there are parts of me I’m keeping from him and I can’t- he doesn’t deserve to open himself up to someone who can’t even tell him the truth.”
“Of course,” Namjoon agreed. “But hyung, be careful. If Jimin knows your identity...that just makes him even more of a target. Or even worse, a liability to you.”
“Jimin wouldn’t reveal my identity,” Yoongi said dismissively.
“Of course not,” Namjoon said quickly. “But it’s not him I’m worried about.”
Yoongi stayed silent, knowing exactly who Namjoon was referring to and instinctively stiffening as he rode in the car.
In the complex, organized world of having superpowers there were many systems in place to direct those with gifts to put them to better use and help the everyday regular citizen. Large organizations manifested themselves in the 20th century in order to both provide supers with a place they could call home and to prevent them from turning into villains; after all, if there’s no one to save, how else would regular people view something that’s much more powerful and different than them?
So the L.A.D.S was born (and the Ladies for female supers who felt slighted by the name). The League of Active Duty Supers, a global organization set up to fight crime wherever it happened, whenever it happened. From the flying supers saving cats out of a tree and to weather powered supers helping to stop natural disasters. Growing up, Yoongi had felt the organization was where he wanted to be, the only place he could be.
Or at least he’d thought so, until he left high school and tried to register in the League and get his power sorted, only to find out he’d been labelled a Category X ability. It made sense, and at the time Yoongi didn’t understand why he never thought of it before- after all, what use would pyrokinesis be in any situation? People want to be saved from fires, not by them and looking back, Yoongi's embarrassed by how much he’d cried about the entire situation.
“It’ll be fine,” Yoongi said finally. “The villains don’t care about supers that aren’t part of L.A.D.S.”
“They do if they’re category X,” Namjoon muttered and Yoongi turned to Namjoon angrily, glared at his profile and wishing he had laser vision in that moment.
“I am not going to join the other side,” Yoongi said through clenched teeth. “Seriously? Why they hell would you even-”
“I didn’t mean it like that Yoongi,” Namjoon fought back. “I just- look. You can’t entrust your identity to just anyone, you never know who you’re dealing with. Everybody knows somebody, and with us, you never know if somebody is good or bad.”
“I can take care of myself Joon, drop it,” Yoongi snapped, looking out the window and grateful to see the familiar parking lot of their apartment complex. His mind immediately on Jimin again, he stepped out the car as soon as it was in park and looked around for his boyfriend’s car, relieved when he didn’t see it. But then again, Yoongi thought, glancing at the time on his phone. Why wouldn’t he be here? Yoongi said five, and it was four minutes till; his Jimin wasn’t a tardy person, and Yoongi had half a mind to shoot him a text.
But on the other hand, he was most likely on his way if he was running late. And if Yoongi really wanted this evening to be special, he should probably book to their apartment and change into some slacks and a button down.
Leaving Namjoon behind, Yoongi pounded up the stairs until he reached the third level, quickly moving to his door and all but forcing himself into the apartment. He made a beeline for his bedroom, constantly checking his phone in case Jimin texted or called him and proceeded to change clothes, switching out his jeans and hoodie for the black slacks and dark blue button down he’d chosen beforehand.
He checked his appearance in the mirror, frowning at how unkempt his hair was and decided to not bother it. Anything he tried to do to it would probably end up making the situation worse.
Yoongi checked the time again, frowning at the glowing 5:01 on the digital clock by his bed. Jimin was never late to anything, he was practically religious about arriving to places on time.
“Hyung!” Namjoon said suddenly, Yoongi snapping his head toward him in surprise.
“Is Jimin here?”
“No,” Namjoon said quickly, pulling out his phone and opening one of the apps installed onto the device. Yoongi felt his heart drop when the contact screen for L.A.D.S popped up, one of the directors for the South Korean branch appearing on the screen.
“Namjoon-sshi, Min Yoongi-sshi,” the director said, surprising both men. Yoongi was never addressed in these calls, and Yoongi couldn’t help but to narrow his eyes suspiciously at the screen. “We have reports that one of the villains from The Hit are causing some turmoil over in the Hongdae area.”
“Does this have anything to do with me, I have a date this evening,” Yoongi deadpanned.
“If it didn’t, I wouldn’t have addressed you Yoongi-sshi,” the director said curtly, his expression not faltering once. “I’m afraid this villain...we’ve never seen him before.”
“What do you mean?” Namjoon frowned.
“We’re afraid another super has decided to join the other side,” the director sighed heavily. “Currently, we’re trying to find him in our database, but...there doesn’t seem to be any super registered in South Korea with ice powers.”
“Ice?” Yoongi frowned, realization immediately dawning on him. “No way. I’m not- you are not about to send me into the field without training or even a supersuit! You rejected me! I’m not a call boy!”
“That’s why Namjoon-sshi will be coming with you,” director said simply. “I suggest you change of out those clothes, it will make you less identifiable when you go. Namjoon -sshi, please help Yoongi-sshi find something to hide his identity with.”
“Yes sir,” Namjoon said, the video ending and the app immediately closing.
“I can’t fucking believe this,” Yoongi scoffed, crossing his arms and shaking his head. “I’m not doing it.”
“What?” Namjoon said, watching Yoongi walk out of the bedroom. “Yoongi wait! You can’t just ignore the director!”
“Watch me,” Yoongi snapped. “Namjoon I’m not going! Going to college, being with Jimin, that’s my life now, not fighting some twisted super villain like I’m in a DC comic book.”
“Okay, okay, I understand that but Yoongi,” Namjoon pleaded, “this could be serious. I don’t think the Director would specifically tell you all this if it weren’t necessary. Jimin’s running late anyway, just come with me. The faster we get there, then the faster we can stop this punk and boom, you can still make your date.”
Yoongi’s silence prompted Namjoon to take that as a go ahead, grabbing the elder by the shoulders and quickly guiding him to his own bedroom and heading straight for his closet,and pushing his clothing apart to reveal a shining metal door, a touch screen pad asking for identification on its right. Namjoon grinned excitedly, looking at Yoongi over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at the annoyed expression on his face.
“Oh come on,” Namjoon said walking back over to him. “Remember in high school? How we used to talk about being the unstoppable trio? You, me, and Hoseok? I mean telekinesis, super speed, and pyrokinesis are an interesting combo, but it would’ve worked and still can . Why are you-”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve never been in the field before and I wasn’t even afforded the chance,” Yoongi snapped. “I-”
“You’ll do fine ,” Namjoon insisted, placing his hands on Yoongi’s shoulders and looking him in the eyes. “Hyung, listen to me. I always told you this ever since they placed you in Category X and you refused to register, and I’ll tell you this now. That placement was a mistake; they’ve finally realized it and you’re gonna throw away the opportunity to show them just what you can do? What I’ve always known you could do?”
Yoongi didn’t respond, looking away from Namjoon pointedly before saying, “Twenty minutes. Find me something in ten. If we can’t beat that guy in twenty then we run and leave it to the cops.”
Namjoon frowned slightly, as if he wanted to protest (probably some nonsense about that not being the honorable, heroic thing to do), but Yoongi honestly didn’t want to listen to whatever Namjoon would say. He should’ve known that the moment Namjoon showed up to the art building late that his plans for the evening would go haywire, whether it be Namjoon getting called away to fight some villain and forgetting that he’s been sexiled or something like...this. He was sacrificing his formerly perfect anniversary date with Jimin for this, and Yoongi couldn’t help the incessant guilty feeling that twisted in his stomach at the thought of Jimin showing up to the apartment and Yoongi not being there.
God, I’m such an asshole, he thought bitterly to himself, watching as Namjoon scanned his fingerprint on the touch pad and looked into a small camera above it, a red beam scanning his eyes before disappearing, the door automatically opening for them both.
“Well? You coming?” Namjoon prompted, and Yoongi sighed, knowing he had no other choice but to follow.
“I can’t fucking believe you have an actual motorcycle,” Yoongi said in disbelief, quickly looking over his shoulder in hopes that no one would spot them. Especially Jimin. “Where did you get that from?!”
“L.A.D.S.”
“Of course,” Yoongi said rolling his eyes.
“Hey, we need transport, not everyone can fly there or run,” Namjoon shrugged, shifting to the front a bit and patting the exposed leather behind him. “Hop on buddy.”
“Excuse me?” Yoongi said and Namjoon rolled his eyes. “You dress me like caravan trader and now you want me to-”
“Just deal for now alright?” Namjoon said impatiently. “Think happy thoughts hyung. Remember? Jimin? Get this over with as soon as possible?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yoongi muttered, swinging his leg over the bike and instinctively clutching Namjoon’s waist once the engine revved. Yoongi narrowed his eyes at the feeling of Namjoon’s stomach muscles flexing, knowing that the other was laughing at him.
Honestly, if this couldn’t get day worse, Yoongi’s outfit was deplorable, at least in his eyes. When their stupid director had told Namjoon to find him an outfit, Yoongi had at least expected that there would be a replica of Namjoon’s super suit. Secretly, Yoongi had always admired the tight fitting, dark one piece suit Namjoon wore, equipped with weather proof armor across his torso, arms, and along the sides of his thighs down to the boots around his feet. It was sleek, comfortable, and customized perfectly for Namjoon who relied on telekinesis and didn’t have much physical prowess to defend himself with. He was certain there were minute details that were added in just for Namjoon, to enhance his abilities and protect him better that Yoongi didn’t know about.
And yet here he was, riding on the back of Namjoon’s motorcycle, dressed in a hoodie with a bulletproof vest underneath, jeans, and a ragged scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, his hood pulled up over his head to disguise him more.
“I can’t believe you made me wear this,” Yoongi grumbled.
“Hey, this was impromptu,” Namjoon said defensively over his shoulder, and Yoongi wondered how their speed even enabled them to speak right now. “I’m not like Hoseok who has fifty million spares of his suit.”
Yoongi hummed to himself, not saying anything else to Namjoon and looking around in surprise as they rode further into Hongdae area and noticing how the cool fall weather had gotten significantly chillier and the area was eerily deserted. Namjoon pulled over on the street they were riding on and turned the machine off, silence much more piercing than the rumble of the bike’s engine had been.
“What the hell,” Yoongi whispered, stepping off the bike and shoving his hands under his armpits.
“Director did say it was an ice user,” Namjoon said shivering. “God, how are we even gonna-”
Namjoon’s abrupt stop made Yoongi redirect his attention from their snowy surroundings to Namjoon again, his mouth poised to ask him what’s wrong only to promptly close it when he laid eyes on the figure standing in front of them.
Yoongi felt his stomach turn flips at the sight of the individual, their face hidden by a crystal mask that only had small slits for eyes. A dark blue poncho-like garment was draped across their shoulder, black gloved hands peeking out at the sides and hood pulled up over their head.
In the sunlight, Yoongi briefly thought that the mask was a bit pretty, twinkling in the sunlight despite its evil connotations. It was a thought that oddly put him at ease and made him stand a bit straighter at Namjoon’s sid at the faced off with the mysterious stranger.
“You,” Namjoon said strongly. “You’ve done this.”
Not a question, Yoongi noted, watching the strange figure for a response.
“Naturally,” the figure replied, lifted his hands and prompting the two superheroes to jump into defensive positions, eliciting a laugh from their opponent. “Afraid are you? Here, we can play a game. I’ll give you until the count of three to leave this place. I don’t plan on making any permanent damage and I would like to work quickly. I do have places to be after all.”
Out the corner of his eye, Yoongi could see the familiar relaxed expression on Namjoon’s face that indicated he was already at work.
“One,” the figure said playfully, giggling afterward as if it were some big joke. The sound grated on Yoongi’s nerves and frustrated him to no end. Who did this guy think he was??
“Two!”
Yoongi instantly lashed out, a single thrust of his hand forward blowing fire toward the mysterious figure despite, Namjoon’s exclaim of shock. Their opponent smoothly leapt to the side just in time avoid Yoongi’s attack, kneeling on the ground and humming to himself, “Fire? Well isn’t that new…”
Jaw tightening, Yoongi shot another blast of flame at him, fire shooting from his hands uselessly as the villain either maneuvered his way around it or simply vanquished it with an icy blast of his own. The act only frustrated Yoongi further and he pumped more of his own power out, only dimly hearing Namjoon commanding him to calm down before he exhausted himself.
“You may want to listen to your friend Sparky,” he chuckled. “You’re making this way too easy.”
And before Yoongi could muster up enough strength to attack again, his was met a sharp, biting icy wind, his skin prickling with pain and feeling as if dozens of small razor blades were slicing into any exposed skin. The gust was abnormally powerful and Yoongi was helplessly thrown several feet away, his body covered in a thin layer of frost as he lay on the ground, his eyes squeezed shut in pain.
Vaguely he could hear, Namjoon’s efforts against their opponent, the occasional sound of the clash of objects indicating that his friend was still going strong. Yet, an anguished yell prompted him to open his eyes, albeit not being able to move from his spot and do anything for his best friend lying just as frozen as he was on the other side of the street.
Yoongi struggled to move as he watched the villain stride towards him, one of his hands ungloved and glowing with an ominous, soft blue mist.
“I’m afraid you’re a bit more of threat,” he said simply, kneeling down and looking Yoongi in the face. “Don’t take it personally Sparky. Fire and ice just don’t mix.”
Yoongi attempted to scramble away from the iron grip the other man had on his shirt, watching with wide eyes as ice crept from the man’s fingertips onto his shirt, inching up steadily and spreading a deadly chill across his skin and into his body. It was unlike any kind of cold Yoongi had felt before and it struck blood hilling fear into his chest.
A distance away he could see Namjoon struggling to move, the other super moving roboticly as if he were a mannequin. There was no way for him to help Yoongi if Yoongi assumed Namjoon felt the same way and that fact raised panic in him, the reality that if he didn’t do something soon, he would die.
Already the ice was beginning to solidify onto his skin and Yoongi could feel the dreadful freeze inching its way into his bloodstream, beginning to feel drowsy and shivering as if he’d contracted hypothermia.
If he was going to do something, he’d have to do it now, he thought sluggishly, his eyes focusing in and out of the glittering mask in front of him and shivering more violently as the icy case began to creep up his neck. Mustering up the remaining he hand, Yoongi curled his hand into a fist and ignited his hand, swinging as hard as he could into the side of his attacker’s head and watching with satisfaction as the figure’s mask become dislodged, the man lying on the ground with his face turned away from both Namjoon and Yoongi and groaning in pain.
“You fucking-” the villain stopped short, seemingly stiffening at the sight of something and jumping to his feet, sprint off in one direction and creating and creating a path of ice in front of him, skating on the glassy surface in a distant direction and escaping the oncoming pursuers that Yoongi knew he had to defend himself against, but couldn’t.
As his vision blurred, a figure instantly appeared in front of him from out of nowhere, a familiar voice saying, “Hyung. Hyung! Can you hear me? We’re...ing to help you. Nod ...you….hear me…”
Yoongi’s eyes fluttered shut despite knowing he needed to respond, and dimly hoped that he would be able to open his eyes again later.
“I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“Thank God he wasn’t complete encased. We’d have never been able to get it off of him.”
“Thank God Namjoon hadn’t been so directly attacked. He’d be dead for sure…”
Yoongi could hear voices, people who sounded like doctors. He could also hear what sounded like Hoseok, chattering off to the side quietly. Yoongi moaned softly, as if he were trying to declare himself sentient for the time being and call attention to himself. The doctors immediately refocused on him, speaking to each other in urgent whispers and by the time Yoongi was able to open his eyes, all he could see was Hoseok’s worried expression in front of his face, eyes wide and fearful as if he’d seen a ghost.
“Oh my God,” Hoseok whispered.
“I look that bad?” Yoongi groaned, squeezing his eyes shut.
“No, it’s just- I didn’t think they’d be able to help you,” Hoseok laughed in disbelief, leaning back from over Yoongi’s bed. “You really are the only man for the job.”
At that, Yoongi become alert, struggling to sit up and flinching at the stiffness he felt in his shoulders and arms. He looked around for anyone, expecting a doctor or some authority figure to come push him back down into the bed and berate him with reason as to why he should stay. But instead Hoseok just met his gaze, looking at him reproachfully as if he were hoping Yoongi would just lay back down and relax and let L.A.D.S take care of him like they were equipped to.
“Hoseok, take me back to my apartment,” Yoongi said, dragging a hand down over his face. Jimin flashed into his mind at the thought of his apartment and Yoongi felt his blood run cold, suddenly feeling guilty and horrified at the thought of Jimin feeling like he’d been stood up.
“Are you sure?” Hoseok said hesitantly. “I mean- hyung, they’re discussing your super suit right now and-”
“Take. Me. Home,” Yoongi said through clenched, shakily rising to his feet and staggering a bit before stiffly walking towards Hoseok. “We can either take your car and I’ll ignore your pleading for fifteen minute, or I can get on your back and you can run me their in seconds. It’s your choice.”
Hoseok pressed his lips together defiantly before shaking his head, reluctantly turning around and leaving the room. Yoongi yelled with frustration, slamming his fist down on the bed sheets before tossing them to the side and shakily rising to his feet. Immediately his knees buckled and he grabbed at the edge of hospital bed, he’d just been laying in, sinking to his knees as crippling chill ran through his body, sweat breaking out on his skin as his limbs began to shake.
Yoongi looked up at the sound of the door to his hospital room opening and he narrowed his eyes at a woman who’d just entered the room, dressed smartly in a pants suit looking down at Yoongi with an amused expression.
“Chaelin,” Yoongi deadpanned.
“That’s Director to you Yoongi-sshi,” she replied, glaring at him and his blunt disrespect. “Tried to get up too soon I see.”
“Would you hurry up an discharge me already,” Yoongi said, attempting to rise to his feet once more despite the way his legs trembled under his weight. If he’d had more strength, he’d wave away the assistance Hoseok was dutifully offering him. It was appreciated, but he refused to look weak in front of this woman.
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” the Director said simply, scanning Yoongi up and down. “You’ve been seriously injured, so at least a few more hours will do you some good. Not to mention, we’re still running tests on you and Namjoon-sshi’s conditions; this will help us learn more about the opponent's powers. See if we’ve encountered anything like it before.”
“The guy’s got more ice in his hands than the ice caps themselves,” Yoongi spat, his teeth beginning to chatter. Was it always this chilly in the room? “What else do you need to know?”
Chaelin didn’t respond, instead saying, “Yoongi-sshi, we’d like you to officially become a L.A.D.S. operative. A registered super.”
“No,” Yoongi snapped, his fingers curling tightly into the bed sheets he was barely supporting himself with. “You rejected me. I’m no one’s second choice.”
“Don’t think of it as being a second choice,” the Director insisted. “Think of it as...reconsideration.”
“Reconsider this,” Yoongi snarled. “I’m not fucking doing it. I almost died out there! You sent me on the field years after you rejected my application with zero training, against an opponent we know nothing about! Like hell I’d join you!”
“Hyung,” Hoseok whispered.
“There is nothing on this earth that you could say to make me join this shit organization,” Yoongi said darkly. “And the cherry on top is that I missed my anniversary dinner. It’s not just a fuck no, it a hell fucking no.”
“Interesting that you brought up an anniversary,” Chaelin said nodding. She reached into the breast pocket of her blazer and pulled out a photograph, looking at it for a second before turning it towards Yoongi and Hoseok with bored expression.
Yoongi felt his chest seize up at picture of himself and Jimin, a selfie Jimin made him take at their date to the movies last weekend.
“I found this on your, ah, boyfriend’s Instagram page,” the Director said simply. “I take he doesn’t know about your powers?”
“Of course not,” Yoongi snapped, glaring at the woman and refraining from spilling about how he’d fully intended to expose himself to Jimin. “What does Jimin have to do with any of this.”
“Nothing in particular,” she said simply, tossing the photo on the ground. “Just put simply, we don’t know much about this new opponent. Where they are from, who they are, what they are capable of.”
“And?”
“In the off chance, Yoongi-sshi, that your identity were to be revealed,” the Director said coldly. “You’d not only put yourself in danger, but that man as well. The fact that you went out into the field could have been enough data for them to identify you by tomorrow.”
If there had been any more strength in Yoongi’s body, he doesn’t think he could’ve refrained from lashing out at the Director. Realization dawned on him as he processed the Director’s words and he felt a whole new wave of anger wash over him.
“You people are seriously fucked up,” Yoongi said through his teeth. “That’s why you sent me out in the field?! To coerce me into joining this-this stupid agency based on the off chance they ID me and attack Jimin?!”
“It’s not an off chance Yoongi-sshi,” Chaelin said sternly. “You very well could get found out, especially from how you performed today.”
“Ah yes, how shocking that a non-registered super has no finesse with his fighting skills,” Yoongi snapped. “A real shocker there.”
“Join us and we can get you trained properly,” she said, her eyes flicking over to Hoseok, who’d been standing by quietly the entire time. “I will see to it that Hosoek-sshi and Namjoon-sshi train you.”
“I didn’t agree to anything yet!”
“Do you need to?” the Director asked with a raised eyebrow, stepping closer to Yoongi. She took his chin in her hand and tilted his face up, her expression passive as she met his furious gaze. “Join us Yoongi-sshi, and any protections we provide for you will be extended to Park Jimin as well. Is that truly something you need to think over?”
Yoongi ignored the soft intake of breath from Hoseok beside and wrenched his face out of her grasp, watching as she walked back over to the door and paused at the entranceway.
“You have the next forty-eight hours to decide,” she said. “I hope you’ll make the right one.”
And like that she was gone, Hoseok and Yoongi left to the themselves in the silence of Yoongi’s hospital room. A soft grunt Yoongi made stunned Hoseok out of his trance, immediately catching Yoongi by the arm and supporting his weight so that the elder could return to his bed more easily.
“Hyung,” Hoseok began, “I really think you should join the organization.”
“Way to be their lap dog.”
“I’m not being a lap dog,” Hoseok pouted, stepping back from the bed once Yoongi was settled. “I’m being honest. Stop being so sensitive; you got rejected so long ago and now they want you! Do you know how many people would kill to get this kind of-”
“ ‘Reconsideration’?” Yoongi said spitefully. “Yeah Hoseok, in fact I do. How? Because I was one of those people! This isn’t just about getting rejected- they sent Namjoon and I into the field against an unknown opponent! And I had zero training! I could have died! This organization has always been self-centered and thoughtless, always in the best interest of not us, but themselves.”
“That’s called the greater good Yoongi,” Hoseok frowned. “We’re super heroes, we don’t always get what we want. We make sacrifices so others can have what they want. We make sacrifices so that people like Jimin can live normally and indulge in the little pleasures that we can’t.”
Yoongi didn’t reply, avoiding Hoseok’s gaze and crossing his arms defiantly. This conversation wasn’t doing anything for his condition and he secretly wished Hoseok would just drop it. Leave him to say no in two days time and go back to living a peaceful life as a college student with his boyfriend. Was that too much to ask?
“Look, I’m not saying what they did was right,” Hoseok sighed. “Hell, when I saw you two come into HQ like popsicles, I was terrified. I was just as angry as you. But hyung, if they’d sent Namjoon by himself, I don’t think he would’ve made it.”
“Namjoon’s plenty powerful,” Yoongi muttered.
“Well from what the doctor said when they first looked at you, it was your powers that kept you from dying on the spot,” Hoseok said crossing his arms. “If it had been just Namjoon for that guy to focus on, he may be dead right now.Your powers saved you hyung; I think HQ wants your powers save more than just you. Is that really so bad?”
Yoongi stayed silent once more and Hoseok sighed in exasperation. “Just think about it a bit more okay Yoongi-hyung? If you decide to say no, then that’s that. But just remember- Namjoon would’ve died if you hadn’t been there to divert the villain’s attention, and you could hardly save yourself . Worst case scenario, would you be able to save Jimin?”
Instinctively, Yoongi felt himself get defensive at the mere insinuation that he couldn’t protect Jimin. After all, it’s Yoongi that stops all those perverts at football games and frat parties from getting their grimy hands on him.
But this isn’t some drunk frat boy. This a super villain; a villain that no one knows anything about and almost killed not just him but Namjoon as well. An image of Jimin, still, lifeless, and chilled to the down formed in Yoongi’s mind and he felt his chest throb with pain.
“Yoongi-sshi?”
He looked up and noticed with surprise that Hoseok was gone, a doctor standing in his place with a polite smile and a clipboard in his hands.
“If you don’t mind, we’re going to run a few more tests and asks you some questions,” the doctors said. “And after about an hour or two of observation and a final check up, you’ll be free to go if everything checks out okay. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect,” Yoongi muttered, scratching the back of his neck tiredly. “Let’s just get this over with.”
The hours had passed before Yoongi had made it back to the door of his apartment. He assumed the light streaming from the crack under the door was from when he and Namjoon had left so quickly earlier. So when he unlocked the front door, the last thing he expected was his adorable boyfriend curled up on the couch wearing Yoongi’s sweater. God, If Yoongi wasn’t feeling so bad about this whole thing, he’d gush over how precious Jimin looked completely swallowed up by his hoodie. Unfortunately, the younger man’s eyes fluttered open upon Yoongi’s entrance, his gaze unfocused and confused as he slowly blinked the sleep out of his eyes.
“Yoongi…?”
“Hey,” Yoongi said with a small grin, walking over to the couch and planting himself next to Jimin’s curled up form. His boyfriend smiled at him, and Yoongi felt his heart seize up. As if he deserved such a forgiving smile after standing Jimin up.
“Jimin, I’m-”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jimin said shaking his head. “You don’t know, but I was way late too. Dance practice ran over like crazy and...well...that beast of an instructor wouldn’t let me out even if I told her I had the plague. So it looks like we stood each other up.”
“I know it’s just,” Yoongi groaned, putting his head in his hands and glancing over at Jimin. “It’s our anniversary. And I- I should’ve planned this out better.”
“Hey, shit happens,” JImin shrugged, sitting and rubbing his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Seeing Jimin’s reassuring smile made Yoongi feel somewhat better. Not completely, but enough to relax and allow Jimin to nestle himself in Yoongi’s embrace, both of them deciding to settle for a romantic comedy out of Namjoon’s secret stash (or not so secret considering literally everyone knows about it).
“So, what held you up anyway?” Jimin asked suddenly, and Yoongi tensed up. He didn’t need to look over at Jimin to know the other man was looking at the side of his face, clearly aware of the way Yoongi stiffened up at his question.
“Uh, Namjoon needed help with some stuff for his internship,” Yoongi said. “Some stuff at the studio, he needed help recording a guide and it took a bit longer than I thought. By the time we were supposed to meet up, we were in the middle of mixing and it would’ve been crappy to leave him with such a big job and one set of ears you know?”
Yoongi waited, heart pounding in his chest as he waited for jimin’s response. Damn it, he’s never been a good liar, and Jimin’s always been able to see right through him. That was exactly why before any of today’s events happened he’d been planning to tell Jimin about his powers. But now...telling Jimin that would look bad, as if he were trying to hide something. Not to mention there was no way L.A.D.S would allow him to get off scot free with exposing himself as a superhero (or a newly added one anyone).
This was exactly what he wanted to avoid, lying to Jimin’s face like he was sleazy, cheating boyfriend. And here he was, hoping his story was enough to pass Jimin’s lie detector and the longer Jimin remained silent, the longer Yoongi became more nervous, already feeling sweat building on his palms and armpits as his heart hammered in his chest-
“Alright,” Jimin said simply, wrapping his arms around Yoongi’s waist. “I hope you guys finish it soon. Can I listen when you finish?”
Relief washed over Yoongi and he laughed breathlessly, “You’ll have to ask Joon babe, sorry.”
Jimin pouted, muttering something about how Namjoon never lets him listen to new work like Yoongi does and the elder couldn’t help the fond smile that worked it’s way onto his face. Hoseok’s words from earlier rang in the back of his mind and the grin fell from his face, Yoongi staring blankly at the actors on the tv screen in front of them.
He didn’t like it one bit. None of this. But he already had one foot in the door now and it didn’t look like backing out was an option, albeit the most attractive one. Yoongi would like to tell himself he had a lot of thinking to do, but even before Hoseok’s little speech back at headquarters, he knew from the minute the Director mentioned Jimin’s name what his decision would be.
And quite frankly, nothing pissed him off more.
A soft buzzing in Jimin's pocket woke him up hours later, Jimin sleepily blinking as he slowly became aware of his surroundings. Curled up on Yoongi's chest, he could hear the elder snoring softly, the blue light from the TV lighting up the dark living room. Still feeling his phone buzz in his pocket, Jimin sat up and wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and grabbed his phone from his pocket, squinting against the harsh bright light at the unidentified number on his phone. After a few seconds of running the numbers through his head, Jimin's eyes shot open, looking over at Yoongi quickly before carefully inching his way out of his boyfriend's embrace and walking a few feet away.
"Hello?" he whispered, chewing on his lip and glancing over at his boyfriend carefully every so often.
"Jimin," the other voice on the end said, edited to sound deeper. "I trust you did as I asked today?"
Jimin swallowed. "Yeah."
"And?"
Chewing his lip and glancing once more at Yoongi, watching his boyfriend for any sign of waking up before saying, "I'm in."
"Wonderful, wonderful. I'll look forward to working with you."