Chapter Text
As another exclamation full of praise hit his ears, Yoongi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and the end of his pen against the desk again. This was getting really tiring real quick. How amazing was this boy really for everyone to fret over him and fawn over him so much? Sure his face was cute but so was he and he didn't remember the same welcome when he joined the company 5 years ago.
He rolled his eyes and switched his monitor on again. Slurping his coffee loudly, he started smashing his keyboard in as he started his work after his break. Call him petty, but there was only so much praise for another person he could hear while he just had more and more files piled on his desk.
His manager later that morning, when Yoongi was getting another cup of coffee at the coffee machine, walked towards him.
"Yoongi, you'll mentor Jungkook today, is that okay? Namjoon went home sick," His manager said as he pointed at the young boy who was sipping a cup of hot chocolate instead of a coffee that everyone else always took.
Yoongi's jaw dropped. "You want me to mentor him? Doesn't he already know everything? Thought everyone's golden maknae would learn everything within the time he's already spent here," he snapped, concentrating on getting his coffee more than the other people also in the break room.
"I think there are many others who would love to mentor him. I don't have time to spend on newbies like him. Even getting a coffee is luxury for me at the moment. Have you seen all the files piled high on my desk? They'll reach the ceiling if I don't finish logging them in," he told his manager, pointing out all the reasons he couldn't mentor Jungkook. Plus, he really really didn't want to. He wanted to strangle the kid and wanted him to begone. He was getting on Yoongi's nerves by just staring at him from the other end of the room.
"Yoongi, I already sent your tasks to Hoseok, please just mentor Jungkook, you're the one with the most experience after Namjoon," his manager said as he turned around to look at Jungkook.
Yoongi sighed. "You're not gonna let me say no, are you?" he asked rhetorically as he fixed the coffee with creamer and some honey. He wasn't called honeyboy within his squad for no reason. "If Hoseok does the work wrong, I'm not redoing them because I'm going to already spend time with the new kid and that's going to be tiring enough," Yoongi warns his manager as he picks up his mug while stirring, giving him an unamused look.
"Of course," His manager said as he rolled his eyes, walking towards the younger boy.
"Jungkook, you're going to be mentored by Yoongi now, since Namjoon went sick home," he told the younger boy who followed the finger of his manager, pointing at Yoongi. Jungkook nodded.
"That's the guy who doesn't seem to like me," Jungkook mumbled softly, his eyes looking down at his hot chocolate in his hand.
"Damn right. I'm not going to nag at you for no reason though. The sooner we're done the better," Yoongi said, looking up to make eye contact with the new recruit. On finishing his stirring, he discarded the stirrer in the dustbin before walking to the door.
"Let's get started, greenhorn. I don't want this to last too long," Yoongi said, shoulders slumped in fatigue at the mere thought of being around the newbie. It meant there would be others flocking around him to coo at his mentee.
Jungkook bit his lip as he followed Yoongi, ready to be bossed around. It meant he would at least learn things that day.
Yoongi sighed when he sat down on his chair. "Grab that one," he told Jungkook, waving at the vacant one nearby. He could literally feel glares of jealousy dig into his back already and Jungkook hadn't even seated himself for him to start mentoring.
"Okay, you need to tell me what your position is and what your strong points are," Yoongi said once Jungkook had pulled himself up next to him.
"Design, my talents are with video editing and photography," Jungkook said as he looked at Yoongi, fiddling with the pen in his hand.
Yoongi hummed absentmindedly as he logged onto his computer. "I would hope you specialise in design. We're in the design department," he commented offhandedly. "Since we work with artists and hope to bring out the best in their songs, you should learn how to work with different concepts and how to work specifically with the art and creative director's instructions. I should have a few sample raw videos and instructions. Do you think you could do it?" he looked to the side to make sure Jungkook was listening while he goes off on his rant.
"Yes, Yoongi-ssi," Jungkook said as he nodded obediently, looking at the screen.
"Good, do your thing then," Yoongi shrugged and pulled away from the screen, gesturing for Jungkook to come closer and work on it. He needed to know what Jungkook could do to guide him further.
Jungkook scanned the videos he saw, they were for a new music video. He started working on a short, 20 second long, trailer video for it. He edited the videos together, simple transitions, the coloring working nicely with the concept.
Jungkook kept looking to Yoongi at his side, he seemed judgemental of what Jungkook was doing. Jungkook hoped he was doing it right.
Yoongi scratched at his chin, watching carefully as Jungkook worked diligently on the computer. Even though Yoongi hadn't asked him which software he's most comfortable with but he seemed at ease with it regardless.
He wasn't going to make up anything negative to tell Jungkook, he isn't a dick. But he did lean away from the table to glare at the people who were whispering and watching them. It was this that put him off more than Jungkook himself.
"Is this alright?" Jungkook asked after a short moment, while working on rendering the trailer he had just created.
"Yeah. But," Yoongi leaned forward again, pulling up the notepad file with the instructions. "This bit of information here," he said as he pointed his cursor at a bit of text. "you missed. I know it was just a trailer but if you miss something as vital as this, it might not be accepted. Leaving that aside, you're really good at this video editing thing," Yoongi commented as he created a new folder and put the newly created video in that.
"Oh! sorry," Jungkook said immediately, he got back to his edit and stopped Yoongi's movements to adjust the piece of text, his perfectionist taking over. Jungkook didn't even hear the compliment he got from Yoongi, thinking over his mistake too much.
Yoongi shrugged. He could work with this. Being a perfectionist is important in his line of work. What was also important was not to lose yourself to it. If Jungkook did lose himself in that vicious cycle, at least there will be many to help him out.
"Is this good Yoongi-ssi?" He asked as he played the video again to the older guy.
"If you listened to me completely, you'd've heard me saying if I was satisfied or not," Yoongi noted. "Also please just call me hyung. We work in the same department," Yoongi rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, I didn’t catch it hyung," Jungkook said as he looked down at his hands.
"It's okay. You're a newbie after all," Yoongi said, eyes trained on the computer as he thought about what else to show him.
"Okay," Jungkook said as he smiled at Yoongi and saved the project again to be secure and then rolled the chair a bit away from it and waited for Yoongi to give him another task.
A pink folder lying on the table caught Yoongi's attention. Pulling it closer, he flipped through the contents. He extended it to Jungkook after closing it. "As part of the design department, we also need to help the artists of our company come up with concepts. That isn't to say we only come with a theme and that's it. We also have several colour schemes, ideas of themes for the photo shoots, scenes for the photos, and of course the music video and their concept trailer. Now, here's some information on one of the groups we manage. I want you to brainstorm and come up with ideas of concepts. I want a list of all the things I mentioned," Yoongi explained as he quickly typed up a mail.
"Since you're new I'm writing up a checklist that I do mentally when I plan out a concept myself and sending it to you. The concept was recently decided for this group so I just want to see if you come up with something that would look good with the group and appeal to the audience. You can work in your own cubicle till you're done," he continued.
"Alright," Jungkook replied to Yoongi before he walked to his own cubicle with the folder in his hand.
He worked on the concept of the group for a short time, thinking of a overall idea, a small story for the music video, what they would show in the trailer and ideas for the outfits. He made sketches and a storyboard for the music video, working on it for a good three hours before walking back to Yoongi's cubicle with all the things he had made.
"Hyung, I'm done," he said as he put down the papers on Yoongi's desk.
"Take a break and come back to me after 15 minutes. I'll tell you what you've done right and what you've done wrong. I want you to take notes," Yoongi told him, pulling the papers closer to him.
When Jungkook left, he pulled out his spiral notepad and scribbled notes while he kept reading and analysing Jungkook's idea. The concept would have been good if it wasn't overused and a repeat of what one of their other groups had done recently. Maybe Jungkook needed more research material. He liked all the details Jungkook included but some of them in the storyboard were downright unnecessary and could not be fitted in the few minutes they have for the music video. Jungkook really needed to work on organising a proposal too.
Rummaging through his drawer, he pulled out two highlighters, a green and a pink to highlight his points as positive and negative before putting his notepad and Jungkook's hard work to the side, going back to his own proposals as he waited for Jungkook to come back.
Jungkook returned shortly after, a black coffee in his one hand, his own hot chocolate in his other hand as he sat down on the chair by Yoongi's desk again, giving Yoongi the coffee.
"Here hyung," he said as he smiled putting the coffee down in front of Yoongi.
"Oh thanks for going through the trouble. I already finished evaluating. If you're more comfortable, you can go back to your desk and go through it. I wrote the positives and the negatives and how to improve. You definitely need to learn a lot more so I suggest asking manager for some of our previous proposals. It should be in our archives," Yoongi told Jungkook, holding the coffee in both his hands. He didn't really drink black coffee but he didn't feel like getting up and adding creamer.
"Alright," Jungkook said as he took the folder and walked back to his own desk, wondering why Yoongi wanted to get him away so fast every time. He walked back to the desk and flipped through the pages. There was a lot of pink marker, meaning that it wasn't good enough for Yoongi's liking. There were some good constructive notes on the sides written and Jungkook took his good time to scan them all.
A while later, as Yoongi was compiling documents into a large folder for Jungkook to go through later when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Hey hyung, it's almost lunch time. Do you wanna go out?" Taehyung asked, Jimin following behind him. "Why?" Yoongi asked, squinting at them. "It's Thursday. We always go out together for lunch," Jimin pouted from behind Taehyung.
"Jungkook and Seokjin hyung are coming too," Taehyung said as he smiled and pulled Yoongi out of the office chair when Jungkook and Seokjin came walking towards Taehyung and Jimin.
Yoongi sighed. "Do I have to?" he asked, looking warily between all the people gathered. "I'm not that hungry, I'll get something later. You guys can go ahead," he said, trying to pull himself out of Taehyung's grip.
"Nope, you have to," Taehyung said with a big smile before pulling Yoongi along to the regular lunch cafe at the company.
Yoongi tagged along, steps hesitant as he let Taehyung pull him along. "Don't be mad if I leave early with a sandwich in hand," he warned his friends.
Jungkook looked at Yoongi and smiled. Some sort of feeling in his stomach told him that Yoongi did not really like him that much.
"Let's go then!" Taehyung said as he dragged Yoongi along in the direction of the elevator.
"Slow down, Tae," Yoongi chuckled, slipping his hand out of Taehyung's hold to place it on his shoulder instead. Jimin bumped into his other side, sandwiching him successfully to make sure he doesn't leave.
Some moments later they were sitting in the lunchroom with their lunches on the table. The conversation existed out of Jimin, Taehyung and Seokjin trying to include the two introverts in the conversation. Yoongi texted his parents, like he usually did during his lunch break while keeping an eye on his colleagues. They could be a handful even with their innocent intentions.
"Get of your phone hyung," Taehyung complained as he stole Yoongi's phone out of the elders hand before turning the screen of it off and putting it in the pocket of his jeans.
"Jungkook, how do you like it here?" Taehyung asked eventually to the youngest of the group.
"It's nice," Jungkook said as he sipped his hot chocolate. "People here are really nice to me," he said as he smiled at all of them, his gaze staying at Yoongi for a moment.
"Did you really mean to ask him that or did you actually mean, 'is Yoongi hyung chewing you out like he does us'?" Yoongi asked sarcastically, glaring openly at Taehyung.
"Hyung knows me so well," Taehyung chuckled softly as Jimin and Seokjin grinned towards Yoongi.
Yoongi rolled his eyes. "I know what my reputation in the company is rather," he corrected his junior, pulling his cola closer to take a long swig from it.
"I think hyung is very smart and just wants the best work," Jungkook said, it was almost a whisper. "He seems like a really hard worker."
Yoongi just glanced at Jungkook from the corner of his eyes. That's what they all said in front of him unless they were Seokjin, Jimin or Taehyung who said it like it was.
Jungkook fell quiet as soon as he saw Yoongi's glare and focused on sipping his hot chocolate again after mumbling a soft sorry.
"You don't have to try to get on my good side. The only thing that can get you there is hard work. Not that it really matters either," Yoongi said before fixing Seokjin with a glare. "And you. Please stop putting cooking in all your proposals, it's getting really tiring," he deadpanned.
"Oh come on!" Seokjin called out as he threw his hands in the air and sighed deep. "That's unfair!"
Jungkook in that moment chuckled softly as he looked at Yoongi, he respected the older guy already.
"Yeah I'm going to reject all of them till you stop and come up with something original," he told Seokjin with a smirk on his lips. "And Jungkook, by the end of today I'll give you a USB with a lot of proposals both rejected and accepted. I want you to go through them carefully, okay?" He addressed the newest recruit before turning to the just arrived food.
"Alright," Jungkook said as he nodded before sipping his hot chocolate again.
"Enough about work hyung," Jimin said, slapping Yoongi's arm. "So Jungkookie, tell us about you. Anything you're okay with sharing," he continued, folding his arms on top of the table.
"Uh, I'm a senior in college, I do business and management, even though I like making music and singing," Jungkook spoke softly as he looked at the four older guys.
"Oh! So you're just doing your final internship?" Taehyung asked, fork midway to his mouth. "It's alright, you'll just join us and maybe help out the composers. I know some people there so I can introduce you!" Taehyung said excitedly.
"Taehyung, you know everyone," Jimin mumbled with a chuckle before he took a bite from his own sandwich.
"Yeah, true," Taehyung shrugged before munching on his own food happily. "But seriously though, I can help you Jungkookie. So can Namjoon hyung actually," Taehyung said while he chewed.
"Thank you so much," Jungkook said as he bowed with his head towards Taehyung thankfully.
"Stop talking with your mouth full, don't you have manners?" Yoongi tsked disagreeably. Taehyung just turned and gave him a boxy smile after he had swallowed.
"Ah don't be so annoyed hyung," Taehyung said as he grinned.
"You always annoy me, there's nothing new with that," Yoongi rolled his eyes as he turned back to his lunch. "I'd like my phone back soon by the way. I was texting my parents when you so kindly took it away from me."
"Of course Hyung," Taehyung said as he gave the elder back his phone.
"Thanks," Yoongi smiled as he took it back and texted his parents about his sudden departure and his lunch plans, bidding then goodbye till later at night before he pocketed his phone.
"Okay I'm done," he said, pushing his plate away. Jimin whined as soon as Yoongi started pushing his back.
"But we need to talk more with Jungkookie!" he tried to reason.
"I'm not interested. You guys can continue because I have work," he sighed. Jungkook nodded towards Yoongi who stood up and nodded them goodbye.
"I'll come by your desk for the files later," he said as he looked at Yoongi.
"Please do," he nodded before patting Jimin and Taehyung’s shoulders appreciatively. "I'm paying as I leave," he told them, heading to the counter before they could argue.
"He doesn't like me, does he?" Jungkook asked as he looked at the three older guys.
"The question is, does he like anyone ?" Jimin asked, laughing.
"But he shows he cares by doing things subtly. Like paying for our lunch," Seokjin said with a grin.
"Ah," Jungkook said as he looked at the three guys.
"You'll get used to it," Seokjin shrugged. "But he's one of the most trustworthy to ask for opinions even though he sounds like a dick 10/9 times," Jimin added.
"I noticed that, he gave very detailed but well constructed criticism to the short thing he gave me to do," Jungkook said as he smiled before sipping the last sip of hot chocolate out of the cup.
"And trust me, the look of pure hatred he gives you actually will motivate you at the end," Taehyung laughed, slapping the table in jest.
"Aha," Jungkook said as he smiled towards them and put his cup down. "I'm going back to work again," he said as he stood up.
"Hey, what's the rush? We have like 20 more minutes till we need to get back," Taehyung asked, looking up at Jungkook with wide eyes. "Sit back down, we should talk about our likes and dislikes! Oh or, how prepared you are for your finals after your internship here," he giggled.
"I still wanted to call with my parents, they want to know how my internship goes," Jungkook said as he looked at Taehyung and smiled.
"Ah, is that so. Carry on then. Filial, aren't you," Taehyung said, nodding in understanding. "Let's order another coffee for each of us," Seokjin offered, since they still had time to kill. "Yeah, I don't mind," Jimin shrugged.
"Hyung, can I have those files?" Jungkook asked some moments later as he stood next to Yoongi's cubicle.
"Ah. Jungkook. I still have to look for a few files. They're with people in other departments but they're going to mail it to me by the end of today but you can have the rest," Yoongi said as he pulled out the USB he had compiled them in. "Didn't stay with them for the whole break?" He asked as he handed it to Jungkook.
"No, I went to call my mom for a bit but she had to go," Jungkook said as he shrugged. "Thought that I could as well start working again."
"Understandable. Good. Enjoy going through these. I'd prefer if you took notes or asked me if you have any queries," Yoongi said as he turned back to his computer screen where he was writing up his own proposal for an album due by the end of the year.
"Alright," Jungkook said as he nodded and took the USB. He walked back to his own cubicle and with the words of Taehyung and Jimin in the back of his mind he kept thinking about how Yoongi treated him a lot different than he seemed to treat the others?
Yoongi worked hard in the company and that's what he always wanted from others as well, hard work. He could see his colleagues take it was but he knew how hard it was for groups to succeed in the industry. He heard it from the producers and the sheer amount of songs they produced.
He compiled a few tracks and wrote and quickly wrote up an email. 'Write up possible concepts for this collection of tracks.' and sent it to Jungkook after looking up his temporary email with them in the folder the manager had sent to his desk earlier.
Jungkook worked for two long hours without a moment of relaxing until he stumbled on a smaller problem. He had no idea what to do with the concept at the music video point.
He ended up checking the files that Yoongi had sent earlier for him to scan through and found his inspiration there and he continued to work.
Eventually Jungkook finished and sent the files back to Yoongi, he relaxed in his chair, hoping he did well enough.
Yoongi stalled reading through the proposal Jungkook had sent back and only got to it roughly an hour after he had received it. Skimming through it, he realised Jungkook's as already better than some of the regular employee's first drafts. Nobody's proposals were accepted at the get-go, nor were any accepted completely. There were always things that were added and things that were taken out, it was a joint process of all the departments. It was just their job to come up with the best ideas. Ideas were made to evolve after all.
After writing up a long email with his commentary, he got up to get another cup of coffee. Many people had come over to him to ask what Jungkook was like, even people who stayed a mile away from him on regular days. It was wearing him out and he needed to be re-energised.
Jungkook was reading the other files Yoongi had sent as he received back another email. It took him long to read through the many comments. He eventually found small compliments in the commentary too.
Yoongi eventually got tired of all the people around him and snapped, yelling at them to get back to work. He saved his work and sent it to himself to work at home. He couldn't work amidst so much noise. "I'm going home Jungkook, finish up whatever you're doing and report to Namjoon. He should be back tomorrow," Yoongi said as he looked over Jungkook's cubicle.
"Thank you for helping me today Hyung," Jungkook said as he looked up to Yoongi and smiled brightly and thankful for the elder's help.
"I was asked to do it," he said, dismissing the gratitude. He would rather go through all those files that had been passed onto Hoseok instead. He was not a big fan of interaction after all.
"You still did it," Jungkook said as he saved the files he had on his computer and took the USB in the pocket of his jeans."
"It was a duty given to me. I couldn't say no. Not as one of the most senior," he huffed as he remembered the manager's words this morning.
"Enjoy the rest of your day," he waved before walking along and wishing the rest of his friends a good day coupled with a few jokes and slaps on the shoulder before making his way out of the office. He would run himself a warm bath and enjoy some takeout tonight to reward himself for doing so well amidst so many people today. His pissy attitude didn't win over everyone's curiosity of the newcomer after all.
Jungkook himself was left alone at his cubicle, he continued to work for a short time until he heard from the manager it was time for him to go home too.
At home, Yoongi sat and wrote up a report for Namjoon to read at his leisure. He listed and discussed everything he made Jungkook do and his rationale behind it all. He also included the reason why he left early after giving Jungkook one last assignment just so Namjoon knew to check up on it. Additionally, he asked him to add to the commentary Jungkook had received from him in case he had anything else to say. The recruit could use all the knowledge and guidance given to him, Yoongi believed.
The next day Jungkook came to work early, he had worked on the tasks given to him from Yoongi at home too and had finished them earlier this morning taking the tram to the building. Yoongi was coming back to his desk from Hoseok's when he saw Jungkook sit down in his cubicle. He seemed to be dedicated but it was always just a matter of time. And Jungkook wasn't going to stay for long anyways. Probably.
Jungkook looked up from his computer to see Yoongi walking around and raised his hand to wave at him but got no reaction. He lowered his hand and continued to send a mail towards Yoongi and Namjoon, both of them included for Namjoon being his actual mentor and Yoongi for giving the tasks.
Yoongi snuggled into his scarf slightly more, arranging his folders into a neat and organized pile before he unraveled the scarf and set it down on his bag. Making sure he was ready to work, he left his desk again to go get coffee. While making his own, he also itched to make a hot chocolate and so he did, hoping it was as per Jungkook's tastes. It was early and there were barely people in the office. Good deeds should be rewarded, Yoongi believed and this was just a small gesture from his to reward Jungkook and his punctuality.
He set the cup down on Jungkook's desk a few minutes later, his own in his hands. "Good morning," he said, speaking his first words of the day.
"Good morning," Jungkook said as he looked up at Yoongi and smiled thankfully for the cup of hot chocolate. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Hope today is productive for you. Namjoon should be in within the next half hour. If the drink is bad, don't hesitate to throw it, I don't mind," Yoongi said before turning and going back to sit at his desk. He pulled out his headphones and put them on as he started to work. He did this to show his colleagues that it was best to stay away from him at that point because he was trying to work.
"Hyung," Jungkook said about half an hour later as he nervously stood by Yoongi's cubicle. His phone in his hand as he bit his lip. "Namjoon hyung is still sick."
Yoongi sighed heavily and paused his music before taking his headphones down. "Sorry, could you repeat that? I couldn't hear you. Is Namjoon down still?" he asked, a small frown present on his face as he looked up at Jungkook.
"Y-yeah," Jungkook stuttered as he looked at Yoongi with an apologetic smile. The expression on Yoongi's face made it seem like he was annoyed with Jungkook and he didn't like it.
"I have a meeting in ten. Get a notebook ready and you can accompany me and see how things work," Yoongi said after thinking for a while. He usually didn't do this training thing. That was not his forte but he'd try his best. It was just another task, he told himself. Jungkook nodded as he walked back to his own cubicle and collected his notepad and two pens.
Yoongi slumped in his chair. He was running out of tasks. If he came up with none, Jungkook would have to do the mundane photocopying work. That's literally all he could come up with. It's not like he could hand Jungkook's responsibility over to others either, they'd just spoil him. Jungkook was scrolling a bit randomly through a file as he waited for Yoongi to get him and go with him to the meeting.
"We're going," Yoongi said, passing by him with his necessary folders already under his arm. He was ready to put his proposal forward and show them that his idea was above the rest. He needed to also show how to present one's work to the rest of the company to Jungkook.
"I'll come," Jungkook said saving the file he was working on and followed Yoongi towards the meeting room. Yoongi took a deep breath and kept walking to the conference room, checking once in a while by looking back at Jungkook to make sure he was still behind him. On reaching the room, he pushed the glass door open and held it for Jungkook to walk through. On the other side sat producers, directors and other officials as well as the leader of the group involved.
Jungkook looked at Yoongi a bit helpless as he made a deep bow saying "Hello."
"He's the newest recruit in our department," Yoongi introduced. "Jeon Jungkook. A promising intern. He'll be learning with us today," he said with finality, walking to his chair and gesturing Jungkook to sit in the one next to him. Jungkook nodded, following to sit next to Yoongi and putting down his notebook and pens.
For a couple of hours which stretched on endlessly, the meeting continued. Yoongi continued to explain his ideas to the producers and the director, gesticulating calmly. He had distributed handouts, presented a slideshow to get everyone to understand. Throughout the time, he stood his ground and thoroughly answered every question. After this gruelling session, they finally accepted Yoongi's proposal, promising to contact him for further details and help as the comeback took shape.
Jungkook was stunned with everything that Yoongi did, with so much skill. Everything was perfectly planned and Jungkook worked hard on taking his notes on things that he could do. Yoongi stood up and bowed to everyone before turning to Jungkook.
"Ready to go?" he asked as he got ready to leave the meeting room.
But of course, people started to come up and praise Jungkook. If Yoongi had brought in an intern, he definitely must see caliber in the young man, is what they said. "No, it's just the first time I had to train someone," Yoongi said, shaking his head slightly.
Jungkook stood next to Yoongi, awkwardly and uncomfortable. "Shall we go Hyung?" he asked, hoping to escape the overload of attention he always seemed to get.
"Yeah," Yoongi replied, sliding out of his place and pushing the chair back in. He nodded to his colleagues who were still around and made his way to the door.
Jungkook followed him with hurried steps, glad to be out of the attention. "I don't like the attention that everyone gives me," he told Yoongi as they were walking through the hallway.
"Same. It gets on my nerves," Yoongi spat, shaking it off by speed walking away. "I hope that helped you learn some things," he said as they got closer to their desks.
"Yes, it did," Jungkook said as he smiled at the older guy.
"Good. You can go reflect on it now because I don't have much else to give you," Yoongi admitted, nodding to some of his colleagues who greeted him.
"Alright," Jungkook said as he walked back to his own cubicle. Jungkook worked hard on analyzing the notes he took, which took him an hour. He checked the clock realizing it was time for lunch and decided maybe he could invite Yoongi on a lunch with him.
"Hyung? Do you want to have lunch together?" he asked as he stood by Yoongi's cubicle.
Yoongi looked up from the papers, highlighter in hand. "Lunch? Ask Taehyung or Jimin instead, I'm not going to go for a while," he mumbled, before looking back down.
"I feel more comfortable with you than with Jimin and Taehyung, hyung," Jungkook said as he fiddled with the pen in his hands.
"Give me five more minutes. I'll wrap this section up and come with you," Yoongi hummed. The two were a bit loud, it wouldn't be surprising if he found them scary even.
"Okay," Jungkook said, thankful for Yoongi wanting to come along. Working diligently and slightly hurriedly, Yoongi finished the section he was working on within the five minutes and got up after wrapping his things up. Tucking his wallet in his pocket, Yoongi went to seek Jungkook out from his cubicle. Luckily for him, it was also on the way out.
"You're done?" Jungkook asked as looked up at Yoongi.
"Yeah, but I've got quite a lot to finish so we can't spend too long getting lunch," he said as he jerked his head towards the exit. "Let's go," he said walking away from his cubicle slowly. Jungkook stood up and followed Yoongi towards the lunchroom. Taking his wallet in his hand.
"I'll pay for us, I think I owe you that hyung," Jungkook said as he looked at Yoongi.
"No you're not paying and I'm not listening to any arguments," he said airily, waving off Jungkook's statement.
"Oh," Jungkook replied, following Yoongi to the lunchroom.
"It's the case with everyone younger to me and Seokjin hyung, don't feel hurt," Yoongi added as they neared the lunchroom. Taking one look at the menu, he sighed and got in line. At least it seemed they were going to serve a decent meal today. Jungkook nodded as he followed Yoongi to the line and stood next to him. He fiddled with his wallet now and kept looking at Yoongi and then looking away.
Yoongi kept feeling the burn of a stare on his back. And just before it was their turn, Yoongi looked back at Jungkook. "What is it? Is there something you want to say?" He asked before turning around and ordering for himself and telling the staff the person behind him is being paid for by him.
"No, it's nothing," Jungkook said, a soft pink blush appearing on his cheeks as he looked away.
"Sure," Yoongi agreed begrudgingly before accepting his food with a smile aimed at the staff working hard for them. After paying for their meals, Yoongi searched for a table while Jungkook finished getting his food from the counter. He leads them to a table in the quieter side of the establishment.
Jungkook ate silently, looking up every two seconds to look at Yoongi again and looking away. When they met eyes Jungkook's cheeks flushed pink and he looked down, stuffing his mouth with food.
Yoongi sighed and put his chopsticks down. "Jungkook. There's clearly something you want to say. What is it?" he asked, palms flat on the table.
Jungkook looked up, eyes big like a deer on the middle of the road. "Do you dislike me?" Jungkook asked after a short moment of silence.
Yoongi frowned, thinking about why it may have seemed that way. He found no reason but shrugged anyway to alleviate his worries. "Not particularly. Why?" he asked, tilting his head slightly.
"You always seem to want to get rid of me," Jungkook said as he bit his lip.
"I'm not someone who enjoys company a whole lot," Yoongi agreed, shrugging as he picked up his chopsticks again. "It's nothing personal," he added before eating again.
"Okay," Jungkook said as he smiled weakly before eating his own lunch again.
The following days Namjoon was still sick. He said he had the flu or something, he promised to return to work soon but it didn't seem the case. Jungkook kept working with Yoongi together and slowly he got more comfortable around Yoongi.
After four days Jungkook noticed himself searching for Yoongi's company, inviting Yoongi to lunch with him every time and finishing his tasks faster so he could maybe talk to him more. It didn't take much for him to realized he had a (not so) small crush on the older co-worker.
Yoongi found himself in Jungkook's company more often than not. Luckily however, this also meant that people slowly moved away from them after lingering for a while. Nobody liked being at the other end of Yoongi’s glare for too long. But he wondered how Jungkook himself didn’t leave. He liked to work right next to Yoongi nowadays, becoming bolder about asking things he was unsure of, showing off when he thought he did something right and at times, it was endearing, Yoongi would admit.
"Hyung," Jungkook said as he stood by Yoongi's cubicle again. "It's lunch time," he pointed out, looking at the clock that hung on the wall of the office.
"I actually ordered in today. There's enough for both of us so if you want to you can stay. I was going to ask Seokjin if you went to the lunchroom because we're tired of that food," Yoongi said, as he looked up from the screen, pursing his lips sheepishly.
"I can eat with you, hyung," Jungkook said as he smiled at Yoongi. "What did you order?"
Yoongi shrugged. "Just pizza. Felt like having something greasy today," he explained. "It should be here in a few minutes. We can go to the break room and sit there to eat or stay here," Yoongi said, resting his head on his palm as he looked at Jungkook.
"Here is fine," Jungkook said as he looked around him to find an empty chair, spotting the one that belonged to Namjoon's cubicle and pulling it towards Yoongi's desk.
Yoongi stared at the empty space Namjoon usually occupied for a while before turning back towards his computer. Maybe he should visit Namjoon once before going home today. They'd been working here for almost the same amount of time and had been classmates in college, it felt weird to not have him around for too long and it had definitely been days since Yoongi last saw him. He sighed deeply and shook his head to bring his concentration back to the task at hand, his phone on top of his desk for whenever the delivery man called him. Jungkook studied the way that Yoongi worked, or more studied Yoongi's face at this point.
It was a common occurrence by now, feeling Jungkook's wide eyes stare at the side of his face unwaveringly. Yoongi continued to work, undisturbed by the sensation till the phone call came and he got up from his chair to answer, not wanting to disturb the people who had stayed to skip their lunch or delayed it. Jungkook looked after Yoongi and took out his own phone, starting up a game, waiting for Yoongi to return.
After finishing his call, Yoongi passed by his own cubicle and grabbed his wallet before booking it out of there, rushing down to the entrance to the building. He'd be lying if he wasn't famished by then. Drowning himself in work only helped for so long. Jungkook kept playing with his phone grinning at the way Yoongi rushed downstairs to the entrance.
Three and a half minutes later, Yoongi was back in his cubicle, breathing back to normal as he set the two pizzas, one large and one medium down on his desk. "I hope you don't have any particular dislike to any of the toppings," Yoongi said as he pocketed his phone, getting off it after a conversation with his mother.
"Should be fine as long as it's not pineapple," Jungkook said as he took the cardboard box from Yoongi.
"Good, I'm not a big fan of fruits on my pizzas either," Yoongi said, exhaling harshly through his nose as he sank in his chair before he ran his hand through his hair. Why was talking to his mother so tiring all the time? He straightened up soon after and opened up the other cardboard box and pulled out a slice of his favourite BBQ chicken pizza. Jungkook opened the other box to reveal a four cheese pizza, humming happily as he took out a slice from it.
Yoongi leaned back in his chair as he chewed happily on his pizza. Reaching below his desk with one hand, he pulled out a bottle of soda, smiling at Jungkook mischievously. "If the manager sees this, I'm in trouble so we have to be discreet but pizza without soda is plain weird so I sneaked it in," he said, leaning closer to Jungkook to share his thoughts.
"Wait there's a rule against soda?" Jungkook said as he bit his lip, he always had a bottle of ice tea standing on his desk.
"Yeah, it contains caffeine so things like soft drinks and energy drinks aren't allowed. Tea and coffee is," he shrugged. "I don't understand why they are but I guess it's because they're more natural."
"Alright," Jungkook shrugged. "I'll stick to hot chocolate the next time," he said as he took another bite from his pizza.
"Or chocolate milk if you like the cooler stuff," Yoongi said after swallowing his mouthful of pizza. Grabbing the bottle, he downed a large swig.
"Chocolate milk is good for warm days but Banana milk is even better," Jungkook said as he grinned.
“Ew, why banana?" Yoongi said, scrunching his face up in mock disgust. "My go to is just chilled coffee," he shrugged. "To each his own I guess," he said after a while. He couldn't judge others when he liked dipping his fries in ice cream instead of ketchup.
"Banana milk cheers me up when I'm sad," Jungkook said as he took another slice and took a big bite.
"Don't really need that information," Yoongi hummed, drumming his fingers on the armrest of his chair. Why did he need that sort of information about just an intern anyway?
"Oh," Jungkook mumbled, a bit disappointed, but not surprised.
Yoongi ignored the little noise from Jungkook as he continued to chew on his pizza happily. He liked the simple pleasures of life, like now as he sat at his desk and chewed on greasy pizza that costed way too much for its worth. Jungkook ate his pizza himself in silence after that. He tried to eat faster so maybe he could distance himself a bit more from Yoongi.
"Don't inhale the pizza Jungkook, if you choke, I'm not good enough at first aid to save you," Yoongi warned him as he scrolled through his phone, taking small bites from his pizza to savour it as much as he could.
Jungkook nodded softly as he continued to eat his pizza.
Yoongi frowned. The usual chatty Jungkook had quietened down to silence? Did Yoongi say something to upset him? "Did I say something to upset you Jungkook?" he asked, peeling his eyes away from the screen in his hand to look at his companion.
“No, it's fine," Jungkook mumbled after he swallowed his bite and immediately after took the last bite from the last slice.
Yoongi shrugged and when he noticed both the boxes were now empty, he got up and gathered them up to go throw them in the large bin on their floor. "As you say Jungkook. Don't forget that report is due later today to the manager. It's one of your last few days here as an intern," Yoongi said as he stretched slightly.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Jungkook said, feeling sad that he had to leave the company, including Yoongi.
"Yeah it's almost time for you to go back to college kid," Yoongi commented before he walked away in search of the bin he knew was pretty far from their department. He came back a couple of minutes later with washed hands and sat on his chair.
"I'll get back to work," Jungkook said as he smiled weakly before returning to his cubicle, staying distant from Yoongi by mailing everything that he had to do.
Yoongi shrugged at his behaviour. It may have been anything from a normal mood swing for a young adult like him to a message from his girlfriend or friend or family. He didn't want to know until it affected his work. And when he evaluated the work, he found that it really wasn't affecting his work yet so he let it slide.
Jungkook himself scanned through the next mail that Yoongi had sent with another task to do and he felt tired and sad, his work slacked this time as he sent it back to Yoongi. Yoongi scoffed at the quality of Jungkook's work and sent it back to him immediately, refusing to read through it completely till Jungkook fixed it. He also wrote to him to come see him to talk about it.
Jungkook bit his lip as he read the final sentence of the mail. He didn't want to face Yoongi if he were honest. He still slumped towards the elder's cubicle.
Yoongi let out a slow exhale and turned in his chair completely to sit face to face with Jungkook. "What was that Jungkook? That was the last thing I expected from you. You have been showing constant improvement ever since I started supervising you. So what was this today? What is troubling you? And don't say it's nothing because I know it's not nothing. Please be honest because if it's nothing, your last assignment was trash," he said solemnly, his eyes never leaving Jungkook's face.
"I-" he had no idea how to say it. He couldn't just confess that he had a crush on the older co-worker could he? "I just don't feel well and I hoped that maybe if I'd finish this I could go home early," he lied, looking up, meeting Yoongi's eyes and looking away again.
Yoongi sighed. "If that's the case then go home," he said, turning around. He wasn't a complete idiot, the hesitation told him that the boy was lying but he wasn't going to push it. It wasn't his job to. "Next time you try to come up with an excuse, try to make it sound more real," he said before resuming his work.
"Do you really want to know?" Jungkook asked as he looked at Yoongi, biting his lip.
"Save it if you don't want to share it," Yoongi said, eyes already on the screen in front of him. "I have no reason to try and get it out of you if you're not comfortable sharing it in the first place," he added.
"You should know though," Jungkook mumbled. He rubbed with his hand over his arm nervously. "You know, you're really handsome," he said as he looked up.
Yoongi frowned. What does that have to do with him not turning in satisfactory work. "Listen, if you're trying to sweet talk your way out of this, don't," Yoongi warned, looking at Jungkook.
"I fell for you," Jungkook whispered as he looked away from Yoongi's eyes.
"What do you mean," he whispered, eyes narrowed as they stared at Jungkook. "Don't joke with me, Jeon Jungkook," he sighed tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "There's literally nothing attractive about me and I'm technically your boss right now," he said, looking up at him warily.
"I don't even know how it happened hyung," Jungkook said, tears blurring his view as he looked away. "It's stupid, I know."
Yoongi sighed. "Go on home Jungkook. And emotions don't really have a place in the office, especially not if they get in the way of work," he said, turning away from him to face his monitor again.
"Don't ignore this," Jungkook said as he grabbed Yoongi's wrist, standing up and dragging Yoongi out of the office. "Then we talk this out outside the office," he said.
"Jungkook, stop." Yoongi pulled his wrist out his grasp. "Behave yourself," he said, voice low with rage. "You can't run high on emotions like this. We'll talk about this when you've calmed down, not like this," he shook his head at the intern.
"Alright," Jungkook said before he rushed away, grabbing his bag from his cubicle, wiping his tears as he walked home.
"What was that?" Jimin asked, walking up to Yoongi as he saw Jungkook leave in a hurry. "Nothing. Go back to work, Park," Yoongi said, not bothered to deal with anyone now. He went back to his cubicle and concentrated on his work till he was on the verge of overtime.
He clocked out after that, going home with a swirl of thoughts on his mind. He's never been this preoccupied outside of office matters but Jungkook seemed to be dominating his thoughts. He still couldn't fathom how anyone could like him.
As per his plan, he went to Namjoon's place. Maybe he'd be able to help him with the situation. His friend knew what a perfectionist he was as well.
Namjoon was wrapped in a warm blanket as he opened the door, nose red and sneezing loud as he let Yoongi in. "What's up hyung?" he asked casually as he walked back to the living room where he immediately sat down on the couch again.
"Thought I'd check up on you since you disappeared for so long. I don't even know if you're taking care of yourself," Yoongi said honestly as he put down his bag and reached out to check Namjoon's temperature. "At least your temperature isn't too high," he said, relieved. "Because of your absence, I've had to deal with the intern for his whole internship with us. He has only a week or so left now," he tells his friend with a bemused look to let him know he's unhappy with the turn of events.
"How is Jungkook-ah doing?" Namjoon asked as he looked at the older guy and smiled at him, but as he saw the look on Yoongi's face he frowned. "Is he not good?"
"He's good, a promising kid but that's what he is, a kid. Do you have any idea what he's like?" Yoongi asked before telling Namjoon about his experience with the intern, starting from the beginning till today when Jungkook ran away from work.
"So you're saying, that he has like a crush on you? Young kid should get to know how much of a depressing workaholic you are," Namjoon said as he grinned and took another sip from the glass of water he had been holding the whole time.
Yoongi sighed and relaxed on the couch. "Exactly my point Joon. He's too emotional," he said, resting his face on his fist.
"He's a human, he's not a semi robot like you, loosen up for once," Namjoon said as he rolled his eyes and looked at his best friend. "I'm serious, loosen up hyung."
"What do you mean, 'loosen up hyung'? I am so much older and his boss at the moment," Yoongi said, looking across at Namjoon. "And it's weird. There's literally nothing likeable about me," he added
"He's only four years younger than you are hyung, and I don't see that likeable thing about you either but he does and you probably broke his heart," Namjoon said as he reached to a tissue again to wipe his nose.
"I didn't mean to," Yoongi exclaimed, raising his hands in defeat. "I don't want him to feel bad or anything," he sighed.
"Talk to him?" Namjoon proposed as he looked at the older male sitting on the other end of the couch.
"About what?" Yoongi asked, looking down at his hands with a small frown. "About how I don't think he should like me?" he scoffed.
"Yeah," Namjoon said as he sneezed loud. "You should talk to him about that."
"Jeez, are you taking any medicine at all?" Yoongi asked, peering into Namjoon's face. "You seem too sick for someone who's been at home for so long," he commented.
"I have," Namjoon said as he rolled his eyes. "I'll try to get better soon, you just talk to Jungkook okay?" Namjoon said.
"Talk to him about what, Joon. There's nothing to talk about," Yoongi argued.
"About how you think he shouldn't like you, for fucks sake you literally said it yourself a moment ago," Namjoon said as he groaned, rolling his eyes.
"I know, but isn't that stupid? You're not any help," Yoongi grumbled, standing up from his place. "Take care and come back soon, Namjoon," he said as he walked backwards.
"I'll come back soon," Namjoon promised as he rolled his eyes. "Talk to Jungkook!" Namjoon yelled after him, followed by a lot of coughing.
"I hope you die," Yoongi chuckled before closing the door behind him and walked back to his house, preparing a quick dinner for himself to rest well for the next day. He was going to have a long day tomorrow. Might as well prepared for it tonight.
The next morning Jungkook didn't show up to work, not even late. Yoongi wasn't completely surprised when the manager told him that Jungkook had called in sick and would be back tomorrow.
Yoongi worked in silence, a deafening silence which disturbed him more than helped him be productive during the day. He left early that day, feeling jittery and strange. It unsettled him, the fact that he had come to work early in the morning to confront Jungkook but hadn't been able to see his face for the whole day when he was usually never left alone by the same kid on other days.
The next day Jungkook came to work. His hair unbrushed and messy. Working hard on the task he had slumped on two days before. He had arrived at work early, one of the first to arrive at the office.
Yoongi woke up early, way too early that day and ended up cooking an elaborate lunch enough for five just to pass his time. After packing it up carefully, he got ready for office and arrived at his destination about a quarter of an hour later than he usually did. Sneaking a glance at Jungkook's desk, he saw a mop of brown and sighed with relief. The brat had come in today.
Jungkook looked up hearing the door open again and as he saw Yoongi he looked down at his computer screen, trying to make himself as small as possible, the small hope of Yoongi not seeing him.
After putting his things down, Yoongi headed to the manager's cabin to tell him about Namjoon and how he saw him yesterday since Namjoon hadn't gone into details about his situation.
After having a brief talk with him, Yoongi made his way back, detouring towards Jungkook's desk. "Hey Jungkook. It's nice to see you back. I acted like an ass day before and I wanted to apologise for that. But yeah... You'll be leaving this place soon. You should try and get rid of your emotions as you leave because I'm honestly not worth it. I'm semi robot, according to Namjoon. You should settle for a human like yourself," Yoongi told him, leaning against the wall of the cubicle.
"You're talking too much," Jungkook mumbled as he looked up from his computer monitor and smiled weakly. "I'll get rid of my feelings for you," he said eventually.
The last two days of the internship were tense and distant. Yoongi and Jungkook didn't speak to each other very much and they conversed using emails. And when Jungkook finally left they didn't speak a word.