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When Yoongi’s parents asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he never once said actor. He always assumed he’d be something along the lines of a construction worker, mechanic, or maybe a boxer. He expected to grow up big and strong, like his dad. Instead, he grew to be tall, but lanky by nature, and pale as a ghost no matter how much he tried to tan himself just a little.
Yoongi hadn’t expected to be twenty years old and working as a cap driver. And he definitely didn’t expect to be asked to act in a movie.
“You’re the perfect fit for this role,” the man in the back seat says, his hand firmly placed on Yoongi’s shoulder who stares back at him in utter shock. He’d stopped the cab to drop the man off when he’d reached over and grabbed his shoulder.
Yoongi swallows the bile rising in the back of his throat and evenly says, “Sir, can you please let me go?” He’s worked shifts where he’s had convicted and unconvicted felons sitting in his back seat, and he wasn’t sure if this man had escaped some kind of institute.
Quickly, the man tugs his hand away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just- I’m a movie director.” He shifts to lean more towards where Yoongi can see him and sticks out his right hand as he greets, “I’m Kim Seokjin.”
“You directed that one movie with that crazy car chase scene!” Yoongi gasps, shaking the man’s hand.
Kim Seokjin nods, smiling proudly. “The entire choreography for that scene was completely on me, don’t let anybody tell you different. But listen, I’m in the process of casting a movie and I really think you fit a role perfectly.”
Yoongi blinks a few times as he processes what’s happening. Is he really getting this offer right now?
The director waves his hands in front of his chest and rushes out, “You don’t have to accept now. Here, let me get my card and you can call-”
“I’ll do it.”
Seokjin looks up from his briefcase in surprise. “Wh- You’re sure?”
Yoongi nods fervently.
“It’s just an audition offer, I need to make sure you can act before I cast you. I’ll be biased towards you, because you fit my image, but I can’t guarantee you anything-”
“Whatever it is that you’re offering me, I’ll do it,” Yoongi cuts in. “I’m sick of this job and I’ll do anything to get out of it.”
Seokjin seems to relax a little at that. “If you give me your number I can have my assistant call to give you the details.”
And just as Seokjin promised, Yoongi received a call later that day when he was off work. He auditioned for the role of Demetrus , whoever the fuck that was, completely unprepared and got the role. His role was not starring by any means, but he was on screen enough to catch people’s eye. Just after he wrapped up filming, he received a call from an agency offering to take him in and immediately accepted. In his defense, he didn’t expect to become popular after having the role. And would soon regret accepting the first offer after receiving about 50 more phone calls, he didn’t realize he’d have so many options.
But Yoongi stayed with his agency, letting them land him role after role until he was breaking into the more popular media. By this point, he’d bought himself a newer, larger, well functioning home as well as one for his parents. City rent is too expensive for menial workers to get anything more than a shoebox.
He worked movie after movie, genre after genre. His first time pictured on the front page of a magazine had a title that read “Min Yoongi Sidekick of the Century!” He was a little peeved at the choice of the word “sidekick” but quickly dropped his annoyance as he realized how much more work he was getting.
He rose high enough to finally be eye to eye with some of the biggest names in the industry. He worked on a movie with infamous Park Jimin and the two quickly hit it off, exchanging numbers and keeping in touch after filming wrapped. But one person he truly never thought he’d touch was Kim Taehyung.
He was soon proven wrong.
“It’s the role of the century Yoongi! And here’s the best part- you’re bound to get it!” his agent, Hoseok, says energetically on the other end of the line.
Yoongi huffs and rolls over on his bed. “First of all, rude of you to assume I’d be away at five in the fucking morning, Hoseok. Second of all, how the fuck do you know I’m getting this role?”
Hoseok pauses, probably for dramatic effect. “Kim Seokjin-ssi.”
Yoongi sits up at this. “Seokjin’s doing a new movie?”
“What do you think I’ve been saying Yoongi? He basically promised you a role.” Hoseok is talking like he’s already reclined in his desk chair, kicking his feet up onto the desk.
Yoongi cracks a smile. Him and Seokjin had gotten along very well while filming Yoongi’s first movie, and he did a few more for him in the following years. But now, Seokjin’s movies are rising back up in the public eye, and people are expecting his next movie to be award winning. “Do you know anything about the role?”
“I know he’s the second male lead, he’s the one that doesn’t get the girl, so your gay ass is going to have to act as heartbroken as I know you can, and he’s secret the biggest badass in history.”
“Badass,” Yoongi repeats, letting the word roll off his tongue. Most of his roles depict the quiet snarky character, the one who has a quick wit, which usually suits him quite well. Sometimes he plays the nerd, sometimes the best friend, and sometimes he’s the heartbroken cry baby. “I’ve never portrayed badass.”
He can hear Hoseok’s smile from his end of the line. “I think you’ve got this.”
“My own stunts?” Yoongi asks incredulously.
Seokjin looks back at him with a professional smile plastered on his face. “Yep! I want close up after close up of you jumping from building to building.”
“Building to building?” Yoongi gawks.
“And all those fight scenes are going to be you throwing the punches and dodging them - I mean, hopefully dodging.”
“Dodging…” Yoongi tears his eyes away from Seokjin’s annoyingly pleased face. He knows this man too well. He knows how Yoongi feels about doing his own stunt work - he’s terrified of it. He doesn’t ever want to voluntarily perform the stunts some people have the balls to do.
Frankly, he’s terrified.
“Every actor is doing them, I just thought I should sit you down and talk about it with you because your stunts are… probably in the greatest volume. You are, like Hoseok mentioned, the badass. You’re jumping out of fires just before they explode, you’re scaling the sides of buildings, you falling down elevator shafts-”
“Do you have a grudge against me Kim Seokjin?” Yoongi cuts in, his voice full of withheld anger.
Seokjin chuckles and Yoongi wants to punch him. “No, Yoongi, believe it or not, I’m helping you.”
“Yeah, whatever you say. How did I get on your hitlist? Was it that time I didn’t pay you back for dinner? Because that’s just petty.” Yoongi levels Seokjin with a heavy glare.
“I’m getting your name out there more! Directors love actors that do their own stunt work, and you doing this for me is like killing two birds with one stone!” Seokjin claps a hand down on Yoongi’s shoulder, unflinchingly meeting Yoongi’s fiery gaze. “You get more publicity and I get a good shot. What’s to lose?”
“My life, Seokjin. I could lose my life. Or a leg, maybe an arm, at least a few fingers-”
“It’s going to be perfectly safe for you Yoongi,” Seokjin assures. “I have the best team on the market to make sure you don’t get hurt in any way. All you have to do is act like you know what your doing and fucking own it.”
Yoongi lets his glare simmer down and clicks his jaw. He considers the point for a moment, but before he can tell Seokjin he’s agreed, the elder goes on.
“You remember when I first approached you? You had so much passion and drive to act and to-”
“To do whatever you wanted because I was in a shit place at the time,” Yoongi cuts in bluntly. “Listen, Jin, at that time it wasn’t passion I was feeling, it was desperation. I wanted out so badly and I got out. But now that I’m here I can’t just keep doing what everybody asks of me.”
At this, Seokjin seems to deflate a little. “I know, Yoongi, and I’m really not trying to guilt you into this. I’m just trying to make a good movie.”
Yoongi chuckles and shakes his head. “I was already going to say yes anyways, Jin. I’m always open to trying something new especially if it is well put together.” He sobers and looks at Seokjin sharply. “It is completely safe, right?”
Seokjin beams, clapping his hands together. “Totally.”
Yoongi meets the one and only Kim Taehyung when he least expects it. He’s standing in the aisle of a convenience store on the corner of his street and is surprised to see familiar eyes across from him the aisle over. He immediately freezes and squints to be sure if he’s really seeing Kim Taehyung right now. There’s a big scarf over the bottom half of his face and a beanie covering his hair, but Yoongi could recognize those eyes anywhere. Some of the most interesting eyes in the world. Taehyung has one monolid and one double-lid, and going even further than that, his eyes are so large, but not disproportionate.
Just as he’s deciding that, yes, that is in fact Kim Taehyung, the actor looks up and meets Yoongi’s eyes. Not knowing what to do, Yoongi gasps and steps backwards. His foot gets caught on the other and he quickly falls on his ass.
He winces, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing a hand over his hip. When he opens his eyes again, Kim Taehyung is standing above him, his big eyes even wider with concern. “Are you okay?”
Yoongi sighs, closing his eyes. Of course he would meet his co-star in this context. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Taehyung reaches his hand down in offering, which Yoongi gladly accepts, letting Taehyung pull him up.
Once Yoongi’s on his feet again, Taehyung takes a few steps backwards, bowing politely at Yoongi as he does so. “Have a nice night,” he calls quietly before turning away and briskly walking out of the store, hands devoid of what he came there for.
Yoongi watches him leave, his mouth slightly ajar. When the door swings shut, Yoongi shuts his mouth, his lips forming a pout. “I didn’t get to tell him I’m his co-star…” He shakes his head and turns back to the shelf. “I’ll just tell him when filming starts.”
He grabs his chips off the shelf and moves to the cash register to pay, still looking out the window internally cursing himself.
Way to make an impression, dipshit…
When Yoongi arrives on set for the first day of filming, he didn’t expect to see Taehyung, but, just like the last time they met, he sees him anyways. Taehyung is sitting on the steps of his trailer toweling dry his hair, having already filmed his scenes he must’ve taken a shower.
Yoongi turns to speak to him, but Seokjin is suddenly stepping in front of him, his broad shoulders blocking Yoongi’s view entirely.
“Yoongi, the stunt director is here, come with me.” He grabs Yoongi’s wrist and pulls him away, Taehyung not once glancing up from his phone.
“Hyung, do we have to do stunts on the first day? Couldn’t I get, like, a nice ease in?” Yoongi calls to Seokjin, who is still walking towards the tall concrete building the set is in.
Seokjin barks a laugh, glancing over his shoulder. “No way in hell, we’re getting this ball rolling now.”
The second Yoongi steps through the door he smells gasoline. “ You dick, ” he hisses, his whisper venomous. He’d practiced ever stunt scene in advance after long and arduous training for months before this, and he is very familiar with this scene. He’s to jump out of a burning car and make it twenty feet away before they blow it up - by far his most time sensitive scene, as he only has thirty seconds.
“We’re going to practice it a few times without the car in flames, time you, and make sure the car has no defects in the door or anything. We’re giving you a flame retardant jacket and there’s automatic extinguishers in the car that will put out the fire in fifteen seconds, by then you should be out of the car and you’ll be gone.” Seokjin sends him a bright smile. “How’s that for safety?”
Yoongi rolls his eyes and glances over at the set. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”
Yoongi performs his stunt without a hitch, but after hours of practicing and filming, when he comes out Taehyung’s trailer is dark. He gives up on introducing himself and decides he’ll do it the next day at filming. But when Yoongi arrives on set, Taehyung isn’t there yet for the day, and when he leaves they already have Taehyung filming one on one scenes with the female lead.
When Yoongi finally does meet Taehyung face to face again, it’s long after he’s met every other actor, and not even on set - again. He’s standing at the crosswalk by his apartment, watching cars fly past. The city would be shrouded in darkness if not for the bright headlights and signs lining the buildings.
He stands on the corner, hands shoved into his pockets to fend off the cold, when he spots another figure standing across the street from him. He’s waiting to cross just like Yoongi. At first, Yoongi discounts the man and pulls out his phone, scrolling through his texts from Hoseok. And when the light changes, he puts his phone away and begins walking.
As he passes the man walking the other way, Yoongi notices he’s heads down on his phone - only because they bump shoulders and Yoongi calls over his shoulder, “Sorry!”
The man sends him a kind wave and looks back down at his phone. But just as Yoongi is about to turn back, he sees a car driving far too fast towards them. The light is still red, but the large SUV isn’t slowing down. Yoongi is already on the other side of the street, but the man in the tan coat is still crossing, not looking up from his phone.
“Hey!” Yoongi shouts, whirling around. The car is still coming, getting too close to slow down now. He sprints towards the man in the coat and barrels into him, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him to the sidewalk. They both trip on the curb, and when Yoongi glances back up, the car is already speeding away on the other side of the intersection.
He breathes deeply for a moment, watching as the maniac doesn’t even slow down.
“Thank you.”
Yoongi looks over at the other man and is surprised to recognize Taehyung. “Uh- You’re welcome, don’t worry about it.”
“I should’ve been paying attention,” Taehyung mumbles behind his face mask. “I owe you a lot.”
Yoongi shakes his head. “No, really it was nothing-”
“You could’ve died,” Taehyung cuts in pointedly. “It was more than nothing.” He pushes himself off the ground and outstretches a hand to help Yoongi up. And just as Yoongi is reaching out to take his offer, Taehyung’s eyebrow furrow. “Wait, have we met before?”
Yoongi chuckles and lets Taehyung help him up. They probably showed Taehyung who Yoongi is, since they’ll be acting together. “Yeah, funny thing actually, I’m-”
“The convenience store!” Taehyung exclaims, pointing at him. “You’re the guy from that convenience store!”
Yoongi’s mouth falls ajar. “You remember that?”
“I don’t really know why,” Taehyung hums. “But yeah, I do.” He tilts his head at Yoongi, and pulls his mask down. “I hate to sound vein, but do you know who I am?”
Yoongi lets out a nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah, I do. You’re Kim Taehyung.”
“Okay,” Taehyung smiles bashfully. “I’m sorry I keep making you fall over, and thanks for saving my life.”
“No big deal, you’re welcome.”
Taehyung’s phone buzzes and his smile falls slightly. He looks down at the notification and purses his lips. “I have to go now, but if we meet again somehow I’ll buy you lunch.”
At this, Yoongi stifles a laugh. “I’m holding you to that.”
And Yoongi does. When they finally meet on set Taehyung almost doesn’t give him a second glance. He’s speaking with Seokjin about the scene they’re preparing to film and glances over at Yoongi as he steps up next to him. He turns back to Seokjin says “So you want-” and then looks back over at Yoongi. “Hey, aren’t you-”
“You still owe me lunch,” Yoongi cuts in, smiling devilishly at Taehyung.
The younger blinks at him, his eyes wide with surprise. “What… What are you doing here?”
Yoongi can imagine the scenarios he must be going through in his head right now and quickly dispels of any false assumptions. “I’m playing Woosung.”
“You’re the second male lead?” Taehyung gapes. He stares at Yoongi for a moment before he has the sense to shut his mouth and school his expression. “It’s not that I didn’t think you were capable or anything,” he rushes. “I just think the coincidence is crazy.”
“Have you two not met yet?” Seokjin asks in surprise. When they both shake their heads, Seokjin purses his lips in thought. “I could’ve sworn I had a read through scheduled…” He presses his finger to his lips and then waves it off. “No, no, now I remember. Taehyung, you had a publicity gig any time Yoongi wasn’t training for this role.”
Taehyung can’t stop staring at Yoongi. “You look different in the daylight.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Yoongi snorts.
“Nothing bad! You just look… more intimidating in low light.”
Seokjin shakes his head at Taehyung’s babbling and waves over the head of the stunt team. “Jungkook, do you know if they’re done with the set?”
When he first met the person running the whole “Keep Yoongi From Not Dying” team, Yoongi thought he might’ve been too young or not mature enough. But the boy’s baby face is very misleading. He is diligent and thorough and checks on every piece of the set before letting Yoongi perform anything dangerous.
“Yessir,” Jungkook says, nodding his head in respect to the director. “I had prior obligations to attend to and only just arrived, but I can do a check over to make sure everything looks good if you’d like.”
Seokjin checks his watch and presses his lips together. “We’re already pressed for time. Do you trust your team, Jungkook?”
“With my life, sir,” Jungkook responds seriously.
A laugh bubbles up from Seokjin’s chest and he pats his hand down on Jungkook’s shoulder. “There’s no need to be so serious.”
Yoongi glances over at the set and tugs at his bottom lip. It’s really not that bad. The set is taller than it is wide, and it’s made to look like the side of a building. On the top stands a platform where the other actors will be standing at the start of the scene. They’re to be waiting for Yoongi, who does a whole sequence where he climbs up the side of the seventy foot tall structure.
They’ve already placed a soft landing mat at the bottom if anything should happen, and Yoongi spends the rest of his time getting ready convincing himself that seventy feet really isn’t that high up.
He’s in a daze up until the moment he’s getting set up on wires.
“Okay Yoongi-ah!” Seokjin exclaims, clapping his hands together. “All you have to do is look cool while climbing a building, not too hard.”
Yoongi cranes his neck to see all the way to the top of the structure and sees Taehyung and the female lead, Jihyo, looking down at him. “You’ve got this Yoongi-ssi!” Jihyo shouts cheerily, waving down at him.
He sends her a wary smile and grabs onto the window ledges, securing his grip.
“Now, the wires will do most of the lifting,” Seokjin continues as he takes his seat. “But even though you aren’t actually climbing, I need to make sure you really look like you are lifting your whole body up the side of a building.”
Yoongi sends Seokjin a thumbs up and returns his hand to the window.
“Alright,” Seokjin glances over his shoulder at the rest of the crew before turning back to the stage and calling, “Action!” And the man with the clapperboard scurries off stage.
Just after the cameras start rolling, Yoongi feels the tug of the wires and begins moving up. Three steps up and Yoongi realizes the difficulty won’t be with looking strained, it’ll be with keeping up with the wires. He seems to be expected to keep a steady quick pace, and Yoongi doesn’t know if he can move that quick. But he pushes himself, huffing tiredly halfway up and barely gripping the bricking tight enough to pass as acceptable.
This much is stated by Seokjin after calling for them to stop filming. “Your face is believable, but it doesn’t look like, in your body, that you’re climbing.”
So they lower Yoongi back down and he shakes out his arms and legs. “Is there any way we could slow down how fast the wires are pulling me?”
Seokjin glances up from his clipboard at this. “Huh?”
“I can’t really take the time to get a good grip on the bricking since I’m being lifting at such a quick pace, I think it’d work better if I was going slower.”
Seokjin looks over at the machinists’ in question and the two glance down at the device. “Yeah,” says the one holding the remote.
“Hey,” the taller one mumbles, after the man fiddles with the controls for a moment. “If you do that the distribution of weight will be off.”
“I’ve got it, Namjoon, don’t hassle me,” the one holding the remote bites back.
After a moment of waiting, the man with the remote sends a thumbs up and Seokjin starts the rolling again.
As Yoongi climbs, this time slower, he can feel how much more weight he’s carrying now. But since he’s carrying the majority of his weight this time, combined with how exhausted he felt after the last take, he feels himself grow tired quicker.
Luckily, it doesn’t take him too long to be able to glance up and see the top much closer than before. He pulls himself up each step and reaches closer to where the other two have begun saying their lines.
A low moan sounds above the lights and Yoongi whips his head up. He’d felt a strange vibration in the cord pressed to right shoulder. Taehyung and Jihyo stop their lines as they glance up too. Jihyo cracks a small joke about the set being haunted that could’ve made it to the blooper reel - if not for the loud snap that interrupts her. And just as the snap sounds, Yoongi feels half his weight fall into his own hands.
“Shit!” Seokjin hisses from the ground, standing quickly. “Yoongi, I need you to listen to me!”
Yoongi’s heart is in his throat as he glances down at Seokjin. His muscles are already shaking and he can hardly hold on.
“I need you to calmly climb back down the building.”
Yoongi is pretty sure he’s going to lose his hold before he can even move to go down. “I- I don’t think I can Jin,” he calls back, his voice wavering. “I’m pretty sure I’m about to die.”
“You’re not going to die Yoongi,” Seokjin assures. “If you fall, we have this mat here to make sure you don’t get hurt. But if you do fall, try to do as you practiced, okay?”
Yoongi had prayed that practice would never come in handy, but it seems like he doesn’t get everything he wants. He squeezes his eyes shut and looks up, he isn’t too far from the top, if he had just a little more strength, he might be able to finish the climb. “What if I went up?” he calls down.
Seokjin purses his lips. “You can try it, but if you fall from that height I don’t know what’ll happen.”
Yoongi looks back up, this time, meeting Taehyung’s eye. The younger immediately breaks from his frozen shock and leans over the ledge, outstretching his hand. “Climb enough to reach my hand and I’ll help you up.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Taehyung!” Jungkook shouts. “His wires could snap at any second, he’ll pull you down with him if he starts falling.”
Yoongi stares up at Taehyung, his blood pumping fast and arms trembling.
Taehyung’s bangs fall over his eyes and he whips them out of his face. He holds Yoongi’s gaze, his eyes hard. “I won’t let you fall.”
“Oh, Taehyung don’t-” Jihyo gasps as Taehyung moves to lean farther over the side of the building. When he doesn’t heed her plea, she purses her lips and grabs his waist for extra support.
Taehyung stretches his arm as far as he can and calls down to Yoongi, his fingers not too far out of reach. “Take my hand Yoongi!”
Swallowing his fear, Yoongi shifts his hold on the ledge and goes to reach up, but just as more weight is added to one side of his body, his foot slips. He quickly grapples for the ledge and holds on tightly, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Yoongi! If you fall, try to fall flat on your back,” Jungkook calls warningly.
The other machine operator, Namjoon, steps closer to the edge of the mat. “Stay calm Yoongi-ssi,” he says soothingly. “Take a deep breath and focus on what you need to do.”
Yoongi does as Namjoon says, taking in a tremulous breath and letting it out as slowly as he can. He looks up at Taehyung again, who is still waiting for him, his eyes desperate. He reluctantly detaches his grip from the brick and slowly reaches up to Taehyung, his leg begins trembling seconds after he let go.
“A little further, Yoongi-ah,” Taehyung whispers, extending his stretch as much as he can. “You’ve almost got it.”
Yoongi’s fingers brush Taehyung’s and he feels his chest rush with hope. But just as soon as it comes, he hears the device holding him up moan again.
Just as the sound comes, Taehyung’s eyes widen a fraction. He mutters a sharp, “ Shit ,” and reaches further than what’s safe and grabs Yoongi’s wrist.
Jihyo cries out as Taehyung falls slightly forward, but Taehyung stops himself from falling, pushing back against the ledge immediately. Yoongi pushes upwards with as much strength as he can muster, and then, suddenly, he’s lying on his back, looking up at the blinding lights.
“Jesus fuck,” Taehyung groans from next to him. “That’s an adrenaline rush if I’ve ever had one.”
Yoongi laughs breathlessly. “Tell me about it.”
“Are you okay, Yoongi-ssi?” Jihyo asks softly, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“That was the most effort I’ve ever put into anything in my life,” Yoongi mumbles, still trying to catch his breath.
Taehyung chuckles. “Tell me about it.”
Glancing over at Taehyung Yoongi smiles. “I’m Min Yoongi, it’s nice to meet you.” He reaches his hand over, laughing as Taehyung shakes it.
“Kim Taehyung, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
By the time they have all three actors back on the ground, Seokjin looks a wreck. His hair is strewn all over his head from running his hands through it and he looks exhausted. “Okay,” he sighs, scrubbing his hand over his face. “Just… head back to your trailers and I’ll call you when we’ll begin filming- No, nevermind, fuck it. Go home. We’ll start filming again tomorrow.”
Yoongi sends Seokjin a pitiful smile and claps a hand down on his shoulder. “Don’t stress too much, hyung. It’s alright.”
“It’s not, you could’ve died!” Seokjin wails.
“But he didn’t,” Taehyung adds. “He’s okay and it’s not a big deal. If he would’ve fallen he would’ve been okay, and that’s thanks to how diligent you were with ensuring his safety.”
Yoongi nods fervently. “He’s right hyung, I’m okay, I’m not mad, and I’ll be okay with continuing filming whenever you’re ready.”
Seokjin huffs and flops down on his chair.
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Yoongi waves as he turns towards the door. He’s halfway across the room when Taehyung catches up with him.
“I still owe you lunch,” he says, matching Yoongi’s pace.
Yoongi snorts. “I’m pretty sure you evened out the slate when you pulled me off the side of that fucking platform thing.”
Taehyung grabs Yoongi’s arm, his grasp gentle, stopping him. “Can I please just have a good excuse to take you out to lunch?”
Yoongi doesn’t respond at first, staring at him in confusion as he tries to decipher what he might mean.
Taehyung wets his lips. “Listen, I thought you were really cute before I knew we were acting together, and the reason I remembered the convenience store thing was because I thought you were really hot.” He looks at his feet to hide his blush, but Yoongi can see the red on the tips of his ears.
Holding back a smile, Yoongi reaches out and takes Taehyung’s hand in his own. “I’ve thought you were hot since I saw you in that one sailing movie so-”
“Are you fucking with me?” Taehyung snorts. “I literally had to bathe in saltwater for weeks just to get my hair that nasty and you’re telling me you thought it was hot?”
Yoongi steps slightly closer, looking up at Taehyung with mirth swimming in his eyes. “If I thought you were hot back then, imagine what I think now. There’s a whole complex for falling for somebody who saves your life, you know?”
“Is there?” Taehyung hums, coming even closer so their faces are inches apart.
Seokjin can be heard groaning from across the room. “Jesus fucking- At least take your antics off set.”
“Let’s go get that lunch,” Taehyung says, leading Yoongi out of the set by his hold on his hand.
So Taehyung and Yoongi get lunch together, then the next day, then the day after that. They continue eating together once a day until filming wraps, after that, their schedules become so diluted they don’t have a chance to see each other before the premiere.
Of course, this results in Yoongi seeing Taehyung for the first time in a while when both of them are dressed their nicest, standing on the red carpet.
When Yoongi first steps out of his car, he’s sure Taehyung has yet to arrive. He’s one of those big actors that wait til the end of the red carpet to show up. So he walks towards the flashing lights and stands in front of their cameras, smiling slightly to get his best angle. He’s learned a lot about himself since he became a public figure - things he wouldn’t have considered before he was under so much scrutiny. He does a few interviews where he hints about how exciting his character is and what a joy it was to work on the movie.
“Now, we heard that you did all of your stunts.” The interviewer sounds so bubbly and alive it’s giving Yoongi whiplash. “What was that like?”
“Really… Ah, what’s the word… Liberating?” Yoongi scratches the back of his head in thought and continues. “It was such a new thing for me, and I honestly wouldn’t have done it for the first time if it wasn’t Kim Seokjin-ssi in charge.”
The interviewer nods at every word he says and he’s a little worried she’s going to get stuck with her head bobbing up and down like that. “There were rumors that there was a mishap on set while filming one of your stunts. What can you tell us about that?”
“That’s true, there was a little complication, just once. But as you can see, I’m fine now, thanks to all the safety measures put in and how quickly the entire crew reacted. I’m glad I worked with such an alert group of people.” He realizes that he hedged the question ever so slightly, but hey, it’s show business, what is he supposed to do? Tell the whole truth? Never.
He finishes up a few other interviews with similar questions before he decides to go inside. He’s just about to turn the corner into the theater when he feels something plow into his back. He cries out in alarm and expects himself to fall over, but he doesn’t. Instead, he feels long, strong arms wrapped around his shoulders and the tickle of hair on the back of his neck. He glances over his shoulder and immediately recognizes his hair.
“Taehyung?”
The boy in question picks up his head and beams at Yoongi. “It’s been too long!”
Yoongi turns around in his hold and hugs Taehyung around his waist. As he leans in closer, he whispers, “You know the press is going to have a field day over this.”
“Good.” Taehyung pulls back and smiles broadly at Yoongi. “Shall we go in?”
They sit next to each other during the movie, and Yoongi is too enthralled with the production to even remember Taehyung’s presence. He’s taken away by the amazing graphics and cinematography, not to mention, how good his stunts look on the big screen.
Yoongi feels his immersion stagger when they reach the scene that he almost got hurt in filming. The wires are edited out, and Yoongi look like he knows what he’s doing. I’m a damn good actor… he thinks in amazement. Halfway through watching his climb up the building, he feels Taehyung’s hand nudge the back of his own.
He tries to subtly glance down, unsure if it was an intentional touch or not. Taehyung’s hand is right next to his on the armrest, it’s palm open and fingers slightly outstretched.
An invitation.
Yoongi swallows his nerves telling him that this could all just be a misunderstanding, because God damnit, Yoongi has been dying to hold Taehyung’s hand since they’re third lunch date. He reaches over and intertwines his and Taehyung’s fingers, keeping his eyes trained on the screen.
He waits for Taehyung to pull away, or even look at him. But Taehyung only tightens his hold on Yoongi’s hand, and when Yoongi peaks over at him, he sees a small smile on his face.
When Hoseok calls about another movie gig, Yoongi doesn’t expect much of it. He doesn’t expect it to be anything he’d be interested in after Hoseok explains the plot, and he doesn’t plan on accepting. But then three words escape Hoseok’s lips and he’s in.
“Taehyung’s in it.”
“What’s my role? Is it more stunt work?” Yoongi asks, standing from his desk.
Hoseok chuckles and Yoongi can’t fathom why. “No, there’s no stunt work for you here. This one is more mundane. It’s historical. They want you playing the king, who Taehyung is trying to kill.”
“Who’s the protagonist?” Yoongi hums, tapping his fingers along the hardwood of his desk.
“Taehyung.”
“So that makes me…”
“The antagonist.”
Yoongi cracks a grin, he had yet to play the bad guy. Which has always surprised him. Yoongi always viewed himself as having a generally “rude” face. He thinks he looks like a dick, so he always wondered why he was never cast as them. Sure, he sometimes played the snarky guy, or the jerk, but never the whole antagonist. He’s excited.
“I’m in.”
“I’m sorry,” Taehyung says quietly, trailing behind Yoongi as he walks towards his trailer.
Yoongi glances over at him. “You literally stabbed me.”
“I really didn’t mean to,” Taehyung mumbles, wringing his hands together.
Yoongi huffs and looks at his ribcage, pressing his shirt down over the painful bruise forming. “It hurts!”
“What can I do?” Taehyung says pleadingly, following Yoongi up the steps of his trailer. “Do you need ice?”
When Yoongi flops down on the couch, he takes special care to wince exaggeratedly. He gasps audibly and presses his hand over the bruise. All Taehyung had done was mess up a little bit of their choreography for their sword fight, which resulted in him stabbing Yoongi in the ribs with the blunt edge of his sword.
Taehyung appears in front of Yoongi, this time with a bag of ice in his hand. “Here,” he says sheepishly, offering the ice to Yoongi.
But Yoongi isn’t pretending to be hurt just to make Taehyung feel bad. So he sighs long and hard, furrowing his eyebrows in mock pain. “Ah, you do it, you do it, it hurts too much to move.”
Taehyung pouts his bottom lip and sits down next to Yoongi. He presses the bag of ice against Yoongi’s ribs obediently, totally missing the spot that hurts - not that Yoongi cares, he doesn't really need ice.
“Taehyung-ah, come closer, your not holding it right,” Yoongi wraps an arm around Taehyung’s waist and tugs him over on the couch, moving him so they’re touching shoulders and legs.
Either Taehyung isn’t aware of what Yoongi is doing or he just doesn’t care, because he only holds the ice to the wrong part of Yoongi’s ribs and refuses to meet his eye.
Eventually, Yoongi takes pity on him. He hooks a finger under Taehyung’s chin and pulls his gaze up to meet his own. “I’m not mad, baby.”
“You look like you are,” Taehyung mumbles, his bottom lip poking out cutely.
Yoongi smiles at his expression. “I’m not mad… But you know what might make me feel better?”
Taehyung brightens at that. “What?”
“A kiss.”
Taehyung melts just a little at the idea, but shakes his head. “A kiss isn’t going to make you feel better Yoongi-ah…”
“Your kisses always make me feel better,” Yoongi pushes, leaning closer.
Taehyung’s hand slips on Yoongi’s torso and the bag of ice falls completely forgotten on the couch next to them. “But a kiss isn’t going to fix you.”
Now, it’s Yoongi’s turn to pout. He turns away from Taehyung and frowns.
“What about a kiss on the cheek?” Taehyung offers, leaning on Yoongi’s shoulder. Yoongi knew pouting would work, it always does.
But Yoongi can’t blow his cover just yet. So he thinks about it for a moment before nodding reluctantly. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Taehyung leans in to kiss his cheek, and at the last second he turns his head so their lips meet instead.
Taehyung gasps, but doesn’t pull away as Yoongi kisses him slowly, his hand holding the back of Taehyung’s head gently - enough to ask Taehyung to stay, but pull away if he wants to.
Luckily, Taehyung stays, he always does. He kisses Yoongi back just as softly, smiling against his lips. Eventually, his smile grows too much and Yoongi can’t kiss him.
“Yah,” Yoongi whines, pulling away. “I can’t kiss your teeth.”
Taehyung laughs sheepishly, looking down at his hands. “Sorry.”
And Yoongi is so endeared. He’s so enamored with Taehyung, because he seems so cool and tough. But after a month of knowing him, Taehyung became the biggest softy, and Yoongi wants to coo.
He runs his hand through Taehyung’s bangs, unable to suppress his own smile. “I love you.”
Taehyung meets his gaze and can’t stop beaming at him. “I love you too.”