Archive of Our Own ^beta

The last place Yoongi wants to be on a Saturday afternoon is at a forced work party. Some celebratory thing for a well-executed quarter that means decent bonuses are coming for everyone who puts on a smile and shows up to the boss' party. He doesn't dislike his job, or his coworkers, but it's all so stiff and loud and too expectant, so he shows up late with an apology and a plan to make a quick exit. His boss is lovely, as far as bosses go, determined and hardworking and downright terrifying when she needs to be. But she's a stickler for the details, so it's no surprise that she insists on everyone meeting at her apartment for a catered luncheon and cocktails.

After managing to convince the bartender he really didn't want something more than just a whiskey, he manages to avoid most of the talkative bunch and slip out on the balcony, unnoticed. Attendance was mandatory, the invitation mad that much clear, but it said nothing about a required amount of socializing with people he was, after three years, pretty sure he had nothing in common with. Being good at other people's numbers just happened to pay the bills. Really well, at that.

"I was pretty sure, when you showed up late and no one batted an eye, that you were the Wonder Kid," says an amused voice behind him, and given the statement Yoongi knows it has to be the man he assumes to be Suran's husband. He's the only person in attendance who doesn't work with them (the invitation forbade spouses and children), and he is absolutely her type: Broad, unnaturally handsome, and funny enough to keep everyone laughing. Yoongi shrugs, and when he doesn't comment, the other continues. "But seeing the way you expertly avoided everyone absolutely gives you away. So, I hope you weren't going for stealth."

"If only one person sees something, is it real?" Is all Yoongi can think to say, knowing he won't be ratted out for ditching the party by the way the other man leans against the railing with him.

"I like to think that everything is real," says the stranger, something creasing his brow as he studies his own drink. Something fruity and decorated in a tall, thin glass. Yoongi cocks his head to the side, looking up at him. "Infinite possibilities out there in the universe, you know? Who are we to say that anything hasn't been?"

Which is a disarming comment, and Yoongi clicks his tongue as he turns his attention back to his drink. The conversation is already a bit more existential than he ever intended on being with a stranger, let alone his boss' husband on a Saturday afternoon work meeting while sipping whiskey.

"Sky's still blue," says Yoongi, like that benchmark for normalcy holds any weight, can keep him from drifting in to his own thoughts.

"And it's gonna be another color later today, and then tomorrow, when the thunder storms roll in. Not always blue."

"Listen," Yoongi holds out his hand, not to shake, but to give physical reaction to the words he hopes to use to cut the conversation there. "I'm sure you're great. Suran-nim is a wonderful woman, you're plenty smart and funny enough for her even if you weren't a 10, but I'm just here because I have to be. You caught me avoiding the party, I'm sorry if you feel like that's against your wife's rules, but this whole thing is pretty stupid and I just want to get through the rest of the year in peace."

The other man blinks, incredulous, a comical look in the way his eyes widen and his head turns to check the balcony to make sure they're alone. "Wait," he's breathless, amused, and goddamn if his squeaky laugh isn't just a little endearing, too. "I'm not- She's not-" He shakes his head, his unoccupied hand flipping about uselessly, "I'm her cousin," he finally manages, and Yoongi blanches. "You know, the hot one she's been trying to set you up with for six months now."

Yoongi snorts at the exaggeration and shrugs a bit, considering the contents of his glass. "It's been two, at best," he deflects, "don't be dramatic." Seokjin steps forward and for a strange, wild moment looks like he's considering kissing him right there, and Yoongi's grip on his glass tightens. "It's a personal choice," he's mumbling, feels suddenly like he has to defend avoiding a blind date with the handsome man now looking at him like he sees more than what the accountant wants him to. "It's not- she's not wrong, I mean, about you being my type. I'm just not in the market for a relationship." Saying it sounds more dramatic than he wants it to and he laughs at himself, taking a half step back, away, sipping at his whiskey to keep his mouth occupied.

"You're stupid." Yoongi looks struck, and Seokjin says it with a small smile and no bite, but he looks struck nonetheless and that just pulls another high, squeaky laugh from the other. "I'm on vacation, for the first time in… years? God, I can't remember the last time I had a month to myself. At the beginning of next month I'll be gone again, for a while, I'm always coming and going." And for as true as what he's saying sounds, Seokjin still looks like he's considering kissing him. "Anyways. If you wanna get a drink and commiserate about why you're not down for romance some time, here." When he looks down Yoongi's eyes follow, and he feels pretty stupid, because there's a business card between them. Without looking at Seokjin Yoongi takes it, tucks it into the pocket of his jacket. "It was nice meeting you, Wonder Kid."

Seokjin retreats then, with a wave and a wink, leaving Yoongi once again alone on the balcony. He doesn't stay much longer after that, but he does go inside to mingle with his coworkers, nursing a single drink, and when it's empty he bows his way out in a flurry of exchanged pleasantries.

Three weeks later Yoongi is sitting at a dimly lit table in a bar with his bestfriend Hoseok and his… Namjoon. Yoongi isn't quite sure if they're dating or doing this weird flirting dance or if they're both just like that, but he does know that Hoseok plays everything close to his chest and Namjoon just follows along with him like he's starstruck, which he could be, maybe, but Namjoon doesn't really seem like the type to be in to competitive dancing and, well, Hoseok has made a name for himself doing just that.

"You've been hiding away again, Yoongi hyung." Hoseok has the audacity to look hurt, as if his absence at their outings has in any way prevented Hoseok from showing up to the office and demanding Yoongi's company for lunch, or like Yoongi hasn't made his way to Hoseok's apartment whenever the tendrils of loneliness had started sinking in.

"I bought you lunch yesterday, Seok-ah." There's only fondness in the way he says it, momentarily forgetting Namjoon, who had just returned from the bar with their drinks.

"I hate third-wheeling you two," he laments, passing Hoseok his drink first.

"Like third-wheeling you two is any better," Yoongi retorts, giving a nod in thanks as Namjoon passes him his drink before taking his seat, flushing immediately at the insinuation.

"How about!" Hoseok grins, heart-shaped and bright as the sun. "No one is third-wheeling anyone, and we just have a good time." Placated, Namjoon gives a nod. Yoongi rolls his eyes and pulls his phone from his jacket pocket, and that's when it happens. Something stuck to the edge of his phone case and falls, landing in the middle of the table, and before Yoongi can retrieve it Hoseok is grabbing it up lightning-quick. "What's this!" Like it's not currently in his hands, receiving an inspection that makes the accountant shift uneasily in his seat. "Wait, Yoongi hyung, no way!" Namjoon is choking on air when he's shown the business card by the time the eldest of the trio realizes what it is and feels himself turn red in the dim lighting of the bar.

"Why do you have Kim Seokjin's business card?" Namjoon looks a little panicky, glancing between the card and Hoseok.

"Oh, he-- he's Suran noona's cousin, he gave it to me at the company party. She was trying to set us up," he offers, and the smile melts from Hoseok's face, Namjoon's gaze gets just a little harder. "I forgot about it, as soon as he gave it to me."

"You have to call him!" Oblivious to whatever is going on in Namjoon's mind that has him now looking a little concerned, Hoseok reaches to grab Yoongi's phone, but this time Yoongi is faster and keeps it away from his bestfriend's meddling. "Oh, come on, Yoongi hyung." Now he's pouting, and Namjoon looks on fondly, and Yoongi just feels really fucking confused.

"He's just some guy, it's--"

"What?!" Hoseok practically screeches, drawing the attention of the other patrons, and Namjoon is making apologetic gestures towards them while trying to calm him. "Did you just call him some guy?! He's, like, a super famous model!" Now he's just whisper screaming, and Namjoon is laughing, and Yoongi is reminded of that time on the balcony when he'd met Seokjin, the other's voice offering yet another mental You're stupid while he just blinks at Hoseok. "Wow, he even hand wrote his personal KKT ID up here!" Hoseok waggles his brows and holds out his hand expectantly, and Yoongi looks at Namjoon, pleading for his help. But Namjoon is a lovestruck traitor who pretends not to notice and has pulled out his own phone to get some metaphorical distance between himself and the other two.

"Seok-ah, he's probably not even still in the country. He's supposed to be leaving, I forgot all about it."

"I don't care! You can't stand him up. Text him and apologise for being so lame. Invite him out next week!"

"I just told you he's not even in town--"

Yoongi gives in. Hoseok is a force to be reckoned with when he wants something, and without Namjoon's help in making the dancer see just how incredibly unreasonable he's being about the whole thing, the battle is one that he has to give up on. He promises to do it as soon as he's home and then send screenshots to the group chat so that they're both kept well-informed about his… whatever it is. Still less confusing than whatever Hoseok and Namjoon have going on, though, and Yoongi doesn't envy them as he watches the way they linger after saying goodbye, shifting awkwardly and smiling at their feet.

By the time Yoongi is home, showered, and snuggled into bed, he forgets his mission. Like clockwork, just as he's setting his phone on the nightstand, it lights up with an over-eager reminder from Hoseok to text kim seokjin!!!! like, right! now!!! The accountant chooses to not reply to his best friend, rolling back over as he chooses his words.

kim seokjin (maybe)
Tuesday, 10:31PM
hey, Wonder Kid!
i was wondering if you were gonna keep me waiting
i can't remember the last time i was stood up

kim seokjin (maybe)
Tuesday, 10:41PM
totally is
especially with a face like this, you get used to people responding pretty quickly

kim seokjin (maybe)
Tuesday, 10:54PM
you're in luck!
i'm in town for two more weeks
i'd love to tag along.
are your friends together?
i need to know going in if this is, like, a double date thing or not

kim seokjin (maybe)
Tuesday, 10:56PM
yeah, yeah. i remember, Wonder Kid.
i have a work call in, like, three minutes. sleep tight! message me later with the details about the double date

Wonder kid. Yoongi rolls his eyes and sets his phone down with a little more force than necessary after letting the others know that Seokjin has agreed to their meet-up next week. He falls asleep to the sound of his phone vibrating with the notifications of what is undoubtedly excited yelling from Hoseok.

The next week passes so quickly that the night of their meeting sneaks up on him. Between a new, huge client with a lot of potential for disaster and the excited energy that Hoseok brings whenever he invites himself in to Yoongi’s office when his workday drags a little too long, he feels like he hasn’t had time to breathe. Seokjin texts him random updates, as if being invited out to drinks has opened the door to immediate friendship, and Yoongi finds himself reluctantly smiling and returning the photos of whatever set Seokjin is on with photos of his own over-crowded desk, or his half-eaten lunch that looks far less appetizing than whatever magazine spread worthy meal the model is out on the town for. The companionship is easier than he expected it to be, considering his aversion to making room for any new people in his life.

“”Hyung, did you forget about tonight?” Hoseok’s voice bounces around the walls of his office where Yoongi has him on speaker as he hurries to pack up his things, jumping out of his chair and immediately saving the numbers that he’s spent the last few hours pouring over.

“Seok-ah,” his voice is fond and quiet, “I didn’t forget. I just finished in the office.” He stubs his toe and curses underneath his breath, pulling his jacket back on and shouldering his bag. Hoseok is still on speaker, making disapproving noises as Yoongi opens the KakaoT app and requests a taxi home. There’s no one left in the office but the cleaning service, which causes Yoongi to wince as he steps in to the empty hallway, cradling his phone between chin and shoulder to pull the door closed. “I’ll be there, ok?”

“Mm.” The way that Hoseok hums definitely means that he doesn’t believe Yoongi, but he doesn’t press the issue. There’s an echo in the background, and some shuffling that sounds loud and muffled, and Yoongi grins to himself.

“Is Joon-ah there?”

Hoseok snorts. “He brought dinner,” he says, like that explains anything, like it doesn’t raise at least a dozen more questions that Yoongi knows better than to ask his bestfriend. Instead the accountant hums, low and happy. “We’ll meet you there, ok?” Without waiting for a response, the call goes dead. Yoongi looks at his phone just to be sure, pocketing it as he ducks into the backseat of the taxi after greeting the driver. He feels rushed, and it makes him anxious, scrubbing both hands over his face to try and calm the nerves that he shouldn’t even be feeling. Just because Seokjin has insisted on calling their get-together a “double date” doesn’t mean that it is.

It’s just their weekly hangout. The same stupid dive they always go to, with the great bartender and the outdated interior. Hoseok and Namjoon will still be doing their weird dance, and Yoongi will have someone to poke fun at their obliviousness with. Provided, of course; that Hoseok isn’t too star-struck about the whole thing.

As the taxi pulls to a stop outside of his building, the thought strikes him that Namjoon has been particularly silent about the entire thing, like he’s unsure about it but humoring Hoseok like the lovestruck idiot that he is.

They’re cute.

Yoongi uses the ten minutes that he’s managed to cobble together to wash his face and straighten out his hair, changing out of his suit and into comfortable jeans and a long-sleeved tshirt he stuffs his feet in his boots at the door. Just as he’s double-checking for keys, wallet, phone, his phone lights up with a message from Seokjin, saying that he’s going to be fashionably late for our double-date :) , at which Yoongi rolls his eyes but just says ok, see you, because if there’s one thing he’s learned it’s that arguing with one Kim Seokjin about something is pointless.

By the time Yoongi pushes open the door to the bar he’s only five minutes late, which he counts as a personal victory. The Lovebirds are at their usual table, definitely very deep in a conversation that looks hushed and intimate and not at all like the kind of moment that Yoongi wants to ruin, so he instead heads straight for the bar to grab a drink. Around him the air feels electric, like it knows something that he doesn’t, and it makes his skin feel too tight around his bones. Maybe the fact that the bar is emptier than he’s used to has something to do with it. Neither of them have noticed him by the time the bartender hands him his drink. Namjoon is telling a story, animated and smiling, and Hoseok is listening with focused attention and the most in-love gaze that Yoongi has ever seen on another human being, chin in the palm of his hand. Namjoon has his body turned towards Hoseok, curled sort of inward around him, trapping them in their own tiny bubble. It’s nice to see, even as the music drowns out the laughter that starts with Namjoon and tumbles in to Hoseok, despite his momentary look of incredulity.

“Do you often just watch your friends?” The voice behind Yoongi startles him, but he doesn't look away from them. He knows who it is, recognizes the sharp edge and the way that the words sound moments away from both a joke and an attack.

Yoongi shakes his head, shrugs, sips from his drink. “They look happy,” he says, like Kim Seokjin isn’t practically a stranger, like there isn’t a hint of something almost nostalgic in the way that he says it. “I was just appreciating the moment.” Blinking his eyes over to the model he finds himself struck by the way that he looks like he just stepped off of a photoshoot, which he very well could have. Seokjin’s hair is perfectly tousled, swept back off of his forehead; he’s definitely wearing the faintest dusting of makeup, meant to look natural but definitely accentuating the creases of his eyes and the length of his lashes, the sharp angles of his face; he’s wearing a dust mask like that might keep someone from recognizing him.

Seokjin laughs. “You should at least buy me a drink if you’re going to stare.”

“I wasn’t.” Petulantly the accountant huffs, turning obediently to wave down the bartender. There’s still a pout on his lips when he asks Seokjin what he wants, and the model at least has the decency to look surprised about his drink being added to Yoongi’s tab. He tilts his head towards his friends. “You wanna meet them?”

“”Lead the way.” Seokjin smiles behind the mask, the corners of his eyes crinkled, and Yoongi definitely does not take a moment to admire him before heading over to where Namjoon and Hoseok sit. Namjoon has his back to them, so Hoseok spots them first, jumping up excitedly.

“Hyung! There you are!”

“He’s been here, he was-- what the fuck, our double date is with Joonie?”

Namjoon looks less starstruck and more like he’s seen a ghost, but starts laughing when Hoseok falls into his chair, mouth opening and then closing a few times before, “You weren’t lying?”

“No.” Namjoon shakes his head and stands, greeting Seokjin with a hug and a, “It’s good to see you, Jin-hyung.”

Yoongi takes his seat, feeling very out of the loop and more than just a little put-out by the fact that Namjoon didn’t deem it necessary at all to mention at any point over the last week that he does, in fact; very obviously already know Kim Seokjin. Under the table Yoongi feels Hoseok kick at his leg, but instead of looking at his best friend he shifts to be out of his reach. “This is my best friend, Hoseok.” Despite his upset Yoongi still makes the introduction, gesturing between the two of them, glaring daggers across the table at Namjoon as Seokjin and Hoseok exchange greetings and bows and hand shakes and Hoseok is rambling about how much he admires Seokjin’s work and Namjoon stops looking at Yoongi like he wants to apologize and goes back to hanging on Hoseok’s every word like the lovestruck traitor that he is.

Seokjin pulls his mask down and sips his drink, something vaguely blue and garnished with fruit, crooked fingers playing in the condensation on the side of his glass. “I’m glad I was able to make it, things were pretty hectic this last week, which is stupid because I was supposed to be out of the country last week but that got postponed. Somehow, though, I always manage to find things to occupy all of my time.”

“Mm, tell me about it.” Namjoon huffs out a laugh that sounds more personal than Yoongi was expecting.

“You two know each other.” There’s no question in the way that Yoongi says it, just like he’s addressing the elephant in the room that he was the only one unaware of, judging by the fact that everyone else seems to think the whole thing was normal. “What a small world.”

Namjoon hums in a way that Yoongi has come to associate with the secrets that the other is unwilling to tell, deferring to Seokjin without having to say so, sipping at his beer and leaning in to Hoseok’s space. “Joonie’s brother, Taehyung, is one of my favorite photographers,” Seokjin explains, watching Namjoon’s reaction for a moment before turning his attention to Yoongi. “He… a few years ago, before I went in for my conscription, Taehyung did some portraits of me as part of a before-and-after series that he was doing. Namjoon was on the set, looking lost but very excited about the amount of pastries on the catering table.”

“He does like his sweets!” Hoseok laughs, loud and high and energetic in a contagious way.

Seokjin joins in the laughter, squeaky and stuttered and shaking his shoulders, sobering a moment later to offer, “You do seem very sweet,” with both of his eyebrows raised. Namjoon flushes immediately and Hoseok chokes on his drink and Yoongi can’t shake the feeling that he’s missing something, that the three of them have some sort of secret that they decided not to let him in on.

Yoongi frowns into his drink, remembering that night last week that they'd sat at this same table and the business card had fallen from his pocket, recalls the way Namjoon had looked befuddled, and then realizes that maybe that's because he already knew Seokjin. But why wouldn't Namjoon tell them, then? Maybe to avoid the absolute betrayal that he hadn't already introduced Hoseok to the model now in their midst, but Hoseok also didn't seem too surprised tonight that they knew each other. His frown deepens, the sounds of the other three chattering taking up all the room in the background of his thoughts and magnifying the feeling of being left out. An outsider suddenly, just like that, sat at a table with the two people whose friendship he cherishes most in the world. Unsure of how to approach this, especially not while drinking and least of all in front of company, Yoongi clears his throat and looks around the table. When all of the attention is on him he hesitates, and then, "I'm not feeling well," which isn't a lie. Hoseok's face falls. Seokjin looks worried. Namjoon knows it's not the whole truth, looks like he's going to press, or suggest he accompany Yoongi outside to get some air, maybe, but the accountant shakes his head. "Try not to let these two third-wheel you," he says to Seokjin, light and fun with a half-smile.

"Yoongi-hyung, do you want me to wait outside with you?" There it is. Namjoon is already halfway out of seat before he's finished speaking.

"No, Joon-ah, but thanks." Yoongi pointedly doesn't meet his gaze, glances to his chin to give the illusion of eye contact before he slides his jacket back on. "I'll see you guys later. Seokjin-ssi, it was good to see you again."

Seokjin says something that doesn't really register and Yoongi gives a small bow to the table before turning on his heels and heads immediately for the door. When the brisk, late-spring air hits him he breathes in deep, slow through his nose and then out past his lips, closing his eyes to let the claustrophobic feeling of the bar out as the world slowly comes back to him. Yoongi shakes his shoulders to shake off the feelings he's not quite ready to unpack yet and pulls out his phone, tapping it against his lips as he debates taking the train home instead. But getting into a packed train car sounds less than appealing so he calls another car to take him home.

kim seokjin
Tuesday, 8:13PM
sorry if that was weird, if i had known i knew your friend i would have told you.

kim seokjin
Tuesday, 8:18PM
i hope i didn't ruin your night!

kim seokjin
Tuesday, 8:34PM
get home safe, Wonder Kid

kim seokjin
Tuesday, 9:26PM
my flight to brussels leaves tomorrow afternoon, maybe we can get up when i'm back?
i know
no romance

kim seokjin
Tuesday, 11:55PM
i see what you mean about your friends, they're really cute
even if i think i got third wheeled?
i'm not 100% sure but they definitely left together even though we all left at the same time

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 2:19PM
so you don't have to naver search a contact photo ;)
[photo attached]
✈
see you next time

Thursday morning is grueling and filled with unnecessary meetings to prepare for an upcoming audit of the department. Yoongi has everything he needs, but cannot necessarily say the same for his coworkers, and so he listens to Suran run through the process with them to make sure that everyone has their ducks in a row to avoid any complications come Monday morning. It's not much of a surprise audit, in Yoongi's opinion, if they're given time to prepare for it, but then he supposes that's one of the perks that come with working for a high-profile, well-connected firm: Very few things are actually a surprise.

What does surprise him is when, at lunch time, the door to his office bangs open, and where he expected Hoseok to be stood ready to go to lunch, Namjoon stumbles in and looks shocked, like it was complete luck that he happened to find the door behind which Yoongi was working. Knowing Namjoon, he very well may have opened a wrong door or two in his quest. "Hyung," his voice rushes out filled with concern and relief and something that Yoongi can't quite place.

"Since when do you stop by demanding lunch?" Yoongi asks. Says it casually, like it's the appropriate response, like he hasn't been avoiding both of them since the bar on Tuesday.

"I-- is it lunch time?" Now completely derailed Namjoon fishes his phone from his pocket to verify the time, which adds to his disheveled look. He's got dark circles under his eyes and his hair looks like he ran his hands through it to make it seem less unkempt; his clothes are wrinkled in a way that Yoongi recognizes means he spent his entire night poring over texts in search of something that he's missing. "Shit, I'm sorry. Do you have plans?" He looks hopeful and lost, like when Yoongi first met him, soft and maybe a little scared. Yoongi shakes his head. "Can I-- can we-- talk? I can pay for lunch."

Yoongi snorts, offended that Namjoon thinks he's going to get away with such a thing, and picks up his own phone from his desk. "We can go downstairs," all of the tension in the younger visibly melts, "the café in the building has great coffee."

Luckily for them, the rest of the office is also taking lunch, so the elevator ride down from Yoongi's office isn't terrible and awkward with the silence. Even more lucky is that the weather is warmer today, and the sky is clear, so most of the building's occupants have decided to take their lunches elsewhere.

Finding a table is easy.

"Hyung, about the other night," Namjoon says, as soon as they're seated with coffee and sandwiches, his eyes still wide with the same crumpled panic as when he'd swung the door open. "I just, you know, I was shocked when his business card fell out of your pocket. Like, what are the odds?" He unwraps his sandwich and then creases the waxed paper pointedly, focusing on making the creases straight. Yoongi listens, plucking bits of his sandwich off and popping them into his mouth. "And then Hoseokie was so excited, and I kept thinking, Ah, Jin-hyung will cancel because that's just how he is, you know? He cancels, like, at least one third of his plans."

Yoongi is pretty sure that Namjoon is explaining himself to work his way up to whatever apology he's formulated. He can see the way the younger man's hands are gesturing like they're ticking off the bullet-points of whatever he's rehearsed, stitching together the fabric of his remorse. "Joon-ah," Yoongi says softly, setting down his sandwich to try and meet Namjoon's gaze, but he's avoidant and stiff.

"Hoseokie and I were sitting at the bar, waiting on you, and I kept thinking every notification was going to be you telling us that he wasn't coming. And it got later, and it didn't happen, and I was so preoccupied with making sure that Hoseokie knew that by the time you guys were walking up, I…" He shrugs, shaking his head. "I'm an asshole, for not speaking up, but you totally, totally have my blessing to, you know, go for it."

Namjoon flushes at the neck, and Yoongi wonders what for, but says instead, "I was upset, that night, because it felt like you three all knew something I didn't. And, honestly, it still feels like I don't get what you're saying." He laughs to soften his words at the end, hoping to spur Namjoon into an explanation. Hopefully one much more concise.

"Jin-hyung, and I, we, well-- I mean, like I said, this shouldn't have any weight towards what you two are doing--"

"Joon-ah, I don't even know him."

"Yeah, but you could?" Namjoon looks hopeful, innocent and excited with his eyes lit up and his brows raised. "He's super amazing. Funny, smart, a good cook. He's ridiculous, though, and his laugh is kind of weird?" Namjoon smiles. It's fond in a way that makes Yoongi's brow knit, picking at his sandwich. “And I know you guys were getting on well until that night at the bar, and I just don’t want me, or our friendship, or what happened in the past, to stop you, you know?”

"Joon-ah, you know I don't have room in my life right now for anything outside of you and Hobi. I invited Seokjin-ssi out because Hobi would've killed me otherwise. That's it."

"Yeah, but…" The younger man frowns heavily at the creased wax paper wrapper of his untouched sandwich, pressing one more firm fold in to it before picking up his coffee. He considers it a moment before drinking, then considers his next words for several heartbeats. "I'm sorry, for not telling you sooner, about Jin-hyung being my ex, but I really think you shouldn't be mad at him for it and should, you know, maybe think about texting him back?"

Yoongi scoffs, blinking rapidly across the table as he plants both hands flat on the surface to brace himself against the way he's just been blindsided. "I-- what?" With a frown the accountant washes down the discomfort in his tone with another swig of his coffee, lamenting the fact that the cup feels practically empty already. "Joon-ah," he clears his throat quietly and then presses on, "I'm not interested. I was upset, sure, but I'm over it now. I don't care that he's your ex, and I'm not refusing to text him back because of anything other than my own desire to keep my social circle more of a triangle, ok?"

Namjoon pulls a face, and it's one that Yoongi recognizes, knows that it comes before a lecture that the younger was hoping he didn't have to give, especially not to one of his hyungs. But he steels himself, curling his fists together once before releasing them, and Yoongi watches like he's powerless to stop it. "Hyung, I know why you're being obstinate about this, and I get it. Well, sort of. I understand the sentiment behind it, but… you can't avoid him. Hoseokie is, like, practically Jin-hyung's new bestfriend, and you know how he is."

"Joon-ah, I don't have to be friends with all of you guys' friends."

“Hyung,” Namjoon’s eyes narrow just a little, the line of his jaw set stiff and sure of himself. “Jin-hyung has already asked what he did wrong. He’s already told Hoseokie that you two were talking every day,” and maybe the fact that that knowledge is out in the open makes Yoongi sink in to his chair a little, just a bit more seen than he was hoping to have to be. “And then you stopped, suddenly, after that night. And I’m not supposed to feel like that’s my fault for not telling you the truth sooner? This is clearly my problem to fix, hyung, why won’t you let me?”

Namjoon looks, sounds like he’s pleading, and Yoongi keeps his eyes on his coffee while he thinks about what to say. Things aren’t that simple -- there’s not a problem, not a solution, there’s not even an equation here and if he’s being honest with himself Yoongi’s not even entirely sure why he stopped texting Seokjin back in the first place. Something about that one easy week preceding the incident at the bar seemed best put to rest. He’d known better than to even start, really, but it had just been so easy with the model: There was no pretense, no expectations, no commitment for more time than whatever handful of seconds either one of them scraped together. But seeing Seokjin there, comfortable with his friends, knowing that those feelings of being an outsider weren’t going to be something he could escape, eventually, had made him realize just how stupid that week had been. Mostly Yoongi feels anxious about the entire thing, for making his friends worry over something so trivial. Somewhere, too, in the back of his mind, he feels a bit guilty for having read and smiled and considered responding to every one of Kim Seokjin’s messages, but decided against it every time.

“...Hyung?” The younger man leans further on to the table, peering at Yoongi who only then realizes that his thoughtful silence had carried on for far too long, his coffee still halfway between the table and his lips, the heavy crease of his brow starting to make his head hurt with the tenseness of it all.

“It’s fine,” Yoongi brushes all of it away, sips at the last of his coffee and drags both palms over his face to rid himself of the tension building there. “I’m fine. There’s nothing for you to fix, ok?” The accountant finally looks at the man sitting across from him, knows good god damned well that the lie is not being bought, but they’re both willing to go with it for now, and they stand together while cleaning up their space.

‘I’ll text him,” Yoongi says, unprompted, when they’re standing together in the lobby of the building, prepared to go their separate ways. Namjoon looks shocked, and then immensely pleased, and then, almost immediately after, completely wary.

“Only if you want to.” There’s a smile in the corners of Namjoon’s mouth as he hugs his hyung goodbye, one hand lingering on his shoulder in a show of solidarity, an offering of strength, and there’s the hint of an apology written into the creases of his eyes before he turns to back away and head out into the bright, mid-Spring afternoon.

By the time Yoongi is back in his office, the promise to text Kim Seokjin has been shuffled in to the farthest corner of his mind next to the clock that tells him what a reasonable time to leave the office is, and he promptly ignores both of them in favor of a much more pressing task: Fixing this spreadsheet. Someone, between Monday and Wednesday, has completely ruined the complex formulas. How, he’s not entirely sure -- it’s simple enough to use, you just type the numbers in and the spreadsheet does all of the work. Well, it was that way, but now it’s coming up with errors, or worse, wrong numbers. Suran asked him to take a look at it and Yoongi accepted it like a lifeline, diving deep into the problem until he was totally absorbed.

Hours go by, Yoongi at his desk making notes on scrap paper as he traces the root of the problems back, one-by-one, find each errant cell and equation until, finally, they’re all correct. Experimentally he plugs in some numbers from a few weeks ago, where he knows what the outcomes should be, and when everything checks out right he pulls his phone out to celebrate his own personal victory.

kim seokjin
Friday, 12:44AM
cold

kim seokjin
Friday, 5:03AM
bedtime thursday night.
why are you up so early?

kim seokjin
Friday, 5:08AM
apology accepted :)
next time you owe me something better than sharing your alone time

kim seokjin
Friday, 5:21AM
i’ll send you pictures of my breakfast
i know how jealous the on-shoot food makes you and i’m still feeling a little mean :)
have a good day at work

Yoongi completes Friday with a smile and a secret, and spends all day Saturday holed up in the makeshift office he’s set up in the second bedroom of his apartment. Hoseok stops by to check on him, drops hints about the fact that he knows he’s back to texting their handsome bachelor model friend, and pouts like a raincloud on a sunny day until Yoongi absolutely agrees to meet him and Namjoon out for lunch on Sunday since the weather looks like everyone will be stuck at home once the threatening storm rolls in Monday night.

The big reveal, the whole reason for the badgering and the insistence of lunch on Sunday, goes something like this: Yoongi and Hoseok are sitting across from each other on a rooftop in Yongsan, talking about the weather (literally, it's beautiful out and there's very little sign of the impending storm); Namjoon walks in some ten minutes after them, while Yoongi is in the middle of complaining about the work he won't be able to get done, and when Namjoon reaches the table Hoseok lights up, sits up a little straighter, tilts his head just so, and in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment Namjoon leans down and pecks him right on the lips. Hoseok beams. Namjoon looks a little flustered, almost as if he'd forgotten Yoongi was there. Yoongi's complaints die in his throat and he blinks, waiting for an explanation.

"Surprise!" For his part Hoseok looks slightly sheepish, raising his arms for affect, and scoots his chair just this much closer to Namjoon's.

"Great," Yoongi grumbles around a wide grin, "now I really can complain about third-wheeling you two."

Namjoon drops his arm around the back of Hoseok's chair and shrugs. Yoongi thinks Namjoon looks unsure underneath of the confidence he's trying for, and can absolutely imagine the playful argument during which Hoseok demanded such a casual-but-fun reveal of the fact that they're finally not dancing around each other anymore. They fit together, Yoongi thinks, and they compliment each other in the small ways that really matter. The whole thing is sweet as he watches Hoseok beam at Namjoon who doesn't hesitate to lean in to the other's space to steal his drink, comments that as his boyfriend (which makes Hoseok giggle) he should have ordered for both of them.

"Mm, I'm happy for you two, it took you long enough." Yoongi laughs, obviously delighted now that the initial shock of the whole thing has worn off. He thinks it's especially good that it's happened now, when they're all together, while there's time to celebrate and grow into this new thing, even though he can't really imagine things changing too much. Maybe fewer nights showing up announced at Hoseok's, and there will undoubtedly be at least a handful of things they'll say that he wishes he hadn't heard, but all-in-all, it's good.

"We're still working out the details," Namjoon says, like it's a business deal, and of course he would say something like that with his fingertips playing in Hoseok's hair. "You know, the whole dating your bestfriend--"

"Yoongi hyung is my bestfriend!" Hoseok straightens, looks affronted on Yoongi's behalf, which makes him laugh because of course that's the important thing here.

"You're both my bestfriends, and the point here is that I know it took a long time for this, and it's absolutely because I don't want anything to change. I had to be sure." Namjoon looks at Hoseok, and Yoongi thinks that Hoseok is the still point of the turning world for Namjoon, and it feels like he's intruding on something far more private than a rooftop lunch.

"He called me on Thursday and said, I kid you not," Hoseok wiggles in his chair and clears his throat to do his Namjoon-voice, "'Hoseokie, I've decided that we should be together'. He decided!" The dancer is grinning wide and bright and it's blinding in the afternoon sunlight, an airy laughter shaking his shoulders. "Like it was just a decision that he could make. Can you believe this guy?"

Yoongi grins, all gums and teeth and mirth. "Sounds exactly like the Joon-ah that I know."

Flushed at the neck and looking appropriately chastised, Namjoon shakes his head. "He's leaving out the part where he kissed me when we were leaving the bar last week and I spent forty-eight hours in a crisis."

And Oh, Yoongi thinks back to last week, the way he'd left and how Kim Seokjin had mentioned the two of them dancing around leaving like they wanted to go home together, thought that maybe they had. He wonders if Seokjin saw it and left that part out, or if Hoseok had waited until the coast was clear, but it isn't like Hoseok to think too much about it when he really, truly wants something. He's always been like that, marching confidently in the direction of what he wants, and any random passerby would have been able to tell that Namjoon was, at the very least, smitten with that heart-shaped smile he now got to appreciate being the cause of. So he wouldn't have worried about it being a mistake, Yoongi thinks.

"I'm kind of offended I didn't get a midnight phonecall about the crisis, Joon-ah." He pokes the younger where he knows it's tender, grinning wickedly with his teasing. "I could've saved you the, what? Fourty-five? hours of crisis and told you to stop being stupid. You guys are perfect for each other." Yoongi softens, feels his own face lose its sharpness and tilt just a little, brimming with affection for his two closest friends. He really, truly loves them. And when he's honest with himself, when he's alone and they're not there to stop him, he thinks about how he's going to miss them, too.

Their server comes not long after, and they order a handful of different Japanese dishes, Hoseok picking out more seafood than Yoongi thinks he would normally, considering that his boyfriend doesn't eat it, but he doesn't linger on it too long. The conversation is easy and their lunchtime cocktails are well-earned and simple. The only real change is the way Hoseok pouts until Namjoon allows himself to be fed, looking embarrassed but delighted to be doted on.

"I still can't believe how bad the weather is supposed to be," Yoongi grumbles between bites, "I have to reschedule an important consultation that I've spent the last two weeks preparing for."

"That's… unfortunate?" Namjoon looks at Yoongi and then to some spot behind him.

"Very." He nods. Namjoon looks at Hoseok, who shakes his head almost imperceptibly, and then he looks back over Yoongi's shoulder, which causes the accountant to turn in his seat to see whatever it is that's distracting the two of them. He's met with an eyeful of torso, a neatly pressed button-down tucked in to dark denim, and then flicks his eyes upward.

"Sorry I'm so late." Kim Seokjin is smiling, and his hair is brilliantly tousled, and Yoongi is once again struck by how handsome the other man is. There's a light dusting of makeup on his face, only evidenced by the peach shade of eyeshadow and the way his long lashes look just a bit darker. "The shoot ran longer than expected, and with this storm coming it's not like we could pick it back up tomorrow like we originally planned." He sits down next to Yoongi, seemingly unaware of the hammer of the accountants heart in his chest and the way it's threatening to jump right out of his throat.

"Hi, hyung." Yoongi knows he sounds a bit breathless but can't help it, too caught off guard to glare the daggers at Hoseok that he so obviously deserves for this second surprise. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Ah!" Kim Seokjin looks at him, still smiling, something that Yoongi can't read flickering across his face. "Hobi asked me last minute to come, this morning. He said there was some important announcement?" He looks from Yoongi and across the table, his eyes falling to Namjoon's arm, stretched in a way that suggests his hand is on Hoseok's thigh under the table. His eyebrows waggle, and Yoongi thinks immediately about how they're as perfect as the rest of him.

"We're official!" Hoseok downright giggles.

Seokjin doesn't look nearly as surprised as Yoongi felt, and maybe that's because he's new, but it also looks like maybe Hoseok had made the midnight phonecall that Yoongi had reprimanded Namjoon for not making. "Congratulations!" The model beams, his eyes scrunching at the corners. It's then that Yoongi realizes he's staring, drinking in the man next to him, and he feels his face heat as he turns his attention back to his food.

"I ordered things I knew you'd like, since you were running late." Hoseok tells him, pushes a dish closer to their newest arrival, and then demands all of the details about the photoshoot that kept him from being there for the Totally, perfectly simple reveal. Namjoon looks like he wants to argue about that but says nothing, so Yoongi comments about how he was both unsurprised and blindsided by the kiss hello.

For the duration of their lunch Yoongi is acutely aware of three things: The first is that Seokjin and Hoseok have gotten very close very quickly, the second is that Namjoon is watching Yoongi very closely, and the third is that Yoongi is hyper aware of every small movement Seokjin makes. Inwardly he's berating himself for feeling so flustered by the other man's presence, and he's so focused on trying to not seem like he's just realized he's caught a feeling or two for the man next to him that he fails to notice just about anything else. He's completely checked out, following the cues: he laughs when Seokjin laughs, he participates when directly addressed, every time Seokjin shifts in his seat Yoongi does too to prevent Seokjin from accidentally getting any closer to him. He feels anxious, and a little scared, and thinks about how that first time that they'd met he felt like Seokjin was going to kiss him, and how he thought he'd never see the model again. Now they're at lunch together with his best friends, and this is their second outing after the company party, and every text they've exchanged is playing through Yoongi's head because somehow Kim Seokjin has wormed his way into every aspect of Yoongi's life in a couple of weeks and it was so easy, was Yoongi even trying to keep him away like he was supposed to?

"Are you ready for the storm?" Seokjin asks, once they've settled the check and have made their way down the stairs, are walking side-by-side behind Namjoon and Hoseok.

"Hm?" Yoongi blinks up at him, counts the seconds he looks at the model to prevent himself from staring again, and then says, "I'm probably going to spend it reviewing my notes. I was supposed to have a consultation with a client tomorrow, but." Shrugging he turns his eyes to the sky, which has started to look a little dark on the horizon, the harbinger of ruin for his week.

Seokjin breathes out a quiet "Ah," like that explains anything at all about storm preparedness. "I was supposed to fly out, tomorrow evening, for Japan. I was gonna go earlier, but by the time I wrapped up on set it was too late to change my flight. My manager was a little cross that I didn't cancel my lunch with you." He laughs, low but still squeaky, and Yoongi doesn't miss the way that Seokjin looks over at him when he leaves the others out of their lunch.

"Hey!" Namjoon calls from where they're several paces ahead, Hoseok's arm looped in his. "Do you guys wanna come to the movies with us?"

Yoongi looks at Seokjin, realizes that Seokjin is looking at him, waiting for his answer, something slightly tense in the set of his eyebrows. "No," Yoongi shakes his head, "I'm gonna go to the market and stock up on some stuff before I'm rained in tomorrow." Beside him the model shrugs, relaxes.

"I gotta make some calls and fix my schedule, I blew off my manager to make your first official date." He laughs, hugging Hoseok and then Namjoon once they've caught up. "It was good to see you both."

"Ah, hyung, I'm sure we'll see you again soon." Namjoon looks at Yoongi who pointedly looks away. "Though, soon when it comes to you can span several weeks."

"Yah!" Seokjin laughs, slapping Namjoon's arm playfully. "Enjoy your movie, lovebirds."

Yoongi waves, watching as they get in to Namjoon's car, watching them pull into traffic and disappear. He's still standing there, watching the cars go by, when Seokjin says, "They make a cute couple."

"Yeah, I'm gonna miss them." It comes out before he thinks about what it means.

"Hm? Are you going somewhere?"

"Not any time soon." Yoongi recovers, laughs nervously and he knows the look that he gives Seokjin then is pleading, asking him not to press further because he really doesn't want to be talking about this with him.

"Good." Yoongi is immediately grateful for the model's mercy and sighs out the tension he felt mounting in the pit of his stomach. "Then you won't mind walking with me for a bit." The grin that he gives is triumphant and daring simultaneously, like the accountant can only dodge the subject if he meant that he had nothing to do right then that would mean leaving. For several beats of his thundering heart Yoongi considers it, then nods in silent agreement.

They walk for almost ten minutes in silence, Yoongi counting in his head the times their elbows brush together, trying not to think too hard about how close Seokjin presses when they're waiting in the throngs of people to cross the street.

"It's been a while since I've been able to be out like this." Seokjin doesn't look at Yoongi when he says it, but when Yoongi looks over he notices the wrinkle at the corner of his eye, thinks that he has to be smiling from underneath of his dust mask that Yoongi can't remember seeing him put on. "Just walking, I mean. Every moment is usually accounted for, you know? I'm sure most people have this idea, in their heads, that modelling is all just showing up and having people do stuff for you and then you look good for an hour or two and go about your day, but…" Seokjin sighs. Yoongi doesn't miss the weight of it, finds his internal voice agreeing with that vision, and feels a little bad about it. "There's so much other crap. I love it, obviously. But whenever I'm home and get to have these moments, they're more profound than I think they should be."

Yoongi remembers that first night at the bar, and the way Namjoon had said, Jin hyung is always taking a rain check in the café of his building, and wonders if the two times he's managed to see Seokjin in a week are a fluke. Wonders when they'd see each other again and finds his heart clenching in his chest.

"When I get this Japan thing sorted, if it goes well, I'll be gone for two months." Seokjin continues, oblivious to the ache his words cause in Yoongi. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm casting to be in a drama. They want it to be a surprise, so everyone involved is on strict non-disclosure. Most of the filming will be far from cell service, but they promise me there's WiFi at the place we're staying. So I expect you to await my messages."

"I will." Yoongi says so earnestly, more vulnerable than he meant to sound, and he takes his hand from his pocket to touch Seokjin's arm briefly. "I'm-- I mean, I like our chats." He feels his face flush but forces himself to look up at the model. Seokjin smiles from underneath of his dust mask, and his eyes crinkle with the effort but they definitely don't carry a smile.

Silence settles around them again as they make their way back up to the restaurant, to where Yoongi is parked and he assumes Seokjin is, too. The silence is easy but Yoongi can't help but feel like it's charged, like he missed something.

When they get back to his car Yoongi makes a useless motion with his hands like this is me and Seokjin crowds unnecessarily close to him like he had that evening on the balcony. Without a drink to cling to the accountant finds himself gripping the insides of his pockets. Seokjin pulls the dust mask down and his lips quiver like he's holding back a laugh, something like uncertainty flashing across his face. "Yah," he breathes in to the space between them and then leans down, presses a fleeting kiss to Yoongi's cheek. "Wait for me, Min Yoongi." Yoongi is frozen. He feels the warmth of his cheek where Seokjin's lips had been, feels his own heart running a marathon trying to catch up with his thoughts that are trying desperately to align themselves in to words. But Seokjin pulls his dust mask back up and gives a small wave before he steps back into the crowd of pedestrians, his head ducked and his shoulders scrunched and the only thought that Yoongi can put together is I fucked up.

Two hours. Yoongi decides to wait approximately two hours between parting with Kim Seokjin and the phonecall he intends to make to Hoseok. Two hours is plenty of time for them to finish their movie and do whatever they decide to do afterwards. He tries not to work himself up about it. He goes to the store and deals with the crowd of people all there last-minute the same way that he is, takes his time perusing the aisles and weighing his options to distract himself, plans out what he will realistically cook versus what his nerves want him to cook. When he gets home he puts the groceries away and feeds Holly, takes him out for a short walk so that his wonderful pet doesn't feel too cooped up in the coming days. Then he makes himself some coffee, because the evening is setting in and he doesn't quite feel like eating just yet but needs something tangible to hold on to.

Yoongi sets his phone on the breakfast bar in front of him and hits the call to facetime Hoseok. The phone rings, and he watches himself on the screen as he sips at his coffee. When Hoseok's face comes beaming through it's in the middle of laughter and he chirps a, "Hi, hyung!" when he answers.

"Seok-ah," Yoongi pouts at the screen, his brow wrinkled as he looks past Hoseok to where Namjoon looks like he's trying to hide. "I have a problem."

"Oh?" Hoseok pats the lump in the sheets next to him, and maybe Yoongi feels a little bad about interrupting the couple's alone time before they'd even reached the twenty-four hour mark, but Hoseok looks immediately worried as he brushes his hair from his face. "What happened, hyung?"

"Kim Seokjin." He knows he's pouting, but the entire thing is ridiculous, and he hangs his head over his mug held tightly between his hands. "I have a crush on him and he's going away for two months, and I am not prepared for any of this."

Hoseok grins but tries to look sympathetic. Behind him Namjoon sits up, looking sheepish about his state of undress but it's not like Yoongi hasn't ever seen him shirtless before. "I told you he was charming," Namjoon offers lamely, like that was supposed to be some kind of warning and not Namjoon giving his blessing that day he'd shown up for lunch.

"What do you mean he's going away for two months?" Hoseok shifts, elbows Namjoon who is now off-screen.

"I can't say, but he's going away and this is awful."

"Hyung, you're twenty six. A crush is not the end of the world."

"He kissed me." Dramatically, Yoongi drops his head on to his forearm and sighs heavily. "I mean, on the cheek. We went for a walk, after you guys left, and then he kissed my cheek and said 'Wait for me' and what am I supposed to do with that?"

The screen-sized version of Hoseok makes a surprised face, his eyebrows lifted and his mouth in a little soundless "oh" and then Namjoon's giant hand covers the screen. There's some muffled argument for several seconds, and Hoseok is replaced with Namjoon's face, close enough that Yoongi can practically see up his nose. It would be comical, how hard Namjoon is trying to hide, if not for the urgency of the entire thing. "Yoongi hyung, are you upset because of the whole thing or just because you're scared about… you know, the end of the year?"

"Both? I don't know. I wasn't even supposed to see him, like, ever. Certainly not after the party. And now here we are two weeks later and I can't even go an hour without something reminding me of him that I want to text him about. It's ridiculous."

"Mm," Namjoon hums and looks off camera, and Hoseok's face appears beside him, head laid on Namjoon's shoulder so that he can peer through the screen. "I still think you should consider letting it happen. I mean, he's already been through this, you know? Have you talked to him about it?"

"No." Whatever 'it' Namjoon is talking about, he knows that the answer is unequivocally no. "We mostly just talk about our days as they happen. Though he did say some stuff about life, I guess, today."

"How do two private people fall in love?" Hoseok looks at Namjoon, like he's asking him, something hopeful in the shine of his eyes.

"By sharing their days, it sounds like."

Yoongi groans, shaking his head so that his forehead sort of rolls around and squishes his forearm against the counter, making an anguished noise in protest. "I'm not in love--"

"Yet!" Yeah, Hoseok definitely sounds hopeful.

"It's just a crush. He's easy to talk to, you know? And none of this would even be a problem if someone didn't keep inviting him to show up places." Glaring at the screen, the accountant is unsure if he looks half as angry as he tries to sound, but Hoseok has the decency to look at least a little wounded either way. "What am I going to do?"

"Honestly?" They say it at almost the same time and Yoongi sits up, ignoring the fact that just talking about the model has his heart doing some funny swoop in his chest. "Take it slow," Namjoon smiles, "lean in to it, hyung. This could be good for you."

"Besides, it's not like he's going anywhere, really. I like him. He's funny, and nice to look at."

Yoongi blatantly ignores Hoseok and does his best to convey as much by squinting to look at Namjoon on the screen, turning his head just slightly away from where the dancer would be if they were in the same room. "So you're really fine with it?" In the moment Yoongi feels incredibly vulnerable, scratching at invisible dust on the countertop.

"Yeah, hyung." He punctuates the words with a kiss to the top of Hoseok's head. "I think it could be a good thing, if you let it."

"All right." Sitting upright again the accountant smooths his hands over his thighs and nods. He still feels unsure about the entire thing, but less afraid and more like he has to rethink everything he had planned out for the next three years of his life. "I'll try and calm down about it, I guess."

"You know we're here for you no matter what happens, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do. You two have fun, and be safe, ok?"

"We will, hyung. Don't stress too much about it, ok?"

Yoongi softens at the concern in Hoseok's voice and smiles. "I'll try, Seok-ah. Thank you both."

The three of them wave in to their respective screens and Yoongi disconnects the call with one last smile, feeling a little better about the curveball that's been thrown to him in the shape of Kim Seokjin. Maybe it won't be so bad, afterall.

The first two weeks are difficult. Seokjin barely texts, undoubtedly caught up in whatever thing he was supposed to be doing, so Yoongi throws himself in to his work. He picks up extra projects, stays late, avoids feeling like his crush is spiraling out of control by sending approximately one third of the texts that he wants to send. Mostly they're just updates, or a particularly delicious meal. Seokjin always starts his texts with an apology, and Yoongi always tells him the apologies are unnecessary, but they continue. His weekly hangouts with Namjoon and Hoseok are welcomed reprieves: Not much has changed, and it's refreshing, and things are good.

For the most part, Yoongi just feels vaguely anxious about the entire thing. Not in a bad way, but not entirely good, either. Just uncertain. But the way Seokjin has started ending his intermittent messages with a little heart makes Yoongi hopeful that he can survive the impending two months of even less contact.

He's just getting into bed from an extra long night at the office when his phone lights up, starts ringing. Seokjin's picture appears on the screen, and in the corner Yoongi watches himself pick up the phone from where he's set it on the nightstand to answer. "Hello?" When it connects it's dark, and a little grainy, and the lights in the background move rapidly.

"Yoongi-yah!" Comes Seokjin's voice, louder than necessary and then the model glitches his way in to focus. He's blonde, and Yoongi's breath hitches. "Sorry to call so late, but I wanted to see you before I'm practically off-grid." The pixelated Seokjin slowly comes into proper focus, the video smoothing itself out as he settles.

"It's fine," Yoongi mumbles, embarrassed by the way his stomach flips and his heart climbs in to his throat at the sight of the model, bare-faced and comfortable and blonde. "I was getting ready for bed, but I have time for you."

Seokjin smiles a soft smile. "Good. I was hoping you weren't upset with me for how absent I've been."

"Mm," Yoongi shakes his head, pulls his legs to cross underneath of himself. "You told me this would happen."

"True, but the reality is different than we imagine it, sometimes." And Yoongi wants to ask about everyone who's ever said they would wait for Seokjin and didn't, but keeps it to himself. "How's work? I think you're working too much, lately."

"We've got a lot going on at the firm, hyung." Yoongi lies, and for a moment Seokjin looks like he might press the issue.

"All right, Wonder Kid."

Yoongi pouts outright at that, wrinkles his face up in disgust that the model keeps calling him that. "We agreed that you'd stop with that awful nickname."

"No. You insisted I stop calling you Wonder Kid. I said I would take it under advisement, and have decided that it suits you. Do you know why?" Seokjin leans in closer to the screen, like he's not in another country on a train taking him further away, and his eyes glitter with excitement.

"Why?" He asks, already rolling his eyes at the answer.

"Because you're wonderful, Min Yoongi." Seokjin says it with a fondness that Yoongi isn't sure that he meant to, the corners of his eyes wrinkled in the screen and it takes the accountant by surprise.

"This hyung…" Yoongi looks away, knowing full well he could drop his phone, turn it away, if he really didn't want to be seen for how his face flushes and he schools his lips in a deeper pout to prevent himself from smiling, pretends it doesn't make his heart flip. "You're so greasy."

Seokjin laughs. Not his full, loud laughter that would probably wake the other passengers, but enough that he leans back in his seat and his shoulders shake and Yoongi thinks, not for the first time, that he's utterly fucked. "It's just my moisturizer making me look all dewy." He smushes his own cheek with his free hand and grins.

Silence settles between them, Yoongi watching Seokjin watch him, still looking like he knows more than the accountant wants him to, like just watching Yoongi sitting on his bed in his pajamas gives enough away that there's not a secret left in him. Absently, Yoongi scratches the back of his neck and stifles a yawn in the crook of his elbow. "How long is the trip?"

"Mm, I think six hours? But we're leaving late, today took longer than expected to settle things." He's still smiling, picture perfect in the way his blonde hair frames his face, styled from earlier but messier from the way he runs his hand through it. "Get some rest," Seokjin says it like it's natural. Yoongi wonders how he ever managed to go to bed without the soft smile and quiet whisper from the other.

"Travel well, hyung."

They linger, the two of them, and Yoongi can only assume that the model is waiting for him to end the call. He does, after a handful of heartbeats longer and a small nod. Yoongi continues to stare at his phone until it goes black, the quiet darkness of his bedroom seemingly more profound than it's meant to be. Once he's tucked himself into his blanket he allows himself to drift off, his mind echoing with Because you're wonderful, Min Yoongi.

Over the next two weeks, Yoongi hears from Seokjin exactly once. He's asleep when the message comes through, but he wakes up late for work and rushes to the office without opening it. He works through his lunch break, too preoccupied and maybe a little scared because it's a video message and that's not something that they've ever done and they're not official, he's not even entirely sure what they're doing when he stops to think about it, but that doesn't stop him from feeling like he's about to be internationally dumped.

So Yoongi puts watching the video off. Which leads to him not texting Seokjin like he usually does, even though he's been getting no replies. Messages to Seokjin are part of his routine by now: Good morning, maybe an interesting dream he had, a picture of his lunch, something funny that happened at the office, a picture of dinner if it's something more than instant noodles, a goodnight.

What Yoongi doesn't ever send are the I miss yous that seem somehow too personal and too selfish and too soon, much too soon considering the amount of time they've spent in proximity to one another when measured against the amount of time they've spent apart. How can he miss Seokjin when he gets home from work and pours himself a glass of wine if Seokjin has never been in his home? How can he hate waking up alone so much when he doesn't even know if Seokjin snores and has never seen his sleepy face?

How can I feel your absence in places you've never been? Yoongi asks. Sometimes he types it out. Sometimes he says it looking at their old messages. This morning he said it in the bathroom mirror, like his face would somehow give way to Seokjin's.

Hoseok stops by after he's finished at the studio smelling of a hasty shower and the chicken he picked up on the way. "Namjoonie and I missed you, when you didn't show up this week or last. But he's working late tonight." He says it casually but Yoongi knows it's loaded from the way Hoseok's shoulders curl inward and he looks between the accountant and the chicken held in his hands.

Yoongi shrugs a little. "I got caught up with this project," he offers, and it's not entirely untrue, because he was working, but he'd tried hard to lose track of time so as not to have to face the questions about Kim Seokjin. "I'll make it up to you guys next week."

"Yoongi-hyung, is everything okay?" Hoseok drops his chicken and wipes his hands on a napkin, watching Yoongi carefully from across his desk.

"Everything is fine, Seok-ah. I just have a lot going on at work." This time, for once, Yoongi feels bad about lying and he can't stop himself from grimacing because it's not like him to lie when it matters, not so boldly, and definitely not to Hoseok. "I'm just…" He looks across his desk to his best friend who is waiting for the explanation that Yoongi knows he's owed but has no idea how to put in to words. "Seokjin-hyung is away," he offers, setting down the half-eaten chicken and pushing it away from himself. "I don't even know why that matters so much, it's not like we're… anything? And I just think… I don't know." He laughs at himself.

For a long while Hoseok is quiet where he sits. Under his gaze Yoongi feels uncomfortable, a little caught, a lot vulnerable, and terribly unsure of himself.

"Hyung," he moves forward, to the edge of his seat, forearms against the desk between them, "I think you should probably think about why him being gone is upsetting you. Is this about him, or is it about you? Do you feel guilty?"

Guilty. Yoongi sits on that word, thinks about what it means. He thinks about the end of the year. About how it's already the middle of April, and Seokjin will be back by the end of May, and if the world shows him favor they won't have to go any more than a couple of weeks without seeing each other. If the world is even kinder, technology will continue to aid them in being able to speak to each other. Summer will bloom and they'll have time. Autumn will breeze in and they'll have time. But they won't make it to Winter. November will come and Yoongi will report for his enlistment. And then where will their time be? He remembers when his brother served, how he came home late and left early, all of the hours of his days split between his duty and the job he worked nights. Yoongi knows he's in a better place for this, has been saving for this, has crunched the numbers and knows that fiscally now is the most responsible time. Go in, fulfill his duties, be out with enough time to enjoy being 28.

But he wonders, can't stop himself from wondering, keeps wondering back to, "Is it worth it?"

"Is what worth it?" Hoseok whispers like he's afraid Yoongi will actually hear him.

"I miss him, Seok-ah. I don't even know him, and I miss him. Is there enough time for there to even be anything worth waiting for?" Yoongi isn't sure which one of them he's asking, but now that he's said it he feels exposed and unsure and somewhere behind all of it just a little hopeful. "How can I ask a man I will have known for two and a half seasons to wait that long for me to have enough time for him?"

Hoseok looks at Yoongi for all of three seconds before he stands and rounds the desk, pulling the accountant from his chair and into a hug. "Oh, hyung," the dancer breathes in to the shorter man's hair and shakes his head. "You should really talk to him about this. He gets a say, you know, in whether or not he thinks you're worth waiting for. And if he doesn't, Namjoonie and I will kill him for breaking your heart."

Yoongi laughs. He feels his eyes water and scolds himself inwardly for getting worked up over something so trivial, pushes his face into the dancer's shoulder and squeezes him before letting go. "You're right. I'll talk to him when he's home. Lately… we haven't really been able to talk, a lot." Sheepishly Yoongi wipes at his eyes, shakes out the negative feelings by way of wriggling his fingers. Once he's seated again he feels more settled. And hungry.

They finish off the chicken in better spirits, and Yoongi turns off his computer and calls it quits at work when Hoseok shrugs in to his jacket to leave. Namjoon is waiting for him outside in his car and leans out to ask Yoongi if he wants a ride home but he declines and hugs Hoseok goodbye, waves to Namjoon with a smile that feels lighter than he has in a while.

When Yoongi gets home the first thing he does is feed Holly while apologizing for being so late with his dinner for the last two weeks. Then he showers; long and hot and filled with all of his thoughts manifesting themselves in to the steam that rises and swirls around him. He comes out pruney and red and feeling like all of his excess thoughts have washed away down the drain. Once he's in his pajamas he finally feels ready to watch the video Seokjin sent him.

When the video starts, Yoongi holds his breath. He'd forgotten that Seokjin was blonde, and he's wearing a cream colored sweater. His makeup is still done, eyes lined dramatic and dark and he's wearing grey circle lenses and the lip tint has started fading from the bow of his lips, bottom lip tucked between his teeth as his eyes move around the screen. He's probably looking to make sure nothing is shown that isn't supposed to be, but it makes Yoongi feel like Seokjin is looking at him like he's missed him and is trying to make sure he lines up with the way the model remembers.

"Hey. I'm sorry I've been so… so absent. I know you don't like when I apologize, but this is more than I thought it would be. Everything is so hectic, and it takes hours to do anything, and I just… expected to have more time for you than I ended up having, and I… well, I don't like it. I miss you?" Seokjin laughs on the screen, and Yoongi echoes the laughter in the quiet of his apartment. "Anyways. Recording is going well. Filming, I guess, is what it really is. But I feel kind of self-conscious about it. Everyone is so nice and patient and they have endless amounts of advice and support, and I really like them, but it's a lot. More than I expected, I guess. I didn't think it would be as different from modeling as it feels." The model's face falls and he looks away. There's a sound in the background and Yoongi thinks maybe someone else will appear, but there's just another voice that he can't quite make out, and Seokjin answers in Japanese, and it strikes Yoongi suddenly how much he doesn't know about Kim Seokjin and it makes his pulse race. "Sorry, one of my castmates was looking for me, we're supposed to be finishing up a scene here shortly. We took a break to eat, but I wanted to talk to you instead. I don't even remember what I was saying, I just… I wanted to tell you this before the news breaks, and this is as close as face-to-face as I can manage. When we wrap up filming, there's a press conference I wasn't expecting. It's still six weeks out? Maybe seven? Honestly, Yoongi, I'm not entirely sure what day it is. But I ended up getting a different role than the one I auditioned for, it was supposed to be a minor part but with this face I guess they decided I deserve better." Seokjin grins, charming and confident, but something in his eyes looks nervous and small. "You probably don't care, but I feel like it matters, so you can't tell anyone, like I said, but there's a scene in my new role where I kiss someone. And I know you said no romance, but I also know what I did before I left, so I wanted to tell you that--" Seokjin looks away with the sound of the door again, and he nods to someone off screen and says another few words in Japanese, then turns back to Yoongi, "I have to go. When this is over, can we talk?"

The video ends abruptly.

Yoongi stares at the screen until it goes dark, unlocks his phone, and watches the video again. He watches it a third time, gets out of bed halfway through and leaves it on the kitchen counter, Seokjin's voice coming through as he pours himself a glass of wine and drinks half of it before picking his phone back up. The accountant feels like he should record something back, a video or a voice message or maybe take a selfie, but he stares and stares at the thumbnail of the video: Seokjin looking at the screen, blurry and a little unreadable. Yoongi thinks about all of the time he’s spent trying to avoid a moment like this, and then pushes himself to think harder, because was he really trying to avoid it at all? Every day-long text messaging session; all of the photos of food and Holly and cute little pastries on display in a shop window, every meme and every eyeroll. He thinks about the handful of times that he and Seokjin have occupied the same space. The confidence that the model approached him with back on the balcony of Suran’s place and how ever since that first time he’s been slipping his way casually into Yoongi’s space. That rooftop lunch before he left for Japan, Yoongi thinks back to how it just felt normal with the four of them, how he’d hesitated on the movie invite to look for Seokjin to accept it first.

He’d decided that day that he wasn’t really trying and had called Hoseok (and by extension, Namjoon) to help himself come to grips with the reality that was pressing down on him. There was no denying his crush, even if he felt too old and the word felt too childish. But he hadn’t said it to Seokjin, hadn’t even considered telling him the weight of all of it, had yet to mention that the reason that he was being so obstinate in the first place was because of a decision that he had made before Suran had ever mentioned her hot cousin.

And where were they now? Seokjin in Japan, practically off the communications grid and scrambling for a spare handful of minutes to put together something honest and unsure, and maybe it was a little bit hopeful on the heels of the kiss he’d pressed to Yoongi’s cheek.

The accountant looks at his phone again, blinking furiously as he comes back to himself, his eyes dry from the wide-eyed staring at nothing. His phone is motionless, offers neither help nor advice, and Yoongi drains his wine glass with a small sigh.

A thousand words die on the journey from his mind to his heart to his fingertips, but the ones that make it through are, Hyung, I didn’t say it out loud, but you should know that I promised to wait for you that day. Call me when you’re home. I’ll clear my schedule for you. We need to talk.

Yoongi sends them without reading them and drops his phone to the counter as if it wounded him. He washes his wine glass, brushes his teeth again, leaves his phone on the counter when he heads to bed, too afraid to really think about any of it.

The next six weeks are fine, in reality, but in his internal monologue Yoongi brands them as his own personal Hell. He hears from Seokjin only twice more: The first time is three days after Yoongi’s late response to the video, and four or five different messages come through all at once to say thank you and please and I can’t wait to see you; the second time is a week before Seokjin is due home, and it’s one picture message with a screenshot of the model’s flight information. Hoseok and Namjoon are patient and persistent in making sure that Yoongi shows up for their weekly hangouts, keep him fed and on-track and not staying too late at the office, and the random food deliveries they send by are just another reminder that he’s letting a little bit of his guard down. He’d never been hard to begin with, despite what his sharp eyes and introversion might have suggested, but when he originally made the decision to enlist at the end of the year Yoongi knew that he had started to pull away a little, knew that that slow build of a wall was the reason that Hoseok always insisted that the accountant was avoiding him. And the wall slowly came back down as naturally as it had started to rise.

The day of Seokjin's return flight is warm and bright and Yoongi wakes not long after his alarm would have normally gone off on a Wednesday, but he'd put in for leave for the rest of the work week the same day the itinerary had come through. Suran had smiled like she knew the reason and Yoongi pretended not to notice any of it as he left her office with a blush high on his cheeks.

But now it's a sunny day at the end of May and Yoongi glares at the crack in the curtains on his bedroom windows that's letting the sunlight in. He checks his phone and swipes all of the notifications he doesn't care about, bleary eyes zeroing in on the unread bubble next to Seokjin's name in his KKT app. Yoongi tries for all of thirty seconds to not grin as he rolls over and opens the chat.

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:34AM
i don't know when this will send but we're leaving for the train station now (it's 5am your time, btw)

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:34AM
i think i left my toothbrush :(

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:34AM
i can't check my bag, it's already packed away

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:34AM
ok all of those went through when i was getting on the train

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:35AM
it's good to be back in the land of the living ❤

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:48AM
i think i am going to try and nap on this train ride

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:52AM
you know, since i have a date when i get back to seoul

kim seokjin
Wednesday, 5:57AM
see you before you know it, Wonder Kid ❤

For breakfast Yoongi has coffee and reheats the leftover takeout Hoseok sent, on the fence about whether he’s hungry or anxious but deciding that it’s best if he eats something now because he knows that he won’t later, and realistically it’s still too early for him to be anxious at all. Seokjin’s flight doesn’t land until just after 4pm, and they’ve decided to meet at some restaurant Yoongi can’t remember the name of at 5:30pm. So Yoongi spends the day straightening his apartment. He cleans up his office and scrubs down the bathroom. He takes Holly to the park and buys him a treat on the way home. After a shower and a thirty minute unexpected phonecall from his brother, the accountant spends an hour pacing, thinking about what he’s supposed to wear, what he’s supposed to say.

In the end, Yoongi is thirty minutes early for their reservation and arrives in his best jeans and a button-down with the sleeves slightly cuffed because it’s warm out but the restaurant is probably mild inside. He lingers out front, pointedly ignoring all of the good luck yoongi hyung!!!! messages that Hoseok sends, and when he’s only fifteen minutes early for their reservation Yoongi steps inside. Seokjin picked the restaurant: It’s casual, but in a polished way, the lighting not quite dim but definitely intimate, and it’s not packed but Yoongi gets the impression that all of the empty tables are also reserved.

Once seated, Yoongi puts his phone on the table, just slightly out of reach so that he doesn’t constantly fidget with it but close enough that he can see the time and watch it tick by slowly. It’s on Do Not Disturb -- Hoseok and Namjoon know to call if they truly need him and they’ll get through, and so will Seokjin just in case, but it doesn’t light up like he knows it would otherwise. At 5:30pm he orders a wine he remembers the model mentioning in a conversation weeks ago, unsure how he pulled the name from his hat but it's a white and Seokjin likes seafood the best so it's safe. By the time the server is back with the bottle, Seokjin comes breezing in and Yoongi doesn’t hear what the server says, is too busy looking at Seokjin. He’s tall and handsome and still blonde and doesn’t look like he spent the day traveling, looks instead like he’s just walked off a photoshoot but when he gets close enough Yoongi realizes he’s not wearing any makeup. Just Seokjin, in black jeans and a freshly pressed white t-shirt and a Chanel earring and his hair looks soft and washed and parts to one side and Yoongi just stands there while the server watches him stare at the model.

“Hyung,” Yoongi breathes out, like he’s surprised to see Seokjin.

“Wonder kid,” Seokjin grins. Yoongi blushes. To his credit Seokjin then assess the table, tells their server yes to two glasses and watches him pour both, tuck the bottle into the metal bucket next to their table. Their server leaves, probably realizing it’s going to be a minute before either of them are anywhere near ready to order.

"Welcome home." There's warmth in his voice and in his chest and Yoongi just sort of blurts out, "I take back everything I said about romance." Seokjin doesn't even have the decency to look surprised. Instead he looks pleased, smiling softly like he's waiting for Yoongi to continue. "I realized the day you left, and there's so much I have to say, and it can wait, but just… know that I hope you calling this a date wasn't a joke this time."

"I wasn't ever joking, Yoongi." He doesn't look up from where his fingers are playing with the bottom of his wine glass against the white linen on the table. "I knew that day on the balcony that I wanted you."

"Oh." Yoongi feels his breath leave him and his lungs betray him, squeezing out all of the air in him to make room for the way his heart balloons in his chest and he doesn't know what to say to that. Honestly it's absurd to think about how many times he thought Seokjin was teasing him when he called all of their meetups dates, especially when Namjoon and Hoseok were along, thinking about each one being one more way that the model was pursuing him despite being told not to. But he was never aggressive and never took more than what Yoongi gave him, and maybe that's why it was so easy to let him in. "I'm enlisting in November," he says in a rush, feels the way his mind wants to keep the words inside because that might ruin how delicate the moment feels. "It didn't feel right, to ask you to wait for how much time I know we won't have, but Hoseok says it's your decision too."

Seokjin picks up his glass with a small sound of acknowledgement, nodding almost imperceptibly before taking a sip, and he looks at his glass for a few seconds more before setting it back down. Finally, he looks at Yoongi, expression unreadable, and Yoongi feels his breath catch in his throat, unsure but hopeful. "I thought it might be something like that." Yoongi still can't tell what Seokjin is thinking and feels his own hand tremble slightly under the table as he waits for the model to continue. "I think you’re putting too much weight on it. Sure, you’ll be busy and tired and absent a lot, but I’m not your stay-at-home partner with nothing to do in your absence, you know.” Seokjin smiles, and Yoongi thinks the elder might know all of the secrets to the Universe.

“So… it’s that easy?” Yoongi still sounds unsure and his voice wavers just a little, but the fragile hope that sparked in his chest lights up and he wonders if Seokjin can see it shining within him.

“If you want it to be.” Again the model smiles, gives a half shrug, looks across the table at Yoongi with that same unreadable but all-knowing expression, and for the length of a heartbeat the accountant thinks that maybe, just maybe, Seokjin is still scared of the rejection underneath of it all now that everything is laid out on the table between them.

“Yes.” Yoongi grins, can feel his teeth and gums on display for a second before he covers his face with his hands, breathing in deeply and exhaling even deeper.

“Great!” Seokjin sits forward in his chair, reaches across the table to pull one of the younger man’s hands from his face, squeezing it in his own. “Let’s eat, hm? I’m starving.”

Dinner with Kim Seokjin is a wild and wonderful experience. He enjoys food in a way that Yoongi never considered before, making pleased sounds and happy expressions like every bite is an absolute wonder. He insists on feeding Yoongi, who allows it only after trying to refuse and fussing about how ridiculous two people in their mid-to-late twenties look acting like teenagers. Which ends up being the wrong thing to say because it just eggs Seokjin on in to acting more ridiculous, and by the time their (shared) dessert arrives Seokjin has pulled his chair around the table and feeds them both in alternating bites. It feels silly. Foolish, even. Almost reckless. But Yoongi can’t bring himself to really care and they leave the restaurant with full bellies and even fuller hearts.

On the street, in the crispness of the late-May heat, Seokjin takes Yoongi’s hand. “I had Hobi pick a restaurant close to your place so that I could walk you home,” Seokjin says casually, pulling a dust mask from his pocket and somehow managing to expertly get it on with only one hand. “I had this vision of how romantic it would be, in case I still hadn’t managed to convince you to date me.”

Yoongi looks away, pouts the best pout that he can muster, and elbows the model square in the ribs. “You’ve been plotting against me with my best friend, I can’t believe he’s such a traitor! Joon, yes, he has a traitor's blood. But my Seokseok?” Looking up at the model Yoongi does his best to look mortally wounded, registering it as a mistake too late because when he looks up Seokjin looks just as lovestruck as his two best friends did whenever they looked at one another. “I’ll never forgive him,” Yoongi finishes weakly as he looks away, his fake outrage quelled.

“He did lie and say it was our anniversary so we got dessert out of the deal, so you can’t be too mad at him.”

“I like the idea of celebrating the start of something.” Yoongi squeezes Seokjin’s hand in his gently, lets his hand linger in the warmth of being held despite the fact that he’s not ever been keen on such public displays, but he supposes that this is small compared to the scene that the model was making in the restaurant, and the walk home is only ten minutes. Yoongi can do anything for ten minutes, especially for the man that he waited two months for.

When they get to his building Yoongi slows, thinks about what he wants to say. Part of him wants to invite Seokjin up for coffee, actually coffee, doesn’t quite want to let him go. He looks at the building as he gets his thoughts in order, his hand slipping out of the other man’s grip.

“Yah, Min Yoongi.”

Yoongi snaps out of his thoughts and looks at Seokjin -- his dust mask is down around his chin and he crowds in close, drops his head down, and every other time that Yoongi thought that Seokjin looked like he wanted to kiss him he was wrong, because this is what it looks like. His eyes are half-closed and his breathing slows; he crowds in close with his hands lifted between them like a surrender. Seokjin kisses him slow, gentle with the chance that Yoongi could pull away but he doesn’t, so Seokjin cups the side of the younger’s face, thumb brushing the dusting of pink on his cheeks. Yoongi’s hands grasp the material of the model’s shirt just as he pulls away and the accountant sighs with his eyes closed. “I’ll text you tomorrow, ok?”

“Text me when you’re home safe.” Yoongi doesn’t want him to go, not really, but the model presses a kiss to Yoongi’s cheek and then pulls the dust mask back up, his fingers slipping from the accountant's face to his shoulder and down to his elbow where he squeezes gently before letting go.

“See you later, Wonder kid.”

Yoongi opens his eyes just in time to watch Seokjin step away from him and towards wherever he assumes home is, the street far less crowded than it had been the first time he had watched the elder walk away.

Yoongi's days are filled with Seokjin. Whenever he's available he comes to their weekly hangouts, and when he isn't Yoongi sends him a pouting selfie about having to third wheel their friends alone. Hoseok is delighted about all of it, makes a scene of waggling his eyebrows every time Yoongi smiles at either his phone or the model in question. The first time Yoongi shows up with the smallest hint of a hickey because his t-shirt slid too far down his collarbones, it's all Hoseok talks about for a week. He demands all of the details and gets very few, but each new revelation feels like something exciting. The little bits of himself that he gives to Seokjin and then tells his friends about make Yoongi's heart race.

They all gather at Yoongi's to watch the premiere of Seokjin's drama at the end of June. Hoseok is sitting next to Namjoon, turned so that his legs drape over his partner's, Namjoon's hand on the dancer's thigh. Seokjin is on time, for once, and he pats the spot next to himself on the sofa when Yoongi walks into the room with two bowls of popcorn. He passes one to Namjoon, who nestles it in to the curve of Hoseok's knee and how comfortable it is makes Yoongi smile as he settles in, curls himself in to Seokjin's side with a quiet hum.

"The only thing I know about this is that you kiss someone," Yoongi says softly, like he's unsure whether or not he's allowed to say he knows that. Like it wasn't news at the press conference and he didn't see it everywhere. Funny how Kim Seokjin was just some guy a few months ago, and now that Yoongi knows what to look for he sees him at every turn.

"I can't believe we're going to see Jin hyung kiss a stranger on the television before we get to see him kiss his real life boyfriend!" Hoseok laments loudly, outraged by the obvious injustice of it all, shoving popcorn angrily into his mouth as Namjoom tries to placate him by rubbing his calf. "I know you guys kiss, I've seen the evidence ." He waggles his eyebrows at Yoongi the same way that he always does whenever the errant hickey comes up.

"Mm, the kiss is a ways off, Hobi, there's still hope that all of your nagging will make us as domestically horny as you two." Seokjin doesn't look away from the screen, but Yoongi knows his ears are red and there's a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth that he hides behind a handful of popcorn. Yoongi wiggles a little to get comfortable, rubbing his cheek on the model's shoulder as he rests his head there. Even that seems like too much of a display until Seokjin relaxes, his hand sliding to Yoongi's thigh underneath of their popcorn bowl safe from view of their voyueristic companions.

Hoseok loudly hushes the quiet room when the drama starts, demanding everyone's attention and continued silence well into the intro. Yoongi thinks it's pretty typical: The song is heartfelt and slightly angsty and the backdrop is all scenes of longing and friendship and feuds and the promise of at least one scene in the rain. He wonders if Seokjin kisses his love interest in the rain, wonders what their story is. The model has been tight-lipped about the entire thing, which is predictably given the circumstances but the nondisclosure agreement doesn't stop Yoongi from feeling like he's entitled to know what he's getting into. Every time Seokjin comes on screen his hand squeezes Yoongi's thigh, like he's surprised to see himself. Hoseok spends the entire episode trying to guess what's going to happen and looking over to see if Seokjin's face gives anything away, pouting to Namjoon when it doesn't, as if there's absolutely anything that he can do about it.

The entire thing is peaceful. Hoseok is squawking and Namjoon is trying to shush him, voice unbearably fond. Next to Yoongi Seokjin is warm and firm and comfortable and he promised he wouldn't fall asleep, said he was fine after an unexpectedly long work day and didn't need to reschedule, but everything is perfect and he's happy and finds himself drifting off somewhere around the time the lead has a dramatic run-in with the potential for disaster.

By the time Seokjin nudges Yoongi awake, Namjoon and Hoseok are gone and the volume on the television is cut down low. Seokjin presses a kiss to the top of Yoongi's head and the accountant can feel the smile on his lips. "Come on, Wonder Kid, let me tuck you in." Yoongi protests with a soft sound and curls further against Seokjin's side, shakes his head. "I'll stay, if you get up," the model bargains, and Yoongi sits up immediately, rubbing his eyes.

"Mm, d'you not have to be up?" Seokjin rarely stays when he has somewhere to be the next day for a list of reasons Yoongi knows make sense but he complains about regardless every time.

"No." Seokjin picks up their bowls from the table when he stands, disappears into the kitchen to let Yoongi wake enough to get himself upright. Yoongi stretches and watches the model in his kitchen, how comfortable he looks washing out the dishes and drying his hands, a look of concentration creasing his brow as he checks to make sure everything is off and put away.

Feeling overwhelmed in his own fondness, Yoongi turns off the television and holds out his hand for the elder to take, pulls Seokjin to him with more effort than necessary to press a soft kiss to his lips. "What if I call off tomorrow and we spend the day in bed?" Yoongi asks with a smile against the other's lips, squeezing their joined hands.

"Min Yoongi playing hooky?" Seokjin's eyes are half closed and he returns the smile, his free hand coming to rest against the accountant's hip. "Doesn't sound like Wonder Kid behavior, if you ask me."

Blushing because he still isn't used to the ridiculous nickname and doubts he ever will be, Yoongi shakes his head and presses another kiss to the other's lips. "I mean, I can always leave you here alone," he says, without any real threat behind it, untangling himself from Seokjin to tug him to the bathroom. They brush their teeth together, Yoongi sleepily leaning against the taller man, soaking up the soft domesticity of it all. He tries to remember when Seokjin started keeping a toothbrush over, but all he can remember is the first time Seokjin stayed the night and how surreal the entire thing felt, how it almost felt so electric that Yoongi wasn't sure how he would ever get used to it. Now he misses Seokjin when he's gone, thinks about how lucky they are that it's not been longer than a handful of days and none of those are spent so far away from civilization that a Facetime call doesn't connect.

They're settled in bed, Seokjin's face pressed to the back of Yoongi's neck and breathing in deep in the darkness of the room, Seokjin's arm around Yoongi's waist and their fingers intertwined and it's perfect and Yoongi says, "Hyung, I love you," with an ease that suggests he's said it a thousand times before but Seokjin's breath hitches and makes the hairs on the back of Yoongi's neck tickle and his arm tightens like he's afraid it's a joke or like Yoongi might disappear.

"Yoongi?" Seokjin asks, small and quiet and he holds on tighter.

"Yeah, hyung?" Yoongi's heart races in his chest and he wonders if Seokjin can feel it with how tightly he's holding him.

The model kisses the back of his neck, lips working their way up to his ear. "Say it again?" He asks, breath ghosting over the kiss he presses to his lobe.

"I love you." This time something wild breaks in his chest and Yoongi feels like laughing, turns his head and then the rest of him follows suit slowly, pulling Seokjin's arm back around him once they're facing each other. Yoongi kisses him then, marvels in the fact that it's something he can do. In the dark it's a little clumsy, but when their lips meet fully there's something heavy between them that drags a sigh from Seokjin's lips.

"I love you," Seokjin laughs, quiet but squeaky and high and he sounds a little drunk when he says, "I've loved you for weeks," and then kisses Yoongi again, hard and desperate and licking into his mouth like a man starved of affection. Seokjin pulls Yoongi closer, crooked fingers tangling in the fabric of his shirt at the small of his back, and the model nips at the younger's bottom lip. Yoongi sighs, pushes his hand into Seokjin's hair and down to the back of his head, pulling him in. "Definitely not leaving this bed." Seokjin laughs again and so does Yoongi, feeling lightheaded as the reality of it all blooms in his chest as Seokjin kisses him again, deep and hungry and wanting and breathless.

Over the summer, Seokjin does more traveling for work. Only now he brings Yoongi home gifts and spends more time in Yoongi's apartment than anywhere else. Half of the closet is now Seokjin's along with half of the dresser. The cabinet in the bathroom is filled with his products that Yoongi absolutely uses but will never admit to. Holly looks for Seokjin to come home and when he doesn't Yoongi sends photos of Holly waiting by the door for his arrival. Yoongi's entire office is on a first name basis with the model, who shows up at every possible opportunity. Yoongi has spent his fair amount of time on set with Seokjin and has a pretty good understanding of the equipment and how ridiculous it is that Seoul is hotter than the sun in July but Seokjin looks effortlessly cool in winter parkas.

They're on set at a particularly long shoot, one where Yoongi has stopped by after the office, his tie halfway undone and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to try and cool off from the heat of the late summer. Seokjin looks absolutely stunning. His hair is a sort of rosegold and it's long at the top and cut short at the sides and maybe he looks a bit like cotton candy draped in diamonds and fur. Yoongi is at the catering table, debating on what he wants to snack on while he waits for Seokjin to finish. He stares so long at the assorted snacks, thinking about how the only thing that he wants to eat is actually Seokjin, that he doesn't notice when the director calls it a day.

Seokjin sneaks up behind him and Yoongi startles when the model's hands wrap around his middle, lips pressed to his neck. "Mm, I missed you today," Seokjin nuzzles into his neck and Yoongi looks around the set, blushes and lets out a whined Hyung because they're in public and everyone can see them and normally Seokjin behaves better than this. "I'm gonna change, then let's go do something fun, yeah? Somewhere cool." He kisses Yoongi's cheek and unwinds himself from the accountant and disappears.

They stop on the way to the aquarium, their intended destination, for patbingsu, but Seokjin makes a sound in his throat at how much he enjoys the treat and it makes Yoongi's heart jump and then settles in the pit of his stomach and Yoongi says, "Let's go home instead, hyung" in a tone so low it could cause an earthquake. It doesn't, of course; but it makes Seokjin's knees weak and they spend the rest of the night in Yoongi's bedroom with the door closed to keep Holly out, like that would spare his innocence.

By September, Seokjin has taken up full residence in Yoongi's apartment. Seokjin already has the code to the locks so they make it official by adding Seokjin's name to the mailbox. Hoseok stopped asking for details about their relationship the day Seokjin came home early from a trip to Milan and Hoseok walked in to the sounds of them making up for the week they spent apart. Their hangouts have since switched from the bar to Yoongi’s living room where they watch Seokjin on-screen, and at their hangout that week they had to listen to Namjoom complain about the description he had gotten of the incident in explicit detail. Seokjin orders takeout from Namjoon’s favorite place to make up for it.

In October, Yoongi adds the day of their first date to the apartment codes, says he kept the old one as a guest passcode so that he doesn't have to tell Namjoon and Hoseok that there's a new code. Seokjin tells Hoseok anyways, because apparently everyone in Yoongi's life is a lovestruck traitor and there's no loyalty amongst the thieves of hearts. They go to Taehyung's costume party dressed as Batman (Seokjin) and Catwoman (Yoongi), mostly because Yoongi lost a bet but also because Seokjin has taken to sending Yoongi pictures of cats captioned This one is so you!. Yoongi stops fighting the idea when Seokjin sees him in his costume, and they end up fashionably (very, very) late.

When November rolls around, nothing changes, but everything feels heavier. They have three conversations about his conscription: The first is about how upset Seokjin is that Yoongi will have to cut his hair, the second is Seokjin giving Yoongi pointers on how to get through the bootcamp period, and the third is to remind Yoongi that Seokjin knows what he is going through. Seokjin's expertise on the matter makes Yoongi less anxious about the horror stories, but as the date approaches he finds himself more and more anxious. Seokjin calls Suran and gets her to help him convince Yoongi to take the week off from work, and Seokjin does the same. They spend it holed up in their apartment, ordering takeout for lunch and cooking extravagant meals for dinner with too many leftovers. Seokjin's made friends with the neighbors that Yoongi dislikes solely because one time they looked at Holly the wrong way. Seokjin takes them the leftovers and kisses away all of Yoongi's pouts.

"Hyung," Yoongi says in the darkness before sunrise, nuzzling into the crook of Seokjin's shoulder. "Seokjin hyung, wake up." The accountant feels bad for waking him, but knows that if he doesn't neither of them will forgive him. Seokjin makes a sound in protest and Yoongi coos at him, kisses the bridge of his nose and the corner of his mouth. "Hyung, it's time." For as well-rested as he sounds, Yoongi knows that it's a lie: He hardly slept and can feel it in the ache of his joints as he untangles himself from the sleeping model. Seokjin makes another sound as Yoongi wrestles himself free and slides out of bed, stretches, runs a hand through his hair but feels the bristle of his buzz cut instead, remembers sitting in their bathroom last night when Seokjin took the clippers to his hair after insisting he be allowed to do it. There was something intimate about it, or maybe it was the leaving, or maybe it was both. Whatever it was, they'd cried together in the bathroom, both of them insisting that they were only crying because the other was and neither of them really knowing who had started it. Seokjin stirs, sits up like a zombie, looks around the room in the darkness and Yoongi smiles, fond and in love, crawls back on to the bed to press a kiss to the model's lips. "Come on, hyung. You have to drive me."

They stop for coffee on the way, but neither of them drinks much of it. Seokjin's hand is on Yoongi's thigh and Yoongi's hands are wringing together, and he doesn't necessarily feel like any of this was a mistake but he feels like he should have waited to do this. Put it off for at least another few months, so they could spend the winter together. Seokjin likes the winter, talks about how when Yoongi comes home they're taking Namjoon and Hoseok and going snowboarding in the mountains somewhere. Yoongi likes the sound of it, especially if it means he gets hot chocolate and fireside cuddles out of the deal.

"Promise you'll come to my graduation," Yoongi says, standing arms-length from Seokjin. The model is beautiful as ever, his hair something dark like chocolate and closer to natural than Yoongi has seen it since April. He's wearing Yoongi's sweater and it doesn't quite fit him properly but Yoongi thinks he looks perfect.

"I'll come to your graduation and I will take you out on every leave day that you have and I will make you food and take the best care of Holly." Seokjin says it all at once, like he's in a hurry to get it out of the way, and looks around before pulling Yoongi into a tight hug. "I love you," he mumbles, small and sad enough to break Yoongi's heart. Yoongi stays in the embrace, holding Seokjin as tightly as he can for as long as he can. Yoongi kisses Seokjin goodbye with all of the love that he has in him, Seokjin's hands gripping Yoongi's elbows to force him back when the alarm on the model's phone goes off and they can't wait anymore.

"I love you," Yoongi says one last time, squeezes Seokjin's shoulder before he turns to take off up the path to where he is to report for duty.

"Yah, Min Yoongi!"

When Yoongi turns to look at where Seokjin is down the hill, it's with a smile as he blinks back his tears. "Yeah?"

"I'm waiting for you!" Seokjin blows him a kiss and Yoongi catches it, tucks it into the front pocket of his uniform before turning to continue on.

The last place Yoongi wants to be on a bleary, mid-November morning is turning up for his conscription, but it's not so bad when he knows the man that he loves is waiting for him.