Work Text:
You’re given a limited amount of words each year, from the minute you’re born, to the minute you die. Except the amount of words decreases as you grow up, and if you run out before the year ends, you die. Most normally never make it past thirty, and it’s nearly impossible to do so.
Enter: Min Yoongi
Age: Twenty two/22
Words: One thousand/1000
Min Yoongi is twenty two and living with his best friend Jung Hoseok. They met in high school and moved into together after Yoongi left home because of the horrible treatment of his parents. The yelling and constant blaming would either be their end, or his with the amount of words they went through in one night. Yoongi did his best to preserve his words, only talking when necessary, writing when he was low, and thinking when he couldn’t be bothered.
Yoongi was scared of a future where he ran out of words, his love for rap and music while in some cases saved him, left him with fewer words than he believed was safe. So he didn’t rap or sing along, he listened in silence to the moving words and lyrics from rappers taken too soon and artists on the brink of death.
Words are important, but are they worth someone’s life?
Hoseok encouraged Yoongi to be more open to others, a bright ray of sun who only dulled when his word count was too low. Using touch and caring actions to express his love for his friends and family. It was always difficult for Yoongi, his family being the opposite of loving and gentle, and more often than not refused Hoseok’s calming touch and sweet hugs. They met in the middle when they moved in together.
Hoseok would receive cuddles from Yoongi on bad nights, and Yoongi would receive minimal “unannounced” hugs, but hand holds were more than welcome.
They found a middle ground, and that was enough for them.
Yoongi had a good job, one that paid well plus gave him enough downtime so he wasn’t wearing himself out. He was grateful for the job he has. It gave him plenty of days off and early checkouts, and was word count friendly. He made friends with a few coworkers, Jimin and Jungkook, who were equally loud and vibrant. They made work less dull and reminded him of his roommate in more ways than one.
And everything was fine. Until he met Kim Seokjin .
Enter: Kim Seokjin
Age: Twenty four/24
Words: Two thousand/2000
Kim Seokjin is twenty four and currently living alone, occasionally having his friends Namjoon and Taehyung over.
He likes the peace and quiet of his apartment, likes waking up and lounging around with no problems. His small, apartment is filled with all the things he loves, his keyboard, notebook upon notebook of lyrics he’s written, an occasional poem or two, a computer for his games, a comfy mattress laid on the floor with no frame, pure white sheets that are soft to the touch, and picture frames of each pet he’s owned since he was young.
It was perfect to him. Not too big, not too small, the kitchen was pristine and clean, fridge filled with essentials and cabinets stocked with everything he needs.
The only thing missing, was his heart.
Seokjin, ever since he was young, has never believed in love. His parents were divorced and fighting constantly, his mother was in and out of abusive relationships, his father couldn’t stay with anyone longer than two weeks, and Seokjin had witnessed it all. From every court case to fights at home. He thought “if this is love, I don’t want it” and took it to heart.
In school he was known for rejecting everyone , whether you were the prettiest girl in school, to the friendliest nerd in book club, he said no . He was known as the school ’Heartbreaker’. After a while, people quit asking, he never gave answers, never thought twice about any of it. He just wanted to be done with school so he could move on with his life.
Nobody made his heart race, and he was fine with that.
His friends never push him, never make him feel weird because of his lack of feelings, in fact, they get angry when people do. Seokjin can recall many moments when they both almost used their words up because of someone making fun of him for not feeling anything romantic. Namjoon and Taehyung always assured him they would rather protect him and support him than let rude people hurt him.
It warmed Seokjin’s heart to know his friends cared for him that much. He decided he didn’t need romantic love when friendship was more than enough for him.
That is until he runs into one Min Yoongi , who changes everything .
。♢ 。
It’s a cloudy, windy day when Yoongi and Seokjin run into each other. The sky is a cold grey with small spots of yellow from the sun peaking through. It’s so cold outside that big puffy jackets can be seen everywhere you look, and small snowflakes fall, lightly dusting everything in a layer of white.
Yoongi is walking out of a cafe where he ordered a hot chocolate instead of his normal coffee. He isn’t much looking ahead of him and ends up bumping into someone and dropping his drink.
“I’m sorry.” he says quickly, picking up his spilled drink and grimacing at his now stained white shoes Jungkook bought him for his birthday so many months ago. He feels a hand rest on his shoulder and slowly looks up.
His eyes meet a set of deep brown eyes shining with concern. A frown is set on the plump lips and Yoongi believes that for just one second, maybe more, that time is stopped. His heart is racing and his hands and sweaty, he wants to say something but the words are caught in his throat.
“Are you okay?” the man asks. He looks more confused, but the concern is still there.
“Mn, I wasn’t… paying attention. I’m sorry.” he bows his head lightly, showing how sorry he is.
“Not a problem, I wasn’t paying attention either…” he pauses and looks at the spilled drink and looks kindly at Yoongi. “Let me buy you a new drink hm? To make up for this?”
Yoongi smiles softly and nods his head.
“I’m Yoongi.” he says shyly.
“I’m Seokjin.”
They make small talk after Seokjin orders two drinks, one for himself and for Yoongi. They keep check of their words, the small number on their wrists telling them how many they have left.
Yoongi notices he has far fewer words than Seokjin. He wants to ask, but knows it’s more rude to ask how many you started with verses how many you have left. Everyone is so set on showing off their numbers at the beginning of the year and Yoongi couldn’t really care for it.
He just doesn’t want to run out.
Seokjin sees the curiosity in his eyes and smiles when he decides against asking. It’s nothing too personal, but sharing with someone you just met is oddly enough, something very taboo.
They keep each other company until their drinks are empty and exchange numbers, enjoying each other’s presence enough to warrant another day out together.
Yoongi goes home feeling warm and content.
Seokjin goes home feeling confused and cold.
。♢ 。
Winter is harsh and brutal, Yoongi loves the cold, it allows him to curl up by the fireplace and snuggle under the blankets. He can wear sweatpants and hoodies all day long, maybe paired with fuzzy socks.
His shared apartment with Hoseok is kept cool so they can cuddle and turn the fireplace on and still be bathed in a comfortable heat. Days and nights spent bathed in the warmth of the fire and each other, along with the calming music from the streets as winter continues.
Yoongi is normally very quiet about things in his life, sharing only enough for Hoseok to understand very little, but very suddenly, he finds himself using his words more often than not, talking about Seokjin.
Hoseok has to warn him about his word count almost daily since meeting the older man. He had inly met Seokjin a few times since, but he’s all Yoongi can talk about.
It should concern him, but he’s smitten… He can’t help who his heart sees.
Seokjin, however, is very quiet about Yoongi, he likes the younger man, but anytime he sees the look in Yoongi’s eyes, his heart thumps loudly and a lump forms in his throat.
His friends are concerned because of the way Seokjin seems to be thinking things over. Hiding from something that clearly is affecting him.
“Hyung, please talk to us, we just wanna help you.” Taehyung says when Seokjin cries one evening.
He feels gross and unstable, like his world is twisting upside down. He feels affection for Yoongi, but he doesn’t know if it’s something he would ever want to pursue in any way.
And for the first time in maybe forever, he’s scared of hurting someone.
Voicing those thoughts to Taehyung and Namjoon cause the two of his friends to schedule an immediate ice cream and movie night. They both know how Seokjin rarely takes into consideration other people’s feelings when it comes to making choices for himself, so for him to consider someone else…
It means he cares about this person.
Taehyung clings to him like a koala and reassures him constantly that he is valid and loved, Namjoon is quiet in his reassurance, being a stable presence for him. Seokjin is grateful for his friends, grateful they didn’t leave or judge him for anything.
He feels safe with them.
。♢ 。
Seokjin and Yoongi continue to meet up, despite Seokjin’s hesitance and Yoongi’s eagerness, they manage to find a balance in that.
However something that worries Seokjin, is the more they meet up, the fewer words Yoongi has. What was a thousand words is now a hundred. Seokjin’s own word count is lower than it had ever been before the end of the year. His once two thousand is now five hundred, when usually by this time it would still be over nine hundred, at least.
But he tries to push those thoughts aside as the younger man tells him of his new puppy he adopted. His gummy smile is infectious and Seokjin finds he can’t help but adore everything that is Yoongi. The creeping bad feeling is returning, but Yoongi’s smile almost drives it away.
Almost .
Until Yoongi mentions his friends bugging him about his relationship with Seokjin. He can feel dread creep into his bones and his ears begin ringing. His hands are sweaty and his heart is thumping rapidly and loudly. His eyes unfocus until a voice pulls him out.
“Hyung.” he sees Yoongi tilt his head and Seokjin blurts out something he didn’t think he would ever admit to anyone other than Taehyung and Namjoon.
“I’ve never fallen in love before, and I don’t know if I… can…”
The silence that follows is deafening and charged.
Yoongi’s eyes grow large with realization, they fall shut and when they open again, his eyes are shining with tears. A small smile graces his lips and he reaches for Seokjin’s hand.
“You’re okay hyung, you’re valid.” a tear slips down Yoongi’s cheek and Seokjin isn’t sure if it’s because of what Seokjin just blurted out or something else.
He has a feeling it’s a bit of both.
“Come to my apartment tomorrow, please, bring in the new year with me?” Yoongi asks desperately, but kindly.
Seokjin nods his head, unsure if his voice works. Yoongi leaves and Seokjin is left alone. He watches Yoongi walk away, and sees him reach up to his eyes. There’s no snow falling and no rain either, Seokjin thinks he just hurt the one person he didn’t want to.
He feels frozen.
。♢ 。
Yoongi is waiting for Seokjin to arrive when Hoseok surprises him by wrapping his arms around his smaller waist.
He’s been staring at his word count for the past ten minutes, and sees the concern in Hoseok’s eyes. After yesterday with his hyung, Yoongi came home and cried, his heart pulling in a different direction than his head. He screamed and screamed because he doesn’t know what it means. He started the day with fifty words, and now…
He has less than ten words before the end of the year.
He blames himself for asking too many questions and running his mouth when clearly he should have known. A broken heart makes you feel as if the only thing you can do is scream. Hoseok squeezes him close and tells him that it will be okay. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but it’ll be okay.
Hoseok won’t let him fall.
A knock on the door causes Hoseok to let go and go answer it. No surprise when Seokjin walks in, fiddling with his hands and greeting Hoseok kindly before stopping and looking at Yoongi.
He sees the way Seokjin’s eyes trail over his face, his eyes must be red rimmed and blood shot from all the crying he’s done, next over his arms, thin but smooth, taken care of and fall to his wrist, where his number is in dark red, a warning .
Seokjin’s eyes widen before he visibly deflates. Yoongi can see guilt swimming in his eyes and he wants nothing more than to assure him that he isn’t upset with him. But he has no energy to grab his phone or write a message, so he goes over and stand in front of Seokjin, and opens his arms in wait.
And soon enough, his arms are filled with Seokjin and soft words are being spoken. “I’m sorry’s” and “Please don’t hate me”. Yoongi rubs his back soothingly and motions for Hoseok to get his phone.
He types out a message and shows it to Seokjin, I could never hate you hyung, you did nothing wrong, there’s absolutely nothing to be sorry for. He adds a little emoji next to it in hopes Seokjin will believe it, but he can see the skepticism in his eyes. It makes Yoongi’s stomach flutter painfully because he didn’t want today to be sad.
He wants today to be memorable and important.
They all agree to sit and chat idly, Yoongi using his phone and hands to express himself, they watch a few movies and soon enough, it’s nearing midnight.
Hoseok calls his boyfriends, and Seokjin and Yoongi head out to the balcony. It’s lightly snowing and Yoongi curls up close to Seokjin.
“You’re like a cat.” Seokjin says while scrunching his nose.
Yoongi smiles.
There’s only a minute left until midnight and for his word count to reset, but he can’t hold it in any longer.
“I’m really happy I met you Seokjin hyung.”
Seokjin looks terrified for a second, realizing Yoongi only has two words left and seconds until midnight.
“Yoongi-“
“I lo-“
Seokjin kisses Yoongi on the nose, quick enough to stop his last word from being completed, and brings Yoongi into a tight hug. He feels his shirt get wet and feels Yoongi grasp his shirt tightly.
“I’ve never felt romantic feelings for anyone, and I don’t know if that’s what I’m feeling, but I do love you Yoongi.”
He cups Yoongi’s cheeks once he pulls away and pushes their foreheads together.
“Be patient with me while I figure things out okay? Can you do that?” he asks hopefully.
Yoongi nods his head happily and hugs Seokjin tightly.
He’s warm and happy. Whether Seokjin loves him romantically or not, he doesn’t want to lose his hyung, so as long as he can hug him and talk to him, it’ll be enough for him.
Because Seokjin is enough.