Work Text:
The market is buzzing with life today. People coming and going, vendors and consumers alike, children running, smiling faces, voices, so many voices...
Seokjin freaking hates it.
Well, no. That’s not quite true. It’s not that he hates it hates it. More like he doesn’t like it a lot - the people, that is. And the crowds. And the noise.
Oh my god, the noise!
His husband, Yoongi, always teases him about it - goodnaturedly of course, but teasing nonetheless.
“For such a loud person, you sure dislike other loud people.”
To which Seokjin often replies by shrugging and pointing out how he can pull it off because he’s handsome and other people aren’t.
It’s not a lie, Seokjin is more handsome than your average loud person. But he’s also very much an introvert trying to live his life in a way that allows him to be perceived as little as possible.
He has approximately a handful of friends, a close relationship with his parents and his hyung, and that’s it - which is fine by him. His close circle provides all the human interaction he could ever need.
He’s okay. He’s happy. And he doesn’t need anyone waltzing into his life and making a mess of the balance he has crafted with such care, thank you very much.
So now he’s here, dodging the market’s morning crowd to the best of his ability, lunch box in his hand, trying to reach his husband’s stand because he forgot his lunch at home and there’s no way in hell Seokjin is going to let him eat whatever questionable concoction they sell to people in a hurry to eat these days.
After much pain and tribulation, Seokjin succeeds, reaching the stand with a big 'Kim-Min Strawberry Farm' sign depicting a smiley cartoon strawberry that always makes Seokjin want to smile.
But there’s a flaw in his plan, and it’s this:
The stand is empty.
Yoongi isn’t there.
Abort, abort, abort!
“Hyung will be back shortly,” a voice comes from the stall next to Yoongi’s, and Seokjin turns to find a man there.
Seokjin blinks, his brain malfunctioning a little, trying to take in just how handsome this stranger is:
Elegant nose, high cheekbones, eyes kind and welcoming, and a heart-shaped smile in place. His skin is on the tanned side, although the word that comes to Seokjin’s stunned mind is ‘sunkissed’, contrasting perfectly with the colorful jewelry around his wrists, neck, and ears, and the plain white tank top that shows off his arms and the line of his collarbones.
He’s beautiful. Goddamn gorgeous. And what the hell is that annoying thump, thump, thump in Seokjin’s ears?
Oh right... It’s his own stupid heart.
“E-excuse me, what did you just say?”
“Yoongi-hyung,” Handsome Stranger replies, still smiling that warm smile that could outshine the sun, no kidding. “You’re looking for him, aren’t you?”
The gears of Seokjin’s brain kickstart back to life with a proverbial creak, his stomach doing a flippy kind of thing as he holds on to the lunch box in his hands for dear life.
“Right, yes. Yoongi. Min Yoongi. I am looking for Min Yoongi.”
Handsome Stranger laughs at that for some reason, a loud, boisterous sound that would irritate Seokjin in any other circumstances but as it is, he finds it charming. Charming! Sweet Lord, Seokjin is a goner.
“Are you Seokjin-ssi?” Handsome Stranger asks, and it takes Seokjin by surprise.
“I am. How do you know?”
Handsome Stranger ducks his head a little, abashed maybe? It’s cute. Seokjin feels like running around screaming ‘Fire!’ or jumping down a cliff.
“Ah, it was just a guess. Yoongi-hyung mentions you all the time, so.”
“He does?”
“Yes! You’re his husband, aren’t you?”
That gives Seokjin pause.
It’s not that he’s ashamed of being married to Min Yoongi, not in the slightest, but there’s getting married far away from home surrounded by friends and family because your country's government won’t take its head out of its own ass and then there’s a random person at the town’s market knowing exactly what kind of relationship you have with your ‘business partner’.
Handsome Stranger seems to sense Seokjin’s worry because the next thing he does is raise his hands in front of himself, palms to Seokjin:
A peace offering.
He leans forward, top half bent over a table full to the brim with pieces of handcrafted jewelry like the ones dangling from his wrists and neck. Handsome Stranger’s own vendor stand, Seokjin thinks in passing.
“I’m sorry. Please don’t panic. I promise Yoongi-hyung and I are buddies and I’m cool with you guys’-” Handsome Stranger waves a hand in the air. “-partnership.”
Seokjin takes a deep breath, nods once, and gets another one of Handsome Stranger’s smiles, this time a smaller one, but equally kind.
“So, where is he?” Seokjin asks, to break the sudden tension and to make himself stop staring at Handsome Stranger’s whole enthralling self.
The other man opens his mouth as if to reply, but before he can do it, a hand of calloused fingers wraps around Seokjin’s elbow and he feels himself relax completely.
“Hyung, you’re here?” Yoongi says next to him, in that rich tone Seokjin loves even after years of hearing it every day. Seokjin laughs a little to hide the fact. He has an imaginary reputation to maintain, after all.
“Ah, Yoongichi, of course I’m here! You forgot your lunch at home and since I’m the best hyung in the world, I left my cave for the first time in centuries to come deliver your nutritional yummies.”
Seokjin presents the lunch box to Yoongi, who takes it with a little bow.
“Oh, no, hyung. But what if the monster hunters find you?” Yoongi asks, not missing a beat to play along with Seokjin’s shenanigans.
Seokjin loves him so, so much.
He shrugs. “If they get me, they get me. At least it was for a good cause.”
“But then I’d feel super guilty.”
“Good. Vouch for me during the trial.”
“I will. I’ll visit you in prison too.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Mister Min.”
“You guys are so stinking cute, oh my god!”
They both turn to where Handsome Stranger is witnessing their interaction, beaming like it’s Christmas, a hand over his chest as a way to convey how touched he is.
They are cute, Seokjin knows it from the mouth of their friends and family. It doesn’t make Seokjin’s ear-blush reaction to the words any less annoying.
“Hyung, this is Hoseok. Though I take it you two already met?” Yoongi says, walking past Seokjin to get behind his stand’s counter, which is carefully arranged to showcase the pretty colors of their farm’s produce and also the strawberry jam Seokjin makes himself.
Seokjin thinks Yoongi looks good surrounded by fruits and colorful jars - like he belongs. Then again, Seokjin thinks Yoongi looks good all the time.
“I hadn’t introduced myself yet, actually,” Handsome Stranger - Hoseok says, ducking his head in that cute gesture of his.
“Oh, sorry,” Yoongi says, not looking very sorry. “Hyung, Jung Hoseok, my stand neighbor. Seokseok, this is Kim Seokjin, my partner.”
They bow to each other, and Seokjin schools his features into an easygoing smile even though he’s internally cataloging the way Yoongi addressed the other man. Seokseok, hm? Interesting.
“So you’re the one who puts up with this gremlin on the daily, yeah? Quite the feat.”
Yoongi doesn’t bat an eye, busy with something or other behind the counter. Hoseok, on the other hand, laughs at Seokjin’s lame attempt at humor.
“He’s a good neighbor, very mindful and all. A good hyung too,” Hoseok says, to which Seokjin replies with a gesture of ‘meh’. It makes Hoseok laugh again, loud and wonderful.
From the corner of his eye, Seokjin sees Yoongi hide a smile as he keeps pretending to mind his own business.
“So you made all of these?” Seokjin asks, inspecting the jewelry, ignoring how Hoseok’s eyes on him make the skin of his neck feel warm and too thin.
“Not everything.” Hoseok moves closer to where Seokjin is. “Some are from a friend who’s also into jewelry making, but his style is more classic while mine is more colorful and fun so we don’t step on each other’s toes. It’s cool.”
Seokjin hums, leaning forward to take a better look at something catching his eye. It’s a bracelet, delicate and minimalistic, a simple silver band inlaid with pink Swarovski-like crystals.
“Pretty,” he says without meaning to.
“You like it?” Hoseok asks.
“Did you make it?” Seokjin deflects. He looks up and Hoseok is looking back, a smile in place; always a smile.
Hoseok takes the bracelet and places it on his palm to show it to him better. The color looks nice against his skin. Seokjin never thought a single person could be so inherently nice in so many different ways.
“I did,” Hoseok confirms. “I was trying out something I learned recently. Bit of a change, you know?”
“It paid off, you’re very good,” Seokjin says, his eyes connecting with Hoseok’s, not missing the way the younger man’s expression turns into a mix of confusion and amusement.
Seokjin holds Hoseok’s gaze for a couple of seconds, then he hears Yoongi clear his throat and he knows playtime is over.
He straightens up.
“Anyway, I should get going. Lots of errands to run, people to avoid, you know, the usual.” It’s intended to be a joke for Yoongi to catch, but it’s Hoseok who laughs. He’s so cute...
Damn it.
“See you tonight, hyung,” Yoongi says, yanking him out of his conflicting thoughts. Seokjin nods in acknowledgment, composing himself enough to say goodbye to both men.
And if he has a mini-breakdown in the safety of his truck that’s no one’s business really. Not at all.
***
Seokjin is halfway through dinner prepping when Yoongi gets home.
Nothing fancy: rice, stir-fried vegetables, chicken, a couple more side dishes, and strawberry juice - because there’s always strawberry juice in this house.
Yoongi says hello to him like he usually does, hugging Seokjin from behind and dropping a kiss as high as he can, which is usually nape-height. He’s not all that tactile - none of them are, actually - but when they’re alone, the need to touch becomes imperative and neither of them is one to complain.
“You’re home,” Seokjin says after a moment of tending to the stir-fry with Yoongi glued to his back.
Yoongi hums, the sound muffled by Seokjin’s shirt since Yoongi’s face is buried in it, in between Seokjin’s shoulder blades. It’s comforting to feel the warmness of Yoongi’s breathing against his skin, the rise and fall of his ribcage against Seokjin’s back.
It feels like peace. It feels like home.
“How was work? Wanna tell hyung?” Seokjin stirs the chicken with a wrist flick, mindful not to elbow his husband in the process.
“Boring,” Yoongi turns his head turned to the side so his words don’t come out muffled. “Your visit was the highlight of the day, honestly.”
“Oh? Well, we all know my presence makes everything better.”
“It does.” Yoongi nods and Seokjin feels it against his back. He snickers.
“That was surprisingly easy,” he says.
“What? Can’t I be pleased to see my husband during work?”
“I mean, of course you can, more so when I’m the husband in question.” Seokjin stirs the chicken one more time before turning off the stove. He turns in Yoongi’s embrace, arms looping around Yoongi’s waist, lips dropping a peck on Yoongi’s temple, then his lips. “It’s just never this easy to get you to admit it.”
Yoongi grumbles, a noncommittal sound that makes Seokjin laugh. It’s cute, the way Yoongi pouts disgruntedly because he dared to express an emotion, how he looks everywhere but in Seokjin’s direction, how his arms keep firmly clasped around Seokjin’s waist.
He’s a walking, talking contradiction - much like Seokjin himself - and Seokjin loves him for it. He loves him to pieces, wholeheartedly and completely. Which is gross and kind of embarrassing to admit but, hey! At least he had the decency to put a ring on it after realizing the fact.
“Work would be so much better if you were there all the time,” Yoongi admits after a moment, so quietly he might as well have said it through a full-on pout.
“Too bad I gotta tend to our farm instead. Good for business, bad for my husband’s clingy tendencies.”
“I’m not clingy.”
Yoongi clings tighter. Seokjin snorts.
“Of course you’re not, darling. The most detached person I know, in fact.”
“Damn right I am.” Yoongi nuzzles his face against the crook of Seokjin’s neck. Seokjin lets him get away with it.
“I didn’t think you’d get so bored, though.”
“Why not? Working is dull, capitalism sucks, etcetera, etcetera.”
“I know, but I left you in such good company…”
Now is Yoongi’s time to snort.
“You’re one to talk, with how I found you flirting with my stand neighbor.”
“Yah, Min Yoongi, I wasn’t flirting! I was looking for you!”
“Maybe not then, but you were definitely flirting after I got behind the counter.”
Yoongi pulls back from their embrace, then he walks to one of the cabinets, taking out clean plates, cutlery, and chopsticks.
“‘Oh, you put up with this gremlin? You made these? You’re very good,’” Yoongi says, mocking Seokjin’s voice tone.
Warmth creeps up Seokjin’s neck and to his ears. He ignores it.
“That’s rich coming from you. ‘Seokseokie-yah~ this is my partner’,” Seokjin mocks too, dropping his voice to resemble Yoongi’s baritone. “Very subtle.”
“I didn’t call him that.”
“Ah, but you wanted to.”
“I did not.”
They’re walking to the dining room now, Seokjin carrying as many pots and pans as he can while Yoongi arranges the plates and utensils. They settle one next to the other on the table and only talk after Seokjin has put a little bit of everything on top of his bowl of rice.
“I don’t remember you mentioning him before,” Seokjin comments, chopsticks full of rice midway to his mouth.
“Sure I did. He’s the one I’ve been giving free produce to because he helps me unload and tends to the stand whenever I need to run errands.”
“Yeah, but you said it was this ‘kid’ that works at the market and I thought it was like, a literal kid, you know. An adolescent tops. Not a grown-ass man that can’t be more than one or two years younger than us.”
Yoongi shrugs, shoving food into his mouth with a finality that indicates he won’t say anything else unless he’s prompted. Seokjin sighs. Why is he always attracted to the bratty type, he wonders.
“He seems nice,” Seokjin tries again, once his bowl of rice is almost all the way empty.
“He is really nice. Work has been much more bearable since he rented the stand next to mine. Of course, I don’t mean to talk ill about the ahjumma that had it before, but I like jewelry way better than pickled cabbage.”
Seokjin snorts. “You’re such a gentleman, Yoongichi.”
“What can I say, it’s a gift.”
Only a beat goes by before they start giggling together, like a pair of little kids sharing a secret - or a pair of grown-up men more than attuned to each other’s comic timing.
They finish up their food, Seokjin tidies up and Yoongi does the dishes since he didn’t help with cooking. Seokjin helps with drying nonetheless, both because he likes doing things like these with Yoongi and because he doesn’t particularly feel like doing anything else other than basking in his husband’s presence.
It’s quiet and it’s so nice. Everything with Yoongi has felt so easy and wonderful and nice. Yoongi is the calm in Seokjin’s storm, always has been, and he can only hope he’s the same for the younger man.
Once the dishes are done, it’s time for them to have alone time, which has been an arrangement of them since they were only best friends sharing an apartment in the city due to circumstances.
They’re both introverted, they both value their space, and even if they also value the time they spend with each other, the time they spend by themselves only adds to their mutual understanding.
Seokjin plays games on the computer while Yoongi tweaks something or other on his personal laptop. From the looks of it, Seokjin guesses it’s photo editions for the farm’s website, but his husband has taken a liking for music mixing again, so maybe that’s what he’s doing.
It’s okay for Seokjin not to know exactly what Yoongi is doing behind him on the couch, though. And he knows Yoongi doesn’t mind not knowing exactly what Seokjin is playing either.
Everything is alright. They don’t need to be all over each other to feel close. Just each other’s quiet presence is enough.
The evening goes by like that, like so many before it and so many after it, probably. The two of them are in comfortable companionship, two of a whole. Soulmates like Seokjin’s brain sometimes provide.
Soulmates...
Yeah.
That.
“Oh, heck, I almost forgot,” Yoongi says when they’re getting ready for bed. He reaches for his messenger bag and paws the external pockets for about a minute until a little “A-ha!” leaves his lips.
Seokjin frowns, confused by his husband’s behavior, but if Yoongi notices, he doesn’t show it.
He bounces back to the bed, kneeling next to Seokjin, and presents his extended palm to him. Something is resting there; something pink and silver and delicately crafted.
Seokjin blinks at it, then at his husband. And then at the thing again.
“That’s-”
“The bracelet you liked so much, yes,” Yoongi finishes for him, a smug little smile curving his lips wickedly. He looks so pleased with Seokjin’s surprise, so much so that Seokjin can help but wonder if the younger man really forgot about the bracelet or if he waited for the best moment to bring it up.
Seokjin recovers after a second, slitting his eyes and tilting his head to convey how very untrusting he is.
“Why do you have it?” He leans into Yoongi's space as if that could give him the answers he’s looking for.
“It’s a gift.”
“For what? My birthday is months from now and our anniversary was two weeks ago.”
“Well it’s not my gift.”
Yoongi unclasps the lock and gestures for Seokjin to give him his hand. Seokjin does, quietly watching as his husband secures the bracelet around his wrist, it fits perfectly, the colors and craftsmanship making his bony wrist look dainty, something Seokjin isn’t used to.
“It’s from Hoseok,” Yoongi says, his thumb and pointer finger delicately holding Seokjin’s hand, turning it so he can have a better look. “He said, and I quote: ‘Since he liked it so much, he should keep it.’”
“What? Why?”
Yoongi shrugs. “‘cause he likes you? I don't know.”
“Even if that’s true, why would he send me a present? We barely know each other.”
“He’s like that.” Yoongi waves a hand. “Selfless, considerate, and so on. A kind spirit through and through.”
Seokjin smiles, his husband's words presenting the perfect opportunity for him to tease before he can get teased.
“Is that why you like him, dear?” Yoongi throws him a deadpan look. Seokjin laughs, loud and purposefully obnoxious. “I know you, Min Yoongi. And I know how you look when you have a crush on someone so don’t try to deny it.”
“I mean, I wasn’t gonna.”
“Ha! I knew it!”
“Though I’m not as obvious as you are, hyung.”
That makes Seokjin stop mid-movement when he’s punching the air in victory. Yoongi does that thing he does when he's trying not to smile. It’s really annoying.
“I’m not obvious. I have never been obvious in my entire life.”
Yoongi snorts. Seokjin frowns.
“Rude, Min Yoongi, very rude. I’m older than you.”
“And I’m your husband who knows when you’re lying.”
“I am not lying.”
“Sure, hyung.”
“I’m not!” Seokjin insists, throwing his hands in the air to emphasize his point. The movement makes the light from the nightstand lamp catch on the crystals of the bracelet and that makes him think of Hoseok’s pretty, pretty eyes for some reason.
He feels his ears start to blush. Hopefully, his husband won’t notice in the dim light.
“Ah, hyung, look at your ears, they’re all red,” Yoongi teases, holding the top of one of Seokjin’s ears in between his thumb and forefinger.
Well.
Seokjin bats Yoongi’s hand away and Yoongi giggles that gremlin giggle of his, with his shoulders and his gums and his scrunched-up nose and, why oh why, is Seokjin so in love with this garden gnome of a man? Because he’s an idiot and also a tiny bit masochistic, that's why; it must be. The only logical explanation.
“I think he’s straight though,” Yoongi says after his giggling fit dies down.
Something heavy moves around Seokjin’s stomach, viscous and unpleasant, which is a silly way to feel because of someone you just met but alas, Seokjin is a silly man and he always has been.
“Ah, really?” he asks, praying to the skies that the drama school degree collecting dust on their living room’s wall can help him look cool and unaffected.
Yoongi cocks an eyebrow at him, looks him up and down as if looking for something. Seokjin stops breathing; he doesn’t know why.
In the end, Yoongi shrugs.
“Yeah, really,” he says, getting himself under the covers and snuggling closer to Seokjin’s side - Seokjin’s cue to turn off the lamp on his nightstand and give his cat of a husband the spooning he swears he doesn't like but that he seeks every night anyway.
“Pity,” Seokjin says after complying with Yoongi’s unvoiced request for a big spoon. He feels Yoongi shrug against his chest. “He’s nice for a het, though.”
Yoongi nods, his hair on the top of his head tickling Seokjin’s nose just a little. Seokjin doesn’t do anything to stop it.
“I mean, we could still have him for dinner sometime. The heteros need to eat you know,” Seokjin reasons, lips pressed against Yoongi’s nape, the scent of body wash and lotion filling his lungs. His favorite smell in the world apart from freshly picked-up strawberries.
“That’d be nice, he’s a good kid,” Yoongi says, breathy and distant, already falling into the slumber that so easily finds him these days.
Seokjin is tired, but he isn't particularly sleepy, so he holds Yoongi until his breathing evens out and his soft snoring fills the room.
It’s quiet, it’s familiar, and it's perfect, the moonlight coming from their open window reflecting on his husband’s naturally pale skin and making him look like the most beautiful apparition.
Seokjin loves him with all his heart, and even more than that because he’s pretty sure if he could develop the ability to grow another heart spontaneously just to love Min Yoongi, he would and scientists around the world would want to keep him as a subject of study.
As it is, Seokjin only has one heart, and he’s sure Yoongi lives inside it rent-free since almost a decade ago.
Yet - and contrary to every single thing he thought he knew as close as this very morning - there seems to still be space left for someone else to rent a metaphorical room in there. Less like a house and more like an apartment complex. Or maybe just a very big house with rooms yet to be discovered?
And what’s with all the real state metaphors, anyway?
Seokjin sighs, snapping himself out of whatever spiraling turns his brain is trying to throw him into before sleep. This is not the time for that, and even if it were, there’s not a single reason for it.
One, Hoseok is straight. Two, Yoongi is also crushing on the guy and not even a little bit apologetic about it. Three, Yoongi seems cool with the possibility of Seokjin liking his market neighbor that way.
They love each other, they trust each other, they know each other. There’s no reason to freak out, so Seokjin wills his brain to shut up and stop being a bother.
In the future, this will be nothing but a funny anecdote about that time they both crushed on that cute straight guy that gifted Seokjin a bracelet.
And if tomorrow Seokjin wants to send said straight guy a lunch box as a thank you for the gesture, well…
That’s neither here nor there.