Work Text:
“Is this your first time donating?”
If it weren’t for his nerves about the impending procedure he’d agreed to for reasons unknown to even himself, Yoongi would most definitely have been a melted puddle at the feet of the nurse—no, god— currently looking down at him.
“Um..” The nurse looked at him expectantly, but not unkindly, as he took slightly too long to answer the very simple question he’d asked. “Y-yeah. Yes. This is my first time donating.”
“Well, Mr…” He glanced down at the clipboard in his hands to find Yoongi’s name before smiling up at him reassuringly, almost as if he could tell how nervous he was, “Min, my name is Jin, and there’s nothing to worry about. If you have any questions about the process, don’t hesitate to ask. I want you to be as comfortable as possible.”
Yoongi gave him a small smile as an answer, shifting uncomfortably in the bed he’d been instructed to sit in after checking in and filling out an assessment to confirm that he was able to donate. Yoongi wasn’t scared of needles (he had no issues with getting his annual immunizations, unlike his scaredy-cat of a brother Taehyung), but the mere thought of draining his body of an entire pint of blood was enough to give him the heebie jeebies.
“Squeeze this three times, then continue to hold it tightly.” Jin placed a red stress ball in Yoongi’s palm after propping his arm up, his hand hovering slightly over Yoongi’s until his fingers grasped the ball firmly. He then wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his bicep, inflating it until it was tight, but not painful.
“Too tight?”
Yoongi shook his head no. Humming in acknowledgement, the raven-haired nurse then began to gently feel the inside of his elbow with his fingers, attempting to find the vein he would stick. “Don’t move your arm,” he warned Yoongi when he finally found it, keeping one of his hands on his forearm to prevent him from wiggling while the other held up a small white stick.
“What’s that for?” Yoongi blurted out, eyes wide as he stared at the foreign object.
“I’m gonna use it to mark where your vein is. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt,” Jin explained with a smile before pressing it firmly in a dotting motion down said vein. “I’m going to clean the injection site now. If your skin becomes irritated, make sure to remember for the next time you donate. You can tell the nurse that you’re allergic, and they’ll use a different type of antiseptic so you won’t have a reaction again.”
“Are you going to stick the needle in after you clean it?”
“Mhm,” Jin hummed before turning to throw away the used pad, quickly taping a long, thin tube to Yoongi’s wrist when he faced him once again. “It might sting at first, but the burn should go away fairly quickly. Let me know if it doesn’t, okay?”
Gulping, Yoongi looked away as he lined up the needle with his arm. A grimace twisted his features when he pushed it in (if Taehyung were here, he’d crack a “that’s what he said” joke), and a sharp pinch followed by burning began to radiate from the site where Jin stuck him.
“You okay?” Jin asked, pressing lightly on the needle to make sure it was placed correctly.
“Y-yeah,” Yoongi exhaled slowly, trying to calm his breathing. Within a few seconds, the burn began to subside, just like Jin had mentioned earlier.
“Awesome. If you start to feel faint, just call me over and we’ll get it sorted out. Any questions?”
Yoongi shook his head no once again, and an encouraging smile lit up Jin’s soft features. “You’re doing great, Yoongi. It’ll be over before you know it.”
***
“Hold your arm up for me?”
Yoongi held up his arm perpendicular to the floor, pressing the cotton pad onto his inner elbow like Jin had instructed him to do while the nurse turned around to cut off a section of bandage for him. The actual blood-drawing ordeal had been over within a matter of minutes, and Yoongi was surprised by how quickly the time had passed.
“Okay, you can set it back down now.”
Yoongi complied, removing his hand to allow Jin to bandage up the small injection site with a brightly colored wrap. “You can remove this after about two hours. Take a minute to finish drinking that, and then we can move you out to the lobby. You’ll have to wait about 15 minutes before you can leave once you’re out there, though, just so we can make sure you don’t faint.”
Yoongi nodded. He didn’t think he’d faint—granted, he hadn’t ever fainted before, so he didn’t know what it felt like—but he continued to sip on the cherry-flavored drink in his hand nonetheless.
It didn’t take him long to finish the drink, and when he did he gave Jin a small wave, flashing him a smile when the nurse took the empty can from his hands to set it out of the way. “Feeling good enough to make it to the lobby?”
“Yeah, I think I’m fine now,” Yoongi answered honestly. Sure, he felt a little tired, and his stomach was a bit queasy, but he could definitely make it out of the room and down the hallway.
“Sit up slowly for me, alright?”
Yoongi complied with Jin’s request, carefully swinging his legs over the side of the bed while the taller man watched attentively.
Yoongi made it about four steps on his own before the world turned upside down.
The ground began to sway beneath him, his feet fighting to take even one more step forward; it felt like somebody had thrown a weighted blanket over his head. He struggled to stay upright as a velvety black darkness stole away the corners of his sight, the dark gradient quickly spreading across his field of vision. Something was tugging at his consciousness, attempting to pull him under the dark waters even as he fought to stay afloat. Everything around him was muffled and staticy sounding—a detail he only noticed when Jin began to speak to him.
“Are you alright?”
Yoongi was too out of it to register the question properly or formulate a coherent answer, so he did his best to convey the way he was feeling coherently whilst sticking his arms out for balance. “Uhhhhhhhhh…”
“Okay, come over here, lay back down for me—” Jin’s voice stopped registering in Yoongi’s mind halfway through his sentence, the gentle grip on his arm the only thing guiding him to follow Jin’s instructions.
The tugging became more incessant; it felt like the unknown force was pulling at the string to his soul , rendering his desperate attempts to stay conscious useless. He’d never felt anything like this before. It wasn’t like when he used to drift off in class or stand up too quickly after a Netflix binge; it was as if he was losing touch with reality, death knocking on his front door.
Okay, maybe he was being just a little dramatic. Taehyung would’ve snorted and called him melodramatic if he was there, but Yoongi wanted to have his fanfiction-grade fainting moment, dammit.
He managed to clamber back onto the bed, his vision returning to him once he’d been laying down for a few seconds. The voices of the nurses were still muffled as they gave Yoongi gentle instructions to lift his feet up so they could elevate them, and he blinked with force a few times in an attempt to fully regain his senses.
“This might be a little chilly.”
He recognized Jin’s voice as the nurse lifted the front of his shirt slightly, slipping an ice pack into it so it would rest on Yoongi’s chest. The quick temperature change gave him something to focus on, and when Jin spoke up again, his voice was clear in Yoongi’s mind instead of muffled like before.
“Can you sip on this for me?” Jin asked gently, setting down another can with a straw next to Yoongi’s head. Yoongi nodded yes because he’d most definitely do anything that Jin asked him to without question, reaching over to hold the can still as he wrapped your lips around the straw carefully.
The following minutes consisted of occasional reminders for Yoongi to continue moving his legs and gentle touches on his shoulders accompanied by occasional questions of “Feeling better?”. Jin was usually the one asking, and deep down, Yoongi felt a little guilty. Realistically, he knew that Jin had to have dealt with situations like this many times before, but he still felt like he was inconveniencing him and the rest of the staff.
After what seemed like a thousand years, Jin gently lifted the back of the bed into a raised seat position, allowing Yoongi to move into an upright position more easily. “We’re gonna try this again. Move as slowly as you can. I’ll help you out if you need me to.”
Nodding, Yoongi began to swing his legs over the side of the bed once again. Apparently, it was still too fast for Jin’s liking, because the nurse gently grabbed his legs and moved them at the pace he saw fit, murmuring a gentle “Easy, easy,” beneath his breath.
Carefully placing his feet onto the ground below, Yoongi gradually shifted his weight onto them, nervous that the ground would start to sway like it had before. Much to his relief, however, all he felt was a slight dizziness; nothing compared to what he’d felt earlier.
When he looked back up, Jin was staring down into his eyes, his gaze flitting around his face to check for any signs of unwellness before he smiled and nodded towards the doorway. Yoongi gulped.
“Follow me,” Jin instructed, “And let me know if you start to feel faint again, okay?”
Yoongi smiled gratefully at him, following him slowly out into the hallway and towards a set of fluffy chairs. When he took a seat, Jin handed him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, instructing Yoongi to snack on it while he waited.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, a nurse that is decidedly not Jin approaches Yoongi with a kind smile. “Do you think you can drive yourself?”
Yoongi’s immediate instinct is to say yes—he’s a people pleaser at heart, despite coming off as cold upon first meeting people—but after a second thought, he realized it might not be a great idea to get behind the wheel when his head still felt so spinny.
“I’m not sure,” Yoongi admitted sheepishly, “I can see if my brother Taehyung can come and pick me up, but he’s at work, so it might be a little while—”
“Wait, Taehyung? As in Kim Taehyung?”
Yoongi’s head whirled towards the sound of Jin’s voice coming from a few steps away. He was escorting a middle aged man towards the seating area, just like he’d done with Yoongi a few minutes ago (although the man seemed to be in much better shape than he’d been in).
“Yeah, you know him?” Yoongi was a little surprised, but not terribly shocked. After all, being the social butterfly he was, his brother seemed to know pretty much everyone in town.
“He’s dating Jeon Jungkook, right?” Jin asked, beaming brightly when Yoongi confirms. “Jungkook is a good friend of mine, so I see Taehyung around a lot. Small world, huh?” the nurse chuckles to himself. “Say, I think I actually owe Tae a favor or two. Want me to give you a ride home?”
“O-Oh, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Yoongi waved his hands haphazardly in front of himself, “I’m fine with waiting here for a little longer, really. Taehyung will be off work pretty soon.”
Jin brushed off Yoongi’s comments. “It’s no trouble, I promise. My shift is over in five anyways.”
“If you’re really sure…” Yoongi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, thankful for the offer but still feeling a little guilty accepting it so easily.
“I am. Let me go pack up and we can get out of here.”
Twenty minutes later, Yoongi was walking up the steps to his house with Jin by his side (he’d insisted on walking him to the door) when a previously unconsidered issue popped into his head. “Wait—What are we going to do about my car? It’s still back in the parking lot.”
Jin halted in place, taking a minute to consider before speaking up. “I work another shift in the morning, so if you don’t mind getting up a little early, I can swing by here and take you with me.”
“That works for me—oh?” A look of confusion crossed Yoongi's face when Jin’s phone was suddenly being thrust into his hands.
“I’ll text you when I’m here in the morning. If that’s alright with you, that is.”
Yoongi nodded, quickly typing his number into the empty contact before sliding the phone back into Jin’s hands.
“See you tomorrow,” the nurse grinned, throwing Yoongi a thumbs up before disappearing down the driveway and into his car.
***
[Unknown, 7:38am:] hey! this is jin, the handsome nurse who took you home last night in a very platonic and non-romantic way. i’m parked outside ;)
Throwing on his hoodie and snatching his keys from the entryway table, Yoongi quickly locked the door behind him and scrambled into Jin’s car, ignoring the way the nurse chuckled at his flustered state. The ride back to his car went by in a comfortable silence, the two men sneaking glances at each other when they didn’t think the other was looking.
Was Jin this attractive yesterday? Surely not. The morning sun was shining through the windshield, causing the nurse’s raven hair to sparkle and his plump lips to shimmer in the warm light. His long lashes brushed his cheeks every time he blinked, making Yoongi’s heart beat just a little faster with each passing moment.
Yoongi was startled out of his thoughts when the car was put in park, noticing the small smirk present on Jin’s face upon catching the younger man staring.
“Oh, uh,” Yoongi stuttered, heat rushing to his cheeks, “Thanks for the, uh, the ride.”
Yoongi scrambled to let himself out of the vehicle when a hand gently grasped his wrist, a glint of mischief in Jin’s eye when Yoongi visibly gulped at the contact.
“Are you free this evening?”
Yoongi blinked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. “H-huh?”
“If you don’t have any plans, I’d like to take you out,” Jin explained with a wink. “My apologies if I’m being too forward. Your face is just really cute, and your personality is really cute too, and you’re just insanely cute overall and I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to take you out on a date.”
Yoongi stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“Oh god. Are you gonna faint again?” Jin asked, reaching out to poke Yoongi’s cheek playfully. “Damn. I think I broke him.”
Yoongi shook himself out of his daze, slapping away Jin’s prodding finger with a playful glare. “I’m fine ,” he pouted, shooting Jin a pointed look. “Just a little shocked, alright? I didn’t wake up this morning expecting to be asked on a date by a greek god.”
Jin wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll take that as a yes, then?”
Yoongi pauses. “Fine,” he exhales, attempting to act much more put-out than he really felt in an effort to disguise the butterflies flying around his stomach.
Yoongi would learn soon enough that it’s nearly impossible to deny Jin anything he wants.