Chapter Text
Instead of stressing over which suitor to pick for your first dance, you decided that the wisest, and fairest, course of action was simply to start at the beginning again. Seokjin had the honor of being your first meeting because he was the oldest of your suitors and seniority was as good a reason as any to let him claim the first dance too. The only problem with your plan was that you had last seen him ages ago. He could have ended up almost anywhere by now.
Logic dictated that you should start looking for him in the last place you knew he had been, so you started towards the table where you’d had your meeting. At least, you thought you did; it was possible you had lost track of the location as you were guided around all night. Your search finally began to pay off when you heard a familiar tittering filter through the noise of the crowd- Seokjin’s many aunts were unmistakable when they were all in the same place. His father had an impressive eight sisters, and unless you had miscounted (a distinct possibility when they were all so animated), all of them had shown up to support Seokjin tonight. The last time you had encountered all of them at once was at his ascension three years prior, but it had left quite the impression.
Unfortunately your friend was not among his family and you had to speak up over the din to ask where he had gone. His eldest and youngest aunts each pointed in different directions and then began to bicker with each other. Another- maybe the middle one- started asking around the table until the noise level rose so high again that you could not have heard the answer anyway, and you nearly just left to resume the hunt on your own. Thankfully at least one person had actually been paying attention to their nephew instead of gossiping.
The second youngest aunt gently tugged your skirt and you leaned in when she beckoned, the better to hear her among all her sisters and the rest of the crowd. “Our Jinnie ran off as soon as he spotted some of your other suitors dancing. I think he got nervous, which means you’ll find him hiding by the refreshment table.”
“Thank you auntie,” you said sincerely, then ran off and left their cacophony to fade into the background. Sure enough, Seokjin was right where his aunt predicted he would be. You were glad to see that he wasn’t alone, though. Namjoon was with him, probably also avoiding the dance floor, and they were both laughing. “There’s our little flower!” Seokjin announced brightly when he spotted you.
“Are you doing that again?” Namjoon laughed upon hearing the old nickname. “I thought she told you to cut that out years ago.”
“It’s fine. I’m not twelve anymore, I can handle Jinnie’s theatrics much better now. I’m even getting used to the dad jokes.” You tugged on said friend’s sleeve playfully. “Come dance with me, Seokjin, the music is great tonight.”
“Ah, wouldn’t you rather dance with someone better to start out?” he asked hesitantly, glancing out at the jumping crowd. “I saw Tae and Jiminie not too long ago…”
“No, I picked you. You’re my first suitor, you get the first dance.” He still looked uncertain, so you tried to call on backup. “Joonie, help me here!”
Namjoon grinned, bumping Seokjin with his elbow to encourage him. “You’re no worse a dancer than she is, you know,” he assured your older friend, which was not what you had in mind, and said so. “What? I’m not wrong.”
You stuck your tongue out at Joon, but Seokjin was laughing now, and he placed a hand on your back to push you gently towards the dance floor. “Alright, flower, if you insist that it has to be me, who am I to say no? Let’s go dance so you don’t beat up Namjoon.”
Of course it was all in good fun, as always, so you waved goodbye and promised Namjoon you’d be back for his turn soon. Hesitant as he had been, Seokjin found his confidence when he pulled you onto the dance floor. It had been a while since your last opportunity, but he had always been one of your favorite dance partners. Like you he was in it more for the fun than because of any particular skill or passion. You felt free to fumble your steps occasionally knowing the two of you would laugh together about it, and in fact you did once or twice, but so did he. You ended your song with a smile on your face like you always did with Seokjin. “Who’s the next in line?” he asked as you both stepped off the dance floor.
“Hm, if I’m still going in order, that would be Min Yoongi,” you replied, glancing around at the crowd. “But I’m not even sure if he likes dancing. He seemed to make it clear that he isn’t a party person.”
“You could always bully him into it anyway like you did me,” Seokjin teased.
“I absolutely never bully you! I just convince you, with my impeccable logic and sometimes with my cuteness.” For emphasis you gave him your best wide-eyed, innocent expression.
“Yes, even though I see this beautiful flower in the mirror every morning-” He pointed at his own face, grinning broadly. “- I am still not immune to the charms of this one.” Now his finger swooped in and tapped you on the nose playfully. “So I have to imagine that every other suitor is equally charmed by you. If you want to dance with them you just need to go ask. And if they say no, it’s their loss, isn’t it? I’ll take their turn instead.”
Emboldened by his lighthearted confidence, you ran off to find more of your suitors to dance with- though not before giving Seokjin a grateful hug. He turned out to be right, of course, and before you knew it you had passed seven dances with seven young men, all of them eager to be your partner just as he had predicted. It was good that you had started with him, though. Some of your younger partners were far more intense about their idea of a fun dance and Seokjin’s style had been a good warm-up. After you finally got all the way through your dance with Jungkook, the last in line, you very much needed a break.
To your surprise, you had not gotten far along your trek to the refreshment table before someone pressed a cold water bottle against your cheek. You recognized Seokjin’s laugh before you could even turn around. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist!”
“I’ll forgive you since this is what I was looking for anyway,” you sighed, taking the bottle from his hand and pressing it to your other cheek. It actually did feel nice to cool down after all that activity. “Did you dance with anyone else, or were you waiting on me?” you asked as you cracked open the drink.
“One of your younger cousins, and a girl who must have been from the Jung clan since she was dressed in red.” It wasn’t a surprise, he always had strangers asking for his attention at these kind of events. He did stand out like that. “Then I needed a break, and decided to wait for you since you would be even more tired than I was. Seven suitors at once, flower, are you going to be able to manage it?”
It was the first time anyone had really asked the question, and you took the time to think it over while you continued to sip your water. “It won’t be easy, but I can do it. How many did you have last year? Five? And you managed it while keeping up with the shop. Courting is basically my full-time job for now.”
“That’s true. But there were only four suitresses last year. I had five right after my ascension, and that was too much. I tried not to allow more than three after that, but last summer they pushed an extra one on me.” As the oldest of your suitors, Seokjin was no stranger to these courting games, although as far as you knew it was his first time making the proposal instead of receiving them. His parents had always made clear their ambitions for their son to marry a witch and continue their strong family line. They still entertained proposals from non-magical women out of tradition and duty, and to strengthen their network of influence, but you had been privy to many of their son’s complaints about it all. “Come to me if you need advice, okay?”
“Don’t I always?” you assured him with a smile. “For now I’m just trying not to be too intimidated. There’s seven of you guys, and seven days in a week. Nice and even, right? I can give everyone my full attention at least one day a week.”
Seokjin started chuckling to himself and you had a sneaking suspicion before he said a single word. “Oh no, it’s not even at all. Don’t you know how to make seven even?” You had to ask how, because he wouldn’t let it go either way. “You have to take away the S!”
“Terrible,” you groaned. “I can’t believe you subjected my ears to that. Come on, time to make it up to me.”
“Huh? How?”
“With another dance, of course. You can’t tell jokes while you’re dancing.”