Archive of Our Own

"What do you want to help Yuna-noona with her afternoon kids?"

"I don't want anything, Jimin-ah."

"So you'll do it for free?"

"No, I won't do it, period."

They had been at it for long enough; Jimin asking Yoongi to play piano for a ballet class for children in all the ways he could come up with.

"Why won't you do it? You know her, did she do something to you?" Jimin asked with furrowed brows.

"Yuna-ssi is a great person, but I don't want to play piano for a ballet class," he shrugged. Not to mention the children, he omitted to say.

Jimin wouldn't stop insisting. "But you play the piano!"

That made him raise an eyebrow. "And just because I play the piano I have to help?" he snorted out a laugh. "That's like saying you have to cover Hoseok every time he can't make it to class just because you dance."

At Jimin's speechless expression, Yoongi thought he had finally won.

No such luck.

"I'll buy you dinner after every class." Yoongi hummed in interest, prompting Jimin to continue. "And I'll get you coffee! Or soju... whatever you want."

Yoongi smirked. "Dinner and coffee will do. Tell Yuna-ssi I'll help her out."

~

Yoongi thought he'd make a good impression arriving before the class started. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated the time it'd take to get there, and by the time he crossed the door to the dance studio, there were a few toddlers already stretching on the wooden floor.

He ignored them completely, going to stand in front of Kang Yuna. "Good afternoon, Yuna-ssi. I'm sorry I'm late," he bowed as an apology.

"Don't worry about that, Yoongi-ssi, it's all good, the girls are just getting started," Yuna smiled at him and Yoongi immediately felt at ease. He could guess that's the soothing effect only a children's teacher could have on people. "Did you bring the music sheets I sent you?"

"Yeah, they're here," he patted his book bag. "I'm going to warm up, is that okay?"

"Suit yourself, we'll start in 5."

Yoongi nodded and briskly walked to the old piano in the corner of the room. He was glad to find it clean, and even gladder to hear it was perfectly tuned when he started playing scales to warm up. He focused on his playing, getting used to the specific piano that he'd have to play twice a week for the foreseeable future. He finished playing his scales and stretched his arms above his body with a sigh, knowing he would have to keep his position for as long as the class lasted.

He observed as Yuna called the little girls to attention with three claps and a firm yell of "Attention, everyone!" The girls dainty walked to stand in a line by the bar fixed along the floor-to-ceiling mirror that covered one of the walls. "Now that we've stretched, we have a song for our recital! My friend Yoongi will play the piano for us, so we'll hear the song now."

Yuna nodded towards him and Yoongi took his cue to start playing the soft piece. He didn't have to pay that much attention to it, since it was something slow yet playful - Yoongi considered it was perfect for a group of children to dance to. He allowed himself to take a look at his audience over the piano, taking in the young, focused faces looking in his direction. Just as he was about to look back down to the keys, he had to do a double take when he saw one of the girls nodding off.

He held back a laugh and cleared his throat softly, catching Yuna's eye as he nodded towards the girl in question. Yoongi continued playing as Yuna gently patted the girl's head, making her sit straight with a surprised gasp, earning a few stares from the other girls.

The piece ended and Yuna arranged the girls in a specific order. With nothing to do for the moment, Yoongi leaned back on the piano bench, watching as the girls started learning the first steps of their dance.

He had to hand it to them, despite their short age, they seemed to catch the steps quite easily… or most of them at least. The kid he’d seen before seemed to be receiving most of Yuna’s corrections, and he sighed when he saw the girl made little to no advancement as the hour went by.

Yoongi played the piece again nearing the end, and everyone received a warm round of applause before the girls bowed towards their teacher and started preparing for their parents to arrive. He set to do the same, returning the music sheets to his bag as he thought if maybe he could coerce Jimin to buy dinner for him after all.

“You play very good, seonsaeng-nim.”

Yoongi startled at the high voice, turning around to face the girl from earlier standing right next to him. “Uhm,” he cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

“My name is Kim Aera,” she proudly introduced herself, standing a little taller as she said the words before bowing to him. 

He awkwardly smiled and bowed slightly with his head. “It’s nice to meet you.”

The kid skipped completely over his response and moved to sit on the piano bench next to him, making Yoongi scoot away immediately. “Do you know more songs on the piano?”

Yoongi shrugged. “I guess so, yes.”

“Do you know Swan Lake?”

“Yes.”

The kid perked up. “And the Nutcracker?”

Yoongi smiled back. “Sure.”

“And what about Chandelier?”

Yoongi’s smile froze on his face. “Oh, that… no.”

“Why not?” she asked in a pout.

“I don’t like that song,” he replied. 

“Why not?”

Yoongi huffed and looked around, noticing there were way less children around than before. “Isn’t your mother picking you up?”

“I don’t know my mother!” she said, and Yoongi felt his blood freeze. He had really messed up. Before he had the chance to apologize, however, she continued speaking. “She had to go when I was a baby, that’s what dad told me! But I know her, and we talk about her all the time, she was so cool!”

Yoongi felt a tug on his heartstrings at how unaffected Aera seemed to be talking about it. “That… sounds amazing. She must have been a great person, huh?” he smiled at her.

Aera nodded as Yuna called out her name, making both of them turn to look at her. “Dad is here!” she yelled. She stood up and quickly bowed at him, “See you next Friday, piano seonsaeng-nim!”

Aera ran to the door, and Yoongi totally did not try to look at her father (he failed, as whoever it was didn’t enter the dance studio). As soon as she left, the studio was left in complete silence.

“She’s quite a handful, isn’t she?” Yuna laughed at his face.

Yoongi rolled his eyes and stood up, rolling his shoulders to loosen up. “Aren’t all kids like that?”

Yuna hummed and shook her head. “I think she has something different,” she mused. “Honestly speaking? She is not good at ballet, but she tries so hard and has so much energy that she never gives up.”

“Have you talked to her dad about it?” he asked as they started walking out of the studio.

“I did,” she nodded. “And he talked to her, but she refused to stop attending.”

That stole a laugh out of Yoongi. “Really? Why?”

Yuna shrugged. “I have no idea. But as long as she doesn’t injure herself, I’m fine with her trying, I won’t ever tell a child to stop coming, you know?”

Yoongi hummed and they walked in silence the rest of the way, all the while Yoongi was wondering what would drive a little girl to attend ballet classes even after being told she was not good at it.

*

Yoongi got used to the routine of playing the piano for Yuna’s class.

Unexpectedly, he also got used to talking with one Kim Aera.

By a weird coincidence, Aera would often already be in the studio warming up by the time that Yoongi arrived. As if their first conversation had been some unspoken treaty of friendship, she would always greet him with a bow and a big smile. Yoongi would reply in kind, quickly warming up to her loud but not overbearing personality.

Despite her talking about everything and anything in their free time before and after class, Yoongi knew very little about her life, as Aera preferred to talk about the things she liked and all the songs that Yoongi should learn to play on the piano.

Yoongi took the suggestions in stride, pop song after pop song, not promising anything but saving the titles… just in case.

It wasn’t until three weeks later that Yoongi met Aera’s father.

Aera was laying down on the wooden floorboard waiting for his father to arrive. Yoongi had already packed up his things and was sitting on the piano bench, watching as the little girl kept talking.

"Why don't you like pop songs?"

"I like them."

"Then why don't you play Chandelier?"

"I like other kinds of music better," he shrugged.

She turned to lay on her stomach, swinging her legs around. "But classical music is boring."

Yoongi snorted out a laugh at the severity of her tone. "Classical music can be fun, actually."

"Prove it!"

"Fine." Yoongi posed his fingers on the piano keys and started playing the music from the ballroom scene in Swan Lake. He could never compare to how the piece sounded when played by an orchestra, but he tried his best. 

Aera's eyes lit up and she jumped up to dance around in the studio. "I like this one!" she screamed out before she started dancing.

Yoongi didn't need to pay that much attention to what he was playing, so he kept looking once every so often to see how Aera just wouldn't stop dancing. It was shortly after that he realized he wasn't the only person looking at her.

There was a man standing by the door. Judging by the big smile and the eyelashes framing his eyes, he was Aera's father, the resemblance was hard to miss. Yoongi tried to bring the song to a close, but a slight shake of the head from the man kept him going. They watched Aera danced until she tired out, her body flailing until she ended right as she started, laying on the floor.

"I liked that one, piano seonsaengnim," she breathed out with a giggle.

"That was quite a show!" the man said from the door, his hands starting to clap slowly. Aera turned to look at the door so fast that her hair hit her face.

"Dad! You're early!" She stood up and ran to the door, where her father picked her up in his arms.

Yoongi picked up his bag and walked their way. He was planning to bow and continue on his way, but he was stopped by Aera's father greeting him. "So you must be the new piano teacher Aera kept talking about."

Yoongi cleared his throat and nodded before bowing. "I'm Min Yoongi, it's nice to meet you."

The man tried his best to bow with a little girl on his arms. "My name is Kim Taehyung, it's nice to meet you too." The man had no reason to be kind, but the way he smiled at Yoongi made him feel at ease.

"Well, I guess I'll see you some other day, Taehyung-ssi?"

Taehyung nodded. "Have a good evening, Yoongi-ssi."

Aera piped in to add. "Goodbye, piano seonsaengnim!"

Showing a smile, Yoongi nodded at their words and turned to finaly leave. For some reason, the image of Kim Taehyung and his daughter didn't leave his mind for quite some time.

*

Time passed, and just as it happened before with Aera, it seemed like Kim Taehyung was starting to appear more and more often in Yoongi's everyday life.

He didn't know the reason why they hadn't crossed paths before - for all he knew, Aera always arrived to class early and left on time, if only a couple of minutes late - but now, he ran into Aera's father almost every time he arrived at the studio, often witnessing the way Taehyung would say goodbye to his daughter, with a strong hug and and their hands held for a couple of seconds.

Yoongi found these interactions endearing, even if he wouldn't admit so to anyone that cared to listen. However, this situation soon changed into something different; something more.

It was a day like any other, Yoongi had rushed to arrive at his usual time to maybe catch a sight of the now familiar father and daughter exchanging goodbyes. He caught some of it, as Aera hugged her father one last time before running to enter the studio. He smiled at this and passed by Aera's father with a smile and a small bow when the man called his name.

"Excuse me, Yoongi-ssi."

He turned, a little confused at the direct address. "Yes?"

"This will sound weird," he started saying, letting out a small laugh. "But do you have any plans after you finish with this class?"

Yoongi tilted his head in confusion. "Not really, I just have to eat something, but I can do that anytime," he replied. "Can I help with something, Taehyung-ssi?"

"Well, I..." Taehyung cleared his throat. "Aera and I... both of us were wondering if you wuold like to come with us for dinner sometime?" He let out the question, but kept talking afterwards. "Wait, is that even allowed? I don't know if teachers are allowed to see their students or their students0 parents after classes... Sorry if I'm imposing."

"Technically, I'm not Aera's teacher. I play the piano for her actual teacher, so I don't know why she started calling me that," he laughed. "And... I guess I can come along? I have to admit, this is a little unexpected," he said with a small shrug.

Taehyung shrugged as well and smiled at him. "What can I say? Aera has talked my ear off about you so much that I'd like to know you better myself."

Yoongi felt his face redden. "She couldn't have said anything amazing about me."

Taehyung laughed at this. "Oh, you'd be surprised if I told you."

"Maybe you can tell me when we have dinner."

"It's a deal," Taehyung confirmed with a nod. He took a glance at his watched and sighed. "I have to go now, but I'll be back on time, okay? Good luck with classes!"

Yoongi nodded back. "Good luck with whatever you're going to do. We'll see you later."

After a quick message to Jimin informing him of the change of plans, Yoongi entered the studio and set our to prepare his workspace, trying to ignore the playful smiles Aera kept sending his way.

*

While Yoongi had briefly entertained the idea that maybe Taehyung had used his daughter as an excuse to ask him for dinner, he quickly found out that he had been completely honest, as Aera had looked overjoyed when Taehyung picked her up and Yoongi went along with them. Taehyung's knowing smile told him that he knew exactly what Yoongi was thinking at the moment.

They decided to go to a small restaurant that Taehyung claimed was the best food around - first, because the staff was friendly to children and they had Aera's favorite food, and second, because the food was cheap and too good to try and ignore.

After everyone ordered their food, Aera started making a makeshift drumkit with the cutlery and glasses that were already set on the table. Yoongi looked worryingly her way, thinking she could be scolded, but Taehyung just told her to be careful and turned to look at Yoongi instead.

"This is a little weird, right?"

Yoongi let out a sudden laugh at the burst of honesty. "A little, yeah."

"Thank you for agreeing to come with us. I know it must have surprised you, and you don't have to stay if you feel uncomfortable."

Yoongi nodded "I'll keep that in mind, but don't worry about it. This seems nice."

"Piano seonsaengnim won't feel uncomfortable if they don't play Chandelier, dad," Aera cut in, looking away from her task to smile at both men. "He likes more the classical music!"

Taehyung laughed and smirked at Yoongi. "Is there a problem with that song?" he teased.

"I said it one time..." he sighed. "It's just not my cup of tea."

"It used to be Aera's favorite song for so long, I think she is still a little obsessed with it." Taehyung shook his head. "She really likes to fixate on things that catch her attention," he threw a pointed look his way.

"And what about you?"

Taehyung raised his eyebrows. "What, do I like Chandelier?"

Yoongi snorted. "I bet you don't like it anymore, if you ever did."

"Alright, you have a point. So what did you mean then?"

"I don't know, why am I here? What made you ask basically a stranger to have dinner with you and your daughter?" he inquired.

"You're not a stranger," Aera interrumpted once again. "Dad knows all about you, piano seonsaengnim."

"You can call me oppa if you want," Yoongi reminded her. "Did you tell her all about me, Aera?"

"Yup," she replied proudly, clapping twice before returning to her 'drumkit.'

"She did," Taehyung confirmed. "I don't know if she talks with you as much as she talks about you at home, but you made quite the impression on her."

Yoongi laughed in confusion. "I don't see how, I mean... I'm really bad with kids."

Taehyung smiled at that. "Maybe that's why you get along so well, Aera is too cool to act like your average kid."

"You know that still doesn't explain how you got involved," Yoongi reminded him.

With a laugh, Taehyung finally answered. "I guess in part I wanted to see who was this person my daughter couldn't stop talking about."

"And the other part?"

This one took a bit longer, but after some silence, he said. "The other part is that I saw you and I kind of wanted to keep seeing you."

Before Yoongi could ask Taehyung to elaborate on what he meant, their food arrived, and soon they had to help Aera rearrange the plates and glasses she had moved so they could eat.

Yoongi learned that Taehyung was a couple of years younger than him, that Aera ate in complete silence and then bursted into conversation as soon as she swallowed her last bite of food, and that those myths about parents talking more about their children than any other topic was completely true.

They soon finished eating and made their way out of the restaurant after Taehyung insisted on paying for Yoongi's food as well ("We invited you here, after all," he had said). In an unspoken agreement, they set out to walk down the streets with no clear direction in mind until they reached a park, both men keeping Aera between them as she walked and skipped along to match their longer steps.

"Dad, the park! Can I go play?" Aera asked her dad with an exaggerated pout.

"I don't know why you pout, you already know I'll say yes," he teased her. "You know the rules, right?"

"Stay where you can see me and don't talk with strangers! Thank you, dad!"

Yoongi wondered for a moment if parenting was as seamless as Taehyung made it seem.

"What are you thinking?"

Startled, he turned towards Taeyung to find him already looking at him. "Nothing, it's just... you're a good father."

Taehyung looked down to the grass and smiled. "Thank you. I try my best."

"Not that I know anything about it but, it looks like it comes natural for you."

"It wasn't always like that," Taehyung grimaced as he remembered. "When she was born I had no idea of what I was supposed to do. I made a lot of mistakes and made things harder for myself while I was learning," he laughed. "I had enough people scolding me whenever I messed up too bad."

Yoongi nodded and turned to check on Aera. "Her mother... Aera said..."

"She passed during childbirth," was Taehyung's response, and Yoongi's heart ached in empathy, looking at him and finding a glimpse of sadness on his face. "I've been told Aera sounds too happy when she talks about her mother, but I think I prefer that over sadness any day."

"She's a great kid," Yoongi said with a smile. "You know, I wasn't that excited about helping Aera's teacher with her classes, but now I think it's not so bad."

"Us Kims have that effect on people."

Yoongi let out a laugh. "You said that with way too much confidence."

Taehyung flicked his small mullet with his hand. "I'm only being honest."

"You're good at that, I've noticed."

"Yeah... speaking of that..." Taehyung bit his lip for a moment. "In case I make it obvious later... I'd like to know more about you as... Yoongi the person, not the piano teacher."

Yoongi had started to suspect so, but still he found himself surprised by the words. "Are single parents supposed to move that fast?" he asked him cautiously.

"No," Taehyung admitted. "But then again, usually the single parents meet someone and then introduce them to their kid. I think right now Aera knows way more about you than I do and she likes you that much already."

"I'm really bad with children," Yoongi warned him. "And... I know nothing about getting to know or dating a single parent."

Taehyung sighed and threw his head back to laugh, something he seemed to do so often that Yoongi was quickly becoming used to hearing it. "You'd be willing to try? Because I am, as long as you promise not to be an asshole to my daughter if we don't get along after all. Even if we don't get anywhere, I think we could be friends, don't you think?"

"Sounds good to me," Yoongi said. "And I'm bad, but I know better than to be an asshole to any children," he laughed. "How did you even think of that?"

Taehyung laughed with him. "Just making sure." He grabbed Yoongi's arm and tugged him to start walking towards Aera. "Now help me convince my child that it's time to go home and sleep because she has school tomorrow."

Yoongi rolled his eyes and followed along. "You're fighting a losing fight, even I wouldn't want to go so soon."

*

"It's Saturday."

"I know it's Saturday, Jimin."

"You don't have to help Yuna-noona today."

Yoongi sighed. "I know."

"Then why are you going out? You never go out."

"I'm having dinner with a friend."

Jimin whistled at that. "A friend or a friend?"

"Just a friend. He's the dad of one of the girls in Yuna-ssi's class."

"How did that even happen?" Jimin asked with a frown from his seat at the living room. "And why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't have to know," Yoongi rolled his eyes. "And it's a long story, we're just going to check how we get along, that's all."

"And if you get along really well?"

Yoongi laughed. "I still won't tell you anything. I'll see you later."

"That's not fair!"

*

Their first date was great, if Yoongi could say so himself. He was glad to see that Aera was not necessary for him and Taehyung to have things in common to talk about, even if they seemed to find themselves in opposite corners at some of the topics they discussed.

Yoongi had insisted on choosing the place, a coffee shop that sold the best warm drinks ever and played nothing but old songs all the time. Taehyung had loved it, and he had let Yoongi know near the end of their date when he thanked him and kissed his cheek before parting ways.

He was still unsure of whether their actions so far were friendly or something more. If he thought about it hard enough, Yoongi could still remember the warmth of Taehyung's lips on his cheek, but they hadn't flirted nor done anything particularly "coupley."

Yoongi wasn't used to things feeling as comfortable and effortless as they did now.

"You're daydreaming again, Yoongi-ssi."

"Sorry," he apologized as a knee-jerk reaction before glancing at Yuna, who was standing before him, behind the piano. "What is it?"

"The fact that you had to ask..." she laughed. "I didn't say anything, but I was right, wasn't I? You've been daydreaming a lot lately."

"I'm sorry, Yuna-ssi," he apologized, more sincerely this time. "I'll pay more attention, this won'e happen again."

"What are you talking about? I'm glad to see you like this!" she replied with a wave of her hand. "I'm so used to seeing you all calm and serious and focused that seeing this is quite a change, but not a bad one!" she clarified. "Daydreaming is good, it means you're looking forwards to something, right?"

Yoongi smiled at her, thinking of a certain someone. "Right."

"You know, of all the parents here, I think you lucked out with Taehyung-ssi," she commented with a smirk.

Yoongi spluttered. "I... don't know what you're talknig about."

Yuna just snorted and patted the piano as if it were his back. "I know my class, Yoongi. I know my girls and their parents, and when some parent starts turning up on time and arriving early to share looks with my accompanist, I notice."

"Oh, God, is it that obvious?" Yoongi groaned in embarrassment.

"Just a little," Yuna took pity on him. "I pay special attention to Kim Taehyung-ssi since he used to arrive late to pick Aera up. I'm glad now he is more motivated to arrive on time, at least."

Yoongi hid his face on his hands. "That's not because of me, Yuna-ssi."

"I think it's time you start calling me noona, don't you think? And I think at least part of his reasons have to do with you, Yoongi. Don't be afraid to recognize it."

Yoongi allowed himself to entertain the idea for a couple of seconds and smiled. "Thank you, noona. I'll keep it in mind."

*

Yoongi arrived to his second date with the resolve to confess his feelings and his actual intentions. Taehyung had chosen the place this time, surprising Yoongi with tickets for the theater.

"Did Aera put you up to this? I promise I'm not that uptight," Yoongi said as a greeting.

Taehyung shook his head. "No, this was all me. I know you're not uptight, but I thought maybe you'd like this anyway."

"You look... very good," he managed to say, admiring the black suit Taehyung was wearing.

"Thank you, you look great too, by the way."

"And... who is presenting tonight?" he asked curiously.

"The ballet, if you believe it," Taehyung answered with a shrug. "They said they're trying something new, so I hope you see something different than what you see every class."

Yoongi nodded in encouragement. "I'm sure it will be great, don't worry about that. I'm not here for the performance, you know?"

Taehyung wiggled his eyebrows and took Yoongi's hand between his. "Is this the Kim effect finally taking place?"

"Shut up," he said with a laugh. "I'll never admit to the Kim effect being an actual thing."

"That's okay, keep fooling yourself, I can wait." And with that, both men made their way inside the theater.

Taehyung took them to a fancy-looking restaurant once the ballet finished. "I had never seen people move like that in ballet," Taehyung commented with awe in his voice.

"I don't think that was strictly ballet," Yoongi mused. "My roommate dances too, but he does contemporary dance and it looked very similar to that."

"Maybe they were creating their own kind of dance."

Yoongi smiled. "Maybe it was that. It looked beautiful."

"Almost makes me wish I knew how to dance."

They laughed at that, and then Taehyung reached his hand out to brush his fingers against Yoongi's on top of the table. "Did you like it?"

Yoongi reached out as well to make their fingers intertwine. "I had a great time," he replied softly. "Did you like it too?"

"I loved it," he said back. "The ballet was not bad either."

Yoongi snorted. "You had to go there."

"Did you expect something else?"

"No, not really."

They remained in silence for a moment while Yoongi gathered his ideas.

"I have something to tell you," Taehyung spoke up.

Yoongi filled with anticipation. "What is it?"

"Aera is dropping the ballet classes."

"Oh," Yoongi felt the disappointment from both the news and maybe he was expecting to hear something different. "Did Aera finally agree to that?"

Taehyung hummed. "Yeah, I think she found something she liked better than ballet."

"And what is that?"

"Contemporary dance," he announced proudly, and Yoongi nearly choked.

"What- Really?"

Taehyung laughed at his expression. "Of course! She's just switching classes. You didn't think you'd get rid of us that easily, right?"

Yoongi snatched his hand away and crossed his arms. "You did that on purpose," he mumbled. "And here I was about to confess..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Hyung, you have to tell me," Taehyung said with a laugh, stretching his body to pull at Yoongi's arms, recovering his hand and trapping it with his. "What were you going to confess?"

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "You ruined the moment, Taehyung-ah. You'll have to wait until next time."

Taehyung shrugged. "I can wait," he replied. "Or I could confess myself."

"I guess you could do that," Yoongi conceded.

"Fine then." Taehyung squared up his shoulders and offered his other hand for Yoongi to hold it as well. "There you go. Yoongi-hyung, I really like you."

"Well, I really like you too," Yoongi replied. "I would've told you first but-"

"I ruined it, I know," Taehyung cut him off. "But I have time to make up for it."

Yoongi finally smiled and relaxed. "Are we seriously dating now?"

"Totally. I'd kiss you right now if we didn't have a table between us," he answered.

"Since when has that stopped you?"

Yoongi stood up to move his chair until he was placed next to Taehyung, social norms be damned.

"Any other request?"

They looked at each other for a moment, and finally, Taehyung leaned forwards and placed a kiss on Yoongi's lips, his hand moving up to caress his cheek for a brief moment. "Was that okay?"

"Mmhmm," Yoongi nodded, seemingly satisfied. "For now."

"I told you that the Kims had that effect on people. You never get enough of us."

Yoongi laughed out loud and for once, decided not to deny it.