Archive of Our Own

It was a quiet, tranquil evening - a little chilly as winter was fast approaching, but still colored with reds and oranges from the autumn season. A young man was burrowed peacefully underneath his thick, fluffy comforter and blanket, breathing deeply and asleep.

Suddenly, a loud, incessant banging on his bedroom door had him jumping up, disheveled and startled, heart pounding up into his throat.

"Seokjin-hyu-u-ung!"

The smooth, bell-like voice faded with more loud raps against the wood. Seokjin immediately deflated, mood souring. "Jimin," Seokjin huffed under his breath, lying back down and covering his ears with his pillow.

"Hyung, come on!" Jimin insisted from behind Seokjin's door. "You said you'd come with us downtown to see that new zombie movie!"

"I changed my mind!" Seokjin yelled back, hoping that would make Jimin go away and Jimin would leave him in peace.

"Changed your mind?" A new voice chimed in, and Seokjin groaned again. "Hyung, don't do this to me, you promised we'd all watch it together, and I am not thirdwheeling Jimin and Jeongguk again."

While Seokjin could definitely say no to Jimin, there was no way he could deny Hoseok. Especially not when Hoseok had done him the same favor by tagging along every time Jimin invited them to hang out with him and his boyfriend.

With a sigh of defeat, Seokjin slinked out of bed, ruffling his hair.

“Well you won’t be thirdwheeling,” Seokjin heard Jimin say to Hoseok, finally opening the door for his friends and letting them into his room. “Jeongguk’s bringing some friends from work. That’s why I invited you and Seokjin-hyung, too.”

“Merging of friend groups because of a couple is always a bad idea,” Seokjin argued.

“Only if the couple breaks up!” Jimin sounded offended. “And Jeongguk-ah and I have no plans of doing that in the near or distant future, or ever!”

“Of course you won’t,” Hoseok said sincerely, patting Jimin’s shoulder. “You’ll probably even be together in the next life, all things considered.”

“Fine, I’ll go,” Seokjin let out a sigh and shook his head when Hoseok and Jimin cheered. He took them both by their upper arms and ushered them out of his bedroom. “Wait for me in the living room, I’m just going to take a shower.”

When his friends were finally settled and he once again had some peace and quiet, Seokjin had half a mind to jump back in bed and continue his nap. He wasn’t trying to be a bad friend - he just didn’t want to be outside on a day like today.

It was kind of lame, but Seokjin knew he could be a little afraid of things. Scratch that - a lot afraid of things. He hated insects, especially when they were flying and bothering him; he almost passed out once with Hoseok when Jimin begged them to zipline with him on a summer vacation one college term. He regularly thought about the world ending, about robot apocalypses or a mysterious virus that would wipe out the world’s population. Dentist tools freaked him out, sleeping in pitch black darkness gave him anxiety, and Halloween was perhaps the worst holiday of the year because everyone would be dressed up in garish costumes that, if well executed, freaked Seokjin out enough to not want to leave the house until the bloody nightmare was over.

If he could, he would spend the day taking a very long nap, waking up at 10 in the evening to watch some light, fluffy movies while eating an entire pot of ramen, waiting for his friends to come home after doing whatever they planned for the holiday that must not be named.

But today, somehow, Jimin was able to convince Seokjin to go with him and Hoseok to see a horror film, and then head off to dinner with Jeongguk’s friends. If Seokjin hated Halloween with a passion, Halloween was probably Jimin’s favorite - he likely loved it more than Christmas, or his own birthday, which was something Seokjin would never understand.

“Bastard’s lucky we love him so much,” Seokjin grumbled to himself as he pulled on a fluffy sweater, picking up his coat and making sure he had his phone, keys and wallet on him before heading out to join his friends.

Jimin’s destination of choice was the mall that Jeongguk worked at, which thankfully, looked harmless enough. It was decorated for the occasion; fake spiderwebs made from pulled cotton, plastic skeletons hanging from the ceiling, and garlands of pumpkin, bat, and cauldron cutouts strewn everywhere.

“Here we are, cinema one,” Jimin said as they made it to the top of the escalator, pointing to one of the theaters. “Zombiepocalypse starts in twenty minutes, we should get our tickets before the line gets any longer.”

“Can’t we watch You, Me, and Mr. Lee instead?” Hoseok whined fearfully, Jimin taking both his and Seokjin’s hands and dragging them to the ticketing counter. “I’d rather watch a romcom about a zombie than an apocalypse movie about zombies.”

“Same,” Seokjin said glumly, sharing a sympathetic look with Hoseok while Jimin ignored them and asked for three tickets to Zombiepocalypse.

“It might not be that bad, though,” Jimin reassured his friends after paying, handing them one ticket each. “I mean...who calls a good movie Zombiepocalypse? It’s probably just another crappy zombie movie with terrible special effects.”

“Better this than watching Dollhouse, I guess,” Seokjin sighed, shuddering at the poster of the possessed doll movie that was due to be shown in the other cinema.

After buying some popcorn and sodas and half-listening to Jimin say something about meeting Jeongguk later after his shift while they were waiting in line, the three friends finally made their way into the theater, arguing a little about which seats to choose, with Jimin wanting to sit a few rows from the screen for ‘full effect’, and Seokjin and Hoseok violently opposing.

In hindsight, it was a good call to sit further back. Despite the stupid name, Zombiepocalypse was perhaps one of the scariest movies Seokjin had ever seen. Somewhere in the first 15 minutes, Hoseok had decided it was too much for him and excused himself, and even Jimin had yelled and cursed a few times, grabbing onto Seokjin’s shoulder subconsciously.

As for Seokjin...well, he knew he was definitely getting nightmares tonight.

It was a wonder he was able to sit through it with Jimin, but they exited the cinema hand-in-hand, Jimin being very loud and saying he wasn’t at all frightened despite looking pale in the face, and Seokjin saying absolutely nothing at all.

"I can’t believe you sat through it, Seokjin-hyung,” Hoseok said as he came up to them from where he was sitting.

“Were you waiting out here all this time, Hoseok-hyung?” Jimin asked with surprise.

“Of course not,” Hoseok snorted, holding up some shopping bags. “I decided to visit the department store and calm myself down by buying a new coat and some cool shirts.”

“Good for you,” Seokjin finally said monotonously, slipping his hand out of Jimin’s and stuffing it in his pocket. “If we want to calm me down now, I’d like a big, hearty meal, with lots of meat, soup, and rice.”

“You’re in luck. Jeongguk-ah said we would have dinner at one of those group meal places that opened a few blocks from here,” Jimin said, checking his phone. “He and his co-worker friends eat there sometimes, he said they have the best bulgogi.”

“Are we going to meet them there?” Seokjin asked.

Jimin shrugged. “I’ll ask him. He hasn’t been replying to my texts since we got here though,” he replied, typing on his phone quickly, presumably texting Jeongguk. “Let’s walk around first while we wait for his answer.”

It should have been just that. After agreeing, the three of them would walk around, anticipating Jeongguk’s reply so they could either wait for him or just head to the restaurant Jimin said they would eat at.

However, a piercing scream shattered through the otherwise normal evening, and suddenly, people were running towards them.

“What’s going on?” Hoseok asked, both confused and alarmed, and looking like he was ready to make a run for it too.

Seokjin felt dread sinking into his stomach at the unknown threat, when finally he saw it. A group of ugly, decayed, human-looking creatures speeding into the crowd. A chase. A hunt. Someone screamed, and Seokjin felt his stomach drop.

“Zombie!”

Before Seokjin could make his move, the screaming was too loud in his ear; a zombie had come out from nowhere, snatching Jimin up into his arms.

“Put me down!” Jimin cried, squirming around as much as he could, but the zombie’s grip on him was too firm. “Seokjin-hyung, help!”

Seokjin looked away when the zombie made a move to bite into Jimin’s cheek, the screams of his friend drowned out by the ringing in his ears and churning of his stomach. All Seokjin could hear was the blood rushing to his head, his heart pounding up into his throat as he looked around frantically.

Hoseok was nowhere to be found, having already fled the scene, while Jimin was being hauled away, body limp and hanging off the zombie's shoulder - was it just him, or was the zombie so fucking huge?

His brain felt muddled but he had to make a choice. As quickly as his shaking knees could muster, Seokjin scrambled upward, determined to make a run for it and save himself.

He fucking hated Halloween.

Groans and screams could still be heard as he slipped back into the theater, thinking that it had to be empty by now, and maybe he could hide out in the bathroom for a while to regroup his thoughts and figure out how to make it out alive.

As soon as he made it into the well-lit, sterile-smelling bathroom, he locked the door, slumping against the back of it and sinking to the floor in shock.

Seokjin couldn’t believe it. So what if he thought about zombie apocalypses often? He didn’t actually count on being around for when one actually happened!

“Calm down, calm down, Seokjin,” he muttered to himself, slapping his face in an attempt to remain in control. He felt like he was losing his mind.

He needed to come up with a plan. He likely was never going to see his friends again, but he needed to be strong and try not to get caught, bit, or worse, eaten.

After a few moments of breathing through his nose and waiting for his heart to settle, he looked up and around the bathroom he chose to hole himself up in. It was one of those rather large, communal ones, with a few toilet stalls towards the end after a row of urinals. He looked up to check if there were any air vents he could climb up into, and he did spot one that looked particularly loose right above a stall.

That was the best he could come up with for now - climb through the air vents and look for an exit. Surely there were no zombies in the vents. Probably just spiders, or rats, or cockroaches, which Seokjin still hated, but it was certainly a better alternative than going out in the open where a zombie could feed on him at any given second.

The sound of a long, drawn-out groan echoed from one of the stalls, making Seokjin seize up again in panic. Was it just a person making that sound?

Another groan, this time, more husky and growly. Definitely not a person making that sound.

Seokjin knew better than to shout, or ask who was there with him. He’d seen enough horror movies with Jimin against his will to take note of what not to do when stuck in that kind of situation.

But he was also stuck inside an enclosed space with what might be the monster in question, and his only way out to safety was through an air vent that could only be accessed by climbing on top of a toilet. The big question now was, where was the zombie hiding? Seokjin hoped it was nowhere near the toilet stall that was his escape.

I’m going to die, Seokjin thought with a whimper. He shakily got up, realizing he had nothing to defend himself with but his own limbs. I’m really going to die.

After a moment’s decision, Seokjin sprinted forward, skidding when he reached the toilet stall and forcing the door open.

The sound of a yell made Seokjin yell back, and he instinctively shot a hand forward, punching the air as hard as he could. He felt his fist colliding with warm, soft flesh, and there was a loud crack, Seokjin’s knees finally giving up on him as he collapsed onto the ground, along with the creature he’d tried to sucker punch.

Seokjin didn’t realize he was screaming his head off. The white tile was starting to stain with dark, red liquid as the creature crouched over, trying to get up. Seokjin kicked it as hard as he could, and he scrambled for the toilet, jumping up onto it and struggling to reach the air vent.

“Are you out of your fucking mind?”

Seokjin froze.

What?

Seokjin swallowed, and against his better judgment, he turned around slowly.

His first instinct told him he was looking at a zombie. A corpse with a rotting face, green and purple and grey everywhere, with blood all over the front of his ripped shirt.

But then, he saw the natural movements as the being felt around his nose, the real, red blood dripping from it, the pained expression. Seokjin’s eyes widened in surprise.

This person wasn’t undead, he was just a human being dressed up as a zombie, probably it was his costume for Halloween and he was heading to a party or something. A real, live human, stuck in this restroom with him.

“A human,” Seokjin gasped in relief, nearly wanting to cry and collapsing on the toilet seat.  “Fuck, I thought…I thought…”

“Yes, I’m a human,” the man said in a defensive, almost irritable tone. “Sir, what the hell? What did you think I was? An actual zombie?”

Seokjin could hear the disbelief in his tone, so he assumed the stranger had no idea what was going on. He realized he was going to have to warn him, and that it was going to sound stupendously insane, but he had to try, if at least to have an ally and potentially save this person’s life.

“Listen,” Seokjin said, knees shaking as he stood up, “I know this is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me - “

“You look crazy, Sir,” the man stated flatly, but Seokjin decided to ignore the snarkiness.

“There is a…a…” Seokjin clenched his fists, “there is a zombie apocalypse going on outside. They took my friend, he must be dead by now - I mean, I holed myself up in here for safety, but now we need to get out, find someplace safe. So if you want to survive, come with me, we can escape through the vents…”

Seokjin trailed off when he heard the repressed snickers coming from the man.

Now, Seokjin knew it sounded silly, but this was no joke! He was scared out of his mind, and he wanted to live, to survive another day, he still wanted to go home and see his parents for Christmas, his brother was having a baby soon - 

“Wow, you really are shaken,” the stranger said in surprise, tilting his head as he looked at Seokjin. “Do we really look that convincing?”

It took Seokjin a few moments to process that. “Convincing?”

“Yeah.” The man sounded sheepish now, rubbing the back of his neck with a garish grey hand. “I mean…this was a stunt. Like a mall publicity stunt.” He cleared his throat. “A Halloween mall publicity stunt.”

Seokjin had to blink at what the man was saying, digesting the words one by one.

A Halloween mall publicity stunt.

He sat back down on the toilet seat, hiding his face in his hands and feeling his entire head turn warm with embarrassment and the rush of adrenaline.

A Halloween mall publicity stunt. So because it was Halloween, the mall had probably decided to hire some people to dress up as zombies and have a surprise zombie run event or something like that. None of it was real, it was just a bunch of human people dressed up like zombies running around scaring people.

And Seokjin fell for it. Like an idiot.

“Hey,” the man said. This time, he sounded concerned, and that just made Seokjin all the more embarrassed. “Are you, uh…okay?”

“‘Am I okay’,” Seokjin scoffed, unable to shake off the feeling that he had been a total weirdo, the mortification and shame unbearable. It felt just like one of those dreams where you’re naked in front of the entire class, and everyone was laughing at you. “I just believed for a full, maybe fifteen minutes, that I was going to die in a zombie apocalypse.” The idea, now that he said it out loud, sounded absurd. He began to laugh. “I knew we shouldn’t have watched that stupid movie.”

Seokjin sighed, finally lifting his head from his hands to look up at the man, his eyebrows then furrowing in concern. “You’re still bleeding.”

The man blinked in surprise. “I am?”

Another wave of shame washed over Seokjin as he realized he’d punched this guy because he thought he was going to eat him.

He punched him. God, he really was insane.

The man wiped the back of his hand under his nose, and Seokjin cringed at the sight of so much blood smearing onto it. The man looked at the amount of blood, eyes widening. “Oh.”

Fuck. Seokjin might have broken his nose. Scratch that, there were no buts, Seokjin did break his nose, to the point that he was still bleeding. A whole lot.

“Shit,” Seokjin said, standing up now. “Maybe we should take you to the hospital.”

The man looked like he wanted to refuse, but after dabbing his nose with the end of his zombie costume sleeve and seeing how the flow of blood didn’t lighten in any way, he finally relented. “Alright,” he said, much to Seokjin’s relief. “There’s an employee clinic on this floor, actually. Maybe we can go there first, have it checked.”

“Perfect,” Seokjin breathed, nodding. “How do you feel? Lightheaded? Dizzy?”

“A little bit, but I don’t know if it’s from loss of blood or a concussion because you punched me,” he joked, wincing a little and touching his nose bridge gingerly. “You got me really good, Sir.”

For his own sanity, Seokjin chose to ignore that. “Hold onto me then,” Seokjin said, the man slinging his unbloodied arm over Seokjin’s broad shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Seokjin had no idea where the employee clinic was, but thankfully the stranger was still conscious and coherent enough to tell him where to go. After a few moments of walking and turning around corners, they finally came to a small clinic hidden away in an unbusy part of the mall.

“Oh, dear, what’s wrong?” a kind-looking, middle-aged nurse looked up from the desk she was working at when Seokjin pushed the door open.

“Uh…” Seokjin had no idea what to say to the nurse, who was very quick to come up to them, helping Seokjin bring the man to a stiff, sterile hospital bed.

“Broke my nose, ma’am,” the man quickly admitted, perhaps catching on that Seokjin didn’t exactly want to confess to punching someone. “Pretty badly, honestly.”

“You’ll have to be more specific about the injury, dear,” the nurse said. Seokjin noticed the man was able to produce an ID card - so he was an employee, Seokjin thought with burning ears - and after the nurse inspected it for a split second, she began to fuss over him, lifting his chin to look up his nose and inspect it.

Seokjin stepped back, watching the whole examination, his face warm. The man was able to smooth talk the nurse into believing he’d tripped on his costume while he was heading to his station, taking a tumble down the stairs and landing on his nose. It sounded more painful than what really happened, but at least the nurse took his word for it.

“I told management to look into the employee stairs and elevators and have them upgraded or repaired,” she clicked her tongue and shook her head. “It does look like you’re still bleeding, dear, but I can’t be sure because of all the makeup you have on. Let me just - “ she turned around to disappear into another room, leaving Seokjin and the unnamed man alone.

The stranger wasn’t looking at Seokjin; instead, he was constantly dabbing at his nose with his sleeve, making a face every time he pulled back to see more dark red on it. His lip was wobbling, and it made Seokjin feel terrible.

The man must have felt someone staring at him, because he looked at Seokjin, then shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" The man said, sounding shy, and shielding his face with his free hand, perhaps from embarrassment. "Does it really look that bad?"

Seokjin sucked in his breath, feeling his ears burn, both from shame and being flustered. "I really am so, so sorry," Seokjin lamented. “I didn’t - “

Seokjin’s apology was cut off by the nurse returning with a basin of water and some sterile towels. “Let’s just get you cleaned up, alright? So we can examine the damage and see if you need to go to the hospital.”

Seokjin felt his knees get weak at the prospect. He knew he suggested bringing the man to the hospital, but hearing it from someone more qualified to make medical assessments made it sound ominous. Because of his mini-freakout, someone could potentially get sent to the hospital? If he wasn’t already feeling guilty, it sure was eating him alive right now.

He stayed particularly quiet at the side as he watched the nurse clean up the man’s face, peeling off the stick-on prosthetics and cleaning up the dried blood from around his nose and chin.

As the nurse continued to remove the grease paint and makeup from the man’s face, revealing more and more of his actual, human features, Seokjin found that he just couldn't stop staring.

Despite the fact that the young man's long, defined nose was cracked from the force of Seokjin's blow, and that the injured area was starting to swell and turn a shade of purple, Seokjin could tell that he was handsome, and young. His voice was deep and had a husky quality to it, sounding more like it belonged to a much older man, but he looked around Seokjin’s age, maybe even younger. He had honeyed skin, a sharp jaw, long lashes that sweeped his cheeks every time he blinked, and a wide, puppy-eyed gaze as he stared back at Seokjin.

He was cute.

Seokjin felt even more like shit now, swallowing down his surprise.

He’d just punched a hella cute guy in the face.

Great going, Seokjin, he groaned internally.

“Right,” the nurse said, prodding around the man’s nose to feel where the break was. “Looks like you’ve stopped bleeding, that’s a good sign.”

“Is it?” Seokjin blurted out, his nervousness running high.

“Yep,” the nurse said, patting the man’s shoulder and turning to Seokjin. “I’m going to fetch an ice pack and some supplies. It’s an easy fix, I can realign his nose manually, but we still need to splint it up so it heals correctly.”

She picked up a clipboard from the front desk, handing it to Seokjin. “Fill it out for him, will you, dear boy?” The nurse tutted, then disappeared into the other room to get the items she said she would be needing.

Seokjin looked up at the man, and when he found that he was being stared at, he hid behind the clipboard in embarrassment, his face warm.

After a few moments of awkward silence, he heard the man clear his throat. “It’s Kim Taehyung.”

Seokjin lowered the clipboard tentatively. “Huh?”

“My name,” the man said, a smile playing on his lips. “You have to fill out the patient form for me, right? My name is Kim Taehyung.”

Kim Taehyung. A handsome name for a handsome man. Seokjin thought it suited him.

He began to write, trying not to look at Taehyung more than was necessary. “Like this?” He showed the form to Taehyung, who leaned forward and squinted a little.

“Could you like, come closer?” Taehyung asked, gesturing to the chair that was propped up next to the patient bed. “I’m a little near-sighted. I can’t read things from too far away.”

Seokjin hesitated a little, before walking towards him, handing him the clipboard. He still felt too agitated and ashamed to sit down, so he remained standing as Taehyung read over the form, humming a little.

Taehyung looked up at Seokjin with big, puppy-like eyes as he gave the clipboard back. “Yep. Right.” He smiled. “Date of birth, December thirtieth, nineteen-ninety-five. Male. No history of drug allergies, no maintenance medicines. No operations within the past two weeks. No other medical problems.”

Seokjin jotted down everything Taehyung was saying, some of the shame ebbing away with every word he wrote. He was trying his best not to look at Taehyung, feeling the other man’s gaze right on him.

“So…are you just going to sit there?” Taehyung said matter-of-factly, making Seokjin sputter a little. “You’re not going to say anything to me? Even after you punched me squarely in the face?”

That made Seokjin look up. “Sorry,” he said with a remorseful whimper.

The edges of Taehyung’s lips twitched upward. “At least let me know the name of the person who messed my face up.”

The way Taehyung said that was gentle and reassuring, but Seokjin’s mind couldn’t help but reel at the words. Was Taehyung going to press charges? He could. After all, what Seokjin did was practically assault. He could be charged with a misdemeanor. He could go to jail!

“I’m not going to press charges,” Taehyung was about to laugh, but the pain must have stopped him, because his grin changed into a grimace. “It was an accident. I freaked you out.”

Well, damn. “Did I say that out loud?” Seokjin groaned. “I’m sorry. I’ve honestly been saying nothing to you but sorry.”

“If you tell me your name,” Taehyung said, cocking his eyebrow, “I might just forgive you.”

Now it was Seokjin’s turn to laugh, if only to shake off his embarrassment. He cleared his throat. “It’s Seokjin. Kim Seokjin.” He felt the back of his neck start heating up. “We’re both December boys, I was born on the fourth. I’m allergic to garlic and potatoes, have had no operations in the past two weeks,” he could feel himself grinning as Taehyung started to grin too, “and I am chronically afraid of zombie attacks.”

“Allergic to garlic, huh?” Taehyung asked, a lilt to his voice.

“If you’re going to say I’m a vampire, don’t even bother,” Seokjin laughed, shaking his head. “Everyone makes that dumb joke, even my friends sometimes.”

“It would make a funny inside joke if you dressed up as one for Halloween though,” Taehyung grinned.

“Honestly, this really isn’t the first time someone told me that,” Seokjin chuckled. “You’ll have to try harder, be more original.”

Their laughter subsided after a while, the both of them now looking at each other with sheepish, awkward smiles. The silence was thick between them, and Seokjin had no idea what else to say, but thankfully a phone started to ring - it wasn’t Seokjin’s, but he was surprised that the ringtone was from an anime he was familiar with. He was even more surprised when he found out it was Taehyung’s, Taehyung fishing his phone from his pocket and answering the call.

"Hello?" Taehyung said, wincing and touching the bridge of his nose tenderly. "Jeongguk?"

Wait, Seokjin's eyebrows shot upward. Jeongguk?

Seokjin obviously couldn’t hear the other person on the opposite side of the line, so he couldn’t verify if it was Jimin’s Jeongguk. Besides, there could be any number of Jeongguks in Korea. Still, he straightened, listening more intently.

“Yeah, at the mall clinic,” Taehyung said, informing the other person of his whereabouts. “Well you can come here and see for yourself! I’m bleeding out because this guy hit me in the face. I told Hyerin-noona this was a bad idea.”

Taehyung’s exclamation made Seokjin feel like an idiot again.

“Please?” Taehyung begged, his voice turning cute and pouty. “Bring Jimin-ssi with you then! I can’t leave until the nurse says I can.” He groaned. “I told you, I’m bleeding!”

Jimin-ssi? Now Seokjin felt nonplussed.

“Wait,” Seokjin finally spoke aloud, getting Taehyung’s attention. “Could you, um, put that on speaker?”

Taehyung looked perplexed at Seokjin’s odd request, but he did what Seokjin asked anyway, turning on the speaker to be greeted by the familiar voice of Jimin telling Jeongguk off for being a brat. Seokjin sighed in relief.

“Yah, Jimin-ah!” Seokjin said, finally sitting down in the chair by the bed, dragging it closer to Taehyung, who was holding out his phone and looking at Seokjin with wide eyes.

“Hyung? Seokjin-hyung?” Jimin sounded surprised, then confused, then alarmed, speaking quickly. “Are you in the clinic too? What are you doing there? Are you hurt?”

“Wait, you know them?” Taehyung asked with incredulity.

“Yeah, I do, they’re my friends,” Seokjin answered, then responded to Jimin, the both of them chuckling when they heard Jimin demand Jeongguk give him the phone. “I’m fine, Jimin-ah, don’t worry about me. Please tell Jeongguk to do what Taehyung-ssi says and come here.”

Jimin screeched out a ‘what?!’, clearly about to demand answers, so Taehyung quickly cut that conversation short by finally saying, “we’ll explain everything when you get here. Jeongguk knows the way, see you all later, bye!”

Taehyung hung up before Jimin could say anything else, and after a few moments of silence, they burst into laughter, stopping only once Taehyung winced again and touched his nose.

“I’m sincerely, truly sorry, Taehyung-ssi,” Seokjin said, coughing his laughter away and looking at Taehyung seriously. “I didn’t mean to...” Seokjin trailed off, making a half-hearted - and very sheepish - punching motion with his fist.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Taehyung said reassuringly. He chuckled under his breath. “Like I said, it was an accident, and you freaked out.” He shrugged. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not really mad. I’m kind of impressed with your right hook.”

“It was the adrenaline,” Seokjin argued. “I really thought you were going to eat me.”

Taehyung’s smile turned softer, his handsome face taking on a more puppy-like vibe, and the way he gazed at Seokjin made his insides turn to mush. Seokjin cleared his throat, deciding to change the subject.

“So, could you explain what all this was about?” Seokjin asked, gesturing to Taehyung’s costume and the prosthetics lying on the metal tray. “You said it’s a promotional event, right? Aren’t you supposed to put up posters to let people know there’s going to be a zombie run?”

“It’s a surprise event,” Taehyung clarified with a shrug. “Our manager, Hyerin-noona, she thought it would be cool to have a surprise zombie run event for Halloween. You know, to generate social media hype? To get people spreading the word about the mall, have them come here out of curiosity.”

Seokjin had to give it to them, it was smart, creative, and interactive marketing. For horror buffs like Jimin, it was probably exhilarating, and would surely win over their loyalty. “Well, it worked, for sure. Had me totally convinced.”

“You have Jeongguk to thank for that,” Taehyung said, his voice sounding proud and fond. “He’s the one who did the makeup. Isn’t it so realistic? Even I scared myself when I saw my face in the mirror.”

Seokjin was glad Taehyung mentioned their friend. It gave him something else to ask about, rather than the both of them dwelling on the little accident. “How do you know Jeongguk?” He asked. “I mean, for me, Jimin, his boyfriend, is my best friend and housemate.”

“Jeongguk’s a coworker and a friend,” Taehyung shared. “We go to university together, too, same program and all. Fine arts.”

“Oh!” Seokjin exclaimed in pleasant surprise. “Then that means we all go to the same university! I’m taking up mass communication, I’ll be graduating next year.”

“That’s so cool,” Taehyung grinned sincerely. “What a small world.”

Their conversation was once again cut short by the employee clinic nurse, who’d finally returned with splinting materials, setting them down in another small metal tray.

“Alrighty now, let’s splint up your nose, dear,” the nurse said, taking Taehyung’s face to examine the break one last time. “This is going to hurt a little.”

Seokjin felt a new wave of shame wash over him when he saw the nurse rebreak Taehyung’s nose to set it back in place, Taehyung letting out a yell and some whimpers as she moved his nose around, blood streaming out of his nostrils once more.

When she was happy with the position of Taehyung’s nose, she finally began splinting it up, and Taehyung met Seokjin’s eyes, the both of them smiling at each other in shy understanding.

As soon as the nurse secured the splint with medical tape, they heard the door to the clinic open. It was Jimin, and Seokjin felt his jaw drop open when he saw the two people trailing behind him, both dressed up like zombies, just like Taehyung had been.

One of the men was someone Seokjin had never met before, but he was on the smaller, leaner side; the other one though, the zombie who picked Jimin up and took him away, was nearly unrecognizable underneath his makeup. However, now that Seokjin was staring right at him and his senses weren’t going haywire from adrenaline, he could tell exactly who this zombie man was.

“Jeongguk!” Seokjin exclaimed, relief flooding through him.

“Hey, Seokjin-hyung,” Jeongguk grinned an adorable bunny grin at him, eyes flitting to Taehyung and a snort escaping his lips. “Taehyung-hyung, I barely even recognized you over there.”

“Blame him,” Taehyung said, pointing at Seokjin. “He’s the one who sucker punched me right in the face.”

Jeongguk was trying his best not to laugh, but he voiced his thoughts out loud anyway. “You look...kinda stupid, hyung.”

“That looks really painful though,” The other man commented with a frown, tilting his head a little. “Are you okay, Taehyung?”

“I’m fine now, Yoongi-hyung, don’t worry about me,” Taehyung reassured him with a smile, and Seokjin got the feeling that he was trying to spare Seokjin the knowledge of how much pain he truly inflicted. He didn’t know whether to feel good or bad about that idea. “It’s going to be fine, right, ma’am?”

“Yes, I do think it’ll be fine,” the nurse said without hesitation. “Just come back here every day so we can check on your splint, and the healing progress of your nose.” She smiled at Taehyung, patting his shoulder comfortingly, then went back to her desk to file some paperwork. “You’re free to go now, Taehyung-ssi.”

They all thanked the nurse for helping Taehyung out, then one by one, they exited the clinic, Yoongi taking point and Jimin walking out with Jeongguk hand-in-hand, while Seokjin and Taehyung trailed behind.

“I told Hyerin-noona this was a bad idea,” Yoongi said somberly, shaking his head as they gathered in front of the clinic.

“We all did, to be honest,” Taehyung shrugged, touching his splint absentmindedly.

“Yeah, I feel like this should only be a one-off thing,” Jeongguk agreed. “Let’s not do this again next year, no matter how much clout something like this is going to get on social media.”

“Agreed,” Taehyung nodded. “I mean…I ended up with a broken nose, while Seokjin-ssi over here nearly had a heart attack.”

“Wait, so tell us what happened here,” Jimin interjected, moving into Jeongguk’s side and letting his boyfriend wrap an arm around his waist. “How did this happen? How did you two…?”

Seokjin and Taehyung looked at each other. “Maybe you should go first,” Seokjin said to Taehyung, his ears turning red at the thought of having to admit to his friends what really went on.

Taehyung made a face, like he was wordlessly asking Seokjin if he was sure, so when Seokjin didn’t speak, Taehyung launched into his side of the story. “Well, I was in the cinema one bathroom,” he said, tapping his chin. “Getting ready and making sure my costume and acting was good. I was in one of the stalls practicing my growl, when suddenly the door behind me opened.”

Seokjin lowered his head in embarrassment.

“This guy over here was screaming at me like he’d seen a ghost,” Taehyung chuckled, and it was an endeared, fond sound. “And then he punched me squarely in the face.”

Seokjin didn’t have to look to know the entire group was staring at him in shock.

“Hyung!” Jimin exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Seokjin finally said with a sigh. “In my defense, I truly believed that the world was ending, okay?” He pointed at Jimin. “I thought you’d been eaten, so I ran for my life and hid in the bathroom. When I heard Taehyung-ssi’s groans, I thought I was cornered, and that I was going to die. That’s why when I saw him in the stall, I punched him.”

Everyone except Taehyung was still looking at him with wide eyes and incredulous expressions, which only made the blush of his ears creep down his face. “What?” he said defensively.

“Not gonna lie,” Jimin said with a giggle, “That’s kind of adorable.”

Seokjin looked aghast. “Adorable?”

“I mean, think about it,” Jimin said with a shrug, “It’s an adorable little meet-cute. A little wack, and wild, but cute.”

Seokjin still looked disbelieving, so he was surprised when Taehyung expressed his agreement. “I think so too,” he admitted, smiling at Seokjin. “It’s definitely something I’ll remember. Not everyday you get punched in the face by a handsome stranger, who turns out to be friends with your friends, too.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jeongguk said, like the realization just dawned on him. “I was supposed to introduce Taehyung-hyung and Yoongi-hyung to you and Hoseok-hyung, Seokjin-hyung, later at dinner.” He grinned a wide, toothy grin. “What a coincidence!”

“I’d go so far as to say it’s fate,” Jimin said, crossing his arms and smiling smugly at the two of them. “Destined to meet, one way or another.”

Seokjin’s ears turned red at that statement. It didn’t really cross his mind to think of the situation as something romantic, but when he met Taehyung’s gaze - which was, he was surprised to find, full of gentleness - he felt something in his chest start to blossom, a warm feeling settling into his toes.

“Something tells me, Seokjin-ssi,” Taehyung said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and giving Seokjin a breathtaking, boxy grin, “that you and I are going to be in each other’s lives a lot more often from now on.”

Though Seokjin didn’t say anything, he definitely agreed. After all, sometimes love strikes at the most unexpected of times. In Seokjin’s case, he punched him, and the warm smile they both shared reassured Seokjin of that fact.

Jeongguk and Jimin were looking at them knowingly, but Yoongi didn’t seem too fazed or bothered, interrupting the moment by saying, “Do we go now? I’m starving, and the restaurant might be packed by now.”

“Hold on,” Jimin frowned, looking around at their little party. “What happened to Hoseok-hyung?”