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Seokjin has only been at the amusement park for a grand total of five minutes and he’s somehow already earned himself a free balloon. It’s clear and in the shape of a heart. Not to mention it’s filled with little pieces of confetti. He was in no place to deny the employee who offered it to him just a few minutes after he walked into the park.
“Dude, you’re going to have to carry that around all day long now,” his friend, Hoseok says.
Seokjin only shrugs, “it’ll be fine. I’ll just tie it to my bag or something. No big deal.”
“How are you going to ride any of the rides? Kind of hard with a balloon attached to you, no?”
“I’ll figure something out.”
And, so he does. The first ride they get on, Seokjin holds the balloon close to him, ensuring that it won’t fly around mid-coaster. It actually works pretty well apart from him not being able to really hold onto the safety bar in front of him.
The balloon isn’t that large but it’s big enough to get in his way. Maybe he should’ve said no to that employee but he looked so kind. He was so sweet when he offered it to Seokjin, his voice so soft and gentle.
Someone taps Seokjin’s shoulder. When he turns around, he’s met with the kindest eyes and m ost cheerful smile. In his hands is a bundle of strings, all connecting the heart shaped balloons floating above his head. They look like the expensive ones that kids beg their parents to buy for them, only for the kids to stop caring about it five minutes later.
“Hi, would you like a balloon?” he asks.
“Oh, um, how much are they?”
The employee shakes his head, “free.”
“Free?”
“Aren’t they normally, like, ten thousand won? That’s what I always hear when I see you guys handing them out,” Hoseok butts in.
The employee shakes his head, nose scrunching up in response to Hoseok’s inquiry. He turns his attention back on Seokjin, softening his expression. “Would you like one?”
“I mean, I guess I can’t say no to free.”
“You don’t have to say yes.” He almost sounds sad at even the mere thought of Seokjin rejecting his offer.
Seokjin doesn’t want to break the guy’s heart. He nods his head, putting on the biggest smile. “I’d love a balloon.”
The employee smiles, fidgeting with the bundle of strings in his hand. As he does so, Seokjin gets a good look at his nametag, reading it to himself.
Yoongi.
Such a pretty name for such a pretty boy.
Yoongi pulls one of the strings free from the others, handing it off to Seokjin. The balloon follows with it, moving towards him. It floats above his head, making Yoongi smile. “I hope you enjoy it,” the boy says. “They’re very cute balloons.”
“Yeah, they are. Thank you, Yoongi.”
His cheeks become tinted with a rosy hue, his smile becoming even gummier. “Have a nice day.”
For every next ride that Seokjin gets on, he holds the balloon in his lap, protecting it as if it were his own child. He’s becoming quite fond of it. It is quite cute, just like Yoongi said they were. Seokjin can’t get the employee’s gummy smile out of his mind.
A few other friends meet up with Seokjin and Hoseok at the park, all of which question the boy about his balloon. He explains the situation, giving them the same reason he gave Hoseok for why he couldn’t say no. The boy was simply too kind and adorable to deny. Seokjin couldn’t bear to break his heart over saying no to a free balloon.
They all find it just as strange as Hoseok but the conversation doesn’t last more than five or ten minutes. They all move on fairly quickly from it. They do, however, make the joke that at least if they lose him, he’ll be easy to spot with his balloon floating above his head.
While his friends ride a few more coasters, Seokjin takes the time to relax and get a snack from the concession area. He buys himself a funnel cake, adding all of the sweetest toppings to it. After he pays, he finds a small table to begin enjoying his treat. It’ll likely make him sick, keeping him from going on as many rides but he doesn’t mind. He came today so he could spend quality time with friends rather than enjoy all of the rides that the park has to offer.
Mid-meal, someone taps his shoulder. When he turns around, he finds Yoongi standing there with the same smile as before. He doesn’t have to force himself to be excited. He genuinely is. Part of Seokjin was hoping he’d see the boy again today.
“Oh, hi, Yoongi!”
“Hi!” He looks at the balloon floating above his head, giggling at the sight of it. Seokjin notices the bundle above Yoongi’s head, almost as many as before. “Can I ask you something?”
Seokjin nods. “Sure!”
“Would you like another balloon?”
“Another?”
Yoongi’s cheeks become just as rosy as they were when he gave Seokjin the first balloon. He’s absolutely adorable when he’s so shy like this. “I have to give all of them away by the end of the day and nobody else really wants them.”
“Oh.”
“But if you were willing to take another off my hands, it would be really helpful. I understand if you don’t want to, though.”
Seokjin is already shaking his head, waving his hands back and forth. “No, no, no. I’d love to help! Seriously, I would!”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“Thank you, it means a lot.”
Yoongi hands off another balloon to Seokjin, smiling as he does so. Their hands brush up against one another during the exchange, making both boys jump. It feels like a jolt of electricity went right through them the moment it happened.
Seokjin ties it to his bag, right next to the first balloon. “By the way, my name is Seokjin. I feel it’s only fair you know mine since I know yours.”
“Seokjin,” Yoongi repeats. “I’ll remember that, I promise.”
“I hope so.”
It’s not the last time Yoongi appears out of nowhere, offering Seokjin a heart shaped balloon. With the funnel cake still in his stomach, he decides to avoid the next few rides, keeping watch of his friends’ things while they enjoy the roller coasters.
As he waits, Yoongi appears, mentioning the same thing from before. He needs to get rid of them today and nobody seems to want one. His smile is impossible to say no to. In fact, he even offers to take two more balloons off of Yoongi’s hands, giving him a grand total of four balloons attached to his bag.
Again, their hands touch. It’s soft and it’s gentle but it’s so exciting. Both parties have the same thought. What would it be like to hold his hand for real?
When Seokjin’s friend’s return, ready to gather their things and move to the next ride, they can’t stop laughing at the sight of their friend with four balloons swaying in the wind above his head. Hoseok gets the biggest kick out of it, seeing as he’s the only one who was there for the first interaction between Seokjin and Yoongi.
“Hyung, how many of those are you going to collect today?” he laughs.
“I’m just being nice, Hobah!”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were the one selling them. At some point, a kid is going to come up to you and ask for one,” their friend Jungkook adds.
Seokjin swats both of their arms, eyebrows furrowed. “The guy is just so nice! I can’t say no! I just want to help him and make sure he gives away all of his balloons.”
“Sure, hyung,” Hoseok laughs along with Jungkook. “Suuure!”
The day slowly turns to night, the park coming alive with more patrons. His balloons have surprisingly lit up, thanks to a small light fixture inside of them. They shine a multitude of hues, the device inside changing to a new color every few seconds. With the sun shining down on him all day, Seokjin didn’t notice it but now that it’s so dark out, he can see it perfectly. He’s his own walking attraction, catching the eye of anyone who passes by.
Seokjin has only seen a handful of people with balloons of their own but nobody has four like he does. They must think he’s very silly for having so many. He hasn’t seen Yoongi in a few hours. He must be on the other side of the park or perhaps he gave away all of his balloons and left for the day. Truthfully, Seokjin was hoping to see him again before he left but it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen.
He and his friends sit at one of the small tables, enjoying a last park snack before they head out. Hoseok nearly chokes on his food, “hyung! Hyung, look!”
Seokjin looks in the direction that his friend is pointing. Across the way, he spots Yoongi with just a few balloons left in his hand. They’re all so colorful, brightly shining an array of colors. That’s not the shocking part, though. The shocking part is that he has a line of kids with their parents, all with money out, ready to pay for the balloons.
“I thought he said they were free?” Hoseok questions.
“Yeah, you didn’t pay for any of those, did you, hyung?” Jungkook asks.
He shakes his head, still staring at Yoongi. “No. I didn’t. He said they were free.”
Hoseok chuckles, “well, they don’t look free to me.”
“I wonder why he gave them to me,” he murmurs, turning back around to face the table. “I would’ve paid for them. Well, maybe not four of them but at least one of them.”
“Go ask him,” Jungkook suggests.
Seokjin thinks for a second, just one brief second before standing to his feet. He’s already more than halfway over to where Yoongi is when his friends actually realize what he’s doing.
Jungkook stutters, “I-I was kidding but sure.” He raises his voice so that the elder can hear him, “go ahead, I guess!”
The line in front of Yoongi has mostly disappeared by the time Seokjin reaches him. The employee looks a bit stunned to see him, nervously chuckling as he hands out a balloon to the last family in line. He accepts their money, bowing respectfully as the kid excitedly cheers over his new balloon.
Yoongi walks up to Seokjin, rubbing at his nape. “H-Hi.”
“Free balloons?” he immediately questions.
“Yeah, about that...”
“Why were you making them pay? I thought you just had to give them away?” It’s so hard to act tough and serious when there’s four heart shaped balloons that are lighting up like a rainbow above Seokjin’s head. He tries to pay it no mind.
Yoongi takes a deep breath. “Technically, they were never free. You always had to pay.”
“Why didn’t you make me then?”
“Are you really going to make me say it?” Seokjin shrugs, encouraging him to go on. “I just… I think you’re cute and I wanted to give you a free balloon. I thought maybe you would’ve caught on after the second one, seeing as they’re heart shaped, but then you offered to take more on the third time and I thought maybe you thought I was cute, too, but now I’m starting to think I was wrong.”
Seokjin blinks, processing the new information he’s been given. “You gave me free balloons because you think I’m cute?”
“Yeah,” he answers, softly.
“Yoongi,” he lightly chuckles, “telling me you think I’m cute would’ve been a lot easier than giving me free balloons.”
“I was trying to be creative!”
He smiles, “it was very creative. And, for the record, I think you’re cute, too.”
“You do?”
“I do. That’s why I kept trying to help you. I didn’t want you to be upset over not giving any away because you seemed too kind and you were too cute and I just couldn’t say no.”
Yoongi blushes, gently smacking his face with his palm. He shakes his head, hiding behind his hand for a few seconds before lowering it back to his side. “Can we, just, start over?”
“I’d like that.”
“Great.”
Yoongi smiles, fidgeting with the bundle of strings in his hand. He pulls one balloon free, extending it to Seokjin. His cheeks rise like freshly baked bread, “hi, I’m Yoongi. I think you’re very cute and I want you to have this free balloon that’s in the shape of a heart.”
Seokjin accepts it with a beaming grin. “It’s very nice to meet you, Yoongi. I’m Seokjin. I’d love a free balloon.” He pauses. “Oh, and I think you’re cute, too!”
Yoongi gently shoves his shoulder, smiling the gummiest of smiles. Seokjin attaches the final balloon to his bag, watching it float up to meet the others. Now, he has even more than Yoongi does. And, Yoongi will most definitely have to pay for those balloons himself to make up for the loss but he doesn’t care.
Giving away free balloons to Seokjin was totally worth it.