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His breath caught in his throat, Seokjin quickly reached out to wrap his arms around Jisu’s waist to lift her from the bench she had climbed on. “Ah, this is not a playground. Let’s not ruin the pretty decoration, Jisu-yah.” He put her down and gently fixed the bow on the back of her dress. To give her credit this was her and Soobin’s first wedding, they weren’t quite aware of the etiquette yet. The newlyweds, Jimin and Taehyung, had placed the bench under an arc so guests could take pretty pictures while they waited for the couple to arrive but of course, Seokjin’s daughter had other ideas. “Where did you leave your brother?”
“With Yoongi samchon,” Jisu replied as she pulled herself out of Seokjin’s grasp so that she could touch the flowers entangled in the wooden arc over the bench. She had always been just as stubborn as Seokjin, stubborn as her mother as well. He turned around to find Yoongi right next to them and currently fixing the tie around Soobin’s neck. “I have to pee.”
Yoongi looked up, before nudging Soobin. “You too?” When Soobin sheepishly nodded, Yoongi quietly laughed to himself. “Great, me too. Let’s go.” He grabbed both of the kids’ hands and exchanged a knowing smile with Seokjin. “We’ll be a while so why don’t you find our table already?”
It didn’t take Seokjin very long to find the table with their nameplates. Table 8. He figured that was a good number. He pulled his chair back as he absentmindedly studied the floral arrangement on the table, appreciating the choice of ranunculus instead of roses - they were Seokjin’s favorites.
“You’re Kim Seokjin.” Surprised, Seokjin snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the man sitting on the chair next to him. God, he hadn’t even realized that another person was already sitting at the table. He also didn’t recognize the young man. He was wearing a blue suit, his brown hair just slightly wavy as if he had a perm a while ago. Pretty.
Confusion must’ve been written all over Seokjin’s face since the man only grinned and motioned to the nameplate that had Seokjin’s name on it. “Oh, right, yes,” Seokjin replied, embarrassment coloring his cheeks pink. He leaned a little to the side to catch the man’s name on the white paper card. “You’re Jeon Jeongguk.”
“In the flesh,” Jeongguk replied, a playful glint in his eyes.
The more Seokjin stared at him, the more he seemed familiar. They definitely hadn’t met before but well, they had to have mutual friends if they were both at this wedding. “I feel like I’ve seen you before- Oh! You’re on their ‘wall of memories’. Don’t they have this really big picture of you on that wall?”
Jeongguk laughed - only now was Seokjin seeing the piercing on his bottom lip. Wow, yeah he was attractive. “It’s not that big, but yes. I haven’t seen you on there though.”
“They have an extra shrine for me,” Seokjin replied and smiled gratefully at the waitress that stopped at their table to hand the both of them a glass of champagne. He already had two today so he really should be drinking slow. “Are you close with both of them, then?”
Nodding, Jeongguk took a sip of his champagne, his face slipping into a grimace for half a second at the taste. “Yes, but I’ve known Jimin longer. We grew up in Busan together. You? Are you here for the groom or the groom?”
“I used to work with Taehyung for a while.” Seokjin glanced past Jeongguk to find Jisu climbing on that damn bench again. This time she and Soobin seemed to be posing for a picture, though, so he figured it should be alright. He trusted Yoongi not to let the twins accidentally make the arc collapse. “I don’t think you can be close with one of them without befriending the other. They’re a package deal, quite literally.”
With a quiet giggle, Jeongguk put his glass down. “That’s very true, my wife, I mean ex-wife, used to compare them to a pair of gummy bears that melted into one, so…” He slowly drifted off. Seokjin’s eyes glanced down at his fingers. Jeongguk wasn’t wearing a wedding band (anymore) but he was fidgeting with his fingers as if he was.
For a moment, Seokjin considered not being nosy but then the curiosity took the better of him. “Was it recent? The divorce I mean.”
Jeongguk furrowed his eyebrows, now looking down at his hands as well. “A month.” He let out a forced laugh. “I mean we’ve been separated much longer and we didn’t really love each other for quite some time but I guess I kept calling her my wife out of respect.”
Understanding, Seokjin hummed, not really knowing what else to say. Some people felt better when they heard an ‘I’m sorry’, others didn’t want to hear anything that could feel like pity.
“I can imagine what I must seem like to you,” Jeongguk mumbled, suddenly coming across as shy. “Twenty-five and already divorced.”
Seokjin shrugged. “Life happens,” he said, smiling gently at Jeongguk. “Love happens. We all have our hiccups and challenges. Honestly, to me, it just seems like you’re someone who gives his all to the people you love.”
This brought a smile back to Jeongguk’s lip. “Yeah, I suppose-”
“Appa, Soobin peed his pants!” Jisu grabbed his chair and rattled it as hard as she could, which actually made Seokjin shake a little in his seat. “Look, his pants are all wet.”
“I did not,” Soobin shrieked, instantly pushing Jisu out of his way so he could bury his face in Seokjin’s suit jacket. “I just washed my hands, appa.”
Yoongi walked around the table until he found his seat, the kids were going to sit between the two of them. “If you can’t tell, we’re back. Come, Jisu-yah, sit next to your samchon.”
Hiding his smile, Seokjin gently separated Soobin from his jacket. “Alright, let’s take a look.” Soobin truly did have a few wet patches on his pants but it looked more like he had just been washing his hands very enthusiastically. “Did the sink attack you with too much water?”
Soobin nodded and climbed into Seokjin’s lap instead of onto his own chair. Wrapping his arms around his son, Seokjin pressed a kiss to his head. Recently, Soobin had been a little sensitive to Jisu’s teasing.
“So you’re a dad,” Jeongguk said, watching the four of them with a small smile.
Seokjin squeezed Soobin a little tighter. “You have a keen eye, mister.”
Curiously, Jisu straightened up in her chair and tried to peek around the floral arrangement on the table to get a good look at Jeongguk. “Hello, who are you?”
Jeongguk made a show out of peeking out from behind the flowers. “I’m Jeongguk, I’m a friend of Jimin and Taehyung’s. Who are you?”
When Seokjin nodded his consent, Jisu grinned brightly at the man. “My name is Kim Jisu. I’m five years old and I like sheep.”
“Sheeps are pretty cool,” Jeongguk agreed before he looked over at Soobin who was still leaning against Seokjin’s chest. “Are you Jisu’s little brother?”
That, of course, got Soobin’s attention very quickly. He sat up, almost hitting his back on the table. “Twin brother,” he corrected. “I’m twenty minutes older and I’m taller.”
“I see.” Jeongguk nodded and then glanced at Yoongi. “And you’re Seokjin’s-”
“Babysitter turned best friend? That I am,” Yoongi interrupted, shooting Seokjin a knowing smirk when Jeongguk seemed to visibly relax. “I’m sorry you’re gonna have to spend your evening with the four of us at your table.”
With a shrug, Jeongguk grabbed his champagne glass again. Their table only had five chairs like most of the other tables, which meant that Jeongguk was going to be the odd one out since Yoongi and Seokjin were pretty much one happy family with the kids. “That’s okay, I like kids, I don’t mind.”
A couple of minutes later the grooms finally arrived from their little photoshoot session out in the garden. This of course ended in everyone lining up to congratulate them once again - apparently, all guests had collectively forgotten that they had already done the same thing just after the ceremony. Jimin and Taehyung didn’t seem to mind at all, glowing in the attention that everyone was giving them and their love. Seokjin would’ve loved to stay seated, but Soobin and Jisu were more than eager to get a couple of hugs out of the newlyweds so they lined up once again.
“Look at you!” Jimin cooed as he picked Jisu up to hug her tight. “Such a pretty dress!”
Taehyung on the other side grinned mischievously after pressing a couple of noisy kisses to Soobin’s cheek. “So, how’s it going with Jeongguk, hyung?”
Seokjin raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“He’s sitting at your table.”
“He is,” Seokjin said slowly, not daring to glance back at their table. He wasn’t quite sure whether he was hoping Jeongguk was watching them or if he was hoping for the opposite.
This seemed to be Jimin’s cue to join the conversation. “He’s single,” he said quietly as if Jisu and Soobin weren’t in their arms and listening in as well. “He likes kids and flowers and dogs and last year he had this big bi awakening so he’s ready to you know.” He wiggled his eyebrows at Seokjin who could only huff.
“I’m not really looking for a you know,” he replied, truly hoping that the blood rushing to his ears wasn’t betraying him.
Jimin snorted before giving Jisu one last kiss and putting her back down. “I’m just saying, he’s a really good guy.”
As they made their way back to the table. Seokjin tried his best not to think about the fact that Jimin and Taehyung were clearly trying to play matchmakers with him and Jeongguk. He wasn’t quite sure whether he appreciated their effort. Ever since it was just him and the twins (and Yoongi from time to time) he hadn’t really been thankful for all of the meddling with his love life - most of it from Jimin and Taehyung. Because it wasn’t just about someone being a nice guy or a nice person in general, it was about them fitting into Seokjin’s life and by proxy fitting into the twins’ lives. A lot of people couldn’t handle that and Seokjin understood - but it didn’t help when all his friends had to say was “but hyung, they were perfect for you”.
But… Jeongguk did seem very lovely.
After everyone was done greeting the couple once again, they finally announced that the buffet was officially open. Seokjin helped the twins pick out some food first since Jisu had already been looking like she was contemplating gnawing at the floral arrangement. When he went back to the buffet with his own plate, Jeongguk immediately popped up at his side. “Can’t decide?”
Seokjin laughed quietly. So Jeongguk had seen him trying to decide on what to eat with the help of 'eeny meeny miny moe’. “I haven’t had fish in a while but I know from a trustworthy source that the beef is also really good.”
“Hmm.” Jeongguk stepped right next to him, his hip cheekily nudging Seokjin’s. “I mean you can just get seconds. Fish first, then beef. Or the other way around.”
He let out a sound somewhere between a sigh and a hum. In theory that was very true. He had trust in his stomach but usually, the twins got bored and wanted to run off somewhere by the time he finished his first plate. Seconds either had to get inhaled in one minute or well, get neglected. “Yeah…”
“You know what? You get the fish. I wanted to get the beef anyway and I’ll let you have some of mine.”
Speechless, Seokjin stared as Jeongguk filled up his plate. “You don’t have to-”
Jeongguk waved him off with a grin. “Come on, we’re table mates that pretty much makes us family. I don’t mind.”
Feeling his ears starting to burn, Seokjin suppressed a smile as Jeongguk went back to their table. He couldn’t believe he was getting giddy about sharing food with someone. Apparently, he was doing a bad job at hiding his feelings - Yoongi raised an eyebrow at him as soon as he sat down with his fish. Seokjin shook his head quickly.
He barely had time to shove his last piece of fish in his mouth, before the twins were almost bolting out of their seats. Jisu and Soobin put on their best puppy dog eyes when Seokjin tried to protest. “We just wanna go play,” Jisu whined and pointed at a couple of Taehyung’s young cousins who seemed to be playing some kind of game between the tables.
Seokjin sighed. “Don’t be too loud and try not to be in the way of anyone, alright?” Without another word, the twins scrambled out of their seats and ran off. Seokjin watched as they barely managed to dodge a staff member carrying a tray full of glasses. This was exactly why he had asked Jimin and Taehyung whether they were sure they wanted to allow kids at their reception.
Yoongi was already folding his napkin as well. “You’ll have to excuse me, I’m going to see if I can find Hoseok.”
“Does your family usually leave you behind like that?” Jeongguk asked, his voice sounding amused. He dropped a piece of beef in Seokjin’s bowl of rice.
With a smile on his lips, Seokjin shook his head before nodding. “Surprisingly, yes. Especially if Hoseok is in the room.”
Jeongguk placed one of his hands on the back of Seokjin’s chair and smiled charmingly. “Well at least I have you to myself again, I can’t complain about that.” Seokjin thought he might pass out face-first into the beef.
“Jimin told me about that bi awakening you had last year,” he blurted out before he could stop himself. Wow, leave it to Seokjin to change a topic in the most obvious way possible. Quickly, he shoved the piece of meat into his mouth to shut himself up.
At first, Seokjin thought he might have offended Jeongguk by bringing it up but then the man only snorted. “Hyung is a bit of a chatterbox, isn’t he? Yeah, I came out as bisexual pretty much after my, uh, ex-wife and I separated. We got together when we were 16, so I never really let myself actually think about my orientation and stuff.” He shrugged. Seokjin tried not to grimace as he did the maths in his head. So Jeongguk and his ex-wife must’ve been dating for about.. what? Eight years? Eight years was a long time. None of Seokjin’s relationships had lasted that long. Not that the number of years mattered. Clearly, it hadn’t worked out for either of them anyway. “I don’t want to bore you with my life story, though. What about you? You are an actual parent.”
“That I am,” Seokjin replied, his eyes wandering across the room until he found the twins chatting with one of Jimin’s aunties. Then he focused back on Jeongguk. “I have to admit that’s all I am, most of the time. I work at a flower shop, I do floral arrangements and everything but… yeah, full-time appa. I love it, though. I wouldn’t change it for the world. Jisu and Soobin start school next year. I don’t think Jisu is all too excited about possibly being in the same class as Soobin, but I think he’d prefer it. She likes to do her own thing and he likes to help out and be a team. Ah, sorry, you’re not interested in that.”
Laughing, Jeongguk scrunched up his face. “No, no, I am interested in that but I’m also very interested in you in general.”
He could see why Jimin and Taehyung had seated them together. Jeongguk was a very good person, Seokjin could tell. He seemed like a good listener as well. Someone who could spend hours telling you about their life but wouldn’t hesitate to pause and say ‘but what about you? tell me about you’. “Well, I’m… I came out as bi back when I was thirteen. I was twenty-five when the twins were born. I’ve… Sometimes, it feels like my life just passed by me, everything happened so fast and so slow at the same time but then I also feel like… the best has yet to come. Like, I still have my best years, my best life waiting to happen. I don’t like to think that I wasted any of my past years on anything. I don’t think you can even waste time when you’re just living and having experiences.”
Jeongguk looked at him with wide eyes. Seokjin thought he’d make a cute Bambi with his eyes all big and shiny. “I like that, hyung. I’ve been struggling a little since the divorce but I don’t need to feel bad, right? I’m young and I have so much time to live. And to love.” He cocked his head a little at the last sentence, making Seokjin’s lips quirk.
He gently slapped Jeongguk’s thigh. “You have all the time in the world. Look at me, I’m thirty, I have kids and I’m still as hot as ever.”
“Truly,” Jeongguk agreed, nodding along. “The dilfiest of them all.”
“The dilf of all dilfs.”
“The dilf to rule them all.” Jeongguk inconspicuously scooted a little closer, his hand on the back of Seokjin’s chair sliding onto his shoulder instead. “You know, you’ll owe me a dance later.”
“I do?” Seokjin asked, his eyebrows shooting up in amusement. “And why is that?”
Jeongguk shot him a ‘duh’ look. “It’s wedding etiquette. You dance with the person you sit next to.”
“I’m pretty sure you just made that up. With that logic, it could also mean that I need to dance with Soobin and you with Yoongi.”
Pursing his lips, Jeongguk looked away. It took Seokjin a second to realize he was actually trying to find Hoseok and Yoongi. “Well, I can’t dance with him because I’m not messing with Hoseok’s man.”
Seokjin glanced over to his best friend as well. Yoongi and Hoseok weren’t dating but Yoongi had had a big fat crush for the last couple of months. They hadn’t known whether Hoseok liked him back though. Seokjin definitely thought so but Yoongi liked to argue that Hoseok was ‘that nice to all of his friends’. “Are you saying you have intel that suggests the pining between those two is actually mutual?”
Jeongguk’s eyes found his again, his lips quirking up into a grin. “I could ask you the same thing.” For a second, they both stayed quiet before bursting into laughter. It was so strange to realize that the both of them had probably spent months listening to their friends gush about each other without knowing it was mutual. It was just as strange that they would meet up at a wedding of all places. Or maybe it wasn’t strange, but convenient, fitting. Jimin and Taehyung would love to know that their wedding was a celebration of love in more ways than they had intended - or maybe they had intended it this way, Seokjin wouldn’t put it past them.
“Maybe I do owe you a dance then,” Seokjin said. “Since you helped me unravel this mystery. But we’ll have to wait until after the first dance or Jimin might flay us alive.”
With a hum, Jeongguk turned his head to the happy couple. They were trying to make their way back to their own table since it was probably time for all of the toasts soon but it looked like the twins were trying to pull them into their game of tag. Seokjin wondered whether he should step in yet before he watched as the twins ran off to talk to Yoongi instead. “There’s no rush. Let’s wait until the end of the night.”
Surprised by that statement, Seokjin’s eyes snapped to the man next to him. In the background, he could hear the sound of someone clinking a spoon against a champagne flute. “Why?”
Jeongguk nonchalantly leaned back in his seat, his arm still gently wrapped around Seokjin’s shoulders. “Nights like this should end in a bang, don’t you think?”
Seokjin’s breath caught in his throat. “But I’m not-” He never ended up finishing his sentence. Taehyung’s best man Namjoon started off a short series of toasts. Afterward, Jeongguk got quickly whisked off by one of Jimin’s relatives from Busan who complained in a heavy dialect that he hadn’t said hi to her yet. With a matching dialect and an apologetic look to Seokjin, Jeongguk let himself get pulled off his chair.
Seokjin took this as his cue to go find his kids. He found Soobin on Taehyung’s lap and Jisu talking to one of the few aunties that Seokjin had actually met over the years. Of course, his appearance delighted them more than anything and he quickly found himself trapped in conversations with them as well. It wasn’t that he disliked them, they were very kind to him and the twins. But they were not all that convinced that Seokjin should be the one to raise Soobin and Jisu.
‘Kids belong with their mother.’
He had heard that a lot and maybe when he was a young boy himself, he had agreed. His mother had always been closer to him, more gentle, kinder. This situation he found himself in was very different. Kids belonged with the parent that was able to love and cherish them, the one that tried their best to raise them the way they should be.
At some point, Seokjin let his gaze wander across the room as one of the aunties told him about her own daughter - Jeongguk was already looking back at him, at his side, Jimin’s mother was talking to him animatedly. They shared a look of understanding, smiles tugging on their lips. Jeongguk hadn’t been wrong. Nights like this should end with a bang, with something worth remembering.
Soon enough, Jimin and Taehyung excused themselves to change into their third outfits of the night, before it was finally time for their first dance as a married couple. They looked stunning in their rhinestone bedazzled suits. If anyone asked, Seokjin only ended up tearing up because the sparklers that a couple of other guests held had blinded him - certainly it was not the visual of some of his closest friends slow dancing while the speakers thrummed ‘my heart is beating ‘cause of you’.
“I saw you cry, you know,” Jeongguk said quietly as he bumped their shoulders together. After the first dance, Seokjin had decided to steal the last bit of finger food from the buffet before they cleared off the tables. It was no surprise that Jeongguk found him immediately. They seemed to be magnetically attached somehow but Seokjin didn’t have it in him to be upset at that.
Grabbing a stray kimbap from his plate, Seokjin lifted it to Jeongguk’s lips, attempting to shut him up with food. “I did not. The sparklers were-”
Jeongguk made a disgusting choking sound around the food that made him grimace afterward. “I cried too, just a little,” he said around the last chunks of rice in his mouth. “My wedding wasn’t like this. We barely had a party, it was all we needed at the time but… I truly do hope I’ll find love like the two of them. So I allowed myself a couple of selfish seconds to weep. I think that’s healthy.”
“You are just…” Seokjin’s mouth tried to form words that his brain couldn’t deliver quite yet. He wasn’t quite sure how to say what he meant to say. Words didn’t always come easy to him. Jeongguk looked at him expectantly, his mouth slightly agape. “A breath of fresh air.”
“Yeah?” Jeongguk pressed his shoulder against Seokjin’s. Seokjin’s hand that wasn’t holding the plate, curled up at his side, suppressing the urge to reach out. He didn’t want to forget that they were pretty much in public. At least one person was probably watching them. He shouldn’t… “Like- Like when you’ve been cooped up inside and then you get out and you breathe in and you forgot that fresh air could even make your lungs feel this alive?”
Yeah. Exactly like that. Seokjin felt like his insides were burning up and being drowned in ice-cold water at the same time.
Jeongguk followed him back to their table. Soobin and Jisu were huddled together on their chairs as well, quietly working on the coloring books that they had brought. They were both moving a little sluggish, letting Seokjin know that they were getting tired.
As they shared the food that Seokjin had picked up, they talked some more. About the people that they met at work, about the habits they had from their parents, about that one movie they had wanted to watch but then forgot, about this and that. It was nice. No, it was more than nice actually but Seokjin struggled to find a word that fit.
“Were you in charge of all these floral arrangements?” Jeongguk asked at some point, pointing at the flowers in the middle of their tables.
Seokjin shook his head. “No, no, I was only allowed to give a couple of suggestions at the very start of their planning. I don’t know what florist they went with but Taehyung probably had a lot of long conversations about every single flower in this room.” He reached out and gently brushed his fingers against the petals of one of the ranunculus flowers. “They chose well, though.”
Jeongguk, too, looked at the flowers in awe, before his gaze shifted to Seokjin with a similar look of respect. “So you know the meaning of all of these flowers and all?”
Hesitating, Seokjin studied the arrangement. “These flowers, yes. But not of all flowers in general.”
“You’ll have to teach me. It’s so amazing.”
He bit his lip and nodded. He wanted nothing more than that. Well, there were a couple of things he wanted more but… “Yeah, we can-”
“Alright, hyung, you ready?” Yoongi asked as he picked up Jisu and let her rest her head against his shoulder. When Seokjin jumped and looked at him in confusion, he grimaced. “Ah, you haven’t been looking at the time, have you? It’s eleven already. You made me swear we’d leave at eleven, no matter what.”
Oh.
Slowly, Seokjin got up from his chair and helped Soobin pack up all of their pens and colouring books. Then he turned to Jeongguk. “I am so sorry, the kids need to get to bed and-”
“What about our dance?”
Seokjin felt like his heart was going to break apart. He had made Yoongi promise that they’d leave at eleven to get the kids to bed no matter how much Yoongi wanted to stay and flirt with Hoseok. But now… He looked at Yoongi for help, not knowing what to say. His best friend smiled knowingly and reached out to grab Soobin’s shoulder. “We’re gonna go on another toilet run, say goodbye to Jimin and Taehyung, and then we’ll meet you outside, okay? Make sure to bring the bag.”
“I will,” he breathed and turned back to Jeongguk who still looked a little like a kicked puppy. “I guess the end of the night is now. Is that alright?”
Jeongguk seemed like he wanted to say no. Seokjin wished he could. They both knew that wasn’t really an option, though. “Of course.” Jeongguk reached out to offer his hand to him. “Let’s go.”
When they made it to the dancefloor, the song that had been playing ended, and a new one started, making Jeongguk’s smile light up in recognition. Seokjin gently placed one hand on Jeongguk’s lower back, his other hand gripping onto Jeongguk’s. “Is this a Taylor Swift song?”
Jeongguk cocked his head. “Why? Are you a hater?”
With a snort, Seokjin started dancing, pulling Jeongguk along with him. “I don’t know enough songs to have an opinion, really.”
“Good,” Jeongguk replied, pulling away so that he could twirl Seokjin. “This is a perfect one.”
“Why?”
Humming, Jeongguk began to sing along. “Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close?” Seokjin couldn’t help but be starstruck by the way Jeongguk’s lips formed around the English words. “I don’t know, I just like the song.”
“I-” Once again, words seemed to fail Seokjin. There was so much he wanted to convey, so much Jeongguk needed to know, but all they had left was this song, this dance. How was he supposed to find the words in time?
Jeongguk’s hand on his shoulder wandered up to softly tug at Seokjin’s ear. “Hey, no. Don’t treat this like a goodbye, you’re making this all sad.” When Seokjin only looked at him with wide eyes, Jeongguk smiled and leaned in close. “This might be the end of our night but it’s the start of… whatever we want it to be. You said it yourself, I still have so much life left to live.” The ‘and I want you to be in it’ was left unspoken but Seokjin could feel it reverberating through his body.
It was silly. They had only met tonight, had only spent a couple of hours together. But Jeongguk was right. This felt like it was more than tonight.
So Seokjin let himself live in the moment, let himself be twirled by Jeongguk until he was dizzy and giggling. He watched as Jeongguk smiled brightly at him, when he sang “At every table, I’ll save you a seat” and acted like his heart didn’t feel like it was beating right out of his chest.
And when their dance ended, he didn’t feel as heartbroken as he did when it started. He quickly hurried over to Jimin and Taehyung to hug them goodbye, before he ended up right where they had started. At their table.
He pulled a pen out of their bag and scribbled his phone number on a clean napkin. With a shy smile, he handed it to Jeongguk who instantly slid it into the pocket of his suit jacket. “Text me. Or call me. Anything really.”
“I will.” Jeongguk pulled him into a hug and even though they had just danced for an entire song, Seokjin’s knees wobbled. This was not the end, he reminded himself. “Thank you for the lovely evening.”
“Thank you as well,” Seokjin replied, slowly stepping back. He glanced over to the floral arrangement on their table. Quickly, he reached out and pulled one of the flowers out. “This is for you. It’s a Gardenia.”
With wide eyes, Jeongguk looked at the white flower, a big grin etched on his lips. “What does it mean?”
Smiling, Seokjin leaned in to press a soft kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek. “Look it up and text me when you know. Goodnight.”
“Okay, goodnight.” Jeongguk breathed and watched as Seokjin grabbed the bag and started to walk away. Then, just before Seokjin got out of earshot, he said, “You know, that’s only gonna take me like two seconds on Naver, right?”
Laughing, Seokjin only shook his head as he kept walking. When he made it to where Yoongi and the kids were waiting for him, he was still smiling. He knew Yoongi would tease him endlessly about tonight.
And yeah, maybe he already felt his phone buzz in his pocket with a new text message as they climbed into the car.