Work Text:
PODFIC
Duration: 21 minutes, 49 seconds
Size: 49.9 MB
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FIC
“I don’t believe in soulmates,” Yoongi said, hitching his shoulder to keep his overalls strap from falling down as he walked down the street.
HIs assistant Taehyung frowned at him. He was trying to attach his toolbelt and push his floppy blue bangs back at the same time, and it wasn’t going to end well if he wasn’t careful. “You can’t not believe in soulmates. They’re a scientifically documented fact. It’s like not believing in the ocean.”
Yoongi bopped Taehyung gently with the load of wood in his arms. “I believe in the ocean. I just don’t believe moving onto an island and staring at it every day would fit my lifestyle.”
“Oh, your lifestyle,” Taehyung said. “My apologies, Min Yoongi-nim. I didn’t realize I was speaking to someone with a lifestyle.”
“Brat,” Yoongi said, laughing. “Get the door, you disrespectful dongsaeng.”
They bickered their way affectionately through the hotel and into the ballroom Yoongi’s work order specified. There were a handful of people scattered throughout it, putting up various decorations on the tables arranged around the main stage. A wedding, Taehyung’s scrawled handwriting had said on the work order. An arbor. And there, up front, were a profusion of flowers. Waiting for them, Yoongi assumed.
Yoongi reined in his armful and carried it through the room, careful not to hit any of the decorations with it. Taehyung followed, although he kept turning to look at one corner of the room. Yoongi looked past, but it was just two people setting a table, not looking back at them.
“Hello,” a deep voice said, and Yoongi focused back in front of him.
The first thing he noticed was a pair of big hands gently holding what seemed like more than two handfuls of flowers. Then he took in the rest - white-blond hair, a slightly shy smile, and a pair of chunky black glasses - and felt like he’d tripped over his own feet even though he was standing still.
“Hello,” he said automatically. “I’m, ah, here for the arbor.”
The man’s smile widened. “That’s great! I am too.”
“Great,” Yoongi echoed, and looked back to the flowers, which seemed safer.
“Hello, hello, I’m Kim Taehyung,” Taehyung said, a giggle in his voice. “I’m here to help.”
Yoongi felt himself flushing. “Min Yoongi,” he said.
“Oh! Kim Namjoon,” Namjoon bowed awkwardly around his flowers. Yoongi bowed awkwardly around the partially completed pieces in his arms.
“...right,” Taehyung said after a minute. “Hyung, should I get the rest of the pieces from the truck?”
“Yes!” Yoongi said a little too loudly. “Yes, and I’ll get started here.”
Taehyung patted Yoongi on the back. “You do that,” he said, and left.
Yoongi took a deep breath and busied himself with arranging the arbor components just so. He snuck a look off to the side. Namjoon was sorting an assortment of flowers, most of them in buckets, across a couple of nearby tables.
“I saw the drawing of the arbor,” Namjoon said, his hands still moving steadily, “but the design is even prettier up close.”
“Thank you,” Yoongi said. The back of his neck, which had calmed down, went hot again. “It’s mostly just a frame for your flowers, but it needs to look a little nice on its own.”
“More than a little nice,” Namjoon said.
Yoongi smiled down at the arbor. “And your flowers will look great.”
“You don’t think there’s too many?” Namjoon asked.
“No, I don’t think so,” Yoongi said, although he honestly had no idea.
Namjoon ran a hand through his hair. “Jin hyung and Jungkook are good friends. Whatever I can do to give them the best wedding possible, that’s what I’m here for.”
“Oh, you know them, that’s great,” Yoongi said.
“Their bakery is next door to my shop,” Namjoon said. “They’re the best.”
Yoongi tried to focus on finding the right screws in his toolbelt and not the way Namjoon’s muscles flexed when he picked up a bucket of flowers. “It’s nice to be able to help friends.”
“It really is.” Namjoon’s smile widened. “I still remember when they found out they were soulmates. It was Jungkook’s first day of work and Jin put a hand on his arm or something and then dragged him right over so he could tell me.”
“Oh, soulmates,” Yoongi said, and then flinched at his own tone. “I mean--”
Namjoon laughed. “I know, I know, soulmates, right? But they really love each other. It’s very sweet.”
“There’s nothing wrong with soulmates,” Yoongi rushed to say, “I don’t--”
“No, of course,” Namjoon said. “It’s just--”
“Everyone’s so dramatic about it,” Yoongi said. “Probably not your friends, but--”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Namjoon said, laughing.
“See, then?” Yoongi asked, warming to his point. “What happened to just, I don’t know, liking someone?”
When Yoongi looked over, Namjoon was smiling widely at him. “Exactly.”
They worked in companionable silence for a bit. Yoongi worked hard to keep his eyes on the pieces he was assembling, not Namjoon’s capable hands sorting flowers.
He picked up part of the base to take it to the front of the room. Namjoon looked over. “Can I help?”
“You can not,” one of the table-setters yelled across the room, and Namjoon sighed.
“Jimin says I break everything that doesn’t have leaves on it.”
Yoongi tried hard not to smile. “And you don’t?”
“Well, yes,” Namjoon said, literally hanging his head. Yoongi’s fingers tightened on the arbor. “But Jimin can hardly talk.” Namjoon lifted his voice to call across the room. “He can’t sit on a chair without falling off!”
“Lies! Slander!” presumably-Jimin yelled back, and both he and the man next to him burst into giggles. Namjoon smiled, too, putting dimples on display. Yoongi was going to break this arbor if he wasn’t careful.
“I’m back!” Taehyung yelled, and carted the rest of the arbor pieces up to the front. “Do you need me to help carry that, hyung?”
“Oh. Sure,” Yoongi said.
Taehyung set his armful down carefully and grabbed the other end of the base. Yoongi made himself focus.
It didn’t take long to set up - Taehyung assembled the rest of the pieces, much faster than Yoongi had for some reason, and they worked together to connect it all. Yoongi got a little lost in the intricacies of fitting everything together perfectly, and when he finally looked up from the finished arbor he was startled to see the two table-setters standing next to Namjoon and everyone watching him and Taehyung.
“Hello,” he said, a bit taken aback, but Taehyung jumped off the stage and took over introductions.
The two newcomers were Jimin and Hoseok, and they were delighted to be able to help, impressed by the arbor, and maybe a little confused because Taehyung couldn’t stop flirting with them both at the same time.
Yoongi sighed and grabbed the back of Taehyung’s overalls. “It’s very nice to meet you,” he said. He reeled Taehyung back a little. “Is there anything else we can help you with?”
“Yes, we can help with the flowers,” Taehyung said eagerly, and Yoongi tugged on his overalls strap again.
“That’s actually a great idea,” Jimin said. “Keep Namjoon off the stepstool.”
“Again, if anyone is going to be talking about their relationship with gravity here,” Namjoon said, and suddenly his dimples were there again.
Yoongi stared maybe a second too long, because when he looked away the other three were all looking at him with matching intrigued expectations.
“I’ll just, um, the ladder,” he said, and backed away.
Apparently Namjoon’s friends were serious about him only touching the flowers, and Yoongi and Taehyung soon found themselves on separate stepladders, winding flowers through the lattice of the arbor and wiring them into place. They formed a bit of an assembly line, with Namjoon giving flowers to Jimin, who handed them to Yoongi, or to Hoseok, who handed them to Taehyung.
“Like this?” Yoongi asked.
Namjoon looked carefully at - the flowers, he was looking at the flowers, Yoongi scolded himself - and tilted his head. “Maybe more to your left?” Yoongi moved them and Namjoon beamed at him. “Perfect!”
Yoongi was saved from combusting on the spot when Taehyung dropped a batch of greenery, although fortunately Hoseok was there to catch it. “Careful!” Hoseok mock-scolded.
“Every battle has its casualties!” Taehyung shot back. He waved the flower in his hand. “You know what they say. ‘Some of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.’”
Yoongi rolled his eyes and smiled. Meanwhile, Hoseok and Jimin had both doubled over with laughter. Jimin was propped up against Hoseok, giggling madly.
“Nice way to treat my beloved flowers,” Namjoon said, though clearly not seriously. He picked up a handful of de-thorned roses and stepped onto the stage, handing one up to Yoongi. “At least one person here respects my--”
Yoongi took the rose from Namjoon’s hand and their fingers brushed.
It was like static electricity, but in his brain; like eavesdropping on a conversation in complete silence. One minute Yoongi was entirely himself and the next he was fully aware of Namjoon, watching/sensing him realize the same thing and have the same reaction--
“Fuck,” Namjoon said, pulling his hand back.
“Nope,” Yoongi said simultaneously. He scrambled down off the ladder and headed out the door, with Taehyung yelling his name more and more frantically behind him.
Yoongi brushed past two tall men standing in the hallway outside the room, leaning into each other and laughing together. This is all your fault, he almost said, but he wasn’t actually an asshole, so what he said was “Your friend needs you,” and he kept walking as they rushed inside.
Yoongi found a bench outside the hotel and collapsed on it, yanking off his toolbelt and dropping it carelessly on the ground in front of him. He buried his face in his hands, which had started shaking at some point.
Probably when he’d touched his fucking soulmate. “Fuck,” Yoongi said into his hands.
Someone sat next to him and he flinched away, but a soft voice said, “Hyung,” and Yoongi stilled, letting Taehyung put an arm carefully around his shoulders.
They sat there for a minute and then Taehyung asked tentatively, “So Namjoon…?”
“The ocean appears to have found me,” Yoongi said hoarsely.
Taehyung sighed and draped himself over Yoongi.
An indeterminable amount of time later, someone cleared their throat behind them. Yoongi didn’t move. He knew it wasn’t Namjoon. He hated that he knew it wasn’t Namjoon. He hated more that he wished it was.
Whoever it was had a low-voiced conversation with Taehyung, and then Taehyung leaned forward and said, “I’ll be right over there, hyung.”
Yoongi made himself sit up and look at the man sitting a respectful distance away: one of the two men Yoongi had sent after Namjoon. “I’m Seokjin,” he said. “Jin. Namjoon’s friend.”
“Congratulations on your wedding,” Yoongi said dully.
A flash of a smile crossed Jin’s face before he went back to looking concerned. “Can I ask - are you anti-soulmate too? I wasn’t there, but Jiminie said you both looked. Uh. Unhappy.”
“No offense,” Yoongi said. “I hear you’re very happy. But yes. I don’t believe in--” He winced. “I don’t like the idea of having a soulmate.”
“I’m not going to pretend I get it,” Jin said. “I’ve wanted one since I was old enough to know what they were.” He was quiet for a moment. “For what it’s worth, though…for a long time, I didn’t think Jungkook and I would make it, soulmates or no.”
“Oh.” Yoongi looked down at his hands, trying not to show his tangle of reactions to that.
“Was it worth it? Sure. But being soulmates didn't make it easy. Nothing’s easy.” A bit of a laugh entered Jin’s voice. “Unless you’re Jungkook, who has, ah, a more direct approach to life than most of us.”
Yoongi felt the whatever-it-was in the back of his consciousness flare a little, and when he turned his head, Jin’s fiance was dragging Namjoon out of the building by his elbow.
“Shit,” Taehyung said. He stepped forward to block Jungkook, and Jin and Yoongi both stood up hastily.
“Taehyung-ah,” Yoongi said. “Don’t.”
They all stood there for a moment: Taehyung, worried and ready to be pugnacious; Jin, reaching out for Jungkook’s hand while they both watched Namjoon; and Namjoon, meeting Yoongi’s eyes hesitantly and flaring like a firework in the back of Yoongi’s head.
Finally Namjoon looked at Jin and Jungkook. “Go get ready,” he said.
“Hyung--” Jungkook started.
Namjoon cut him off with a wave. “I’m fine. It’s your wedding day. You should be worrying about each other. I’m fine.”
“Taehyung will go with you,” Yoongi said.
“I will not!” Taehyung said.
Yoongi looked at him. “Make sure the arbor is secure,” he said.
Taehyung gave him a look that clearly saw through him, but he turned and followed Jin and Jungkook inside the hotel, each of them sneaking looks back until the door closed behind them.
Yoongi sat back down and waved Namjoon over. They sat in silence for a moment. Yoongi tried to ignore the way his skin tingled at Namjoon’s nearness. Namjoon still had some leaves stuck to his shirt, and Yoongi pretended he wasn’t charmed by it.
“We could just never see each other again,” Yoongi said abruptly. “People do that.”
“Absolutely,” Namjoon said.
They sat some more. Yoongi tried to work up the nerve to look fully at Namjoon. From his sidelong glances, Namjoon seemed to be having the same problem.
“Do you think we liked each other because of…?” Namjoon trailed off.
“I think I liked you because you’re likeable,” Yoongi said quietly. “That’s the problem.”
“Sorry,” Namjoon said with a faint smile. “You, um, you too.”
“Whoops,” Yoongi said, deadpan.
Namjoon laughed. Yoongi liked his laugh. Fuck.
“This is like when you’re building furniture and it doesn’t follow the plans,” Yoongi said.
“Does that happen a lot?” Namjoon asked. “Plants don’t like to follow plans sometimes.”
“More often than you’d think,” Yoongi said, meeting Namjoon’s serious gaze. “And then you have to decide if you want to start over, which sometimes you do, or see where the changes take you. The, the arbor was like that - it was supposed to be boxier but it just didn’t want to be.”
“I like how it turned out,” Namjoon said.
Yoongi looked back down at his hands. “Yeah. Me too.”
After another small silence, Namjoon slid a few inches closer to Yoongi on the bench. “Hey,” he said. “Would you like to go to a wedding with me?”
“What?” Yoongi laughed without meaning to. “Are you kidding?”
“It’s going to be a good wedding! There’s a really cute arbor,” Namjoon said, and shit, Yoongi could see those dimples again out of the corner of his eye. “And the flowers are okay.”
“Well, I make all my dating decisions based on the flowers,” Yoongi said, “so they’d better be pretty awesome.”
Namjoon laughed, and Yoongi wasn’t sure what made his chest light up at the sound, but light up it did.
“Let’s just start small,” Namjoon said. “Just…spend some time with me. See if we want to follow the plans or not.”
“Fine,” Yoongi said, sitting up straight, “but I have two conditions. One is that I’m not changing, you get me in overalls or not at all.”
“I will take you in overalls,” Namjoon said, and the back of Yoongi’s neck went hot again. “What’s the second?”
Yoongi leaned in and, when Namjoon did the same, Yoongi kissed him.
The sparks were still there, but they had calmed down a little from the first burst of intensity when they’d touched. It was…it was nice.
Yoongi pulled back. He and Namjoon looked at each other for a moment. Then Namjoon stood up and gestured to the hotel. “You ready?”
“I don’t know,” Yoongi said, but he scooped up his toolbelt and stood. “Our friends are in there, and I don’t know about you, but I am not prepared to look Taehyung in the eye yet.”
“I changed my mind, let’s run away and build furniture together,” Namjoon said, and they were laughing as they walked into the hotel together, hands brushing.