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Jeon Jeongguk appeared to him for the first time around last Christmas and Seokjin called the kid his Christmas angel because he saved him from some muggers. Jeongguk, bashful then (still bashful now) had blushed redder than the sucker punch to his face made him. “They were just kids. Didn’t know what they were doing,” he said, as if he looked much older than barely legal (he was actually twenty-four, somehow).
At the time, Seokjin dragged him through the back of the kitchen he managed to press something frozen on the kid’s face. Jeongguk looked far more scared of him than he did facing down not one or two muggers, but three. None of them were huge, but three-on-one was far more than Seokjin knew he could handle. Not that he knew how to fight. He knew how to take a punch, but he didn’t need to that evening. Jeongguk swooped in between the group and him before they had a chance to grab at him. They’d cornered him at the end of an empty street, late enough that most lights were out and Seokjin was sure there was no escape of a beat down and missing wallet.
He was about to chuck his wallet at them and make a break for it before Jeongguk intervened. Unfortunately for them, the men seemed more interested in violence than anything else, so they didn’t scatter until it was clear it was either a fight they wouldn’t win, or a fight they might win but with more injuries than made it worth it.
“You’re shaking,” Jeongguk commented, gently wrapping fingers around his wrist while Seokjin looked at him in dumb shock.
“I am holding a bag of frozen durian on your face.” Seokjin shook because he didn't know what would have happened if not for his rescue. Sometimes men wanted to fuck with him because he wears a pink peacoat and pink chelsea booties, but maybe they wanted something other than to kick him while he’s down.
Jeongguk took the beating - kicking and punching. Seokjin’s rescuer was built, and fast - but between the three, he definitely didn’t come out unscathed. He fended them off, and now Seokjin has a guardian angel.
He thought he put on a pretty brave face about the whole thing, but the next time he closed and had to leave after most of the staff, he locked the back doors and stood there in the alley for a long time unmoving. It was just him, the garbage, and a rat or two that Taehyung’s humane traps hadn’t done anything for, despite the fact that they all wanted said rodents gone but some people had specific ideas about how it could happen.
Then Jeongguk came jogging from down the block, waving at him. “Hey hyung! I got hotteok and there’s more than I can eat!” There wasn’t that much hotteok, and it was cold, evidence that perhaps the boy had been waiting around on him. It didn’t matter - Seokjin ate his piece and watched Jeongguk eat his until half of the insides gushed out on his chin.
He rubbed at Jeongguk’s messy face until Jeongguk froze and stammered out something he couldn’t quite catch, all distracted by that cute face flushed up in pink.
The holiday season was a magical time to meet someone and fall in love. It’s not that he was in love at first sight, but more that Seokjin knew he would love Jeongguk in very little time. He didn’t want to rush it, but also he couldn’t wait, perhaps because Jeongguk look as equally starry-eyed.
The first few nights of Jeongguk walking him home, it was under the guise of sharing a snack or that Jeongguk just got off work nearby, although he didn’t confess his occupation for a long time. All thin excuses, but Seokjin was so scared to go home alone for a while that he absolutely would not say no, even when he should have looked at how thin Jeongguk’s jacket was and insist that he not wait around on him, and after a couple months of late nights, Seokjin knew better.
It takes time for Jeongguk’s own confession: “I’d seen you before that night,” Jeongguk whispers. “During the day. Going in and out of the restaurant. You worked such long hours.”
“You enjoy watching me work from across the street like a little creep?” Seokjin pinches Jeongguk’s side. He’s so shy about most things and most people that Seokjin keeps it as light as possible between them. When Jimin stayed late one night at the restaurant with him and came out the door to spy Jeongguk waiting on him, Jeongguk literally squeaked and ran halfway down the block before he came back, cheeks aflame.
He lasted approximately three minutes of Jimin’s pestering questions before he excused himself. Jimin looked delighted, despite his lack of gathered intel. He gushed about “bad boy pretend Jeongguk” and his “beefy tattoos and lip piercing” and how he and Seokjin would be the “cutest mismatched pair.”
Seokjin hasn’t heard the end of it since. Jimin told everyone all about Seokjin’s boyfriend the next shift he worked, and then Seokjin suddenly had a lot of offers to stay late and wait on him to finish the deposits. Jeongguk spooked like a frightened colt the first time Taehyung tried to force an introduction and hadn’t been back since. Seokjin still doesn’t know where he works or what he does during daylight hours. He is a nocturnal companion only, but as the nights warm up and more summer festivities happen outdoors, his coworkers go back to their regularly scheduled social lives.
Partially because Seokjin threatened to start rearranging some of the roles in their kitchen if they didn’t stop camping out in hiding spots to catch Jeongguk.
One July evening, Jeongguk comes back around with two ice cream bars in hand. “Like old times when you used to court me with proper gifts - food!” Seokjin says, snagging the chocolate and crushed hazelnut option from Jeongguk’s hand. “Let me guess - BOGO?”
Jeongguk shrugs. “Missed hyung.” He is extremely red in the face.
Seokjin absolutely melts faster than ice cream in July. “Ah - ah, Jeongguk!” Seokjin gently kicks at his stupid black stomper boots. “Come back with hyung tonight. We’ll watch a movie!”
In the time they’ve gotten to know each other, they might spend time together at a twenty-four hour cafe or on occasion, the laundromat, but Jeongguk’s only been inside his apartment a few times, despite being well acquainted with where it is.
“Aren’t you tired?”
He is. He falls asleep before the opening credits finish. Jeongguk, because he’s a very polite boy, doesn’t wake him. He stays perfectly still under Seokjin where he tipped over into his side, head pillowed on Jeongguk’s shoulder.
“Jeongguk,” he murmurs, tugging at the hem of Jeongguk’s black baggy hoodie. He wears it even in summer. “Do you have a safe and consistent place to go home at night?”
Jeongguk spares no personal details if he can avoid it. He seems to be around just as much as Seokjin’s workaholic schedule mandates, and he’s usually wearing the same thing, even if his clothing tends to stay clean and nice smelling.
He’s offered a place to sleep before, but Jeongguk, skittish as a wobbly foal, bolts wide eyed every time. He would tonight too if not for the fact that Seokjin holds him there by both cheeks.
Seokjin holds him still because if he doesn’t, Jeongguk will never be still.
“Ah, hyung.” Jeongguk squirms, eyes avoidant.
“Sleep here tonight. If you do, you’ll get the privilege of my full breakfast spread in the morning.” Jeongguk keeps squirming. If Seokjin lets him go, he knows that the kid will still dart for the door. So he leans forward and kisses the tip of Jeongguk’s nose.
He freezes. “W-what was that for?”
Seokjin smiles and kisses his right cheek, then the left, just so they will be even in pinkness.
“Stay.”
Jeongguk waited night after night to approach Seokjin, and Seokjin waited night after night to put him in his bed. They dance around anything more than innocent; Seokjin boldly proclaiming he cannot sleep without hugging his body pillow, but he tosses the pillow right out of bed and spoons Jeongguk. In the morning, he wraps up a lunch for Jeongguk and tells him he better bring back his lunchbox when he’s done with it, lest Jeongguk disappear on him because he’s too shy for a repeat.
It’s easy to invent reasons why Jeongguk needs to meet him every day after work. Seokjin needs help with something, or even one of his friends needs the help. Over time, Jeongguk becomes more acquainted with Jimin and Taehyung, then Hoseok and Namjoon. Yoongi grouses that he’s the last to meet Seokjin’s boyfriend and Seokjin grouses back about how much time Yoongi spends working. Jeongguk doesn’t say a single word over dinner because he’s too busy staring into his lap until Yoongi thwacks him on the back and compliments him on his tattoos.
By the time they share their first kiss, half of Seoul seems to know they’re dating but Jeongguk acts shocked every time. “Well, we do spend all of our time together. And we do like each other a lot,” Seokjin teases him, well past the point of merely liking Jeongguk. He would make everyone stop the teasing if he thought Jeongguk truly hated it. He’s sure that he does not, though.
“But we don’t - we don’t kiss!”
“Not all couples kiss, Jeongguk-ah, did you know?” Seokjin punctuates said remark with a kiss on top of Jeongguk’s head.
“But!” He pouts. Jeongguk is so cute when he pouts!
“But!” Seokjin mocks him, smiling so Jeongguk knows it’s all for fun.
“I want to kiss for real!” Jeongguk blurts out, then covers his mouth. Seokjin gently takes hold of his hand.
“Well, I can’t kiss you ‘for real’ if you cover your mouth, darling.” He tries to pry away the fingers.
“Does hyung really want me to kiss him?” Jeongguk whispers.
“Yes, hyung has been waiting.” It’s been eight months of tiptoeing around each other. When Seokjin thinks about Jeongguk, he thinks about the night they met, Jeongguk’s eyes fiery and determined. He looked so intense and scary, and then the very next image that comes to mind most is Jeongguk wiggling around his toe shocks with a bunny smile, because he has to make those two images co-exist in his head somehow.
“Yoongi was right. Hyung really is more of a baby than anyone else.”
“Yah!” Seokjin reaches to pinch Jeongguk’s side, but Jeongguk intercepts his hand easily. He’s still blushing, but his smile is easier, more open.
“Hyung, if I kiss you, I want to date you. Properly.”
“Good!” Seokjin crosses his arms and sticks his nose up in the air to hear just the right kind of giggle.
“I don’t want to live with you anymore. I’m going to move in with Jimin and Tae, then we can date properly.”
Seokjin nods; Jeongguk is hardly living with him as is. He keeps a bag of things there and spends most nights in his bed, but. “If that’s what you want.” More independence for Jeongguk is more independence. It’s not a bad thing, even if Seokjin prematurely mourns the loss of his favorite body pillow. Hopefully they’ll work back to cohabitation in the future.
Details of his boyfriend’s past make themselves known over time; now, Jeongguk works as an apprentice in a tattoo shop. Before, he mostly worked as a runner for a couple of different dealers. “I wasn’t in too deep, but.” Jeongguk shrugs. “I left home pretty young and couldn’t go back, so.”
How long did it take them to get here? Seokjin tugs Jeongguk’s worrying lip out from his teeth to kiss him. It’s hard to imagine, and yet not. Their first meeting was an act of violence, a testament to someone who could protect himself, and yet since then all Seokjin has known is this soft and timid man.
It’s strange when the weather turns from mild to cool again. Seokjin’s stopped noticing the passage of time; it feels like he’s known Jeongguk for so long. He doesn’t remember what it was like before Jeongguk could be found lifting with Namjoon at the gym or their semi-regular DDR competitions between Hoseok and Jeongguk. Seokjin jokingly buys mini pom-poms to cheer his boyfriend on at the arcade, and a matching cheerleader skirt for use at home with said pom-poms. Then there’s whatever mysterious activity Jeongguk took up with Yoongi that he is apparently not allowed to know about, and Seokjin would be worried (just a little, okay) if not for Jimin whacking him and reminding him that the holidays are forthcoming.
They both work a lot now, but Jeongguk keeps his hours flexible enough to walk Seokjin home when he closes, despite the tattoo shop’s busiest hours otherwise keeping him there until at least one or two in the morning.
“It’s been almost a year, hasn’t it?” Seokjin remarks. This December, he walks home with his fingers threaded with Jeongguk’s and stuffed in the front pocket of the coat that he gifted Jeongguk for his birthday. Not a year of dating, but a year of knowing.
“Hyung. It’s almost Christmas.” Jeongguk bites at his lips; they’re chapped already, and cold weather is barely here. “What will you do for the holidays?”
“What do you mean? I plan to spend my precious time off spread across my gorgeous boyfriend’s naked body as much as possible. Maybe under the Christmas tree!” They’d gotten a real one the week before; Seokjin made Jeongguk carry it home on the subway for him.
“You - you’re not spending it with family?” Jeongguk asks.
“I am. You’re my family. You and Yoongi and Tae. And if Joon or Hobi or Jimin were in the city, they’d be there too.” Seokjin yanks him closer to kiss.
“But - hyung, you talk to your mom every week at least twice a week! She’ll be heartbroken if you don’t-”
“Shhhh. Baby.” Seokjin takes him by the hips. “I’ve waited since last Christmas to celebrate with you. It’s going to be us.”
The restaurant business what it is, Jeongguk waits for him patiently outside the restaurant on Christmas Eve to wrap up, despite Seokjin’s attempts to get him inside. He still gets nervous with all of his tattoos and piercings and leather jacket at a “fine dining establishment,” which isn’t how Seokjin would exactly describe it. Jeongguk’s even eaten in the restaurant before, more than once. Yoongi is gonna run off with his boyfriend any day now, and he’ll be down a boyfriend and a chef.
When they go home together, because Seokjin very firmly told Jeongguk he would be staying with him the week of Christmas like old times, they giggle the entire way there, swinging hands and almost running. They both have the next day off and then post Christmas rush Seokjin will have an entire week off when the owner shuts down for a break. Jeongguk can’t take the full week, but he’s got a couple days off too.
Seokjin covers Jeongguk’s eyes after they toe off their shoes. He gently guides him into the living room, and when he uncovers, “Surprise. Merry Christmas, baby.”
Not only has Seokjin added thrice the amount of decorations since his boyfriend’s last visit, including fairy lights all around the living room and balcony, but there’s also a stuffed stocking hanging on the wall with his embroidered name on it next to Seokjin’s stocking. He bought the matching plush white blanket to go with the pillows that Jeongguk loved at a store they went in together but wouldn’t buy for himself, so Seokjin bought them for his own couch. Was it a ploy to lure his boyfriend into spending more nights with him?
Absolutely.
“Yeobo!” Jeongguk gasps, and Seokjin melts. He’s only let yeobo slip a couple of times now. “It’s beautiful!”
When pressed for ideas for a potential gift, Jeongguk became predictably shy. Seokjin didn’t necessarily think he’d get anything out of him, but Jeongguk’s mentioned before how much he loves snow, how much he’d love for it to snow one Christmas. It’s not the same, but he knows his boyfriend will love the fake snow he put out on the balcony. It’s a combination of soft textures not unlike the white blanket. Those kinds of textures are of the utmost importance to Jeongguk.
He makes them hot chocolate and they sit outside on the balcony. There are lots of other decorated spaces and Christmas music audibly drifting their way. It’s beautiful and Jeongguk is beautiful.
Seokjin loves him. He loves the hands that threw a punch for him the night they met. That night, they were bruised. This night, they are tattooed with their initials on them.