Work Text:
i. Game Loading
“Hello, my name is Kim Taehyung.”
“Jeon Jungkook. It’s nice to meet you.”
ii. Level One
When Namjoon first told Jungkook that he was finally going to get that assistant he’d been asking for, he had been over the moon. The company’s annual financial reports were due in a couple of weeks and, while they were technically Namjoon’s job, been dumped onto him. It’s good experience, Namjoon had said in a tone suggesting that it was anything but. Good experience my ass, Jungkook thinks bitterly and his face must have been more transparent than he thought because Namjoon is approaching him a few days later, forced grin stretching too wide on his face to inform him that help is on the way.
“So you get the brat an assistant but you can’t even find the money to replace that god forsaken photocopier?” is the mumbled retort from some guy Jungkook vaguely remembers is named Jumbles or Jimjam or something like that. His name could be Asshole (with a capital A) for all he cared. He was going to get an assistant. Fuck yeah.
But the man (boy?) standing in front of him nearly three days later looks anything but ready to work on financial reports. Dressed in what looks to be a neon green suit and sporting a head of lilac-coloured hair, this Kim Taehyung, as he had introduced himself, looked more like he belonged in a circus than in an office.
“Um, I think you’ve made some sort of mistake. This building is at 34 Summerhill Ave, the clown school is another two blocks down.”
Namjoon had left them the minute their introductions were made. Jungkook doesn’t need to put up a front anymore.
Most people would blame their rude behaviour on lack of sleep or stress. Jungkook is just a rude person by nature. After years of kissing ass to get to where he is today, Jungkook is enjoying his fit of teenage rebellion nearly four years too late.
Taehyung takes it all in stride.
“And dicks are supposed to remain in one’s pants but we can’t all be where we’re meant to.”
Touché.
iii. Trials and Tribulations
After a month of Jungkook seeing Taehyung in no less than 12 different neon suits, he finally convinces the latter to put on some decent clothes for once in your life holy shit.
Taehyung is lucky that he turned out to be surprisingly good at his job or Jungkook would have fired his ass just for the fashion abomination that was the pink and green pinstripe suit Taehyung had deemed fit to wear to the office the day before.
But not even a full 24 hours later, Jungkook wishes those obnoxiously bright suits were back, wishes that Taehyung would wear that disgusting pinstripe suit everyday if it meant never getting to see Taehyung in an Actual Business Suit.
The Taehyung that walks into the office the next morning is cool and collected, hair styled to look artfully mussed and wearing a slim-fitting suit that hugged his body in all the right places. There was no trace of the walking fashion disaster he had been yesterday and Jungkook can hardly believe they’re the same person.
Simply put, if one looks past the tacky suits and questionable hair colour and all the layers of plain weird, Kim Taehyung is smoking hot and Jungkook doesn’t know how to handle it.
His cubicle is suddenly too warm and out loud he thinks he says something along the lines of the air conditioner being broken, if only to provide Taehyung with a reasonable explanation for the beads of sweat suddenly rolling down the sides of his face.
The twenty empty paper cups found on his desk a mere four hours later would be the result of Jungkook’s lack of knowledge in dealing with his very apparent thirst.
When the day finally ends at 5, Jungkook makes sure to tell Taehyung on his way out to never wear proper business attire again.
“You do you. Don’t let anyone tell you to be something you’re not,” is Jungkook’s attempt to sound more like an inspirational boss and less like a hormonal teenage boy.
If Taehyung knows the real reason behind Jungkook’s sudden change in attitude, he doesn’t say a word. But he does continue wearing “proper business attire” from that day on, if only to witness Jungkook’s painfully slow descent into madness.
iv. Enemy Attack
Jungkook doesn’t know how Taehyung has managed the last four months as his assistant whilst simultaneously hiding the fact that he was best friends with That Asshole. To be fair, Jungkook didn’t really know enough about the other guy to properly classify him in the Dickhead category, but he was confident enough in his (in)ability to read people to make an educated guess. The fucker had called him a brat after all, and only the people who were in any way concerned with his paycheck (Namjoon) were allowed that privilege.
Jungkook is first alerted to this surprising new development when he returns to his cubicle after a particularly long and monotonous meeting with the company reps only to find Taehyung laughing attractively loudly with some guy who looks only vaguely familiar.
“Oh hey, Jungkook! Just having lunch with your co-worker here.”
Jungkook squints. Co-worker? He actually makes the effort to try and recall a name, any name really, before giving up and deeming the guy to be one of the bottom feeders since he obviously wasn’t important enough for him to remember.
“I should’ve known that the great Jeon Jungkook would be too high and mighty to notice a lowly life form like me. Honestly, I don’t know how you’ve managed to put up with the brat for this long, Tae.
And Jungkook is just about ready to go over there and maybe hold a private conference meeting with the guy’s ridiculously childish face and his fist before everything suddenly clicks into place. Brat. The guy had called him a brat.
It was JimJam.
“Jungkook, this is Park Jimin. You two have been working in the same office for the last three years.”
Jungkook wishes that Jimin would stop looking at him like he was that one expired carton of milk you always find at the very back of your fridge. He’d been pretty close with Jimjam, okay? It’s not his fault he’s bad with names, Jesus.
“ Jiminnie here has been my friend since high school. He was actually the one who recommended that I apply for the position as your assistant since work’s been a little hard to come by these days.”
Jiminnie. Jungkook tries to ignore the unpleasant feeling in his chest upon hearing the affectionate nickname.
He isn’t very successful.
He also isn’t successful in telling himself that the warm smile Taehyung directs at Jimin, the way he ruffles his hair and the way he so effortlessly demonstrates his affection for the other has absolutely nothing to do with Jungkook moving Jimin from “Dickhead” to the “he should just accidentally fall into a volcano” category.
v. Trials and Tribulations Pt.2
“Hey, you wanna come get drinks with me and Jimin after work today?”
It actually takes Jungkook a second to realize that the question was directed at him. Never in Jungkook’s life had he been invited for a drink, be it by his coworkers or his friends (although he didn’t have too many of the latter). Jungkook’s used to it though. He understands that in order to get where he wants to be in this world, a few sacrifices would have to be made. And he’s okay with that, he really is.
So when he’s asked to go for drinks with Taehyung and Jimin of all people, Jungkook isn’t entirely sure how to respond.
“Um. I guess it would be okay? I mean, we’re not staying out too late though, right? It’s still a workday tomorrow.”
Jungkook almost winces at how much he currently sounds like his mother. He doesn’t even know why he willingly shot down his last shreds of dignity when he knows the answer won’t matter anyway. Of course he would go. It’s Taehyung asking.
He had finally decided to stop being stupid and admit to himself that yes, he is very much attracted to Taehyung. He knows it won’t go anywhere, though because one, why would Taehyung even like a rude asshole like him and two, an office romance would risk his job and of course his job takes priority over anything else. So he puts any lingering hope for an actual relationship with Taehyung into a box labeled Secret Feelings That Should Never Be Revealed To The World (SFTSNBRTTW) and shoves it to the back of his head.
Maybe he’s still a little stupid.
-
It almost feels a little surreal when he exits the office at the end of the day and goes straight to the pub a couple of streets down instead of straight home to his empty house and a cold plate of dinner.
The interior of the bar is cozy, people still having yet to arrive and soft music playing in the background. Taehyung leads them to a small table in the corner of the room and promptly orders three shots of vodka because best to start off strong, yeah?
If you asked Jungkook when the last time he had alcohol was, the answer would be never. He’d never even been to a party for god’s sake, always burying his nose in his business textbook and completely unaware that there was, in fact, another side to university life.
So it’s only natural that Jungkook gets hammered only a few shots in.
After about three shots of wildly colourful drinks whose names were entirely unknown to him, Jungkook starts to think that maybe Jimin isn’t so bad after all. He’s actually a pretty good guy when placed outside of the work environment and Jungkook had probably deserved being called a brat on both occasions. On any other day, this should have been a clear sign to STOP DRINKING, but the atmosphere inside the bar was so nice and Taehyung seemed to be having such a good time and so Jungkook throws back another shot.
After the sixth shot, Taehyung excuses himself to go to the bathroom, significantly more sober than Jungkook, and that’s when the real shit happens.
“Hey Jimin-ah,” Jungkook slurs.
“Hyung. Jimin hyung,” is the automatic response.
“Have you ever noticed how pretty Taehyung is? Like take his eyebrows for instance—“
“Stop. Stop right there.”
And sober Jungkook would have been very relieved, albeit a little surprised that Jimin had put an end to what Jungkook is sure to have been a very embarrassing rant and preserved what was left of his dignity a little while longer. But then Jimin is pulling out his phone and opening the camera app and telling him to continue and Jungkook really should have seen this coming.
“Right, his eyebrows. I mean they’re so perfectly shaped? And they frame his eyes so nicely, you know? And they’re perfectly symmetrical and I don’t think I’ve ever seen that on any other human being in my whole entire life, you know that Jimin? Sometimes I wonder if he draws them on. They’re just so aesthetically pleasing and it’s just not possible that they’re natural, you get me? Maybe he plucks them? I bet he plucks them. Do you know if he plucks them? I’ll give you twenty thousand won if you can tell me whether or not he plucks them.”
And Jungkook is about to ask why Jimin is giggling maniacally from behind his phone because this is very serious business but Taehyung comes out of the bathroom just then and slips into the seat beside Jungkook, effectively shutting him up.
They do a few more rounds before Jimin finally notices the time and hastily throws down a few bills to cover the drinks before running out of the bar yelling something about it being way past Hoseok’s bedtime.
Jungkook doesn’t know whether he wants to kiss or strangle this Hoseok person because now he’s alone with Taehyung.
“So, boss, what’s it like not doing work for the first time in your life?”
Jungkook is thankful that his mind decides to have a moment of clarity just then or he might have said something stupid in his severely drunken state like it’s very hard for me to properly think of an answer to your question when my head is already jam packed with thoughts of how Namjoon is probably gonna dump next year’s financial reports on me again, and how nice you look today, and how I know Jimin is an asshole but all this fucking alcohol is making me feel otherwise and whether or not your damn eyebrows are plucked and I’m also calculating the probability that you would call security if I kissed you.
Except his moment of clarity is really just his brain-to-mouth filter disappearing and he has actually just said all that out loud.
He can’t really bring himself to care though when Taehyung smiles at him like he’s just told him the secrets of the world and not just drunkenly confessed and Jungkook’s mind goes blank.
“My eyebrows are perfectly natural, thanks.” is the last thing Jungkook is able to fully process before Taehyung’s lips are on his and Jungkook begins to realize that there are things much stronger than alcohol that can really fuck a man up.
-
When Jungkook wakes up the next morning, he is very surprised to find that he is not in his own bed. Neither is he in his own house nor wearing his own pajamas. In fact, he’s not wearing anything at all and holy shit that is Taehyung snoring beside him.
He takes a moment to assess the situation. He had been very drunk. He had been very drunk and accidentally slept with a coworker he is harbouring a very real, very big crush on. Said coworker may share these feelings as said coworker was significantly less drunk and still allowed recent events to happen. This may lead to said coworker believing that something more may come from recent events, something Jungkook is not in the position to give no matter how badly he wants to. The situation does not look good.
In Jungkook’s mind, the solution is simple. Be the ultimate asshole and leave the house before Taehyung wakes up. And that’s exactly what he does.
Sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to get to where you want to be in this world. Jungkook knows this. It’s practically his slogan. Sometimes some sacrifices hurt more than others.
This Jungkook has only just found out.
-
When Jungkook comes into work later that morning, he is greeted by a punch in the face courtesy of the one and only Park Jimin.
“He was the only one in this whole office who didn’t think you were a total jackass, you know that? Guess you had to go and fuck that up too.”
Jungkook is a little surprised that it hadn’t been worse. He doesn’t even have to go to the hospital.
He doesn’t have the chance to bask in the feeling of having working limbs, though, because his cubicle is only two metres away and he can see Taehyung working away at his computer, eyes a little red but a determined set to his face that Jungkook isn’t quite sure how to interpret.
He offhandedly notes that Taehyung is wearing the same neon green suit he had worn at their first meeting instead of the clothes Jungkook had suggested he wear all those months ago. He has the distinct feeling that this is Taehyung’s way of telling him to stay away.
Where the fuck is Park Jimin when you need another punch in the face.
vi. Game Over. Would you like to try again?
It only takes Jungkook about a week of tight-lipped smiles and forced small talk before he snaps.
“Look Taehyung,” is what comes out of Jungkook’s mouth after spending the last five minutes debating on whether or not he should walk the two steps over to Taehyung’s desk and explain himself.
“We need to talk.” This is the first time since that night that Jungkook has spoken to Taehyung about anything other than the weather.
“I’m not gonna beat around the bush here, I like you. A lot. But I’ve also dedicated the past six years of my life to getting here and I’m just not willing to jeopardize that for a relationship we’re not even sure is going to work out. I know I didn’t go about it the right way and I’m sorry for what I did. But I would also like to say that I was extremely drunk and can’t be held entirely accountable for my actions. And I realize that the last thing I should be doing right now is defending myself but I think you know by now what a dumbass I can be sometimes so I hope you can accept my shit apology anyway because I really miss our friendship and I would like if things went back to the way they were.”
Taehyung is silent for a while, taking it all in. Then he smiles, and it’s warm and just like the way he smiles for Jimin and Jungkook has no idea why he had been so jealous when it’s nothing compared to the way he had smiled at Jungkook that night before everything went to hell.
“Yeah, I get it. I mean you’ve only known me for the past eight months or so and apparently you’ve had this dream for six years. What am I compared to that, right?”
And here Taehyung laughs a little but there’s a hollow ring to it that eats away at Jungkook.
“I always knew you were that kind of person from the start so, really, it’s my fault for thinking that there might have been a chance after that night. And just so you know, I forgave you awhile ago but Jimin insisted that you, in his words, stew in your immense guilt for a little while longer.”
This time, when he laughs, it’s loud and unrestrained and Jungkook can’t help but join in.
And for awhile, things are okay. Or at least as okay as they can be when the smile Taehyung had reserved just for him is still permanently etched behind his eyelids and, for the first time in his life, Jungkook starts questioning his priorities.
-
“And on that note, this meeting is adjourned.”
Jungkook heaves himself wearily from his chair and proceeds to put away his laptop and notes.
“So, Jungkook, any big plans tonight?”
Jungkook and Namjoon had a running tradition where they would ask about each other’s plans for the rest of the day even though they both know what the answer will be.
“Nah, I’m probably just gonna have a quiet night in. And you?”
“Actually, I’m going on a date.”
Jungkook immediately puts down his things and turns to give Namjoon his full attention.
“What.”
Namjoon’s face is a little flushed and frankly it’s freaking Jungkook the fuck out.
“Yeah, Kim Seokjin from accounting? You guys know each other, right?”
Jungkook is very, very confused.
“You’re going on a date with someone from work?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Aren’t office relationships taboo? It’s inappropriate and unprofessional and could affect the way you work.”
Jungkook belatedly realizes that he probably shouldn’t be speaking this way to his boss, but the hope blooming in his chest is clouding his judgment and he can’t bring himself to be sorry. Namjoon doesn’t seem to mind, though.
“I don’t see what the big deal is. I’m dating someone and, yeah, it just so happens to be a guy I work with but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m good at what I do and that I’ve worked hard to achieve my place in this company. It doesn’t matter whether or not things work out, although I do hope that this does, in the end, the person I date in no way factors into how well I do my job and—Jungkook? Hey, where are you going? Jungkook!”
But Jungkook is already long gone.
vii. Level Up
“Would you like to come and have dinner with me tonight?”
“Why, are we supposed to be meeting a new business partner today? I didn’t get a message from Namjoon.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what? Is it a thank-you-Taehyung-for-being-the-greatest-assistant-in-the-whole-wide-world-dinner? Because I think you owe me at least six of those to compensate for the last nine months.”
“No, I meant dinner as in a date.”
“Are you drunk?”
“Nope. 100% sober, I swear.”
“Really?"
“Yeah. I can recite the entire Boy Scouts oath word for word if it will prove my honesty and worth to you.”
“Yeah?”
“On my honour I will do my best—“
“Yes. I would love to go have dinner with you.”