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Yoongi is on a flight going from New York to Seoul when he meets Namjoon, and he’s so happy to hear someone speaking Korean that he almost forgets to be angry when Namjoon complains about him reclining his seat back too far. In hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have chosen America as a holiday destination when he can’t speak a lick of English, but Jungkook had bragged so much about how great the food there is, that he couldn’t resist (“Hyung, I swear to God, the lamb skewers there are, like, the size of my fucking arm”). But, alas, America he had chosen. And for the past three weeks, as he traveled from state to state (alone, because apparently Hoseok can’t commit to even one bro holiday because of his stupid dance practice schedule), he had struggled and stumbled his way through everyday life. Apparently the phrase “I’m fine thank you, and you?” can only get you so far.
Namjoon loves coming to America to visit his family when he can. His parents moved to Korea with him, but his aunt and uncle stayed in America. His English is near perfect, though he never thinks it's good enough, and he's gotten very good at navigating the streets. Going back to Korea is always a happy and a sad time at once, happy because he's going home, sad because he's leaving his aunt and uncle. Usually, on his flight back to Korea, he doesn't actually see any Koreans (either they're sitting in first class or they don't exist), so Namjoon is pleasantly surprised when he sees a Korean boy get into the seat in front of him. His positive feelings for the boy end within the first few minutes of the flight when he reclines his seat.
Because Jesus fucking Christ, Namjoon is a gangly piece of ass. It’s quite obvious to see, just by looking at his abnormally long limbs, that he’s the kind of person who needs a lot of space. So why is it that this dude, this tiny, tiny fucking dude, with badly bleached hair and too many gold chains to actually be cool, thinks that it’s okay to recline his seat that much?? And because it pisses him off, and because he’s already emotional from leaving his family behind, he can’t hold back an exclamation in Korean: “Jesus fucking Christ, dude! Do you think you could give me any less space? Don’t be such a dick!”
What he really doesn’t expect, however, is the death glare that comes shooting his way from the dude in response. Small, chocolate brown eyes meet his in a glare that is sharper than most of Namjoon’s old high school teachers'. And then the boy is speaking, low and gravelly, and his tone kind of reminds Namjoon of his mother’s when she scalded him as a kid when he did something naughty, “I’m sorry? You want to say that to my face, tough guy?”
Namjoon almost shits his pants.
This tiny, tiny human, much smaller than Namjoon, scares the living shit out of Namjoon. Why? Because Namjoon has instincts, okay? Growing up in America he learned to stay clear of people who can glare at you like they are about to end you. And tiny Korean guy has that kind of glare (and Namjoon is about 99.999% sure tiny Korean guy will actually end him). So, this time, he phrases it differently. "Do you think you could raise your seat a little? Please?" And it's a little strained, because Namjoon is tired and cranky, but it's polite and so Namjoon hopes tiny Korean guy will not bite his head off.
And if Yoongi knew that Namjoon’s calling him “Tiny Korean” in his head, he would be ending him. Right. Now. Because he’s a little bit sensitive when it comes to his height. But because he’s not a mind reader, and because he really doesn’t want to stress out the pretty flight attendant who’s having to deal with a thousand complaints a minute from this fat American dude beside him, he remains as calm as he possibly can. “Sure. I’ll move it up a little,” he replies sweetly, and then proceeds to push his chair back one more inch. He knows it’s mean, and he knows that he’s being immature, but he’s tired and grumpy and finds real joy in the glint of anger in the tall dude’s eyes when he looks back up at him and asks, “Better?”
Namjoon clenches his jaw, reminds himself to stay calm. Tiny Korean is just trying to anger him, he doesn't want to cause any troubles for the flight attendants. Deep breath in, deep breath out. So Namjoon forces a smile, tilting his head lightly to the side, and says, as calmly as he can "You've moved it the wrong way." Polite, calm, deep breaths.
Yoongi smirks, pumps the chair back another inch, “Oh. Have I?” Tall dude looks like his head is about to blow up. But Yoongi can’t find it in himself to care. He’s taking perhaps too much pleasure in riling up this guy. He tilts his head back and lets out what he hopes is an evil cackle.
Namjoon realizes that there is no playing nice with this guy, so he grins instead. He grins and he throws his left leg over the side of tiny Korean guy's chair and essentially into his lap. It's about as petty as petty can get, but, it helps him calm down. "Perfect."
And oh my god Yoongi is so game. Fuck this dude. He’s going to out-sass this dude for sure. “Perfect. I’m perfectly comfortable. In fact I could even-” And then he’s pushing the chair back even more, and they must look ridiculous, because now Tall Dude’s left leg is pretty much completely wrapped right around his lap. If the chair wasn’t there, he thinks, he would pretty much be sitting in this dude’s lap. Okay. He can work with this. It’s like a super extravagant game of gay chicken.
“I’m glad,” tall dude says, and his face is awfully close to Yoongi’s ear. “This is the most comfortable I’ve been all day. I could sit like this for hours.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“... I’m Namjoon, by the way.”
“Yoongi. Not that that’s any of your business.”
"Right, none of my business, Gold Chain." And Namjoon's breath is ghosting against Yoongi's ear and neck, it must be, considering how close they are. And Namjoon intentionally lowered his voice into that low tone he knows people like. It's almost like a challenge. (It's totally a challenge.)
And Yoongi’s swallowing the butterflies erupting in his stomach at the warm breath that is fanning across the skin of his neck. Come on Yoongi, he tells himself, don’t let this douche get the better of you. And so instead of letting “Namjoon” get what he wants, he pushes his body back far enough so that the tall boy’s nose is almost touching his neck, and purrs back at him. “Okay. Gold Chain. I’ll bite. If you get to give me a stupid nickname is it okay if I call you ... Daddy ...” Tall dude’s eyes go wide and his face goes pink and Yoongi thinks he might have a chance at winning this little game they’re playing. “... Long Legs. Daddy Long Legs. You know. Like the insect? Because you’re a pest with long legs ...”
Namjoon raises an eyebrow at that, licks his lips very, very slowly, and then grins, showing off his dimples. He's pulling out his guns, one by one (and he's running out of them). "Well, if that's what you wish to call me, who am I to say no?" He stops, as if he'll let Yoongi say something, but then cuts right back in. "Although, you do realize the connotations of that, don't you? Daddy long legs may be a pest, but rarely is one killed, and it's always around, no matter how hard you try to get rid of it. So, subconsciously, you're telling me that you want me around, that you don't want me to leave your side. Which, sure, I can do that. But, are you really ready for that kind of commitment?" And he drops his voice as low as it will go on that last word. If nothing else, he can always talk Yoongi to death? Probably?
And Yoongi very very deliberately turns his head so that he is looking directly at Namjoon, makes his eyes as heavy lidded as possible and murmurs out in a voice as low and husky as he can manage (and he’s pretty fucking proud to say that his voice is naturally a lot lower and huskier than Namjoon’s is, anyway), “Believe me, I can take whatever you decide to give to me.” And he’s impressed because, despite the fact that Namjoon can’t help the blush from creeping down his neck, and despite the fact that his eyes involuntarily creep down to rake over Yoongi’s lips and the deep collarbones that he knows are creeping out from under his baggy sweatshirt, he manages to keep his cool. His Adam’s apple bobs a little, but goddamn it, Yoongi thinks this is going to be a little harder than he first imagined.
Namjoon hums in response a few moments later. He's staring into Yoongi's eyes again, head tilted just slightly to the side. If either of them leaned forward now, even just a little bit, they'd be kissing. And Namjoon will not be the first one to move in or away. "Oh? Are you sure of that? You seem so fragile, I wouldn't want to hurt you." If he can't out-deep Yoongi's voice, then he sure as hell can out-tone him. Drop his tone, make it somber, make it deep, make it bone shaking. He can control his tone very well, takes pride in it. Let's see Yoongi handle that one.
And Jesus fucking fuck, Yoongi thinks, this guy is good. The kid knows what he’s fucking doing, goddamn it. He tries to keep the irritation off of his face and raises his eyebrow at the boy, jutting his chin up in a way that says ‘fucking fight me’ and drawling back in a voice that is almost teasing, “The only thing fragile about me is my temper. You’d be surprised at my stamina. Daddy.” In his head, Yoongi is laughing so hard that he’s almost in tears. But, like, in real life, on the outside, he can’t help the pink that he knows is starting to stain his cheeks.
Namjoon doesn't stutter at the nickname this time, but rather smirks at it. He lets the redness come to his cheeks, knows he can't stop it, and instead focuses on his words. "Are you sure you want to call me that on a crowded plane?" He pauses again, let's Yoongi open his mouth, before cutting in. "I just thought you might want to save it for when we land." And the words are rolling off his tongue and lips almost deliciously.
And Yoongi’s mind is racing because, holy shit, wait a second, is this guy really into him? Like, is he really being serious right now? Because, like, if he’s being serious, Yoongi is so down for this. But ... how will he know?? How does he figure it out?? Ah, shit.
Not really sure how he’s supposed to figure out if this guy’s really into him or not, he pulls back for a second, figuring it’s better to be direct than to find out when they land that it was all just a wind up. “Wait. Before I reply to this seriously, I need to know if you’re actually into me, or if this is still just like ... gay chicken. Because, like, I haven’t gotten laid in a while and I’m so in if you’re in.”
Namjoon, suddenly snapping out of the whole dark and sexy character he’s putting on, laughs and lets his leg slip away from Yoongi’s waist. “Yeah, I’d totally be down to do this. But I kind of have a rule that we have to have at least one date before sex.”
Yoongi humphs. “Ugh. Fine. So, no. You don’t want to do this.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Well what do you mean then?” And that’s how Yoongi ends up swapping seats with the elderly American man sitting next to Namjoon and having what Namjoon calls a ‘mile high date’, complete with horrendous airplane food and large cans of Red Bull, and many many puns from Namjoon, who doesn't for a moment stop being horrible. Not even when they're lying in bed together with Yoongi all but screaming his name. ("I told you you'd want to save it for tonight.")
And despite the fact that Namjoon is horrible, and he doesn’t stop talking Yoongi’s ear off for like one minute, somehow he still lets Namjoon take him on a second ‘mile high date’ on their first anniversary. And then a third. And then a fourth. And it’s on their fifth, long since the days of gay-chicken-on-a-plane and reclining chairs and gold chains, that Namjoon turns their ‘mile high date’ into a ‘mile high wedding’ (Yoongi knows nothing about it and is more than a little surprised when Hoseok jumps out of the toilet with a set of rings and a certificate of ordinance mid-flight.)
(He’s even more surprised when he finds out that the rest of their little squad have also booked tickets on the plane. Just as Namjoon and Yoongi kiss, right after they’ve exchanged some rather rushed, improvised vows, Taehyung pulls a saxophone out from under his seat and starts to play Careless Whisper.)