Chapter Text
“Yoongi-ah!” Namjoon calls from behind him, Yoongi looking up from his phone to look for him.
“Ah, good morning,” Yoongi smiles faintly once Namjoon skips over to him, sighing when he gets back to normal walking.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“As well as I remember,” Yoongi shoves his phone into his back pocket, now mainly focusing on Namjoon. His friend nods, his lips lifted into a smile as they walked to their campus.
Yoongi, 19 years old as of 2019, was a student majoring in Broadcasting and Entertainment in a well-known university. Namjoon, who was his childhood friend, enrolled in the same school and major as him after he graduated, without knowing he went there.
Whenever they meet each other on the road, they’d simply walk together to campus and class. In rare occasions, they’d meet up at their houses and walk there. It was always a fun time when Namjoon is talking, especially with his daily chaos in the morning.
“Anything happen this morning?”
“My brother was being an asshole again,” Namjoon groans, clutching his laptop bag straps with his thumbs as he stares into the sky. Yoongi hums in response, running a hand through his hair as he looks at his friend.
“He actually decided to hide my laptop, making me panic looking around for it. Like, he could’ve hid anything! But he chose my laptop??” Yoongi chuckles as he listens to him rant, expressing his filled anger with his hands. The older turns his head to look into the sky as well, now more than knowing why his friend was staring at the fun shaped clouds.
Now, Yoongi has never met this depicted asshole of a brother before. Even though he went over to Namjoon’s multiple times, it was only ever when his sibling was out of the house, making him eternally curious on who he is. He didn’t even know his name! Namjoon has never mentioned his name before, only ever calling him rude nicknames. Why is his brother such a secret?
They both reach the university eventually, Namjoon’s rant stopped by then, now just talking about whatever he could think of before he heads off to class. Yoongi answered every time he could, but he could only think of so many responses.
“Oh yeah, I forgot to ask, are you up to go out this week? Saturday.”
“Sure, we can plan later tonight.”
“I’ll see you later then, bye Yoongles!” Namjoon waves with a bright smile, Yoongi returning it with one that was smaller but equally as bright as they part ways for class.
—————————
Well.. Yoongi didn’t know what to expect, exactly.
When Namjoon texted him saying that he’s outside, he expected a person at his door, nothing else. A person was at his door, but with an unexpected participant waiting in a red car behind him. Someone he didn’t recognise. It was weird to assume someone who was waiting outside his place was immediately for him, but no one that he knows waits on the road like that, so..
“Thought you said I’d be driving, like usual.”
“Yeah, change of plans. My brother needed to head to the shops as well, so he just thought it’s more conventional this way,” Namjoon looked bummed about it, his hands in his pockets while side eyeing the car behind him. Yoongi peeks over his shoulder, maybe to take a glance at the driver, but the windows were tinted, so he couldn’t see anything but a dark silhouette.
“Anyway, you ready to go?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Yoongi hangs his car keys on the racks next to his front door, fixing his jacket before walking with Namjoon to the car. His friend takes the front seat while he takes the back, being cautious of anything that would be recklessly placed and likely to be stepped on.
“Took you long enough,” a different voice says, clicking off his phone and putting it on the phone holder next to a screen. Namjoon rolls his eyes, putting on his seatbelt and looks at himself in the rear view mirror to fix his hair.
“Oh, Yoongi, Hoseok. Hoseok, Yoongi,” the driver’s eyes moves to him slowly, sending a short shiver down his spine. Is it weird that he was intimidating?
“Nice to meet you, thank you for dealing with this nerd,” Namjoon protests when Hoseok pokes his side, a mischievous grin on his face as he keeps a hand on the wheel and one on his brother’s shoulder. But Yoongi was only focused on one thing.
Hoseok was.. hot. Weirdly hot. Only weirdly because he was his friend’s older brother.
He was dressed casually, just wearing a black tank top with a varsity jacket that was decorated with different tags and grey jeans. His fingers were littered with rings, wrists covered in an obviously expensive watch and different bracelets. He wore a cap backwards, keeping his bangs hidden from the world, only his sideburns stayed visible.
Hoseok clicks on a few buttons on the virtual screen installed in the car, playing a song that Yoongi knows like the back of his hand. A rap song.
Good music taste as well? Who is this guy and why does Yoongi love him already?
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Hoseok starts, making Yoongi look up from his distraction, to look at the rearview mirror, only to get chills when the man’s eyes flickered to his for a split second before switching on the road.
“I’ve heard a lot about you too.”
“Really? What did Namjoon say about me?”
Yoongi stayed quiet, looking at Namjoon who was looking at him back with a neutral expression, but he just knew that underneath he screamed at him to stay quiet. So he did.
“Nothing much,” Hoseok nods, humming along the tune of the melody that was filling the otherwise quiet car.
—————————
“Alright, don’t do anything stupid,” Hoseok warns, pointing to both of them with his index finger. The duo nods, Namjoon more savagely while Yoongi more calmly as Hoseok flashes a brief smile and heads off with his own quests to complete. After the man disappears into a shop, Namjoon lets out a loud breath.
“Well, at least you met my brother now,” Namjoon snorts, fixing the bag that was slung around his shoulders while Yoongi huffs, nodding quietly.
“What’s with the look on your face?” The younger points out, placing a hand on the older’s shoulder, who practically jumps out of his soul with the sudden contact.
“Your brother’s hot.”
“Okay, first off, gross, second off, what?” Namjoon looked dumbfounded at the answer, already walking off while dragging his friend with him, who was willingly following along.
“Is he popular?”
“Pfft, no. If anything, he’s more of a nerd than me,” Yoongi stares at him with a raised eyebrow, gaining him an offended look. “You don’t think so?”
“You, quite literally, gushed over a garage kit that you saw in a display store.”
“That was one time!” Namjoon exclaims, his arms flaying around Yoongi while he giggles under his breath.
“Yeah, a time that was a week ago,” the younger shushes him desperately, muttering sweet nothings and yanking on his jacket while he laughs, placing an arm around Namjoon and fidgeting with his bag strap.
“Aish, you’re gonna ruin my jacket,” Yoongi brushes off the hand that was still gripping his fairly pricey jacket tightly, which loosened immediately as soon as he said something.
“Is there any reason why you wanted to hang out?”
“No, just wanted to,” Yoongi snorts at the response, looking around the stores that covered the entire building, trying to remember what shops that he liked in this mall. He doesn’t frequent it, so the layout is still a blur.
“Oh, they opened up a new bookstore on the highest floor. Wanna go check it out?” The word bookstore interested Yoongi a little too fast, his head whipping towards his friend freakishly quick, even backing his head away a bit. And that’s how the duo made a very short path to the new bookstore, now discovered is actually one that Yoongi frequents. Which is also his supposed favourite.
The two stands outside of the big entrance, staring at it like it was a bear. It’s intimidating to enter such a prestigious looking shop, even though it was only filled with books and stationery. Their products are top-notch, often coming from high rated brands that actually work smoothly. That’s why Yoongi liked it so much.
“Is there anything you’re looking for?” Namjoon nudges him, noticing the lovestruck look whenever his senior tries different pens.
“New notebooks,” Yoongi answered, clicking a pen’s handle after signing the test paper given. “Also new pens, mainly blue,” Namjoon nods, grabbing a black pen that sat in the wrong section. He briefly tests it, and puts it back in its proper place.
They both go through the bookstore, occasionally stopping at novels to flip through and choosing between different designs of notebooks. None that Yoongi attached to, since the ones he looks for are mainly one colour. And it felt out of place to be attached to a certain colour. Especially for notebooks.
Namjoon trailed behind him while reading through a book’s summary, seemingly interested as he nods and flips open the unsealed book. Yoongi was in front of him by a few steps, brushing his knuckles against books of different ages. Some were yellowing, some were still off-white.
“You’re interested into thriller?” A deep voice asks, startling Yoongi as he looks in front of him to see Hoseok leaning against the shelf with a small smirk on his face.
“Typically. I only read when I’m really bored.”
“Really? Well you should really read this one,” Hoseok points to a book that was next to the one that Yoongi had read, the cover being a girl climbing out of a river with a dark atmosphere. It was titled ‘Into The Sublime’, and it seemed.. quite interesting. “I think it’s really well written.”
Yoongi hums in acknowledgment, flipping it with careful movements to read the summary. “It uses that one psychological thought process, what is it called again?”
“The Trolley Problem?”
“Yeah, that. The ending is kind of anti-climactic, but I think you’d like it,” Hoseok winks. He briefly flips his hat to fix his hair, running a quick hand through it and putting it back on with swift movements.
Damn, his hair looks soft.
“Ah, Hoseok!” Namjoon yells, walking towards the two with big footsteps. Yoongi turns towards the younger, the older simply looking up with an unamused expression. “Stop flirting with Yoongi.”
“Not flirting, just talking,” Hoseok’s eyes flick towards Yoongi—who caught it immediately—and back to his brother, straightening his posture to cross his arms cockily.
“Whatever you say..” Namjoon trails off, looking at his friend for confirmation, who nods in reassurance.
“I’ll see both of you later, I still need to do my business,” Hoseok fixes his jacket before walking off, waving at Yoongi with a faint smile on his face. Namjoon seemed weirded out at the actions, but shrugs it off.
They both walk out of the bookstore with a small plastic bag with their things, pens hitting against each other and the plastic bag rustling becomes a frequent in Yoongi’s ears. He flips through the notebook that he chose, relishing in the smell of a new book in his hands.
“What were you two talking about?“ Namjoon asks, hands behind his head and eyes closed as he walks blindly along, the question implying the conversation that he caught his brother and his best friend was having.
“Just a book he recommended.”
“Is that why you bought a new novel?” The younger opens an eye and points to the extra book that stays sealed in the bag, Yoongi’s focus still on the empty book.
“Maybe,” he simply replies. His friend nods, humming a short tune that was echoing through the building.
Multiple different arguments between things later, they both walk down the hallway of fashion shops with a shared lemonade cup in Namjoon’s hand, both of them looking around the outlets that piqued their interest. There were stores that sold cooler streetwear, apparently ones that Hoseok has shopped at, informed by Namjoon.
They both walk into a more stylish shop, walls painted with different mythical creatures while Namjoon checks out their pants. Yoongi simply stares at the ones he picks out, nodding while sipping on the drink.
Yoongi doesn’t need more clothes. Honestly he’s perfectly fine with what he has right now. But also because he doesn’t go out very often, so his good clothes are just there to collect dust and for special occasions. He’s a working student, he doesn’t have time for walking all year, unlike someone he knows.
Namjoon makes a noise, pulling out a black pair that seemed intricate, a big blue dragon wrapping around the entire article. There were some wave details following the pattern, scales covered every possible space around the creature while some other smaller accents like swirls and sparkles stayed near the hips and ends. To be honest, it caught Yoongi’s attention as soon as he grabbed it.
“Damn, this is nice. I think you’d look good in it,” Namjoon holds the piece in front of him, overlaying it with the older’s lower body while squinting. He makes an approving expression, nodding faint as he straightens.
“Wanna try it?” Yoongi asks, biting on the straw of the drink.
“You try it, I’ll find something else,” Namjoon hands him the article, his arm suddenly full because of the slightly heavy piece. Yoongi stares at it for a minute, handing the drink to his friend, who was eyeing a different piece, and heads to the given fitting room. To say he was starstruck was an understatement.
The store itself was a detailed piece of illustration, many murals filled the top of shelves and walls. Even the logo seemed like it came from a museum. The fitting room was also filled to the top with paintings, the wall telling a story of its own with bright and dull colours. Even the corner of mirrors in the small space were painted to have a mesmerising frame. Yoongi spent at least another minute or two just staring at the paintings.
But eventually getting out of his trance, he quickly tries on the pair of pants, careful not to accidentally tug on the strings of the design.
He stares at himself in the mirror, his eyes following the entire print on his legs. His baggy shirt covers the top a little, so he pulls it up. The waistband hugs on his hips tightly, the bottom flares out and overlays his shoes. The design folds a bit by the end, but that would be expected.
The colour blue looked good on him, he thought. It contrasts well with the overall black that he wears, even having some similar colours as accents that really compliments the focal point of the design. He wonders how would Hoseok look in these..
Wait, why is he thinking of him?
“Does it look nice?” Namjoon’s slightly muffled voice fills the space, startling him by a little bit before pushing the curtain aside to show his friend. The expression he wore was amazed, eyes slightly widened as he scans him up and down.
“Blue’s definitely your colour,” the younger simply praises, a cocky smile on his face while he spins around Yoongi to take a good look.
“You gonna get it?”
“Probably,” Yoongi shrugs, turning around to look at himself in the mirror.
“You should. Would add some colour to your closet,” Namjoon snorts, walking off into a different stall to try on the pair he chose. Yoongi watches him disappear behind a curtain, then turns back to himself.
Man, these pants make him want to stare at himself for as long as he can. It’s such an attention-stealing piece, every time he looks he notices more. He’s definitely getting them, might as well treat himself once in a while.
He changes back into his original pair, fixing his hair in the mirror before leaving the stall with the pair of pants draped over his arm. He notices Namjoon waiting, leaning against the wall outside of the fitting room while scrolling through his phone, even rolling his eyes and laughing. The cup in his hand was empty, only slices of lemon were present. His arms stayed clear of clothing, Yoongi noticed.
“Hey, did none of them fit you?”
“I liked the one that was in green, but Hoseok has one of the same print but in red, so I might as well just borrow his,” Namjoon shrugs, getting off the wall and stuffing his phone in his back pocket. Yoongi nods, already imagining Hoseok in the pair that Namjoon tried.
“Are you getting the pants? You seemed like you were in love with yourself in it.”
“Yeah, I figured I needed new ones anyway,” Yoongi fidgets with the waistband of the article, eyes trailing down the creature draped around it before going back to look at his friend. Namjoon simply smiles, his dimple appears on his cheek while holding a thumbs up.
After the fairly expensive—at least you’re happy, right?—purchase, they both leave the store with a new pair of pants and a new found interest in the concept of dragon prints. It was almost time to leave, the time given by Hoseok to meet up at the same spot was approaching. Namjoon drops the cup into a trash can, rolling up his sleeves to glance at his watch, frowning faintly at the conclusion.
“We gotta go soon, like 10 minutes tops.”
“Do you wanna go anywhere else?”
“Nah, let’s just go,” the younger huffs, brushing his hair with his fingers and shaking his head aggressively. Yoongi swings his arms back and forth lightly, both paper and plastic rustling against his legs as they brush against him.
They manage to get to their stop without many distractions, just a few stops by Namjoon because of display windows having something he liked. Hoseok was already standing there, hat still on but jacket off his shoulders and instead tied around his slim waist. He was looking at something on his phone, chuckling at something as he scrolls.
Yoongi stared for too long, Namjoon had to slap his shoulder.
“We’re done,” Namjoon drags his friend by the arm towards his brother, catching his attention immediately and turns off his phone. Hoseok laughs when he notices Yoongi’s eyes were still on him, scratching the back of his neck. Either by flattery or awkwardness, only he knows.
“Alright then. Dinner?”
“You pick,” Namjoon concludes.
“Yoongi-ah, do you have preferences?” Hoseok asks, eyes now on him while he snaps out of his yapping mind. He shakes his head no, maintaining eye contact. The brother nods, saying some things that he tuned out and was just following the siblings along to wherever they go.
And before he knows it, he’s outside of his house.
“Thanks for bringing me, Hoseok-ssi.”
“Please, just call me Hoseok. Hope to see you soon,” he winks with an award-winning smile, Yoongi’s cheeks already feeling warm while stepping out of the car. Namjoon follows along, wanting to give a proper goodbye.
“I had fun today, thanks for making time,” Namjoon smiles, bringing him into a one-armed hug while Yoongi nods.
“I’m gonna ignore everything that happened between you and my brother,” his friend whispers, Yoongi already freezing in his spot while the younger laughs and pats his back, saying his last goodbye before getting back into the car.
Long day today.
—————————
Yoongi lays on his bed, duvet covering all of his body while he splays across the mattress. He stares at the ceiling, wide eyes just fixated on one spot.
His mind was on Hoseok, thinking about how he was so.. flirty. Winking at him, smiling with those stupid lips, boldly staring at him when he spaces out. He swears he even saw him lick his lips while looking at him through the rearview mirror!
Yoongi groans, flipping onto his stomach while suffocating himself with his pillow.
Who knew meeting someone’s brother would be so.. confusing.
—————————
“Yoongi-ah!” A voice he’s heard a thousand times before calls for him, though not like the usual deep one that he hears every morning.
“Seokjin? What are you doing here?”
Seokjin, 33 years, was a colleague who was working with him in a cafe. He takes online classes in the same school that he attends, but only on weekends. So it was weird to see him on campus, jumping towards him with urgency. Or at least, that’s what it looks like. If he knows his senior well enough, it’s probably something stupid.
A bright grin was on his face, so Yoongi deduced it to be something that isn’t all that important. “Are you clocking in today? Apparently no one else is.”
Well, that is something important..
“Yeah, I have it scheduled. I’ll be there after school.”
“Gosh, thank you. I don’t think I’d be able to handle a Friday afternoon alone..” Seokjin slumps, a defeated look on his face. Yoongi snorts at the image displayed in front of him, patting the man on the back before he straightened.
“Well, I’ll see you later then. Have fun at school!” The older starts skipping the opposite direction, waving widely at his co-worker, who waved back with totally equal energy.
And, as he promised, after school and some disturbances, he clocks in at precisely 1:30, walking out to the registers to start serving.
Most were just regulars, wanting to try something new or their “usual”—which Yoongi almost never remembers—. Some were newcomers and foreigners, coming to try their most popular treat on the menu. A small portion were students, a few even from his school wanting to get by the day with just a cup of coffee. Oh, bless those innocent souls.
But, even with all of the pleasant visitors, there will, of course, be some that just.. hates the world. An hour into his shift, a customer started yelling at him because of overpriced merchandise. They were, labelled, cheapest in the district. Saying that 1,500 won was expensive for an Americano was.. ludicrous.
Yoongi leans on his elbows in front of the counter lazily, waiting for any more customers that want to order before deciding to go on his break. Seokjin was also getting bored, making hand puppets to entertain himself in front of coffee machines and making faces. The younger chuckles at the scene, turning his head back to the entrance but at least with a smile on his face.
Deciding to just slack off for a moment, he moves towards his senior’s little comedy show to watch. He noticed his presence almost immediately, but doesn’t let it deter his performance. It was honestly humorous, even making him laugh under his breath while listening to the barista talk nonsense.
The bell attached above the entrance rings loudly, both friends turn their heads toward it as the sound echoes. Yoongi stills when he sees who it was.
Hoseok.
They both lock eyes quickly, the man also freezing in his steps when he sees him staring right at him. But, extremely smoothly, he loosens his posture and smiles brightly. Yoongi rolls his eyes, walking towards the register after telling Seokjin that the story can continue afterwards.
“Hey, what brings you here?” Yoongi looks at him with tired eyes, eyebrows raised and a smile threatening to break the tough exterior he’s putting up.
“I wanted a coffee, of course,” Hoseok replies, classic smirk on his face as he pockets his phone. He was just wearing simple workout attire, yet it looked so dang good on him.
“Alright then, what can I get you?”
“Iced Americano, please,” Yoongi nods, typing in a few words to key in the item. “Anything else?”
“Hmm.. and your number. Please,” the polite plead came in delayed, making Yoongi laugh while ignoring the increasing warmth in his cheeks.
“Sure, maybe later. Your order will be out at the counter to my right, I hope you enjoy.”
“Thank you,” Hoseok simply says, basically hopping towards the other side of the cafe with how he’s bouncing with every step. Yoongi sighs, his shoulders loosening almost immediately once he’s out of sight. It’s tough to put up a “I-don’t-care” look in front of someone you’ve been thinking of for a few weeks.. and possibly have a teensy little crush on. (Totally teensy, whatever you say.)
“Who was that and why do you look at him like that?” Seokjin peeks over his shoulder, looking at Hoseok with a curious gaze. Yoongi shrugs, sighing again but exasperatedly.
“My friend’s older brother. We only recently met, but..”
“You have a crush on him? Ahh, honestly can’t blame you,” the older huffs, Yoongi jumping off his feet when he heard the word ‘crush’. When he turned around, Seokjin was already whistling a song while compressing a shot of espresso.
“Order for Hoseok!” Seokjin squints at the sticker with his name on it, his voice echoing while he places the cup of coffee on the counter. Hoseok’s hand appears in a flash, grabbing the drink while Seokjin was still holding it. He looks up to smile politely at him, who flashes him one of his million-dollar grins and walks out. But not before smirking at Yoongi.
“Wow, Mr. Sunshine there has an amazing smile,” Seokjin nudges, standing next to Yoongi with his hands in the pocket of his apron. The younger student stares into the distance, moving his attention to his co-worker when a hand waves in front of him.
“I know. Do you think—“
“Are you seriously asking me that?” The barista deadpans, cutting his friend off. “Yes, he would like to be.. ‘friends’. How old is he anyway? Doesn’t look like a day after 25.”
“Don’t know. Never asked. Do you think Namjoon would care?”
“Uhm, who is Namjoon?”
“His younger brother. Do you think he’d care?” Seokjin hums, arms crossed while staring at the front door. Some people walk by, some stared at the menu stuck on the windows, but none walked in.
“Probably gonna get bum hurt, but he’ll be fine,” the older waves it off, Yoongi staying unfazed on the counter. Seokjin frowns, checking his watch for the time.
“Wanna get dinner? It’s almost closing,” Yoongi slowly turns over, looking at him with the softest eyes you’ll ever see on a face. Seokjin almost sunk into his knees.
“Why are you looking at me like that. Now do you or do you not??” Yoongi laughs heartily, his posture finally slackening after that unexpected visitor. He nods happily, Seokjin smiling and laughing along with him.
—————————
Yoongi sat at his desk, bored out of his mind. It was 2:30 AM, everyone he knows is asleep or probably busy with assignments. He’s already finished with his own, surprisingly on time this time, so now he’s just.. staring at the wall.
His laptop stayed lit on the table, multiple sheets of paper, pens and opened notebooks laid next to it. He never really bothered to tidy up his workspace, especially since he always needs everything that was already placed out either way. Might as well make it convenient. A few small sketchbooks stayed dusty in the corner of his eye, already shifting his attention to it.
Well, he never really.. drawn. Whenever he does, everyone praises him about it, even if everything he draws looked wonky to him. That’s mainly why he didn’t make it as a full-time hobby, it was simply too high-maintenance. He only ever draws when he’s really bored, and it would only be little doodles.
He thinks about the pair of pants that he bought a month back, the mesmerising dragon swirling appears on his mind.
He sighs, reaching across the surface for the yellowing book. Wiping away and almost sneezing from the dust, he opens it to be immediately jump scared by his old drawings. They were all about three to four years ago, and all of them were animal doodles with a variety of birds, cats and some other. It was nice to look at all of them, even if they looked slightly off. That’s the beauty of art, after all.
He picks up the pencil that was next to his notebook carefully, already going off memory and sketching out with lines that fade out with every stroke. Every move he’s made was muscle memory, actually just going off with his brain being half awake with a lamp that’s been flickering faintly for the past few hours.
After about twenty or so minutes of just cleaning up his lines and fixing, he decides to finally finish the piece. The print isn’t identical, nor was he expecting it to be, but it was something similar. He stares at it for a few seconds, scanning his doodle with relentless eyes before flipping to the other page, without any idea of what he was going to draw next.
He stares at the empty striped page, gaze moving between each line while his hand sweats from holding the pencil for too long. The ceiling fan whirs loudly in his ears, his fingers spun the pencil around while trying to get his brain to think. He pauses when he thought of something. Someone.
He hesitates to put the lead on the paper, he doesn’t even have a picture of him. How the hell will he draw him if he doesn’t know what he looks like outside of his memory?? Well, not like his memory will be anything more inaccurate. Ever since he saw him that day close up, he remembered every feature. Every crease, every pore, everything.
Within a few minutes on auto pilot, his hands move across the surface methodically, his lines becoming more and more curved as he drew. He went by what he saw earlier that afternoon, the bright smile that makes him want to do the same, the eyes that he caught staring at him, the stylish choices of clothing despite it being a casual day out.
He barely even knows him, but he felt like he met him a thousand times before.
—————————
Yoongi exhales a loud breath, dropping onto the nearby bench while wiping off his sweat with a towel. Loud—supposedly, motivational—music blasts through the entire building, honestly making his ears ring but he ignores it. Jeongguk was still dragging himself up on the bars, his arms and back muscles flexing against his skin while he counts under his breath.
Yoongi was never the athletic type. He would prefer to stay in bed than run a few miles in a marathon. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t like being soaked in his own sweat. But even if he lazes away at home very often, he still has a prominent toned build. No one, not even himself, knows how, but he has it and he’s happy with it.
Jeongguk, 28 years old—mentally 20–, was his gym buddy and a professional coach for boxing. They both met on an off day, Yoongi finally deciding to go back to the gym after a few months while Jeongguk was coaching. Needless to say, his knuckles were in pain afterwards. They stayed in touch, the coach sometimes asking him whether or not he’s coming in today with a fun emoji. His response was always no.
“Yoongi-ahh, it’s so nice to see you again,” Jeongguk grunts as he sits down next to him, repeating what he said as a greeting when he saw his junior walk in the building. Yoongi snorts, running a hand through his soaked hair while looking at his feet.
“How’s coaching boxing?”
“Like usual; fun. Someone called me this morning saying that they’d come in for a session, so hopefully they don’t call out,” Yoongi hums, staring at his senior with raised eyebrows.
Jeongguk ends up talking about the days where Yoongi wasn’t there, emphasising his favourite parts while Yoongi giggles at his expressions. He doesn’t know how long he’s been listening, but he felt less sticky while asking a question. Every time he asks about something, Jeongguk just gets a new topic to talk about. It’s cute, honestly.
“Alright, you wanna box a little bit before my client gets here?” Yoongi nods, staring at his hands before flexing them and getting up from his spot. Jeongguk follows along, skipping towards the boxing area provided by the gym. Yoongi trails behind him, posture kind of slumped.
The space wasn’t filled to the max, having at most 5 or so people in a huge section. That’s how much Yoongi counted, anyway.
“I think one of my friends are here, you wanna meet them before hand?” Jeongguk pointed at a random direction, a person with long hair was throwing combos at the sand bag. The impact sounds echoes, hitting Yoongi’s ears. Better than the music, he thinks.
“I’m good,” Jeongguk nods actively, telling him to wait at a bench at the side while he goes to his locker to grab his boxing tape from his bag.
Yoongi ends up staring at the person his senior pointed to for the next minute. He looked.. oddly familiar. But he couldn’t see his face because his back was turned to him. Something about the build and hair spoke to him.
“Why are you staring?” Jeongguk’s voice fills his ears suddenly, scaring him out of his thoughts while watching his friend sit down and grabbnHis senior held his hand lightly, carefully wrapping the tape tight around his wrist and knuckles, the pressure being a pleasant feeling on his hands.
“Nothing,” Yoongi answers, watching the muscular hands work on his skinny one methodically before finishing. A spare hand signals for his other one, which he gives.
After the final wrap, he flexes his fingers a little before flicking his wrists, the pressure around his hands feeling comfortable.
“Tight?” Yoongi nods. “Good. Let’s get started then.”
By the first break, his knuckles felt like they were on fire. While Jeongguk was commenting on his form, he was staring at the back of his hands like they personally offended him, even though they were just throbbing with pain. Jeongguk notices, and nudges him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it, it feels nice once you get used to it,” his senior smiles, throwing in a thumbs up that slightly boosted Yoongi’s morale. He smiles back, nodding in response before following his friend back to the punching bag.
By the time it was getting dark outside, Yoongi dropped to the floor with a yell, breathing heavily while staring at the bright ceiling. His knuckles were feeling light, but once he stopped punching, the pain hit him like a truck. Jeongguk laughs at the sight, sitting criss cross right next to him.
“Does it feel nice?”
“Weirdly so.”
Jeongguk snorts. “Well, that’s working out for you. It’s getting dark out, you gonna head out?”
“Yeah, I have to work on a presentation due midnight.”
“Ah, good luck on that,” Jeongguk helps him get up from the ground, pulling him up to his feet effortlessly. Yoongi thanks him, tugging at the tape still wrapped around his hands. His senior grabs his wrist and quickly unwraps it, doing the same to the other. He flexes them roughly, his knuckles stained pink and blood slowly moving to other places of his body.
“I’ll see you the next time I do, alright?” Jeongguk smiles proudly, ruffling his hair roughly which earned him some protests.
“Haha, yeah. Thanks for today.”
“Anytime! I enjoy hanging out with you. Maybe call me if you’re coming, ‘kay?” Yoongi nods, a big smile on his face.
“Bye, kookie.”
“See ya, Yoongles!”
Yoongi quickly wipes the sweat off his neck in the lockers, taking a swipe of water from the bottle he brought and leaving swiftly. The gym was still brightly illuminated, making him squint when he looks at the roof instinctively.
“Yoongi?” A different, deeper voice calls, his brain already registered who it was. He lowers his head to look at who called him, even though he already knew who it was.
Hoseok, once again.
“Hoseok-ah, are you stalking me?” His senior laughs heartily, the sound filling his ears and sending his heart rate to the max. He could listen to it all day.
“Maybe, it can’t be all coincidences, right?” Yoongi snorts, rubbing his nose with his sore hand. Hoseok seemed to notice his pink knuckles, because his eyes moved to them and raised an eyebrow.
“You were boxing?”
“Mhm. With a friend of mine.”
“Jeongguk?” Yoongi’s eyes widen a little bit.
“You know him?”
“Yeah, he’s my boxing buddy. He taught me some moves,” Hoseok’s eyes avert to somewhere else, scratching the back of his neck with a small grin on his face. Yoongi hums, nodding at the response.
They both stayed in silence afterwards, now just maintaining intense eye contact. Hoseok’s eyes occasionally moved to his lips, but he chooses not to question it. The older seemed.. troubled. Or at least, thinking whether or not he should ask a question that would be risky.
“Alright, it was nice to see you again, but I have to head home now.”
“Wait a minute,” Yoongi pauses in his tracks, eyebrows raised by a little with curiosity.
“Your number. You promised it, remember?” The younger’s eyes widen a bit, Hoseok already pulling out his phone and giving it to him with a cute face.
Yoongi mentally melted.
—————————
Yoongi facepalmed with his table hard, forehead colliding with it with a loud thump while his laptop stayed on, the presentation that he has to submit stayed empty on the last slide. He knows what to include, just a full conclusion for whatever he was presenting for. Just that, he’s been working on it since he got home from the gym after a shower, so his energy was nearing below zero.
He really should’ve brought some energy drinks from the store. Not like it’d even help much, but at least it’s something.
He stares at the bright screen for a few minutes, his eyes blank and pupils shrunk from looking at the white screen for too long.
As much as he doesn’t feel like doing the last slide, he has to since it’s a solo assignment. He can’t ask someone to do it for him, and it’d be stupid to ask them to just do a conclusion slide. Just a waste of their own time and his, honestly. He musters up his energy, breathing in harshly and started typing away at his keyboard.
Adding a few PNGs here and there, fixing typos, summarising the content was all he needed to do before he was done. He lets go of the breath he was holding for maybe a minute, saves the file and submits it to his class teacher. He checks the time at the corner of his screen, three minutes before midnight.
He has succeeded procrastinating once again.
He sighs in relief, melting into his chair while he shuts his eyes. He mentally went through the slides, remembering all of the things he included and finally deeming it finished, shutting off his laptop before dragging himself to bed. He sneaks himself under the covers, already almost falling asleep with the added weight. But not before doomscrolling on social media and stalking people’s profiles.
He ends up scrolling for an hour, nearing two when he was forcing himself to be coherent on a post talking about physics. He stares blankly at the time, twenty minutes before 2 A.M. What can he do before immediately drifting off into dreamland? He hops off instagram and scrolls through his home screen, eventually landing on his communicating apps that he almost never opens. That’s why Namjoon doesn’t text but calls him instead.
He scrolls through many welfare messages, school announcements and scam texts, replying to some of his family member’s weekly check ups and recent Highschool friends asking to meet up, which he says no to. He doesn’t bother going through his archives that had a 999+ next to it.
He comes across a text at the top of his roster, sent only about 10 minutes ago. It was an unknown number with a cat profile picture. He almost swiped to archive it until he read the text underneath.
‘Hey, it’s Hoseok. You still awake?’
—————————
Yoongi yawns as he leans on the counter, covering his mouth as he keyed in a customer’s order. She stared at him with a weird look, but he just simply ignored it and told her that her drink will be out in the next counter, which she luckily nodded to and walked over to the opposite side.
“Dude, did you not sleep last night or something?” Seokjin asks, Yoongi could basically hear the grin with the sound of milk getting heated up in the background. He sighs exasperatedly, checking for customers before hiding his face into his arms. His eye bags were probably obvious this particular day, he didn’t bother hiding them when he took his time in the shower. Some people were staring at him like he was a ghost, but he just never questioned it.
“Barely. Spent a lot of time talking with Hoseok.”
“Hoseok? That hot guy that was telepathically flirting with you?” Yoongi nods, his forehead pressing against the hard surface while the barista calls the name of the girl that looked at him weird. He heard her briefly say thanks and walk out, the bell ringing in his ears.
“You should go on break, it’s still empty right now,” Seokjin pats him on the back, smiling with fondness before Yoongi hums, dragging himself to the break room while staring at his lockscreen. He takes a seat at one of the chairs, setting his phone down next to him before making a makeshift pillow with his arms and takes a power nap. He trusts that Seokjin will wake him up once his break is over.
But before he could even drift away, his phone buzzes aggressively next to him. He groans and grabs it angrily, squinting at his screen with furrowed eyebrows. His face immediately softens when he reads the contact name.
“Hi, Yoongi speaking.”
“Hey, I’m about to stop by your cafe. I have something to ask you.”
“I’m on my break right now, Seok-ah. You can tell me tonight.”
“Nah, this is urgent. I’ll see you later, ‘kay?” Yoongi was about to protest, but Hoseok was faster to hang up on him than to let him talk.
Well, might as well take his nap now.
—————————
“Yoongi-ah, break’s over.”
Seokjin shook him by the shoulder lightly, not too hard to kick him conscious but not too light to not wake him up.
Yoongi sits up from his position, his eyes squinted to adjust with the sudden bright lights. Seokjin admittedly found it cute, chuckling when he sits there, barely coherent.
“How long did I sleep?” The younger asks hoarsely, hair flying in every direction possible while his senior laughs internally.
“About 20 minutes,” Yoongi’s eyes fly open at that, his head snapping towards his friend who was still standing there with a neutral expression. “I know, longer than you expected. But it wasn’t a busy day today, so I decided to let you dream a little longer,” Seokjin pats him on the head, his bangs now visible in front of him while his senior walks out of the break room to continue serving a waiting customer.
After mentally preparing himself, Yoongi walks out of the room, feeling refreshed after splashing his face with cold water. Seokjin was just one-handedly compressing a shot of espresso, whistling a nursery rhyme before digging in his pockets and handing him a neatly folded note. Not a single crease, which is surprising because his senior likes to keep a lot of things in his pockets. Yoongi hesitantly takes it, looking at his smirking friend with a raised eyebrow.
Without opening it and being careful then ever, he slides it into his back pocket.
—————————
He shuts the front door behind him softly, sighing loudly before clicking on the hallway light. He hangs his keys onto the rack next to the door, slipping out of his shoes before making a very quick path to his bathroom.
It was honestly a very uneventful day, the only thing he actually remembered was that he skipped his classes because he overslept and Hoseok visited the cafe while he was on break. He assumed that he ordered his coffee and left when Seokjin told him. If it’s something so urgent, he would text either way, so no problem.
Without taking another glance at the vanity mirror, he closes bathroom door lightly, locking it with a click before sighing. He briefly pats down his pockets, making sure to not have forgotten anything in them.
He has a habit of leaving things in his pockets and forgetting them, especially pieces of paper or money. He almost forgot his earbuds one time, leaving them in the small front pocket provided for whatever reason. He doesn’t really know why or how he forgets, but he learned to get used to a routine of patting down his pockets.
And before he knows it, he finds the folded yellow piece of paper hidden in his back pocket. He frowns in curiosity, his fingers fidgeting the edges before opening it.
‘Wanna go out some time? If yeah, Text me. Hoseok.’