Work Text:
9am.
unlike every other morning, there’s no sunlight peeking in through seokjin’s small window today, that lies adjacent to the bed he is currently deep asleep in. the sound of a ringing alarm pierces his ears, but he doesn’t care to switch it off. too used to it, too tired to move his hand right to the table by the bed.
after what seems like an hour, which in disguise was just 10 minutes, the alarm song is replaced by the sound of an incoming call. he lets out a big groan as he picks it up, peeking at the contact name, unable to read it anyways.
“hyung !! i hope you didn’t forget about the date that you have in an hour!” jungkook’s voice is raspy as he speaks, and seokjin guesses he himself woke up not too long ago. he groans at the thought of the said date. it’s been a while since he has been enthusiastic about one.
“ahh yes, jungkook-ah, i do remember. where do we meet…?” his thoughts are hazy as we tries to recall his (one) call with his date.
awkward laughs, little talks, and a heavy heart that seokjin has never gotten the nerve to get rid of. a heart that is heavy with expectations, anxiety and a little desperation for simply love and affection.
seokjin doesn’t quite let it get to him though. he has been good at ignoring them for a while now, like a treasure box with no key to unlock it.
“hyung!! don’t forget, and give me a call once it ends yeah? it’s alright if you wanna ditch too, i am just one text away?" jungkook rambles, suddenly stopping seokjin’s train of thoughts. his lips pull up into a smile at the younger’s voice that seems to be laced with worry, and seokjin doesn’t forget to give him some words of affirmation before finally hanging up.
all the sleepiness finally wearing off, he rises off his bed heading straight to the kitchen- a dose of caffeine the first thing on his mind. if there are other thoughts that occupy his mind right now, he doesn’t acknowledge them.
. . .
putting on a lilac coloured cardigan over his simple white tee, seokjin looks at himself in the mirror. questions brood inside his mind at a sudden pace, clouds of doubt already hitting the roof. the last time he wore the same cardigan, everything seemed like a never-ending downhill. /he/ claimed it to be too soft for a man to be dressing in, and seokjin remembers scoffing at that. the past was a little too cruel for leaving a spot on all of seokjin’s memories that he wanted to frame, wanting for them all to be in the good- but now, he grimaces everytime he gets a flashback.
a wave of fear creeps into him- the fear of this date being no good than his previous one. seokjin almost decides to cancel out, but a little ray of hope in him contrasts with his decision. he takes a last look at himself in the mirror, before putting on his earphones and leaving for the decided destination.
everything around seokjin seems to be reflecting onto his past, like a dirty mirror that for some reason he doesn’t want to get rid of. a mellow beat flows through his ears, the singer going ‘and i know it’s long gone and that the magic’s not here no more, and i might be okay but i’m not fine at all..’
seokjin can’t help but let out a bitter chuckle at the resemblance.
seokjin wonders if yoongi would love to have a midnight heartbreak concert where they jam out to taylor swift songs under the golden lights back home.
he probably would make fun of his interests. seokjin erases the sudden thought as he wanders around a lane he is quite unknown to, until he gets a call.
“seokjin-ssi? uhh, min yoongi here !!”
a smile involuntarily makes its way onto seokjin’s face.
“yes? i’m heading to the cafe, just a little confused with the directions.” he shakes his head in embarrassment, already disappointed in himself.
“actually…...” yoongi trails off leaving seokjin tense.
suddenly there is a tap on his shoulder- and seokjin turns back only to let out a little gasp.
yoongi feels like someone entirely different from what he had interpreted him to be. although seokjin caught a glimpse of him once, from a polaroid of him with jungkook at their joint music studio, seokjin much more prefers the live vision that is presented in front of him.
yoongi appears to be much more smaller than seokjin in height, dressed up in a coffee brown cardigan, matching it with black jeans that run down touching his ankles. a small black beret sits prettily on his head, and seokjin is far more than endeared by this little human that is waving to him right now.
“hi !! it’s nice to finally see you.” yoongi says with a smile that touches seokjin’s heart right after, and the latter quite forgets the cloud of doubts that once gathered within him.
“finally ? oh my god has jungkook talked to you about me or something because-” seokjin is interrupted when yoongi lets out a small giggle at his rambing.
this is dangerous, seokjin thinks. the little ray of hope that pushed him to not cancel out this date, is starting to occupy the whole of heart, overflowing with admiration and just pure happiness.
“let’s settle down at our decided cafe first, shall we?” yoongi extends a hand further, and for the first time in a while, seokjin doesn’t hesitate before holding onto it.
it all feels like a dream for once.
yoongi’s hands seem small in comparison with seokjin- but his fingers intertwine perfecty with seokjin’s long, sleek ones, warmth enveloping the both of them tightly. cold wind flowing past them, but the two of them only feel the comfort of their locked hands against the rainy weather.
a comfortable silence envelopes the both of them, no words exchanged yet feeling peaceful for the next 10 minutes- as yoongi leads the way through different paths and seokjin lets himself be taken forward.
he really doesn’t get it. in contrast to how nerve-wracking he felt just thinking about having a date, this opportunity seems all too good for himself. he wonders if he deserves to be this happy about it? or it makes him wonder if things are just a facade to what’s about to come up ahead.
“we’re here,” yoongi speaks softly as if his words are dripping with honey, and seokjin thinks he could listen to the other for the rest of the lifetime, although he thinks it’s wise to just shut up for the time being.
the bells chime as the both of them enter the cafe, with yoongi holding out the door for seokjin, who doesn’t have time to react to it. they take a while to look around the cafe- all drowned in shades of brown and red, with different moodboards put up on the wall. the aroma of strong coffee mixes with the air, and seokjin feels at peace.
yoongi points to a table by the window, to which seokjin willingly nods with a gentle smile appearing on his lips. the elder moves forward without paying heed to what yoongi does, fumbling with his bag in an attempt to put down his airpods safely.
after struggling with the task for about 2 minutes, seokjin finally looks up, expecting to see yoongi already seated by the window- but that never happens.
yoongi stands there, pulling seokjin’s side of chair out for him to sit down comfortably. a gummy smile lighting up his face, a smile that seokjin wishes to treasure in his memories for the rest of his lifetime.
“is there something on my face?” yoongi asks with a confused look on his face, but seokjin only moves his legs that felt like jelly for a quite second, and takes the seat, offering a quiet thankyou to the younger.
“nothing….you look good !!” it slips off seokjin’s tongue without a thought.
he only hopes he doesn’t regret saying it. the blush that paints yoongi’s face just a second later only fills him with pure endearment, his heart fluttering as each moment passes by.
seokjin looks back at yoongi again, only to find the other looking down the window. the clouds look gloomier than ever- and on a normal day it would have made seokjin sadder.
but there’s something else that steals his attention right now. a kitten down outside the window, whimpering as yoongi peeks at it with the fondest eyes.
it takes him by surprise. this is the nth time he’s been taken by surprise today.
seokjin feels as if nothing is going his way today. when he walked out of his house clutching onto his lilac cardigan like his life depended on it, this was not what he prepared for. the cruel games of the past were a constant rewind to him, dampening his expectations for what was about to come ahead.
but yoongi seems to be calling an end to it all.
because all that seokjin focuses on right now is the way yoongi throws his head back, giggling like a little kid when the cat ignores him as it finds itself surrounded with small kittens.
after jungkook, yoongi is the most endearing person seokjin has ever come across. and seokjin has the strongest urge to do something, that could either go very terrible or would be a good ice-breaker to their already comfortable company with each other.
“hey yoongi, do you want to hear a joke?"
yoongi nods positively, eyebrows rising with curiousity.
“what did the cat say after making a joke?"
seokjin waits for a minute for yoongi to respond- and when he finally gives up, seokjin smiles wide.
“just kitten!!"
a drop of silence. and then, giggles from both sides like there’s no tomorrow.
“i remember jungkook telling me to not let you that you are kinda funny- it’ll just boost your ego." yoongi speaks sheepishly, the smile on his face never fading away.
“that brat!! never saw this day coming when he himself would admit that i am funny- the coffee is on me because only you could bring me this vital piece of information!!" seokjin holds his hand out a nd the other takes it willingly, enveloping themselves over and over with the warmth that the both of them seem to have never experienced before.
they spend the next hour chatting over different things, right from their professions to dishes on the menu they found uniquely named- which brings them here. when yoongi suggested that the both of them order a dish for each other along with coffee of their own choice, without letting the waiter give them descriptions about any of those- seokjin gave in with a nervous chuckle.
when the waiter arrives 30 minutes later with their order, the both of them dig in quite enthusiastically, not wasting a single minute fussing over what exactly the dishes could be.
yoongi looks over seokjin with wide eyes, anticipating a good reaction as he takes in the first bite of ‘apple platz’, the dish yoongi got for him. seokjin tries his best to keep a straight face- (he tries alright?), eventually giving in as bursts out smiling. the apple platz being a middle ground between both cakes and pies, seokjin finds it amazing as he takes another bite of it- nudging yoongi to try his dish.
seokjin notices how yoongi looks a little hesitant before closely looking at the bite he takes off the spoon. his face is completely drained of any reactions, and seokjin wonders if he should be scared or questions himself if yoongi just too fine at masking his feelings.
“it’s good….?” yoongi says, but seokjin doesn’t believe him one bit. his expression actually does give it all away, and seokjin only smiles. he’s been smiling too much throughout the date he thinks, a small alarming voice going off in his head.
“sweet, caramel, vanilla, peaches.” he repeats, while taking another bite of the fruit dessert.
“yoongi.” seokjin calls him out softly, the other looking up to him in an instant.
“you didn’t really like it, did you?”
“am i that bad of an actor?” yoongi groans in return, trying to hide his face down in embarrassment.
seokjin only finds it endearing- he finds everything about yoongi to be soft and gentle and endearing and lovely and a hundred other adjectives he doesn’t want to mention right now.
he has a fleeting thought right there, as he sees yoongi ranting about how he doesn’t like too sweet things, but didn’t admit it in an attempt to not let seokjin down at their first date itself.
maybe love is not just something that could end up breaking and burning everything- maybe it could also be filling up your heart with happiness you thought could you never deserved, maybe it was in those small little things you did unknowingly or knowingly for each other.
maybe loving yoongi would be quite different than every other feeling he has labelled to be either loving or loved.
they take another 30 minutes to finish off the food and the drinks, chatting occasionally and seokjin taking in more of the peach brown betty than his own apple platz. there’s a drizzle outside the window, and it only adds to seokjin’s happiness.
he has always loved the rains, making sure to step out of his apartment the moment it gets a little intense- standing under his favourite maple tree that stands strong a few feet away from the bus stop.
“do you have an umbrella, seokjin-hyung?” yoongi asks as the both of them finally step out of the cafe, hesitant and slow.
seokjin is quick to answer with a disagreeing nod, wanting to tell the other about how the only thing that he shared commonly with his ex-boyfriend was their love for the rains- the only thing that kept seokjin hold onto that relationship for the longest time.
and he would have almost blurted it all out. but yoongi speaks like the exceptional human he has been today, stopping him from ruining the best date he ever had.
“i actually do not live far away from here, so i’ll be okay without an umbrella too- but hyung, you should have carried a coat atleast !!” yoongi tries to scold him, but it immediately dissolves into a blush as he looks up to seokjin smiling at him.
“yoongi-ssi, i really like you.”
yoongi only stands there, wide-eyed.
seokjin wonders if he’s messed up.
after all, things never go entirely right for him, do they?
wrong.
he only finds himself wondering if all of this was a mere dream, when he finds a pair of soft lips attached to his own plump ones.
“i hope that gives you my answer hyung, see you on the next date !!” yoongi whispers into seokjin’s ear, enticing goosebumps on his skin as the rain drizzles gently on the both of them.
and before yoongi bids seokjin goodbye, he has one last thing to do. he takes off the beret that rested on his head, and places it over seokjin’s head properly, giving it a little pat.
“send me a text when you reach home?”
“i sure will. thankyou for the best date- can’t wait to see you on the next better one, yoongi.”
seokjin doesn’t know where it all comes from. nor does he know how he feels happier as each word slips off his tongue quite easily, not a single trace of hesitation or unwillingness laced in them.
and for the first time, seokjin thinks he’s found a key to open up his treasure box of feelings that were always closed off.
min yoongi.