Chapter Text
Yoongi blames the Effective Business Comms seminar he attended last Monday.
If it wasn't mandated by management (on top of their urgent deadlines and weekly HR events, by the way) and face-to-face, he wouldn't even dare to attend.
Besides the fact that he never liked interacting with the office crowd, he already knew what they'd teach, and unsurprisingly, he's right. Nothing new. It's for the new hires and fresh graduates. A marketing practitioner of eight years like him shouldn't be required to listen to a session of the ABC's of communicating in a professional setting.
But there he was, ears peeled during the talk on Gaining Leads and Securing Clients, heart racing as he turned to look over at the Project Development department's table.
"You have to grab the opportunity where it counts, and follow through," the speaker was saying. "Be confident! You'll never know what you'll miss if you just let things be."
Now, Yoongi knows that's part-bullshit. Easier said than done; experience is always the best teacher; yada yada yada . Yet said bullshit led him to make one rash decision that instant, reinforced by a pair of sparkly brown eyes catching his gaze and smiling like the angel that he is.
He's gonna ask Kim Seokjin out on a date.
💭💭💭
It's not like this is the fifth time he's thought about doing it. But, quite frankly, it is. Maybe it's even the sixth, or seventh, or hundredth—Yoongi doesn't know. He lost count of it over the years; threw away the bitter memories of him chickening out because of nerves and unexpected overtime. But now.
Now.
He's definitely going to do it.
Today, this faithful, sunny Wednesday, Yoongi wears his best dress shirt and tie to work, heart full of hope and stomach half-full of iced Americano, to try to ask Seokjin from Project Development if he's free on Saturday.
"Morning, Yoongi-ssi."
—that is, if fate permits. Or luck. Or his conceptually formed confidence that may or may not wane at the last second.
Yoongi almost chokes on the coffee he's drinking when Seokjin passes by his cubicle with a smile, leaving a faint trail scent of vanilla ice cream in the air. His favorite.
"Mo– Morning," he manages to spit out, coughing a little, scrambling to delete the message he's written on his work chat with Seokjin before—
"'Sup!" Seokjin peeks from the left side of his table, and Yoongi struggles not to knock over his coffee cup with his trembling knuckles. "Whoa there. You okay?"
Yoongi curses under his breath. This could probably be easier if Seokjin isn't his work bestie (as Seokjin self-proclaimed their office duo to be). "Yeah. Uh…" His eyes scatter everywhere. It's 8AM and here he is being weird. Did he ask for a quad shot of espresso on his Americano today? Luckily, he was quick to press alt-tab on his keyboard to show the PPT draft he's been working on instead.
—instead of the aftermath of his premature attempt to send Seokjin dummy coupons to Lotte World this weekend. Which he was hoping to follow through with 'Hey hyung! Look what I miraculously got when I don't even leave my house! Magically, I have two! And, hear this, I don't have friends outside of work! So, do you wanna go! With me!' Seemed like a foolproof plan for Yoongi 30 seconds ago.
Ehe. Chicken.
Seokjin sees his screen, and with a change in tone, now sounding resigned, deadpan, he says, "Are you seriously working already at this hour?"
Well, at least he appears to be normal in front of Seokjin. He shrugs.
Seokjin clicks his tongue and grabs Yoongi's coffee cup, inspecting it with one eye open like it's a specimen under a telescope, muttering, "No wonder you're surprisingly early today."
Yoongi seems to have lost his tongue in battle. His mind overflows with structured sentences that he's built up for years, but his mouth is glued shut. If only Seokjin knew why he was early.
Seokjin takes the straw to his lips and takes an unwarranted sip. Yoongi's breath hitches in his throat, face heating. Seokjin makes a sour face as he puts the cup back where it belongs. "Hell…" He pretends to hurl, then delightedly laughs at his own gag.
It's ridiculous. He looks ridiculous. And Yoongi is so so so endeared by him. If only Seokjin knew!
“Too bitter?” Yoongi asks, smiling. He can’t get his eyes off of the pretty wrinkles on the corners of Seokjin’s eyes. They’re like sun rays peeking through white clouds. And when they melt into a lovely beam, his own heart goes wild in his chest.
“Nah,” Seokjin answers, shaking his head. “I’m already used to how you like your coffee anyway.”
Wilder and wilder until it bursts bubble confetti into his lungs.
“Hyung,” Yoongi starts, sparks tingling in his fingertips as he stands face to face with Seokjin. And Seokjin, well, he grins like he knows what’s on Yoongi’s mind. If only he truly knew. “Breakfast?”
Seokjin pushes his hands in his pockets and curtsies. “I thought you’d never ask.”
💭💭💭
Yoongi doesn't ask.
Well—yet.
Breakfast was just a quick take out of onigiris and canned coffee (plus a chocolate drink for Seokjin) because it's almost half past eight, and they both had to be in their seats to prepare for a presentation to the management committee by nine. Seokjin would be presenting; the deck would be coming from Yoongi.
And it's so funny because they completely forgot that it's scheduled that morning. What's even funnier is that they both so obviously half-assed the presentation, but the pitch apparently sold darn too well—in that their audience had no further comments or questions before leaving the boardroom.
What's funniest is their managers having much of a blast debriefing because of how it went. When they returned to their desks, it was almost 11:30am, and Yoongi was sending a message to Seokjin via work chat as soon as he finished gulping down his now-cold Americano takeout:
hyung… lunch?
Still, though, he doesn't ask.
The rest of the day becomes too busy to go around loitering at their usual spots. Personally, Yoongi is swamped with brochure and storyboard work. Seokjin, on the other hand, is bombarded with coordination meetings and kick-off sessions with designers and suppliers.
They barely saw each other. If it weren't for Seokjin passing a packet of butter croissant at Yoongi's work area—with a pink mushroom sticker note that says 'Fighting!!!' —Yoongi couldn't manage to engage with him throughout the afternoon; even though they're working on a singular project as department partners.
It's so busy that Yoongi doesn't even notice that it's already dark outside, not until after Seokjin stands up with a great sigh from his work area, eyes peeking at Yoongi from across the room. And Yoongi is once again reminded of his resolve. Once again, he's thinking of putting it off for later. He quickly avoids Seokjin's gaze, pretends to focus on the photoshop application on his screen.
Maybe if he ignores Seokjin long enough, he can get rid of him and his thoughts about wanting to date him. Just for now. Again.
"Heeey~ How's your day, Yoongi-ssi?"
But the thing is, they always have to go home together. Seokjin always—always—makes sure to wait for Yoongi to get tired of working for the day so that they can clock out at the same time, commute home together. Save on carbon emissions, he says.
Needless to say, Yoongi cannot escape Seokjin. (As if he dares plan to.)
Seokjin is pulling a chair next to Yoongi's desk when Yoongi leans back from his monitor; his bag packed and ready over his shoulder as he takes a seat and fiddles with his phone.
Yoongi silently sighs and keys in a shortcut on his keyboard and a color on his draft changes. "Fine," he blandly says. Part of him wants to just throw the question out in the open. But part of him is also afraid of what might come out instead. He has to be careful. He can't risk the possibility of Seokjin thinking badly of his intentions. Seokjin deserves someone gentle and romantic. Yoongi wants to make sure that he can be that person for him.
Dumb heart in charge of his dumb self.
"How about you?" he asks back, now trying to work on his draft material on the computer again. He doesn't want to overthink it.
Seokjin hums, body slumped on the chair, face inches away from his phone screen. "It's meh. The usual," he mumbles. Then it goes quiet again.
It's not the awkward type of silence though. They never had that. It's always been the comfortable type. Really peaceful. Calming. Yoongi can only feel that with Seokjin's presence and company, and he likes it so much.
And it's like they already know how to move around each other. Yoongi figures that Seokjin's probably already tired from talking to many people all day, so he lets him be. On the other hand, Seokjin doesn't pester Yoongi while he's working, he just simply sits beside him and waits for him to finish.
At the same time though, when someone suddenly talks, the other willingly and attentively listens and responds. Like telepathy.
"Still have so much work to do though. Pre-launches are always a pain in the ass," Seokin mutters under his breath; still on his phone.
And Yoongi's still on photoshop, stealing glances to his left for a glimpse of Seokjin's face. "You always get through them smoothly, though," he says, mentally preparing himself for an hour-long speech about how amazing Seokjin is in this line of work. Or simply how amazing he is a person.
"We," Seokjin answers. When Yoongi looks at him all confused, he raises an eyebrow and repeats, "We get through them smoothly, you and I."
Yoongi turns back to his monitor, heat filling his face. "Yeah, but you own the project." He shrugs—to appear normal. "Besides, I'm not your only partner in every project." Darn, he wishes he is, though. In life.
"Right. But all the materials, events and activations we use and do in order to sell all come from you. And they're effective," Seokjin counters. He's still on his phone, chin buried unto his neck as he's slid down a bit on the chair.
Yoongi clears his throat, says back, "Wouldn't be able to implement all those without your feedback and go signal."
"Yoongi—ah, seriously."
The sudden raise of voice makes Yoongi turn, and he's met with Seokjin's squeaky laughter, pointing at him silly while shaking his head as if he just made the funniest joke of the night.
"Most of my comments on your work are dumb and baseless. I don't even think I ever said anything about your designs and ideas. I just throw in my own ideas that you so effortlessly incorporate into the next draft." Seokjin beams at him. "Like the excellent marketing person that you are."
Yoongi truly feels the blush on his face now. How can Seokjin say that straight to his face without a single stutter or a pint of hesitation?! Meanwhile, here he is, struggling to form a full sentence from all the jumbled words of affirmation he has for Seokjin in his head.
"Ahhh, anyway, I think I'm just out of it lately, you know," Seokjin says before Yoongi can respond. "I'm lacking fun in my life. We're always busy. Sometimes I wonder how you do it." He slumps back on the chair, energy died down again, staring at nothing, blinking, probably thoughtless. And Yoongi thinks he's beautiful.
He has over thirteen drafts open from different apps on his computer and all Yoongi can think about is how the apples of Seokjin's cheeks color a faint pink when he yawns.
"Are you done?" Seokjin asks when he catches his eye, his own round and inquisitive and so adorable.
Yoongi takes a breath, braves to gaze back, heart jumping out of his chest and onto his sleeve. He's gotta shoot his shot. Not trying is equivalent to quitting , the speaker said during the seminar. While Yoongi embraces the art of giving up just as much as he does persevering, the thought of quitting Seokjin has never been an option.
And the equation is simple, really. Since Yoongi can't quit him, he has to try—even as his entire body shakes from fear and nervousness and euphoria, altogether converging at the center of his chest.
"How about we go out this weekend and have fun, you and I?" he blurts in one go, surprised at himself for doing so, at the same time scared that maybe it was just all in his head.
As he holds his breath, he watches Seokjin's smile fade into a small oh, eyes growing wide and ears painting red.
"Go out?" Seokjin repeats in a whisper.
A coworker from the Finance Department passes by their cube and Yoongi straightens up on impulse. He looks over the divider and flexes his knuckles. Like he's been frozen on ice and remembers that he can move again. "Yeah," he breathes out. "And just—I don't know—have fun. Like what you said you needed."
Meanwhile, Seokjin is still looking at him, tone unchanging. "...you and I?"
"Y-Yeah?" The lump in Yoongi's throat punches him good, but he takes and endures like a true champ. "Yeah, I mean, you know, if you're free. And if you want. I'm not doing anything on Saturday. We… uh… We can go to Lotte World or watch a movie or whatever—just hang out—anything you want." He stops there before his nerves can get the best of him and make him sound weirder than he probably already is.
Another coworker from Finance passes by, and another, and another, all the while the red on Seokjin's ears spreads to his neck and his entire face.
Yoongi waits until finds himself switching between hope, regret and terror in a seemingly endless loop. He's on the verge of taking it back—of saying 'but if you don't want to, it's fine, just a suggestion' followed by a 'not a big deal' with a laid-back scoff like a cool person. But he'd be lying if he said those, because if anything, what he feels for Seokjin is the truest truth there is in this office.
Thankfully, Seokjin saves him from it.
He slowly points a finger at Yoongi in an "a-ha!" fashion, cackling "ha-ha-ha" with corresponding intervals fit for the definition of his Corporate Laugh™ —like when their CEO says the most ridiculously unfunny joke but they have to go along with it because he's the final approver of their payroll. That kind of laughter.
Yoongi, who is now partly confused, partly grateful for the ice breaker, returns it with his own, slowly raising a thumb up with practiced instinct. A huge question mark colored in bloody red appears in front of his face.
"Sorry, but… You and me? Going out and having fun on the weekend? That's new," Seokjin says, now giving Yoongi flashy eyes; a wild grin on his ludicrously handsome face. Yoongi gulps. Seokjin straightens up and beams. "Heck yeah, I'm in." He raises a hand and aims for a high-five.
The next thing Yoongi knows, he's returning the high-five, and is now spending the next 30 minutes browsing the internet with Seokjin for fun stuff to do on weekends. Particularly this Saturday. Particularly for just the two of them.
Yoongi doesn't know how he did it; how it happened. He doesn't know why Seokjin so easily agreed to it, what he feels about it—about Yoongi, about them.
But that's the least of Yoongi's concerns for now because he will be busy planning. This is for Seokjin, after all, and it should not be short of perfect, as he so deserves. Yoongi intends to give him the best first date ever.