Work Text:
Namjoon liked his life. Liked the busy rhythm of the big city. He always found something inspiring in everything, even in the trash that sometimes overflowed the streets. His imagination was powerful and even after leaving his small hometown more than fifteen years ago, he never lost his naive nature.
He missed his parents, the endless strawberry fields, his childhood friends, for sure, but he fit into this new life like a puzzle piece. He made good friends at work, talked to his parents every week and had them visit three or four times a year. The money he was making allowed him to travel and visit other countries, one of his true passions.
As incongruous as it sounded for a nature lover, he adored his marketing job and all the intricate small bits that selling a product implied. He recently got promoted, which meant more responsibilities but more money as well. He was eyeing a trip to Barbados to see the sea turtles and maybe next summer would be the right time.
In the meanwhile, he was about to be in charge of the new kids, a small group of publicists and marketing specialists doing a six month internship at the company. His bosses called it ‘a new and alluring way to explore new talents’. Namjoon himself thought it was more of a hassle if they didn’t click right away. Either way he was really excited after all. As a senior he felt that he had so much to show them as the marketing world was interesting but exhausting.
‘Joon!’ Yoongi, one of his favorite coworkers and a dear friend, called for him with two steaming hot mugs in his hands. ‘Are you ready for the interns?’
‘As ready as I can be, hyung.’
Yoongi passed the mug in his left hand to him and Namjoon gladly checked with a sip that it was actually a hot cocoa instead of a coffee. He was already nervous without the caffeine kick. ‘I know you, and I bet you’re hyper analyzing everything and trying to balance being a cool mentor as well as strict but approachable…It’s not that deep. You’re great at your job and you have more patience than me or anyone in the office will ever have. The kids are gonna love you, and these months are gonna be great for their future.’
‘Do you think so?’ Namjoon asked with a new light on his eyes.
‘I know it'
‘Ok, I’m ready.’ He did a little nod to Yoongi who came back to his cubicle and power walked to meet the group at the small reunion room. He thought that would be less intimidating for them than the big ass conference room with the leather chairs.
He entered and five pairs of eyes looked at him back. He saw the anticipation and the excitement and KIM TAEHYUNG ?
‘Taehyungie?’ he asked, flabbergasted.
‘Hyung?’
He looked exactly the same, but not quite. The lanky kid he remembered, all ears and tanned skin was now a grown man. A really attractive grown man. Taehyung smiled wide, his boxy mouth making his eyes close and for a moment Namjoon felt at home.
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I studied marketing like you did hyung, and I got the internship, but I didn’t know you were working here!’
‘Oh my god! I- We’ll catch up later, ok?’ He looked sheepishly at the other four, two young men and two women, looking with various levels of curiosity at them. ‘Taehyungi-, Kim Taehyung and I grew up together, we come from the same village in the countryside. Please, don’t feel like there’s gonna be any favoritism on my part. We haven't seen each other in over fifteen years, and I’m a complete professional.’ he said hurriedly.
Everyone nodded and he moved on before he could embarrass himself any further. He explained the basics of what was expected from them. They would work as a team to develop the summer campaign of a new perfume while learning how a marketing office worked, with a sprinkle of administrative work here and there. Although the company was big enough and they were making good money, the advertising business was ruthless and they were supposed to help at anything that would be needed.
The new kids looked ready and eager to start working. Park Jimin seemed sweet and hard-working and; as tough as Jeon Jungkook looked with all the piercings and tattoos, he was polite and shy during the whole talk. Namjoon instantly liked him. Yunjin and Chaewon kept glancing at each other, maybe looking for support in a predominantly male office. Namjoon made a mental note to keep checking on them to be sure they were comfortable. The lack of feminine presence was something he’s been talking with the board for a couple years now.
‘Hyung!’ The meeting was over, and the group was now following Yoongi, who took charge of showing them to their cubicles and doing a little office tour.
Namjoon smiled at Tae, waiting for the younger man to speak.
‘Hyung, I can’t believe that in all of the agencies I sent my curriculum to, this was the one that chose me? Wasn’t you, was it? You looked really surprised to see me.’
‘It wasn’t me at all! You’re here for your own hard work, believe me. You were chosen by HR like everyone else. I had the list with your names beforehand, but I didn’t think about that Kim Taehyung being THE Kim Taehyung!’
Tae laughed again, delighted. ‘It’s like destiny, isn’t it? I mean, I studied marketing because of how much I admired you, hyung, but this is crazy, right?’
Namjoon looked at his feet, shy all of the sudden. ‘Did you?’
‘Sure I did! You were the coolest and I was really sad when you left.’
‘I wasn’t the best at keeping in contact with you guys…’
‘Well, life gave us a second chance, didn’t it? Let’s grab this opportunity, hyung.’
—
Days come by in a hectic whirlwind of work, supervising the youngsters and grabbing dinner with them at the end of almost every day to check on their needs and progress. They made a pretty good team and Namjoon was ecstatic about it. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he could coordinate a team so well balanced, full of potentially diamonds in the rough to discover, genuinely good people to be around. Having the opportunity to reconnect with Taehyung was also a plus. He was a complete sweetheart, often in the clouds but with a laser focus when he had a task in hand.
He already enjoyed his life as it was but his new workload mentoring the kids was more fulfilling than he ever thought. He was already thinking about doing a masters degree so he could teach something at a community college. He guessed it was never too late to discover a new path in life.
He wasn’t sure if it was the work that fulfilled him or it was the specific group of people they hired. They were a delight to be around. Always enthusiastic, working hard and absorbing everything they possibly could. They also had the funniest ideas so at the office they already had a ‘dress as your coworker day’ which made Tae and Jimin wear sundresses and cute hats belonging to Chaewon and Yunjin (who wore all black and gave themselves sharpie fake tattoos to emulate Jungkook) and a couple bingo nights that inevitably ended with them half drunk and trying to cheat in order to win a ramen cooker.
He noticed Jimin and Tae were always together like some kind of really touchy twins and thought they made a cute couple. He wasn’t jealous. At all. Maaaaaaybe a tiny bit. Like a smudge. He was happy Taehyung could love whoever he wanted publicly. Namjoon left his hometown still thinking he was into women but didn’t find the right one. The right one was called Paolo and was an Italian guy he met at his first college party. The rest is history. He was thirty-tree and although he didn’t hide who he was, he was sometimes not one hundred percent comfortable. He was glad that twenty-eight years old Tae could live life without being afraid and being true to himself.
So he wasn’t jealous of them, right? For sure Taehyung was one of the most attractive human beings he ever laid his eyes on, but no big deal.
—
‘Hyung, you’ve been working all day, you’re not going home?’
Namjoon looked up from his screen, cracking his neck and moving his shoulders.
‘I have a long night ahead, Taehyungie. The whole Hanseo Foods dossier needs to be in the big bosses inbox by tomorrow at 6 am and some departaments didn’t send their part on time.’
‘I see, hyung.’ Tae let the strap of his laptop bag fall from his shoulder, took off his shoes and made himself comfortable. ‘What are you feeling for dinner? I’m kinda craving japchae but I can eat whatever to be honest.’
‘I’m- I- Are you staying?’
‘Of course I am. I’m going to help you. If we both stay we’ll be done much sooner and you’ll go home early. Also you’re paying so I get a free dinner from a handsome man, I don’t see how I’m losing here.’ Namjoon nodded and opened the drawer where he had a bunch of flyers from different take away places and tried to hide the shaking of his hands.
In the end, it was a delightful night. They finished the documents, for sure, but also got time to catch up. Tae told him about everyone Namjoon left behind, who was married, who had kids and more importantly who was queer. Namjoon gave him a quick M.I.O.G. masterclass (Most Important Office Gossip) including that time Yoongi and Hoseok-ssi from Accounting disappeared for two hours at a Chuseok party and came back with their shirts interchanged.
‘Not gonna lie hyung, that first day when I spilled the beans about how much I missed you and how cool you were when we were kids, I was afraid of getting my feelings hurt by a snobby workaholic version of yourself. I thought the big city changed you.’ Tae left his chopsticks neatly on the plate and looked at him straight in the eye.
‘And what do you think now?’ Namjoon felt a bit of a lump at the back of his throat and swallowed hard to dismiss it.
‘I think I did the right thing trusting my gut. You’re so much like the hyung I remember it’s crazy. All these years of not seeing each other and it still feels like we’re about to trespass Miss Choi property to steal her cherries.’ Taehyung smiled at him wide but with a tad of sadness in his eyes. ‘All these years I felt left behind and a little betrayed. Now I see you’re still a decent human being, just never came back.’
Namjoon sighed, understanding what was going on in Tae's mind and grabbed him by the wrists. ‘I never came back because I was hungry for the world, Taehyung. Remember those old travel magazines I was obsessed with? Once I left for college I decided my main goal in life was to try and go to all those wonderful places. I worked my ass off during the summer to work and be able to explore, first Korea, then Japan and when I finally landed this job…the whole world. I didn’t come back home, that’s true and I regret not being there to watch you grow up and become an amazing and talented human being, but I also saw a lot and enjoyed a lot. My parents come to Seoul to visit every so often and I started traveling with them as well, giving them back some of what they sacrificed to send me to such a good college.’ he sighed but continued ‘I made a choice I partially regret, but hey, life put us together again, didn’t it? What were the odds after fifteen years?’
‘I’m happy you said that, hyung. I know it’s irrational but when I was younger I thought you just simply forgot about us or made new friends and made you realize we were simple and unfunny…’ Taehyung visibly relaxed his shoulders after that, like it was something he really needed to say. ‘I just wish young Tae knew earlier.’
‘I know now and I’m sorry. Can you forgive me?’
‘Aish hyung, I can’t say no to you.’ He reached for his face and poke Namjoon’s left dimple. ‘Those are mass destruction weapons.’
—
You’re chatting with extension 0903 Min Yoongi
10:01 am Hyung, are you there?
10:05 am hyuuuuuuung
10:10 am What’s burning?
10:11 am Me hyung, I’m the one burning ):
10:11 am Eye-
10:11 am Mind to explain?
10:12 am My heart it’s burning
10:13 am I don’t have time for your poetic shit rn. Either you explain it or leave me alone, I have a fucking ton of things to do today
10:14 am Remember I told you about growing up with Taehyung and me never coming back to my birthplace?
10:15 am Yeah, pretty dick move if you ask me.
10:16 am shut the fuck up, you only came back to yours on Christmas because you know Hoseok-ssi lives two neighborhoods distance and you spent the holidays sucking each other faces.
10:17 am besides the point. And it’s only one neighborhood. If you’re gonna spill the facts, do it properly.
10:18 am whatever
10:19 am the thing is…
10:19 am It’s so easy and natural being around him. Since we had that convo a month ago it feels like the good old times. But having a massive big fat crush on him. Which is weird but somehow exciting.
10:21 am Water is wet.
10: 21 am What?
10:22 am oh sorry, I thought we were saying obvious shit.
10: 22 am Is it really so obvious?
10:23 am The look in your eyes when you see him entering a room it’s revolting. And kinda cute I guess. You should ask him out.
10:23 am What if I creep him out?
10:23 am Also i’m pretty sure he’s dating Jimin
10:24 am No he’s not
10:24 am How do you know?
10:24 am Because I caught Jimin and Jungkook making out in the copy machine room. Twice.
10:25 am Oh?
10:25 am And also Taehyung follows you like a puppy.
10:25 am Pretty surprised he didn’t hump your leg yet.
10:26 am Oh!
10:26 am Yeah, oh’s of all kinds. Now let me fucking work, someone has to pay for the bulgogi.
—
‘Long night ahead?’ Namjoon was about to leave when he saw the lights were on in one of the meeting rooms. He poked his head and saw Taehyung with a bunch of pictures and color samples scattered on the table, looking kinda frustrated.
‘Ugh, hi hyung. And yeah. I have a good sense for photography composition and I pledged to choose the style for the magazine pics, but now I’m not sure about anything I chose anymore.’
‘Well, japchae from our place?’
‘Are you staying to help me?’ Taehyung grabbed his left pectoral, theatrically. ‘That’s so sweet of you. I feel like I lived this before.’
‘Yeah, but you were the one helping me, remember? Like two weeks into your internship. And to honor that day, today you’re inviting me. I also like to be spoiled by gorgeous men.’
Taehyung laughed loudly, ‘God hyung, fifteen years old Taehyung would drop dead on the floor if you ever called him that.’
Why so?’ Namjoon asked, confused.
‘Hyung you were literally my bisexual awakening. At first I thought I admired you. You were the coolest, most intelligent and interesting boy I had ever met. But with time and as we grew up I learnt that I fancied you. I dreamt about your dimples every single night’ he added sheepishly.
‘I-I did you?’
‘Yeah! Remember those tiny shorts you used to wear when we went to the river in the summer? I was like yes, I’m super into whatever it’s going on over there.’
They both looked at each other and laughed until tears spilled down their cheeks.
‘I’m flattered, not gonna hide it. Freshman year Namjoon would disintegrate if a man as fine as you looked in his direction.’
‘So, you’re fine, I’m fine…’ Taehyung shortened the distance between them.
‘So… I think we should kiss, maybe? Like I’m not reading this weirdly, right? Do you like me? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…’ Namjoon started squeezing his own hands, suddenly unsure.
‘Oh hyung, just shut up and come here.’ Taehyung grabbed him by the collar and made their lips clash. It was awkward at first, but somehow it tasted like strawberries and long days lazing around the woods. It tasted like home.