Hard Work

The sound of a keyboard tapping filled the living room of the dorm, the soft hum of some variety show played in the background. Yoongi looked up from his computer screen to the empty room around him, he was waiting for the rest of Bangtan to return to the dorm from Thailand.
"Yoongi?" The voice of PD-nim called into the quiet room.
"Ne?" His eyes snapped up from the screen of his laptop.
Standing near the doorway was his manager, he had a slight grin on his face.
"I see you're working away, good to see."
"Ah, thank you PD-nim."
"I wanted to talk to you about Kokyung-ssi."
The feeling of worry started to wash over him, was he going to make them stop seeing each other?

"You aren't sure if your dating? How can you not be sure? She's taking care of you, you two go on dates all the time, when you're away from the city you constantly text her. How can you not be sure if you're dating?"
"We haven't really talked about it..." The rapper trailed off, looking down at his feet.
"The company wants you to talk about it if you're asked on a show. You have a taping of After School Club later on this week, we're screening questions but I need you to be prepared because there are images of you two floating around. I want you to either be official or not together at all."
After a moment of silence the rapper nodded.
"I understand, I'll speak with her."

Yoongi let out a quiet sigh, he finished pulling on his shoes at the door. He reached for the handle and tried to think about what he even wanted to say. He wanted to be officially together, but was she even ready for that? He wrapped his scarf tighter around his neck and pulled the front door of the dorm open. He was finally at one hundred percent again, he was completely healed up from his surgery.

The snow lined streets of Seoul passed him by as he waked towards the cafe. He knew she was supposed to be working. As he slowly made his way down the streets he could see young couples walking hand in hand down to their own locations, he thought fondly to a few days prior.

-
Kokyung carefully aided Yoongi as he tried to button the bottom of his shirt, he tensed up again.
"You have to relax if you want me to be able to help." Her quiet voice reprimanded him.
He nodded slightly and looked at her closely, her long pastel bangs brushing her nose bridge occasionally as she focused on what she was doing. Her large brown eyes squinted slightly in concentration. She backed away from him and gave him a warm smile, he was successfully wearing a shirt now. He reached for the sweater he had sitting on the bed beside him.

"You're sure you're ready to go out for a walk?" Her sweet tone filling his ears as he looked over at her.
"Ne. It's time I get use to moving around again before we start the heavy choreography for Boy in Luv." He said with a slight nod.
She passed him his coat and pulled on her own, they were going to go for a stroll across one of the bridges on the Han and the make their way to a restaurant for food to warm them afterwards.

"Christmas really is right around the corner, isn't it?" Kokyung commented as she tucked her hands into her coat pockets.
Feeling as though he had just lost his opportunity to hold her hand; Yoongi nodded,
"In just over a week."
"Ms. Kuriyakin always talks about what Christmas was like in Russia, she brings us all gifts."
"She's a very kind woman, she was extremely friendly when we met her just after debut."
"She asks about you all with regularity, it's sweet. She likes to make sure you're all in good health."
"Oh?"
"Ne."

As the young couple neared the Han River a large spectrum of blues and pinks and reds lit the water. The small balls of light glittered across the waters surface, the snow had stopped entirely. Kokyung pulled her phone from her pocket and took an image of the waters surface, Yoongi stood beside her with a soft smile on his face.
"Selca?" He questioned quietly.
"Ah? Ne." She smiled brightly in his direction and turned her camera to face front. He leaned in closer to her and bumped their heads together. She grinned brightly at the camera, he followed suit and offered a gummy smile. She snapped the image and quickly tucked her phone back into her coat pocket.
-

He looked straight ahead to see the cafe with close, he smiled slightly. Through the foggy window he could see Kokyung's brightly colored hair moving around the small cafe. He quickened his pace to finally reach his destination. He pulled open the door and heard the familiar tinkle of the bell above his head.
"Welcome." Kokyung sweet voice called from behind the counter.
Looking around nothing had changed in the slightest. Ms. Kim was seated on the sofa knitting away on something new. Saejung was scrambling around trying to clean a spilled glass of warm milk. Misters Kang and Jun were seated at their usual table playing their usual game of Go. Yoongi quickly made his way to his usual table in the corner of the window and wall.

A familiar figure was stood before him when he finally looked up from his notebook.
"Yoonig-oppa? Shouldn't you be resting?"
"No, I'm okay now."
"Would you like a latte?" She asked with a slight smile on her face.
"Yes please, would you like to go out with me after you get off? I wanted to talk."
He watched as her face morphed to a worried expression.
"No no, it's nothing bad."
She nodded slightly and then cast him a weary smile.
"I'll be right back with you're latte."

Yoongi looked up to the counter to see Saejung tugging on her unnie's hand whispering excitedly about something. Kokyung pulled away with a slight smile and bowed lightly to the younger girl. The ballerina turned away from her and began to make her way over to the rapper.
After a few seconds she was standing before him.
"Apparently Saejung is 'releasing' me from work, she wants to close up. I can go change then we can go."
"That sound good." He said with a grin.
She bowed her head slightly and turned to make her way to the back room of the cafe.
Yoongi looked back down at his notebook and glanced over the lyrics again.
The soft sound of a throat clearing in front of him made him pause, -That was fast...- he though with a slight smile. He turned his eyes up only to realize that it wasn't Kokyung before him.
Instead of the ballerina, Saejung stood before him.
"Did you need anything else?" A slight smile on her face.
"Oh, no thank you."
"Thank you for making my unnie smile, she's always happy when you come in. I hope not to be too forward while saying this but it makes me smile when she's happy. So thank you."

What the young girl had said stuck with him, he smiled down at his notebook once more after she moved away.
"Yoongi-oppa? Are you ready?" Kokyung sweet voice filled his ears, it was so soft. He looked up at her and smiled slightly he tucked his notebook into his bag.
"Ne. Let's go then." He rose from his seat and followed her to the door he bowed to the elders before leaving.
As the pair exited the small building Yoongi reached for her hand. She quickly obliged and threaded her fingers through his.

He noticed her gaze on him.
"What is it?" He asked, with a slight smile.
"I'm just a little worried about what you wanted to talk about, it's not like you not to text me about something. Did I do something wrong? Is PD-nim upset with me?" She began to ramble. The snow had started to fall softly again around them.
"No, no it's nothing like that. It's just too serious to talk about over text, it's something I have to do in person. How about we go get some food and then we'll talk. Okay?"
She nodded her head slowly, the sun had already set around the pair. It was getting to be late.
"I know a ramen house, I've been there once or twice. It's really good." She said looking up at him.
"Lead the way." He smiled down at her.

He was sure they looked like a couple to the crowds that passed them by, they technically were...weren't they? He swallowed, he had felt confident until that moment. He couldn't help but start to panic, what if she turned him down? What if she didn't want to be public? Worry filled him as she led him down the streets, her left hand tucked into his pocket while laced with his right.

Finally reaching their destination they stood in front a ramen house that had a neon sign that read open 24/7. It was small and nondescript, there was nothing interesting looking about the building on the outside.
"My friend works here." Kokyung commented as she slid open the door to the building.
They entered the small building and after a second a young woman with medium short copper colored hair walked up to them.
"Kokyung-ssi!" The woman exclaimed with a large smile.
"Haebin-ssi, hello."
"Ah! Two?"
"Yes please." The ballerina said with a slight smile.

A ramen bowl sitting between the pair, it was extremely large.
"S-so, have the other's returned from Thailand?"
"I think they probably got back after I left." He replied calmly, on the inside he was worrying about how he was going to even ask her.
"What was it you wanted to talk about?" She finally asked, they had been sitting in a tense silence for the half hour prior.

"I talked to PD-nim today, apparently there are images of us floating around. He doesn't want something to be blown out of proportion so he asked if we were together-"
"W-what did you say?" Her voice almost inaudible.
"I-I said I wasn't sure if we were officially together."
"What did he tell you to do?"
"Figure out what we are, he said either we're together officially or not at all."
"And what did you decide?" Her voice faltered in her middle of her sentence.
"I wanted to talk to you about being official, I don't want to push you into this. I want you to want it too..." He trailed off, dropping his gaze to his chopsticks. He broke them apart and grabbed one or two noodles and ate the quietly.
She was silent for a while. He worried internally that he had just scared her away by launching this on her.

"I'd like to be official." Her voice filled the tense silence after a bit.
He all but choked on his food when she spoke.
"You-really?"
"Ne. Hobi asked me if we were dating, I didn't know what to say to him. I'm happy you asked."
"PD-nim also told me that I should be prepared for questions about you, he wanted me to have a solid answer. We have a taping of ASC in a couple days, and there could be a question about you. Are you okay with people knowing your name? Or would you rather I keep it a secret?"
"E-eh? Whatever you'd prefer." She said quietly, her face lighting up slightly. She broke her chopsticks and took a small bite of the ramen between them.
He smiled and decided to keep things rather quiet until he was sure she would be okay. He didn't want to throw her into something disastrous.

Yoongi watched as Kokyung opened the door of the dorm for him, as soon as it was open he realized that everyone was going to be home again. He smiled slightly, missing the chaos that awaited him inside.
"Come in for tea? I'm sure Jin-hyung would love to see you."
He watched her face turn a light shade of pink and a smile grow.
"I'd enjoy that very much." She bowed her head lightly and followed him inside.

"Hyung!" Jungkook's voice boomed as the young couple entered the living space of the dorm.
"Kookie, how was Thailand?" Suga smiled at the young man.
"I can't wait to show you all the pictures I took. Hello noona," He offered her a sweet smile.
"Hello Jungkook." She smiled back at him.
Yoongi looked over at her and noticed her weight shift nervously.
"U-um I'm going to go get my things from upstairs." She mumbled quickly before turning towards the stairs.
"I'll help." Yoongi said quickly.
Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Jungkook snickering with a grin on his face.

Yoongi sat on his bed watching as Kokyung packed up her small backpack with the few clothing items she had brought over from her apartment. The door was closed, they were completely alone.
"Kokyung-ssi?"
"Ne?" She looked up at him, from her bag.
"You don't have to leave just because everyone is here."
"It would be better if I did, that way they don't think something different if I stayed again."
"What would they think?"
"S-something vulgar."
"Do you think they would think the same thing if I stayed with you tonight instead of staying here?"
"Aish." She looked away from him, her face a dark shade of pink.
He smiled slightly and stood from his spot on the bed and walked over to her. He gently took her chin in his hand and tilted her face upward.

The rapper laid in his bed, smiling slightly to himself. Their kiss playing over and over in his mind, her soft lips cool against his. She was always slightly colder than he was. They were official, he didn't have to wonder about their label. He hadn't been sure weather or not he liked her in that way but as time had marched on he realized that he enjoyed her company more than any woman other than his mother. He couldn't imagine his life without her at that moment anymore. Maybe not true love, he wasn't ready for that. He was ready to like her, be with her until they were ready to move on together and continue.
He slowly closed his eyes, his nose buried in his pillow where the scent of her peach shampoo still rested.

Notes