Chapter Text
"Are your parents here yet?"
Seokjin takes a deep, steadying breath as Yoongi approaches him in the corridor outside of the reception hall. It's been a long, emotional day so far and he still has plenty to do before he'll get a chance to fully relax. It's fine, though — he's suffered through a lot worse.
Hoseok and Namjoon's wedding ceremony was beautiful. One of the best Seokjin's ever been invited to, and though he doesn't get to go to many (his job not requiring him to attend the more intimate parts of a wedding), it was one he'll definitely be comparing others to for years and years to come.
Just about everyone cried over the vows; everyone cries when the couple cries. It only took three words from Namjoon to get Hoseok to fall apart, smiling and laughing through the tears as his husband-to-be recounted all of the ways in which he loves his partner, and will always love him.
Jeongguk cried and so Yoongi got a little weepy, which made Seokjin lose it, too. A domino effect of tears.
Now, he has to go into performer mode. But first, he needs to make sure to greet the Mins.
"No, Jeongguk's with them," Yoongi explains with a small, encouraging smile. "Don't worry, we can find them on your break or something. It's no big deal."
"Babe," Seokjin says. "It is a big deal. I'm meeting your parents for the first time. That's kind of a big fucking deal, okay?"
"Yeah, well, babe..." Yoongi takes one of his hands, then, to kiss Seokjin's knuckles. "They're gonna be shitty regardless of when you meet them, so don't get your hopes up. Just go do your thing. Forget about them for now and come find me when they start serving the food."
It's not a warning to make him nervous or to spark up any sort of anxiety; it's so that Seokjin will lower his expectations to the floor when it comes to Yoongi's parents. He's heard the stories from Jeongguk. He knows he's not about to get a pat on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek, accompanied by a 'thank you for taking care of our son', or a 'we've heard so many good things about you'.
Yoongi's parents are of the more traditional type. They're strict. It took them years to accept Yoongi's coming out, and they still aren't fond of the idea of him being in a relationship with a man at all.
Seeing as Seokjin is now the new, second man to join the same relationship their son has been in for over three years...
Needless to say, Jeongguk and Yoongi have tried their best to extinguish all hopes of Seokjin ever getting on their good side. Even though he is, historically, very good at charming people’s parents.
"Fine," Seokjin concedes with a sigh. "Wish me good luck?"
Yoongi hums, glancing around them to make sure the happy couple is nowhere to be found. Hoseok had warned everyone in their group that if they 'even thought about stealing the spotlight' on his factory wedding day, he would 'not hesitate to shove the groom and groom cake toppers up their asses'. Once Yoongi's determined that the coast is clear, he tugs Seokjin closer by the lapels of his tuxedo jacket and pulls him down into a slow kiss.
It melts away the remainder of Seokjin's nerves; nerves he's not used to when it comes to things like this, scenarios like this. He hasn't 'met the parents' in... well, he can't recall ever meeting any of his ex’s folks. He’d never got this far, in the past.
He really wants to make a good impression.
"Break a leg," Yoongi whispers against Seokjin's lips as he pulls away. “We'll save you a seat."
"You better."
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Singing comes as easy as breathing to Seokjin. He’s been singing since he could talk and perfecting his vocals since before he knew that perfection is an impossibility. He’s never been into the idea of stepping his foot up the industry ladder, though, and prefers to sing just because he can — not for money, not for fame, just for himself. Performing at weddings and events similar to them have helped him achieve that.
He and Seungwan are up on the familiar stage, now, in an unfamiliar venue in front of both familiar and unfamiliar faces.
So far, the songs they've performed have been more mellow, with the pair sitting on stools as they sing songs that provide a soft soundtrack to the excited conversations happening out on the floor. Seokjin watches as people find their seats; as they flit from table to table carrying drinks from the open bar; as they chat away with the people closest to them.
He looks out over all of the heads and into the crowd, searching for the two men he cares for most. For the two he never could've expected to meet just seven months ago, let alone fall for in all of the ways that he has.
Seokjin finds Jeongguk first, already looking at him with an affection that he doesn't think he's ever truly been the subject of before.
Seokjin’s life, for a long time, was all about taking back what was ripped away from him. It was never about taking care of himself or those around him. It was never about love. Only greed, and he let a lot of friendships, a lot of relationships suffer and break because of that. It took moving to another country and forcing himself to examine all of his past behaviors to realize that it would be impossible for him to love anyone the way that they deserved. Not when he was still so incapable of loving himself.
Of course, the universe (or fate, or whichever unstoppable force one believed in) decided to plop not one, but two people into his lap as soon as he was finally comfortable enough with himself to go back home. As soon as he felt ready to put himself out there, and not just fuck around the way he had been doing for so many years.
The weeks after that first night with Yoongi and Jeongguk had been hard on Seokjin. Not only had it feel like he'd fallen back into his old ways, but Taehyung had chewed him out over it, too. Neither of them could’ve known what would happen after, though. That he’d be stranded with no means of getting home, forced to contact Yoongi even though he warred with himself, promised himself that he wouldn't.
He swore to himself, and to Taehyung, that he was not going to ruin someone else's relationship.
Yet, here they all are now at their friend's wedding. As a throuple. There isn't a single soul in the world who could have convinced Seokjin that this is where he'd be if they had told him so just a year ago.
When Jeongguk smiles at him from all the way across the hall; when Seokjin watches Yoongi sit down beside him; when Seokjin takes note of the empty seat that they've left open just for him...
He believes it.
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The performers are given the okay to go on their breaks after almost an hour of non-stop singing. They're replaced, for the time being, by the elegant sounds of classical music that Hoseok hand-picked and put into a playlist himself — mostly to appease the older family members in attendance. They still have plenty of songs lined up for later in the evening, once most people have left.
As Seokjin comes down from the stage, helping Seungwan in her high heels descend the steep steps, Jeongguk is already at the bottom waiting for him.
"Hey," he greets once Seungwan's kissed Seokjin in the cheek in thanks. "You both sound so good."
"Thanks, handsome,” Seungwan sighs, treating her voice as delicately as she does every time she has to perform for entire evenings. Once she leaves, she'll no doubt grab a lemon tea bag from her purse and ask the bartender for a cup of hot water to soothe her throat. "I'll leave you to it." She gives Jeongguk a brief but warm hug and then turns to Seokjin. "Forty minutes, okay?”
"Got it."
"Come on, I'll show you where we're sitting." Jeongguk takes Seokjin's hand and starts to lead him away, but they're in their own little corner now. No one's paying attention, and Seokjin really wants to slow down and be still, for a minute.
"Wait," he delays. When Jeongguk turns to him, his big eyes meeting Seokjin's own with eager curiosity, hair framing his face in a wave of loose curls, Seokjin takes a second to just look.
To look at his hair; a freshly-bleached streak of blonde falling in a thick strand down the side of his face. Seokjin helped him do it in the bathroom of Yoongi’s apartment just a week earlier, after they’d both spent hours scrolling through TikToks together, waiting for Yoongi to come home.
He looks at the small moles that dot odd parts of Jeongguk's face; the tip of his nostril, below his bottom lip, his cheeks, his chin. All of the little marks and scars that make up a map that Seokjin has spent whole mornings exploring with his eyes, with the tip of his fingers, with his lips.
When Jeongguk realizes what must be going on inside Seokjin's head, what he must be thinking, he takes matters into his own hands. He pulls Seokjin close, hands smoothing their way up the front of his jacket until he can wrap them both around his neck. He kisses him.
It's not over anything particularly romantic or life-changing — there’s nothing about the moment that calls for it; it's just a moment. A silent handful of seconds that pull at their chests and shift a dial somewhere that they can't see, or reach, or comprehend.
"Hyung," Jeongguk whispers when they're nose-to-nose. "I think..." He pauses to breathe, breath shaking as much as it always does when he's like this. When he's overwhelmed. "I think I—"
"Me too. But don't say it."
"Yeah," Jeongguk swallows. Seokjin watches as his eyes flutter closed as he takes another breath. “Not until we’re with Yoongi."
"Yoongi, too... you—“ Seokjin pulls away and turns his head, trying to get a look out into the crowd of people but it's impossible from where they're stood. "It's both of you."
"I'm not supposed to tell you this, but..." Jeongguk steps away and takes Seokjin's hand now that the lock on the moment has clicked back into place, turning it into a memory that they'll be able to count back from forever. "He already told me. That he uh… yeah. With you."
"That's a big fucking spoiler, Goo," Seokjin teases. "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."
When they find Yoongi and sit down together as the meals are placed in front of them, Seokjin tries to hold back an amused, knowing smirk.
"What?" Yoongi asks, suspiciously. "What's so funny."
"Nothing," Seokjin says, quickly. He simply leans down and plants a peck against Yoongi's temple. "I'll tell you later."
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After they've all eaten and Jimin (the MC of the night, since Yoongi turned the offer down) has finished giving his speech that leaves everyone in varying states of hysterics, it's almost time for Seokjin to get back on stage. Soon, people will begin to leave, and only the close friends and family of the couple will stick around for the free entertainment and — most importantly — the free alcohol.
This means that Yoongi's parents will also be leaving soon, and Seokjin still hasn't had a chance to meet them, yet. When he finally gets that chance, his blood all but drains to his toes at the sight of them waiting for their son.
'Please,' he thinks to himself. 'Let this be easy.'
"Mom, Dad, this is Kim Seokjin," Yoongi introduces. He's got his hand placed under Seokjin's jacket, pressing his warm palm against the small of his back. To Seokjin's left, just slightly behind him is Jeongguk, who seems to be keeping himself at a distance so as not to have their (frankly rather intense) gazes pointed at him. "I've already told you this part, but you both seem to keep forgetting, so. Seokjin's my boyfriend. He's Jeongguk's boyfriend, too. Hope that's not too confusing for you."
Yoongi speaks to them with a disinterested, hollow tone of voice that Seokjin's only ever heard him use with strangers. It's alarming, hearing him use it with his own parents.
"It's an honour to meet you," Seokjin says, respectfully, before folding into a deep, 90-degree bow. Jeongguk bows, too, after saying his own polite but quick greeting, having spoken to them earlier, on their way to the hall.
When Seokjin lifts back up, he's met with the expressions he'd been hoping, praying to avoid. Both of Yoongi's parents are looking down their noses at him, deep frowns twisting their faces into lines that age them both significantly more than they had looked just moments ago.
He shouldn't be surprised. He shouldn't be, but a tightness coils up in his throat at the sight, regardless.
"We told you not to embarrass us like this, Yoongi," his mother mutters, looking at her son with nothing but scorn. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm introducing you to my partner, Mom. I told you he was coming."
"You chose to do it a formal event? Full of our friends?"
"Mom, it's a fucking gay wedding."
"Don't you dare curse at your mother like that. You should be ashamed of yourself," his dad spits.
"I think you're both doing plenty of that for me already." Yoongi sighs, then, already exhausted over the fight that they no doubt have had time and time again. He turns to both Seokjin and Jeongguk stiffly. “Sorry. We'll try again at Chuseok or something, I guess.” He walks away from his parents without another word, not even another glance. After bidding them both with another bow, Jeongguk and Seokjin follow.
"Hyung," Jeongguk whispers once they've caught up with Yoongi. He doesn't stop, though, and heads straight for the bar. "Hyung... Yoongi, stop." He grabs hold of Yoongi's sleeve and tugs him until he's turned around. They're out of the way of any eavesdroppers, but the pinched expression on Yoongi's face says enough that he doesn’t even have to speak; he's pissed.
"I should've told them not to come," he mumbles.
"Hoseok's parents wanted them here. It's not your fault that they're assholes."
"They're happy for Hoseok but not their own son, yeah, they're assholes. I don't know what the fuck I expected."
Seokjin peers over his shoulder to be sure that Yoongi's parents are out of sight, and they are. In fact, they've already left the venue.
When he looks back at the two before him, he waits and thinks about what he wants to say; to think about what he thinks will help. It's difficult when this is his first encounter with Yoongi's folks. It's not as though he can comfort him based on any shared experience — not the way that Jeongguk can. It's like trying to pierce a bubble that's located in another time, not another place. He can't possibly know the right things to say.
He tries anyway.
"Yoongi," he starts, just as he's brushing the tips of his fingers along the collar of Yoongi's dress shirt. "You can be angry. I know you love them. They love you, but... parents will always... it's always gonna be hard. We can just try again, like you said." Seokjin tries for a smile, then, and looks between Yoongi and Jeongguk. “Don’t let ‘em spoil this."
"Yeah," Jeongguk whispers, mirroring Seokjin's small grin with his own. "Hyung's right. Plus..." He takes Yoongi's hand and pulls him in until Jeongguk can get his other hand on his waist, his eyelids lowering into something flirty and playful. "You owe me a dance."
"And I have to provide the music."
Yoongi nods, eventually, and closes his eyes for a brief moment so that he can find the room in his mind that'll make it easier for him to relax and accept that, whatever his parents may think, whatever conflict they're going to have in the future — right now, he doesn't have to deal with it. They're at a wedding. They're at their good friends wedding. They have each other, and they have the night.
"Okay."
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The evening falls over the wedding like a promise. Eventually, the only people that remain are the live band (all up at the bar, since Seokjin and Seungwan won't be needing them anymore), a smattering of Hoseok and Namjoon's buddies from college, and, of course, the group of friends who spend all of their days looking forward to the next time they'll get to see each other.
Seokjin and Seungwan have been keeping everyone's spirits up with songs spanning across all of music's most iconic trends. But, at the request of the grooms, they've mostly been sticking to what they all know and love best; the 80s and the disco.
Almost everyone is up on the dance floor, and when the unforgettable intro to Whitney's 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' explodes through the speakers, drunken cheers and hoots erupt and fill up the whole room.
They trade parts back and forth. Seungwan takes on more of the riffs and runs, while Seokjin takes care of the notes that showcase his natural tenor vocals without him having to strain, or pitch higher than he's capable of.
Up from the stage, he catches his friends’ eyes; he sends Taehyung and Jimin a winning smile; Hoseok and Namjoon a playful wink. He flicks his gaze over to Jeongguk and Yoongi, who watch him back, both of them waiting for him to finish up so that they can all go home together, but still enjoying the performance and the room's energy all the same.
When the song kicks up, Seokjin teases his boyfriends with a sultry look that he hams up way too much to be anything more than comical. He brings a hand to his own neck, draws a line down his throat, and hooks his finger against the knot of his slim tie.
"Go, hyung!" Jimin hollers with a hand cupped against his mouth. "Take it off!"
Seokjin grins as he sings and pulls the tie loose, looking back to the two again before throwing it out in their direction. They're much too far away to catch it, but the intention remains. Yet another game begins.
"All of it!" Jeongguk adds. "Take it off, take it off, take it off!" He claps with each word, and soon enough, the whole crowd follows his lead, urging Seokjin to slip out of his shirt. He threw his jacket off somewhere between The Jackson 5 and George Michael, and now they all want him to strip. It reminds Seokjin of the way Yoongi had mistakenly assumed it had been his job, all those many months ago.
"With somebody who loves me," Seungwan sings through a giggle. Even she wants him to do it.
So, of course, he does. He starts unbuttoning his shirt quickly, mirth replacing his bashfulness only enough to paint his face with a smile so big it hurts his cheeks, and the crowd spurs him on. It's only when he's got the shirt unbuttoned all the way that he finally looks back at his boys.
And they've both got their heads in their hands.
Because Seokjin won.
Underneath his shirt where there should be a thin tank top (or, god forbid, a naked torso), is a tacky white t-shirt with a tuxedo design printed cheaply on the front.
Everyone loses it; Hoseok even has to turn away and crouch down with his hands at his sides to hold in the laughs that come so much easier with some alcohol in his system. Yoongi shakes his head up at him, but the amusement in his eyes give him away, as they always do.
It's the perfect way to end his set. As the song is edging out into a fade, he looks to Seungwan just the once, and she waves him off after blowing him a kiss. "Go, go, I've got this," she promises.
He makes his way into the crowd, and into the arms that are open and waiting for him.
"I can't believe you've been wearing that all night," Yoongi mumbles against his neck when the room rises in temperature and the commotion from before falls to almost-silent, Seungwan announcing the last slow dance of the night.
"It's still cold out. And I thought it'd be a good party trick."
"Hyung," Jeongguk giggles from where he's got his arms wrapped around Yoongi's waist from behind. "If Namjoon filmed it, can we put that on TikTok?"
"Obviously," Seokjin beams.
They move together in unhurried circles around the dance floor that's dotted with couples all taking in the music as if it were made for them and nobody else. They kiss each other chastely, saving the real thing for later when they can lay everything bare and say all of the things they've been holding back all night.
When they've all got their eyes shut, arms and hands and bodies touching in discrete, but deliberate ways, Jeongguk speaks. "It's still not that late... can we go to Cosmo's after this?"
"Oh my fucking god, Gooey," Yoongi grumbles. “You and that roller rink…”
Seokjin just laughs. "We can, if you want. Come on, Yoongi," he admonishes, but the way he drags his lips across Yoongi's jaw is anything but a disapproval.
"Let's go skating. We've got all the time in the world."
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