Chapter Text
Yoongi was an idiot. A major idiot. Taking a job to be a producer at a brand new entertainment company was an opportunity he couldn't pass up when the offer came out of the blue, but he really should have looked into the business more before signing his contract remotely. His curiosity about how they even heard his name was now both twenty percent explained and eighty percent even more confusing.
Because Kim Namjoon stood across from him, not three meters away, for the first time in twelve years.
And he was seeing Yoongi for the first time ever.
Because twelve years ago, when they divorced, Kim Namjoon had been married to Min Yoonji.
~
BigHit Entertainment was the brainchild of retired singer Kim Seokjin. After getting sick of being told 'no' by the company he worked for, when his contract ended after his thirtieth birthday, he left and took some of his loyal staff members with him. His choreographer, one of his producers, and several assistants and stylists all decided when he told his company to kiss his ass (on Instagram no less). His message was basically that he was rich enough he didn't have to listen to bad business decisions and he could do it better than them.
Three years later, there were two solo artists who had followed Kim Seokjin from a company that kept them on the back burner, and they were doing very well. Jimin was quickly becoming a media darling with his angelic voice, charming personality, and otherwordly beauty; and JK was already taking off to astronomical heights. He was caught up all the time in international press because his online presence made him a viral sensation around the world. Rumor was they had trainees for BigHit's first boy group that was rumored to be selected and revealed very soon.
What Yoongi did not know was that at some point in the four years that BigHit had been a company, Kim Namjoon started working for Kim Seokjin, because that was definitely him, right in front of Yoongi at the other end of the table in the meeting room Yoongi was directed to for his intake paperwork and to meet his new department head.
There was no telling what Yoongi's face did, because if it was anywhere close to the nearly green look of anxiety on Namjoons face, it wasn't a good sight.
"Did somebody fart in here or what, you two look like you're gonna throw up!" Yoongi startled and looked at the man he hadn't noticed because of Namjoon's presence. Kim Seokjin stood up from the head of the board table and came to meet Yoongi. "Yoongi-ssi, so glad to meet you! I'm very excited for you to get to know my kids!"
Yoongi shook himself out of his inert posture and smiled nervously. "You can call me Yoongi," he said and nodded. "I'm very grateful you thought of me for this position, Seokjin-ssi."
Seokjin waved a hand. "Call me hyung! Everybody calls me hyung! Even my little ones call me hyung!" He gestured to Namjoon. "I believe the thanks are owed to Namjoon. He was the one who mentioned you as the best songwriter he had ever met, so I knew I had to find and hire you!"
Yoongi finally turned his head to look at Namjoon.
The look of confusion on Namjoon's face was to be expected, but it was extra funny when Yoongi opened his mouth and said, "Thank you, Namjoon. I'm grateful you thought of me for this position."
Namjoon's jaw could have hit the floor it dropped so fast when he heard Yoongi's voice after ten years of testosterone therapy for the first time.
~
Namjoon was gay. Namjoon was very, very gay.
And the only woman he ever loved, Min Yoonji, the girl he ran away with and married the day he was old enough, the most beautiful woman he had ever met in his entire life….
Min Yoongi was a man.
~
After Yoonji- Yoongi finished filling out all the onboarding forms and paperwork and left to go get photographed for an identification card, Namjoon finally collapsed in an exhaled whine, falling forward until his head thudded onto the glass table.
"Well that's different," Seokjin said, looking at him curiously. He smirked devilishly. "It's cause he's cute, isn't it? Eh, eh, I know your type!" He gave him a cheesy wink and click of his tongue.
Namjoon sighed and sat up, looking over at him. "I will admit, s- he doesn't look the same as I remember," he hedged, quickly correcting the pronoun. The last thing he wanted to do was out Yoongi. He took Yoongi accepting the job as a sign he wasn't planning to be out, and even if he was it was not Namjoon's information to share. "It was good to see him looking so well," he said finally, nodding to Seokjin.
Seokjin hummed with a doubtful look. "Okay. Sure." He chuckled and stood up. "Just remember that even if it's not against policy, if you start smoochin' don't do it on company time. This isn't Seattle Grace Memorial after all."
Namjoon snorted and shook his head, watching Seokjin leave. "I hate that I told you to watch English-speaking TV shows to practice your English."
"I'm not! Have you seen those horny doctors getting naked?" The sound Seokjin made as the door swung shut was so grossly sexual it probably was against company policy.
Before Namjoon could make his way to his office, Namjoon's phone pinged in his pocked. When he stood up he took it out and saw, with a pang in his gut, an old, familar black cat emoji contact had messaged him.
Meet me @ cafe next door
If this isn't still your number tell me to fuck off
Namjoon grinned in spite of himself as he typed an affirmative reply, because it seemed that some things never did change at least.
~
Seeing Namjoon for the second time was no less stunning than before for Yoongi, because he looked so different yet so familiar as well. His hair was honey blonde and styled professionally rather than black and cut badly in their closet of a bathroom with Yoongi wielding clippers while Namjoon sat on the side of the tub to collect the hair. The horrible notch that he thought was so cool was no longer shaved into his eyebrow. His skin was clear and taken care of instead of marred with acne because he had only been nineteen.
It was crazy, watching Namjoon turn from the counter where he ordered, to realize Yoongi's ex-husband had grown up to be the successful professinal in front of him.
And then he turned and spotted Yoongi and immediately somehow swept the entire collection of packaged snacks off the counter by the cashier and knocked over a display with promotional flyers.
Yoongi couldn't help but snort because, nope, that was still the same Namjoon he knew when they were two dumb kids against the world.
Namjoon spotted him laughing and immediately his ears turned red. He came over, holding his coffee that somehow survived the disaster the barista was clearing up behind him. "Not a word," he said in lieu of greeting, sitting down at the table across from Yoongi.
Yoongi smirked. "You haven't changed a bit, huh."
Namjoon gave him a pointed look and raised an eyebrow. "You certainly have."
There it was. Yoongi knew he owed Namjoon at least something, so he nodded. "As you may have noticed, I'm a man." He fiddled with his tea, hunching down into his coat he hadn't bothered removing. "Look, I didn't know you worked at BigHit. I got an offer that was too good to pass up and I took it. Is this gonna be a problem, Namjoon?" he asked him bluntly.
Namjoon cleared his throat. "To be totally transparent, you got the offer because I recommended you." Yoongi's eyes widened slightly at that. "Look, Jin-hyung needed recommendations on a new songwriter because I can't produce all the music for two singers and a boy group myself. We have help with the technical work of recording and mastering, but I'm the only actual producer we have right now." Namjoon's eyes grew sincere and his voice softened some. "And I have still never met a better songwriter than you, Yoongi-ssi."
Yoongi grunted, nose scrunching at that. "Cut that shit immediately. If we're working together, don't be so formal."
Namjoon smiled in amusement. "We're strangers, though, remember?"
"Ugh. Yeah, fuck." Yoongi sighed and looked at him. "What do you want to do, then? How much does Kim Seokjin know?" he asked.
The seriousness of Namjoon's expession was instant. "I would never out anybody, but especially not someone that once trusted me," he promised. Yoongi was soothed to know Namjoon was still a good person.
"Thanks, Joon-ah," he said softly. He smiled at him. "Guess we're cool then? Coworkers? Wait, what did you tell him to recommend me?" Yoongi asked suddenly, wondering if Kim Seokjin was confused at meeting a man, too.
"I told him the truth," Namjoon said plainly, sipping his drink. "I used to know the best songwriter in Korea and it would be worth seeing if you still worked in music. I gave him just your name and last known location and he hunted you down." He grinned. "Jin-hyung is resourceful like that."
Yoongi hummed. "So what's BigHit like? What am I in for? The non-official onboarding information."
Namjoon sat his coffee down. "Well, our two solo artists are JK and Jimin. I'm sure you've seen them before."
Yoongi snorted. Nobody had missed the insanely talented child-star-turned-solo artist Jeon Jungkook and his career shift from a teen idol heartthrob to pop icon. He had international success after his career change. Park Jimin was the angelic beauty that had been in a few failed idol groups in his late teens and early twenties before finding success as a solo artist. "It would be hard to miss them. "I'm guessing something else is in the works for me to be coming onboard. I've heard about, and you mentioned, a trainee group?"
Namjoon grinned brightly. "You won't believe these kids when you meet them, Yoon. I'm serious. They're insanely talened. Every single one of them," he gushed, probably not even noticing the old nickname he dropped.
Yoongi nodded slowly, sipping his drink as he thought. The implication seemed to be that he would mostly be working on the new group's debut album. He already wanted to meet them and get a feel for what their vibe was going to be. The musician in him was already imagining scenarios for what he could pull up from his song collection to test them with and see how they matched with his work. If Namjoon was excited about them, they were probably talented.
"See? This is why I suggested you."
Yoongi startled and looked at Namjoon, surprised to see him eyeing him inscrutably. "What?" he asked cautiously.
Namjoon smiled softly. "Your brain is already thinking about music, isn't it? I remember that look," he said with a small smirk. "You're going to get along well with the kids. They're hard workers, too. I can't wait to see what you can write for them, Yoon." He hesitated and hummed. "I guess I shouldn't call you that without checking first. How do you prefer to be addressed?"
It was strange how it felt hearing Namjoon call him that after so long. He didn't really know what to do with Namjoon since they were mostly strangers, if they were honest. They had known each other in the past, but that was a long time ago. Yoongi tapped his cup and thought about it. "I guess just Yoongi is fine," he said finally. "I would prefer you ask about it now," he prompted, and then crossed his arms and waited nervously.
(He had no idea why he was nervous.)
Namjoon didn't hesitate. "It isn't my business, Yoongi," he said simply. He shrugged. "You know I always supported everybody's right to live their life how they see fit. If you're a man, then I'm happy you figured things out."
Yoongi relaxed and exhaled a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He didn't know why he cared so much, or why Namjoon's acceptance mattered to him anymore, but it did. Some part of him deep down still knew Namjoon, and confirmation that he could trust him was a relief. Their relationship hadn't lasted, they had been dumb kids who thought they were more grown up than they were, but for two years Namjoon was Yoongi's entire family, so it was nice to discover that he hadn't grown up to be someone totally different than who Yoongi remembered him to be.
"Thank you," Yoongi said sincerely. His phone dinged and he knew he needed to go because he had to meet with the manager of his new apartment building to get a spare set of keys. "I have to go," he said, and drained the last of his tea. Namjoon stood to leave the cafe with him, and Yoongi turned back to look up at him on the sidewalk outside. "It's good to see things have gone well for you," he said sincerely.
"Thank you. I'm glad you got to become the man you were meant to be now," Namjoon said, and Yoongi's heart fluttered with the joy he felt every time his gender was affirmed.
"Thanks, Joon-ah," he said with a shy smile. "I'm sorry you had to find out so abruptly."
Namjoon raised his coffee and gave him a playful salute, smirking in a way that brought out his dimples. "It's all good if being who you are brings that pretty smile you just did back to your face." With that Namjoon turned and left, and Yoongi's face tried to burst into flame.
"Oh come on," Yoongi grumbled as he turned and speed-walked away.
Namjoon's stupid dimples were entirely unfair.