Chapter Text
It happened one evening at one of Hoseok’s parties.
Yoongi had come several hours late with his roommate Seokjin. Two stalwart introverts who much preferred to be in bed on a Friday evening, they were only attending because they were among Hoseok’s closest friends, and he had begged them to come this time.
When he and Seokjin arrived, thumping bass and scattered conversation could already be heard through the closed front door.
Hoseok, the model host he was, was immediately there to greet the newcomers as soon as the door opened.
“Hyungs, you’re finally here! I’m so glad you two could make it.” He swung a companionable arm around Yoongi’s shoulder and handed him a beer, which Yoongi took gratefully.
After greeting Hoseok, Seokjin grabbed a drink of his own and headed for the corner of the room, where he was immediately sucked into a (loud, apparently contentious) conversation with Jungkook and Namjoon.
Since this was the best that could be expected for Seokjin at a party, Yoongi decided to stick around with Hoseok and let his friend draw him into a conversation with a group of strangers - mostly mindless small talk but pleasant enough, especially with alcohol in hand.
“Oh, Yoongi-hyung!” Hoseok exclaimed right after someone finished a long, rambling story about a pet fish. “I wanted you to meet someone!”
He reached into the crowd of people and pulled someone out.
That’s when it happened.
Suddenly, it felt like the world started moving in slow motion. Yoongi’s world fell silent as the most beautiful man he’d ever seen (and he lived with Kim Seokjin) emerged from the crowd.
For a long moment (actually a second), Yoongi and the ethereal being stared at each other.
“This is who I was telling you about, Tae!” Hoseok was exclaiming. He sounded miles away. “The music producer who’s been looking for a vocalist like you for ages.”
The mention of work momentarily snapped Yoongi out of his fugue.
Hoseok was right, Yoongi had a song that needed just the right voice, and he hadn’t been able to find it yet. Not even Jungkook’s vocals, heavenly as they were, could quite fit the tone he was going for.
His awestruck gaze on the man, “Tae”, turned more assessing. With those looks, he could easily be an idol (or a supermodel). Yoongi was long past his phase where he judged idols harshly compared to other musicians, but in his experience their vocals could be hit or miss, at least for his purposes.
“PD Min-nim,” Tae finally spoke. His voice was surprisingly deep, and it immediately sent a frisson through Yoongi’s body. “I’ve heard so much about you from Hoseok-hyung. It’s an honour.”
Yoongi just blinked at him stupidly. This beautiful creature thought it was an honour to be in his presence?
Hoseok nudged him with a sharp elbow, apparently mistaking his stupefied reaction for disinterest. “Hyung, this is Kim Taehyung. He and his friend run a dance channel on Youtube that I follow, and Tae sings on the side. His voice would be perfect for that song you’ve been agonizing about for weeks!”
“Call me Yoongi-hyung,” is what came out of Yoongi’s mouth once his brain finally rebooted. “Nice to meet you, Taehyung-ssi.”
“The pleasure is all mine.” Dear god, that voice paired with that face. How was Yoongi supposed to form coherent thoughts in Taehyung’s presence?
“Well, I’ll let you two talk shop.” Hoseok, evidently realizing that something was up other than business-like interest, made his exit from the conversation after giving Yoongi a wink and supportive pat on the back. Yoongi swore he even saw Hoseok mouthing “Good luck” out of the corner of his eye.
Yoongi loved the man to death, but Hoseok was so embarrassing sometimes.
“…So.” Yoongi began, only to be interrupted by another partygoer appearing out of nowhere and clinging to Taehyung’s arm. It was another unfairly pretty man; this one was shorter and had dyed blond hair.
“TaeTae, I’ve been looking for you!” As if just registering Yoongi’s presence, the newcomer glanced over at him. His eyes were suddenly far from friendly. “Oh, who’s this?”
Taehyung grinned proudly. “Jiminie, this is the producer Hobi-hyung was talking about for a possible collab.”
He looked back up at Yoongi. “Yoongi-hyung, this is my best friend, Park Jimin. We run a dance-based Youtube channel together. I also sing a little.”
“I’m his soulmate,” Jimin proclaimed, tightening his grip on Taehyung’s arm. “And I always say that you don’t post enough of your singing on our channel, TaeTae. Your voice is like an angel. A sexy angel.”
As Taehyung laughed, seemingly not at all flustered at those words, Jimin turned his gaze back onto Yoongi. “And it sounds like he’s your ‘hyung’ already, huh? Sounds like this collaboration is a done deal. How wonderful.”
Jimin didn’t sound like he found it very wonderful.
Yoongi narrowed his eyes at him. What was his deal?
“Well, we just met,” he said, careful to keep any irritation at Jimin out of his voice. “And while you seem very nice, Taehyung (and hot as hell, he added internally), I haven’t even heard you sing yet.”
Jimin immediately let go of Taehyung’s arm and grabbed his phone. “Well, we can’t have that!” he exclaimed, suddenly dropping his frosty demeanor as he scrolled frantically. He finally held his phone out, revealing the familiar Youtube layout for a channel simply called “VMIN”.
As Yoongi watched, Jimin hit a video titled “COVER - RM Come Back to Me”, handed a pair of Airpods to Yoongi, and let the video play.
30 seconds in, Yoongi wanted to fall to his knees and cry. Hoseok, the wonderful bastard he was, had been totally right. Taehyung was absolutely the One for his song.
Instead of doing that and embarrassing himself even more than he already had, Yoongi stood still and continued to listen to Taehyung’s deep, magnetic voice, barely aware of Jimin and Taehyung’s eager and nervous glances over at him, respectively.
As the last notes of the song faded away, Yoongi removed the Airpods and handed them back to Jimin. “Are you available to record tomorrow?” was all he said.
Taehyung’s eyes widened. Next to him, Jimin let out a screech of excitement.
“I, uh, have a couple meetings in the aftern-”
“His schedule tomorrow is completely free,” Jimin interrupted. “He has absolutely nothing else going on.”
“But Jiminie-”
“This is way more important than some meetings with sponsors for the channel. Besides, I can go to them by myself.” Jimin made a face even as he spoke.
“You hate going to sponsorship meetings,” Taehyung whined.
“I do,” Jimin sighed. He took Taehyung’s hand in his (much smaller) hand and laced their fingers together. “But I’ll do anything to make sure my Tae-bear becomes a star like he deserves.”
Taehyung shook his head fondly, then turned back to Yoongi. “Then I’m available anytime tomorrow, hyung.”
Yoongi, who had been watching this drama-level performance in complete silence, nodded. “Okay, come by my studio around 3. We might be done by 5, or we might be there until midnight. It all depends on how things go.”
“Sounds good.”
He and Taehyung shared numbers so Yoongi could text him the address to his studio (“The ‘Genius Lab’?” he heard Jimin snorting in disbelief, before being shushed by Taehyung), before parting ways. Rather, Jimin dragged Taehyung away to try the snacks Hoseok had laid out for the party.
Yoongi declined Taehyung’s offer to join them in the kitchen, and decided it was time to call it a night. Fortunately, Seokjin was feeling similarly partied out, so they left together.
Despite leaving the party with the phone number of a handsome man who also happened to be an amazing singer, Yoongi felt conflicted. He couldn’t stop thinking about Jimin, and what kind of relationship he and Taehyung had, exactly. Hoseok had called him a friend, and Taehyung had said they were best friends. But Jimin had said they were soulmates, which Taehyung hadn’t disagreed with. And the way they acted around each other, and especially the almost possessive way that Jimin treated Taehyung, seemed like far more than friendship.
At the same time, Jimin had been so supportive of Taehyung coming in to record a song with Yoongi. He’d almost seemed more excited about it than Taehyung was.
“Did you have an okay time back there?” Seokjin asked as he and Yoongi got on the bus to go home. “You look like you’re deep in thought.”
“It was…interesting.” was all Yoongi said in response. Vague an answer it was, this was apparently enough to satisfy Seokjin, who launched into a (fond) rant about Jungkook being a brat. It was a rant that Yoongi had heard almost verbatim a thousand times before and could probably recite in his sleep by now.
As they sat down at the back of the bus, next to a trio of tired-looking college students, Yoongi closed his eyes and let his friend’s familiar voice wash over him.
Whatever was going on between Taehyung and Jimin (and most importantly, whether or not Taehyung was single), Yoongi would deal with it all tomorrow.