"promise" YOONKOOK

+chapter six+

"ten years gone by
amazing how times flies"

NOW PRESENTING + 2:38 PM, JANUARY 7

Min Yoongi slips two dollar bills into the fare box beside the driver, nodding to the wrinkled man before making his way toward an empty seat near the middle of the long vehicle. Subtly bobbing his head to the music coming out of his earbuds, Yoongi pulls his phone from his jean pocket and turns up the volume to drown out the voices of the bus riders around him and the various sounds of the city outside.

It's not loud enough to drown out the crying toddler in the seat behind him, but Yoongi closes his eyes and focuses on the music instead of the annoying kid's wails.

He glances out the window but he's disappointed to find that all he can see are the ugly buildings and the steady stream of people walking down the sidewalk. Yoongi hates Seoul. He'd much rather move back to Daegu or Busan, the cities he'd lived in when he was younger.

Gently running his thumb over the black ink of the snow globe tattooed on the inside of his left wrist, Yoongi stands up and puts away his earbuds as the bus doors open with a quiet squeak.

He exits the bus, and standing before him is the only saving grace of the city, in his opinion. The small piano store, situated in between an unpopular restaurant and an insurance building, had hired him a year ago to run the cash register for a decent paycheck. Yoongi found his situation favorable because the store is empty for long periods of time, giving him plenty of opportunities to play the many beautiful pianos situated around the open room.

Yoongi pushes the glass door open and is greeted instantly by the annoying voice of Park Jimin. "Yoongi-hyung, you're five minutes late!" he exclaims, holding his watch up in front of the older's face.

"Four minutes and thirty-two seconds, actually," Yoongi retorts, shoving Jimin's arm out of his face and rolling his eyes. "Not like I really need to be on time. And it gives me a couple extra minutes away from you and your rambling. I've told you a million times, I don't care whether your cat puked on your bed or in her food bowl, 'cuz I'm just here to work."

Pouting, Jimin follows him like a lost puppy as he winds through the rows of upright pianos and keyboards. "But it's boring if we don't tell stories."

"I'm not bored." Yoongi sits down on a piano stool and lays the tips of his fingers against the keys. "Didn't your dad tell you to clean the windows yesterday? I still see handprints from touchy passerby."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles, shuffling into the back room to get the cleaning supplies.

Yoongi shakes his head to himself, gently pressing one of the pearl-colored keys and relishing in the sound as the note fills the room. He plays his favorite piece from memory, a piece that he'd taught himself when he was eighteen and was finally able to move out of the house he shared with his mother. It hadn't really been sharing, though. Yoongi had felt like more of a stranger in his own home than the men his mother sat down on the couch each weekend.

"Hyung, there's a new bruise on your jaw," Jimin comments, interrupting Yoongi from the music. The older sighs. "What happened this time?"

Glaring across the room at Jimin, Yoongi presses a random key. "I met up with this guy who wanted to buy some lyrics from me, and it turned into a beat-and-run. He took the lyrics without paying for them," he recalls, his tone of voice monotonous, as if what he's saying isn't important to him. "Two of his buddies kicked me around for a while."

"You should stop trying to sell your lyrics if almost everyone you meet up with is going to beat you up and not pay. Think about your health. I'm worried about you."

"Did I ask you to be?" Yoongi grumbles, already playing a new song he'd been working on recently. He can hear Jimin stomp out the door with the cleaning supplies, and Yoongi grins as the boy begins to wipe the windows with the rag. The younger male looks completely miserable, as if this is the worst thing that could possibly happen to him.

NOW PRESENTING + 7:55 PM, JANUARY 7, cont.

Yoongi grumbles to himself as Jimin hops around to some random, horrible song he's playing from his phone. It's a song that almost everyone is the country loves, except for Yoongi of course, and it's always playing on the radio wherever the grumpy man goes. He's sick and tired of the stupid lyrics. "Jimin, can you turn that awful shit down?" he asks, earning a shocked gasp from the younger.

"But Water by the Bulletproof Girl Scouts is the best song ever made in the history of music!" Jimin exclaims, pausing the song, much to Yoongi's relief. "And if you've watched the music video, you'd want to marry Happi."

"What kind of name is Happi? The entire group is stupid. Water is just a song that got popular for one stupid reason or another, and now that's all anyone talks about," Yoongi complains. "The choreography is no better than the other girl group's choreographies."

Jimin pouts, sticking his tongue out at Yoongi. "You're just a grumpy old man with back problems," he says with a bitter tone, making Yoongi raise an eyebrow in amusement. "All of their songs are amazing. Not Yesterday is a literal bop, Tears Sweat & Blood topped the charts, and Jimmah's Truth solo really showed off her vocal abilities. The Bulletproof Girl Scouts are—"

"Okay, shut up," Yoongi groans, leaning against the counter and placing his head in his hands. "I really don't care."

"Whatever," the younger says, grabbing the keys out of Yoongi's back pocket and purposefully pinching his butt in the process. While Yoongi screeches in protest, Jimin heads to the front door. "It's time to close up. Payday is tomorrow, so don't be late or I'll make sure to shave off ten dollars or so."

Already shoving his earbuds in his ears, Yoongi slips out the door and watches as Jimin locks it. "I won't be late," he assures him, and turns around. Instead of seeing the bus stop, Yoongi sees a broad chest just before someone slams into him. He hisses, bring a hand up to his nose.

"Ah, shoot, I'm so sorry!" a voice says, and he looks up to meet eyes with a handsome man who's looking at him with guilt and concern. "You alright?"

Yoongi can hear a hint of Busan dialect that he misses so much in the man's voice. He rolls his eyes at the question. "Feels like my nose got hit by a truck, but yeah, I'm fine," he replies. "I've dealt with worse."

"You turned around so quickly I couldn't move out of the way," the man says, bringing a hand up to scratch at his upper arm. "Well, I was gonna pop in and take a look around, but I guess you're closing up for the night."

"Don't worry about it!" Jimin says, unlocking the door again. "I don't have anywhere I need to be, so come on in. Hyung, do you mind sticking around for a little while longer?" The pleading look on Jimin's face has Yoongi yanking the earbuds from his ears with a huff and marching back inside. It's warmer inside than standing out on the sidewalk anyways, so he gets over his annoyance quickly.

txt members are too
young to ship with bts
members. in my opinion,
don't do it. and don't
start shipping or saying
things before they've
debuted. we don't know
what their music is like.
also, you don't have to
like them just cuz they're
under bighit and are the
brother group of bts.