An August Wedding

Ch. 17 - Inspiration

"That was hilarious," Yoongi told you as you took another drink of whiskey. "I've never seen my parents that upset before."

You merely sighed in response.

"You okay?"

"I never asked for this. I didn't ask to get married, or have this house, or fancy dinner parties where we play nice in front of our parents. It feels like we're just their dolls while they're playing house, and I snapped."

Yoongi opened his mouth but you continued, "It's exhausting, you know? Acting like this is real. Like we're married for love, not some stupid arrangement our parents made. Sure, we're getting along better, that that doesn't mean anything's changed."

"Then don't."

You glanced over at him. "Don't what?"

"Don't act," he replied simply, sitting back against the couch. "You said before that you don't want them controlling your life. So, do what you did tonight and put them in their place when they push you too far. It's what they deserve."

"Won't they get mad at you for not controlling your wife better?"

He shrugged. "That wouldn't be anything new. You're not a doll to be controlled, so do what you want. And as long as you make it entertaining, you're not bothering me."

"Thanks," you laughed. "And speaking of entertaining...you're really good on the piano."

"If you're hoping for a serenade, forget it," he smirked. "I only play instrumental pieces. That's all they would pay to teach me."

"But they still won't support your musical dreams?"

"If I wanted to be a classical musician, maybe. But my music isn't the kind they'd approve of, so they don't approve. They don't even know I've been making music under their noses this whole time. Until I make it big, it's staying a secret."

"Would you play something for me?"

"I just told you--"

"Not the piano. Something that you wrote."

Yoongi hesitated. He didn't really like sharing his own music. Usually he only did that with Namjoon or Taehyung because they'd critique it for him.

But you...

You promised not to laugh at his dreams. You'd shown an interest before. One song couldn't really hurt, could it?

"Just one," he told you.

And now he had to face the hard decision of figuring out which one to show you. Should he go for something older? Or one of his newer experimental tracks?

Eventually, he decided on something older after all.

You listened stoicly, nodding your head along to the beat. He waited for you to react to something but you never did more than raise an eyebrow.

"So?" he asked when the track finished.

"I don't know about this style of music, but it sounds good. It sounds like you, if that make sense. It's honest and emotional."

"Emotional?" he repeated. "This?"

"Maybe passionate is the right word. I can hear it in your voice. And if all your songs are like this, I think you'll be fine in the industry." You stood up. "You want another drink?"

"Sure."

He sat in stunned silence while you refilled your drinks. You never failed to surprise him nowadays. Maybe his friends had been onto something when they kept badgering him about you. Maybe...you were a good match together. For now, at least.

"So when I make it big, are you going to tell your friends you knew me way back when?"

"That depends. You'd better not become a sell-out the second you get famous."

He smiled, tapping his drink against yours. "You've got yourself a deal. As long as you don't fall for me."

"Sure," you scoffed.

"I'm serious. Once I get going, I'll be flying everywhere and meeting all kinds of people. It's hard to be tied down with a life like that."

"Jin going to go with you on all these adventures?"

"If I'm lucky. My dad might be ridiculous, but he does have a point about the convenience of a personal driver. Plus it looks pretty cool."

"Sounds like you've got a bright future. Got yourself an agent yet?"

"With Tae's help, hopefully. I've got a couple of good leads myself, and he knows some people in the industry."

"Cool. Well, this was a fun time. Got to meet your first love," you teased, gesturing towards the piano. He chuckled. "Had some drinks. Snapped at everyone. Picked up a new catering company."

The head of the catering company had made sure to give you his card and ask for any other events that you had coming up. Provided that Mrs. Min was not going to be hosting. And because they did a great job, you promised to call if anything like that came up.

And the food was good, so you were sure that you would call them given the opportunity.

You tossed out your cup and started heading up to bed.

"You going to work on music?" you asked.

"Yeah," he muttered as he took another drink. "I'm in a good mood."

"I'll leave you to it then. Good night."

So for the rest of the night, Yoongi stayed up and worked on music. He really was in a good mood, this was the time to be working.

He texted Tae and updated him on his progress. He only had a couple more songs to tweak and then he'd be sending them off to Lee as soon as he could.

If he liked what he heard, then he could be meeting him face-to-face in a matter of months. They could get a contract worked out. He could be a producer, just like he'd always wanted. Then he could finally get out from under his parents' thumb and be on his own.

Well...on his own with you.

He sat back in his chair.

You really hadn't asked for this. And work was obviously stressful for you. You weren't the one in charge, but you sure acted like it sometimes.

Even on the way into and leaving work, he'd caught you taking care of things that could have easily waited. He knew you liked your work, obviously, but it seemed like there was simply too much for you to do right now. Especially having to baby-sit him and make sure he didn't mess things up.

Maybe he could make some changes around the office. That shareholder's meeting had been a bit of a wake-up call for him. Yes, his parents had bragged about it to yours and said that he had stood his ground against the shareholders, but that didn't really accomplish anything.

He stood his ground, sure. But he didn't know anything about running a company. And you did, while you weren't allowed to really be in charge according to your contract.

Maybe you both needed some help.

Yoongi to help understand the company on a more everyday level, and you on your basic workload. But what would that help look like?

Within a few minutes, he was nodding to himself. This would be worth it.