powerboys | Is it you who changed or is it me?

"You have food down there?" Well, Jin was curious. He had never seen a reception desk with this kind of service and of course he had to laugh, which caused several others to laugh as well. "Shoes and service, I like it."

"Stop embarrassing people," Yoongi told him, having come up from behind. He wanted to go to the room, this was just drawing out time until he could.

"To be fair, there's a guy under the desk. Kinda weird." Jungkook mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes, yawning a little because he was sleepy and just had to suffer through a long journey so he was ready to go and lie down.

Ten knew he had to be presentable and avoid complaints because he really, really loved this job and he really didn't want to make Win look bad so he crawled forward, stood up and then... well, he wanted to say he had dignity when he saw Yoongi for the first time in-- er, how long? Nearly 6 years? But he didn't know what to do or say so he just stared for a few moments and then backed up and up until he basically had to climb over the reception desk to get away from this situation.

Yoongi and his giant friend were blocking the easy way out.

"...Ten!" Win hadn't expected this to happen today, but he hastened to move forward and pull Ten down from there, not even really able to wrap his head around this situation. What the hell was going on? "Did you hit your head? What's wrong with you?"

He assumed none of their guests spoke Thai, so he just kept his voice relatively calm.

And he also missed Min Yoongi standing there, open-mouthed, staring at Ten and reaching out to hold onto Jin, who had no idea what was happening.

"Yoongi? What's up?"

"I--" How.

"...are you seeing a ghost?" Well. As good a question as any.

"I have to leave. Can I have the day off? A month off? How long are they here? I can't--" Ten gripped onto Win hard and then he looked back at Yoongi. Oh God, why the fuck did he do that? It really sucked to look at Yoongi. Eyes wide, he turned back to Win and tried to push past him. "I quit."

Whatever it took to get him out of this mess.

"... Hyung, are you okay?" Namjoon frowned as he watched Yoongi and then slowly, he turned to watch the Thai worker freak out too and... well, it wasn't hard to put two and two together. "Do you know that guy?"

"...yeah." And now he had no idea how to deal with it. Or how to look away. He just stared at him, even as the owner talked to Ten and Ten avoided looking at him.

"You can go to your room, Ten, we can figure it out later. You don't have to quit..." What was happening? Win honestly had no idea, but he was trying to keep things somewhat organised and smooth here.

"Can he show me to my room?" Yoongi heard himself asking that and couldn't believe it. What was he doing?

"... What? Him?" Okay, Namjoon had no idea what was happening but him? After all of this, he wanted Ten to show him to his room? Okay, that was some crazy judgement and he had no idea if he should take Yoongi aside or not. It was so hard to be a leader and a dongsaeng.

Ten looked at Win and he knew how much it meant to him that all of this went well so maybe talking to Yoongi was just something hehad to do. Even if he didn't want to do it. He could do it. Just for now. For like a few moments. Rip off the bandaid and then hide for the rest of the trip.

Looking at Win, he nodded and then shrugged. "I guess I can."

"...sure." Win was confused and he stepped back, smiling as if this was all normal. He turned to the receptionist to receive the right key card, then handed it to Ten. "You know where it is, so I trust you."

He really, really hoped that he could trust him. Jin shrugged and turned to look somewhere else, because it was beginning to feel like he was invading something. "Ahh, Namjoonie, there is so much glass here. You best be careful."

Yoongi grabbed his backpack and then started walking in the direction of the elevator, assuming that that was where they were headed. Maybe he'd wake up from this nightmare soon.

This was hell. He was in hell. Literal hell. Maybe he never moved from Korea, maybe he did die during his suicide attempt and now this was hell. His own private hell. One that he deserved, most likely. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before leading the way and pressing for the elevator, the keys in his hands.

Once the door opened, he walked inside and then pressed for the floor. Top floor, of course. All the best guests stayed there, it was the nicest view and the best rooms.

"You always need floor five. Go left once you exit." He didn't know what else to say so he just focused on watching the numbers, his mouth oddly dry.

"Cool." Yoongi wished he had a script for this or just any kind of guideline on how to handle this. He hadn't expected this, of course not. He had been trying not to think about Ten for years now, not that he had succeeded. He had not expected him here. How could he have? "You look good."

There. Was that the right thing? Neutral enough? "Nice uniform."

"Thanks. Got a name tag and everything." It was all gold and fancy. He gestured to it for lack of anything else to do and then awkwardly rocked back and forth onto his feet before the elevator dinged. "I'd tell you that you looked good but that's like stating water is wet. Kinda pointless." He was an idol with a team of skilled make up artists and a strict skincare routine.

He was glowing. Ten was not. "You're four doors down. Not a long walk."

"You could still say it," Yoongi suggested, knowing that he was skating dangerously close to flirting here, but whatever. This was all insane anyway. He walked with Ten down the hallway, wondering whether he would have to leave his room again today once he got there. Hopefully not. Could all wait until tomorrow, as far as he was concerned.

"Ten..." So what? He wasn't really sure what to add. He swallowed, waiting by the door for Ten to open it. "Do you wanna catch up?"

"I don't really know." Ten admitted but he knew how that sounded so he knew he should elaborate before he seemed like he was just being a jerk again like old times. "You can tell me about your life if you want but I mean -- it's sort of like if you got a microwave dinner and did a dinner swap with a plate of some fancy world class cooking. I don't have a lot to bring to the table."

Yoongi was one of the most popular idols in the world right now and he was working at his friend's business cause he took pity on him when he came back to Thailand after crashing and burning too hard in Korea. Still, he didn't want Yoongi to think he hadn't changed at all or that he was still trying to be a dick, he just wanted him to understand how unfun it'd be. He unlocked Yoongi's door and held it open for him. "I am the chicken nuggets of the table. People want me but I am garbage."

"You've friends." Yoongi could tell that much, just from witnessing that short interaction between Ten and the owner down there. That had been a friend interaction, not employer and employee. He could tell. Honestly, he was wondering whether it was more than just friendship, but that wasn't any of his business anyway.

He walked into the room and looked around, looking up at the light fixtures right away. Wow. These were beautiful. He reached out to judge what materials they were made out of, then shrugged. "I'm like that fake astronaut food."

If they had to go with food metaphors.

"Yeah, Phi-Win and I are close. I knew him as a kid so when I came back, I went straight to him and he helped me out. I only had enough for the ride here. Bus, by the way, with eight stops. A total of 15 hours." He just wanted Yoongi to truly appreciate the agony he was suffering while Yoongi was riding high on his growing career. He really couldn't remember the last time he felt truly happy but being with Win and rebuilding his life, that did help.

"I don't think you're like that at all but then, you always had a bad idea of what you're like." He frowned seriously for a moment and then moved along to look at the light fixture, frowning as he tried to work out what Yoongi was looking at. "You're more like a really classic Korean dish that has a weird twist that makes it somehow 'fancy' and then they slap on a pretentious name but when you eat it, you're still like 'yeah, this is good noodles'."

He shrugged and then turned away. "Light fixtures are boring, grandpa."

"I like them. Everything else tends to look the same everywhere, but the light fixtures are unique more often than not." And then he couldn't buy them, because they were designer, but he didn't mention that, because him having money might get him another weird look. Not that he didn't obviously have money.

He turned his head to look at Ten again instead of the light fixture. Also unique. He lowered his eyes, because his instinct was to touch him and he knew he probably shouldn't. "So. I take it you know BTS, huh?"

Not as good a pick-up line as he'd have liked.

"Vaguely. I didn't know you were coming though, I missed the memo. It's my bad, I was gaming during team meetings." That and he just tended to leave the room when he heard BTS so often, he didn't stick around to hear the details. He spent a lot of time trying to avoid BTS and anything to do with it so he didn't have to hear Yoongi but -- well, that was very difficult. Impossible, some might argue.

"Your faces were plastered all over my favourite ramen when I was living in Korea. I had to switch ramen. It sucked too, the other had shitty seasoning." Ten smiled and then walked over to the TV remote, turning on the TV for him like he had to do. For some weird reason. "You can't order ramen here but there's some good stuff on the menu. I know the chefs. The pastry chef is amazing."

"You'll have to recommend some stuff for me. I feel like just ordering room service today." Big shock there, he was sure Ten wouldn't be surprised. Yoongi wasn't sure if he had changed, but at least he hadn't changed in regard to that. When given a choice, he would always prefer not to go out. "Sorry about the ramen. I get weirded out seeing my face places."

He shrugged. "If it helps, I look different in reality. Less facetuned." Obviously.

"I dunno. You look really different."

He turned and looked at Yoongi, really looked at him. He felt his heart sink just to look at him and see how far out of his league Yoongi was these days. He looked like an idol, he held himself like one and he was dressed in the best. Honestly, he looked more confident, more well adjusted, definitely better fed. He wondered if he was truly happy or not - he had people around him to support him, he was sure he had to be. "You're definitely really different. It's just -- nevermind. I, uh, I should go. I guess."

He didn't know. He suddenly felt really flustered.

"Nevermind, huh?" Yoongi smiled weakly and then he reached out, finally holding Ten's hand. He looked at him, even if it hurt. Maybe because it hurt. It made the whole thing real, just as feeling Ten's hand in his. All these years and his hand still felt familiar. "I'm not that different inside. Afraid not."

Less different than he'd have thought even a few minutes ago.

"Still my sweet boy?" Fuck. He shouldn't have said that. Not the my. He closed his eyes and felt a surge of pain because he really shouldn't have said that. Yoongi wasn't never, never was. He didn't know what they were. "You were always too soft. That's why you kept visiting a punk like me. You pulled away and you worked hard, you achieved everything you wanted to. You shouldn't backslide."

He didn't want to let go of Yoongi's hand and he didn't think he had the strength to. He just met his eyes and tried not to get lost in them. "You're better than that."

It was like a jolt of electricity, looking right into Ten's eyes. He was vaguely aware of his lips parting, but he didn't say anything just yet. He wasn't even really thinking. Feeling, too much and nothing he could even begin to put into words. Better than that. Better than what?

"This is better than getting drunk in my room alone." Not that he would have done that today. Maybe a bit tipsy. "I never really managed to pull away anyway. I just tried to pretend. Badly."

"You shouldn't drink alone. It's weird and lonely, makes me feel bad for you. Next time you think of doing that, call someone. Even if that someone is me. No one likes a lonely drinker." Ten smiled playfully and ran his thumb up and down the back of Yoongi's hand before he gently pulled his hand away. "I think two people can have such an impact on each other that it's hard to forget but maybe it wasn't the worst thing for you to do. Look at how great your life is now, Mr Ramen Face."

He was just saying. It seemed like since Ten left his life, things got better for him. Ten smiled and raised his hand, ruffling his own hair. "And I-- currently own a hot plate in my room against hotel policy." So yeah. They were both doing great. Clearly.

"Wow. Life on the edge, huh?" Yoongi smiled a little, his hand felt weird from the touch and he wasn't sure what was happening. That last part had been true since he first laid eyes on Ten here, so at least he was hoping he'd adapt eventually. "Come have dinner with me tonight then. When I order room service. So I'm not weird and lonely for once."

"I may have to work so I'll have to let you know on that. Got to go talk to my Win... boss. My boss. Sorry. I'm a little all over the place." He wasn't used to being this flustered, he wasn't used to feeling shame and embarrassment either. He truly felt like garbage and that wasn't great, not really. "I'll come by around eight to let you know, yeah? Erm, you can order me something fun. Surprise me."

Ten always liked a surprise, he used to make sure that every gift Yoongi gave him for his birthday was present as a surprise.

"Surprise menu it is. I still know what you like. And what you fear. No fruit today." He laughed a little, because that at least felt somewhat normal, as if anything about this was. As if he didn't feel close to screaming, crying, breaking down, kissing him or shoving him and all sorts of other things. "Just knock when you come, I might be napping."

Likely would, honestly. He'd have to set an alarm.

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cutedevil - 2020-10-05 22:22 (UTC) - Expand