“And this should hold up for a while.” The locksmith gets up, dusting the dirt off his pants. Seokjin and Yoongi stand behind him, watching him as he fixes the lock to the door. They are outside, right near the back door.

Ever since the day in the field, the air between Seokjin and Yoongi was somewhat awkward but mostly distant. Seokjin no longer waited for Yoongi to eat with him. Yoongi never walked up close to Seokjin. The two mostly stay away from each other. In fact, the two watching over the locksmith fix the door is their first real interaction with each other since that day.

And Seokjin does not like it.

He misses the short conversations and the low chuckles. He misses the little touches that send electricity shooting up his veins and send warmth under his skin. He misses the bright smiles and the laughter. He misses feeling like he belongs. But most of all, he misses the feeling he gets in the pit of his stomach that bubbles up until it’s about to combust.

Seokjin looks over at Yoongi – or maybe he should go back to calling him Suga now – and lets out an almost inaudible sigh. Yoongi is barely even paying him any attention. There’s no glance when Seokjin plays with Zubat. There’s no gaze when Seokjin calls him. All he gets is a grunt and a head nod.

Did Seokjin do something wrong?

Maybe their conversation at the field went too far. Maybe he was too overbearing. Maybe he stepped over his boundaries. Seokjin has the habit of doing that sometimes. He thinks that’s part of the reason why Jungkook refuses to come back home.

And now, he’s done it again.

And now, he’ll be alone.

Again.

“Now, you two better stop being silly. This better not happen again. I reinforced this lock with titanium so it shouldn’t get damaged anymore. So, you better not try breaking it again.” The locksmith looks down at his Klefki and extends his arm out so that she can jump up his arm and onto his shoulder. “You guys are just lucky I got my new Klefki here from the Kalos region. If not, fixing this lock would have taken me days.”

Seokjin bows apologetically to the locksmith. “Don’t worry, sir. It won’t happen again.” He looks over at Yoongi but Yoongi is busy taking money out of his pocket to pay the locksmith. Seokjin sighs quietly before smiling at the locksmith. “I owe you a few orders of Pokefood for this. Thank you very much.” He bows again.

“Don’t worry about it!” The locksmith looks over to Yoongi and takes the money from him. “You, however,” the locksmith directs his attention to Yoongi who looks back at him with furrowed eyebrows and a pout while pointing at himself. “Yes, you.” The locksmith laughs. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“But how?” Seokjin speaks without thinking. When he realizes that he spoke without thinking and interrupted the locksmith, he immediately covers his mouth with his hand to stop him from speaking again. He then takes a breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just you’ve barely been here a day. How could you have heard about Yoongi?” The locksmith laughs, putting his arm around Seokjin.

“You know how fast gossip travels around here. Once news hits one of the old grandmas, everyone knows.” The locksmith looks over at Yoongi again. “And you’ve gained quite a reputation here. Everyone is talking about how happy Seokjin’s been here since you got here. I couldn’t believe it.” He looks over at Seokjin. “Until I finally saw it. Of all the years I’ve known this kid,” He ruffles Seokjin’s hair a bit. “I haven’t seen him as happy as his is now since Kookie was still here.”

The locksmith lets him go then nudges Seokjin over to Yoongi, making him knock into him and clutch onto him for support in a hug-like position. Seokjin looks up to see Yoongi’s face barely centimeters close to his own. They’re so close that he can feel Yoongi’s breath on his face. But then the realization hits him and he pushes Yoongi away slightly with flushed cheeks before brushing himself off and looking back at the locksmith who’s silently laughing at him.

“You’re name is Yoongi, right? I don’t know what you’re doing but don’t stop. Yoongi, you better take care of Seokjin. Everyone in town has a soft spot for him so if you ever hurt him, you’re gonna get a mob of angry grandmothers running after you.”  The locksmith turns to start heading out. “Well, I better get going. My wife is making dinner so I have to get back now.” He starts walking while waving his arm out. “See you two later!”

Seokjin and Yoongi are left in an awkward silence. They are too busy avoiding each other’s gaze to notice their Skitty and Zubat peeking at them from the back window. The flush on Seokjin’s cheeks is not subsiding. In fact, it’s only getting stronger, spreading to his neck and ears but Yoongi doesn’t notice because he’s too busy staring down at a hole in the ground he made by digging his shoe in the dirt.

When the two finally muster up the courage to talk to each other, they simultaneously lift their heads and open their mouths to speak.

“I think-”

“You should-”

The two pause to let the other talk but it just ends up in another awkward silence, but this time mixed with the anticipation of what the other has to say. When the other doesn’t talk, they both motion for the other to speak.

“You were-”

“What were you-”

They interrupt each other again and Yoongi just coughs to try to cover up the awkward air. Yoongi turns to head back towards the house.

“Um. Since the lock is fixed, I should probably start packing. It’s a long way back to the Johto region.” With his back to Seokjin, Yoongi clutches the doorknob tightly but doesn’t turn it.

“Well, I have to head to the Pokemart to buy some things.” Seokjin lies under his breath. He doesn’t actually need anything but he doesn’t want to be there when Yoongi has to go. Seokjin has to hold his breath before speaking again because his heart feels constricted, as if someone is reaching into his chest and squeezing his heart as hard as they can. “So I guess this is goodbye?”

“Yea. Bye.”  Yoongi says nothing more before opening the door and walking into the house. Skitty, who is still sitting on the windowsill with Zubat nudges Zubat sadly to follow Yoongi before jumping down to meet Seokjin outside.

When she gets to Seokjin, she doesn’t jump up onto his shoulder like normal. Instead, she just lets out a quiet “nya” before staying by his feet and wrapping her tail around his leg. Seokjin looks down at Skitty with a small smile before bending down to pat her head.

“You’re not gonna leave me, right, Skitty?” The Skitty smiles up at Seokjin before nuzzling her face into his leg. “Good. Because I don’t know what I would do if you left me too. You’re all I have now.” Seokjin gets back up and starts walking towards the Pokemart with Skitty still wrapped around his leg. It’s a little difficult to walk like that but he doesn’t mind because it makes it seem like Skitty will always be there for him.

The walk to the Pokemart is quiet but comfortable. Seokjin doesn’t feel the need to constantly talk to Skitty. The two know each other so well that they don’t even need to talk in order to communicate.

The road to the Pokemart is familiar. Seokjin has lived in Verdanturf Town practically his whole life. The only time he did not was when he worked for Team Rocket and that was a long time ago. He’s thankful for everyone in the town. They don’t know about the horrible acts that he committed as a member of Team Rocket but they welcomed him with open arms when he came back. They are his family.

So it’s not a surprise that the moment he walks into the Pokemart his is bombarded with the smiles and hugs of the townspeople. Because Verdanturf Town is so small, they do not have any fancy-shmancy cafes or restaurants like the other Pokecities. Instead, the local neighborhood hangout spot is the Pokemart.

“Seokjinnie! How are you!” One grandmother he recognizes as the owner of the Pokemart is the first one who comes up to give him a hug.

“We haven’t seen you in a long time!” Another grandmother he recognizes as the owner of the house just across from his own comes up to him and pats him on the head.

“Sorry,” He reaches behind him to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I’ve just been very busy with the shop lately. There’s been a lot happening.”

“A lot happening or someone happening?” The owner of the Pokemart gives a snarky remark that causes the other grandmothers to let out small giggles with knowing looks. Seokjin looks at the floor nervously while feeling heat rise up his neck and onto his face.

“Look at him!” His neighbor exclaims with a large smile. “He’s acting just like how my husband and I acted when we first met.” The grandmother continues to swoon. “Ah young love. I remember when I was that age.”

Seokjin doesn’t have the heart to tell them the reality. Even if Yoongi makes him that happy, Yoongi isn’t staying. He has to leave because as much as he wants him to stay, he doesn’t have the courage to tell him that.

“Oh, we’re not in love or anything. He’s just staying at the house for a short time.” Seokjin tries to politely shut down the conversation but his comment just makes all the grandmothers let out a collective gasp before laughing again.

“Oh pish posh!” The Pokemart owner shakes her head. “Don’t deny it, honey. I know true love when I see it.” She moves to clean up some stray items on the counter. “Any you, honey, have found true love. You better not let it slip from you or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.” She looks down at the Skitty who is still clutching onto Seokjin. “Right, Skitty?”

“Nya!” The Skitty bounces up, ears perking up again.

“See!” Seokjin’s neighbor joins in. “Even Skitty agrees. So, you better not lose him while you still have the chance.”

Seokjin looks at all the grandmothers, encouraging him to go after Yoongi. How did they even know he was leaving? He then looks downs at Skitty, jumping up and down at his feet.

And somehow the heavy weight that once was on his chest, constricting his heart, is gone and instead is replaces with a light freedom that makes the corners of his lips curl up into a smile.

He knows exactly what to do.

He runs out of the Pokemart, Skitty trailing him by his ankles, and runs back down the familiar road heading back to his house. Even though he’s run down that road at least a million times, it’s never felt as long as it does now. His heart is racing, even faster than his footsteps, and he’s smiling so much it feels like he’s never going to not smile ever again.

He finally makes it to the front of his house, where the store is, and he almost rips the door off its hinges when he opens it.

“Yoongi!”  Seokjin doesn’t get a response so he just yells out louder. “Yoongi!” The storefront is empty so, figuring that Yoongi is still packing his stuff, Seokjin runs up the stairs to the bedrooms, trying to get to Yoongi’s bedroom – or Jungkook’s bedroom – as fast as he can.

“Nya!” Skitty follows behind him, calling out to Zubat.

“Yoongi?” Seokjin quietly opens the door to the bedroom when he feels his heart drops into his stomach. The bedroom is empty. All Seokjin can find is a made bed – which is now unfamiliar to him because the entire time Yoongi stayed here, he never made his bed no matter how many time Seokjin told him to – and all remnants of Yoongi gone. His Team Rocket uniform is no longer handing in the closet and there’s a missing pair of clothes.

He’s too late.

Slowly, he makes his way to the bed and sits down on it while sighing. Skitty follows him onto the bed and then cuddles up to Seokjin on his lap. Seokjin pets Skitty lighty, following the shape of her curved back. As clingy as Skitty is, she tries not to make it a habit to sit on Seokjin’s lap for some reason. She only really does it when she’s really sad.

“I’m sorry, Skitty.” Seokjin continues to just stare into the closet. “It’s my fault, isn’t it?” Skitty then nuzzles into Seokjin’s stomach, as if to tell him no. “You know it is. But it’s going to be okay, right? We were okay before Yoongi came here.”

The Skitty lets out a soft “nya” and Seokjin smiles a sad smile.

“Come on, Skitty.” Seokjin picks up the Pokemon and places her on the floor before standing up. “We should start cleaning up shop. If not, the food might go back.” He doesn’t really want to but he knows Yoongi isn’t coming back so he has to just move on.

He starts walking back down the stairs to the storefront with Skitty trudging on behind him. Her ears are drooped and her tail is dragging across the floor. Seokjin doesn’t want to force her to do anything she wants, so when she jumps to her pillow on the counter, he doesn’t tell her anything. Instead, he just goes to collect the broom and dustpan to start cleaning up.

Just when he is about to sweep up the pile of food pellets into the dustpan, there is a loud boom and the front door slams open making Seokjin snap his head to the direction of the door and Skitty immediately wake up from her nap, ears perked up with alertness.

The two stare at the open door for a few moments but nothing else happens so they are about to go back to what they were doing when Zubat comes flying in, perching onto Seokjin’s shoulder.

“Nya!” Skitty bounces up and then jumps down to where Seokjin is. Zubat flies down to Skitty and then Skitty immediately starts chasing Zubat around the room. Seokjin looks down at the two with a smile before he looks back to the door in realization. If Zubat is here then…

Yoongi walks through the front entrance, rubbing the top of his head. “Ow, Zubat. That hurt. You definitely cheated though. You can’t hit me just to win the race.” Zubat ignores him and continues to fly around the room.

“Yoongi!” A smile spreads over Seokjin’s face. “What are you doing here? Did you forget something?”

“Yea, you.” The comment immediately makes a pink tinge form across Seokjin’s cheeks. Seokjin looks down at his feet while Yoongi almost glides across the room with light footsteps.

“Don’t say things like that. You’ll give me the wrong idea.” Yoongi chuckles before wrapping one arm around Seokjin’s waist and using the other hand to lift Seokjin’s face to look at him.

The two make eye contact and the blush on Seokjin’s face spreads down to his neck and ears. The two are so close that Yoongi can feel Seokjin’s uneven breath on his skin. While only Seokjin is showing his nervousness, both their heartbeats race simultaneously and in-sync with each other. Seokjin bites his bottom lip in anticipation and it just makes Yoongi look at Seokjin with more desire.

And finally, after what feels like forever, Yoongi brings himself closer to Seokjin and their lips touch. There are no fireworks or sparks or butterflies. It just feels right. The way their lips form against each other make it feel like they were molded to be together.

By this point, Skitty and Zubat stop running around and Skitty uses her tail to cover Zubat’s face so he can’t see what’s happening.

“Zubat!” Zubat flies away from Skitty while Skitty runs back after him. The commotion makes Seokjin and Yoongi jump back from each other, unable to hold eye contact.

Seokjin clears his throat before speaking again. “I-I thought you we’re going back to Johto.”

“Well,” Yoongi kicks at the floor with the top of his foot. “Zubat and I got to the edge of town when I realized that I couldn’t leave you behind. We were stuck there for a bit because we were trying to figure out what to do.” Yoongi pauses before looking back up at Seokjin. “So I looked over at Zubat and thought if both you and Team Rocket were Pokemon, I’d choose you in a heartbeat.”