#oujiin

it was wrong, truly, for him to believe that he could even keep himself in check when it came to the girl. she was bright and spirited, bold in the smallest and most inspiring of ways. she kept around dangerous company -- a kleptomaniac, two pyromaniacs, narcoleptic and dishonest folks, and yet still she shined so brightly like the first dawn of the year.

and just like that jin believed that alli could bring salvation to them all.

for all of her youth she was there when the fire overtook jae’s life, bringing the smaller woman into the safety of a friends’ when she had no where else to go. she was there when the past finally caught up with jeongguk, leading the boy towards the apartment yoongi had finally had the money to invest in. right where they needed her, alli had been a guiding hand in all their fates.

but every time he’d so much as tried to thank her, she had played it off as if it were nothing.

“you don’t understand,” he whispered one night, curled on his side in the bed of his truck. the nine of them had decided that a beach trip was necessary, but everyone had gone their separate ways save for alli and jin. at least someone had the decency to bring blankets. the spring chill was a bit much for the oldest of the bunch. “you don’t understand just what you’ve done for them. i’ve seen these things, and more... just how do you do it?” it had been an absent question, but he needed an answer. he needed her answer.

she glanced over to him, leaning against the windows with an awkward, unsure smile. “what are you even talking about?” she laughed, but the way she had said it sounded somehow accusatory in his ears. 

“well, you know... you’re still here?” it was a weak attempt, but seokjin tried, tired and delirious as he was. “you’re still friends with all of them despite everything. helped some of them, even. you don’t understand just how important you are.” even if not to them, he’d thought, but to me. you have done everything i could not. but somehow that seemed too much, overbearing all at once, and so he fell silent.

even as the moon rose higher the sky, she did not respond to his question. how many times would he have to ask, have to say as much, for the girl to see the impact she has had on their friends?

“you are the greatest blessing any of us have had, you know?” seokjin had closed his eyes, hiding himself from her sudden piercing gaze. one day, one day he would be able to express his gratitude and love and -- whatever else there even was to say.

the calls? endless.

the clients? impatient as always.

“lord have mercy,” alli sighed, ending yet another phone call with advice for ‘necessary changes’ to their menu. hoseok wasn’t going to appreciate that on such short notice. behind her, a voice piped up.

she turned to find jeongguk bounding towards her with a half-finished bouquet, his hair disheveled as though he’d run his hands through it in frustration. multiple times. “tae says he can’t find any shop in town with pink hydrangea still in stock – they need to be ready by tonight and we’re at our wits end here,” he breathed once he’d reached her side, holding up what he’d gotten done. “i mean he’s willing to drive out of town but if he’s not back in time we’re all fucked with this and honestly why pink hydrangea? blue or white would have been --”

“what is it that we do?” alli sighed, rubbing her forehead despite her desire to agree with what jeongguk was saying, for once.

this startled the florist into a silence for a beat, then he sheepishly replied with, “make dream weddings come true?”

“right. so what are we going to do about this?”

“... find a way to make it work.”

with all of his complaining, jeongguk was actually a dedicated, spirited boy. he got results when the team needed it, and his clever brilliance was exactly what alli needed just then. “i know you can do it. also, if you could... i need to talk to seokjin. i just talked with the client...” she sighed again, glancing at her phone for the time. not even noon and already they’ve got a shitstorm brewing. is this a new record?

within moments, out stepped her re-inspired florist and in came a shy wedding planner, tall but wearing that ever-soothing smile and already she could breathe easier, if only for a moment.

gesturing for jin to take the seat across from her, she took that moment to regain herself. “tae’s being sent on an emergency flower hunt and the bride’s sister just called, we need to talk to hoseok about some menu changes -- they forgot to mention we need at least one gluten free recipe and i’m worried about getting all the ingredients on the spot for the rehearsal dinner tonight.”

it wasn’t a surprise that his first reaction was a small frown, and the manager couldn’t help but study the brunet like this. his lips pursed, his brows knit together while his eyes wandered towards the floor -- even the simplest actions were something close to beautiful, even if the situation was inappropriate.

perhaps even more inappropriate, seokjin stood, making his way to stand beside her and offered his hand. “it’s lunch break. we’ll talk to hoseok on the way, but once we are outside this office, you are not allowed to think about work until we’re back.”

alli stared him down, not budging from her seat. “i can’t take a break from this seokjin. we have to be ready for the rehearsal dinner. i’m right here, and i’m not going anywhere until this is just about perfect.”

“funny thing, that,” he mumbled, his hand falling to his side. “things can’t always go the way we planned.” 

jung jinyoung had shamed her in front of her own king. not that jeongguk hadn’t already known about her predicament, but that in front of the entire royal court, this knight from an outlying country decided to show her card made the knight tremble with anger. then again, her scalding remarks and the duel she had lost (he cheated, she thought bitterly) probably didn’t help her situation at all.

a tap at her doorway brought her back, already on her feet with an apology ready to escape her lips – but it was only seokjin, the commander, with a worried frown saying everything he could not. “oh, um, if you wanted to know, no, i’m not okay, and no, i don’t want to talk about it right now,” she mumbled as she lowered her head, careful not to show her complete disappointment in herself on her face. he didn’t need to feel worse about it more than he probably already did. likely the both of them will be cast out of the guard, or worse, seokjin’s rank stripped of him and he’ll have to start all over again. meanwhile, she was to be sent to a church, or even exiled. there’s no way the country would let them keep a female knight in their ranks.

“er, it’s… not that. you have a visitor?” seokjin stepped back, allowing the foreign adviser to step in. “yoongi insisted, and i couldn’t just – well. i. i’ll leave you two be. i’m going to go talk to namjoon.”

“you really gonna let this guy win?” was the first thing that flew out of yoongi’s mouth the moment they were alone, leaving the brunette stunned for a moment. listening carefully, she sat back on the bed, playing with a necklace she’d kept under her night-shirt. under normal circumstances he’d have been ecstatic to find the knight wearing a gift from him, but right now it only made his frown deepen. “you’ve been training to be a knight, been one all of what, five years? and some asshole from an outside country is like, ‘oh yes, your esteemed knight is actually a lady and needs to be taken out of these ranks immediately. a woman has no place on the battlefield’, and you just take it? what about seokjin, who worked his ass off to keep you in this position? or namjoon, who dotes on you? come on, you’re friends with these guys. hoseok adores you, you know that, right? he doesn’t want you to leave, who else would laugh at his jokes?”

“hoseok’s sense of humor is perverse and totally unacceptable for most ladies and also please don’t tell him that to his face, he’ll actually like that comment,” she laughed dryly, but just as suddenly as she smiled, the woman slouched with a heavy sigh. “yoongi, i can’t win this. it doesn’t even matter what happens to me, i’m worried about jeongguk, and jin.”

“it’s not your fault,” the adviser argued, sitting beside her. “what happened doesn’t change anything. it doesn’t have to. we’ll find a way to fix it. maybe alli can –”

she turned her head away from him. it hurt just thinking about the fact that this would be the end. “it was only a matter of time, you know. anyway, i need to finish packing. you should… probably go.”

he stood to leave, his jaw clenched. she was going to just let the man win? “for a woman who went through hell and back to follow her dream, you’re giving this up surprisingly easy. i didn’t think you would take this lying down. you’re not who i thought you were.”