Mettle
(n.) the determination and ability to deal with problems and difficult situations; the courage to carry on in the face of adversity
Pairing: Park Jinyoung (Got7) x Reader; Genre: Fluff, Slice of life, s2l, humour, a little angst; Rating: sfw, PG-13; Warnings: awkwardness, stress of baking a birthday cake last minute, Yugyeom is a sneaky little b*tch; Wordcount: 4.186; Prompts: (1) A is a wedding caterer and B is a photographer and they always keep running into each other at the same weddings. (2) “How many times can you say hello to someone before it becoms awkward?” (3) “You said you were a great baker, right? It’s his birthday soon and we need the cake for his surprise party tomorrow night!” [Bonus points if the person said they were a good cook. For cooks and bakers are not the same thing.]
Synopsis: “How many times do I have to say hello to you before you’ll kiss me?”
A/N: A story for the last Virgo of the group! I present you a Jinyoung fanfic as a part of the Virgo-project from @got7writerscollective. I had a lot of fun writing this one.
May 2nd, three years ago. The Winston wedding. That was the first time you saw him. The first time the both of you attended the same wedding.
You remember how you stood behind the buffet and helped the guests or answered any questions. You made sure nothing was amiss and cleaned any crumbs from the table so the buffet would still appear pristine.
You just rearranged some dishes when someone cleared their throat next to you, making you look up in question.
In front of you stood a young man, dressed in a neat suit, with black hair and a hesitant smile on his lips. “Hello. Mind if I take some pictures from here?” He raised the professional camera in his hand and brought it to your attention.
For a moment longer you just stared at the camera and the man behind it before you nodded dumbfoundedly.
You haven’t exchanged anything else on that wedding, both minding your own business.
Almost two weeks later, May 14th, you met again. The Turner Wedding. It was nearly like a deja vu. You stood behind the buffet, he cleared his throat, greeted you and raised his camera and you once again just nodded.
June 7th. The Smith Wedding. You prepared the trays and sent your workers through the crowd, when he once again appeared next to you. He grinned and greeted you with a raised camera. This time you actually managed to greet him back before you had to focus on your work again.
July 21st. The Gonzales Wedding. A particularly hot day and sweat dripped down at the back of your neck. You hated wearing your whole work clothes during those days since you always felt like you were close to a heat stroke.
You had turned around and gulped once again a whole glass of water down. Thanks to the ice cubes in the liquid you had a short relief from the heat. You even put one of the ice cubes in your mouth, moving it from one cheek to the other, when someone cleared their throat behind you.
You jumped and turned around, seeing him once again in front of you.
“Hello”, he said, raising his camera as usual.
You awkwardly tried to move the ice cube around and greeted him as well, wishing a hole would appear in the floor to swallow you and your embarrassing self.
As usual you didn’t speak to him the rest of the night and for once you were actually glad about it.
June 15th, two years ago. The Fisher Wedding. You were short on staff and needed to serve as well as prepare the trays. Thankfully your best friend tried to help you as much as possible. Still, that wedding was one of the most stressful you ever worked for.
You had to force yourself to smile whenever you hurried around the crowd, nearly forcing the guests to take whatever snacks you had on your tray, so you could return to the station and prepare the next trays before your coworkers came back from their rounds.
You only hesitated shortly, when the well known throat clearing sounded next to you. For a second you relaxed and finally took a deeper breath again.
“Hello.”
“Hi, sorry, I’m a little stressed right now, but don’t worry and take your shots.” You smiled at him but turned quickly back to your work station.
“I can look for another spot, if I am in your way.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine, really.”
The first time you exchanged more than just your greetings and you had decided there and then you thought of him as a pleasant person to have around you.
Later that evening when the stress subsided and you finally had time to take short breaks your best friend stepped next to you, shoving a glass of champagne into your hand. “Before you ask, we deserve this.”
You nodded shortly and drank the liquid with a few gulps. After all, you really deserved a drink after the stress you’ve been through.
“By the way”, your best friend spoke up again, glancing at you before her gaze landed on the photographer again, “I never knew you were close with Jinyoung.”
“Who?”
She turned to you and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Don’t play dumb.”
You scoffed. “I am not. Who is that guy? Is he one of the stand-ins? I don’t know their names.”
She stared at you for a little longer until something in your expression told her you weren’t joking around. “Park Jinyoung. I can’t believe you don’t know who that is.”
Something about this name felt familiar to you but you couldn’t place a finger on it. Instead you shrugged with your shoulders. “I guess that person is famous? Is he one of the guests? I talked to a lot of people though.”
“Ah, I forgot.” She sighed and playfully slapped her forehead. “You don’t even consider yourself as famous.”
“Because I am not.”
“You are the most asked caterer at weddings. People are basically fighting for dates where you can make the food,” she deadpanned and immediately shut your protests. “And because you don’t consider yourself as famous, you’d never think of him as famous. The most loved photographer during weddings. Apparently his pictures are to die for.” She added with a wink.
Your head snapped up and you blinked at her dumbfoundedly. You met this Jinyoung guy at several weddings and only now you learned about his name. That fact hit you like a slap to your cheek. “We never really talked much.”
“Oh yeah? You smiled and stopped working for a moment so you could speak with him.”
“No, no, I mean before today,” you whispered, lowering your head in shame. “Today was the first time it was more than just a hello.”
You looked back up, your eyes immediately drawn to Jinyoung across the room. He was immersed in his job, the camera right in front of his face, while he shot pictures of the newly wed couple.
From this day on whenever the both of you met at a wedding, he actually stayed near you for a while and used the chance to small talk. As long as you weren’t too stressed.
You actually loved the short encounters, hoping Jinyoung would attend the same wedding as you before you even got there. And you had to admit you always turned a little glum when he didn’t.
August 27th, last year. The Collins Wedding, or actually the wedding of your best friend. You had expanded your business, giving you the chance to attend the wedding as a guest and not as a caterer. Though, of course you couldn’t not check on your staff and the food, once you arrived at the venue.
You rushed towards the buffet before the other guest entered the hall. You knew the dishes by heart since you had spent hours creating the perfect buffet in honour of your best friend. Everything on this table was in consideration of her taste and allergies.
“All set and ready!” Your workers greeted you with a grin.
You nodded shortly and walked along the table, looking over each dish before you stopped and narrowed your eyes. Next to the bread stood more than the dips you prepared.
“What’s that?” You pointed at the unknown dish, your eyes still narrowed in suspicion.
“A dip?”
“It is not on the list.”
“Are you sure, boss?”
You looked at your worker pointedly, telling him without words that he shouldn’t question your statement.
“Okay, uh, should I just leave it there, or?”
“I don’t know what this is, bring it back into the kitchen.”
“Of course,” he nodded quickly and grabbed the dip before he hesitated and turned back to you, “uh, but I can’t leave my spot without someone else being here.”
“I am here, just go and hurry up.” You sighed and ushered him to finally move. Once he rushed away, you walked around the buffet, taking the position behind the table. You closed your eyes and rubbed your temple, trying to avoid the emerging headache.
Someone cleared their throat next to you and you could feel their eyes on your form.
“That was fast.” You said, sighing in relief because you didn’t have to work while wearing a dress. “We still need to talk though. I can’t believe one of you thought it was a good idea to..” You stopped mid sentence after you opened your eyes again and saw Jinyoung standing in front of you with a quizzical expression.
“Hello.”
“Hi.” You swallowed and after a long time you actually wished again to disappear into thin air out of embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
You could feel the heat creeping up your neck while you waited for him to answer you.
“No worries.” He grinned at you, small crinkles appearing around his eyes. “You look different today.”
He shortly gestured at your outfit and you looked down at your body.
“It’s not bad! Not at all! Just not your usual outfit.” Jinyoung quickly added and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“I’m actually a guest today”, you admitted with a shy smile, your fingers stroking over the material of your dress. “I just had to check the buffet. I’m a perfectionist and all.” You laughed and waved your hands dismissively.
Understanding dawned on Jinyoung’s face and once more his eyes roamed over your body, taking every inch in. He had never seen you in something else than your work clothes and the difference was a sight to behold.
“Y/N!”
You turned around and saw your best friend walking towards you. As usual she had a raised eyebrow and silently questioned why you stood behind the buffet.
“What are you doing there? I told you to take it easy today.”
“I know, I know, just a last check and Dan is back in any minute.”
“Why did you even take his place? You are not working today.” She sighed and shot you a pointed look before she turned to Jinyoung with a bright smile. “Mr. Park, I am so glad you could make it after all.”
Jinyoung smiled as well, being absolutely charming and polite, even shaking your best friend's hand. “Pleasure to be here.”
“I know you are literally working right now, but please feel free to just enjoy yourself as well. We have seated you next to Y/N should you want to eat.”
You blinked in surprise, hearing this fact for the first time.
“Thanks for the offer but I probably won’t need the seat. I get better pictures when I walk around.”
Even though Jinyoung declined in such a polite manner and even stated a logical reason why he couldn’t sit down next to you, disappointment spread through your chest and you had to force yourself to keep on smiling.
“I understand,” your friend nodded, “the offer still stands though.” Her head turned slightly and she grinned even wider now. “Ah, Danny! Perfect, you’re back. Y/N, let’s go, I need you for the toast.”
With that she grabbed your arm and pulled you away before you could speak with Dan again.
The night went on and despite your designated seat and the delightful company you just couldn’t stay still and kept on wandering around, speaking with friends and family here and there, checking the buffet and helping with any games or speeches.
Funny enough, whenever you got up and left your seat, you somehow bumped into Jinyoung. And whenever you bumped into Jinyoung you always said “hi” to him with a shy smile.
He told you “hello” as well with a wide grin and you could have sworn it got wider each time you crossed paths with him.
After the nth time you greeted him and the nth time you basically fled the scene, you ordered a drink for yourself and a glass of champagne for your best friend and made your way over to her.
“How many times can you say hello to someone before it becomes awkward?” You asked and pushed the glass into her hand with a sigh.
“Why?”
“Because I am a moron and can’t say anything else apparently.”
“Oh sweetheart,” she giggled and hugged you shortly before she leaned back again and looked you in the eye, “you are a moron. But I assure you, everybody loves you because, and or despite of it.”
“Doesn’t help.”
“And you shouldn’t worry about it. Come on, Y/N, just enjoy yourself.”
You sighed and nodded, trying to follow her advice. Though it appeared to be harder to stop worrying when you continued the cat and mice game with Jinyoung throughout the whole wedding.
And even after the wedding, surely not a constant thought, but every now and then you still despaired remembering your awkwardness during that night.
February 10th, half a year after you saw Jinyoung the last time. The Bernstein Wedding.
“Back to your usual outfit, I see.” Jinyoung appeared next to you and glanced shortly down your body.
“Hi”, you said dumbly and stared up at him.
Jinyoung chuckled lowly, again the small crinkles appearing around his eyes. “Hi.” He raised his camera, nodding shortly, and a wave of nostalgia hit you with that movement.
“Sure.” You smiled and stepped aside, giving him the chance to take a few pictures from your point of view.
You watched him getting into position and raising the camera in front of his face. He checked the scene on the screen, slightly adjusting his stance to get a better angle but before he pressed the shudder Jinyoung leaned down and looked through the view-finder.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jinyoung spoke up, even though he didn’t look up or turn to you.
“Sure.” You repeated the same answer and waited for his follow up.
“Would you give me your number?”
For a second you lost control over your facial expression before you composed yourself again. Still, you couldn’t stop gawking at him, not believing you heard the question right. “What?” Your voice was barely audible but Jinyoung heard you.
“I’d like to have your number. We nearly meet at every wedding I attend and I thought it’s strange we haven't exchanged our numbers yet.” He explained himself and finally straightened again, turning his attention to you. “So would you give me your number?”
You nodded dumbfoundedly and your body went on autopilot when he gave you his phone so you could enter your number.
“Great, I’ll send you a message once I’m home.” Jinyoung smiled and put his phone back into a pocket of his suit before he returned to his work.
But this message never came and you hated the fact that you checked your phone every morning, hoping the message finally came.
You didn’t even have the chance to ask him about the missing message because the few weddings you attended were ones without him being there.
Your best friend noticed the subtle change and literally forced you to go on a holiday.
You only agreed to it on your own conditions because you didn’t want to leave the town in case of an emergency and you wanted regular updates. This business was your baby after all and it took you years to build it up like this.
Therefore you always kept your phone near you and refused to mute it, so you could pick it up when someone would call.
March 28th, a few hours after midnight. Your phone rang loudly through the dark and pulled you out of your slumber.
With closed eyes you reached for the device and accepted the call, pressing the phone against your ear. “Hmm?”
“Hey Y/N, did I wake you?”
“Hmm.”
“I’m so sorry but I really need your help.”
“Hmm.” You rubbed your eyes and changed into a sitting position. “What happened?”
“You said you were a great baker, right? It’s my friend’s birthday soon and we need the cake for his surprise party tomorrow night!”
“Huh?” Confused, you held your phone away from your ear and stared at the display, seeing an unfamiliar number on it. “Wait a second.” You stood up and walked around your bedroom, needing the movement to wake you up and help your brain to function.
With a sigh you returned to the phone call. “I’m sorry. If you’re looking for a caterer I’m sure I can help but this is my private number and not the business one.”
“I know, I know, but it’s an emergency.”
You nearly dropped your phone when your brain finally recognized the voice through the speaker. “Jinyoung?”
“Yeah, so, uh, can you help me?”
Stunned, you just stood in the middle of the room, not able to respond to him.
“You can come to the birthday party as well, if you’re free, of course. I mean, I know this is on such short notice and additionally to what it costs, I’d like to invite you,” he quickly added - a nervous lilt to his voice.
“Yeah, sure, okay. Give me a second, I need a pen and paper to note down the details.”
Jinyoung waited silently until you gave him the go to speak again. “Thank you so much, really this means a lot to me!” He started to ramble. “So, it’s nothing big. We’re like maybe a dozen people and I know Jackson loves fruits, so if you could include those that would be perfect. Maybe the basic flavour could be vanilla or something that fits well with fruits. Are you able to make like three layers? That would be great! Uhm, oh yeah, Jackson gets back from work at six, so it would be great if you could make it till five. That’s enough time, right?”
“Which date?”
“The 28th?”
You glanced at your clock on your bedside table. Half past three in the morning. And the 28th. “Of March?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s today! How am I supposed to create a whole menu for a dozen people in less than fourteen hours? I need to go grocery shopping too!”
“Wait, no, you don’t need to create a menu.”
“I don’t?”
“We need the birthday cake. You’re a baker right?”
You sighed loudly, rubbing over your face tiredly. “I’m a cook”, you whispered.
“You’re still able to help me right?”
The hope in his voice tugged at your heartstrings and you unconsciously started to nod. “Yeah, I’ll try.”
“Thank you so much!” Jinyoung let out a breath in relief. “I’ll see you at the party then.”
With that he hung up the call and left you to your spiralling thoughts.
You had people work for you to bake and prepare desserts or any sweet goods, while you worked on the main course of any menu. You basically never baked, especially not a cake.
Even when your business started, you had avoided baking because of the precise measurements. Cooking felt simpler to you, mostly because you relied on your taste instead of measurements.
You never were good with following instructions or the measurements of food. You needed to improvise with this one.
Instead of going back to bed you grabbed your phone and looked up fruit cakes to get a feel of them. You even watched a few videos of professional bakers and noted all the tips they got.
With the information you found and the details Jinyoung told you, you started to design a cake, hopefully worthy of a birthday.
The next time you looked up, was to the ringing of your 7am alarm. You groaned slightly and turned it off.
You stood up and stretched your limbs. Your gaze lingered on the design of the cake for a moment longer before you decided to get yourself ready and buy all the ingredients you needed.
Lunch time. And you anxiously sat in front of your oven, staring into it and watching your cake. Despite the great tips of the professionals you couldn’t shake off the fear of failing.
Once the alarm rang you jumped and hurried to get the cake out of the oven. You checked if there were still raw parts and made a short happy dance when you found none.
While the cake cooled down you prepared everything for the decoration and cleaned the kitchen as far as possible, hating if there were too many dirty dishes littering the area.
You carefully tested if the cake had cooled down before you started decorating it. Once you finished everything you stepped back and stared at the result.
Not perfect but definitely good enough to be shown. You only hoped it would taste well too.
You glanced at the clock and noticed with relief that you still had two hours to get yourself presentable and maybe even take a nap.
You didn’t in fact have a chance for a quick nap. Instead you had wrecked your brain for choosing a good outfit. At last you had decided on something comfortable but good looking and got dressed before you left with the cake.
“Y/N!” Jinyoung greeted you excitedly. “You made it!” He took the cake from you and smiled brightly, motioning for you to follow him into the apartment.
You heard chatter from somewhere inside but stayed close to Jinyoung.
“The cake looks amazing! Thank you so much. I really owe you one.” Jinyoung placed the cake on the kitchen counter and turned back around to you. “You too, by the way.”
Immediately heat crept up your neck and you laughed nervously at his compliment. Before you could respond to it, someone else entered the kitchen.
“Jinyoung, Jackson just messaged me he got off of work. He’ll be here soon.”
You turned to the stranger, smiling politely after he looked up from his phone. “Hi.”
“Uh, hello?” He quickly shot a glance towards Jinyoung before he looked back. “I’m Jaebeom.”
You quickly introduced yourself as well and even added the information that you made the cake, though it seemed Jaebeom didn’t need that.
“Guys, where do you keep the blankets? We need to cover the presents.” Another guy stepped into the kitchen but stopped in his tracks once he spotted you. His eyes widened comically and he pointed with a finger at you. “You’re Y/N!”
You blinked a few times in confusion before you nodded slowly.
“You look even better in person than in the pictures!”
“Pictures?”
Jaebeom rammed his elbow into the side of the new guy and quickly shook his head with a telling glance towards Jinyoung.
You followed his gaze and saw how the tips of his ears turned red. He avoided eye contact with you and cleared his throat awkwardly.
The new guy ignored Jaebeom’s warning and Jinyoung’s flustered state. Instead he grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the kitchen. “How come his obvious crush doesn’t know about the photos,” he chided you gently. “It took him long enough to introduce you to us as well. He’s basically been talking about you since forever.”
Overwhelmed by the situation and all the information thrown at your head, you just stumbled behind this guy. You barely heard Jinyoung mutter under his breath that he would kill Yugyeom before he led you to another room and stopped in front of a bookshelf.
He grabbed a photo album and opened a random page, showing you a few pictures of yourself. “Each time the both of you met, he took a picture and kept it instead of including it with the other photos and returning them to the couple. You have no idea how nervous he got in February because he wanted to ask for your number.” The guy, you mused to be Yugyeom, laughed loudly. “You should have seen him after he got your number. He basically freaked out and got too afraid to write to you. Gladly Bambam just took his phone last night and called you. We searched for a good reason and needing a cake is quite a good one.”
“Yugyeom.” Jinyoung growled, eyes dark in annoyance. “Get out.”
Without another word Yugyeom placed the album into your hands and hurried out of the room, leaving you and Jinyoung alone.
Jinyoung rubbed over his face in devastation and sighed loudly, closing his eyes.
You closed the photo album, holding it close to your chest, before you crossed the room and stepped in front of him.
When he opened his eyes again, you smiled gently. “Hi”, you breathed, making the greeting barely audible.
Jinyoung lowered his hands and stepped closer to you, his eyes glued to yours, while a small smirk appeared on his lips. “Hi.”
“How many times do I have to say hello to you before you’ll kiss me?”
“I lost the count.” Jinyoung whispered and leaned closer to your face, his lips brushing over yours and his breath fanning over your skin. He placed his hands on your waist and pulled you closer with a quick motion, sealing your lips as well.
“But I promise it will only be once from now on.”
© all rights reserved