{BTS} Your Name
Title: Your Name
Rating: PG
Word Count: 972
Summary: "the only two Korean boys in a small midwestern town finally meet and find comfort in having their names spoke" au
A/N: just a really short drabble about the idea of people needing to hide or change their names because they're "too ethnic"
Susie, Ed, Frankie, Emily.
Those were Taehyung’s first friends in elementary school. They’re the ones that gave him his second name.
“I’m just going to call you V.” Frankie said one day, squinting at him from the swingset.
“Why V?” Taehyung asked.
“Because you always make the v-sign with your hands!” Emily squealed from the top of the slide, flashing a peace sign at him.
Taehyung thought about it. It’s true, he liked using the peace sign. He did it in pictures and when agreeing and when saying hello. He liked the peace sign a lot.
“You’re right I do! Okay call me V!” He laughed and chased after his friends.
That name followed him all throughout his school life, from his small elementary school to his small middle school, to his, you guessed it, small high school. He might have been the only Korean (maybe even the only Asian) in a class of less than 100 students, but it’d never bothered him. He was friendly and social and liked to think the entire population of this rural Minnesota town liked him well enough.
Upon entering high school, he was surprised to learn that he wasn’t the only Asian around. It was his friend Ed that broke the exciting news to him.
“Yeah man, I was surprised too! But he’s a senior so that’s probably why we’ve never seen him. He’s really cool too, I invited him to eat with us after school today.” He told Taehyung at lunch one day.
“Why would you do that?” He asked, frowning slightly, “better yet, why would he agree to hang out with a couple of freshman, being the ‘cool senior’ and all.”
“Because I told him the only other Asian kid in this damn city was my best friend.” Ed grinned.
“And he said yeah because of that?” Taehyung looked at him incredulously.
“That, and I said you would treat him.” He laughed and ducked away from Taehyung’s fist.
“Come on V! It’ll be fun. We’re meeting at the burger joint down the street.” He explained as the bell rang.
“You know, just because he’s Asian doesn’t mean we’ll get along. You understand Asia is a continent right.” Taehyung said slowly.
“Whatever man, I almost failed geography you know that.” He said, and that was the end of that.
They met up later at the local diner, Ed heading straight for the booth where the other guy was sitting while Taehyung dug out the last of his allowance to buy them all food. He walked over after placing their order and sat across from the new guy.
“What’s up, call me V.” He said, extending his hand.
“V? That’s a cool name. Call me J-hope.” The other boy laughed, slapping his hand in greeting.
Begrudgingly, Taehyung had to admit that Ed was right. J-hope turned out to be a very cool guy and they had a lot in common despite the age difference. He was a part of an underground dance crew that would drive all the way to Chicago and Detroit for competitions and Taehyung was surprised he’d never heard of them. Even a town this small still had its secrets.
At some point, Ed pulled out his phone and blanched. Taehyung peeked over and noticed what time it was. Ed’s shift at the gas station started in less than 10 minutes. The boys hadn’t even noticed how late it’d gotten.
“Oh man, I gotta go, I’ll catch you later V. See ya J-hope.” Ed got his stuff and hurried out, leaving the two boys to pick at their cold food awkwardly.
“So...why V?” The older boy asked after a while.
“Why J-hope?” Taehyung answered with a slight smile.
“I asked first.” He grinned widely and Taehyung really liked that.
“My parents were total anti-establishment Koreans that decided they wouldn’t have their son conform by giving him a white-person name. But expecting a bunch of midwest first graders to call you Taehyung is a little unreasonable, right? They started calling me V because I would always use the v-sign.” He finished his story by flashing a peace sign at J-hope, effectively making him laugh.
“So your name is Taehyung?” He said easily, smile still on his face.
“Yeah...are you…?” Taehyung asked slowly, not wanting to assume.
“Yeah I’m Korean too. But my parents weren’t anti-establishment. We moved here from Gwangju when I was maybe 8 years old?” He replied, the sound of his hometown ringing nostalgic in the air.
“From one country town to another.” Taehyung laughed.
“Yeah.” He smiled again.
“So why J-hope?”
“I couldn’t speak english very well when we got here. The only thing I could do was dance. I’ve been attending the only dance studio in town since I got here. My name is Jung Hoseok. My instructor shortened it to J-hope, because he said ‘if even the skinny Asian kid can do it, everyone has hope.’” Hoseok smiled wryly at the memory.
“He sounds like an asshole.” Taehyung said after a while.
“He kinda was.” Hoseok agreed.
They sat in amiable silence for a few minutes, finishing off their food before Taehyung cleared his throat, a strange mix of nerves in his system.
“So uh, can I call you Hoseok?” He asked, suddenly bashful. It really wasn’t a big deal, but it suddenly felt like the most important thing in the world.
“Only if I can call you Taehyung.” The other smiled, and Taehyung liked the way his name sounded on Hoseok’s tongue, like a secret only he could say.
They smiled at each other in silent agreeance.
Finally, in this small town full of Samantha’s and Bill’s, they had permission to just be Hoseok and Taehyung.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 972
Summary: "the only two Korean boys in a small midwestern town finally meet and find comfort in having their names spoke" au
A/N: just a really short drabble about the idea of people needing to hide or change their names because they're "too ethnic"
Susie, Ed, Frankie, Emily.
Those were Taehyung’s first friends in elementary school. They’re the ones that gave him his second name.
“I’m just going to call you V.” Frankie said one day, squinting at him from the swingset.
“Why V?” Taehyung asked.
“Because you always make the v-sign with your hands!” Emily squealed from the top of the slide, flashing a peace sign at him.
Taehyung thought about it. It’s true, he liked using the peace sign. He did it in pictures and when agreeing and when saying hello. He liked the peace sign a lot.
“You’re right I do! Okay call me V!” He laughed and chased after his friends.
That name followed him all throughout his school life, from his small elementary school to his small middle school, to his, you guessed it, small high school. He might have been the only Korean (maybe even the only Asian) in a class of less than 100 students, but it’d never bothered him. He was friendly and social and liked to think the entire population of this rural Minnesota town liked him well enough.
Upon entering high school, he was surprised to learn that he wasn’t the only Asian around. It was his friend Ed that broke the exciting news to him.
“Yeah man, I was surprised too! But he’s a senior so that’s probably why we’ve never seen him. He’s really cool too, I invited him to eat with us after school today.” He told Taehyung at lunch one day.
“Why would you do that?” He asked, frowning slightly, “better yet, why would he agree to hang out with a couple of freshman, being the ‘cool senior’ and all.”
“Because I told him the only other Asian kid in this damn city was my best friend.” Ed grinned.
“And he said yeah because of that?” Taehyung looked at him incredulously.
“That, and I said you would treat him.” He laughed and ducked away from Taehyung’s fist.
“Come on V! It’ll be fun. We’re meeting at the burger joint down the street.” He explained as the bell rang.
“You know, just because he’s Asian doesn’t mean we’ll get along. You understand Asia is a continent right.” Taehyung said slowly.
“Whatever man, I almost failed geography you know that.” He said, and that was the end of that.
They met up later at the local diner, Ed heading straight for the booth where the other guy was sitting while Taehyung dug out the last of his allowance to buy them all food. He walked over after placing their order and sat across from the new guy.
“What’s up, call me V.” He said, extending his hand.
“V? That’s a cool name. Call me J-hope.” The other boy laughed, slapping his hand in greeting.
Begrudgingly, Taehyung had to admit that Ed was right. J-hope turned out to be a very cool guy and they had a lot in common despite the age difference. He was a part of an underground dance crew that would drive all the way to Chicago and Detroit for competitions and Taehyung was surprised he’d never heard of them. Even a town this small still had its secrets.
At some point, Ed pulled out his phone and blanched. Taehyung peeked over and noticed what time it was. Ed’s shift at the gas station started in less than 10 minutes. The boys hadn’t even noticed how late it’d gotten.
“Oh man, I gotta go, I’ll catch you later V. See ya J-hope.” Ed got his stuff and hurried out, leaving the two boys to pick at their cold food awkwardly.
“So...why V?” The older boy asked after a while.
“Why J-hope?” Taehyung answered with a slight smile.
“I asked first.” He grinned widely and Taehyung really liked that.
“My parents were total anti-establishment Koreans that decided they wouldn’t have their son conform by giving him a white-person name. But expecting a bunch of midwest first graders to call you Taehyung is a little unreasonable, right? They started calling me V because I would always use the v-sign.” He finished his story by flashing a peace sign at J-hope, effectively making him laugh.
“So your name is Taehyung?” He said easily, smile still on his face.
“Yeah...are you…?” Taehyung asked slowly, not wanting to assume.
“Yeah I’m Korean too. But my parents weren’t anti-establishment. We moved here from Gwangju when I was maybe 8 years old?” He replied, the sound of his hometown ringing nostalgic in the air.
“From one country town to another.” Taehyung laughed.
“Yeah.” He smiled again.
“So why J-hope?”
“I couldn’t speak english very well when we got here. The only thing I could do was dance. I’ve been attending the only dance studio in town since I got here. My name is Jung Hoseok. My instructor shortened it to J-hope, because he said ‘if even the skinny Asian kid can do it, everyone has hope.’” Hoseok smiled wryly at the memory.
“He sounds like an asshole.” Taehyung said after a while.
“He kinda was.” Hoseok agreed.
They sat in amiable silence for a few minutes, finishing off their food before Taehyung cleared his throat, a strange mix of nerves in his system.
“So uh, can I call you Hoseok?” He asked, suddenly bashful. It really wasn’t a big deal, but it suddenly felt like the most important thing in the world.
“Only if I can call you Taehyung.” The other smiled, and Taehyung liked the way his name sounded on Hoseok’s tongue, like a secret only he could say.
They smiled at each other in silent agreeance.
Finally, in this small town full of Samantha’s and Bill’s, they had permission to just be Hoseok and Taehyung.