Jin wiped his sweaty brow. Now I understand why some farmers open up their strawberry patches to the public and make it seem ‘fun’ to come and pick strawberries for a price he thought.  Straightening, he rubbed his aching back before grabbing his buckets of strawberries and heading toward the house.  Farmer’s market was tomorrow and he still needed to wash the strawberries and get them in their quart containers before he went to bed.  He hated getting up at six on a Saturday morning, but he appreciated the money he brought in to supplement his income.

The extra income wasn’t the only great part of market though; he loved interacting with the locals and seeing what the other vendors had.  His favorite thing to do after market on Saturdays was to come home with produce he’d purchased from the other vendors and see what new food he could cook up.  

His other favorite thing about Saturday was getting to see Y/N.  She was one of his regular customers and one of his favorite people.  When he had first started coming to market she was the very first person that came to talk to him and check out what he had for sale.  Since he was new in town some people were wary of him, but not her. The only thing he'd had that day was strawberries. He hadn't bothered to plant anything else because he thought his garden was just for him. Of course he ended up with way more strawberries than he needed and he was too new to know anyone to give them to. He had been thrilled when he discovered his new little town had a farmers market; he'd filled out the application and paid the fees immediately.

That first Saturday he'd only sold strawberries to Y/N. After that, more people started coming by and buying from him. It seemed that with Y/N's seal of approval the locals were more willing to trust him. He'd expanded the types of produce he sold and now had a steady income from market, but no matter what else he brought to market Y/N still bought strawberries from him. He'd been trying for weeks to muster up the courage to invite her over to his house some evening for a home cooked meal and maybe a movie, but he had yet to do so.

This Saturday he was finally going to do it. He was going to invite her over. He was pondering how he could do it without coming off as a weirdo when his train of thought was interrupted.

"What have you got today, Jin?" Her sweet, clear voice rang out. His head snapped up and he smiled at her.

"More strawberries than I could ever eat for one thing," he said chuckling. "I've also got some tomatoes, cabbage, lettuce, and watermelon."

"Watermelon!" Y/N said, clapping her hands excitedly. "How much?"

"How does $5 sound?" He asked, enjoying the way her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled.

"That sounds excellent!!" She chirped happily. She dug in the pocket of her jean shorts and presented him with a crumpled bill. "Which one do you think is the best one?"

Jin considered the melons he'd brought to market. Pointing at one he said, "Of the ones I have here that's the one I would pick. Truthfully, I kept the best one at home for myself."

"Jin!" Y/N gasped, putting a hand over her chest and shooting him a teasing grin. "How rude!!"

"You know the rule," he shot back with a grin. "First come first serve!" She giggled and picked up the watermelon. She started to walk away when an idea struck Jin.

"Hey, Y/N!" She turned and gave him a questioning look. "If you wanted to try some of the best watermelon you could come over for dinner sometime. Like tomorrow or something?" Jin rubbed the back of his neck and stared down at his shoes.

"I'd love that!" Y/N answered. Jin looked up, pleasantly surprised. "I've been wanting to ask you to hang out sometime myself and you beat me to the punch!" Jin could feel a smile breaking out on his face. I did it! "I'm busy tonight," Y/N continued, "But tomorrow night would be great!"

"Excellent!" Jin exclaimed. "Just shoot me a text and let me know what time you think you'll be coming over so I can have everything ready!"

"Will do!" She answered, sending him a tiny wave from the bottom of the watermelon.

He watched as she left and could hardly contain his excitement. Not only had she agreed, but she had been wanting to ask him to hang out. Sunday couldn't come soon enough. Jin spent the remainder of market distracted, trying to plan out what he would make for dinner the following night. He didn't want to seem too enthusiastic so he tried to keep from messaging her and asking questions right away, but he didn't want to bombard her with questions later either.

Jin had waited until much later that afternoon, one could almost call it evening really, before messaging Y/N. As he was pulling up his messaging app a message came through from her:

Would 5 tomorrow afternoon be okay?

Sure!! What do you want to eat? Aside from the world's best watermelon ;)

I'm fine with whatever! See you then!

See you then!

Jin stood at the island in his kitchen with a pad of paper and a pencil and considered what he had in his cabinets.

"I'm definitely making a strawberry pie," he mumbled, scribbling down his menu plan. "And watermelon, maybe some fresh greens. . ."

He tapped his pencil on his chin, pondering the main course. He would really love some steak, but would that seem to serious, too much like a date?

Not willing to risk making a fool of himself, Jin fired off a quick message to Yoongi:

If you were having a girl over for dinner for the first time would steak be overkill?

He tapped his fingers impatiently on the counter, silently urging Yoongi to answer him. When Yoongi didn't answer him as quickly as he wanted, Jin got out the ingredients to start making his pie. Pies were always better the next day; the crust was a little soft and the filling was so cool, the uppermost rim of the pie would still be crispy and crunchy. Just as he started rolling out his pie crust his phone started ringing. He wiped the flower from his hands on the towel he had on the counter and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Are you seriously asking me if I would cook a girl a steak on a first date?" Came Yoongi's bored voice from the other end of the line.

"Uh, yes?" Jin said. "You're the one I trust most about this stuff out of all of our friends." Yoongi snorted.

"Fine," Yoongi sighed from the other end of the line. "How long have you known the girl?"

"About two years." Jin replied.

"And you're just now making a move?" Yoongi asked incredulously.

"I didn't want to freak her out!" Jin defended.

Yoongi laughed at his older friend. "Steak should be fine. So, who's the lucky girl?"

"Y/N," Jin answered, cheeks flushing.

"Oooh." Yoongi teased. "The strawberry girl."

"Yes, the strawberry girl," Jin snapped, in embarrassment.

Yoongi laughed at Jin, "Well, man, I'm glad you're finally making a move. Good luck!"

The two got off the phone and Jin went back to work on his pie.

///

Jin had just finished setting the table when he heard a knock at the door.  He made his way to the front door and let Y/N inside. She looked as nervous as Jin felt. She was fidgeting with the strap of her purse and staring down at her shoes.  Jin couldn’t help the blush that broke out on his cheeks. She looked so pretty.  Her hair, usually falling freely around her shoulders was pulled into a ponytail over one shoulder and her typical t-shirt and jean shorts combo had been traded for skinny jeans and a pretty pink blouse.  Jin cleared his throat and her eyes flicked up to meet his.

“You look really pretty,” he said so quietly he was almost surprised that she’d heard him. She blushed and thanked him quietly.  Jin gestured for her to follow him. Discarding her purse by the door she made her way after him. “I just finished cooking the steaks a little bit ago, so we can eat now if you’re ready.”

“Yes, please!” Y/N exclaimed.  “I’m starving!” She rubbed her stomach for emphasis, eliciting a huge belly laugh from Jin.  

“Here,” Jin said, pulling out a chair for her once he’d recovered from his laughter.  “Sit and I’ll bring in the steaks.”

When he came back they talked and ate and laughed.  He got to know Y/N better than he already did and found himself liking her even more.  They’d eaten the watermelon and she agreed that he had saved the best one for himself. Jin was so excited for her to try the strawberry pie he’d made.  He knew it was probably the best one he’d ever made and considering how often Y/N bought strawberries she would surely love it.

Jin excused himself to the kitchen and cut up the pie, putting a slice on each dessert plate. When he set her plate in front, her eyes didn't light up like he expected them to. She looked distressed.

"Is everything okay?" He asked. "I know how much you like strawberries and I thought you would like some strawberry pie."

"I-I can't eat it, Jin." Y/N said, voice full of strain.

"Oh. You're too full?" He asked. "I can send some home with you if you'd like!" Jin began to stand when Y/N reached out and grabbed his arm. He looked down at her hand on her arm and then at her face.

"No, Jin," she said sadly. "I mean, I cannot eat that. I'm allergic to strawberries." Jin's jaw dropped; he knew he had to have misheard her. She'd been buying strawberries from him at almost every market for two years; there was no way she was allergic to them.

"No you aren't," Jin said, chuckling, so sure that he was right. "You've been buying strawberries from me for two years. If you were allergic you never would have bought them. Y/N bowed her head, no longer able to meet Jin's eyes.

"I am allergic, Jin. That first time I bought the strawberries was because you were so handsome and seemed so sweet and I felt bad that no one else was buying from you." She explained. "After that though, I got to know you better and we became friends. Then, of course, I got this huge crush on you and at that point I had to buy the strawberries no matter what other produce you had, because you always told me you saved the best ones for me."

Jin was gaping at Y/N in shock. "Why didn't you ever tell me you couldn't eat the strawberries?" He asked, perplexed.

"I honestly don't know." She said, looking up at him. "As stupid as it is, it felt like strawberries were our thing."

"What did you do with all those strawberries?" Jin asked, still baffled by the new information he'd received.

"I gave them to my parents and some of the neighbor kids. They enjoyed them so much it made me feel better about buying your strawberries and never eating them. At least that way someone got to enjoy them," Y/N answered. Finally realizing Y/N wasn't kidding and the pie was still in front of her, Jin yanked the plate away from her and took both of their plates to the kitchen.

When he came back to the table, Jin scooted his chair close to her and took her hand. "Thanks for telling me about your allergy," he murmured. "I would have felt terrible if I accidentally sent the girl I liked into anaphylactic shock."

Y/N looked up at him with wide eyes. "The girl you like?"

"Did you think you were the only one with a crush?" Jin asked, leaning closer to her. A blush broke out on her cheeks and he couldn't help but lean forward and kiss one of her rosy cheeks. "It's so crazy."

"What's crazy?" She asked a sweet smile on her face.

"I've given you the worst nickname of all time," he answered. "You bought strawberries all the time so I always thought of you as my Strawberry Girl."

Y/N grinned and leaned in to peck Jin's lips. "I would love to be your strawberry intolerant Strawberry Girl."

Jin pulled back and laughed, before pulling Y/N back in and kissing her softly. Maybe all those hours harvesting strawberries weren't so bad after all.

katsudon3000 this isn't what I originally planned on my farmers market story being, but you mentioning the strawberry farmer thing gave me an idea I just couldn't get away from. And EmQueen_13 I hope you enjoy this Jin story!