Chapter Text
Tae laughed loudly, pausing the TV to gasp for breath. Namjoon smiled indulgently as the younger replayed the scene and doubled over in laughter again. He was honestly more amused at Tae’s reaction than what was playing on the TV, but he joined in the laughter nonetheless.
“It’s so… so stupid!” Tae howled. “I can’t believe they were arguing over something so dumb!”
“Just be glad you didn’t have to experience it first-hand,” Namjoon grinned. “It was so much worse. They fortunately left out the especially idiotic parts.”
Tae squinted at the TV. “I don’t see you,” he said.
“I was inside, listening to it,” Namjoon explained. With Jin, his brain supplied unhelpfully. Shut up, he replied. “But look, Jungkook is in the background,” he said instead.
Jungkook was grinning amusedly at the camera as though telling the audience he acknowledged the stupidity of what he was experiencing and enjoyed it immensely. Namjoon could sort of see the resemblance between him and Jin in that moment. They had the same teasing smile and glint in their eyes when they found something funny.
It had been three relatively calm days since the incident with Hunter. Namjoon had made a point of staying away from Jin from then on. It hadn’t been too difficult; there were enough people in the house that it was rare he was ever alone with Jin and if he was, he was able to ignore the weird feeling in his stomach and be much more reserved with the other. Jin hadn’t seemed to notice and wasn’t acting any differently towards him, which surprised Namjoon. He also felt both relieved and disappointed at the lack of reaction, which was a rather odd and unsettling experience.
“Ahhhh look, we’re over there!” Tae yelped suddenly, grabbing onto Namjoon’s arm excitedly and pointing at the TV screen. Namjoon squinted and could see the two of them sitting side-by-side, listening intently as the first date card was read out loud. They had played it up pretty well for the camera, looking shocked and excited as the message was read. The camera cut to each person whose name was read, and Namjoon winced at seeing his face flash up on the screen.
“It’s you!” Tae exclaimed. “Oh, this is so great.” Namjoon disagreed with that statement, but let the other enjoy it. It then cut to the kitchen scene, with Isabel telling them what the task was and all the guys looking desperate for her approval. Namjoon groaned, remembering the embarrassing scene where he admitted he had no idea how to cook that was sure to appear on screen.
“Hey, I can see you on the side!” Tae told him, leaning forward. “You’re talking to Jin hyung, aren’t you?” Namjoon nodded and they fell silent, watching a guy named Mingyu talk to Isabel as he expertly navigated around the space, never faltering as he continued with the dish. Namjoon was impressed. No wonder he’d won.
Tae gasped and Namjoon watched with trepidation as his own face returned on screen. It was a surreal experience, seeing himself in so much detail. He had no idea how Jin managed to do it as his job, and resolved to ask the other—no, wait, he couldn’t do that anymore. He frowned, and was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t realize his part was over and Isabel had moved on to talk to Jin.
“You did good,” Taehyung told him candidly. “You were just a little awkward, but charming nonetheless.”
Namjoon hummed in reply, focusing on Jin and Isabel. Jin looked good (of course) and was smiling charmingly at Isabel as he casually and easily flirted with her. She responded in like, both of them grinning widely as she left.
“They seem to like each other a lot,” Namjoon muttered.
“They do,” Tae agreed, before looking at Namjoon in confusion. “But, hyung, you’re the one who always tells me this stuff is scripted, so they probably were just playing it up for the camera.” Namjoon shrugged.
“Seemed pretty real to me.”
“Not as real as you and Jin,” Tae laughed suddenly. “Look at the two of you in the background!” There was a clip playing of Isabel talking to yet another person, but in the background of the shot, one could see Jin in Namjoon’s space, helping him cut the vegetables and guiding him gently. Namjoon’s ears flamed just remembering the memory, and he wasn’t much better on screen.
“Hey, he was just helping me so I wouldn’t accidentally kill anyone—” he started before he noticed in horror that the two of them were back on screen, laughing as Isabel smiled at them expectantly.
“We were just talking about how handsome Jin is,” Namjoon heard his own traitorous voice say. Oh no. He’d forgotten he’d said that. He slowly turned to Tae who was, as he expected, crumpled on the floor, gasping for breath as he shook with laughter.
“Hey, shut up,” he scowled, flicking the other boy. Tae sat up, wheezing.
“‘We were just talking about how handsome Jin is?!’” He struggled to get his words out in between his peals of laughter. “Really, hyung?”
“It’s not wrong!” Namjoon complained. Tae shook his head but didn’t bring it up again. They joked throughout the rest of the episode, only stopping during the stand-off between Hunter and Jin and Namjoon.
“Wow,” Tae whistled. “That took guts. Good on you, defending Jin hyung like that.”
“They spent so much time on that stupid fight,” Namjoon complained. “Was it really necessary?” Tae shrugged, stealing a handful of popcorn from the other’s bowl.
“They need the drama.” He suddenly stood up. “Wait, I forgot, I need to show you something.” Tae flipped open his laptop before searching for something and showing it to Namjoon.
“It’s a website for fans of the show to talk and stuff,” he explained to Namjoon, who started reading through it. It appeared to be a forum for fans to vote on which members were their favorite and comment on each episode. He scrolled down to the vote and wasn’t surprised to see at all that Jin was the most popular contestant. He wasn’t surprised either, but was gratified, to see Tae at sixth place. But he was very surprised to find himself at fourth, right after Chris and Mingyu.
“Why am I so high up?” he asked, looking up at Tae in shock. “I didn’t have much screen time, and shouldn’t the fans of Hunter be upset? He’s pretty popular too for some reason.” Tae chewed his lip thoughtfully before taking back the computer and scrolling down.
“I have a hunch as to why,” he muttered, absorbed in his task, “but I just need to check—ah ha!” He swiveled the screen back to Namjoon. “Look here.”
Namjoon peered at where Tae was pointing, which was at the comments and discussions fans were having about the episodes. He nearly felt his heart stop.
“Look at Jin and Namjoon flirting in the background though… they’re so cute omg!!” the first one read. He scrolled down as though in a trance and found nearly every comment had a similar message.
“Why do I really want Jin and Namjoon to adopt me??”
“Namjin is so canon!!!!!!!”
“Jin has now become my favorite actor, and he and Namjoon are so adorable together! I’m glad he’s finally found someone he can enjoy the company of.”
The last comment made him smile a bit, though he soon returned to his worried expression. He hoped Jin never saw this. This was terrible.
“What’s a namjin?” he asked slowly. Tae looked as though he was trying not to burst out into laughter.
“It’s your and Jin’s ship name,” he tried to explain, looking down at his phone in awe. “Wow, these fans work fast. It’s already a hashtag on twitter.”
“What’s a ship name?” Namjoon wondered, even more confused. Tae wasn’t able to contain his laughter anymore, though he tried to mask it (unsuccessfully) as a cough.
“Oh, my poor, innocent child,” he sighed once he’d calmed down. Namjoon frowned.
“I’m literally older than you,” he pointed out, feeling a bit slighted. Tae ignored him and patted his head in a manner clearly meant to be comforting, but just came off as condescending (and a bit amusing, though Namjoon didn’t really think anything could be at the moment, given how grave the situation was).
“You have much to learn,” Taehyung informed him and Namjoon sank down, wondering how he was supposed to get through this and act normally around Jin from now on.