Chapter Text
Namjoon was different from what Jin remembered.
For one, the Namjoon that stayed in Jin’s mind did not look like the man before him. The boy Jin remembered was lanky and adorably awkward, similar to how Jin was himself. His face had been pudgy with baby fat but his mind was brilliant, filled with so many quotes and ideas that had Jin totally enamored with whatever Namjoon had to say.
Ok fine, so middle school Jin had thought Namjoon was…cute or whatever!
Namjoon had a certain charm about him that went beyond looks or stereotypical beauty, which was what made Jin smitten with him in the first place. And, well-it wasn’t like Jin had been confident in his own looks until high school; opting out of his glasses for contacts, and gaining a bunch of muscle from volleyball. Now, Jin considered himself quite handsome.
As for Namjoon…
“Hm, I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” Coach Bang hummed, looking down at his clipboard. “What’s your name?”
“Oh! Uh, my name is-“
“Sorry I’m late!”
All eyes spun to another boy that barreled into the gym, breathing heavy with his backpack hanging off of one shoulder.
Coach Bang looked slightly annoyed, but huffed out a sigh. “Alright boys, I’ll let this slide since it is only the first day. But let me be clear; I do NOT tolerate tardy players. Understood?”
Both Namjoon and the new boy straightened up and nodded meekly, mumbling out a short “yes sir”.
“Good.” Coach Bang returned his eyes to the clipboard, tracing down the list with a finger. “Now, what are your names?”
Namjoon cleared his throat, idly playing with the strap of his gym bag to cope with all the eyes on him. “I’m Kim Namjoon, sir.”
Jin cringed as he felt the weight of Taehyung and Jimin’s stares on him. He also tried to ignore the traitorous part of his mind that flustered over the new deepness in Namjoon’s voice that wasn’t there from before.
Coach Band chuckled, “Ah, another Kim. Hopefully you’ll live up to the standards your fellow Kim’s, Taehyung and Seokjin, set on this team.”
Namjoon perked up when Jin’s name was mentioned, his eyes scanning the group before it landed on Jin himself. Realization and recognition flashed across his features as Namjoon shot him a familiar dimpled smile that made Jin’s heart hammer in his throat.
Jin sent a nervous smile of his own with a feeble wave, feeling way too warm despite being dressed in a loose shirt and shorts.
“And what about you?” Coach Bang nodded to the other boy.
Jin tore his eyes away from Namjoon to look over at his other new teammate. He was surprised at how muscular the boy looked, despite his youthful appearance. His arms looked bulky, even if they were hidden under the sleeves of and oversize t-shirt, and his thighs filled out the fit of the shorts generously.
The boy was handsome for sure, but Jin couldn’t help but feel like he knew him from somewhere. The large eyes certainly had a familiar look about them…
“Oh, right!” The boy grinned and it suddenly clicked in Jin’s brain who this was. The flash of teeth was all Jin needed to see, but holy shit…
“My name is Jeon Jungkook. It’s a pleasure to be here, sir!”
Jin’s jaw dropped slightly, because if Namjoon’s change was a surprise then Jungkook’s was a shock. This wasn’t the little boy who followed Taehyung and Jimin around like a baby duck. Jungkook was obviously taller and stronger than he remembered, but the more Jin looked at him, the more he could recognize the old “fetus-like” qualities.
“Very good. Alright boys, warm up your arms and let’s get practice started!” Coach Bang clapped his hands together and all of the players scrambled to the ball cart while yelling out names of potential partners.
Panicked, Jin looked around for Yoongi, who was usually his partner for warm up, but found the shorter player standing with right-side hitter, Jung Hoseok.
Betrayal, deceit, and complete abandonment. Where was the loyalty?
“Yoongi-ah!” Jin whined, his broad shoulders slumping with disappointment. “Don’t leave me alone like this!”
Yoongi opened his mouth as if he was going to speak but paused and smirked instead after glancing at something behind Jin.
“I think you’ll be fine, Hyung.” Yoongi said simply, turning away and leading Hoseok along to warm up.
“Hey, um…need a partner?”
Jin froze and looked slowly to see Namjoon standing behind him, volleyball in hand and a sheepish smile on his face. Unbidden memories of childhood evenings filled with the smell of sweat and grass ghosted over Jin’s mind. He thought of the hard practices and the squeaky laughter of their young selves as they worked to get better at the sport they shared.
They made eye contact and the shy smile on Namjoon’s lips settled into a soft one, something fond and sweet. His dimples framed that smile perfectly, and his eyes squinted into tiny crescent moons.
It made Jin’s heart stutter.
Jin cleared his throat, secretly wiping the sweat of his palms on his shorts, before nodding. As they were walking over to an open space, Jin could practically feel the eyes of Taehyung and Jimin in the back of his head and it made him fidgety.
“Ready?” Namjoon asked, waiting for Jin to nod before throwing the ball using a slow and exaggerated shoulder rotation.
They both continued like this for a while, throwing the ball back and forth to loosen up their shoulders and arms. It was almost like the first time they met, and Jin felt a sense of belonging that he had missed for a long time. While he was happy with his other teammates, something about Namjoon being by his side again just felt right.
“Hyung? Um, this is going to sound weird…“ Namjoon mumbled as he bounced the ball against the gym floor, not really making eye contact. “Do you even remember me? You’ve been quiet and I know it’s been a while but-“
“Of course I remember you, Joonie.”
Namjoon’s head snapped up causing him to fumble the volleyball in his hand. It slipped from his grasp and dropped directly on his foot, bouncing off the toe of his shoe and rolling several feet away. A pink flush dusted Namjoon’s cheeks as he scrambled after the ball, ducking in between two other teammates as they were passing.
Jin couldn’t help but laugh.
It was high and squeaky, and embarrassingly catching attention from others in the gym, but it was genuine. Namjoon jogged back from retrieving the ball, still pink and flustered but with a grin on his face. It felt as though the awkward tension ebbed away to be replaced by a comfortable sense of familiarity.
“I see you haven’t changed much, Kim Namjoon.” Jin smiled warmly; his cheeks flushed delicately from laughter. “Still a bit on the clumsy side, huh?”
Namjoon shrugged, rotating his shoulder slowly to warm it up as he threw the ball to Jin.
“A little, but it’s not as bad as before. I can a least hit the ball now without too much trouble.”
Feeling sassy and a little bit giddy that the conversation was similar to the ones they had during their youth, Jin smirked and bounced the ball back to Namjoon with an exaggerated motion.
“Oh? I’ll believe it when I see it Namjoonie.”
Namjoon cocked on eyebrow and huffed out a laugh before continuing their warmup. They switched arms, making sure to loosen up both their right and left shoulders, until they felt comfortable enough to toss and swing at the ball.
They had gotten several hits in before the shrill whistle caught their attention. Coach Bang ushered his players to the net and they jogged over quickly in unison.
“Alright boys.” Coach Bang called out in the huddle, gesturing to the ball cart. “All the balls in the cart and set up for hitting lines. Yoongi will set and Jimin will pass.”
Everyone was quick to get to their spots and set up the drill. Yoongi took his position at the net while Jimin readied himself in between the outside and middle hitting lines. There were three lines for outside, middle, and right-side hitters. Jin noticed with interest that Taehyung and Jungkook had joined each other in the outside line, talking animatedly with big grins.
Jin was still a middle blocker, and the only starting middle they had from last season. It was quite lonely at first, because the other middle that had recently graduated was scary, tall, and never once laughed at Jin’s jokes.
“Why are fish afraid of volleyball?”
“…”
“Because they’re too afraid of the net!”
“…”
“Ahaha…um, yeah so anyways-“
The guy was good at volleyball, but uncultured in humor.
Coach Bang grabbed a volleyball from the cart beside him, calling out the start of the drill before sending it over the net. Jimin was crouched low and positioned himself behind the ball, passing it effortlessly to Yoongi. With a slight arch in his back, Yoongi set the ball behind him to the right-side for Hoseok to hit; which he did with authority.
Small cheers of encouragement rattled around the other teammates before Coach Bang sent another ball over. Jin readied himself, feeling slightly self-conscious with Namjoon watching from behind him. The ball was passed again by Jimin and Jin took off with an approach before Yoongi even touched the ball. As Jin jumped into the air, Yoongi expertly placed the toss for a quick set and Jin swung away.
The ball snapped down, bouncing quickly off the hardwood.
A wave of excitement filled Jin’s chest as he received impressed hollers from his team. Peeking behind him, he was also delighted to see Namjoon grinning, his dimples on full display.
It went on for a bit, with Yoongi setting up different lines and the only ones that shocked Jin were Taehyung, Jungkook, and of course Namjoon. Tae had gotten really good at line shots and was very consistent with his swing. Nine times out of ten, Kim Taehyung would hit that line perfectly.
Jungkook, however, was raw power. Jin had never seen someone hit the ball that hard. He was concerned that the ball would bust a few times. The only thing holding Jungkook back was control, as he would hit the ball outside the court more times than was ideal.
Then there was Namjoon. He didn’t hit as hard as Jungkook, but his placement was truly something else. Jin was especially in awe of Namjoon’s slide hit and the beauty of how gracefully it was executed. Namjoon’s long legs seemed to glide across the floor as he took his approach behind Yoongi and hit the ball at a devastatingly sharp angle.
It was hot. Jin wasn’t afraid to admit it.
After two hours of constant drills and conditioning, leaving most of the players drenched in sweat and dead on their feet, practice came to an end. Jin didn’t have any more chances to talk to Namjoon during the practice, but once the team finished the final huddle they were free to head home.
Before Jin could make his way over to Namjoon, an overly warm and overly sweaty body was flung on his back. Letting out a noise of disgust Jin twisted his body back and forth, trying in vain to throw off whoever decided his shoulders were a nice place to rest.
A familiar giggle rang in his ear and Jin knew who this brat was immediately. With a grunt, Jin dropped his shoulder forward and felt the heavy body of Jeon Jungkook slide off his back. This just caused the younger boy to laugh louder and Jungkook righted himself to grin brightly at Jin.
“Hey Hyung~!”
“Yah, don’t touch me when you’re all sweaty, you muscle pig!”
Before Jungkook could reply, Taehyung had leaped on his back to force Jungkook to carry him. Jin laughed lightly at the slight flush on Jungkook’s face when he realized who he was actually carrying.
Hm, it seems like the little crush didn’t go away.
“Hyung!”
Jin perked up, turning to see Namjoon trotting over with a smile. He completely forgot the small audience he had beside him, especially the new additions of Jimin, Yoongi, and Hoseok.
“Namjoon?” Jin blinked, tilting his head up due to the slight height difference. “I-I was actually going to come find you…”
Namjoon grinned, scratching the back of his neck shyly. “Ah, yeah! Me too…Actually, I was wondering if you wanted to get something eat and catch up?”
“Wow, new kid is bold. Shoot your shot, I guess.” Yoongi hummed, a smirk on his face.
“Ack!” Jin spun around as heat flared from his neck and spread steadily to the rest of his face, turning it all red. “It’s not like that! When did you even-? I -!”
“Soooo?” Jimin cooed, interrupting Jin’s sputtering and nudging hiss side. “Are you going to introduce us or not? Don’t be rude, Hyung.”
Jin glared lightly at Jimin before huffing out quick introductions of his so-called friends.
Namjoon simply smiled and bowed politely to each of them, “Nice to meet you all. I’m not sure if Jin has ever mentioned me, but-“
“Of course he has!” Taehyung chirped as he slid off Jungkook’s back, “He’s been missing you for years!”
“T-Taehyung!” Jin hissed, practically burning from embarrassment.
“Ah, I missed you too, Hyung…” Namjoon’s eyes softened, his gaze apologetic as he looked to Jin. “It took a lot of time, but I had a promise to keep. I’m sorry for making you wait.”
Jin swallowed hard, feeling his eyes get a bit blurry. With a shaky laugh and false bravado, Jin managed a sad smile and to hold back any pesky tears.
“It’s ok, really! I’m-“ Jin cleared his throat as he forced out the words, heat settling in his face, “I’m glad you’re here…”
A short silence lingered, causing Jin to feel mortified as all the attention was suddenly on him and Namjoon. In an effort to clear the sappy atmosphere, (and to wipe those stupid smirks off of Jimin and Yoongi’s faces), Jin spun around to scoop up his bag and make his way to the exit.
“A-anyway! Food. Let’s get food, Namjoon-ah!”
Jimin and Taehyung scurried after Jin, Jungkook jogging along behind them, “Us too! We’re coming too, Hyung!”
Ignoring Jin’s yells of protest, Hoseok grinned at Namjoon. “Sorry about them crashing your dinner plans, but those three adore Jin. Even if they have a funny way of showing it…”
Namjoon laughed as he, Hoseok and Yoongi followed the rowdy group out of the gym.
“It’s no big deal, but can you blame them? Jin is pretty adorable…“
The confidence in that statement caused Hoseok and Yoongi to share a look.
“Seriously? How are they not already dating?” Yoongi whispered.
Hoseok shushed him playfully, but was just as curious as Yoongi.