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kim namjoon was 15 when he first met his classmate kim seokjin, more like ran into. he was running late and was had to hurry to get to his next class when he bumped into kim seokjin in the hallway. the same kim seokjin who turned out to be his new classmate. quickly saying a “shit sorry” before helping the lather pick up his stuff and then continue to hurry to class.
with 1 minute to spare he finally sat down and let out a breathe he didn’t know he was holding. the teacher soon after came into the classroom with a new student trailing behind him. “introduce yourself” the teacher said with a smile and patted the kid on the back. with a smile the new kid gave a slight bow before saying “hello, my name is kim seokjin, but you can just call me jin. I just moved here from anyang, please take care of me.” namjoon could literally hear all the girls swooning and whispering “he’s so cute,” before hearing the teacher say “jin, you can sit next to namjoon.” namjoon didn’t know it yet, but he and jin would soon become best friends.
namjoon was 16 when he got his first girlfriend, but they wanted different things so it ended after 3 months. after ending it with his now ex-girlfriend, namjoon decided to go to the park, to clear his mind. he found a bench and closed his eyes after sitting down. soon after it started raining, but he didn’t care. “maybe the rain can wash away my problems.” he sat there for a good 5 minutes when the rain suddenly stopped, but when he opened his eyes he noticed an umbrella. confused he looked to see who was holding it, it was jin.
“are you stupid?” is all he heard jin say. “are you trying to get sick and die?” jin was saying as he handed namjoon the umbrella, which he took still confused and then he noticed jin taking of his jacket and draped it over his shoulders before taking back the umbrella and sit next to him.
namjoon said a soft “thanks,” but didn’t say much more after that. they sat in a comfortable silence until jin asked
“are you okay?”
“not really,”
“do you want to talk about it?”
“not really, sorry”
“ah, don’t be! then do you want to get something to eat? my mom made hot pot for dinner, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you coming again.”
namjoon looked at jin and saw him smiling before answering “that would be nice.”
on their way back to jin, namjoon asked “how did you know I was at the park?” “I didn’t, I was on my way home when I saw you sitting there with your eyes clothes, I thought you were sleeping or something.” namjoon nodded “thank you for the jacket by the way,” jin smiled again “you look good in it,” making namjoon blush.
namjoon wasn’t a stranger to jins family. after jin sat next to him one year ago, they started talking and figured they lived really close to each other and because namjoons parents always work so late, jins mom had said namjoon could come and eat dinner with them. they didn’t have much in common,
jin liked to cook, while namjoon wasn’t allowed in the kitchen after almost burning his down,
jin liked pastel colors, while 90 % of namjoon clothes were black,
jin preferred popcorn when they went to the movies, while namjoon always bought something sweet,
jin liked his coffee sweetened with vanilla, while namjoon always ordered an americano, which was too bitter for jins taste,
but somewhere down the line they became best friends.
now they were in jins bedroom eating ice cream out of the box because they’re those people. "do you want to talk about it now?" jin carefully asked again. namjoon sighed and places his spoon in the ice cream container before saying "I broke up with my girlfriend today," namjoon could hear jin say "oh," before he continued, "I mean, it was for the best, we wanted different things and we're still friends, so I don't know why I feel sad." jin nodded while trying to figure out what to say to comfort his best friend and he went with "well joonie, it's okay to feel sad, but don't let the sadness get to you. you'll find someone who wants the same thing as you." jin carefully placed his hand on namjoon shoulder and smiled. namjoon smiled back and nodded.
that night namjoon slept over, he usually did when his parents were out of town, and that the reason why jin always has a mattress ready for him. it was 1 am and namjoon was wide awake. he thought about what jin said earlier, about how he'll find someone who wants the same thing as him. he thought about how he didn't want that. he just wanted to be with someone who'll understand him and love him for who he is even if they don't want the same thing.
"hyung, are you awake?" while gently poking him, "hyung." namjoon was about to poke him once more when, "kim namjoon, if you poke me one more time I will kick you out and lock the door." namjoon quickly retracted his hand and laid back on his mattress "sorry." jin sighed and asked "why are you awake? what time is it?" "2 am," "okay, are you gonna tell me why you woke me up at 2 am?" jin sighed again and sat up on his bed. he looked at namjoon who looked at the ceiling.
"you know when you said I would find someone in the future who want the same thing as me?" jin hummed in acknowledgement, signaling namjoon to continue. "well, what if i don't want that. what if I just want to be with someone who makes me happy? what if I want to be someone who has nothing in common as me, someone who prefer their coffee sweet instead of bitter or someone who prefers to talk the long path home instead of taking a short cut." namjoon stopped hearing jin so he turned his head to see if he had fallen asleep only to look straight into jins eyes. namjoon didn't know what came over him and why he suddenly felt the need to say "what if I want to be with you."
namjoon could see jins ear get red, which was a sign he's embarrassed over something. he was about to say something when jin interrupted him, by pulling his blanket over his head quickly saying "go back to sleep namjoon, you're clearly really tired. I'll talk to you tomorrow. good night!" namjoon wanted to say something, but he couldn't, clearly not when it seemed like jin didn't want to talk to him. that night namjoon went to sleep with his heart a little bit broken.
the next morning namjoon woke up and jin was still sound asleep. he thought he could sneak out before jin woke up, but as he was looking for his sweater he heard jin say "did you really mean what you said yesterday?" namjoon froze in place and turned around to see jin looking at him. not trusting his voice, namjoon nodded, making jin sigh. "you don't joke about this stuff right? I mean if you were it's really mean and I don't want to be your friend anymore if you are." namjoon quickly shook his head and went to sit next to jin. "I would never joke about stuff like this, you know that hyung," namjoon said in his hoarse morning voice making jin smile.
they sat in jins room talking about their feelings and what they were gonna do, they both were happy with how things were now and didn't want to rush anything. namjoon couldn't be more happier, considering he thought he had ruined their friendship with what he said. their conversation ended with jin asked "do you want some breakfast?" and then getting up from the bed, but namjoon stopped him making him turn around with a confused look.
"hyung, I like you" namjoon said shyly.
"me too, I like you too" jin said with a smile on his face.