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There is a small balcony on the back of Hoseok’s family’s house. Namjoon likes to seek comfort on it during a small part of the evening, right before dinner, watching the sun slowly fade into the horizon and the moon shine under the dusk. It’s the alone time he needs after spending hectic days with his very loud bandmate – and low-key boyfriend, but they don’t exactly use that term, yet – and his very lively family during Chuseok, and he’s glad Hoseok understands and respects that.
Most of the time.
Hoseok doesn’t join him on the balcony; instead, he walks by the backyard, looking very entertained as he browses through his phone, the dim light coming from it reflected in his eyes. Namjoon had always considered himself a hopeless romantic, good at words when it came to expressing deeper feelings, but the only thing that comes to his mind as he watches Hoseok’s softened features and fond smile is that shit is breathtaking, man.
He knows he won’t resist asking, but Hoseok beats him to it.
“RM, really?”, the redhead asks, looking up to the balcony, eyes searching Namjoon’s. The younger ducks his head and covers his mouth to muffle his laugh.
“So they finally changed it? On the fancafe?”, he asks back a little shyly; Hoseok’s knowing smile and nod only make him more flustered. “Come on, it was a cringey name! I had to—I had to change it eventually.”
The elder hums, still smirking up at Namjoon; the phone screen goes black, neglected in favor of its owner’s almost boyfriend. “It was cute. A little childish, but cute.”
“I was sixteen!”, Namjoon protests, cringing inwardly at the memory of the day he chose Rap Monster over Runch Randa like it sounded any better; Hoseok laughs softly at him from downstairs and he suddenly feels like climbing down that balcony to noogie him. “I was tired of having to explain myself every time someone realizes that was my stage name for real.” He sighs, propping his elbows on the railing and resting his chin on his hands. “I won’t miss it.”
Hoseok’s laughter is a little louder, this time; Namjoon still wants to noogie him for having fun at his expense, but for now he’s busier looking at the laugh lines on the elder’s face, his crinkled eyes and wide smile that always seems to take a bit of Namjoon’s breath away when it appears on his face. “It’s just a name, silly, what’s in it?”, he replies easily while Namjoon continues to stare at him; he pauses, then frowns. “Isn’t that, like, a Romeo and Juliet quote?“
He looks up and frowns harder, startling Namjoon a little, then laughs again. “Wait”, he says, pointing at Namjoon with his free hand. “You’re in a balcony. I’m outside. This is so romantic, the perfect opportunity.”
“Hoseok”, Namjoon kindly interrupts him, a fond smile on his face, “did you even read Romeo and Juliet?”
“What’s in a name?”, Hoseok recites, clutching his phone to his chest dramatically, “A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet—”
“Oh my god—“, Namjoon laughs in disbelief as Hoseok improves his dramatic stance by extending an arm towards the balcony, face twisted in a mix of solemn and dramatic.
“So Romeo would, were he not Romeo called”, the elder continues, scrunching up his face not to laugh at Namjoon’s pained expression, “retain that dear perfection which he—wait”, he pauses again mid-dramatic stance. “It should be the other way around.”
Namjoon laughs, but nods. “It should, but by all means, continue.”
Hoseok sheepishly scratches at his head before he takes on his position again. “Uh… Oh, Romeo, Romeo, why do you have to be Romeo??”
“That’s out of order”, the younger cheerily corrects him. “Looking for the script on your phone is cheating!”, he says when Hoseok unlocks his phone screen.
“But I can’t remember shit”, Hoseok whines, but relents, pocketing his phone before looking up at Namjoon again. “Uh… Deny your father and refuse your name, Rap Monster—”
“No ad libs!”, Namjoon warns him, but goes ignored.
“—and I’ll no longer be a J-Hope—”
Namjoon playfully glares at him. “You think you’re funny?”
“Rap Monster, Rap Monster, lose your name—and take all of me in exchange”, Hoseok finishes with a curtsy, smiling widely up at Namjoon, who looks torn between cringing and clutching his chest in a surge of affection.
“I take thee at thy word”, Namjoon replies amusedly, albeit softly, and Hoseok momentarily frowns at his wording. “Call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized.”
“What—”
“Henceforth, I will never be Rap Monster”, he finishes and cringes again; Hoseok’s laughter fills his ears.
“Alright, RM,” Hoseok concedes, eyes twinkling under the night sky, “you win. I’m only gonna call you love from now on.”
Namjoon raises an eyebrow at him, leaning a bit forward on the railing. “Is that your weird way of making things official?”
The elder shrugs, but his smile gives him away. “Maybe. If you want.”
Their smiles mirror each other, wide and incredibly fond. It takes a while before Namjoon speaks again, too caught up in the moment to realize he should probably say something in response to Hoseok’s proposal.
“Oh, blessed, blessed night—”, he starts cheekily, laughing when Hoseok’s face falls in frustration.
“Don’t quote the difficult version, you nerd!”
“I am afeard—”
“What does that even mean?!”
“Being in night, all this is but a dream—”
Hoseok waves wildly with both his hands in the air. “Make it simple!”
“I mean that”, Namjoon finally decides to take pity on him, “because it’s night, I’m afraid this is just a dream, too sweet to be real.”
Hoseok smiles at him, completely smitten, then frowns after a beat. “Is—is that the quote or are you being serious?”
“Both?”, the younger replies helpfully, shrugging. “Now come up here so we can kiss and celebrate?”
The redhead nods and quickly makes his way towards the house.
“Don’t climb, though, you’re afraid of heights—“, Namjoon warns him.
Hoseok sends him a look before disappearing back inside. “This is Romeo and Juliet, silly, not Rapunzel.”
Namjoon considers arguing, but decides against it once Hoseok makes it to the balcony in record time, standing against the railing with Namjoon despite his unwillingness to look down.
“That wasn’t the most appropriate use of Romeo and Juliet quotes, though”, Namjoon chimes in halfway through their third kiss under the moonlight. Hoseok groans against him.
“It’s not like I was planning it or anything”, he retorts, hands clasped tightly on the fabric of the younger’s jacket.
“Whatever you say”, the younger replies easily, arms wrapped around Hoseok’s neck like they belong there. “Try As You Like It next time. Less unnecessary deaths in the name of love.”
Hoseok rolls his eyes. “You nerd. I’m not breaking up with you to ask you out again, now. This was hard enough as it was.”
Namjoon laughs and pulls the elder closer for another kiss. “I can’t believe you called me Rap Monster to ask me out”, he complains after they pull away, his face still very close to Hoseok’s.
The elder shrugs. “I could have called you worse things, Runch Randa—”
“Let me live”, Namjoon whines. “I’m never sharing my dark past with you again.”
“It’s okay”, Hoseok concedes with another shrug. “We have a future to share, anyway.”
The younger stares at him in disbelief for a moment before dropping his head to his shoulder, fighting away the blush that creeps into his cheeks. “God, that was so greasy.”
Hoseok wraps his arms around Namjoon’s waist, laughing softly. “You love it.”
Namjoon does, but he refuses to acknowledge that out loud; they decide to bask in each other’s presence in silence until Hoseok’s sister calls them in for dinner.