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Namjoon?”
“Yes, Jimin?”
“Tell me a story.”
Namjoon smiled up at the sky, eyes trailing the constellations he could spot in the vast darkness of the heavens. It had been Jimin’s idea to bring a big blanket outside so they could lie side by side to stargaze. It wasn’t something Namjoon did often, being more connected to the water and what was below land not above it, yet he couldn’t deny that the stars were a wonder to behold.
“What kind of story?”
“A love story...One with a happy ending,” Jimin clarified.
“And what brought on this need for romantic story-telling?”
“Oh, nothing. I was just curious.”
Namjoon tilted his head to observe his companion, lifting one brow in disbelief. He’d been living with the little prince for over a month now and he’d like to think they’d gotten to know each other rather well. Enough that Namjoon knew when he was lying. And he was definitely lying.
“Some of the most famous love stories end in tragedy,” Namjoon pointed out.
“Romeo and Juliet, Tristan and Isolde, Tony and Maria, Christine and the Phantom...Yes, I know. Mankind seems particularly fixated on love that cannot reach fruition.”
“That’s true. People yearn to experience fleeting bouts of unrestrained passion. They want a story to tell, not a love to cultivate with patience and care.”
“What’s your favorite love story then?” Jimin glance up at him, craning his neck slightly to take in all of Namjoon’s expression.
“That would have to be my parents’ story.”
“Is there a happy ending?”
“There is,” Namjoon’s smile was tender and Jimin felt absolutely captivated.
“Could you tell me their story?”
“Of course. Where should I start? I want to make sure I don’t leave anything out...Okay, here we go. My father used to be the lighthouse keeper at a tiny lighthouse on the northern tip of Maine. A town called Estcourt Station. He was on the water like I am, having always been fascinated by the sea. He was a fisherman like his father and his father before him, but when he tired of braving the rough seas and having to leave his home for so long he decided to settle down on dry land, but making sure to stay close enough he could dip his feet in or inhale the scent of salt in the air whenever he wanted.”
“A human in love with the sea. I see destiny played a role in making him your father,” Jimin chuckled and Namjoon laughed with him.
“Perhaps. I’ve never been a big believer in fate or some outside force having a say in my life, but it is nice to think even my mistakes were necessary in the long run and they led me where I am today. My father would always say something similar. He never had a relationship that stuck and his parents were worried he’d be alone for the rest of his life, just a solitary fisherman isolated from everything and everyone...If destiny exists, it sent my mother to him at the right time.”
“Your mother. Atlanta,” Jimin breathed the name with reverence. “I read all about her as a child. She was Atlantis’ greatest warrior.”
“That was the reason her father forced her into an arranged marriage. He wanted to take advantage of her fame to forge a political alliance that would only give him more power. My mother ran from Atlantis, her only home, in search of a better life. And she found it,” Namjoon smiled. “My father found her, unconscious, washed up on the shore near his lighthouse. He nursed her back to health and helped her adapt to the world of man.”
“Was it love at first sight?”
“My father told me when he looked upon her face, he knew exactly what love meant. He claims he loved her before she even opened her eyes, but he was patient and waited until she allowed herself to love him too. She was initially wary of putting her trust in another man, especially a human one, but gradually she fell for him too.”
“That’s beautiful, Namjoon. That you were the product of true love.”
“It was hard for me to believe that…For most of my life I thought my mother dead. She was hunted down by her betrothed’s royal guard and dragged back to Atlantis when I was two years old. I grew up without her.”
“I’m so sorry! Wait, this isn’t a happy story! Were you lying to me?” Jimin seemed distressed, the worry on his delicate face making Namjoon’s heart ache.
“No. I haven’t finished the story yet. Be patient, little prince.”
Jimin’s fair skin flushed at the pet name and the way Namjoon said it, like Jimin was something precious and not like he was someone to be kept at a distance like a leper (which was how many of the Amazons treated him like even when addressing him with formal titles).
“So what happened next?” Jimin asked, impatient to move on from the uncomfortable moment in which two simple words from Namjoon had touched something inside him when he swore he’d never let anyone so close again.
“I was trained by my mother’s most faithful friend and my half-brother’s royal vizier. He was always against my half-brother being on the throne. His father had forced my mother to give him an heir and he sacrificed her to the bloodthirsty creatures of the Trench to teach her a lesson. She had betrayed him and fallen for a human, so she had to pay. We all believed her to be dead...Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. She was just lost...in a place that had been hidden in our mythology and erased from time.”
“But you found her? You rescued her?”
“With help from my friends,” he thought back to the combined efforts of his vizier and Princess Meera of their neighboring kingdom. “I brought my mother back and I returned to Atlantis to take my rightful place on the throne. It was difficult to win the people’s approval and more difficult to remove my half-brother from the throne, but I had no choice but to succeed. He was leading the world to destruction.”
“You’re one of the few kings who deserves his throne.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but I’m a mediocre ruler at best . My vizier is the one who allows Atlantis to thrive and Meera assures me she will take over as queen once her father settles her younger brother on their kingdom’s throne. I trust her.”
“Who is Meera?” Jimin questioned.
“Oh, uh, just a friend. She was with me when I found my mother. Anyway, you didn’t ask for a story of action and grit, you asked for a love story. Let me get back to my parents,” Namjoon rushed to add, hoping Jimin would accept the distraction and push the princess’ name to back of his mind. “My mother promised she’d return to my father and that she’d meet him at the end of the pier by the lighthouse. She swore they’d meet again, right there, by the ocean. For more than twenty years he walked to the end of the pier. And waited.”
“No,” Jimin gasped. “He never...found anyone else?”
Namjoon shook his head.
“He would tell me no one could ever compare and he’d be a fool to try and replace her.”
“But she came back! You brought her back!” Jimin exclaimed, eager to reach the happy ending Namjoon had promised.
“One morning he walked to the end of the pier...And there she was. Completely unchanged by the passage of time. Atlantean genes,” he chuckled.
“Where are your parents now?”
“Today? Iceland, I think. They’ve dedicated their time to traveling and finding odd jobs to do wherever they are. They just want to spend the rest of their days side by side.”
“That’s so beautiful,” Jimin murmured.
“Jimin, are you crying?” Namjoon gave a small laugh at the other’s sentimentality.
“No! Okay, yes, but don’t judge me!” he shouted.
“I’m not, I’m not!”
“You’re still laughing, jackass!”
Namjoon held back the laughter that threatened to continue, instead smiling widely, hopelessly endeared by the indignant pout Jimin was now sporting.
“I’m glad you liked the story.”
“I
loved
the story,” Jimin sniffed. “It was romantic and full of warmth and devotion and countless other inspirational qualities and...it made me hopeful.”
“How so?” Namjoon tilted his head in question.
Jimin sighed, avoiding Namjoon’s eyes and concentrating on the darkening skies above them.
“It makes me think someday I’ll find someone who can love me like that...Unrestrained and perhaps irrationally because waiting for one person for 20 years could seem ridiculous to some people, but that’s simply committing yourself to love. It requires pain and sacrifice, but it’s supposed to have a happy ending. That’s what makes it real love.”
“Jimin--”
“I was only ever told one ‘love story’ growing up and it was my mother’s. She fell for the god of the underworld, Hades, and she paid dearly for it. I’m sure there were instances of joy and passion and maybe even love in their time together, but she never talked about those. She only cursed him for tricking her into giving away her heart and her strength of will. ‘That’s what so-called love is, Jimin. A con artist that sells you a pretty diamond necklace that disintegrates in your hands as soon as you touch it.’ I grew up believing love was dangerous.”
“Do you still believe that?” Namjoon asked, keeping his voice as low and subdued as Jimin had, not wanting to ruin the moment somehow.
Jimin had never spoken about this before and as sweet and talkative as he was, he knew exactly how to put up appearances and keep his secrets. Yoongi said that was what made a good superhero.
“I don’t think so,” Jimin replied after some time.
“Can I ask what changed your mind?”
Jimin turned his head to face him, eyes flickering over Namjoon’s deep dimples and his gentle smile and the way his dark eyes shined with something dazzling and exquisite, like the stars did in the night sky.
“I can’t answer your question right now, but...I know I’ll be able to soon.”
“Uh, okay? That’s fine with me, Jimin. I don’t want to pry or act too pushy.”
“You aren’t. I promise that isn’t it. I just need some time to...think some things through. As soon as I do, I want you to ask me again. Okay?”
“Okay,” Namjoon agreed.
A flash of light in his peripheral vision made the blonde shoot up to a sitting position, beginning to point his finger upwards with great excitement.
“Jimin, look! Look, look, it’s a shooting star! We need to make a wish,” he giggled and bowed his head over his folded hands in the standard wishing pose.
Jimin couldn’t bite back his fond smile. He was thankful Namjoon wasn’t looking at him because if he was, he’d definitely know.
I wish to tell my own love story and find my own happy ending with you, Namjoon.
“Did you make a wish?” Namjoon asked after opening his eyes and peering down at Jimin, who still lay sprawled on his back.
“I did.”
“I won’t ask you to tell me or it won’t come true!”
Jimin laughed, miming that he was keeping his lips zipped.
“I really hope mine comes true,” Namjoon sighed.
Me too , Jimin thought, schooling his expression into something less lovestruck as Namjoon lay down beside him once more.