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When Yoongi barged into his studio yesterday, he definitely wasn’t expecting the guy to tell him to, quote, “ pack your fucking bags, here’s your ticket and hotel documents. If you lose that file I will destroy your favorite launchpad, launchkey and midi fighter. Oh and I’ll plant a virus in your precious little tablet. You’re leaving in 17 hours, best of luck. ”
So that was how Namjoon ended up in the bus terminal, clear ziplock file in hand, his giant luggage bag by his side, as he sat on the benches to wait for his bus. He stared at his bus ticket heading for Gwangju, having no idea why would Yoongi want him to take the bus, instead of getting one of the company’s van for him.
Namjoon talked about getting a creative block only a few days ago, moaning and complaining about it from Yoongi’s couch while hugging his knees to his chest, lying down. He was bored out of his mind, frustrated that he couldn’t come up with anything at all for his upcoming album. He even almost started crying when he thought about creative burnout, kneeling in front of Yoongi’s desk then talking about how his entire life depended on his career.
“I was supposed to be singing and writing till my hair is completely white, hyung. What do I do?”
But Namjoon thought his little meltdown was one of his ‘blondie days’, where his intelligence fails him completely and goes on vacation. Yoongi didn’t even seem to care too, having his attention 100% focused on whatever work he was doing on his computer.
It was alright, though, because Namjoon was visiting a place he had wanted to go to a long time ago, hearing from his other producer friends in the company that the place was amazing, with its friendly citizens and calming atmosphere.
An hour passed by and the bus arrived, Namjoon quickly boarding it after placing his luggage in the luggage compartment. He had chosen a seat further back, wanting some privacy and peace of his own. There weren’t a lot of people, most of them being people in their forties, probably taking a leave to visit their hometown. After all, it was a nice Friday.
When the bus started moving after about half an hour of boarding, Namjoon felt a serene and peaceful feeling settle in his bones. It was time to enjoy his little getaway.
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
Namjoon’s hotel was nice, comfortable and definitely costed Yoongi a fortune. Definitely a 4-star hotel with wood being its main theme of decoration. But he didn’t have the guts to tell Yoongi he wasn’t very fond of the hotel, main reason was it being located in a busy part of town, making it seem like a meaningless trip, due to somewhat familiar surroundings, despite being in a completely foreign place.
He took it upon himself to explore. A quick shower after unpacking had Namjoon out his hotel within an hour. He secretly felt bad for not utilizing the price of his stay to the fullest, but at least he wasn’t paying for it. Heck, Yoongi booked him 6 nights in the hotel, telling him to extend his stay if he needed to, while fully knowing that each night he adds will just be billed to Yoongi’s personal bank account.
Travelling without much of an itinerary was Namjoon’s second-favorite thing in the world, the first being camping and sleeping in the middle of a forest. He had walked himself out to a less busy part of the town, then entered what seemed like a bit of a residential area. It was around 6PM, so Namjoon found it quite easy to find some locals to ask around.
“Excuse me, can you help me?” Namjoon asked a kind-looking lady watering some plants in front of what can only be assumed to be her house.
“Oh, sure! How can I help?”
“I’m travelling here, and I was wondering if you know some good places to visit? You can just recommend some of your personal favorites, I will definitely take a look.”
“Oh, a fine young man like you, travelling! Yes my dear, you should go to the temple up that hill! It’s got a beautiful view there, and the place is really pretty. Maybe go to the bookshop down that street? I don’t know if you like books but they have lots of classics! Here, let me write down the directions for you.”
“Ah, thank you so much ma’am,” Namjoon smiled, delighted at the recommendations.
“It’s no problem, young man. Travelling is about the peace of mind and fun experience! Here, the directions,” the lady tore out a sheet of paper from her small notebook, handing it to Namjoon.
“Thank you so much, I will definitely visit them.”
“Oh, wait! There’s this nice little cafe downtown. I don’t know if you would be able to find it, but I can give you the address and directions. If you find it, you must try! The food is nice, and cheap!”
“Really? I would appreciate it,” Namjoon said, watching as the lady scribbled down on her notebook.
“Here you go. Have a nice trip, young man!”
“Thank you again!”
With two pieces of paper in hand, Namjoon set off for his destination. Following the directions and address, Namjoon found himself in front of a little bookshop. It looked rather worn down, but the smell that hit his nose the second he entered the shop was refreshing. The musty smell of book pages overwhelming, followed by hints of pine wood smell.
An old man stood at the counter. He lowered his glasses to see Namjoon entering, and gave him a smile, which was returned instantly. Namjoon headed towards the rows of bookshelves, feeling as if the bookstore looked more like a library than a store, considering how tall the shelves were.
He spent a good amount of time there, flipping through books and reading a few. Eventually, Namjoon felt his stomach growl. He quickly gathered the books he intended to buy and went to the counter. The old man seemed pleased that Namjoon was buying 6 books, saying how ‘young people don’t read books anymore’. Namjoon bid farewell to the man, holding his bag full of books as he exited the bookstore.
His next stop was the cafe, which proved a little difficult to get to. Despite asking some locals, it was still a bit hard to understand where to go, and him being lost a few times. It took about 20 minutes of walking and asking around before the little cafe appeared. Namjoon smiled and entered the cafe, hoping his dinner would be as good as what the lady described earlier.
As soon as he got seated, a waiter came by to hand him the menu.
“Welcome to RJ’s Kitchen! Here’s our dinner menu, I will be taking your orders today,” the waiter chirped in an enthusiastic tone.
Namjoon didn’t notice the waiter at first, too busy flipping through the menu, but when he glanced up, he was frozen for a moment. Standing in front of him was possible one of the most attractive looking men in the world. He had a slim frame, his face with slightly puffy cheeks, eyes the shape of two crescents, jet black hair slightly parted at the sides.
He was beautiful.
Namjoon only snapped out of his frozen state when he noticed the waiter about to turn to look at him. He quickly shifted his attention to the menu, pretending to look through the choices while his brain was desperately trying to reel itself back to the present.
Namjoon had ordered the first thing he thought was appetizing, then adding a chocolate milkshake as his drink. The waiter gave him a smile and disappeared after telling him his order will arrive shortly.
While waiting for his food, Namjoon honestly couldn’t stop looking at the boy. The boy moved to different tables, taking and delivering orders, all while that beautiful smile was plastered on his face. He wanted to know the boy’s name, to talk to him, to know everything about the boy.
The boy reminded Namjoon of many things. Pine woods, sunflowers, that one meadow he used to run around as a child. Indeed, Namjoon couldn’t understand what was happening to him, but he knew in the moment that he had found his muse.
Namjoon was snapped out of his trance when the waiter came back with his order; a bolognese pasta with chocolate milkshake. There was also a plate of chocolate muffin, which Namjoon definitely did not remember ordering.
“The muffin is on the house,” the waiter informs, winking and smiling before leaving.
The muffin sat on the plate, seeming as if it was staring back at Namjoon, yelling at him to stop thinking out so loud and just start eating, because it was weird for a guy to just sit there and zone out while very close to face planting into the plate of very much edible and delicious pasta. Namjoon did eventually come back to his senses, picking up the fork and spoon to start eating, while being absolutely sure that the girl 2 tables to his right was looking at him weird.
The food was finished quickly, but Namjoon wish it didn’t, because he wanted to spend a few more minutes to stare at Hoseok. He felt like a creep, if he were to be honest, staring down someone without their knowledge like that. He tried to minimize his actions, and soon he was calling for his bill.
Pretty boy had returned with the receipt in hand. “That would be 18,000 won, sir.”
Namjoon smiled as he handed the money to the waiter. The waiter gave him his change, and Namjoon mumbled a thanks.
It felt as if Namjoon didn’t spend much time in the restaurant, that little meal going by too quickly, despite it being over an hour.
He returned to his hotel room. The first thing he did was to close the curtains, the outside lights being too much for him. His clothes were changed into his much more comfortable pajamas, before he hopped into bed, laptop currently sitting on a pillow on his stomach.
That night, his latest saved file was a word document titled ‘Sunflowers’.
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
Namjoon didn’t exactly sleep well.
The beds were okay, the room wasn’t too cold, but throughout the night Namjoon felt like he was waking up over and over only to fall back into the same exact dream.
He dreamt of meadows. It looked just like the one by his grandparents’ house. He used to ride his little bicycle through the small trails and play with the dogs. Sometimes he would fall down while running but it was okay, he would just stay on the ground, blow at his boo boo, then proceed to lay on the ground and look up at the beautiful sky. The dogs would wander off, one or two staying by his side.
But in that dream he was no longer a boy, he was walking through the meadow, and he saw the waiter, the one he met in the restaurant. He was in different clothes, a simple white shirt and cream colored shorts, a beautiful smile on his face as he picked at the wildflowers to make a small crown.
The dream ended with Namjoon completely waking up from his sleep then. He didn’t remember most of it, but he did remember about the waiter boy.
Maybe he should go to the restaurant again today.
He wasn’t sure what time would the restaurant be open, so he resorted to getting his complimentary hotel breakfast. It was quite bland, nothing special about it. But it was part of the package, could he really complain though?
Namjoon was off to explore again, once he was dressed, with his small messenger bag in tow. He first visited the temple up the hill, having no chance to visit it yesterday. It was beautiful, indeed. There were a few visitors, but the environment was peaceful, the monks walking around the temple to carry out their duties.
He stayed there for an hour, taking photos of the people, scenery, and a few occasional monkeys that sat beside him on the stone bench. One monkey in particular was quite affectionate, Namjoon thought, with the way it wrapped its’ arms around his arm, only letting go when its’ companions were leaving.
Namjoon stopped by an old train station, fascinated by the old cars on the tracks, abandoned but decorated with graffiti, most likely from angsty and artistic teens wanting to express themselves. He sat there, snacking on the french toast he snuck out from the hotel, writing away on his notebook, humming some tunes to himself.
Soon Namjoon wandered back into the busy town, his steps leading him into a mall. He didn’t have the intention to be here, but what was the fault of just walking around a mall? He did end up spotting a gift shop with Kumamon and Rilakkuma plushies on display, which resulted with him purchasing both characters in form of small standing dolls, intending to gift one to his manager, and one for his own keeping.
Lunchtime rolled around very soon and Namjoon got a cab to bring him to the same restaurant. He wanted to see the waiter again, while grabbing a bite to eat and work for a bit, maybe use some of his inspiration to write a few verses. He wouldn’t be able to write much on his tablet, but at least something could be done.
The waiter was still there today, all smiles and happy face. He seemed to recognize Namjoon, because when Namjoon stepped into the restaurant, he immediately walked towards him.
“Welcome back! Have a seat, sir. Let me fetch you our menu.”
The restaurant definitely had very few people at that hour, despite it being lunchtime. Two other waiters were lounging around the counter, waiting for customers to enter, probably bored out of their minds.
Namjoon took a seat, and opened the menu. He actually read through the options this time, thinking of what he should eat. Turned out that 2 cuisines with around a hundred options was hard to choose from, and Namjoon had only been here once.
“Um, do you have any recommendations? I don’t know what’s good here,” Namjoon looked to the waiter.
“Oh, of course! The kimchi stew is our signature korean cuisine, and for western it’s definitely the handmade burger. The tteokbokki is good if you’re feeling up to it, but personally you should try the kimchi ramyun instead. Don’t tell Jin hyung, he’s not fond of me not liking his best dish,” the waiter laughed.
“Is Jin hyung the cook?”
“Yeah! He basically owns this place. I’m just here because of semester break, though.”
“Interesting. So you would recommend the kimchi ramyun?”
“Yes, the noodles and kimchi are all homemade. I’ll add on a green tea as your beverage, is that okay?”
“More than okay. Thank you, um…”
“Hoseok, my name is Hoseok.”
Namjoon could feel his heart skip for a moment. “Right, um. Thank you, Hoseok.”
The waiter— Hoseok, smiled and walked away with a “no problem! Your order will be done shortly.”
It was nice, finally having a name to his secret muse. Namjoon had gotten that feeling again, of flowers blooming in his chest and the sudden urge to describe every ounce of emotion he was feeling, turning them into metaphors and allowing his listeners to maybe decipher them, or relate to the song in a way. He quickly took out his tablet, and started to type away in a word document.
Namjoon had a way of working, where he would have tunnel vision and completely submerge himself in his thoughts, even if it was just drafting lyrics and writing notes. It wasn’t as bad compared to Yoongi, though. He still could be disrupted and comprehend reality, but not the older man.
So it was a bit jarring for Namjoon when he was interrupted by Hoseok, who was simply here to give him his food. Namjoon had let out a tiny shriek, his entire body jolting while he turned to face an equally startled Hoseok, staring at him with wide eyes.
“I, um, your order is here, sir.”
“O-oh,” Namjoon stuttered, silent for a moment. “Thanks, Hoseok, sorry about that.”
“It’s okay,” Hoseok supplied, placing the bowl of noodles and drink on the table, before turning to walk away, tray in his hand.
Namjoon expected Hoseok to be getting back to work as he started to dig into his food, only to find Hoseok running back to his table again.
“Hey, I never actually got your name, not really fair considering you got mine.”
“Oh, um,” Namjoon looked up at Hoseok, and thought god his fucking smile is so pretty I want to die— “My name is Namjoon.”
“Cool, nice to meet you, Namjoon.”
Maybe Namjoon had never heard of something sweeter than his name tumbling out of Hoseok’s mouth like that.
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
It was like that for the next 4 days.
Namjoon would visit RJ’s Kitchen for a meal, while Hoseok voluntarily served as his personal waiter of sorts. The recommendations continued, with Namjoon praising each dish while paying for his bill, watching Hoseok smile like the angel he is.
God, he’s so fucking deep in it.
But it wasn’t a bad thing, because now Namjoon had 13 new files on his tablet, all stored under the name of different flowers. It was cheesy, but all Namjoon could think of were flowers over the past few days, courtesy of the only other thing he could think of: Hoseok’s laugh.
The sweet sound of the boy laughing after he had told him a joke was stuck in his head, followed by his heart shaped lips and crescent eyes, and how he laughed with his whole body. It was late at night after dinner, Namjoon had did that tunnel vision thing again and the restaurant was closing down, but Namjoon stayed under Hoseok’s request, the two spending an hour learning more about each other.
He had learned that Hoseok was fond of plants, which explained how every table in the restaurant had actual live plants, plus that row of small flowers on the counter. Hoseok was also fond of animals, especially puppies, which ended up with Namjoon showing a very excited Hoseok pictures of Monie and Holly.
He couldn’t explain the sudden burst of motivation to create beautiful poems and love songs, all in form of comparing his ideal partner to different flowers, their scents and colours, and their language.
On his last day of his little trip, 6 files were starred and stored in a file titled ‘Gwangju’. He was ready to go home, back to Seoul, into his studio where his fellow producer friends would turn his little poems into actual songs.
As usual, Namjoon walked to the little restaurant, taking his sweet time to enjoy the Gwangju air for the last time. He made his way, eventually, to the restaurant. With a smile, he pushed open the door, eyes immediately searching for Hoseok.
But Hoseok was not there.
Maybe he was in the toilet? Maybe he was just busy at the back.
Namjoon sat down, smiling as a waiter ( who was very much not Hoseok ) gave him the menu. He’d gotten a french toast set, not really having the urge to eat much. He was just here to say goodbye, and maybe tell Hoseok about the inspirations, show him some of the poems, or tell him to wait for some news on the radio.
But 20 minutes passed, Namjoon had finished his food and drink, and still no sight of the waiter he wanted to see. He couldn’t help but be curious, so he had asked for the blue-haired waiter.
“Sorry, um, this is a weird question, but do you know where is Hoseok, by any chance?”
The blue-haired waiter seemed a bit startled, but explained anyway. “Hoseokie hyung went back to campus, something about his final assignment’s due date getting pulled further that he had to go back and finish it. It was quite last minute, actually.”
Namjoon quickly thanked the waiter before he could start giving his internal meltdown some attention. The fact that he didn’t get to say anything to the boy who gave him so much inspiration was making his stomach tighten. Anxiety was pooling at his gut, and why is this giving him so much anxiety when Hoseok probably didn’t even care that much about him ?
He quickly paid for his meal, not even bothering to take his change, and he was out of the restaurant. Namjoon speed-walked his way back to his hotel. He had 10 minutes till his supposed check out time, so he got that cleared immediately, then got into the cab he had booked to the bus station again.
Namjoon doesn’t understand why was he hurting so much. Hoseok was just another inspirational figure, he got that from lots of random people he met. Something about this was just different, but Namjoon didn’t know what, just knew that he wanted to see Hoseok again, to at least thank the boy for giving him the inspiration enough to write a full mini album.
Needless to say, Namjoon basically went back to Seoul with the same empty heart he brought with him to Gwangju.
•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•
Roses was a hit.
Despite how his fans had managed to get the track to hit #1 on every single music chart for a whole week, and his music video getting an insane amount of views, somehow, his song had also touched the heart of the general public.
It had him on every headline of newspapers, articles, as well as on Spotify’s ad boards. He had a busy few weeks of going to interviews, photoshoots and talk shows. Yoongi was the busiest, having to answer all the phone calls and arranging all the schedules and appointments.
His album, Answer , broke records and brought in an insane amount of revenue for himself and the label. Seven tracks on his album, all written about the someone he had met in that little town in Gwangju 2 months ago.
If you were to ask Namjoon, and want him to truthfully answer, he was never over Hoseok. The more he listened to the track Sunflowers and Pine Woods , specifically, the more he thought about the boy.
Sunflowers and Pine Woods was the only song with a title which its flowers didn’t really have much of a meaning, but instead their meaning was simply from his own definition. The outro track only had a few lines of lyrics, the 1-minute track serving as an ending for his album.
Missing you, oh I’m missing you
Are you with someone I don’t know?
Of sleepless nights, tell me why
That I can’t stop thinking about you?
You smile so bright
Your eyes just shine
You remind me so much
Of sunflowers and pine woods
Namjoon had seen fans make comments about that track, speculating of a hidden lover, which was immediately pushed over with the way he had already written so many love songs in the past, and he could or could not have a lover at all. Then there as were also the joke tweets, which was seen in fanart, meme videos and just discussions within the fandom. It was quite funny to see those, a smile forming on his face every time.
But nothing could make him smile like the way he did when he was with Hoseok.
He wanted to see the boy again. He wanted to tell him everything, tell him how he had managed to fall head over heels for the boy only within a few days, hold him while he sang Roses or even Royal Daisies Just For You , or any song on the album for that matter.
Yoongi was the one who had to witness the moping, alongside Jimin. Namjoon had buried himself in two places exclusively, namely his own room or his studio. Some days he would stay hidden in the studio for 3 days straight, or he would just sleep at home, doing nothing for the entire weekend, before going back to the studio to repeat the cycle.
When Yoongi managed to drag Namjoon out of his vampire cave, it would be a dreadful looking Namjoon, sitting at whatever restaurant or street stall they managed to go to, suffering silently as he chewed through his food. Jimin sometimes had to feed the poor guy himself, then proceed to pat on his back, like he was burping a baby.
One thing both guys didn’t know was Namjoon’s internal thoughts. Sure, they knew all about that one boy Namjoon met during his trip in Gwangju, but never about how much the boy meant to him and how the entirety of Answer was written for Hoseok.
They didn’t know.
Which ended with Namjoon spending the next month moping as usual, Yoongi and Jimin never knowing the cause, blaming it on some handsome and buff looking dude or devastatingly gorgeous girl he met at a club or something.
Yoongi couldn’t take it anymore, seeing his best friend like this. He sat Namjoon down one day, despite the younger of the two protesting and whining.
“What even is going on? You’ve been… like this since your trip to Gwangju. Sure your album is a success but why are you acting like it flopped?”
Namjoon was silent, knees hugged tight against his chest while he sat on the couch. He didn’t want to talk about it at all.
Yoongi sighed. “Look, as your manager I would just tell you to liven up and work on your next album, but as your friend, Joon, I’m worried. Did something happen? Please just tell me.”
“It’s stupid and I don’t wanna talk about it,” Namjoon mumbled.
“Fine, but this is the fourth day in a row you’ve holed up in your room. Let’s get some lunch.”
As much as Namjoon wanted to say no, he knew Yoongi would find a way to drag him out anyway, so he threw on whatever outfit he still had hanging in his closet and went out.
They went to a nice little cafe near a college. They used to hang out with Jimin and Jungkook here, the two boys studied at the nearby college and had gotten their internships at the label through Yoongi’s recommendation.
The cafe was pretty full, as usual. Students taking up most of the tables, utilizing the power outlets and free wifi, coffee cups and papers filling up the tables. Namjoon and Yoongi ordered a light meal, settling down for a table under the fan.
It was pretty quiet between the both of them, Yoongi tapping on his phone, while Namjoon zoned out occasionally. He chewed through the rice slowly, trying his best to function in the presence of his best friend.
They were minding his own business when it happened.
Yoongi was about to go wash his hands and order some ice cream to share, when he bumped into someone. Namjoon didn’t care to look up, initially. But it was the books that landed in front of him that got him up. He slowly collected the books, and handed them to the guy who bumped into Yoongi.
“Your books.”
“I’m sorry! Thank you so much, I’m a bit clumsy, gosh.”
Wait.
That voice. Namjoon recognized that voice anywhere. He looked up and there he was, the waiter back from Gwangju that had left without a word and left him with an empty heart. It didn’t matter anymore, because he could feel his heart explode with new blooms of flowers again.
“Hoseok?” Namjoon tried, his voice coming out much more lighter than expected.
“Hey, it’s been… a while.”
Namjoon had so much to say, so many things he wanted to tell Hoseok, but it all went out of the window when Hoseok stood in front of him, gorgeous as ever, the same smile and sparkly eyes.
“I have… so much to say. Um—“
“I didn’t know you were the same Kim Namjoon as RM,” Hoseok rushed out.
Namjoon stared at the boy. “I- Yeah, that’s me, I should’ve told you sooner.”
“Roses is nice, but my favorite is Sunflowers and Pine Woods. You’re really talented.”
Namjoon didn’t know what to say, his brain going on vacation as he stood in the middle of a bustling cafe, his face probably red as a tomato at this point.
“Say, we haven’t seen each other for a while, you want to talk over dinner, perhaps?”
Namjoon didn’t expect that he could be that bold. That really came out smoother than he imagined.
“Is this a date proposal, infamous Kim Namjoon, singer songwriter?” Hoseok teased, a smile on his face.
“I- I mean, if you want it to be, sure.”
“I’d love to talk to you over dinner.”
————— THE END —————