Work Text:
silence in the dorms on days off is a normal occurrence for namjoon and jeongguk. it’s not a suffocating or unwanted kind of silence, it’s comfortable, welcomed. days off welcome a sense of calm sinking itself deep into their bones, a nice reminder that everything is okay.
today is no different. namjoon and jeongguk sitting together in the kitchen drinking hot tea, bed head and bad breath and shirts so long they cover their thighs.
normally, on a working day, jeongguk and namjoon have no problem navigating their relationship; they both have a passion for music and love producing, and even outside of that they don’t need to do much to feel like they’re at home with each other. jeongguk reading a book in namjoon’s studio while he works, namjoon watching jeongguk dance with practiced precision in the dance studio late at night. sometimes, if their schedule is packed, they steal kisses and hugs and small touches backstage or during interviews or while shooting run episodes, and fall into bed at the end of the day in each other’s arms, words of encouragement and praise whispered to each other in the dark of their bedroom.
“hyung-ah,” jeongguk says, his voice still gruff and scratchy after waking up. “hyung-ah, let’s do something today.”
on days off, they all sleep in. jeongguk tends to sleep later than the others, and namjoon tends to wake up earlier than everyone else. today, namjoon decided to wake jeongguk up with soft kisses and the promise of coffee and quiet reading time (and maybe a blowjob, who knows).
“it’s our day off, guk-ah,” namjoon says, sipping his tea. “i don’t want to leave the house.”
“then let’s do something here.” jeongguk says definitively. he stands up, back straight and shoulders squared, looks at namjoon with sleepy doe eyes.
“relax, baby, we can do something here.” namjoon says, bringing a hand onto jeongguk’s shoulder, rubbing gently. “what should we do?”
jeongguk sits back down in his chair, sleepy, and drinks his tea while he thinks. his eyebrows furrow as he thinks so namjoon smooths a finger between his brows, relaxing his face.
“we could work on that song you’ve been stuck on?” namjoon suggests. jeongguk looks at him like namjoon has offended his entire bloodline.
“we are not working on a day off.” jeongguk says sternly.
“but we work on days off all the time. music literally flows through our bloodstreams.” namjoon says, bringing his tea to his lips. jeongguk nods and relents with a playful roll of his eyes, giggling when namjoon huffs at him.
“let’s paint.” jeongguk says.
it’s still a little early for them on their day off, so they think they can get away with painting in the silence of the living room for a while. namjoon goes into their bedroom and digs around the closet for the two easels while jeongguk lays out a tarp and gets the box of paints and brushes. they set the easels up, place a (too big for namjoon) canvas on each. they pull stools up to sit on, and jeongguk gets to work immediately.
“what are you gonna paint?” namjoon asks, brush and green paint in hand.
“that,” jeongguk nods to the window they’re settled in front of.
“the window?”
“no, you big dummy, the scenery.” jeongguk giggles. “sorry, you’re not a dummy. love you.” jeongguk adds quietly. namjoon laughs and gets a painters palette off the floor.
“can i paint the same thing?” namjoon asks softly, placing a hand on jeongguk’s thigh.
“of course, hyung, you don’t have to ask.” jeongguk takes namjoon’s hand and places a kiss on each of his knuckles, giggling when namjoon turns bright red.
jeongguk has already started working, mixing colors and lifting up his palette to compare them to what he sees, making sure the colors are exact. he draws an outline with his pencil; just a rough guide to mark the major changes in color.
namjoon stares for a bit too long at jeongguk’s slender fingers as he draws the lines, mixes colors, squeezes the paint out of the bottles. he follows jeongguk’s lead, trying his best to mix colors and draw little lines like his boyfriend, but he can’t seem to figure out how the lines work, what they represent, where they need to go—
“rapmon hyung,” jeongguk giggles to namjoon’s left.
“did you call me ‘rapmon’ again?” namjoon smirks. jeongguk huffs next to him, taking the pencil from between namjoon’s pretty fingers.
“don’t copy mine, make the scenery your own.” jeongguk says gently, handing namjoon a paintbrush.
“should we listen to scenery while we paint? i’m sure taehyung will love us if we do.” namjoon suggests with a cackle.
“i love taehyungie hyung, but i prefer the silence.”
jeongguk boldly dips his paintbrush into a mixed shade of light green and begins painting. namjoon stares at the brown curtains that adorn the window for a minute, trying to figure out how to make the scenery his own, like jeongguk said.
namjoon flips his paintbrush over in his hands and stares at the wood, gets an idea.
he dips the smooth tip of the paintbrush in a shade of blue he mixed before and makes a few dots on the top of the canvas. he tilts his head, trying to envision the painting being entirely made up of dots. he stares at the graphite lines and messy smudges and the few dots at the top and– this could work.
he dips the tip of the paintbrush back into the blue shade me mixed and goes back to work dotting the canvas in the appropriate places. he uses different shades of blue to make up the sky.
when he’s done with the sky, he dips into his darkest shade of green to start with the treetops. he delves back in to form the trees while jeongguk–
jeongguk’s not painting anymore. he’s staring at namjoon, awestruck.
jeongguk watches with a hand holding a paintbrush midair as namjoon picks up small amounts of colors on the bristle free tip of his paintbrush and pushes it gently against the canvas, taking his time. jeongguk notices namjoon’s endless patience as he watches namjoon place gentle dots on the canvas.
although jeongguk himself loves to paint and create, he is forever in awe of the way namjoon can create things so incredibly beautiful out of nothing, sometimes not even an idea. namjoon puts things together and mixes them just so, and they always come out incredibly well.
this time is no different; being prompted by jeongguk’s, “make the scenery your own,” namjoon has taken the beautiful trees and thick grass outside of the window and managed to capture its beauty using simple little dots.
jeongguk stares at namjoon while he paints. he places his paintbrush and palette on the ground, curls his legs up into himself on the stool and sits with his chin on his knees. he watches namjoon get lost in creating, get lost in serenity. it never fails to make jeongguk smile how much namjoon can focus on one project, showing his passion for whatever he’s doing.
“guk-ah, you’ve been staring,” namjoon says, placing some lighter yellows down to make the pathway.
“‘m sorry hyung, can’t help it. you look good when you’re concentrating,” jeongguk mumbles.
“really, hm?” namjoon hums.
“yeah, hyung. love watching you make things.” namjoon blushes and stops talking, finishing up his painting.
“how are you not uncomfortable? you’ve been sitting like that for almost an hour.” namjoon places his palette on the ground, paintbrush too. he turns in his stool to face jeongguk.
“having fun?” namjoon smiles, leaning in for a kiss.
“yes,” jeongguk says between kisses. “you’re very nice to look at.”
“i’m more than my looks, jeongguk-ah.” namjoon teases, flexing his muscles. jeongguk wraps a hand around one of his biceps and squeezes.
“mm, but you look so good.” jeongguk teases, rubbing his nose against namjoon’s. namjoon hums and pulls jeongguk onto his lap.
“your painting is beautiful, namjoon hyung,” jeongguk says, nuzzling into namjoon’s neck. “the dots. the dots, hyung-ah, that’s so smart, it looks so beautiful.”
namjoon huffs out a laugh, “thank you, baby. you didn’t finish yours but i know it’s gonna look amazing.”
namjoon places a few lingering kisses on jeongguk’s temple, pulling him impossibly close. jeongguk holds on tight, wrapping his arms securely around namjoon’s waist, clasping his hands behind namjoon’s back.
“it’s too early for this,” someone groans from the hallway, breaking the silence.
“it’s almost 2 p.m., hyung,” jeongguk says.
“still too early,”
“morning, jimin. how’d you sleep?” namjoon asks.
“like a fucking baby,” jimin groans in delight.
namjoon and jeongguk both chuckle.
“wanna finish your painting? i wanna watch you this time.” namjoon asks, half pleading.
“i do want to finish it but i don’t want you staring.” jeongguk says, lifting his head to place a kiss on the underside of namjoon’s jaw.
“i’ll read a book, you finish painting?” namjoon suggests.
“sounds good, baby.” jeongguk gives namjoon a quick peck on the lips before lifting himself off on namjoon’s lap. he settles back on his stool while namjoon goes into their room to find the misplaced book he was reading. when he comes back out from the bedroom, jeongguk is already deep in concentration, mixing colors and choosing brushes.
namjoon settles on the couch behind jeongguk with his book, nestling into the cushions naturally. he opens the book to the dog-eared page and hums in complete reverie.
“joon hyung, you should sign your painting.” jeongguk says.
“later. focus on the painting, love.” namjoon smiles and cozies himself on the couch, turning his head to his book.