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It had all fallen together as a perfect coincidence. Jin had dragged Namjoon out to celebrate the younger’s novel finally getting approved for publishing.
Namjoon probably would have refused if it hadn’t been for the excited look in Jin’s eyes at the thought of trying out the new restaurant he had heard about. Maybe if they had stayed home that evening, everything would be different. Five years they had been together and yet Namjoon could pinpoint the one moment it had all started to fall apart.
***
Kim Namjoon
***
Jin had always been more socially outgoing than Namjoon, he enjoyed meeting new people, hearing their stories ,maybe flirting a little if the mood was right. It was just part of the Seokjin charm that made him so irresistible. Namjoon didn’t mind, if anything the flush of a little too much wine and the attention of strangers who hadn’t yet realised they never stood a chance just made his partner more stunning. It also happened to make the elder horny as hell, and Namjoon was much too smart a man to complain about having to guide a giggly and horny Kim Seokjin back to their soft and inviting king sized bed back home.
Jimin had been different, travelling through the city on business, he was magnetic. It wasn’t a surprise when Jin found himself sitting across from the handsome stranger, smiling prettily over the edge of his glass. Only this time, Namjoon was right there by his side. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his partner, Seokjin would never cheat on him, but there was just something about the pair, he couldn’t pull his eyes away from them.
Where Jin was witty and charming, Jimin was charismatic and wicked in his sense of humor. The entire bar felt electrified by their back and forth and Namjoon’s thoughts were a mess. This Jin was one he loved, eyes shining with glee and a comeback always ready on the tip of his tongue but Jimin was equally as mesmerizing, his smile was warm and invited but there was something about the curl of his lips as his gaze swiped over the couple leaning into his every word, there was an intensity to his gaze, a power to him that made Namjoon want to drop to his knees before the man and surrender his every soul.
Together the two of them were transcendent. Namjoon didn’t talk much, preferring to take a backseat to the conversation and instead admire the duel unfolding before his hooded eyes. It was unclear what they fought for or who would emerge victorious but Namjoon was sure the heat of their intensity would set him aflame.
That night, there was something frantic about the way the couple undressed each other, fully lost in each other and the pleasure they knew they could give the other better than anyone else and yet, as they panted each other’s names against soft damp skin, Namjoon felt like he could still feel Jimin’s unflinching gaze on him, he could feel him in the high pitch of Jin’s voice, his partner almost frantic as he begged for more, more, more.
They may have felt the mysterious stranger alone at the bar but Jimin had still managed to do what no other had done before him and follow the couple back home and into their bed.
Even if he had known what would happen then, deep down, Namjoon knew they couldn’t have done it any differently. Jimin was unavoidable, even months after that fateful night, they had never seen the man again, had barely mentioned his name, but Jimin was right there with them, he was there when they made love, in every stranger they passed in the street. The man haunted them, and as much as the knowledge that his partner longed for another man, Namjoon couldn’t fault Seokjin for he was just as deeply affected.
***
Kim Seokjin
***
After years spent with Namjoon, JIn thought that he knew the younger writer almost better than he knew himself. Namjoon had always worn his emotions on his sleeve and believed in immediate communication before any doubt could fester between them. Seokjin firmly believed that it was this rule that had kept them so solidly in love over the years, of course they disagreed, they both had bad days when work and the world wore them both down and the other was there to take the blunt end of their frustration but they never went to sleep angry, they left their frustrations in frantic touches and shuddering thrusts, whispered their doubts into soft skin and smoothed their fears in warm embraces.
Nothing could break them, Seokjin honestly believed that, and yet he couldn’t deny that something had been wrong for a while now. They didn’t fight, didn’t tear each other apart in an effort to share the pain they couldn’t escape but he knew they both felt it. If he were interested in being truly honest with himself, Seokjin could probably put a name to what was missing but that was just a tad too much honesty for the moment.
Named or not, he was still there, in the space that had craved itself between the two lovers as they slept, the bed that had once felt just right now just a bit too big, a bit too empty. He couldn’t bring himself to voice his innermost thoughts and yearnings, he didn’t need to, he could tell that Namjoon knew when he looked at him. With the same certainty he knew that for once, talking about it wouldn’t resolve this distance, he also knew it would be their undoing.
If Seokjin could go back to that night, if he could unmeet Park Jimin he knew he would, he also knew that the very thought broke his heart.
Park Jimin had broken him, he had broken the relationship Jin cherished above all else and now that Jin needed him so desperately, he wasn’t there to put them back together.
***
Park Jimin
***
Jimin really hated his job. Officially. It may be his dream job, he may have wanted to travel the world and discover new places and people all his life but now, he hates it.
Of course, it was four am, he was jet lagged and hungry but his words still held true.
It was his fifth city this month and also the first time he would be in one place for more than a couple days, of course, his luck would just so have it that it was the very same city that hadn’t left his mind since he was last here almost six months ago.
Six months was a long time to have one place on your mind, especially when it wasn’t really a place that was consuming his thoughts but rather a person, or a couple if he was going to be wild and admit the truth to his dark and silent hotel room.
Seokjin and his oh so charming smile, it was as if he knew the power he held over people and was just daring you to fall under his spell. Jimin had been but a helpless victim to the aura of confidence and charm that was Seokjin.
But it hadn’t just been Seokjin, no, it was the weight of Namjoon’s gaze, the man’s stare always insistent and heavy on him and Seokjin. He knew they were together, he knew he was flirting with Seokjin right in front of the man’s partner but something about that stare didn’t make him feel like he was intruding, it had felt right to have Namjoon’s eyes on him and Soekjin’s hand lightly resting on his thigh.
It wasn’t one or the other, but the two of them together, they were so deeply in love and that intensity when turned towards an outside party was suffocating. Jimin felt like he needed it more than he needed air.
Maybe it was that need that forced him back to the restaurant’s bar night after night, maybe he was just torturing himself. There was no reason to believe they would be there again and even less reason to believe they would ever want to see him again if they were or that they would even remember him.
His next assignment had been cancelled, he was set to stay three more weeks in this city he had grown to in equal parts love and hate and Jimin really needed a drink. Somehow, the bar where he had first met Jin and Namjoon had become his usual drinking spot and so there really wasn’t any question where he would end up. He had lost hope of ever seeing either man again but the place still brought him semblance of comfort.
There was already a man where he usually sat at the bar and although he didn’t feel like making small talk with some random stranger drinking alone, that was also “his” spot and he would be damned if he moved just because someone would be close to see him mope.
He kept his eyes to himself, it had been months since he had bothered trying to pick someone up and although hooking up would probably help greatly with his abysmal mood, he couldn’t bring himself to chat up someone who would just inevitably turn out to be a disappointment.
“J-Jimin?” If he had more than just the one drink he may have thought he was imagining things because Jimin knew that voice, he had dreamed of hearing his voice called out by the man now sitting next to him.
Namjoon looked different, tired, the past couple months seemed to have had more of an effect on him than a couple months should be able to but despite it all, he still looked good. He still seemed to command the entire room around him and pull all eyes to him, Jimin certainly couldn’t look away. He was also alone this time and if the pile of empty glasses before him was anything to go by, drunk.
“Namjoon.” Months of imagining his moment and yet he could barely bring himself to whisper the man’s name. He wanted to ask so many questions, where was Jin? Did they ever think about him after that night? Had the couple been as affected as Jimin was?
“I never thought I would see you again. And here of all places, oh how Jin would laugh if he knew…” Namjoon was most certainly drunk and if Jimin was to guess, he would say the other also wasn’t okay. Something wasn’t okay, and as much as he wanted to ask, he knew it really wasn’t his place.
Desperate to bring up the missing third party but scared he would just end up upsetting Namjoon, Jimin settled for the next best thing and ordered a round of shots for the two of them.
An hour later and Jimin only partially regretted his choice. He was drunk, Namjoon was drunker and he was expecting the barman to kick them out at any point now, especially that Namjoon was now settled firmly on his lap and alternating being nuzzling into Jimin’s neck and trying to hide the fact that he was crying.
The night’s air did it’s job sobering Jimin up enough for him to realise he now had to figure out what the hell to do with the drunk Namjoon in his arms. The elder had driven but neither were in any state to be driving which left a taxi or calling someone to come get Namjoon. Namjoon didn’t seem inclined to help him out and give him his address so that left the only person Jimin could think to call. Seokjin.
Despite the outrageously late hour of the night the older man answered the phone after only a couple minutes. His voice was rough from sleep but oh so beautiful. After months without hearing that sound, Jimin could almost feel his knees go to jelly at the thought of seeing him again.
“Joonie? Why are you calling me? Are you alright? Do you need help?” Seokjin sounded worried, which Jimin guessed made sense but also surprised, as if he hadn’t been expecting to hear from the other.
“Um, it’s actually not Namjoon. He’s here with me but he said he didn’t want to bother you…”
“Oh. I’m sorry, who are you? And is he alright, I was under the impression he was staying with a friend.” His guess had been right, something had definitely happened between the two, maybe Jimin had made a mistake calling Seokjin when Namjoon seemed hell bent on not mentioning the man’s name.
“It’s Park Jimin. We met once, although it was admittedly a while ago so I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t remember me. I ran into Namjoon at Le Mirage downtown and he had a little too much to drink so I was hoping you could come get him....”
“Jimin. I remember. Don’t move, I’ll be there in ten minutes, Joonie can stay with me and I’ll take you wherever you want to go as well.”
“Oh that’s fine really, I can just get a taxi back to my hotel once you have Namjoon.”
“Nonsense. I am already on my way. Don’t move.”
“Okay, I’ll be waiting. Thank you Seokjin.” It was cold out, he had given his coat to Namjoon and all he really wanted right now was to crawl into bed and sleep but now that he knew it was just a matter of minutes before he saw Seokjin again, before he was in the same space as the man and his infectious energy, Jimin felt like his veins were filled with fire.
Just as the man had promised, it took less than ten minutes for Seokjin to arrive. He went to Namjoon first, checking to make sure he was alright and accepting the man into his arms as Namjoon clung to his shirt as if his life depended on it, Seokjin’s hold on the other man’s waist just as tight and desperate.
“Jimin. Wow, I recognised your voice on the phone but wow, I didn’t really think you would actually be here when I showed up…”
“Jinnie? Can we go home now? Jimin came back, you can have everything you wanted, please I just want us back. All of us, please Jinnie, I can’t lose you.”
“You never lost me Joon, you were the one to leave, remember? But that doesn’t matter tonight, let’s go home, you can sleep it off and if you want we can talk in the morning when you are sober.”
“Can Jimin come home with us as well?” Jimin had never heard Namjoon’s voice sound so broken and unsure. He also hadn’t missed what Jin had said about Namjoon leaving him. No matter what had happened here, he knew without a doubt that those two belonged together, just the thought of them being apart broke his heart.
“You have to ask Jimin that Joonie. We have plenty of space for him if he wants to stay and sleep off the alcohol before going home but he doesn’t know us and may not want to just follow some strangers home…”
Jimin knew he should just go back to the hotel, it would only hurt worse to wake up in the couple’s place and see the life he dreamed of having a part in, but the thought of going back to cold and empty hotel room made him so incredibly terrible, he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“Okay. I mean if you really don’t mind, I can sleep on the couch or whatever…” Seeing the smile that blossomed on Jin’s face and the armful of Namjoon he had received after agreeing just confirmed that he had made the right choice.
He didn’t know what would happen in the morning, in a week or in a month but as they walked back to Seokjin’s car, Namjoon’s hand warm and comforting in his while the man held Seokjin’s hand in his other, Jimin couldn’t ignore the hope that maybe the three of them could figure it out together.
Maybe, just maybe, it would be the beautiful start to something new and thrilling.