Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This is Namjoon’s worst day ever.  

“Seokjin, no,” he nearly whispers. Seokjin, the Cupid’s current form, is smiling. His face is full of unbridled mirth.   

“Seokjin, yes,” he says, popping a red cherry into his mouth.   

Namjoon groans.   

He thought his worst day was last week, when he was walking into the cafeteria and got distracted by an annoying blinding (metaphorical) sun and slipped on some water, sending his burger and matcha green tea flying up and dropping over his head. Namjoon sighed, brushing the food off himself and hoping the people who have always ignored him, were ignoring him.  

But it was as if fate had intervened and put her hands into Namjoon’s life, the very sun that he got distracted by helped him up. And he wasn’t even laughing. He was so gentle and nice that Namjoon nearly popped a vein.  

Namjoon thought his worst day was two days ago, when he knocked coffee all over his 46-page report—of yet another failed mission, obviously, but that’s not the point—that he was supposed to submit to Seokjin. All because he heard a particular bright and happy laugh from across the room. Nobody was that happy all the time and Namjoon’s hands twitched violently. After another sleepless night of writing down every single detail all over again, he managed to turn it in.   

But clearly that wasn’t even close to what is happening today.   

“Seokjin, please,” Namjoon took a step forward towards the rich, velvet throne that Seokjin was sitting on. “Please give me one more chance, just don’t fire me.”  

Namjoon was not above begging. His career was on the line.   

He did not spend 4 decades in college, sleepless (not that he needed, but still), struggling (money was still something that existed in Cupid’s realm, The Isthmus of Serendipity), and hardworking, enough that he earned a gold medal only to be demoted in the first year of his first (and only) job: Smittener. The job is better than the name, he swears.  

The thing is, Namjoon spent decades learning about the nuances of love: from trying to understand what makes the human heart race and causes the blood to rush to their cheeks and make them feel giddily happy and secure to what exactly happens when the feeling is lost and how humans cope with it. So, in theory, he’s one of the most capable persons for working in this realm. Seokjin had hired him on the spot.   

But honestly, the first few decades just sucked. Being a Smittener was a very practical job and Namjoon was...not.   

So, he cannot get fired.  

Seokjin only raises an elegant eyebrow. “Fire you?” He laughs his trademark, windshield wiper laugh, squeaky and cute (unlike his otherwise, powerful and scary demeanour) and waves away the bowl of cherries.   

“No, Namjoon, I’m not going to fire you.” he says gently.  

Relief rushes through him.   

“However.”  

Of fucking course it’s going to be short-lived.   

“I have decided to partner you with someone for this project for now, and then we will see.”  

Namjoon resists the urge to bawl and cry. Why couldn’t he get fired?  

“Okay,” Namjoon simply nods because what else can he do? “Who is going to partner with me?”  

The way Seokjin’s eyes light up causes the little hair on the back of Namjoon’s neck to rise. “Glad you asked, Namjoon!”   

And then he claps.  

Seokjin’s throne room, Pink Orpisdorffite—or more commonly known (much to Seokjin’s chagrin) as the Pink-O—is light and bright, crystals and diamonds hanging from the tall walls and high ceilings. Outside the floor to ceiling windows reflects Seokjin mood: today, it’s bright and sunny and warm.   

He’s calm and happy. Namjoon thinks he can even see a smug smirk forming on his lips.   

Along one of the pretty pink walls, a door slides open and in walks Namjoon’s worst nightmare.   

“Ah, Hoseok! Glad you’re here,”  

Hoseok, or the person Namjoon despises the most, bows a little. “You called for me, Lord Seokjin?”  

Namjoon thinks this is the first time that Hoseok has ever looked nervous. He looks stiff and that blinding smile is replaced by something Namjoon can only describe as a grimace.   

Seokjin waves him away. “Please, call me Seokjin. I love being on top but calling me Lord is a bit too much for me, don’t you agree?” He winks at Hoseok whose face turns bright red as he tries—and fails—to reply.   

It is only for a second but Namjoon feels a twinge of pity. He had also once been a blushing, blubbering mess when he had met Seokjin first. It’s only natural to feel that way in front of the most beautiful being in all their realms.   

But it is quickly replaced by dread when Namjoon realizes that he has to work with the worst possible being to finish this project.   

“Okay, so,” Seokjin starts, all business. He’s sitting up straight and all. “This is Namjoon. Have you two had the chance to meet?”  

“I haven’t had the pleasure, yet,” Hoseok says with a small, but genuine (ugh) smile.   

At this, Seokjin claps in glee. “I like you,” he declares, and that has Hoseok puffing up his chest a little. “I’m going to partner you both for a project that he has been working on for a bit,”  

Blood rushes to Namjoon’s face as he looks down at his sandals, quietly listening to Seokjin.   

“Here are the project details,” Seokjin says, and a small stack of files materializes in front of Hoseok, who scrambles to hold it. “I know time doesn’t matter to us but those humans live very short lives. I hope you two can work together and make sure these humans end up with the right people in their lives.”  

And when Seokjin smiles so gently, like he genuinely wants them to have good and happy lives, Namjoon thinks working with Hoseok might just be worth it.   

“So,” Hoseok starts.    

Okay, that lasted a second, it’s still his worst day ever.  

Hoseok looks at Namjoon with a bright but close-lipped smile, that reveals a mole on his top lip. It’s a new kind of smile, warm and kind and--  

Too late, Namjoon realizes that Hoseok’s lips were moving and Namjoon hadn’t paid a lick of attention.  

“Sorry, I didn’t catch you,” Namjoon mutters, not looking at Hoseok’s pretty face.   

“Ah, I was just asking do you want to get some coffee while we discuss the case?” Hoseok lifts the little pile in his hands.   

Namjoon’s brain short circuits but he manages to save himself. “Don’t you want some time to read it?”  

“Dinner, then.”  

The first instinct that Namjoon has is to scream “No!” and run in the opposite direction. But then he reconsiders. He does need to get this done so that he doesn’t lose his job.   

“I mean,” Hoseok says, after a moment of silence where Namjoon hasn’t responded. “Only if you’re okay with it, if not—”  

Namjoon doesn’t let him finish. “No, it’s okay. We can meet at the cafeteria? Say, in about 4 hours or so, West Wing?”  

That sunshine rivalling smile is back again. Namjoon resists the urge to recoil from the brightness. “Yes, that works! See you then!” And he practically skips away.   

Namjoon sighs. Time to brush up on his case before he has to meet...Hoseok.   

On his way out to his quarters out of the main room, he finds Jackson at the reception, on his shift.  

“Uh-oh,” Jackson takes one look at Namjoon and gives him a pitying smile. “Missed another shot?”  

“Worse,” Namjoon tells him. “I got partnered up.”  

Jackson only shakes his head. Everybody knows that Smitteners are supposed to be solo workers, so partnering up doesn’t really bode well in Namjoon’s career.   

“With whom?” Jackson asks and Namjoon tries his best to keep his expression neutral.   

“He’s called Hoseok,” Namjoon swallows a lump of annoyance down his throat. “He transferred in from the smaller Province last month.”  

“Oh yeah, I know him!” Jackson says, eyes lighting up. “Great guy, always has smiles and coffees to offer and so kind and he’s such an amazing dancer, did you...”  

Jackson trails off at the draggers Namjoon was shooting him with his eyes.   

“Well, you could have landed someone worse as your partner?” Jackson tries, after a moment.  

“No, Jackson,” Namjoon shakes his head resolutely. “He is the worst. There’s nobody else worse than him.”  

Namjoon half-heartedly goes through the files in his quarters before meeting with Hoseok. He doesn’t even have to at this point, he’s been working on this case for quite some time now. He has observed the subjects so keenly that he even knows their schedules by now. He’s sure they haven’t changed in the last week or so.  

He arrives at the cafeteria five minutes before their decided time, only to find Hoseok already there, sipping from a crystal goblet of bubbling, clear liquid: sprite. Namjoon was surprised that Hoseok’s punctuality didn’t faze him, almost like Namjoon had expected the other being to be there and when did Namjoon become an expert in Hoseok, after only meeting once--  

Namjoon takes a deep breath in, holds for a few seconds, and slowly releases it. It helps him when he’s in a spiral of jumbled thoughts that he doesn’t really have the time to make sense of. Once he’s sure his head is clear, he approaches the table the other being was sitting at.  

Hoseok looks up when Namjoon pulls a chair and gives him a small smile around the straw and goes back to the file. Namjoon settles down, pulling up his own files and notes, and digs around for a fountain pen he bought when he was a broke student.   

“Would you like anything to drink before we start?” Hoseok asks, and Namjoon just shakes his head. He needs to get this over with.   

“I’m fine, thanks, we can eat after the first round of discussions as I bring you up to date with everything?”  

“Sounds good to me,”  

So, for the rest of the evening, Namjoon brings Hoseok up to speed with the case, his plans, and their failure. His ears burn a little when he talks about all the ways his plans failed, even if he followed the rulebook to the letter. Hoseok doesn’t smile, doesn’t even attempt at making a joke at his expense, because that’s obviously the kind of guy he is.  

He hates kind people, especially those who know that they are kind. They listen to your life and instantly their eyes become gooey and pitying. He does not want pity. Not at this stage.   

But Hoseok does none of that. He only looks thoughtful as he folds his hands and rests them on the table. His rhinestone glasses and platinum hair glint in the lights of the cafeteria as he nods his head in understanding.   

“I understand your issue here, Namjoon,” Hoseok finally says, as he drains his cup of Sprite.   

“My issue ?” Namjoon doesn’t mean it to come out as sharply but as far as he was aware, he didn’t know it was his issue.  

Hoseok only looks straight into Namjoon’s eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be critical here. I’m just telling you what I see. I’ve been doing this for a while now and these kinds of cases,” he waves his neatly manicured hand across the files. “As simple and straightforward as they seem, are quite unpredictable. We have to think differently, do differently,”  

“Different?” Namjoon’s eyebrows scrunch. “Different how? Different from what?”  

Hoseok blinks. “Different from everything you’ve tried,”  

“But I followed every single technique that was mentioned in the guide to bring couples together that was applicable in this case!”  

But Hoseok is only shaking his head. “That’s great, Namjoon, but why haven’t they worked?”  

Namjoon’s mouth opened and closed. He doesn’t have an answer for that. But Hoseok is ploughing through, accentuating with his (very nice) hands.   

“Even though all your plans were flawless, they lacked finer details that usually come very much in handy,”  

“Finer details?” There was nothing mentioned about it in the books.   

“Yes, for example,” Hoseok leafs through one of the files. “Jungkook here likes a vanilla frappuccino, but there is no mention of which seat he likes at the coffee shop. Does he like watching people? Does he like the view outside or the inside? These might seem inconsequential but when we scope out these details, we can come up with plans and their back-up plans and maybe even improvise,”  

Namjoon gasps. “You can’t improvise!”  

“Why not?” Hoseok challenges, sitting back in his seat. “Is it because it’s said in the guides?”  

“Have you not read them at all?” Namjoon rolls his eyes and lets it fall on his fingers, fiddling in his lap. After a moment, he says, “It’s not that...”  

“Then what is it?” his question is soft, gentle.   

“I...I need to plan. If I don’t plan, I can’t work.”  

There is only the sound of scraping chairs and distant chatter for a few moments before Namjoon takes a chance to look up. Hoseok is only smiling slightly. And as much as Namjoon likes (or rather is able to tolerate) the blinding heart-shaped smile, this small one makes his heart beat much faster.   

Namjoon didn’t think he could stand the little mole on his lip for a second longer than he had to.    

“Then it’s a good thing we have two brains together, don’t we?”  

They spend the rest of the dinner making plans. Both want to get this done so they don’t waste time. Namjoon is in charge of writing down the plans in his notebook, while Hoseok makes sure they have plans B and C (improvise) under every plan. Namjoon also makes sure that their plans don’t stray too far from the rulebook.   

By the end of dinner, they have about 5 pages worth of ideas.   

Namjoon is quite surprised that he was able to work so well with someone like Hoseok. Namjoon wasn’t the most approachable when he was at the University, and the ones he did approach, Namjoon thinks he has scared them away with his excitement. But Hoseok is none of those. He is kind and welcoming and open and Namjoon wishes he were his friend.   

If only Namjoon didn’t despise him.  

To be fair, Hoseok did come into Namjoon’s life at a very inopportune time so he can’t really blame himself. It’s just how it is. Namjoon doesn’t have to be best friends with Hoseok, but he is going to try and be civil with him.   

The sky outside their realm is a pretty gradient of indigo and peach, signalling the rise of the second moon and the setting of the sun. Hoseok and Namjoon stop for a moment, simply basking in the change in the day. A flock of small, lion-headed pigeons flies by and one of them promptly leaves a present on Namjoon’s shoulder.  

He sighs. Namjoon doesn’t know why he hadn’t expected this after the day he had had. He rummages around his satchel and pockets for a napkin or a handkerchief when there’s a tap on his clean shoulder.   

It’s Hoseok. He’s trying to not smile but his shoulders are shaking with barely restrained giggles but in his outstretched hand is a clean, purple and yellow hankie. Namjoon only smiles a little ruefully and takes it.  

Their hands brush and it was only for a quick moment but Namjoon felt Hoseok’s soft and warm hands against his own. It is a hand that Namjoon would like to hold.   

What?  

Shaking his head, he mumbles thanks to Hoseok and confirms their meeting tomorrow at second light (which would be around 8:30 AM on Earth). They bid their farewell and split at the crossroads outside the main building.  

Tomorrow...Namjoon, for the first time, planned on not scheduling his day by the hour. He decided to do it for every two hours instead.   

It isn’t quite second light yet when Namjoon walked into the cafeteria. The peach sky from the previous night had completely taken over, leaving the realm in a soft orange glow. Namjoon smiles, it really is pretty.   

When he sits down in front of his breakfast, he hears a loud voice calling him. He is startled enough that his glass of iced tea spills a little, and the same voice laughs, albeit much closer now. He looks up to see Hoseok walking towards him with a tray of his own and a smile that’s rivalling the light of the second star, Naarti.  

Namjoon gulps. Hoseok’s smile was even prettier up close and Namjoon is losing his train of thought, each one coming back to his smile.  

“Hi Namjoon!” Hoseok greets him happily and Namjoon manages to mumble a hello back.   

“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Hoseok goes on, undeterred by Namjoon's lack of enthusiasm or energy. “I was doing some reading yesterday and came across an interesting article about lion-pigeons and their poop.”  

Namjoon raises an eyebrow. “How in good heavens and Isthmus does that happen?”  

Hoseok shrugs like, it does, you just don't question it. “ So, where I come from, lion-pigeons are quite rare so seeing them was a sign of good omen. Them pooping on you? Blessed!”  

Slowly blinking, Namjoon tries to understand his words. “So, you’re saying it was good that these pigeons pooped on me? They’re not exactly rare here, you know?”  

And they weren’t. In the Capital, where it was warmer, they tended to breed like roaches and were twice as annoying.  

“But I’m not from here, so it still stands.”  

But the lion-pigeons pooped on me , Namjoon wanted to argue but seeing the satisfied and happy smile on Hoseok’s face made him balk.   

“Well, that’s great then, because we need all the blessing we need.”  

Hoseok beams and a small, traitorous, lion-headed pigeon takes flight in Namjoon’s heart, that he promptly ignores.  

They walk in companionable silence till the elevator that will teleport them to Earth. It used to be clouds before but then since Seokjin arrived, things have changed a lot.   

“I would much rather prefer clouds any day over this,” Hoseok shudders slightly. His golden skin looks pale.   

Namjoon’s eyebrows furrow. “Are you okay, Hoseok?”  

Hoseok blinks when he looks at Namjoon. “Huh? Yeah, I’m good, why do you ask?”  

“You’re sweating, we haven’t even gone down to Earth yet, and the temperature on Isthmus is relative to the beings on this realm, never as a whole,” Namjoon ticks off his fingers. “Is everything okay?”   

Namjoon isn't sure why but seeing his... work partner (for lack of a better title) in distress worries him. It’s always better to have your partners in top shape when you’re out for work, he had read somewhere. This is him just looking out for his partner. For work. So that he doesn’t fuck up even more.   

Hoseok takes a deep breath. “This is going to sound ridiculous,”  

“More than the stories about the lion-headed pigeons and the time you had to make a couple get together on that wildlife safari in Madagascar while you were being chased by a rhino?” One of Namjoon’s eyebrows quirks up, as does one side of his lips.  

“Hey, don’t make me resent telling you,” Hoseok quips back, no real bite in his words. “It’s just... that.”  

That being pointed towards the row of glass elevators, where the bored doorwoman is reading a book upside down.   

The elevators are fully glass, walls, doors, floor, and ceiling. Namjoon loves it because the realm shift is always so different and fascinating. He didn’t think anyone would fear it.  

Namjoon looks at the pale sweaty man visibly steeling himself to walk towards the elevator and then looks back at the bare elevator. It really is bare; there are no handles, no elevator music, no plush carpet, and no fan.  

“Wait here,” Namjoon tells Hoseok as they are close to the doorwoman.   

“Gladly,” Hoseok mumbles, looking down at his white and neon green sports sneakers.   

Namjoon walks right up to the desk of the doorwoman and raps his knuckles on the crystal table. She looks up and grins.  

“Namjoon!”   

“Hey, Nayeon!” Namjoon smiles back at her. “How’s the inter-realm monitoring going?”   

She smirks, eyeing at something—or rather someone—behind Namjoon. “About as well as your Seeker job,”   

“Ouch”, Namjoon presses a hand to his heart and fake gasps. “You wound me, Nayeon. Just how many people know about this?” Namjoon groans.  

Nayeon puts a finger to her chin in fake thinking. “Just about everyone in the Capital,”  

“Even grocer Jinyoung?”  

“Even grocer Jinyoung,”  

“That's great, truly, not like my entire future rides on this one mission, like of course everyone knows...”    

“Yeah, yeah. Give me your papers so I can patch you through.”  

“Thanks, Nayeon,” He hands his papers to her and looks back at Hoseok, who has now resorted to chewing his painted nails. Namjoon resists the urge to go over there and pull his fingers out of his mouth.   

“Hey, can you do me a favour?”  

Nayeon looks up sharply. “If it’s about my friend at that party last month, I’m not doing it,”  

Namjoon only shakes his head. “No, it’s not, don’t worry,”  

“Then what is it?”  

Namjoon quickly wraps up his chat with Nayeon, not wanting to keep Hoseok any longer, because honestly, they should have left a while ago. He hurries over to Hoseok, who has resorted to simply staring off into the inky space.   

“Hey, Hoseok?”  

Hoseok blinks before focusing back on the present, and on Namjoon’s face. “Oh. Hey,”  

“Ready to go?”  

Hoseok nods and takes a deep breath. Namjoon hands him a corked vial of the invisibility potion—to hide them from the humans—and they gulp it down in one go. The potion barely tastes like anything, which, in the Isthmus of Serendipity, is unheard of. Hoseok shudders slightly and Namjoon grimaces it, but when he looks at Hoseok, he tries to give him something close to a reassuring smile. They head quietly towards the elevator as Namjoon waves at Nayeon.   

“I’ll send you a signal fifteen minutes in advance, so you don’t miss it,” she says, pressing a button to open the doors of the elevator. “And everything inside is ready too,”  

She winks at Namjoon, who can feel the heat rising to his cheeks but still manages to roll his eyes.   

“Thanks, Nayeon, I owe you one,”  

“I’m keeping track,” Nayeon grins.   

“What does she mean everything inside is ready...” Hoseok trails off as they step into the elevator.   

He blinks once, taking everything in, and then looks at Namjoon.  

“Is this what she meant?”   

The glass-box—as Hoseok liked to call it—was no more just a box. It had a plush red carpet, solid railing along three of the walls, cheerful music from some unknown source, the ceiling of the elevator covered, a projection screen opened to a video browsing page, and an option to frost the glass walls with just the press of a button.  

Namjoon only nods as he presses a confirmation button to being their descent. “You looked like you’d rather be anywhere but here, so I thought...” he shrugs.   

“You thought what?” Hoseok asks, one eyebrow raised.   

Shit. Maybe Namjoon read him wrong. Maybe he took it too far?   

“I-I mean, I only wanted to make you feel less uncomfortable?” Even to himself that sounded weak. Namjoon grimaces.   

But then the most miraculous thing since rap music happened. Hoseok smiles. His eyes are nearly teary but filled with gratitude.   

“Thank you, Namjoon,” he says, clasping his hands in front of him. “This means so much to me, you have no idea.”  

The earnestness from the other being flusters Namjoon. Like if he keeps looking at Hoseok for a moment longer, he might lose his mind.   

Namjoon clears his throat and presses the button to close the doors. “Ah, it’s nothing.”  

Nayeon’s voice floats from the speakers. “You will now be leaving the Isthmus of Serendipity to reach the realm of Earth. It will take eight minutes and 42 seconds to breach the realm, after which is a smooth ride for about 25 seconds. Good luck with your work!”  

Namjoon then turns to Hoseok and gives him yet another reassuring smile. Hoseok hikes up his bag pack over his shoulder and tries to return it.   

Since they were going to a specific region on Earth, Namjoon thought it would be apt to watch something from the region. He chooses to play a song called “Fly” by a hip-hop group, Epik High. This song was introduced by one of the humans from this project and honestly, that’s one of the main reasons why he hasn’t given up on them yet. The humans may not know the kind of influence they’ve had on...otherworldly beings but it’s there. Namjoon feels like he owes it to them.   

He says as much to Hoseok, chuckling nervously. “I mean, not like it isn’t my job or anything. Not that I don’t like my job! It’s just...”  

“A stepping stone?” Hoseok asks.   

 Namjoon blinks. “How’d you know?”  

Hoseok simply shrugs. “You look like the kind of being who is willing to do anything it takes to achieve their goals, even partnering up for a job meant for one.”  

Namjoon opens his mouth to refuse but Hoseok doesn’t stop. “And you’re definitely much smarter for a very practical job like this, so I just thought that this is the first step for you to get to somewhere.”  

“What about you? Is this where you want to be?” Namjoon asks after a beat.   

Hoseok has to think for a moment. He looks at the screen playing the song, but Namjoon has a feeling that he’s not really watching it. “I’m happy here, so for now, yeah.”  

“We have now breached the realm of Earth. You will reach your destination in 30 seconds.”  

Nayeon’s voice jolts them both back to the present. Hoseok blinks and looks around. “Wow, this must be the best commute of my life. I didn’t even realize we were here.”  

Namjoon smiles a little. “That’s good to know. We need all our strength when we reach down there and start working to get them together.”   

“Don’t worry, Namjoon!” Hoseok gives him his signature, heart-shaped smile. It blinds Namjoon for a few seconds and he thinks he sees stars behind his eyelids. (Which is silly because that’s a very human feeling and Namjoon isn’t supposed to feel like that.) “You’re not alone anymore. We’ll get them all together!”  

Namjoon manages to nod.   

The elevator opens to a toilet, and the stench makes them both grimace.   

“Wow, it’s been a while since you dropped me here, Nayeon,” Namjoon looks up at the roof of the elevator. “I owe you one and a half, I won’t forget.”  

“I know, darling,” Nayeon’s voice chirps back, and as soon as they step outside the elevator, the doors shut as if the wall had been solid and nothing more than a wall just now.  

Namjoon wants to take a deep breath before leaving the toilet, but he knows it’s a bad idea. His face scrunches up as they hurriedly open the door, breathing in the non-toilet air.   

Hoseok looks at him, breathing deeply and calmly. “Ready to do this?”  

He’s asking as if Namjoon has a choice. Slight irritation flickers through; he tamps them down and pulls up to his full height. “Yeah, let’s do this.”  

As Namjoon and Hoseok wind their way through the tables of the coffee shop (whose bathroom they landed in), they look around for their humans. When Namjoon looks at the time, he’s sure that Yoongi will be here for his morning coffee before work. If the schedule hasn’t changed, Jimin will also come to the cafe today since he has early classes to teach.   

They wander a bit, making sure to stay out of everyone’s way. (Just because they are invisible, it doesn’t mean that humans can pass through them. They're still solid, and Namjoon has had his fair share of accidents which he would very much like to avoid this time.) Namjoon directs Hoseok to his vantage point—a warm and sunny corner behind a table.  

The two humans are due to walk in any minute, according to Namjoon’s notes. He looks to Hoseok, who is looking around, eyes alert, his gaze sharp and vigilant. Namjoon’s eyes rake over the other Smittener, his sharp jaw line and the brightly painted nails and the fluffy hair that Namjoon wants to—  

Hoseok grips his arm suddenly. Namjoon shakes himself out of his thoughts and looks at where Hoseok is looking at.   

Yoongi had walked in and is at the counter already.   

Shit, Namjoon has to be more alert.   

Maybe Seokjin had a point when he assigned Namjoon a partner. Or maybe Seokjin was just messing with him.   

Either way, one of the humans is here and they need to move fast.   

The Smitteners look at each other and nod. Plan A of Plan 1 is in action.   

Hoseok stands behind Yoongi as he waits for his order, while Namjoon tracks down the human’s regular Americano.   

Huh. It’s not iced, today. And it seems to be a here order than a to-go like usual. Namjoon is quickly making notes of all the new changes that have occurred.    

Once Yoongi’s order is ready and the barista slides it towards the counter, Namjoon quickly pours in a vial of the connection potion and steps back quickly.    

Yoongi takes the potion-infused coffee and his plain doughnut and thanks the barista with a nod. He heads towards the corner where Hoseok is standing and takes a seat at the table. Hoseok, alert as ever, bends down to stare at Yoongi and his actions intensely, wanting to make sure he takes the first sip.   

And sure enough, after getting comfortable, Yoongi takes a sip of his Americano, smacking his lips at the taste once as he fiddles with his mobile phone. Hoseok looks up at Namjoon and nods once.   

Now to wait for Jimin.     

After a few minutes of Namjoon and Hoseok holding their breaths, someone familiar walks in and heads toward where Yoongi is sitting.  They're tall and loud, with a head full of black curls, and Yoongi, as much as he seems annoyed by this person, Namjoon knows he adores the other person.  

The other person in question is Taehyung, Jimin’s best friend and roommate, and the other subject of their assignment. He is talking to Yoongi softly and with each passing moment, Yoongi looks sadder and more worried. But then Taehyung leaves him and comes to the counter, where Namjoon is standing. Hoseok quickly follows him to reach Namjoon. Hoseok’s face is marred with concern.   

“Namjoon!” Hoseok hisses. “Taehyung is buying drinks for himself and Jimin!”  

Namjoon nods in understanding and they both move close to Taehyung, who suddenly pauses mid-way through his order to the barista.  

“Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you constantly?” the black-haired human asks the barista.   

The barista only laughs. “Well, we do have cameras all around the cafe, does that bother you?”  

Taehyung shakes his head. “No, this is more...” he shakes his head. “I hope they are my guardian angels, looking out for me!” he ends up saying brightly and the barista grins back, amused.  

Hoseok looks at Namjoon with fear in his eyes. “Now you know why I have been having trouble,” Namjoon says, rolling his eyes fondly.   

Then, Taehyung orders two drinks, a chai latte, and a hot chocolate.  

“The hot chocolate is for Jimin,” Hoseok informs Namjoon, recalling the conversation he overheard. “Jimin is apparently sick, so Taehyung is here to get him something to eat and drink.”  

Namjoon nods, not moving his eyes from the barista. Once the cup is on the counter and before the barista can pack it up with the cover, Namjoon slips in the other vial of the potion. Then the barista packs up and Taehyung whisks it away.   

He’s still talking to Yoongi so Namjoon and Hoseok have to plan quickly. “Hoseok, can you follow Taehyung back to their apartment to make sure that Jimin takes the first sip? If that is confirmed, we can move on to the next couple.”  

Hoseok nods. Although they hadn’t considered this scenario, Namjoon had to learn to improvise. Earlier, he would wait until they were both in the same room to put the potion in, but they don’t have the luxury right now.   

As Taehyung leaves, hugging an unwillingly willing Yoongi, Hoseok slips out of the cafe behind him. Yoongi is still sitting at the same place, texting on his phone. Namjoon has taken Hoseok’s place in the corner to watch over Yoongi and follow him in case he leaves before Jimin drinks his potion-infused hot chocolate.   

Then Namjoon feels it.   

It hasn’t been 5 minutes since Hoseok left, Namjoon has been keeping track. Taehyung and Jimin’s shared apartment is about 10 minutes away from the cafe by walk. There is no way that Jimin would have already sipped his drink.   

Yoongi is sitting still, blinking. Namjoon felt the zap of the potions clicking into place and this is slightly worrying. He tries to think of scenarios where Jimin could’ve had his drink in under five minutes (maybe Taehyung took a cab? Maybe he ran? Maybe Jimin met him halfway?) when Hoseok barges into the cafe.   

Namjoon looks up to see an expression on Hoseok’s face that he never thought he would see: abject terror.   

Common agents used by Smitteners #1 - Connection potion: This is a potion that needs to be made exclusively in 20 ML portions. The 20 mL acts like a whole heart, while a piece of it given to one person, and another piece to another, effectively connecting them together. The primary ingredients include: first rays of the first sun, collected every 21st day, the first raindrop occurred the next day, an enchanted spell blown in (stronger the spell if the enchanter is in a relationship) and allowed to sit in starlight for 4 hours. Among other, top-secret ingredients. Very useful to make them gain courage to open their hearts and let the other person know of their feelings. It also allows the drinker to see who they have in front of them. Light peach and yellow in colour, clear. Stored in same-cut, crystal vials, with cork stoppers.  

 

Humans  

>Yoongi<  

Yoongi blinks. He suddenly feels like the world got a little brighter. His heart feels fuller, and he just can’t stop smiling. Even after he left the cafe, even after learning that Jimin hadn’t gotten any better and even when the nice woman at the soup restaurant commented on how Yoongi should be eating more and even as he climbed up the stairs to deliver Jimin his soup and check up on him, the smile wouldn’t leave his face. He wore a mask so that his asshole co-workers who were normally intimidated by him wouldn’t lower their guard because he was smiling and was decent to them.   

He realized why he had been in a good mood the moment Jimin’s door opened, and Taehyung’s face appeared. His heart settled and while there was a small, sane part of him that was screaming “NOT IT NOT IT”, a larger part of him was giggling “Tae-tae is here! You’ve been longing to see him!”  

Taehyung’s eyes are warm and full of love, mirroring how Yoongi feels.   

>Jimin<  

Jimin has been out of it for most of the day. He’s been drifting in and out of sleep, only waking up when Taehyung brought him his hot chocolate and then some soup. It is late afternoon when he finally rouses from sleep.   

Taehyung should be at work, but he hears voices in his living room. He vaguely remembers Taehyung mentioning something about Yoongi-hyung coming around? In his fevered state, he can’t exactly remember so he decides to venture out into the living room.   

He does need to pee and maybe eat something a little more solid than soup.   

When he reaches the end of the hallway, however, he stops. His socked feet barely make any noise so the people in the living room who are giggling and exchanging shy glances and touches that linger for far too long to be innocent don’t notice him. Jimin blinks for a moment. Looks at the two people in the living room. Rubs at his eyes. Blinks again.   

Yup. It’s still the same scene. Same two people. His roommate and best friend Taehyung, and his long-time, crush (and maybe even the love of his life) that the whole world knows about, Yoongi.  

Tears threaten to spring from his eyes, so he hastily turns away and returns to his room. Once inside the safe cocoon of his room, he takes a few deep breaths and manages to find his phone and call his other best friend.  

He picks up on the first ring. “Hyung, how ar—”  

Upon hearing his voice, Jimin lets out a sob. “Jun-jungkook--this is-i-i don’t know what’s ha-happening, I thought he liked me,” he manages to hiccup out but even in his dazed state, Jimin can tell that Jungkook is already moving.   

“Hyung, stay where you are, I’m coming in five minutes okay?”  

Jimin nods, and then weakly sobs out a yes .   

“Shall I stay on the phone with you?”  

Another sob. Gods, Jimin should really pull it together because once Jungkook walks in, he’s going to be shattered too.   

He thought it was the worst day ever because he couldn’t get his morning coffee with Yoongi-hyung but this—this beat his morning by a long shot.    

Chapter Text

Smitteners 

Namjoon and Hoseok are standing outside the Pink-O waiting to be let in for an audience with Seokjin. Namjoon has been here before, in this very position, many times in his one year old career, but he can safely say that this is the most nervous and scared he’s been.  

The door opens after an agonizingly long moment. Seokjin sits on his throne, examining a scroll, which he puts aside when the two Smitteners enter and kneel in front of him.  

“Please, rise,” Seokjin tells them and Namjoon and Hoseok rise, a little unsteady on their feet. “You have requested two doses of Undo potion , and two of the mildest Erase potion, am I right?” 

“Yes, my Lord,” Hoseok says, and Namjoon resists the urge to roll his eyes. Seokjin doesn’t comment.  

“Care to explain how it went wrong with one of my star performers?” 

His tone is light, but Namjoon knows not to mess with it. He steps forward. “The humans are highly unpredictable, Seokjin. They’re clumsy and sometimes act without thinking. And their feelings for each other have grown exponentially since the first time I gave them the eye-heart opener .”  

Seokjin waits.  

“However,” Namjoon continues. “This was something that we expected. So, taking as many things as possible into account, we had planned well, and made sure the two of us were always on the same page. Even then, we were completely helpless in the situation.” 

“And what situation was that? You put the Connection potion into their own drinks, did you not? How did it go wrong?” Seokjin asks, even though he knows perfectly well what happened and how it went wrong. 

Namjoon and Hoseok look at each other and Namjoon gives him a small, encouraging nod to continue. Hoseok takes a deep breath. “You see, my Lord, Subject #3 Taehyung, roommate of Subject #2 Jimin, bought himself and Jimin beverages to take back home. We made sure we had the right beverage for Jimin, which was a hot chocolate. And we made sure to pour the potion into the beverage. Then Taehyung took both beverages away.  

“I followed him to make sure Jimin took that first sip while Namjoon stayed with Subject #1 Yoongi to ensure the same. On the way, Taehyung stopped by a traffic signal and took a sip of a beverage—which was Jimin’s, not his own. He realized it was not his and quickly kept it back but...the damage was done.” 

Seokjin nods thoughtfully. “Okay, that was completely unpredictable. I can sympathize.” 

Namjoon and Hoseok hold their breaths as Seokjin signs a scroll and hands it to them. “Hand it to Seulgi over at the remedial counter, you’ll get your potions. Use the Undo the same way as Connection , yeah?” 

The Smitteners nod in unison. 

“It’s okay, they’ll be all right,” Seokjin smiles a little sadly. “These humans are resilient. Do you guys want to see how they’re doing?” 

Namjoon knows this is a warning. It’s unfair because as he and Hoseok had explained, it was unpredictable and out of their control. But at the end of the day, their meddling created this mess so they will take the consequences in stride and do better.  

Afterall, Namjoon had been doing it for a year now. He feels a little bad that he’s dragged their star performer down with him.  

“Pardon, my Lord?” Hoseok asks and it startles Namjoon out of his thoughts.  

Seokjin waves his hand and one of the walls towards the end of the room slides open and an image—no, a video —is projected in front of them. It is split into two—one side shows two of his humans holding each other and crying and on the other, it shows two humans holding hands and in deep conversation. 

Namjoon’s heart plummets. He has to fix this.  

Namjoon and Hoseok get Seokjin’s permission to leave immediately so that they can fix this. They hurry towards the potions center, to the remedial counter and Seulgi raises an eyebrow when she reads the note.  

“ Undo and Erase potion, huh?” She goes around one of the tall shelves in the back and returns with two vials. “I haven’t seen anyone use these in a long time.” 

Hoseok’s hands are shaking a little. Namjoon just sighs. “First time for everything, right?” 

Seulgi only snorts. “Sure, whatever you say, Namjoon.” She puts the vials in cute little bags and hands them to him.  “Don’t forget to add their hair before using the potion.” 

Namjoon looks at the card accompanying the vial. One strand of hair, plucked and blown on by the Smittener , to be dissolved in the potion before adding it to the beverage or food.  

“ There’s two of us,” Namjoon looks at Seulgi. “How do we decide who should pluck and blow on the hair?” 

“Both of you do it. Better safe than sorry,” she shrugs and moves on to the next person in line.  

Hoseok looks worried. Namjoon only gives him a small, reassuring smile and leads them to the elevator.  

Nayeon doesn’t say anything as they hand her their papers in and she sets the right location and sends them through with a small, encouraging nod. The elevator still stays the same as that morning, carpet, projection screen and frost glass button and all. Hoseok looks a little relieved.  

Once the elevator doors close, Namjoon turns to Hoseok. “We should plan.” 

Hoseok’s nods are listless, distracted. “Right. So, once we’re in their apartment, we need to make sure all four of them are there, right?” 

“Yeah, that’s our best situation. We can prevent any more accidents from happening.” 

“We can scope them out first, see if they’re together and then...” He looks at Namjoon, blinking. “And then what?” 

“We can hang around until they’re eating or drinking, and we slip in the potion.” 

“That sounds...” 

“Creepy?” 

“Yup.” The ‘p’ pops out cutely and Namjoon grins.  

“But we are meddling with their lives and we know too much about them just by observing from afar—” 

“And reading their emotions and peeking into their phones and conversations too,” Hoseok adds, and Namjoon rolls his eyes.  

“Yes, that too. But at the end of the day, we want them happy.” 

At this Hoseok deflates and leans against the back wall of the elevator. “I feel terrible, Namjoon. Have you ever felt so bad?” 

Namjoon thinks back to all his failed attempts. A lot of them were because he wasn’t able to activate the potions on time because he waited for too long for the right moment or he spilled the drink or misplaced the potion or put it into the wrong glass. It had gotten bad once when Yoongi had absolutely refused to eat or drink until his work was finished and it had somehow gotten worse when Jungkook had accidentally drank Jimin’s potions that had elevated his feelings for Taehyung so much that Namjoon had to take Jungkook and his crush under him. There was also that one terrible time when he had put the potion in and as soon as it was consumed, his subjects had consumed alcohol.  

Alcohol tends to have the opposite effect of the potion. Thankfully, the effect wears off with the alcohol, so he didn’t have to clean up that mess.  

But had he ever felt bad? No, not at all, because he knew he was trying his best and doing his job (however badly) and he would achieve it no matter what.   

Today was his worst-case scenario. He does feel a little bad. “Not at all, Hoseok. Usually, my mistakes never had to be rectified.” 

Hoseok knows that. He’s read the files.  

“But we can fix it, Hoseok. They’ll be fine.” 

“But what about the memories? Even though we will fix their memories, what if something triggers them and has side effects? What if the potion wears off because Jimin’s will to not pursue Yoongi anymore is much stronger? You know what kind of cases they become, Namjoon?” 

“Redirectional.” Namjoon simply answers.  

Hoseok huffs. “ Of course you know that. You know everything, don’t you? I bet you can tell me what’s in section 70, page 319 of the guidelines.” 

“Well--” 

“Don’t answer that,” Hoseok lifts a palm up. “Good heavens, I never should have let Seokjin talk me into this. I have never missed. Not once! This has been the worst case in a long time, and I can’t believe I’m contributing to it! And it’s going to look so bad on my track record of ten years!” 

“Hey, I never asked Seokjin for a partner, okay?” Namjoon nearly growls.  

Hoseok’s jaw clenches. “Of course, you didn’t,” He steps forward, he’s almost toe-to-toe with Namjoon and even though Hoseok is shorter and smaller, Namjoon shrinks back at his expression. “It’s because you fucked up, kept fucking up that you needed a fucking babysitter to chaperone you around because you can’t get two simple humans together!” 

“Oh, and now that you are babysitting me, have the humans come together? We’re going use an Undo potion on them, which I’ve never used in the two months of this assignment! If anything, I wonder how you have gotten any humans together in the last ten fucking years, Hoseok.” 

Namjoon’s voice is quiet and full of hurt. Hoseok’s words hurt him, even though they’re true. But Namjoon is angry with Hoseok’s attitude, and his own failure of handling this smoothly irritated him. 

Hoseok has made everything difficult, and Namjoon hates him for it.  

The silene of the elevator is crackling; the tinny elevator music is playing Fly by Epik High and Namjoon’s heart clenches. He takes a deep breath as Nayeon’s voice quietly seeps in.  

“30 seconds to reach earth.” 

And then, after a moment, in an even quieter voice, she starts counting down. “29...28...” 

Namjoon chuckles and shakes his head. He wishes he could defrost the glass so that he had something to distract him. But his traitorous eyes kept flitting to Hoseok’s impeccable side profile.   

The elevators open and this time, they are standing in the elevator of Jimin and Taehyung’s apartment building. Namjoon looks up and smiles a little.  

“Thanks, Nayeon,” he says softly, knowing that she’ll be able to hear it. He and Hoseok exit the elevator and step onto the hallway. Namjoon finds their humans’ door easily.  

“How do we get inside?” Hoseok’s voice is weary when he asks.  

It’s true that Hoseok has experience on his side, but Namjoon has known these humans longer. He resists the urge to smirk.  

“We ring the doorbell.” 

It hasn’t been too long since they had left Earth’s realm. It had been afternoon when Nayeon had sent her signal hours before their intended time. Looking at his inter-realm roaming watch, it was about 7 PM in the evening.  

It is the same day, but a lot of damage has already been done. The weight of four humans’ lives rests heavily on Namjoon’s shoulders.  

“They should be having dinner about now, right?” Hoseok says, looking at his own watch.  

 “Yeah, but I hope they’re home,” Namjoon replies as he presses an ear to the door and before he closes his eyes, he sees Hoseok mimicking him.  

And when Namjoon does close his eyes to concentrate on the sounds of the apartment better, an image of Hoseok’s pretty face pressed up against the door flashes in front of his closed eyes. He takes a deep breath and with an exhale dispels the image.  

The wood of the door feels more solid now.  

He hears a voice, and upon waiting, he doesn’t hear a reply so Namjoon presumes that they are either talking on the phone or the other person is too far away to hear. Judging by the low voice, Namjoon guesses it’s Taehyung. And then there’s the shuffling of feet in the living room.  

Namjoon locks eyes with Hoseok and the moment Namjoon nods, they spring into position.  

Hoseok is on the left side of the door, where it opens. Namjoon is on the other, his index finger pressed against the doorbell. They hold their breaths and wait.  

There’s more shuffling of feet, most likely house-slippers or socks, and it gets closer until the door opens. Taehyung’s head peeks out and Hoseok and Namjoon look up at his handsome but tired face from where they are crouched down against the wall and the floor.  

When Taehyung sees that the hallways is empty, he frowns, scrunching those handsome eyebrows of his and leaves the door to peek further into the hallway.  

Namjoon and Hoseok creep their way inside, sticking themselves to the inside wall of the apartment by the time Taehyung closes the door, who mutters, “These kids are annoying.” 

Yoongi is in their home, standing by the stove. Namjoon sighs in relief.  

“We just have to make sure that the other two are also here.” 

Hoseok nods while making a beeline for the closed room. Namjoon settles himself in a corner, observing the other pair.  

Taehyung is hovering around Yoongi and they’re not exactly talking. Taehyung is arranging the cushions on the couch, dusting away the imaginary specks of dust and then rearranging the cushions back to their original position. He paces to the kitchen, around Yoongi who is listlessly stirring a pot, and then back to the couch. And repeat. Namjoon wants to shake him a bit.  

“Okay, it’s done,” Yoongi says after an after an uncomfortably stretched silence. And then he sighs. “I hope they eat; they haven‘t even come out of Jimin’s room since the afternoon.” 

Taehyung looks at Yoongi imploringly and holds out a hand. “Let’s go call them to eat?” 

Yoongi nods, taking Taehyung‘s hand and clasps it firmly in his. Taehyung’s eyes brighten for a moment before they become dull again.  

“I don’t understand, hyung. You know how long I’ve had feelings for Jungkook and I thought I had finally mustered up the courage to confess to him.  But why do I suddenly feel so strongly for you, now?” 

They must have had this discussion before.   

Yoongi only sighs and then rubs his free hand across his face. “I don’t understand either, Taehyung-ah. Let’s eat first and then sort it out. Jiminie’s been sick all day and he hasn’t eaten properly.” 

They head towards Jimin’s bedroom and Namjoon follows. Hoseok is standing outside the door, alert eyes meeting Namjoon’s.  

“Should we get the hair now?” Hoseok asks.  

Namjoon shakes his head. “Let’s wait and see what the other two are going to decide.” 

Taehyung knocks softly. “Jiminie? Jungkookie? Dinner is ready, do you guys wanna eat?” 

It feels like Taehyung and Yoongi are holding their breaths as they wait for the other two to answer. Namjoon knows he and Hoseok are.  

“Yeah, we’ll be out in a minute,” a soft, tired voice reaches them. Four sighs echo in the hallway.  

Taehyung and Yoongi hurry to the living room where they set the low table, complete with warm soup, rice and other things that look delicious, but Namjoon, at this point, couldn’t care to name them all. They settle on the floor waiting for Jimin and Jungkook to arrive.  

Namjoon and Hoseok perch on the arms of the sofa, too anxious to sit comfortably, and neither of them are pacers. They watch on as Jimin and Jungkook emerge from Jimin’s room, eyes red-rimmed and sniffling.  

Yoongi is the first to spot them. He gives them a small smile and gestures to sit down across from them. Jimin hesitates for a beat but then he plops down. His face is grey and eyes are sunken. Jungkook follows.  

The other two immediately start serving them, giving them small reassuring smiles. Namjoon and Hoseok spring into action.  

They both reach for Taehyung’s head, and they lock their eyes. “I’ll pick Taehyung’s hair,” they say in unison and groan.  

Namjoon closes his eyes for a second. They both need to blow on the hair anyway, so he nods. “Okay, you pick Taehyung’s first, we’ll blow on it, and then I’ll go to Yoongi.” 

When Hoseok plucks a strand of curly black hair, Taehyung doesn’t move a muscle. Then Namjoon is leaning over Yoongi’s head to blow on the strand of hair and Hoseok’s face is so close that Namjoon can count the faint little sun-kissed freckles smattered across the bridge of his sharp, sculpted nose— 

Hoseok’s eyes are wide. “Namjoon! Focus!” He hisses and Namjoon and Hoseok gently blow on the hair. Namjoon half-expects it to glow or change in some way, but nothing of the sort happens. Hoseok quickly drops the hair into the vial in his hand.  

“Do it, now, Namjoon!” 

Namjoon wastes no time as he plucks a silky, silver hair from Yoongi’s head. The human grimaces slightly but then seemingly thinks nothing of it, going back to eating. Namjoon holds it up, and Hoseok takes it as his cue and repeats the action. 

They shake the vials a few times and once they're sure it has dissolved, they tip it over to Taehyung’s and Yoongi’s respective soup bowls. The potion steams a little as it dissolves into the soup and the Smitteners watch as the humans drink from it.  

The effect takes time, Namjoon knows. So, he takes a deep breath and retrieves the two Erase potions from his satchel, handing one of the clear vials to Hoseok, nodding at Jimin and Jungkook. They open the vials and tip it over their soup bowls as they murmur their gratitude and begin eating.  

The memory potion needs sleep for it to actually work, so Namjoon and Hoseok slump back onto the sofa as they watch the four humans eat in terse silence.  

“We should come back tomorrow with an action plan,” Namjoon tells Hoseok, who is watching the table intently.  

“Should we try arrows?” 

Namjoon only shakes his head. “I don‘t want to use it until we have exhausted all of our other options.” 

Hoseok only sighs. Let’s get going then?” 

“Yeah, let me just contact Nayeon to send the elevator.” Namjoon opens his tablet and shoots a quick message to her.  

It takes about twenty minutes for Nayeon to contact them back. She sends an Iris-emessage, (similar to a human video call). 

“Hi Namjoon, Hoseok, I have some news for you,” Nayeon says. “Are you with the humans? You might want to go to a more secluded place for this.” 

Namjoon and Hoseok look at each other for a moment. “I noticed a park outside the building. Let’s go there?” 

Namjoon nods, but once they stand, they realize they need to open the door and risk weirding out the humans.   

The Smitteners exchange looks again.  

“Maybe the wind opened it?” Hoseok shrugs. Namjoon sighs.  

“Your invisibility potion will wear off soon so you have to leave, like now.” Nayeon calls from the tablet.  

“Okay,” Namjoon says and nods, and with Hoseok, he tip-toes to the front door, opens it slowly, even slower than the rising of the second star, so that that the creak of the hinges stretch long enough for it to be almost inaudible. Then they leave, taking the same care to close the door. 

Once the door closes behind them, they swiftly, and silently, make their way out of the building and to the park.  

(“Who was that?” Jungkook asks, chopsticks hovering in the air. “Did anyone else hear the door close?” 

Jimin and Yoongi shake their heads in unison and the action causes them to catch each other’s eyes. Jimin only swallows down a lump in his throat and looks down at his food. 

“The guardian angels must have left,” Taehyung shrugs and proceeds to shove food into his mouth as Jungkook just blinks at him.) 

The Smitteners find a picnic bench to settle at in the small but well-maintained park.  

“Finally!” Nayeon sounds annoyed but Namjoon knows that it’s far from the truth.  

“Hey, Nayeon, what’s up?” Hoseok asks once they have both settled down.  

Nayeon is rifling through her papers. “Right!” She says and holds one out to the screen. “The elevator is down for repairs.” 

Namjoon and Hoseok share a confused look. “What do you mean down for repairs ?” Hoseok asks, leaning close to the screen and frowning.  

Nayeon simply rolls her eyes. “It means, not functional . You can’t come back up to Isthmus of Serendipity for a while.” 

What?  

What the actual fuck?  

“Nayeon, this better be a prank.” Namjoon nearly pleads.  

At his tone, Nayeon’s face softens. “I’m sorry, Namjoon, but it’s true. Another one of our Smitteners left right after you guys did, and they never reached their destination. We’re currently trying to find them and figure out what went wrong.” 

Namjoon sighs and props his head in his hands while Hoseok sits back in his. “How long will we be here?” 

“We estimate a couple of Isthmus days,” Nayeon shrugs. “They’re working on it currently, but they said they need some time. Probably about a week on Earth?” 

“And what are we supposed to do until then? How are we supposed to manage living on Earth and pretending to be humans when we’re not?” Namjoon groans into his hands. 

“Seokjin has managed to get it ready for you guys. You can still work on the assignment, and anything you need, potions, arrows, or ingredients, you can ask Wonpil here—” the screen pans to the left, where the said man is smiling a little waving. “—and he’ll be able to transport it to you.” 

“Wait, if you can transport things, why can’t you transport us?” 

Nayeon sighs and rolls her eyes. Namjoon faintly wonders how many times she’s been asked this. But Wonpil answers them in his gentle and soft voice. “The magic required to transport materials is much less as compared to transporting beings. I can send you anything you wish but if there were about a hundred of me, I could probably bring both of you back to the Isthmus.” 

Hoseok and Namjoon deflate but Wonpil is still looking at them with a smile. “If there’s anything you need, you can always send me a message. I’ll transport it to you.” 

“Thank you, Wonpil,” Namjoon says with a small, tired smile of his own. “We’ll make a list and send it across to you once we figure this whole situation out.” 

Smiling and waving again, Wonpil leaves the screen. Then it’s just Nayeon and them. 

“Right. Now, we can’t send you the invisibility potion, because, you know, protocol. So, you’re going to have to live like human... tourists,” Nayeon carefully pronounces the word from her sheet. “For a while. We have everything ready for you, including identification cards, hotel rooms, and money. I’m sending them all to your tablets and Wonpil will transport the more physical materials to you. I suggest you buy some of those ridiculous human clothes so that you don’t draw too much attention. All the instructions are attached in the message and my shift ends in a...minute, so if you have any questions, don’t call me. Bye!” 

And with that, the Iris-emssage closes and the Smitteners blink at the incoming flood of messages and letters with all the details.  

It’s close to 8:30 in the evening. The crickets are loud as Namjoon and Hoseok sit in silence for a few, long moments, trying to go through all the documents and messages and letters and instructions. The few humans who went on evening walks or runs shoot them weird looks, but neither of the Smitteners notice. Eventually, people slowly trickle out of the park, leaving them alone in the cool night. 

“Namjoon?” 

“Hmm?” 

“Are we gonna survive this?” 

Hoseok’s voice is small and quiet and unsure. In all the time Namjoon has known Hoseok (maybe a week in the Isthmus), he has never known the other being to be anything but full of energy and confidence: happy and bubbly but also rageful. It hurts Namjoon’s heart to hear him like this.  

“We will, Hoseok,” Namjoon says, sitting up as his determination slowly seeps back into his voice. “We have the address, we have these...little plastic cards with money! We are currently on a 4-worlds-altering mission and this little hiccup is nothing! We have all the resources, we have the skills, and we have been working on the 4 most stubborn humans of all time. This? Living for a week on earth?” 

He looks straight into Hoseok’s eyes. “This is nothing. ” 

“Please insert your card.” the lady from the machine repeats for the tenth time since Namjoon and Hoseok stepped inside the ATM booth. 

“Which side?!” Namjoon growls. He’s not far from punching the machine.  

“Did you try it with the black strip on top?” Hoseok asks, peering into the card slot.  

“Yeah.” Namjoon sighs. At this rate, they’re not going to get money for anything. Nayeon’s instructions were limited and barely helpful.  

A knock on the door startles them both. They look at each other with wide eyes. “Maybe we should let them in first and figure this out later.” 

Namjoon nods and as they move towards the door, a very familiar head full of dark curls peeks in. “Hey, you guys need any help?” 

Soft, sparkly eyes, a pair of cute, naturally pouty lips and squishy cheeks that didn’t match the low baritone of their voice— Taehyung, of all people, was standing before them. 

“Uh--” 

“Sure, that would be really helpful, thanks!” Hoseok didn’t hesitate as he handed his card over to Taehyung, who took it with a small smile, which then turned into a frown.  

“Um, are you sure this card works?” 

“Yeah?” Namjoon tries to say but it comes out more as a question. “We were just having a bit of a trouble...putting it in...” He trails off as Taehyung rummages around for his own wallet and holds up his own card.  

“I was only concerned since it looked nothing like mine.” 

He is right. Taehyung’s card is blue and has a lot of numbers and symbols and words around it. Namjoon’s and Hoseok’s card—which was black—only had a number in the front. The only thing common is the gold chip embedded in each of the cards.  

“You guys want me to show you how to do it?” 

Hoseok and Namjoon nod once, in unison.  

“Is this your first time using a card?” 

Another nod.  

“Cool costumes! Are you guys not from around here? Are you travelling?” 

“Uh,” Hoseok starts but Namjoon beats him to it.  

“Yeah... we’ve come from reeeallly far away so we don’t know much about these city things,” He giggles a little for being silly and really, Namjoon can’t stop himself if he tries. He’s too into this “tourist” persona... whatever that means.  

“No problem, we can’t all know everything, right?” Taehyung only grins his signature boxy smile and shoulders past them. “Come on, I’ll show you how to work this.” 

For the next five minutes, Taehyung gave them a quick crash course on how to use an ATM card.  

“If you haven’t used this card before then you might have to activate it first,” Taehyung says and Hoseok and Namjoon blink back at them.  

Turns out, there’s a piece of folded black paper with the “PIN” printed on the inside in small, white letters, which came with a huge folder of Stuff that was transported by Wonpil. “You can remember that or change it to something else. Don’t keep it something as simple as 1111 or 1234 or anything, okay?” 

Namjoon had just been thinking about that but then he nods.  

Then Taehyung asks them how much money they needed.  

“Uh...” Hoseok starts. “A bit?” 

Taehyung only giggles. “I need a number,” 

Namjoon blurts out a number and Taehyung nods. He shows them how to get the money they want. “You can take out as much money as you want as long you have it in your account. You can use the card directly in shops and other places, too.” Taehyung explains and Namjoon nods sagely, pretending to understand what he’s saying.  

Once the machine spits out the money from a wide slot in the front, Taehyung takes it out and gives it to them. Namjoon takes it carefully and keeps it in a pocket of his satchel. Then he looks up to see Taehyung watching them closely, head tilted a little.  

“You guys feel familiar...” He taps a finger to his chin. “Have we met before?” 

Namjoon and Hoseok shake their heads a little too quickly.  

“We don’t know anyone here! We’re on vacation!” Hoseok blurts out and then Taehyung relaxes.  

“Ah, all right! I’m Taehyung!” Taehyung introduces himself, and the Smitteners follow suit.  

“I hope you enjoy your stay!” Taehyung says as Namjoon and Hoseok take it as their cue to leave. 

Once outside and at a safe distance, the two beings breathe out.  

“If he had been up on Isthmus, he would’ve given Seokjin a run for his money with his looks! It’s not fair , Hoseok, he can’t be so cute with such a good heart!” Namjoon says, stomping his feet like a little child.  

“Did you see his cheeks? I wanted to gobble him right up!” 

The first thing that they decide to do was shop for clothes. Usually, beings from Isthmus wore an array of clothes, a lot of it inspired by humans. For work, Smitteners usually wore a white or pink cotton toga. Namjoon prefers to wear sandals whereas Hoseok likes sneakers.  

So, when the invisibility potion wore off, they were attracting looks, as scarce as the people were. With the help of their tablet, they located a “mall” with lots of clothing stores. But it was late and the security guard refused to let them in.  

“I’m sorry, I can’t let you in.” 

“But I see people inside, please it's an emergency!” Hoseok nearly pleads, batting his eyelashes and the security guard rolls his eyes.  

“Fine, but the mall closes in fifteen minutes and if anyone asks, I didn’t let you in.” 

Neither Namjoon nor Hoseok heard him beyond the fine .   

Once inside, Namjoon’s and Hoseok’s eyes widened. The mall was bright and colourful, with stores displaying everything from clothes to pots and pans to diapers to books. The place looked endless and shiny and Namjoon’s heart stutters for a moment.  

After their initial shock, Namjoon and Hoseok dash into one of the stores. They rush through, picking some basic things: t-shirts, jackets, pants, shorts, skirts and some boxers. They dump it at the till and the cashier just rolls his eyes. But he bills it up and Namjoon hands over their card to him, which the cashier swipes and lets Hoseok type in the number. By the end of 30 minutes, they’re hauling 5 shopping bags between them and the blood under their veins are thrumming.  

“Please, Namjoon, we have to do this again!” 

Namjoon is nodding already. He had his eyes set on the books and record store that had been closed already. And even in the clothing store, there were a lot of counters of different products for skin and face that Namjoon had been extremely intrigued by.  

“I agree, everything looked amazing, and I can’t wait to explore more of this place as a pretend-human.” 

They’re walking outside, following the map to their hotel where Nayeon had booked rooms for them. But it’s late and they’re both tired. Being humans on earth is exhausting. They’re walking around towards their destination, but they’re both hungry.  

Namjoon and Hoseok stroll around a corner from the park to see a small eatery open. It’s one of those local food-joints and food is steaming from the plates of some of the diners.  

“Should we go in?” Namjoon asks. He can’t smell anything yet but he’s sure it’s going to be delicious.  

“Oh yes, please!” Hoseok is nearly jumping.  

The glass door is slightly open, so they push it aside carefully and step inside the establishment. A bell tings!  

“ Hi, welcome to Still With You!” A woman with large, pretty eyes, slightly older by the looks of her graceful posture and soft smile-lines, is sitting at the register in the front of the room. Her smile falters a little when she takes a good look at Namjoon and Hoseok but they are too ravenous to notice. “Would you like a seat inside or outside?” 

Hoseok chirps excitedly. “Outside!” 

“Inside, please,” Namjoon says at the same time.  

The two Smitteners look at each other for a moment and Hoseok sighs. “Fine, inside, please.” 

“You can never resist a handsome man, can you?” the woman winks at Hoseok whose ears redden. Namjoon rolls his eyes as they find a table at the back of the room. 

They struggle a bit with the multitude of bags they have but when they settle down with a muttered, “fucking finally” from Namjoon, someone clears their voice and startles them.  

When the Smitteners look up, Hoseok nearly falls of his chair and Namjoon chokes on his own spit. Because standing at their table, with an apron tied at his dainty waist and a small notepad and pen in his tattooed hands, looking at them with wide, expectant doe-eyes—albeit a little puffy from all the crying—is Jungkook . 

“Hi, what can I get you tonight?” Jungkook asks, his voice almost on the verge of sounding bored, a tired smile playing on his lips.  

Namjoon’s mouth opens and closes, while Hoseok tries for a decent conversation. “Um-we, um, don’t know, yet?” 

Something seems to flicker through Jungkook’s eyes as they widen a little. “Ah, let me get you a menu.” With that he reaches for a table behind Hoseok and grabs the menus from there, handing it to the Smitteners.  

“You guys want some time deciding?” 

Namjoon and Hoseok nod in unison and watch his retreating back.  

“What the fuck, Namjoon.” 

“Yeah. What the fuck.”   

When Jungkook comes back a few moments later, Namjoon and Hoseok are still gaping at each other.  

Jungkook only rolls his eyes. “Let me guess, you want to ask me what’s special today?” 

Unable to do anything else, Namjoon and Hoseok nod in unison. Jungkook only smiles a little, like he expected it, and the mole beneath his lower lip shows.  

Namjoon might be a little in love himself.  

As Jungkook rattles off the specials for the day, Namjoon catches Hoseok’s eyes. If they were in the Isthmus this moment, with Jungkook, Namjoon would have seen hearts in his eyes.  

When Jungkook finishes, he looks at them expectantly, wide eyes blinking, notepad and pen poised, ready to take the order. 

Shit. Namjoon realizes he has to act now and not show that he didn’t assimilate a single word the human said. “Um, that third one, you mentioned?” 

“Ah, the pork stew with rice?” His lips form a little pout as he jots it down. 

Hoseok nods so hard that Namjoon is afraid that his head might fall off. “Same for me, with Sprite on the side, please!” 

“Got it, I’ll be back with your order soon,” he bows a little and walks away.  

When the Smitteners turn to each other, their eyes melt. “Can I please steal him and put him in my pocket, Namjoon, please? Please? please ?” 

Namjoon shakes his head. “Hoseok, we’re going to have to take turns for that, okay?” 

The food is great. Jungkook takes care of them very well, refilling Hoseok’s glass of sprite and Namjoon’s water periodically. While paying for their meal, Namjoon remembers something he had read: humans leave a tip behind to thank their waiter/waitresses and so, after a brief, hushed discussion with Hoseok, they leave behind a few notes, hoping Jungkook will be happy.  

Then they leave, stomachs and hearts full.  

The Smitteners are just about to take the turn around the park as their tablet has been instructing them, when they hear someone call out.  

“Hey! Hey, toga guys!” 

That stops them in their tracks. They look and point to each other and then themselves, since they’re the only ones wearing a toga.  

And when they turn around, they see Jungkook jogging towards them, his black wavy hair bouncing with each step.  

Namjoon and Hoseok look at each other again. “Did you forget anything?” 

Hoseok shakes his head. “Did you?” 

“No, I didn’t take out anything, everything is in my satchel.” 

“Then why is he running?” Hoseok gasps at a thought. “You think we did something wrong and now he’ll hand us over to the police?!” 

The thought bristles Namjoon a bit, but he tries to play cool. “I-I don’t think anything like that happened...” 

By then Jungkook has caught up to them. He’s a few feet away from them, chest heaving slightly.  

“Is everything all right? Did we forget something? Did we do something?” Hoseok asks, worry evident in his eyes. 

Jungkook takes a step forward, takes one of Namjoon’s hands in his and presses something in it.  

“Yeah. You left too much,” Jungkook’s voice is strained, expression carefully blank, lips pressed in a straight line. But Namjoon has spent a fair amount of time studying these humans and while their expressions were never directed at him, he can sort of vaguely understand it all the same.  

It’s disappointment, and Namjoon’s heart sinks .  

Then he looks at his hand, at the thing Jungkook had given them. It’s a few notes of money, the same amount Namjoon and Hoseok had decided upon.  

“But...but this was your tip!” 

Jungkook’s eyes softens a little. “Thank you, but this is too much. I can’t accept it,” 

Namjoon and Hoseok share a glance again. What?  

Hoseok clears his throat. “Listen, Jun-just that we really liked your food and service, we thought you deserved this. Please take it, for us?” 

It made for a compelling argument and Namjoon can see Jungkook’s resolve crumbling a little. 

“You don’t have to use it for yourself,” Namjoon cuts in, remembering the little acts of kindness that some humans liked to do. He thinks Jungkook is a kind person and might appreciate it. “You could donate it to a cause to save children or dogs...or dog children?” 

This makes Jungkook smile slowly, and then he starts giggling . He covers up his mouth with his hand, but his lips have stretched out in the biggest smile while his shoulders shake.  

Hoseok and Namjoon grin, a little nervously.  

“Okay,” Jungkook says softly. “I’ll do that.” 

Heart soaring, Namjoon gives the human his money. He doesn’t have to turn to see Hoseok’s heart-shaped smile beaming from beside him. “The dog children will be very happy, Jungkook,” 

Namjoon’s eyes widen as Jungkook blinks. Hoseok grabs Namjoon’s hand and turns him around and speed walks away, ignoring Jungkook’s calls of, “Wait! How do you know my name?” 

“Thanks Hoseok, I nearly fucked that one up.” 

 “Well, that makes two of us, Namjoon.” Hoseok replies, as they speed-walk towards their next destination, all the while gushing about Jungkook’s cute bunny smile. 

Chapter Text

It is around 11 pm that night when the Smitteners reach their place of stay. It is called a “hotel” and Namjoon is very fascinated with the idea and the sleek, modern look of the building.

“Hoseok, this is so cool! There’s a bed and a bath and if you pay enough money, you’ll get a kitchen too! It’s like home away from home!”

Hoseok, however, is not impressed.

“Namjoon, will you please stop fawning over the building for a moment and help me figure out how to get through these stupid doors?”

After spending five solid minutes trying to figure out the revolving door, Namjoon spots a regular door and the Smitteners gladly hurry through it, mumbling about how nobody told them that doors are evil on Earth.

Inside is a wide and spacious lobby, with comfortable sofas scattered around, with a high table in one corner. A tall man seemed to be hunched behind it, and since they saw nobody else, Hoseok and Namjoon approach him, and clear their throat.

The man looks up. “Hi, welcome to Blue Side! Can I...help you?”

He’s eyeing them up and down and honestly, if Namjoon was a regular human, he would also be skeptical of himself and Hoseok and their attire.

“Yeah, hi,” Namjoon clears his throat and looks at Hoseok, who gives him an encouraging nod. “We...um, we have a booking? Under Namjoon and Hoseok?” Namjoon recalls from the messages that Nayeon had sent them.

The man frowns, blinks, and looks down at his tablet. His eyebrows clear after a moment, and there’s a pleasant smile on his face.

“Yes, I have your room ready for you,” the man says and squats down to get something. He then hands them a...card? “Please follow our manager, he’ll take you to your room.”

Namjoon and Hoseok haul their bags between them as they follow the other man—this one uniformed—into the elevator and up, up, up they went to the sixth floor. After walking down a short corridor, the uniformed man stops in front of a door numbered 613.

The man shows them how to insert the “keycard” to open the door and Namjoon tries to keep himself in check to not let his jaw drop to the floor. Then the uniformed man leaves, and Namjoon and Hoseok look around for a moment, and then find the closest bed and flopping down onto it, face first.

Hoseok sighs. “This is so soft, nearly as good as the cloud beds we have!”

Namjoon spreads out like a starfish in the bed next to his. He nearly sinks in. “Yeah, it’s so good,”

They stay like that for a few moments. Then Namjoon speaks up. “Hoseok?”

His voice comes out soft and quiet, a bit hesitant.

“Yeah, Namjoon?”

“This...we can do this, right?”

It’ quiet for a moment before Hoseok speaks. “You know, if this had been anybody else, I wouldn’t have even accepted working on this case. But then I saw the files and your reports and attempts, all of them, and honestly, I was in awe, Namjoon.”

Namjoon blinks at the ceiling and snorts. “Because of all the fuck ups?”

“Yup.” Hoseok sounds resolute. Namjoon’s laughter dies as he clears his throat, and Hoseok continues. “You have fucked up so many times and still continue to work towards to them. I’ve never heard anyone trying so many attempts. You don’t give up, Namjoon. If I had an issue, I would move on to the next case, asking someone else to take it over for me. But you’ve done it over and over again and before I met you, I had thought what idiot dedicated so much time to these puny humans? But then, here I am, with you. We will get them all together even if this is the last case we ever work on.”

Namjoon blinks harder. The lights are harsh here.

“So, do I think we’ll make it? Yes, absolutely. In one piece? I don’t know but I do know that we will give it our best shot. Because you never give up, and you make me want to work harder, Namjoon.”

Swallowing thickly, Namjoon clears his throat before speaking. “That’s um. Thanks, Hoseok.”

He hears the other being flop down on the bed. “Of course, Namjoon.”

Staying on Earth, with their shorter time and pretty, blue sky means that the Smitteners need to adapt to it accordingly. When Namjoon wakes up on his bed, the sun is just rising. He doesn’t feel like he got enough sleep, just under 7 hours or so (beings from Isthmus could go long hours without sleep but they would need a solid 10 hours or more of sleep regularly. The hours weren’t the same length either and Namjoon’s brain wasn’t working enough for him to convert the time which changed so often) so Namjoon decides he needs coffee. And then breakfast, for sure.

Namjoon stretches for a long moment, averting his eyes whenever they tended to glance upon the bed adjacent to his. He rummages through the bags they bought from the mall last night, gathering his clothes and toiletries they managed to buy, and takes a shower. When he exits, he wears simple jeans and a shirt, feeling fresh and clean, ready to face the day.

It’s a day full of untapped opportunities, so he’s feeling optimistic.

Hoseok is sitting on his bed, hair sticking up in all directions, scrolling through his tablet with a sleep-frown on his face. The sunlight behind him creates a halo and Namjoon blinks.

Oh, they are not angels, but Hoseok looks damn close to one.

He looks up at Namjoon and smiles. Namjoon’s breath stutters.

“Good morning, Namjoon!” Hoseok says cheerfully, not noticing Namjoon’s little crisis. “Sleep well?”

Namjoon can only nod dumbly. “Um, once you’re ready, we can go for breakfast?”

“Sure! Let me go wash up quickly!”

Namjoon slumps down on his bed and rubs his hair (a little harder than necessary) to dry it. Good thing he had recently cut his hair. He doesn’t have to worry too much.

As he waits for Hoseok, he opens his notebook and makes some notes and observations from last night. Then he thinks about planning his day today.

He writes the Earth date on the corner of the page, and then the Isthmus date below it, and then he pauses.

It doesn’t feel right to plan without Hoseok. And maybe, just maybe, Namjoon can probably take him out to see some stuff around if they have time.

He sits there on his bed, thinking, for a long while, until the sun rays are little sharper and warmer. Until the Sun emerges out of the bathroom, and Namjoon’s mouth drops open, and his pen clatters to the ground, spraying ink across the plush carpet.

Hoseok—Namjoon doesn’t know how the fuck this can happen, but it did—looks even brighter than before. He’s wearing a white T-shirt and purple pants with neon yellow patches on the side. His brown hair is wet and he’s humming as he hangs his towel meticulously on a chair and arranges their haul from the mall neatly in the cupboards. He looks at it and nods once with a tiny smile to himself.

Then he sits on Namjoon’s bed, next to him. Namjoon inhales sharply, not expecting sudden contact.

“Whatcha working on?”

“Um.” Namjoon moves his notebook more towards Hoseok. “I was wondering if we could plan for today?”

“Can we do it over breakfast? I’m hungry!”

Namjoon finds himself nodding. He can’t really say no to him.

Hoseok claps. “I know just the place!”

“Hoseok,” Namjoon groans.

“Oh, come on, Namjoon!” Hoseok doesn’t stomp his feet, but he might as well have. “This café has the best reviews around the area!”

Namjoon sighs. This is the same café that Subjects #1-#4 frequent. This is the same café that had witnessed Namjoon’s and Hoseok’s first failure.

“What’s the second best?”

“It’s pretty far away, so this is our best option.” Hoseok shrugs.

“...you really want to go here, don’t you?”

“I have to see what’s so great about the coffee on this planet! So great that all four of our subjects frequently hang out here? I have to know, Namjoon. It’s imperative to my existence.”

Namjoon sighs.

Ten minutes later, Namjoon and Hoseok as standing in line to order. There are two others in front of them, and Namjoon and Hoseok have borrowed the menu cards so that they can decide ahead of time.

“Good thinking,” Hoseok says, and Namjoon doesn’t respond. He knows from experience that it’s better to know what to order beforehand and not annoy anyone.

They decide on pancakes and croissants and an americano and a cappuccino. They order, their cashier smiling a little and telling them to have a seat while they wait for their order. The Smitteners thank them back and Hoseok finds them a little two-seater table by the window,

Namjoon opens his notebook so that he and Hoseok can start planning. They go back and forth for a few minutes, and as Namjoon opens his mouth to suggest that they can go sightseeing, their orders are called.

“Ah, hold on, I’ll get it!” Hoseok dashes off without waiting for a reply and Namjoon lets his shoulders slump. He’s staring down at his notebook when he hears glasses clatter to the floor, and a woman yell.

“Watch it!” It is a woman in her late-twenties, and she’s dressed in light pink and brown formal wear and their coffee, and currently glaring at Hoseok.

Namjoon stands up so fast that his chair topples back but he doesn’t notice. His heart is currently making its way out of his throat as he makes his way towards Hoseok.

“Are you blind?!” She seethes, and Hoseok just stares, his hands empty. “Couldn’t you see me walking? And you just had to bump into me, didn‘t you, you street rat?”

But then someone intervenes. “Excuse me, miss? I think you should leave.”

“Not until I get an apology and money for my clothes he ruined!”

Namjoon comes to stand beside Hoseok and takes his trembling hand in his own, when he finally looks at the person who intervened.

This has got to stop happening.

Arguing with the woman is a man much shorter than Namjoon. His silver hair is dark and limp, like he hasn’t bothered to brush it or wash it in days. He’s staring at the woman with an unimpressed glare.

“Don’t fucking pull that shit on him,” he was saying. His arms are crossed across his chest and his voice firm and even. He does not even need to raise his voice to get attention. “I was standing right here, you were the one on your phone who didn’t notice him. He tried to move away from your path but there isn’t much space, is there? And no, he’s not going to pay for your clothes, but you better buy him his breakfast.”

The woman scoffs and looks around the small audience gathered around them. Her eyes soften a little. “And who would you all believe?” she shouts, arms spread wide. “I should call the police and book you all for intimidating me!”

Namjoon takes a step forward, but Hoseok stops him with a hand on his chest; the silver-haired man scoffs. “Call them. If I’m not wrong, there’s security tape in the back office, isn’t there, Jongin?” He looks to the cashier who’s staring at the scene, wide-eyed, and then nods.

The shorter man takes out his phone. “Shall I call them myself? I can save you the trouble.”

The woman takes a deep breath. “Fuck off, I’m leaving. Never entering this fucking awful café ever again!” she turns around in her heels and walks out the door.

“Ma’am, please pay your bill before you leave!” Jongin calls after her.

The woman glares at Hoseok and the man who saved him as she grumbles and throws down a few bills and leaves.

Namjoon lets out a breath he wasn’t holding while the other man turns to them.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt, are you?”

Hoseok opens and closes his mouth a few times but then just nods and then shakes his head. He looks at Namjoon and the three of them make their way to a table.

 “Thank you for your help, Yoo-you didn’t have to.”

The other man waves it away. “It’s fine, those rich kids are kind of assholes all the time. I’m glad I was there to intervene.”

“I tried to move, Namjoon, but she wouldn’t even hear me!” Hoseok laments. “I’m really sorry to have gotten you into this mess! Can we buy you breakfast to tell our thanks?”

Their saviour smiles and giggles, gummy teeth full on display. “Okay, sure, that would be great, thanks!”

Just then, Jongin comes over with a glass of water for Hoseok, who accepts it with a small smile. “Are you okay?”

Hoseok nods. “Thank you, I feel better now.”

“Can I get you your earlier order? It’s already been paid for, so you don’t need to worry.” he winks playfully at Hoseok who laughs. Namjoon’s chest feels a little lighter after hearing him.

Hoseok nods. “That would be great, thank you.” He turns to Namjoon. “Would you like something else?”

Namjoon only shakes his head. “That’ll be good for me.”

“And Yoo-you?” Hoseok turns to his saviour.

“I’ll have my regular, Jongin. Thanks.”

Jongin gives them a small salute and leaves. Namjoon is suddenly aware that he has an arm around Hoseok, and he quietly removes it. When did that even happen?

“By the way, I’m Yoongi,” Yoongi introduces himself. Not that the Smitteners needed it. “Are you guys new around here?”

Namjoon nods and introduces himself and Hoseok. “Yeah, we’re visiting. We only arrived yesterday.”

Yoongi hums. “How long will you guys be here?”

Namjoon and Hoseok exchange looks. Namjoon shrugs but Hoseok smiles a little. “As long as we need to, I guess?”

They chat for a little bit, mostly about the weather (since Namjoon had read that the weather was always a safe topic) and about what Yoongi does for a living (an architect) and when their food comes in, Hoseok asks Yoongi what else he would recommend, and from there, they bombard him about things one can do in their city.

Yoongi knew just the right things. He gives them a list of things they might be interested in—museums, live shows, parks and gardens, bookstores, restaurants, shopping and countless other things.

“I don’t know how much time you have, though,” he rubs the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. “I’m sorry if this is all too much for you—”

Hoseok smiles and places a hand over Yoongi’s, pats it once. “Don’t worry, we’ll just have to plan so that we can get the whole experience of the place!”

Namjoon nods enthusiastically.

Yoongi gives them a smile so pure and wholehearted that Namjoon feels like his heart has stopped.

But then, Yoongi looks at the time on his phone and his eyes go wide. “Shit! I’m going to be late if I don’t leave now,” he groans and starts gathering his things.

Namjoon looks at Hoseok, who is already looking back at him with, panicked eyes.

“We’re so sorry!” Hoseok tells the human. “We didn’t mean to keep you!”

“Ah, don’t worry, Hoseok-ssi!” Yoongi waves a hand. “I had a really nice time so you’re not to blame.”

“Us too,” Namjoon says and smiles at him.

Yoongi gives them a small smile as he packs his bag. Then he pauses. Blinks. Then looks around in his bag for something, and—

“I don’t know if you guys are here or have the time but,” Yoongi, in small, jerky movements, hands them two cards. “There’s a show I’m a part of, and I’ll be performing so if you guys want, or like can, please do come.”

“You can play music too?” Hoseok all but screeches.

There’s a faint pink blush across Yoongi’s cheeks as he nods and Namjoon wants to positively coo but he refrains, with great difficulty. “Wow, Yoongi-ssi, this sounds amazing! Thank you!”

“Okay, now I really have to go,” Yoongi says, picking up his bag and swinging across his chest. “I’ll meet you soon, yeah?”

Hoseok and Namjoon nod in unison. Yoongi smiles his signature gummy smile, and he looks happier than ever, even with the tired eyes and purple shadows and hunched shoulders, and then he’s off.

Once Yoongi is out of sight, Namjoon sags against the chair and Hoseok’s cheek meets the table. They both fake cry.

“Namjoon?”

“Yeah, Hoseok?”

“I want them to smile like this all the time.”

“Me too, Hoseok, me too.”

Hoseok and Namjoon spend the rest of the morning sitting in the café and planning the next few days. Places to visit, to eat at, must-experiences, shopping, Yoongi’s show (which they were obviously going to attend)--all of them were accounted for.

"Namjoon?” Hoseok asks, looking down at their notebook for a moment.

“Hm?”

“We forgot one thing.”

“We did?” Namjoon pulls the notebook towards him to see what they had missed out. “I feel like we can do this, or is there anything you want to do?”

“The humans, Namjoon.” Hoseok says, his voice flat. “We forgot to account for working on the humans.”

They blink at each other and then they burst out laughing.

“I cannot believe,” Namjoon says, gasping weakly thumping the table, shoulders shaking. “That we forgot what we were here for!”

Hoseok is gasping and clapping and tears stream down his sharp cheeks.

Eventually, they calm down, but their smiles don’t fade for a long time.

Later, they order more food (because being pretend-humans on Earth also meant that they felt things: fatigue, pain, emotions, and most importantly, hunger), and set about planning.

This time, with the humans in mind.

Before the first time Namjoon and Hoseok arrived on Earth to get the humans together (and drastically fail, but that’s not important), the two Smitteners spent hours working on plans and strategies, and back-up plans for all of them. They had come up with every single possible scenario, and then some more. They read up older cases in the same region to see if they could think of something else.

But what neither of them could have accounted for was being pretend-humans. They could be seen so there was no way they could do the things that they normally did when they were invisible.

Each plan they came up with ended up in the reject pile because it was just not possible for them to do that in their current forms.

It frustrated both the Smitteners to no end.

“Looks like we have more studying to do.” Hoseok drops his pencil on top of his notebook as he leans back.

“I just...” Namjoon closes his eyes, trying to collect his rapidly forming thoughts. “I feel like I’m missing something. I should remember something, but I don’t.”

“Maybe these human forms can’t hold us in that well,” Hoseok shrugs. “I haven’t heard of anyone going through this kind of situation, so I’m sure we’ll be writing books when we get back.

“Do you think we should talk to Seokjin? Or one of the seekers?” Hoseok continues. “Maybe we’re missing something—”

“Hoseok,” Namjoon interrupts. “Let’s take a break.”

Hoseok blinks. “B-but you’re the workaholic! I thought you would not want to rest until we have this figured out!”

And, well, Hoseok is not wrong. “I know!” Namjoon whines. “I really do want to get this done, but then I look around and see this place and all the things we haven’t seen or will never get to see from this perspective, and it just makes me, I don’t know, very excited!”

Hoseok opens his mouth to answer but Namjoon is on a roll. “Think about how much efficient we could make this entire process if we learned from a different perspective. All my years of study, all your years of experience, and we still can’t fix our issue and bring these four humans together! But I think with fresh eyes and a fresh outlook, we might be able to do it!”

Namjoon and Hoseok spend the next few days exploring the human city they are “stranded” (or like Seokjin would have liked to argue, strategically placed) in. They visit museums, the mall (turns out there is more than one of these malls? How cool is that!), an interactive science museum that takes them all afternoon (and would spend another afternoon because it was so much fun learning about human science), different restaurants (not to the restaurant that Jungkook works at, not yet anyway even if the food was good), a botanical garden, and a painting workshop.

Hoseok planned it so meticulously that it didn’t get overwhelming for either of them. It was perfectly enjoyable, and Namjoon has never been so happy. He has never smiled as much as he did when Hoseok looked at him wonder at the science museum as they learned about optical illusions and the Milky Way. Neither of them really got the “art” at the art museum, but they took turns showing each other their favourites and buying souvenirs of them at the gift shop.

At the end of their third night of exploring the human world as pretend-humans, they just finished their first ever (and probably only) sip and paint night, where they sipped wine and painted as their instructor guided them to make their own paintings. Namjoon spent all his three hours recreating the scene from his room from the Isthmus, while Hoseok took on a more abstract idea, simply throwing paint on the large canvas and letting it run the length.

It was bright and colourful, and he even painted a little heart in the centre. They carried the paintings wrapped in newspaper and plastic, with happiness bursting from their hearts as they follow the map towards their hotel.

Hoseok, Namjoon learns, is a very giggly drunk. The alcohol on Isthmus tastes far better, if you asked Namjoon, but here, it was a lot stronger. Or maybe, in their human forms, they had low tolerance. And Hoseok, a lightweight who started giggling on his second glass, hadn’t stopped.

At least he can walk in a straight line.

“Namjoooooooon,” Hoseok croons. “How far are we from the hotel?”

Namjoon frowns and looks at his tablet. The location is somewhere near them, but he’s unable to figure out how to get there. It seems like a dead-end.

“It should be around here somewhere,” he mutters.

Just then, Hoseok stumbles a bit, kicking a small rock in front of him that hits the trash cans that are behind the buildings. As Namjoon helps him stand upright by holding onto his upper arm and making sure he’s all right, there are several loud hisses, and Hoseok’s eyes go wide.

He looks at Namjoon, whose eyes are also wide.

“What are those?” Hoseok says in what Namjoon assumes to be an attempted whisper.

Namjoon only shakes his head, and they begin backing away towards the main road, Hoseok clinging onto Namjoon that is just on the verge of painful.

For each step they take, they look around the small alley making sure they haven’t stepped on anything, making their progress slow. But better to be safe than sorry, as Namjoon had learnt.

They were near the end of the road when a small, grey, striped...creature with pointy ears appears out of nowhere in front of them and begins hissing at them. The eyes of the creature are glowing a bright yellow and the black slits in the middle are creeping Namjoon out.

“Good...animal,” Namjoon tries in his best calm and soothing voice. “Good...animal,” he says, and takes a step forward, only to flinch because the creature hissed at him again.

“Hoseok, what should we do?” Namjoon asks under his breath.

Hoseok gulps. “Sorry for troubling you, little animal!” he apologizes to the creature and takes a step forward, but the creature takes a step back, hissing even more loudly.

“We’re going to be killed, Namjoon,” Hoseok says, his voice trembling. “This thing will kill us and I haven’t even lived my life yet, haven’t even settled down in life, haven’t fallen in love, don’t even know what the future holds and all because of—”

“Mimi?” a voice from behind them calls loudly, distracting everyone momentarily. Namjoon and Hoseok, huddled together to avoid being eaten alive, too scared to move around fully, only turn their heads a little to see who it is.

A door on the side of one of buildings opens, the bright light from inside pouring outside into the dark night. “Hello? Who’s there?”

Namjoon had the urge to scream for help, but he holds it in. The dear crawling through his skin doesn’t let up, and Hoseok’s tight grip on his forearm with his blunt nails digging into the flesh isn’t helping. When he catches Hoseok’s gaze, Namjoon could see fear reflecting from his own eyes.

They don’t dare turn around, but they can hear the newcomer walk around them. They reach the Smitteners, huddled together, and the light from the pain roan illuminates their face.

Namjoon blinks. His brain tickled once he heard that voice, but the alcohol limited his thinking. Once he sees this person’s face, Namjoon just sighs. This cannot be just a simple coincidence.

“Mimi!” Jimin, clad in a soft, large t-shirt, and sweatpants, squeals and rushes forward. The little creature, who was about to bite Namjoon’s and Hoseok’s heads off, suddenly jumps into Jimin’s arms, turning into a small, pliant ball of grey fur.

Jimin is running a finger along the spine of the creature he’s holding, murmuring little words into its ear and chuckling, telling the creature how he had missed it and other things that neither Namjoon nor Hoseok can hear. The little monster just looks so content, seemingly smirking at them both.

Hoseok makes a disgruntled sound at the back of his throat to express his displeasure.

That’s when Jimin looks up with wide eyes. “Sorry! Are you guys okay?”

Hoseok shakes his head while Namjoon nods. They share a look and look back at Jimin. Namjoon puts in effort to tear his eyes away from the light glinting through Jimin’s fine hair, creating a beautiful halo around him. The human might be in very common clothing, and they might be a little stained and the human himself looked sweaty, but Namjoon fleetingly thinks in this moment, Jimin looked even more beautiful than Seokjin.

Not that he would ever say it out loud. He might probably be banished from Serendipity if he does so.

“What happened? I hope you guys are okay?”

Namjoon manages to stutter out a story of how Hoseok stumbled and kicked a stone, and they were here.

“They’re usually really sweet!” Jimin tells them, and if it was anybody else, Hoseok and Namjoon would have a hard time believing them. But it was Jimin, and if he told them that the moon revolved around the earth because of him, they would believe it. “Which is why when i heard them hissing, I was worried. I think they were just really startled. Not a lot of people come around here.”

“Oh,” Hoseok says, shoulders slumping. “Will you please let them know that we are sorry?”

“Of course!” And then Jimin proceeds to lift the little monster to his face and Namjoon supresses the urge to scream. The monster might eat him!

But Jimin is a darling and the little monster probably knows it too, because it lets Jimin hold it and cuddle it and touch noses with it! All the while, Jimin is making tiny little noises that reminds Namjoon of the mother he saw earlier today, who was trying to soothe her crying tiny human.

After a few moments, Jimin lets the little creature down, noticeably more docile. Even if it gave them both dirty looks as it passed by the Smitteners, they’re glad it didn’t eat them.

The first Smitteners to live on Earth as humans eaten by little monsters! That would be a stupid headline to appear in Isthmus Times, Namjoon thinks.

“So, where are you guys supposed to be going?”

Namjoon blinks as he is brought back to the moment, and Hoseok is trying to answer him. “We keep getting lost! The maps says that it’s right here but we don’t See it!”

“Which hotel is it?”

Hoseok gives the lovely human the name of the hotel they had been staying at, and Jimin brightens. If he had been on the Isthmus, he would have probably, literally glowed.

“We’re right behind it!”

“We are?!” Hoseok nearly screeches and Jimin laughs, nearly folding in half.

“Yes!” He points to a building right next to the building Jimin came out from. “That’s your hotel. Let me show you how to get there.”

After locking up the doors of the building that Jimin was working at, they walk in relative silence, Jimin quietly guiding them and making sure they don’t run into the traffic—even if there were fewer vehicles at this time of the night. It’s not far, just around the building. When they are turning the corner, Hoseok suddenly stops.

“Cat!”

Jimin looks around. “Where?”

“Where what?”

“You just said cat! I can’t see one!”

Doubling over in laughter, Hoseok spends two minutes trying to catch his breath. Namjoon and Jimin look at each other.

“Do you know what’s...happening?”

Namjoon shakes his head and Hoseok is finally able to stand upright. “That’s what they are called, Namjoon! That little creature that was going to bite our heads off!”

“They are called cats!” Namjoon shouts, eyes wide, finally getting it.

He turns to Jimin. “When your little creature that we scared began scaring us, we forgot what they were called. Looks like he just remembered!”

At this point, Jimin had also begun laughing. “I cannot believe you guys forgot the word cat!”

Namjoon is still smiling when he looks at Hoseok, who hasn’t stopped laughing. It feels good to see him more...like himself. The last few days were weird and stressful, and as much as Namjoon came about tolerating him more these days, he can’t help but feel relieved that Hoseok is starting to be more like the Hoseok that Namjoon had originally hated.

Although looking back now, he can’t really remember why he even hated Hoseok so much. He was such a nice being, always so kind and positive and—

“You’re so gone for him,” Jimin says quietly beside him, with a soft smile playing on his pretty lips.

It takes Namjoon full ten seconds to register Jimin’s words. “Huh?” he says very intelligently.

Jimin giggles like he finds Namjoon cute. “It’s so cute, Namjoon-ssi. How long have you guys been together?”

What is even Jimin saying? “Um, not long, actually. Fairly recent.” And then he swallows, trying to drown out the voice in his head that is screaming at him to shut up. “We-um had a rough patch in the beginning, but...”

“Now it’s all okay?”

Namjoon nods thoughtfully. Jimin looks away from Namjoon to Hoseok who is trying to find purchase against the wall of a building to help him stand straight.

“Was it difficult?” Jimin asks, voice soft as a feather in the quiet night. “Telling him your feelings?”

Namjoon has lied thus far, another one won’t hurt, right? He doesn’t know the human rules for this because he’s not had to lie on Isthmus but he’s getting better at being human, he supposes. “It was a little scary, I guess. I was afraid that i would lose him. But...unless I took that leap, i wouldn’t have known, right?”

Jimin nods, staring at something far away. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Do you,” Namjoon clears his throat. “Do you have someone like that?”

“You could say that.” Light from the traffic illuminates his face for a moment before going back to being dark again. His gaze hasn’t wavered from whatever has his attention.

“Are you scared?”

At this, Jimin turns around to him with a wry smile. “Terrified. But not just that I’ll lose him, it’s also that he probably won’t ever feel the same way about me, and I would have a hard time moving on, you know? He’s such a great person, I don’t think anyone can compare.”

Namjoon’s heart aches at this. He objectively knows about Jimin’s feeling for Yoongi, had known it for some time now, but, well, hearing about it from the source as the target audience is different.

It’s like when your ex writes a break-up song and you realize it’s about you. Weird, but warm.

Currently, Namjoon feels like he’s in a drama and has not been given a script. He’s going to have wing this situation and hopes that he won’t mess up. “Maybe a leap is what you need to take, too, you know?”

Hoseok seems to have sobered up from his laughing fit, and Jimin and Namjoon turn towards him when he calls for them. “What are you doing, standing so far away?”

When they reach him, Hoseok lifts a hand to squish Jimin’s face. Namjoon tries to pry his hands off but drunk Hoseok was strong and persistent.

Jimin doesn’t look like he minds, though. He’s even giggling. “It’s okay, Namjoon-ssi! My best friend does it all the time!”

Hoseok gasps. “Does this mean we are best friends?”

“Sure, why not!” Jimin’s eyes are smiling because his lips are squished. He looks all too pleased to be friends—best friends—with Hoseok.

“Then best friend! Join us for dinner! Please!”

Jimin looks back at Namjoon nervously. “I don’t want to intrude...”

“You won’t be, honestly. Please do join us.”

They make their way to the restaurant attached to their hotel, Hoseok only swaying lightly while Namjoon keeps a steady hand on his waist.

“Are you sure this is okay?” Jimin asks for the tenth time or so. To which Namjoon smiles at him.

“It’s completely okay,” Namjoon pushes the menu towards Jimin. “Please order whatever you’d like, our treat!”

Jimin vehemently refuses but Hoseok won’t take no for an answer. “As your best friend, it is my right to treat you to a delicious meal!”

In the end, Jimin orders something on the cheaper side, and Namjoon knows that he only ordered it just to placate them both. He won’t push him and make him uncomfortable in this matter.

But the other matter though...

Jimin clears his throat when Hoseok falls silent, seemingly interested in the ghost shaped salt and pepper shakers. “Um, thank you for your advice earlier. I couldn’t say that back then.”

Namjoon blinks. “What advice?”

“About taking a leap.”

Silently gasping, Namjoon stares wide-eyed at Jimin. “You will? Tomorrow?”

The eagerness makes Jimin laugh a little. “Slow down, new-best-friend's-boyfriend! He’s having a show in a couple of days, maybe after that?”

But then he shakes his head. “I don’t know. We’ve had a bit of a...weird and terrible week, and I don’t know if I want to see him so soon. Or I don’t know if he even wants to see me so soon!”

“Maybe he does want to see you so soon. He’s probably wanted to see you a long while ago. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Jimin chuckles wetly. “I could lose him? He could not feel the same way, and I’ll never get over him?”

“The best?”

It’s quiet for a moment. “He could love me back.”

Namjoon smiles. “Yeah, I’m sure he will. You seem very lovable, Jimin. Look at how taken Hoseok was with you!”

Hoseok is slumped against the backrest of his chair, fast asleep. Namjoon smiles.

“He didn’t take two minutes to decide that you two are best friends. That’s because you’re good. I’m sure Yoo-your person knows it and will feel the same way. Because honestly, if he doesn’t then his heart must be made of stone!”

Jimin swats at him, laughing. “Hey, he’s very tender hearted, okay! Just takes some time to soften up.”

“If he hasn’t after all this time, then, he’s...not it for you.” Namjoon feels a sour taste in his mouth when he says this even though he knows this to be false.

Jimin gives him a tiny smile. “I’ll update you, yeah?”

“i look forward to it.”

Chapter Text

A loud ringing from his tablet wakes Namjoon up. He blinks blearily, looking outside to the now paling Earth sky and wonders who the fuck is calling him at this hour.

He wrenches his tablet out from under his pillows and squints at the screen. When he sees who it is, he sits up immediately and tries to pat down his hair, sleep draining away from his body.

Namjoon scrambles for a good half a minute before he accepts the call. When he does, Seokjin’s handsome face fills the screen.

“Hi, Seokjin,”

“Namjoon, hi! Glad you’re up, we need to have a chat.”

Namjoon resists the urge to roll his eyes and give the Cupid a snarky reply. “Sure, what’s up?”

Seokjin frowns like he heard something distasteful, but he doesn’t press. “The elevator is now in working condition. 10 AM, Earth Time, you and Hoseok will be leaving from the north elevator of Blue Side.”

What?! “B-but the case, Seokjin!”

“I’ve decided to close it. It doesn’t seem to have progressed and neither of you were able to make a breakthrough in either form, so I don’t see why we have to extend this case any longer. It’s just wishful thinking, I suppose. We work with the Universe, not against it. If it decides that these humans are not fated, then we cannot do anything. No, it’s better not to waste any more resources on these four humans. I’ll reassign you to a different case, wipe the memory of these humans to before your intervention and everything will be all right.”

“No.”

Seokjin raises an eyebrow, a dangerous smile frozen on his face. “No?”

“No, Seokjin,” Namjoon says, his voice eerily calm, like the eye of a raging storm. There’s roaring in his ears but he focuses on his words that seem to tumble out. “We have sent our reports every single day and we have sent in all our thoughts and ideas. You must know our plan for tomorrow evening, right? Our approach might be slightly...unorthodox, but I have faith that it will work. Just two days, Seokjin. We need two more days, and we will get those four humans together. And then we will come back, and then once I submit my report, you can assign me to a fresh case.”

He’s breathing hard at the end of his little speech. Seokjin’s face is unmoving; Namjoon could easily mistake it for a statue if he didn’t know better.

Later that morning, as Namjoon sits staring at the window, he hears his name being called.

“’mjoon?” Hoseok’s sleep-laced gravelly voice brings Namjoon back to Earth, to the soft mattress and sunny day. “How long have you been up?”

Namjoon turns to look at Hoseok and something must have given away because Hoseok sits up immediately. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Nodding sagely, Namjoon sighs as he pushes off his blankets to stand and stretch. “Seokjin had called me. Said the elevator was fixed and asked us to hop on it at 5 PM today, and then he was gonna reassign us to different cases.”

“What?!” Hoseok screeches, and Namjoon smiled wryly.

“That was my reaction, too. I asked him what would happen to our current case, and he said he was going to wipe their memories and let them be.” He then looks at Hoseok, his heart squeezing. “I-i couldn’t let that happen, Hoseok. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a case in the last year I have been working as a Smittener, because the thought of not helping them realize their feelings hurts so much. I want to see this to the end, and I don’t care how many people I need to piss off, I just need this one chance to make things right.”

After a beat of silence, Hoseok quietly asks, “What did you do, Namjoon?”

Namjoon grimaces. “I kinda told Seokjin that we needed two days because we were close to finishing our work, so he gave us 48 hours to finish it, if we didn’t, we were going straight up with shame banners, out of which we now have...” Namjoon checks the timer that he set right after Seokjin’s call. “...46.2 hours left.”

Hoseok falls backwards in his bed.

It’s quiet for a few moments before Hoseok perks up. “Do you want to get breakfast as we plan?”

Namjoon nods.

“Can we go back to the cafe?” Hoseok is nearly pleading. Namjoon simply rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, let’s go there and if we happen to run into them again, we can try and make use of it.” But it’s not like Namjoon was going to say no.

Not like he could even entertain the thought when Hoseok had looked at him with those puppy eyes and then smiled his sunny smile of his when he got what he wanted.

So, they untangle from the blankets of their respective beds, slowly, even with the ticking clock in their heads.

“We can try that chocolate pastry! I hope we’ll get it if we’re early today!” Namjoon says, as they get ready.

They head over to the cafe and find that Jongin, the guy from last time, is working at the counter. He greets them with a smile.

“Hey, nice to see you here!”

“Good to see you, too!” Hoseok says, full smiles.

They order, say their thanks as they make their way towards a table. It’s the same table they had sat at with Yoongi the first time they were here. The memory makes Namjoon smile.

Namjoon takes out his notebook and tablet, and Hoseok follows him, a star-tipped pen poised over his notebook.

“So,” Hoseok starts. “How should we do this?”

“Now that we have established contact—unexpectedly—with all four humans, what if they’re all there at the event?”

“That would honestly make things a lot easier.”

“Right?!”

As their sandwiches and chocolate pastries and coffees come and go, Namjoon and Hoseok come up with different plans. They look at the venue of Yoongi’s performance, stalk the four humans’ social media (even the private ones, yes) to see if anyone had mentioned that they would be going. The four humans were terrible at using social media, Namjoon knew, but it frustrated Hoseok so much that Namjoon had a hard time not giggling.

“Why can’t they be like normal, regular humans and use social media to dump their thoughts in?!”

“Hoseok, you’ve got to stop expecting real humans to be like the ones from the comics you read on your tablet.”

Hoseok gasps theatrically. “I would never!”

Namjoon only shakes his head. “Also, the place looks very...hip. Is that the word that the kids use these days?”

Shrugging, Hoseok motions him to continue. “I don’t think we have the right clothes for it.” Namjoon says slowly.

Hoseok bites his lip to contain his smile. “That would make us stand out honestly. That’s the last thing we need.”

“Yup.”

They’re already grabbing their bags and shoving their notebooks and tablets into them. “We can have lunch at Jungkook’s lunch place?”

“He has classes today; I doubt we’ll run into him this time of the day.”

“Dinner, then.”

It’s settled. They head over to the mall with barely contained grins. They don’t see the security guard from last time, but if they had, Hoseok said he would have blown him a kiss.

Namjoon thanks the heavens that they didn’t see him.

They spend so long in the mall, trying on different outfits, finding inspiration for new plans, finding gifts for each other, that they miss lunch. They end up eating fast food at the food court, steadily ignoring the ticking of Namjoon’s timer.

“Hey,” Namjoon says, after inhaling his sub. “Do you want to check out the club, scope it out a little? So that we can finalize our plans for tomorrow?”

Hoseok nods and they find out the club is only twenty minutes away by bus.

They’ve never been on a bus before (yet another human experience they didn’t expect to want) and they quickly find out they needed some type of a card, so they end up buying tickets on their tablet after a kind stranger helps them sort it out. The ride to the club has Namjoon and Hoseok shaking their legs in excitement and holding hands during humps. Namjoon resisted the urge to go WHEEEE!

When their stop comes, Namjoon regrettably lets go of Hoseok’s dainty hand as they make their way out of the bus and onto the street. It’s a short walk from the bus stop, and the evening light fades away as they make their way towards the club.

They pretend to be chill and relaxed at the club, like they aren’t scoping the place out for blind spots and escape routes. The club is a nice mix of modern and cozy, with wooden accents to the furniture and with warm lights and sleek crystal glasses. They do enjoy themselves, having light beer and sharing a plate of chicken wings between them. They hail a taxi back to Still With You, plan in motion.

When they enter the restaurant, they expected to see the lady from last time, but they find themselves staring at a pair of big, brown eyes, widened in surprise.

“Hey! Toga guys!” Then he looks down up and down at them. “Not in togas anymore, but hey, how have you guys been?”

Hoseok smiles at him, all charms. “Hey! We are well! How are you?”

“I’m good, too. Where do you guys wanna sit tonight?”

Namjoon looks at Hoseok’s pleading eyes and rolls his own. “Outside, please.”

Jungkook smiles softly at them. “Why don’t you guys find a seat? There are some nice tables in the corner, can give you privacy.”

The human is looking down at the table, but Namjoon notices the sly smirk gracing his lips, in the feigned nonchalant shrug of his shoulder.

Namjoon sighs. Time for action.

He puts an arm around Hoseok’s (dainty dainty) waist and pulls him closer to his side. “Can I pick the seats this time, babe?”

Hoseok has probably stopped breathing, but he nods. Namjoon gives him a winning smile and then turns around, hauling fewer bags than last time, as they make their way towards the back of the restaurant.

Once out of view, Namjoon drops his hand. “I’m so sorry Hoseok, I just thought—”

“Namjoon, Namjoon, it’s okay. Truly.” Hoseok pats his arm. “I’ll choose our food tonight!”

Namjoon finds a nice table at the corner of the place, not quite secluded but missable if you don’t look for it. Jungkook comes over to their table after a few minutes, handing over menus.

“Do you guys wanna hear specials tonight?”

“Sure! You let us know if you have any recommendations, too!”

Jungkook lists off a few things that he personally likes, and then looks at them both. “You guys didn’t answer me last time. How did you guys know my name?”

“The lady from last time!” Namjoon blurts out, knowing that Hoseok wouldn’t be able to lie. “She-she mentioned your name. She was sitting out front, and that’s how we knew.”

Jungkook’s expression cleared. “Oh, my mom. That makes sense.” Then he lifts his tiny notepad up with a small smile. “What can I get you guys?”

Soon after, just as they spot Jungkook bringing their dishes in, Namjoon and Hoseok nod at each other.

“Namjoon-ah!” Hoseok says, loudly. “I’m so excited for tomorrow! It’s going to be our best night ever!”

Jungkook, who’s placing plates and bowls and cutlery on the table, makes a face. “Guys, please, I don’t want to know what you two get up to in private.”

Namjoon’s ears burn and Hoseok ducks his head down. “N-no! It’s not like that! Hoseok and I are going to this artist’s show tomorrow, and we’re so excited! We have never seen live music and we really like this artist too!”

Not untrue, they had tried to dig up some of Yoongi’s music but all the videos they were able to find were shaky and bad. Still, they were excited.

Jungkook’s expression cleared, but there’s a pinch at the corners of his mouth. “Ah, okay. One of my-uh, friends, he also has a show tomorrow. Where is your show happening?”

“Oh that sounds wonderful!” Hoseok claps. “Ours is at this place called Indigo!”

Jungkook stills for a moment and then resumes serving. “Does your artist also go by the name AgustD?”

Namjoon gasps, hoping it did not sound as fake as it did in his ears. “How did you know?”

“Cause that’s my friend.”

“Oh, wow!” Hoseok’s eyes are wide. “What a coincidence! Will we see you tomorrow, then!?”

Jungkook tucks the tray under his arms and shrugs. “Only if my other friend feels okay about it.”

Namjoon resisted the urge to beg. For their plan to work, all four of them had to come to the show. Even if one of them didn’t, their plan would fail, and they had no back-up.

This was their final test.

Clutching a bag of kitten treats that their tablet informed was the best loved among cats, Namjoon and Hoseok make their way around to their hotel, to the little alleyway where they had first met Jimin. At first, Namjoon had been wary about this plan. Who would believe that two random people would feel bad for a cat enough to buy it treats?

But Hoseok insisted that it would work with so much conviction that Namjoon was nodding before he could think more on it.

So here they are, slowly making their way through the alleyway. Namjoon knew Jimin was working late today and he desperately hopes that Jimin’s schedule hadn’t changed in the last few days. They find the door that they had met Jimin at last time and knocks on it.

For a full minute, nothing happens. Namjoon knocks again, with more strength than Hos eok, and they wait. Still nothing. When Hoseok hands over his bags to Namjoon and pulls his sleeves back in an attempt to bang on the door, it opens.

There’s a stranger standing at the door, blinking at them both, taking in the sight of Namjoon laden with bags, and a much smaller Hoseok ready for a fight.

The stranger, however...does not feel so strange. There’s a tickling at the back of Namjoon’s head, like he should know this person.

“Can i...help you?” the stranger asks, tilting their head in confusion.

“Yes, please,” Hoseok says, planting his hands on his hips. Namjoon smiles. “We’re looking for Jimin. Is he here?”

They know he’s here, but keeping up appearances is so much harder than Namjoon had ever anticipated.

The guy at door frowns at them. “And who are you?”

“Just tell him Hoseok and Namjoon are here, he’ll know.” Namjoon replies.

“And who are you?” Hoseok, who has no shame, asks.

The guy stands straighter, as if he was deeply offended. “I am Taemin, Jimin’s colleague...and friend. I’ve never heard about you guys before.”

Taemin! It all clicked in Namjoon’s head. He is Jimin’s ex-boyfriend. As in the person Jimin dated a while ago. Namjoon remembers seeing this detail and scoffing. Who remains friends with their exes?

Apparently Jimi n.

Namjoon had also dismissed this piece of information because he didn’t seem like he would need it. It made sense that Yoongi has hesitated to make a move for this sole reason, but it was still dumb.

“You don’t know everything about Jimin.” Hoseok is saying as he rolls his eyes. “Can you please call him?”

Taemin just turns around and walks away, leaving Namjoon and Hoseok at the door. The Smitteners look at each other and shrug.

“You know who this guy is?” Hoseok whispers, and Namjoon nods, leaning in to whisper and fill him up with the most recent knowledge his human brain supplied him with, while steadily ignoring the sweet perfume on him that he had tried at the mall earlier that day.

Hoseok’s eyes widen at the information. “Our Jiminie is too sweet and dumb, isn’t he?”

Namjoon agrees.

Barely a minute passes when they hear excited footsteps barrelling towards them. Jimin rounds the corner, wearing clothes much similar to the kind he had worn during their first meeting, and grins.

Hoseok and Namjoon grin back at him because it was impossible not to.

“Hey, you guys, what’s up!” the dance teacher hugs Hoseok and gives Namjoon a warm smile. “How are you guys doing?”

“We’re good,” Namjoon says.

Hoseok holds up the package. “We were wondering if you could help us?”

Jimin’s face lights up as Hoseok and Namjoon explain how they wanted to make it up to Mimi for scaring him.

“You guys are the sweetest! Come on, let me show you!”

So, Jimin leads them down the alleyway, calling for Mimi. Hoseok imitates him, a little timidly. Namjoon keeps quiet.

Soon enough, the grey and black little monstrosity-turned-unnkowing-ally comes out from behind some dumpsters and jumps into Jimin’s arms. They find a clean patch of the sidewalk to sit on as Hoseok tears open the package of treats and Jimin hand-feeds the grey ball of fur (after refusing to eat when hoseok tried to feed him) and Namjoon waits for the signal.

“You guys are really too sweet,” Jimin is saying and Hoseok is taking videos of the cat eating and cooing at it.

A loud ping! Rings across the alley and Namjoon scrambles to retrieve his tablet from his satchel. He looks at the screen and sighs.

“Anything important?” Hoseok asks, right on cue.

Namjoon shakes his head. “Nah, just a reminder about tomorrow.”

Hoseok snorts and shakes his head. “Like we even need it! I’m so excited that i don’t think i can sleep tonight!”

“Ooh, what are you guys doing tomorrow?”

Namjoon and Hoseok try to hide their grins. “Oh, we’re going to our first ever live music show tomorrow! We love this artist; we can’t believe we got tickets!”

Okay, Hoseok is exaggerating a tiny smidge, but this piques Jimin’s interest even more. “Oh? That sounds amazing! Who is it? Where is it happening?”

Namjoon heart ricochets around his rib cage as he tries to smile and look excited. He’s sorry for doing this to Jimin but this is for his own good. “It’s happening at Indigo! Do you, perhaps, know this artist called AgustD?”

The way Jimin’s smile drops feels like the sun melted from the sky. He sighs. “Yeah, I know him.”

Hoseok blinks and turns around to look at Namjoon in panic. “J-jimin, are you okay?”

Jimin gives him what appeared to be a painful smile. “Yes, I’m okay. AgustD you say?”

“Mm-hmm.” Hoseok continues. “You said you knew him?”

“Still do. He invited me to the show, too.” Jimin sighs.

Hoseok all but screeches. Namjoon doesn’t think he’s acting anymore. “So, will you go to the show then?!”

“I don’t know,” Jimin sighs again and Namjoon resists the urge to hug him and tell him everything if it comforts him. “I mean, I’ve gone to every single show he’s performed at, and if I don’t go to this one, it’ll be the first one I have missed. But I also don’t want to not go because he’s incredible and I love him, you know? It just...hurts.”

Namjoon and Hoseok exchange looks. Well. This is not how they expected this night to go about but they’re not complaining.

“Jimin-ah,” Hoseok says gently, placing a hand on the human’s shoulder. “Whatever happened, I’m sure you guys can figure it out. Namjoon told me about your conversation that day, and, well. I also think you should take that leap. Why don’t you start with that, hm?”

Jimin’s eyes glitter. “I-I’ll think about it.”

Namjoon’s heart fluttered with hope.

“I did not tell you about my and Jimin’s conversation that night you were drunk.”

Hoseok winks. “I have many, many tricks up my sleeve.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes. Hoseok is insufferable. But why is he grinning and why is his heart practicing somersaults at this hour?

That night, neither Namjoon, nor Hoseok could sleep. They took time pacing around the room, reorganizing their stuff (Hoseok), flicking between channels on the TV unable to decide on one (Namjoon), lying on the bed, face down (Namjoon), face up (Hoseok) as they coordinated their breathing.

“This is the last night.”

“Yes.”

The timer on Namjoon’s watch showed a little over 24 hours. While it may seem like a lot of time, this is their last chance. If this does not work, Namjoon would preferably stay back on earth and pick up a job here. Going back to the Isthmus of Serendipity would not be an option.

Namjoon and Hoseok went over the plans, contacted Wonpil for some arrows (as the last, precautionary measure) which they got in record time. Luckily for them, he even sent them a tiny, crossbody bag to hide the long, life-size arrows and Namjoon’s specially carved bow.

He has only used it twice in his short career of one year. Usually, the guidelines say that the arrows are a mid-step intervention. But the idea of the arrows, of having the power of making two (sometimes more) people realize their true feelings for each other and give the courage to actually express it using two pointy sticks, scares Namjoon. Nothing—and no one—should have so much power, if you ask him. So, Namjoon preferred using this as a last and final resort.

This time, he and Hoseok aren’t even using other potions that they usually use. They are taking the human approach and while they are unsure if they will have jobs by the end of this assignment, they wouldn’t do it any other way.

He falls asleep fitfully, and when he wakes up, Hoseok is already up, shouting and grunting.

Namjoon blinks and rubs his eyes, wondering what in the world Hoseok was even doing.

And then blinks again.

Hoseok is doing some sort of a cross between dance and exercise. Dancercise? He doesn’t know but Hoseok is jumping and lifting his arms like the instructors tell him to and he’s doing it with so much enthusiasm and so much energy that Namjoon smiles.

And then the smile disappears as something constricts in his heart. He takes a deep breath.

“Hey, what are you up to?”

“This thing called Zumba,” Hoseok doesn’t turn around. “I was feeling pretty restless, so I looked up fun ways to burn energy and wipe yourself out and this came up! It’s so much fun, Namjoon! You gotta try it!”

Namjoon looks away as Hoseok bends forward and grabs his ankles with perfect ease. “Um, maybe another time.”

The clock in their room reads close to noon, so Namjoon figures he could wash up and head for lunch soon.

By the time Namjoon changes into different clothes and has considerably woken up (albeit still a bit groggy), Hoseok is panting and sitting at the foot of his bed. He gives him a tired smile. “Lunch time? You must be hungry.”

They have lunch at the restaurant attached to their hotel, for once. They had, surprisingly, came to a silent agreement to not go to Still With You either.

Namjoon and Hoseok seem to be on the same page with just about everything today. They drag out their lunch until it became too uncomfortable for the staff and they had to tell the two Smitteners that their restaurant service hours were over.

“So, Namjoon,” Hoseok says, after they had lunch and are walking to the park near the humans’ house. Yet again, wordlessly. “What do you think about this whole ordeal? Now that we’re getting so close to the end?”

Namjoon chuckles. “It’s not really over until it is, Hoseok. That’s one thing I have learnt from the humans that applies to us as well.” Then he frowns. “But honestly, this has been one of the most enriching times in my life. I-I can’t believe this happened to me and well, this made me feel like my work is a lot more important that I had originally assumed, so I’m going work so much harder for the next couple i get assigned to!”

Hoseok sighs. “If you work any harder than this, Seokjin is going to go bankrupt.”

Namjoon grins and shakes his head at the thought as they make their way back to the hotel.

When Hoseok plugs the key card into the socket to switch on all the lights in their room, he screams so loudly that Namjoon screams back.

Because sitting there in the middle of the couch of their hotel room, amidst the chaos of their clothes and items, reading that day’s newspaper and looking completely out of place, was Seokjin.

“Seokjin!” Namjoon is close to shouting, honestly. “Oh, um, what a surprise!”

Hoseok is bowing. Repeatedly. “My Lord! How nice to see you here!”

Seokjin stands up, stretching his neck. He has dropped his regular silk and gold toga for more human clothes, but he looks just as otherworldly in them. He’s wearing an all-black outfit—a black leather jacket, black tank top, black jeans—and layered necklaces and sparkles around his eyes and rings and bracelets. His hair is mostly swept off his forehead and while Namjoon is not particularly attracted to Seokjin (since Namjoon’s type seems to be cute and dainty with a heart-shaped smile apparently), he is still unable to form words.

“Thank you, Namjoon, Hoseok, for the warm welcome.” Seokjin says and surveys the room. “I received your plans a while ago and my goodness, nobody, in my long years of being the god of Love has ever worked like the two of you. I must say, it has intrigued me, so i hope you don’t mind me tagging along to see how this all pans out.”

It’s a statement, not a question, Namjoon knows, so he resists the urge to scream I DO MIND.

“No, not at all, Seokjin,” Namjoon croaks out and Hoseok looks at him sharply. He can’t get mad at him when Hoseok was practically kissing his ass, calling him Lord!

“Of course,” Seokjin smiles and lifts his hands in a little surrender motion. “I will not get in your way. In fact, I was about to just appear at...Indigo directly, but I thought the two of you would appreciate a little heads-up.”

“A LITTLE heads-up?!” Hoseok is screaming and throwing his clothes from closet to the bag at his feet. “He’s going to ruin our plan, I just know it!”

“Hoseok, please! What does he even get from ruining our plans?”

Hoseok shrugs. “Power, I guess. I don’t know, maybe he doesn’t like losing? I have a bad feeling about this, Namjoon.”

He sounds so miserable and upset that Namjoon walks over to where he’s standing.

“Can I give you a hug?”

Now. Namjoon is not big on skin-ship. He has very few close friends and they are usually the ones to sling an arm around his shoulders or ruffle his hair or pinch his cheeks, tolerated it until he came to like them.

And today, seeing Hoseok so visibly upset, set something off in him. He just wanted his work partner to not be so upset, even if he’s upset himself.

Hoseok nods and wordlessly slides his arms around Namjoon’s middle and pulls him closer. He is a little shorter than Namjoon, and less bulky which makes him feel small in Namjoon arms. Hoseok can rest his head against Namjoon’s wildly beating heart and Namjoon lets him. Namjoon’s arms find their way to Hoseok’s shoulders and wraps around them securely.

They stay that way for a long moment, quietly breathing and feeling their heartbeats sync.

Namjoon only decides to let go when Hoseok’s arms around him loosened. When they part, Hoseok doesn’t look up, but he’s sniffling slightly.

“Oh, crying doesn’t fit my style!” he giggles and turns away, but Namjoon catches his wrist.

“It’s okay to cry, Hoseok. But why are you crying?”

“Because this is so unfair!” Hoseok sighs. “It feels like he’s here to see you—us—fail and the knowledge that there is a 50% chance that we might not succeed is eating me up. You’ve worked so hard, and then we’ve worked so hard. I don’t want all of this to go to waste and become a laughingstock. And more than anything, I just want them all to be happy. Just, so much that my heart hurts sometimes.”

And Namjoon gets it. He does. That's the main reason why he has stuck around these four humans for as long as he has.

“Hoseok,” Namjoon places his hands firmly on Hoseok’s shoulders and bends a little to look him in the eye. “I have faith in us, and I have faith in Yoongi, Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook, as well. But, in the off chance that this whole, elaborate plan does not work, we still have my arrows. And we will get them together, and we’ll try to imagine Seokjin as an irritating bug, okay? He won’t bother us, and even if he does, we can just tell Jungkook to get rid of him. He has the muscles for it.”

Hoseok snorts and then nods softly. “Let’s get ready then!”

Namjoon and Hoseok get ready in their clothes, the clothes they had picked out earlier, thankfully. Neither of them would have had the energy to put together an outfit. Namjoon’s outfit is simple but stylish: black sports t-shirt, a cute sweater, black jeans, some silver jewellery, sneakers. Hoseok’s was more elaborate, ripped jeans, tight, black tank top, light blue shirt unbuttoned, hair slicked back, lots of chains and rings on his dainty neck and delicate fingers .

Namjoon prays to whoever is above to give him strength. Hoseok looks so strong and delicate that Namjoon has a hard time taking his eyes off his waist. Or his hands, for that matter.

“Do you guys have tickets?” a big, burly man at the entrance asks. Namjoon nods and produces the two cards Yoongi had given him. The man waves them in and the Smitteners, wringing their hands, sweat beading on their foreheads, walk in.

Indigo is a pretty place. Since they had already scoped out the place the previous day, they didn’t have any trouble finding the main venue. It’s a small stage, but they’re both early so they order a couple of beers and sit at a table close to the stage. Neither of them are drinking though. Namjoon is looking around, trying to spot familiar faces. He thought he spotted Seokjin a couple of times on the other side of the room but he loses him as soon as he blinks. Maybe the light is playing tricks on him? Either way, he couldn’t spot Seokjin definitively.

But neither could he spot the four humans, including Yoongi, who was supposed to perform in another hour or so. Hoseok keeps sneaking a peek at the back of the stage.

“I can’t see anything!” He whines and sips from his beer, making a face.

Namjoon sighs. This is making him anxious. “I guess we’ll have to wait for them.”

As the time ticks down on Namjoon’s watch and the closer they get to Yoongi’s performance, the more worried the Smitteners get about the increasing absence of the rest of the humans, specifically, Jimin.

“I’m going to take a walk around.” Namjoon decides and Hoseok nods.

“I’ll go in front and see if can see anybody. Regroup in ten?”

Namjoon agrees, and grabbing their drinks, they make their way to their destinations. He first pretends to go to the men’s washroom and then quickly swerves from there after taking a peek inside. He’s considering throwing away his glass of beer when he hears someone calling his name.

“Namjoon-ssi!”

It’s Yoongi! He’s wearing a black...shirt of some sort that is sheer and left unbuttoned over a black tank top. He’s wearing a huge smile on his face.

“You made it!”

Namjoon can’t help but smile. “Of course we did! We were very excited to see some live music for the first time ever!”

“I mean, no pressure, right?”

His dry tone cracks Namjoon up. “Are you excited? You seem to have many fans.” He gestures at the quickly thickening crowd.

Yoongi seems to deflate a little at this. It’s like the light suddenly dimmed down. “Uh, yeah sure, I am excited. You know that other people are also performing, right?” And, well, Namjoon knows that he’s not the only one performing tonight but who cares? He’s here for Yoongi and that’s it.

“Well, I know that Hoseok and I are here specifically for you.” Namjoon smiles. “I’m sure there are many others like us!”

“Well if there are, I can’t see them in the crowd,” Yoongi mutters loud enough for the other to pick it up.

“I think once you get up on the stage, you’ll see them!” Then he turns and points to the crowd. “Hoseok is standing right in front, so even if you don’t see anyone else, we’ll be there!”

“Thank you, Namjoon! I hope you guys enjoy the show!”

After going around the venue, and thankfully (or rather suspiciously?) not spotting Seokjin, Namjoon makes his way back to Hoseok.

Like a moth attracted to light, Namjoon makes a beeline to the other Smittener who is speaking with someone else. Namjoon can’t see who it is since their back is to them but that is secondary. Namjoon stands next to Hoseok and puts a light hand on his back.

“Hey, you’re back!” Hoseok says, looking even happier than before.

“I am,” Namjoon smiles.

“Look who I found!”

When Namjoon turns around, he is, once again, struck with the beauty this man emanates. He vaguely wonders if Seokjin ever saw him yet (Seokjin has seen him, but only in pictures, which are pretty lethal in themselves) but the thought goes out of the window when Taehyung’s eyes widen in more recognition.

“I almost didn’t recognize you!” Taehyung grins. “Toga guy number 1! What happened to your costumes?”

“Oh, you know, our event got over!” Hoseok winks at him and Namjoon kind of wants to die.

But not yet.

“Are you here by yourself?” Namjoon asks casually, sipping his fancy glass of soda that he got after dumping the disgusting beer.

“Ah,” Taehyung’s smile stiffens a little. “Well, one of my best friends is performing on stage, so I’m here for him.”

Hoseok’s eyes widen. Maybe he’s a little tipsy. “Oh my god who!”

“Do you guys happen to know AgustD?”

And then Hoseok screams —in excitement, of course .

The most difficult part of this whole ordeal is to wait for Jimin and Jungkook. Namjoon is not sure that they’ll make it, but Hoseok seems convinced.

“They will! Trust me!”

“How?!” Namjoon hisses, and even thought the music is loud, he does not want Taehyung to hear. (Even if said human had gone to the bar to buy water. One can never be too sure.)

“My gut. Trust. It.”

“Hoseok, your gut is literally telling you to expel the alcohol in your body—”

“But Namjoon!” Hoseok whines. “I’m not even drinking alcoholic beer! This is the fruit version, which honestly tastes so much better!”

 Namjoon rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to speak, when Hoseok’s eyes widen. He’s looking over Namjoon’s shoulder.

“They’re here?”

“Yup.”

“And they’re walking towards us?”

“Yup.”

“Blink twice if Seokjin is absent.”

A couple of rapid blinks has Namjoon almost melting in relief.

“Okay, time to put on our act.”

As Namjoon turns, he puts a hand on Hoseok’s back, right in the middle of it (ignoring how nice it feels beneath his fingertips, like Hoseok’s warmth is safe and comforting), looking at him. Is this okay?

Hoseok smiles and sips from his glass. Yes, it is.

“Taehyung-ssi!” Hoseok says, his voice over excited over the loud music. “You’re back!”

“And I got some friends.” his tone is soft and careful, as if saying friends was too difficult.

“Oh, I know you!” Jungkook says and Jimin turns sharply at him.

“I know them too!”

Well. They weren’t prepared for this.

No matter how well thought, or well-planned anything was, there are always little details that Namjoon overlooks.

This seems to be one of them.

How do you explain to a bunch of humans that you were deliberately making friends with them separately to bring them together because you have fucked up by meddling (even though it was literally your job to meddle) and now it seems like them trying to fix their mess is messing with things even more?

You can’t, so you lie.

“Oh wow! You guys all know each other?!” Namjoon exclaims, and over the loud music, he thinks he’s believable.

“Namjoon-ah!” Hoseok taps his arms excitedly. “What a coincidence! Don’t you think this was meant to be?”

After the humans recount how they met Namjoon and Hoseok, they ask how they met Yoongi.

“He practically saved me!” Hoseok says, eyes wide as he narrates the story of that fateful morning. “I was so scared that I really wanted to run out!”

Namjoon rubs his hand across the small expanse of Hoseok’s back. “Aw, baby, I was right there to protect you!”

“But they’re mean, Namjoonie! If they had been mean to you I would’ve fought!” And when Hoseok makes that ridiculous face of rounding his cheeks, Namjoon giggles. He’s just so cute.

“You guys have no shame.” Taehyung rolls his eyes. “We get it, you’re cute, you’re in love. Just let us single people be in peace.”

“Well, if my hunch is right, some single people won’t be single for much longer,” Hoseok winks.

Taehyung opens his mouth to answer him, but it is cut off by lights on the stage.

“Finally,” Namjoon thinks he hears Jimin mutter.

On the stage, there are blue and red rights alternating as a figure appears. They're mostly in black, with some silver jewellery that glints in the light. Their silver hair is pushed back on one side, revealing sharp, focussed eyes, and Namjoon’s jaw drops.

This was not the Yoongi they had met outside. That Yoongi was timid, unsure, but on stage, he’s like fire. White hot fire, unyielding yet inviting because of how pretty it looks.

“Oh fuck,” Namjoon could hear Jimin mutter again as his eyes are glued to the stage. Jimin’s eyes are welling up and Yoongi is just taking the stage.

“You really do love him, don’t you?” Namjoon leans down and asks Jimin.

Jimin nods.

Satisfied, Namjoon stands up to full height to enjoy Yoongi’s performance, his hand finding Hoseok’s and clamping it tightly.

It almost feels like they are making a wish together.

Yoongi was amazing on the stage. They hadn’t known what to expect but Namjoon was completely blown over. If he hadn’t seen Yoongi before in various different settings, Namjoon would have believed that Yoongi was a huge star.

His set-list consisted of 4 songs, beginning from high energy songs to a soft, acoustic song about a toxic relationship. This has Namjoon’s jaw on the floor because this has never been something that he has investigated before. It’s as sad and frustrating as intriguing it is. Namjoon wants to read up more and speak to Yoongi about it—but after tonight.

If they ever get the chance, that is.

Beside him, Jimin is wiping tears off his cheeks with the back of his cute hands. Namjoon hands him a handkerchief. “I hate it when he does acoustic guitar. I get all emotion al.”

Namjoon chuckles.

At the end of the last song, Yoongi smiles at the crowd. “Thank you all for coming here, and hope you’ll stay back to see the rest of the artists.”

Encore! Encore! Encore!

The crowd is screaming, and Namjoon can vaguely hear Taehyung and Jungkook scream the same word over and over again. But Jimin opts to simply look at him.

“What does this mean?” Namjoon asks Jimin.

“It means they want him to perform another song!” Jimin shouts over the crowd.

Hoseok, who had been listening, lights up. “Encore! Encore! Encore!”

Namjoon shouts too, because why not? He had so much fun!

Yoongi smiles on stage, and Namjoon can tell he’s trying hard to be genuine. “I guess this is my cue to bring up that one song I wanted to perform but didn’t have the courage to.”

The crowd cheers.

“This song is called You Are So Beautiful, and this is dedicated to the most beautiful person I have ever had the privilege of meeting.”

He looks straight at Jimin for two long seconds before looking down at his guitar. Then he sings.

It’s one of the cutest songs that Namjoon has ever heard, and his cheekbones hurt from smiling too much. Hoseok looks like he’s having the time of his life and Namjoon’s hand tightens.

This is it.

After the song ends, Yoongi thanks the crowd, bows, and leaves .

Just like that, off the stage.

“I thought he would do a grand declaration of love on stage?” Hoseok voices out Namjoon’s thought.

“Oh, no, what if we read this all wrong? What if this was...this was not it? What if he...” Lowering his voice, Namjoon gulps. “...he lost hope and confidence?”

“Namjoon! Don’t say that!” Hoseok hisses and reprimands him. “We’ll have the arrow anyway!”

“Yeah, but Hoseok-ah, my track record with arrows is close to none. You know that.”

“Let’s make it un-none, then, yeah?!”

Does that convince Namjoon? Not at all.

But does that cute little smile make him feel like he can conquer anything in life even if it means he’ll fail miserably ?

Yes, most definitely.

Behind Namjoon, Jimin is making is way to the side of the stage. He’s pushing people off and muttering small excuses while not even looking at the people. The Smitteners share a look, and then when Namjoon looks up, Taehyung and Jungkook also share a look with each other, and then they look at Namjoon.

“We all know where he’s going, right?”

Namjoon nods.

“Can’t you make people move?” Taehyung gestures.

For a second, Namjoon’s heart drops. Did he overhear his conversation with Hoseok? They weren’t exactly quiet, but it was loud here in the club...and even if he did overhear them, it’s not like Namjoon has the kind of magic to move people, so what is he even saying?

Taehyung rolls his eyes and Namjoon wants to shrivel up. “Dude, you’re taller than Jimin, and wider, I’m sure people would move if you just walked behind him!”

“Oh! Like that you mean!” Namjoon giggles awkwardly.

Raising an eyebrow, Taehyung looks at him suspiciously. “Yeah, so go!”

“Right!”

Namjoon spins around and finds Jimin with surprising ease. Over the crowd, however, he can also see Yoongi trying to make his way vaguely towards them. Taehyung was right, but not that Namjoon would ever admit because then the handsome man who has all the rights to be insufferable because of his looks will be even more insufferable, and he doesn’t want Jungkook to be punished. But he was right. As soon as Namjoon spins around and tries to make his way towards Jimin, people move apart, gaping at him but he doesn’t have time now!

When Namjoon (and the rest of them trailing behind him) reach Jimin, Namjoon places his hand on Jimin who turns back to tell off the person who touched him.

“Please take your hand—oh, Namjoon.” Jimin takes a deep breath. “Sorry, I just—I need to--”

“Yoongi is over there, you were going in the wrong direction.”

Jimin shakes his head. “I-I wasn’t going to go to Yoongi, Namjoon,”

The next artist is on the stage and introducing themselves, and Namjoon knows he’s being rude, but his career is on the line.

“What? Why not?” he almost screams in the noise.

“I-I don’t know! I need some air and space to think!”

“Let’s go outside then!”

Jimin opens his mouth to protest but Namjoon had turned and whispered in Hoseok’s ear to meet them outside with Yoongi. And before long, Namjoon and Jimin make their way outside the club and to the parking on the side of the building.

It’s a very pleasant night, just the perfect weather, not too chilly, not too warm, but Jimin is sweating.

“Jimin, are you okay?”

“No.” His arms are wrapped around his middle and he’s looking away.

A universal language for don’t want to talk about it.

“Let me get you some water.”

Namjoon makes his way to the other side of the building and waits. He’s peeking around the corner as he waits for Hoseok to drag Yoongi along with him.

When they emerge out, Yoongi looks at Namjoon with wide eyes. He’s breathing hard.

“Parking.”

Yoongi nods and jogs around the side of the building. Namjoon takes his position at the corner of the building, as Hoseok joins him. A moment later, he feels two human presences and one godly presence behind them.

Namjoon turns back and is promptly startled.

“Um, who are you?” Taehyung asks as Hoseok and Namjoon exchange fearful looks.

Seokjin grins. “Oh, just an on looker. Please don’t mind me, this is far more entertaining than whatever is going on inside.”

Jungkook frowns, but then a short, frustrated shout grabs their attention.

“I hate you, Min Yoongi, you know that?” They can just make out what Jimin is saying because of the quiet night.

Two humans, two Smitteners and one God of Love watch from the corner, stacked up like bears, one on top of another.

They can’t hear what Yoongi is saying because he’s speaking too low, but with the way that Jimin is smiling and sniffling and then hugging Yoongi, and then attacking his face—oh that was kissing, things seem to have worked well.

It is always exhilarating to bring people together. Namjoon loves the whole process of it, and while this job is very temporary for him, he still enjoys it. What he loves more is when the moment things click for the couple. When they realize that the other person has been it for all this time. When Namjoon can feel their brains working in tandem with their hearts. When the love they always held for the person just magnifies as it morphs and transforms with recognition.

Seeing Jimin and Yoongi makes him feel like his—their—efforts were worth it.

Back when Namjoon had started his job as a Smittener, he always thought when the couple got together, it would be fireworks moment. Like the moment they realized, or kissed, or confessed, or all three, the world would automatically get better, get brighter or something. But at the end of his first case, he realized he had been looking at it all wrong. There were no fireworks, no sparks, no fire, no brightens emanating from the couple. But it felt like Namjoon himself felt a lot lighter. A lot happier, a lot more like the world was a better place with love.

And that was enough for him.

Namjoon looks at Hoseok and finds him looking back at him, eyes misty.

“I always love this part.” Namjoon whispers.

“Me too.” Hoseok whispers back croakily.

“What part? Are you guys crying?” Taehyung whispers between and Hoseok and Namjoon startle apart.

Seokjin is standing a little behind them, arms folded across his chest, with a serene expression on his face. “Well, that was fun.”

Namjoon and Hoseok turn around, swallowing.

He then looks at Jungkook and Taehyung, looking at the three non-humans with equal parts curiosity and fear.

“It’s your turn, now, isn’t it?”

Namjoon gapes at Seokjin. The utter audacity of him!

“Seokjin, wait,” Namjoon starts.

“Seokjin, please.” Hoseok says quietly, but his voice is steely and calm. “We still have...three more hours to our deadline. I implore you to not interfere just yet.”

Namjoon’s breath quickens and he wants to fan his face.

“Uh, guys?” It’s Jungkook this time. “I’m super confused. You guys have some explaining to do. And how do you know that guy?”

In Namjoon’s head, a scenario of him and Hoseok explaining to the two humans before him who they are and what they do flitted by quickly. He didn’t make it to the end of their reactions but he imagines them to either laugh at them or run away screaming.

“Sorry,” Namjoon says, smiling a little. “Um. Before we get to that...” he peeks around the corner to see Yoongi and Jimin wrapped around each other and swaying to music that only they could hear.

“What do you think about them?”

Taehyung and Jungkook frown, exchanging a look between them. “I mean, I’m happy for them. They were pining after each other for so long, so I’m glad they could confess to each other. What’s that got to do with anything?”

Namjoon knows Taehyung doesn’t mean to be hostile, but it still makes Namjoon want to cower in fear. Luckily, Hoseok comes to the rescue. (By stepping in and taking Namjoon’s hand in his, of cour se.)

“I know we haven’t exactly interacted too much but after tonight...” Hoseok trails off, taking a deep breath. “They are not the only ones who seem to be pining after one another. Namjoon and I are very observant about these things. So, don’t you guys want what they have?”

Jungkook gapes at them but Taehyung’s frown deepens. “That’s not—”

“Hyung,” Jungkook calls softly, and the way Taehyung immediately softens and turns around to look at the youngest with eyes filled to the brim with love is unmistakable.

“Jungkook-ah ?”

“I like you, hyung.” Jungkook shrugs. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you since the moment I met you but...then we became friends and I loved that too much to risk it. But I am going to risk it, and say that I truly, truly think we’d make an even more awesome couple than them. We're both taller than them and you’re way hotter than them, and I just love you, okay?”

In a shocking turn of events, soft, shy, quiet Jungkook confessing to his crush was not on the Smitteners’ bingo. But well, they’ll take what they can get.

Even if it means Taehyung and Jungkook are nearly grinding against each other as they make out, paying no mind to the audience they have left behind.

Looking away from the enthusiastic, newly formed couple, Namjoon and Hoseok end up looking at Seokjin.

“So? We made it!” Hoseok says, vibrating.

Seokjin smiles serenely, and for the first time, Namjoon is not afraid of Seokjin and his power. “You did. I will see you both back at Serendipity in a few hours. I suggest you pack your belongings and get ready.”

Namjoon and Hoseok bow lightly as Seokjin walks back into the club.

After Seokjin leaves, Namjoon and Hoseok stare at the doors of the club for a few minutes. When the door had opened, the noise had filtered out in the quiet night, but then just as quickly muffled off. A cool breeze ruffles the leaves of some nearby trees, interrupting the kissing noises from behind them.

Namjoon is afraid of taking a breath.

Hoseok breaks the silence first. “Namjoon.”

“Hmm?”

They’re still staring at the doors of the club, but Hoseok’s hand finds Namjoon’s, and he squeezes it gently, as if to say I’m here.

“We did it.”

A beat passes and Namjoon swallows a lump in his throat. “We did it, Hoseok.” Namjoon nearly whispers.

“You know, I thought this would feel grand,” Hoseok muses out loud, chuckling. “Like there might be confetti or fireworks or something, but this is just. Even better.”

“What is?”

“This lightness in my heart.”

At this, Namjoon turns to Hoseok, smiling. “Yeah, it is.”

After a moment, Namjoon adds. “Although, I wouldn’t mind some fireworks. I do like them quite a bit.”

Hoseok just smiles.

Chapter Text

Later, they are in their hotel room, after having a hearty meal at Still With You (for old times’ sake, Hoseok says, but the food is truly good), packing up their belongings. They don’t have fancy suitcases, but they plan on transporting everything to the Isthmus with the help of Wonpil, who was kind enough to agree.

They're exchanging stuff between them that had gotten mixed up, since they’re in two different parts of the room. Hoseok’s perfumes which ended up with Namjoon, who trades it for some books and CDs (not that he has CD players up in the Isthmus to play them...maybe he should go and buy one?) and Hoseok sighs.

“Have you ever had a roommate, Namjoon?”

Namjoon shakes his head. “Nobody wanted to be roommates with me, but it was okay since I could get a whole room for myself at University,”

“That’s mean!” Hoseok gasps. “You will give me their names right now.”

Namjoon’s hands still and he looks up. “Why?”

“So that I can beat their asses!” Hoseok pulls his sleeves up till his elbows.

Namjoon giggles. “I’m sure they have forgotten all about me. I don’t care, it’s all in the past!”

It gets quiet for a moment, before Hoseok speaks again. “But seriously Namjoon, they really were assholes. But I’m kinda glad I get to be your first roommate in this very unorthodox setting, so that now I can tell them what a great person you are and what they missed out on. And your mess, of course,” he winks and Namjoon rolls his eyes to stop himself from combusting.

“We have less than an hour to go, finish packing.”

The phone in between their beds, for reasons that Namjoon couldn’t figure why it was there, rings.

The Smitteners share a look. “Do you think they’re calling for us?”

Namjoon looks at the time. “It's rather late for anyone to be up at this hour. Should we really pick it?”

“I’ll do it.” Hoseok says and picks it up after the fifth ring.

“Hello?” Hoseok frowns when he gets a response from the other side. “Uh, who?...Did they say why?... Okay, okay, thank you, we’re on our way.”

“Who was that?”

Hoseok looks at the phone and back at Namjoon with an unreadable expression. “The...front desk, they said. Apparently, someone called Jimin is looking for us? He’s waiting to meet in the lobby, like right now.”

Namjoon blinks. And then blinks again. He looks at Hoseok, who’s mouth is opening and closing, not unlike the golden fish (they are orange in colour, Namjoon doesn’t understand why they are called goldfish) that are in a glass tank at the front of their hotel’s entrance.

Standing in front of them are the four humans that had been just friends earlier that day. Or the previous day. They were looking at Namjoon and Hoseok in various states of disbelief—Taehyung the least, Jimin the most.

“Hey!” Hoseok says, the nervousness in his voice evident with the way his eyes are shifting. Namjoon feels too paralysed to do anything.

“Hi,” Yoongi replies, stepping forward nervously. “Um, we, um, need to speak—”

“Who are you guys?” Jimin cuts in.

He sounds confused, borderline angry, and Namjoon has enough evidence up in his folders that he knows he shouldn’t really be on the receiving end of Jimin’s anger.

Namjoon looks from Taehyung to Jungkook to Yoongi to Jimin. “What?”

Jimin waves his hands around wildly. “You guys claim you’re on vacation, that you’re a couple, that you don’t know these ‘city things’,” Jimin actually makes these air quotes with his fingers. “You also said you didn’t know that weird hot guy! But you clearly knew him so what is your deal? Are you like...in trouble? Running away from somewhere? Oh, are you like in the Secret Services, on a case and pretending to be a couple so that you can finish your job on time?! And why us? Did you plan all of this? Meeting us? Are we in trouble?!”

That was so close to the truth that Namjoon began sweating. He was a better liar than Hoseok but even he didn’t know how to get out of this.

Hoseok and Namjoon look at each other and them look back at the humans, who are looking at them expectedly. “We...don’t follow?”

Jungkook puts his hands up in defeat while Jimin rolls his eyes. “I told you guys, they don’t seem shady or anything!”

“You have to admit, they are a little bit shady at least.”

“Even if they’ve been nothing but nice and kind to us?”

They think we’re kind? Namjoon’s heart melts a bit.

“Wait, you guys!” Yoongi stops their bickering and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Let's calm down and talk it out like adults, yeah?”

They find seats in the lobby while Yoongi goes to ask the receptionist for some water. As the rest wait, Hoseok and Namjoon fidget under the remaining humans’ scrutinizing eyes.

When Yoongi comes back and rubs a soothing hand against Jimin’s thigh, the tension in the air dissipates a little.

“Okay, Namjoon-ssi, Hoseok-ssi,” Yoongi begins, clearly the calmest in the group. “We’re so sorry about this but we have to know some things because we just...we don’t feel like you are out to harm us or anything but it is too perfect to be a coincidence. I really don’t want—”

“Hyung!” Jimin says. “Stop being so nice!”

“How can I not? They were—are so nice!”

Namjoon smiles, despite it all.

“I think I know where this is going.” Namjoon says without thinking and he realizes, he doesn’t really have to think that hard.

He knows that these humans need some rational explanation to these recent events because he had learnt that humans look for rationality in things, and he’s ready to give it to them.

“Hoseok and I are just what we said: tourists,” he begins. “We just came here to see the place and attend an event, and just like...chill for a little while.”

He is so glad he had taken up classes on progressive communication.

“But then we ran into Taehyung first, and then Jungkook, and then Yoongi and then Jimin. We had no idea that you all...knew each other or anything.” He makes a vague gesture and he’s so proud of it he could cry.

“And then Yoongi gave us tickets to his show, and we were so excited that we literally told everyone we met that we were going to his show!” At this, Hoseok smiles and finds Namjoon’s hand against the sofa, a warm press of it against his own grounds him. “So, when Jungkook told us that he knew the guy and then when Jimin also told the same thing, we thought, funny coincidence! Right?”

Nobody laughs, not even Hoseok who is busy looking at his feet.

“But yeah, guys. I don’t know what to tell you—”

“See!” Jimin points out. “They’re holding hands!”

Yoongi sighs. “Baby, we held hands before we dated, and you know I love holding hands—”

“Min Yoongi, do you hold somebody else’s hands when you need reassurance?”

“N-no, not at all.”

“Exactly! Look!”

Four pairs of eyes land on the spot between Namjoon and Hoseok. The Smitteners share a confused look before following their eyes.

Their hands were clasped between them. They quickly let go of it but when they look at each other, an understanding passes between them. They hold hands again, slowly.

The feeling of Hoseok warm and soft skin sliding against Namjoon’s own has his heart quivering. As it is, Namjoon is finding it hard to breathe.

“They can’t obviously not be in love!”

Jimin’s voice startles them, and they look at the four humans.

“What?”

It’s Jungkook who answers this time. “That weird and handsome guy we met at the club, he told us that you guys aren’t like together, or whatever. He asked us to tell you guys to get your shit together. Jimin refused to believe it, so we came here to...ask you that.”

What?

Namjoon and Hoseok exchange another confused look before looking back at the humans. “We don’t even know the guy!”

Jimin falls back. “Phew. I was so scared for a second there!”

“Are you happy, Jimin?” Yoongi asks, holding him by his shoulders. “We've bothered them enough, let’s let them rest, we can meet tomorrow, yeah?”

Namjoon feels like he should say something. Anything about them leaving in about an hour.

Namjoon thinks Hoseok might have wanted to say something, but he doesn’t either.

“Good night, guys, so sorry to bother you,” Yoongi says, herding everyone out of the hotel. Just as they turn, Hoseok shouts.

“Wait!”

And then he rushes forward to hug Yoongi, and then Jimin, and then a very reluctant Jungkook and Taehyung. They look at him fondly as he tells them how amazing he felt during the show, and how wonderful it was to have met them.

Namjoon’s heart clenches as he lifts his hand to say goodbye.

Perhaps for the last time.

Taehyung, the last one in the group, the only one who hadn't uttered a single word throughout the evening, looks back before he pushes the door.

“I know you guys are like our Guardian Angels or whatever, and I know you couldn’t tell them, but thank you, for looking after us.” he winks and disappears through the door.

Namjoon resists the urge to melt through the floor. But dazedly, he and Hoseok make it back to their hotel room. The timer on Namjoon’s tab told him that they had less than half an hour before their elevator could come to pick them up and yet, Namjoon couldn’t bring himself to move.

When the elevator comes, and Nayeon rings Namjoon to make sure he’s aware, they make their way into the elevator. This time, the song playing through the tinny speakers is Yoongi’s song, seesaw. Hoseok, who had been sniffling next to him, groans.

Namjoon chuckles wetly. When he thought being assigned a partner to this job was the worst day ever, it couldn’t compare to today.

“Hoseok, how are you holding up?” Namjoon asks because the silence—through Yoongi’s soft song—is unbearable.

Hoseok croaks out a laugh. They’re looking at each other through the mirrored walls of the elevator and while they are very different people at first glance—Namjoon's tall and buff build to Hoseok’s slighter and leaner one, Namjoon’s short, spiky hair to Hoseok’s longer, wavy one, Namjoon’s dimpled smile to Hoseok’s heart shaped one—they pretty much wear the same expressions. Their eyes are red rimmed, noses blocked from all the snot they’re trying to hold back, the same sag of their shoulders.

“I-I don’t know, Namjoon.” Hoseok says as Nayeon announces reaching the breach. He sighs. “I feel so bad lying to them about everything, and I know it was for their own good, because we never supposed to be seen in the first place!”

He shakes his head and leans against the wall of the elevator, closing his eyes as the final beats of the song fade away.

Namjoon resists the urge to put his arm around Hoseok in an attempt to comfort him. The Isthmus knows Namjoon himself needs some comfort.

The elevator pings, and Nayeon’s voice floats through the speakers. “You have now ascended to the Isthmus of Serendipity. Doors will open to your front. Toodaloo.”

And then a beat pass. “You guys! Congratulations!”

Namjoon raises an eyebrow at the speakers, and then looks at Hoseok, who shrugs. And then, the door opens.

The moment the Smitteners set their foot on the threshold between the elevator and the floor of the Isthmus, there are loud popping sounds on either side of them, and they are enveloped in a huge, pink cloud. Coughing, they wave the cloud away, only to see Seokjin (and what looks like the entire population of Isthmus behind him) standing in front of them, smiling serenely in his pink silk toga and extensive collection of brooches. Namjoon feels underdressed in his jeans and brown shirt.

Seokjin spreads his hands wide. “Welcome, Smitteners! Congratulations on succeeding one of the most challenging cases we have seen in some time. And to think you have also survived on earth while pretending to be humans? This is the first time it has ever happened in our history, and I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations for making it back, with success. The humans seem to be happy and content and we would like to celebrate today!”

He grins at Namjoon and Hoseok, winking. “We also have some exciting announcements! Now, as some humans say, chop chop!”

There are cheers all around and Namjoon and Hoseok share a look with wide eyes. They should both probably smile and say thank you, even bow, maybe, but Namjoon’s mouth opens and closes like a goldfish.

“Ah!” Seokjin chuckles. “Speechless! I am rather good at leaving others like that, aren’t I? Not to worry! You’ll be escorted up to your quarters and you can join the celebration in a few hours. Please rest well!”

Namjoon and Hoseok live in separate wings of the living quarters. This explains why he has never run into the other Smittener, but really, Namjoon thinks it’s most likely his tendency to be by himself.

Two of Seokjin’s guards accompany them till their quarters, and they leave with small salutes. Namjoon and Hoseok stand at the entrance, looking at the massive building which houses all the Smitteners in individual units, kind of like an apartment complex. Namjoon has lived here for all of one year, but he doesn’t feel like he’s back home.

He feels like he’s in an alternate universe. Or in a dream.

“Namjoon.” Hoseok’s voice jars him out of his head. “D-do you want to meet up in some time? Before heading to the gathering. I mean. I don’t want to be alone.”

Namjoon is already nodding. “Why don’t you come by my unit?”

“Is it neat?” Hoseok grins, teasingly. “Last I had seen, your stuff was strewn all around the hotel room!”

Namjoon pouts, but he’s not annoyed. He’s just sad.

Hoseok seems to have noticed the shift in his demeanour, so he rubs a soothing hand up and down Namjoon’s arm.

He just smiles. “Nah, I just end up not spending a lot of time there.”

Hoseok returns a tiny smile of his own. “Okay, then. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Sometime later (the shift from Earth to Isthmus is screwing with his time awareness so Namjoon is unable to exactly tell how much time has passed), Hoseok comes by knocking on his door, only to find Namjoon sitting on his couch and staring off into the window.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

It’s awkward, but not for reasons as before. Earlier, they didn’t know each other. Namjoon simply hated the fact that Seokjin thought he was so incompetent in his job that had to be partnered up with someone who had just transferred. It was a low blow (a little deserved, Namjoon can’t lie to himself) but still, it hurt him. He didn’t want to be mean but also didn’t want to seem like he was grateful for the help when he wasn’t but now...

“This is so weird, isn’t it?” Hoseok cut through his thoughts.

Namjoo nods. “Just feels too...surreal. I don’t even know which way is up or down.”

They sit with the unsettling feeling in their stomachs, watching the spectacular view of the sun going down and the second star rising. But when they share a glance, they know they’re remembering the view of the sunset by the lake they had witnessed two days into their stay on earth. It’s not like Namjoon is comparing the two by any means, but he just wishes that he could once again feel the warmth of the sun on his skin as the chill settled in as the day made way for night.

As the days go by, Namjoon gets more...uncomfortable. He feels like he ate too quickly and now he’s still hungry but there’s a heavy feeling settled in his stomach.

He also feels like he was put on a different planet, yanked out of his familiar space and thrust into a new one where he had to relearn rules of society and the planet all over again...

Oh wait, that’s exactly what happened.

And Seokjin doesn’t think it was important for Namjoon to take a break for a few days before starting as a Seeker’s Apprentice.

Which, by the way, was one of the main announcements from Seokjin. It was a “reward” for good work done. For Hoseok, it was a phenomenal raise and the choice to pick cases instead of being assigned to him.

And while Namjoon has (nearly) gotten what he has always wanted in his life, i.e., being a Seeker (Apprentice), something felt...off. Like he was getting too much too soon. Namjoon had resigned—no, expected—to work as a Smittener for a long time before he could even get here. It feels too sudden.

It feels like he didn’t deserve it.

Seokjin waves him away during their daily meetings where Namjoon almost begs. “You’re one of the best, right alongside Hoseok! He’s been taking cases on like a champ, I don’t understand why you’re resisting.”

Namjoon knows for a fact that Hoseok is not taking them on like a fucking champ. He knows because each night, Hoseok and Namjoon meet to complain about the new cases, being put in unfamiliar locations, how Namjoon’s supervisor barely allows him to dive deep into cases, and mourn. What they mourn takes on a different shape every night, but it doesn’t stop.

“Besides,” Seokjin continues. “You’re only one step away from becoming a Seeker!”

And there it is.

If Seokjin had used this...enticing offer to convince him to partner up with Hoseok more than two weeks ago, he probably wouldn’t have been so reluctant and hostile. Namjoon would have even jumped at the chance. He still would have, had the previous case been just a regular old case. But after being thrust into the human world with no warning, mingling with the four humans and their friends and acquaintances, he has been feeling...

Not like he wants to spend the rest of eternity finding humans in need of love and creating pathways for it.

It's still a noble profession! But it feels like that dream belongs to a different version of Namjoon, the Smittener.

“Isn’t there anything else I can work on, Seokjin? I can help Seulgi with the potions, you know I am good at that.”

“Is everything okay, Namjoon?” The colour outside of Pink-O is less pink with concern and Namjoon swallows a wave of guilt that floats his way. “You know you can tell me anything. I just want everybody in the Isthmus of Serendipity to be happy.”

And therein lies the problem. He knows where he could be happy. But it’s something that hasn’t been materialized out into the physical world yet. Namjoon’s thoughts are so wild that he’s afraid of letting them out. He hasn’t even confided in Hoseok yet. And Hoseok has grown to be somewhat of a close friend to him.

(No, he has not. Namjoon’s growing crush is so enormous that there is no space for any friendship.)

“Because you always wanted to be a Seeker, right?”

Namjoon sighs. “People change, Seokjin.”

“Humans change, Namjoon, not us.” Seokjin sits forward in his throne and laces his fingers across one knee that he had crossed over the other. “I want you to think about this carefully and get back to me in a few days—Isthmus days—about what it is that you truly want to do. Okay?”

Not like he has any room for argument. “Yes, Seokjin, I will.”

Namjoon has a plan. It’s risky, it’s brand new, it’s fucking scary, but it’s a plan, nonetheless.

After his last—disastrous—meeting with Seokjin, Namjoon sits with his thoughts and gets to work. He spends the time it takes for the second star to rise, set, and for the moon to rise to come up with a plan. On his whiteboard, there are sticky notes, coloured markers, stickies that only open with a designated codeword, little flashing bulbs that he uses for important concerns and other aspects. By the time he is done, Hoseok is knocking on his door.

“I leave you alone for a day and you have full plan of...whatever that is ready. Did you even eat?”

Namjoon shakes his head sheepishly and Hoseok rolls his eyes, dragging Namjoon away. “Your precious whiteboard will be fine for a while. You can tell me about why it has kept up since the last time I saw yesterday, hm?”

“You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

Hoseok levels him with a flat stare, as if to say, Namjoon, really?

Namjoon rolls his eyes but then looks around. The cafeteria isn’t packed, but he would much rather not be overheard.

“I’ll tell you after we eat?”

Hoseok seems to grasp the seriousness of the situation, so he nods and pays attention to his food. Namjoon picks at his food, because he misses real food, human food from the cafe that started everything to the hearty meals from Still With You. 

But he’s not on earth any longer, and he has no reason to be, so takes a deep breath and finishes what little he has on his plate. 

He steels himself for the explanation that Hoseok deserves. Namjoon is crossing his fingers and toes (something he picked up from Jungkook) that his friend won’t run out on him, calling him crazy. 

Or worse, snitch on him. 

He plans to come clean anyway.   

After their dinner, Namjoon nervously leads an inquisitive Hoseok back to his quarters, who wouldn’t stop asking questions—

“Are you in trouble?”

“Are we in trouble?”

“Are the humans in trouble?”

“Are you going to die?”

Namjoon had to stop him in his tracks.

“No one is going to die, no one is in trouble. Except, maybe me, later.” 

That effectively shuts Hoseok up as they make their way to Namjoon’s residence. As they enter, the lights flick on automatically, and Namjoon mutters at the chandeliers to lower the brightness.

“How can you see in such low light?”

Namjoon shrugs, and asks Hoseok to sit at the loveseat as he went to bring his whiteboard. 

“Wow.” Hoseok whistles. “I knew you liked planning stuff out but this is just amazing!”

Namjoon’s face heats up at the compliment. “Oh come on, if you hear my plan out, you’ll know why my thought process ended up with this.”

“Okay, so tell me.”

Taking a deep breath and absorbing the earnestness in Hoseok’s eyes, Namjoon tells him everything.

It takes a while for Namjoon to finish explaining everything by the end of which he is panting, heartbeat rising at every second that passes by as Hoseok sits in silence. 

Namjoon can’t look at him, so turns to his board. “So, ta-da! What do you think?”

Hoseok is simply staring at Namjoon, his mouth open wide and blinking. “Um.”

Apprentice Seeker sighs. “I know, Seokjin might not be very happy with me for questioning the methods but, I dunno. I just.”

Namjoon takes a seat next to Hoseok. “I know we have talked about it, about-about not feeling yourself after getting back, and since yesterday, since the moment this idea popped into my head, everything feels right. Like this is the thing I need to do. That this is my destiny. That this is...what I should be doing, should have been doing ever since we got back.” 

Hoseok stares at Namjoon’s living quarters’ carpet intently for a moment. Namjoon knows this to be the Smittener’s way of thinking. But the silence is deafening and Namjoon’s heart thumps hard enough for him to be able to imagine it tearing itself from his ribcage. 

That is until Hoseok turns around to look at him with fiery determination in his eyes. Namjoon’s heart nearly stops.

“Can I add some things?”

Namjoon nods once and Hoseok jumps off his seat, heading over to the whiteboard. He commands the whiteboard to allow Hoseok to make changes and Namjoon’s shaky heart turns heavier as Hoseok adds notes in several places. 

For a long while, there is only the sound of marker squeaking against the whiteboard (Namjoon likes the sound, okay? He bought them specifically so that they could make that sound, ignoring Hoseok’s disgusted face when he saw it first), silence, and Namjoon’s laboured breaths as he struggles not to kiss Hoseok or his brain. 

When he steps away, Hoseok smirks. “I have come across some stuff in my experience and in the library. You’ve done a thorough job, but I thought you might appreciate some stuff you might have missed.”

Namjoon rushes to the whiteboard, drinking everything in. Hoseok is right, there were quite a few things he had missed, clearly, two brains were better than one. 

“Holy Isthmus.” Namjoon whispers. “We might just be able to win Seokjin over.”

Hoseok clasps Namjoon’s hands in his and squeezes it once. 

“Do you want to see the stars for a bit?”

Namjoon smiles and nods. Hoseok leads him to the rooftop where they spent the entire night gazing up at the stars, committing it to memory and trying to remember how the stars looked from the earth.
The stars are better on Isthmus, and that had pretty much been the only thing he had missed while he was on earth.

A week later, Namjoon and Hoseok request an audience with Seokjin. 

That week, Namjoon and Hoseok, in between their work on Isthmus and Earth, manage to put together a whole case for their idea. The moment the last paper prints out (because even on the isthmus of Serendipity, printers are still a problem. Seriously, has nobody considered inventing an unproblematic printer?), Namjoon goes ahead and schedules a meeting with Seokjin. When he is asked to state the reason for the meeting, he takes a moment, and then scribbles down Learnings, Feedback, And Suggestions on the form.

It takes less than a day for Seokjin to get back to him. 

Today is the day. 

Namjoon and Hoseok are standing shoulder to shoulder at the huge doors of the Pink-O, waiting for it to be open. The large pink and silver doors, with embedded gems should look tacky but Seokjin has managed to make it look elegant. Namjoon marvels at his ability because as far as he is aware, Seokjin has made a lot of changes since his reign. He has read a lot on it. It’s not only changes in the Isthmus with regards to working, he has managed to keep the root and output of it intact, while making the end-to-end process more efficient. Namjoon admires Seokjin for this sole reason because he literally did not have to work so hard but once he came to power, he has worked nearly as hard (and maybe even more) as every single being on the Isthmus. 
This is why Namjoon has a feeling that Seokjin might not turn them away or banish them. 

Or worse, laugh at him and Hoseok.  

So, standing at the gleaming door, waiting, Namjoon clutches the thick file to his chest.

“Hey,” Hoseok manages to whisper next to him.

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

Oh yeah, his crush on Hoseok is no longer just a simple crush.

Namjoon just shakes his head. “It’s so fast that I can’t catch anything. Almost like it’s empty.”

“Is that...okay?” 

Nodding resolutely, Namjoon tries for a smile.

“Absolutely.” And it is better than him panicking (those are just one of the many thoughts going around in a loop that he refuses to stretch out and catch) and making Hoseok panic.

He’s good at maintaining a cool exterior, he tells himself. His recent assignment with Hoseok has proved it so he will be cool in front of the god of Love. 

Namjoon might be challenging the way things are run but he believes that Seokjin would not punish him for that. 

Then the doors open. 

Namjoon and Hoseok share a glance and a quick squeeze of hands as they are announced into the formal audience. 

The Pink-O has a large conference-room attached to Seokjin’s office. Upon entry, Namjoon can easily spot Seokjin on a dais at one end of the room, radiating a powerful aura that Namjoon struggles to not cower from. Diagonally opposite to Seokjin is the audience, seated on pink and silver bejewelled chairs in a large semicircle. There are familiar faces towards the back, but important people, heads of departments, head-roles under each and beings from the administration team are all seated here in anticipation.

Namjoon blinks. He had requested a formal audience with Seokjin, but he didn’t think it would involve so many people. 

Gulping, he shares a look with Hoseok who gives him an encouraging smile and nods at him to move. Namjoon has never spoken in front of so many people, but he takes a deep breath and strides forward.  

There’s a projector on a table at the far end of the room, behind which is a podium for Namjoon and Hoseok to speak. 

Namjoon stiffly walks over and ruffles the pages of his file to find the presentation he had prepared and places it face down on the projector. The image is projected on the screen behind them, and the lights dim.

“You may begin.” Seokjin announces, as he sits back in his throne, jewellery-adorned hands laced over his knee. 

And with one final look shared with Hoseok, Namjoon takes a deep breath and begins.

One Isthmus-of-Serendipity Year Later 

Namjoon is looking over at the elevator anxiously. Seokjin is due to come down any moment and he is desperately hoping for today go right. 

“Namjoon! I can feel your nerves all the way across the room!” Hoseok is beside him, looking at him with mock disapproval and handing him a glass of chilled lemonade. “How many coffees have you had so far?”

Namjoon blinks. If he says the truth, he’ll be in trouble. If he lies, Hoseok will know he’s lying. He gulps. 

“I don’t think you wanna know.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes as he sips from his own glass. “I knew the coffee machine was a bad idea, but you know what made it worse? You having your own cup and having endless refills. We should put a cap on coffee intake, especially for you. Maybe I can ask Jinyoung to come up with a spell—”

“Hoba, noooo!” Namjoon wails and stomps his feet. 
Hoseok grins, and Namjoon’s heart thumps hard, in a non-caffeine-induced way. 

The past year has been...interesting, to put it mildly. After presenting their proposal of establishing a department for Smitteners on Earth, at the cusp of both the realms, things have been chaotic. The idea was that the department is to serve as a rest-stop kind of place for Smitteners. Seokjin approved of the idea instantly, though were some reservations from older and more experienced beings in the realm. After several exhausting rounds of meetings with Seokjin and other “important” people (who had never been smitteners in their lives before), things were finalized, and Namjoon was nominated to oversee its establishing, and then responsible for running it.

At the end of the last meeting, Namjoon sat in shock.
Hoseok put his hand on his shoulder. “Hey, are you okay?”

His voice was soft, so soft that it almost felt like he imagined it. But the hand on his shoulder said otherwise. 

Namjoon nodded. “I just...I didn’t think it would work. Not like this. Not with me leading it.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes. “You discredit yourself so easily. Come on, let’s go for celebratory drinks! I’ve asked Jackson to bring along everyone else!”

And today is the inauguration day. They had no such tradition up in the Isthmus but technically, the department was partly set up in Earth anyway, so Namjoon decided to make it a fun day.

Namjoon had read up on a ribbon-cutting event for the doors of the department and while even he thought it was a little silly, he wanted to do it for the symbolism anyway. And Seokjin, who had been coming down personally to check up on the progress of the department, would be the one to cut the ribbon.

He didn’t even blink an eye when Namjoon brought this up hesitantly. 

“I have seen humans using scissors for this event, but would it be okay if I used magic for it?”

Namjoon opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. “Uh-yeah! Anything, Seokjin!”

He smiled a little, and it was so genuine that Namjoon smiled back involuntarily.

Now, he’s waiting for Seokjin while sipping on Isthmus sparkly wine. Namjoon should probably slow down since he’s on his second glass in ten minutes. When he drains his second glass, Hoseok lifts an eyebrow at him. 

Namjoon begs him to let this one time go by pouting at him. 

Hoseok rolls his eyes and continues speaking with the person in front of him. Then there is a DING! Indicating that Seokjin is here. Everyone scrambles to get into position.

Seokjin walks out in a pink and silver and white ensemble, a ridiculously luxurious mix of togas and modern clothes, sticking to the theme. It shouldn’t look good on anyone, but this is Seokjin, and he makes it work. 

He raises a hand. “Please, don’t stop on my account. I’d like to have a glass of our wine before our event.”

A tray floats by him and he picks up a flute of pink, sparkly wine, raises it in a toast and everybody else follows with a cheer. 

Namjoon takes a moment to look around and breathe. All the faces he sees are familiar—people he has worked with over the past year, people he has known all his life, people he knew from university. He doesn’t think he can say his circle of “friends” got bigger, but he definitely has had to make more room for people in his heart.

Especially since one of them took up a large amount of space. 

Namjoon’s eyes find Hoseok, like they always do. Like Hoseok is Namjoon’s North Star. 
Hoseok catches him staring and Namjoon doesn’t attempt to hide. He smiles widely and tried not to squint at the brightness of Hoseok’s neon green toga with white accents. Namjoon himself is in similar clothing, only in less subdued white and no neon. Except for his socks but that’s only because Hoseok convinced him to wear it as a “good luck charm.”
“Not that you need it,” Hoseok had told him. “You’ll do great! But I don’t want you to attract bad luck.”

Namjoon’s digital watch vibrates. It is time for the inauguration.

Taking a deep breath, Namjoon walks towards a clearing and grabs a spoon from a nearby table. He taps the knife gently—keeping in mind the multiple glasses he broke during rehearsals—once, and then twice, to get people’s attention. 

“Greetings, everyone!” Namjoon says, his voice loud and clear in the wide room, even with people milling about. 

The murmurs die down and close to a hundred pairs of eyes turn towards him simultaneously. Namjoon gulps and he focuses on a pair of kind and sweet ones.

“Thank you for being here today!” Hoseok beams at Namjoon. “This is a big first for us, for Serendipity. I’m sure all of you know what this place is, as most of you have worked with me and Hoseok on this project at some point in the past year. And there are some details in the beautiful brochure that Heesu designed for us. But we have prepared a short presentation for how it is going to work, in case this is the first time you’re hearing about it.”

Namjoon nodded to Jackson, who turned on the projector. The presentation to introduce the Rest to Reset department opened. He and Hoseok worked on it last minute using human technology because neither of them knew how to get the same effects using magic and had no time to figure it out. Namjoon prays that it will work. 

“When Hoseok and I were...on earth for a project, the elevator back to Serendipity had broken down. Nayeon later told me the havoc it had caused up in Serendipity, but Hoseok and I were just as troubled. Our invisibility potion wore off and we navigated through the human world with nobody else to rely on but us. 

“I know the situation will not arise again as Seokjin has already promised,” Namjoon throws a glare at Seokjin who just shrugs. “But it got me thinking. During our brief stay on earth, I have learnt more than I ever did during the ten years of my schooling.”

An audible gasp rang through the crowd and Namjoon hopes none of his teachers from university are here. He knows he didn’t invite them. 

“No, it’s not bad. It’s just that for ten years, I studied the humans and their idea of love but...nothing came close to seeing it live just made me think about several things. How many missed opportunities have there been? To interact with your subjects? It might mess with the whole dynamics of Smitteners with their subjects, but there is so much potential! If we mitigate our use of the invisibility potion, we can perhaps immerse ourselves more and understand the humans better.”

A slide opens with stats and Namjoon only glances at it, knowing the numbers by heart. 

“We have been working for more than two millennia now. Over the millions of people we have brought together through romantic love, about 40 percent of them have failed to stay together for longer than a year. Over the years, we have documented several reasons why people didn’t stay together—and it certainly varied from one region to another. Only recently several countries across the world have begun accepting same-sex love, while it was never something we consciously thought about. Considering all of this, we have persevered, our Seekers and Smitteners have worked together to update constantly. And this is so commendable, you guys.”

Namjoon pauses while the crowd applauses quietly. As it dies down, Namjoon takes a deep breath. “What Hoseok and I have come to realize during our time on earth, as visible beings, is that nothing is as it seems. We might have access to all their conversations, private times, inner monologues even sometimes, but all we can do is infer from those moments. We never truly know the depth of their feelings unless we look into their eyes when they talk about the one they love.”

Namjoon went back to the time he spoke to Jimin about Yoongi. Briefly, he had wondered if he would ever love someone like that. 

There’s also a tiny part of him that he suppressed hard where he wondered if he would ever be loved like that. 

“After several lengthy talks with Seokjin and the Elders, as you may already know, Hoseok and I suggested that Smitteners maybe provided with an option to choose whether they want to take in the invisible potion or not basis their mission. If they choose to take it, Hoseok and I are ready to provide them with the support they might need. That is when Rest and Reset came into the picture. This department is set at the threshold of both the Isthmus of Serendipity and Earth, such that Smitteners who require the establishment can find us easily. I would like to extend my hearty gratitude to Nayeon for helping us achieve this.”

Nayeon claps and cheers. Namjoon grins, attention shifting back to Hoseok and his piercing gaze.

“Through this, we aim to achieve more quality results, longevity, where people who are together remain together for a long time, even if they are not as many as they were before. I’m not saying we need to not have targets, but as you may already know, our targets are now going to be set by Seekers, and we are now going to change how Seekers are being appointed. This was in the bulletin last week so I will not go into the details. What I would like to talk more about...” he glances at his watch. “Well, not more more because I don’t want to take up too much time, but I want to answer a few FAQs about Rest to Reset.”       

Namjoon nods at Jackson who presses a button while sipping his sparkly wine. Namjoon resists the urge to roll his eyes at his succeeding attempt to look cool. 

A list of question rises on the screen and Namjoon speaks just as he had rehearsed. 

“No, this is not Smittener exclusive, it can also act as a rest stop for other brings from Isthmus, and even humans if they desperately need it. Yes, there is a coffee shop out front that changes appearance based on the location we are at but past the glamour is something that all Smitteners on field will be able to see. No, we are not taking renaming suggestions. No, we do not have a condom and lube disbursing machine, although that is not a bad idea. Thank you everyone, have a lovely afternoon! Now we’re going to have the ribbon cutting ceremony! Kindly follow Hoseok to the doors where Seokjin will inaugurate the centre! And no, I know it doesn’t make sense to inaugurate place we are already standing in but please, do it for the spirit!”

Everyone laughs and cheers. Hoseok’s rings the loudest, but that’s maybe because Namjoon is zoned in on him.

They share a small smile and nods of encouragement before Hoseok calls for the crowd. Namjoon follows. 

Seokjin does an elegant flourish in a show of cutting the pink ribbon tied along the threshold of the door of the Rest and Reset. There is more cheering and when Seokjin steps foot into the place with everyone following, Namjoon feels a lump in his throat. 

They did it. He and Hoseok really did it. 

“Namjoon!”

He is brought out of his thoughts and back to a warm and pleasant smile. “What are you still doing there? There’s still lunch and the after party!”

He smiles at Hoseok. Just one more thing left for him to do. 

“Coming!”
 

At the after party, when all the boring officials and scary Seokjin have left, everyone gathers in the main room of the department, which has not been furnished yet. Jackson and Hoseok and Namjoon have turned it into a karaoke party where they’re taking turns singing songs from across different realms, including Isthmus and Earth.  

There are galaxy lights on, and someone is singing a mournful ballad. Namjoon can hear weeping from different parts of the vast room. The crowd at the after-party are definitely going through it. 

Hoseok rolls his eyes though. “I wish they didn’t sing such sad songs. It messes up the vibe!”

Namjoon elbows him. “Why don't you go ahead and sing something to make them stop crying?”

“You know we couldn’t find AgustD songs for Karaoke.” Hoseok pouts and Namjoon fights the urge to kiss the pout away and give him everything he wants. Even if it means Namjoon needs to go back into the human world and find Yoongi all over again, and give him explanation on his and Hoseok’s disappearance. Namjoon and Hoseok keep checking the food and drink reserves to make sure they don’t run out and check up on the guests to make sure they are having fun. 

At some point in the evening, when the Indigo of the sky meets the peach, Jackson tugs at Hoseok’s hands. 

“The dancefloor is calling, man!”

Hoseok giggles behind his hand and looks at Namjoon. “Dance with us!”

Namjoo shakes his head, alarmed. “No, go ahead! I’ll be fine!”

“Are you sure?”

Namjoon only nods, not trusting his voice in the loud evening. He makes a little shooing motion and smiles at Hoseok, who smiles back his beautiful heart shaped smile. 

And then he disappears. 

Heaving a sigh, and feeling a slight heaviness settle in his heart, Namjoon finds a seat to sit at in a corner of the room. He doesn’t remember bringing this particular chair so he figures it must have been someone else. But he’s grateful. 

He has a good view of the makeshift dance floor, and he can see Hoseok and Seulgi and Jackson and other colleagues and beings of Isthmus jumping around and dancing to a song that Namjoon doesn’t recognize. He smiles. It looks like fun. 

Just as the thought pops into his head, Hoseok looks over with a wide smile, panting a little. He beckons Namjoon forward in a come join us! gesture, and when Namjoon panics and shakes his head, Hoseok rolls his eyes and begins to pick his way over to Namjoon. 

Namjoon downs the rest of his wine in one go, grimacing at the burn. It wasn’t very smart of him to do so when there was over a half a glass of wine left. By then, Hoseok stumbles towards Namjoon, tripping over the smooth marble floor and falling into Namjoon’s arms. 

Hoseok squeezes Namjoon’s biceps where he’s holding onto them for dear life before straightening up. “Namjoooon!” Hoseok whines. “Come dance with us!”

Chuckling nervously, Namjoon moves to make Hoseok sit on the chair opposite him. “I-I don’t really dance, Hoseok.”

Rolling his eyes, Hoseok stands up with his fists on either side of his hips, frowning down cutely at Namjoon and pressing his lips together in that way that makes the dimples on either side of his mouth pop out. 

Namjoon is not proud to say that he has spent many sleepless nights dreaming about kissing them. 

“Not with that attitude you don’t. You’re dancing with me.” With that, Hoseok grabs Namjoon’s hand and weaves him back through the partygoers to his spot and starts dancing. 

Namjoon tries. He shifts from one foot to another, pumps his hands, jumps, even, but Hoseok is not having it. He takes Namjoon’s hands and moves him around and Namjoon lets him. 

Safe to say it is the most fun he’s had in a long while. 

On the karaoke mic, someone makes an announcement. “Hello everyone! As the last part of our event today, we’re having a fireworks show! Please head out towards the doors and windows on the Isthmus of Serendipity side for a full view!”

Namjoon blinks. He was not aware that they were going to have fireworks show.  He looks to Hoseok for some sort of explanation, but Hoseok’s eyes are lit up.

“You knew about it?” Namjoon asks, raising his voice a little bit to be heard over the clamour. 

Hoseok nods and takes Namjoon’s hand again. Why does he even let go in the first place?

“Come on, I know a spot!”   

Five minutes later, after going through a maze of people and wrong doors, Namjoon and Hoseok find themselves on a secluded patch of the roof. They had to climb an inbuilt ladder that Hoseok had gotten installed and Namjoon is very impressed. They’re sitting side by side on the roof top and the fireworks show is due to start any moment. Hoseok is chattering away but he stops abruptly when he hears the first firework go off. 

Fireworks are a somewhat of a rarity in the Isthmus. Apparently, beings on realms other than earth don’t really find fireworks very fascinating. Which is ridiculous, if you ask Namjoon. Fireworks in the Isthmus is laced with magic to create fun shapes and colours and each one that bursts across the expanse of the indigo sky has left his mouth hanging in awe, and sometimes even hollering and jumping (only because Namjoon can’t whistle). 

They are mostly of shapes and animals in the Isthmus, and when a yellow burst of light turns into a lion-headed pigeon, Namjoon turns to look at Hoseok to make sure he’s watching too. 

Namjoon stops in his tracks. Hoseok’s beautiful face is bathed in the bright and warm lights of the fireworks, enhancing the slope of his nose, his bright and pretty eyes, his smile, and his dimples. The way the shadows seem to work overtime to make sure the best parts of his face is illuminated (which is pretty much every inch of it) and Namjoon is mesmerized by it. 

“Namjoon!” Hoseok shakes Namjoon’s arm that is resting on his knees. “Namjoon, I arranged the fireworks for you! Why aren’t you watching it?” He laughs and shakes his head like Namjoon is unbelievable. 

Maybe it felt like the right moment. Maybe it was the wine. But Namjoon had not planned on saying what he said next, because if he had, he’s sure he would have chickened out. 

“I think I like watching you better.”

Hoseok blinks a couple of times before seemingly registering his words. Then he shakes his head, chuckling nervously. His grip on the roof tightens, and Hoseok fakes a smile. 

“Careful there, Namjoon. I might think you’re in love with me!”

“And what if I am?”

The fireworks still go on, but all Namjoon can hear is the thudding of his heart and all he can see is the sharp intake of Hoseok’s breath. For a moment, he doesn’t breathe. 

“You-you’re really serious.”

“You know I don’t joke around such matters. I barely even joke around.”

Another moment passes where Hoseok is gazing out at the sky, swallowing and blinking rapidly. Namjoon watches Hoseok. 

“What now, then?”

It’s Namjoon’s turn to blink. “Huh?”

Hoseok rolls his eyes and turns towards Namjoon, making a show of punching his biceps. “Aren’t you going to ask me out on a date, Namjoon?” The apples of cheeks have turned a warm red, and Namjoon’s fingers ache to feel them.

Wait. “What? Wait-wait, what?” 

Sighing, Hoseok pulls his leg up and turns fully towards Namjoon. “Yes, you big doof. In case you hadn’t noticed, I like you, a lot. I was wondering when you would catch up.”

“Are-are you for real?” Namjoon’s heart has skidded to a stop, nearly.

Rolling his eyes again, Hoseok pulls Namjoon towards him by the collar of his jacket and presses their lips together. 

Namjoon’s first thought is that this is what fireworks feel like.

And then, holy shit I’m kissing Hoseok and he likes me back!

The kiss is brief and chaste, and too soon, Hoseok is pulling away. Namjoon’s eyes had closed but they refused to open now, in the case this was a dream. 

“Namjoon,” Hoseok says, caressing his face, fingertips dancing across his cheeks and lips. “You’re so goddamn adorable, you know that?”

Namjoon opens his eyes to see Hoseok looking at him so fondly, so tenderly, that Namjoon wraps his arms around Hoseok’s shoulders and pulls him close, kissing him again.

They sit there on their patch of roof, long after the fireworks are over, in the quiet night, spending the night trading more kisses and soft giggles and warm touches, and Namjoon’s heart has never been so full. 

In the Lord of Isthmus of Serendipity’s sleeping chambers, Seokjin wakes up in cold sweat, tangling himself in his pink silk sheets. He scrambles to gather himself and open a screen to show live updates. He scans through the feeds of the Isthmus, finding the one of the Rest and Reset after party, and scans through the screen.

Now, as the Lord of Isthmus of Serendipity, he had taken a vow to never abuse his powers. But this time, he allowed himself a little leeway as it had been a very long time since he was so invested in any of his own beings getting together. Nobody has to know—
He finds them. They’re sitting on the roof, and from the distance, he can see that they’re snuggling close and kissing softly. 

Seokjin breathes a sigh of relief. If they had taken any longer, Seokjin had planned on intervening. He doesn’t know whom to thank, but he’s glad that they didn’t let it get to that point. 
Satisfied, he switches off the feed, darkness illuminating his chambers once again, and falls back into a peaceful slumber.