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“nope, nope, nuh uh, no way,” you backed away, hands held in front of you in a way that you hoped was intimidating. your friends, who were sitting in the circle you were backing away from, frowned at you. some slapped their thighs in annoyance, saying “oh come on! it’s just a game!”
“no way, i’ve got my own now, i can’t be getting into cupboards with you heathens,” you narrow your eyes in mock annoyance, wagging your index finger at your friends, especially at hoseok and jungkook, whose eyes were glinting with mischief. but thankfully they knew to take a hint. besides, they knew first-hand the wrath of your boyfriend’s anger.
jungkook tried to switch on his charm by pouting, but you weren’t giving in, baby-faced teenager or not. “alright then, we get it,” yoongi waved you off, and that’s all you needed, before you were practically skipping away from the group, traipsing down the corridors and weaving in and out of the rooms, searching for the only person you wanted to be with for the rest of your life, let alone for 7 minutes in a cupboard.
“namjoooooooon,” you called out, dragging out the syllable of his name, even though it sounded childish and slightly grating on your ears. You had to admnit, what a mush love had turned you into.
you made quick work of the stairs, as you glided your fingers down the balustrade. namjoon was nowhere to be found in the living room, or even under the stairs. you wondered if you should check the kitchen, but your gut told you to skip it.
spotting the ray of evening sunshine filtering through the gap in the front doors, you quickened your pace towards it. slowly opening the door, you found namjoon sitting at the patio with his back to you, earphones in. you walked towards him, stopping a metre away.
the breadth of namjoon’s back and shoulders had never failed to take your breath away, much like it did now. he sat facing the roads outside, head tilted towards the luridly-coloured sky. He was, you thought, probably enjoying how the wind was gentle enough to ruffle the ends of his hair, but not strong enough to displace his fedora. peering closely, you realised there was a sheen of perspiration on his back that was showing through the thin fabric of his raglan tee-shirt.
your lips quirked in a smile. you loved it when he wore those raglan t-shirts. soft and flattering on his slim build, you kept buying them for namjoon in different colours and sleeve-cuts, and he wore each and every one interchangeably. you loved how the fabric wrapped across his shoulder blades, not uncomfortably tight, but just so. you loved how the muscles of his arms showed through the sleeves, especially when he stretched, placing one elbow in the crook of the other. or when he reached around you to pull doors open, or your chair out.
feeling them was another story. being unexpectedly affectionate, namjoon would scoop you up from where you were sitting into his arms, and just nuzzle into the spot behind your ear. you didn’t dare tell him that you felt like a ragdoll in his arms, lest he never did it again. when he’d work into the late hours, he’d be motionless for a long period of time, his eyes faraway and his brain mulling a rhythm, or restringing words in a sentence. when you lightly rested your fingers on his forearm to draw his attention to the mug of hot chocolate you’d brought, he’d jolt out of his reverie, muscles tensing for an instant before he realised it was you, and then you’d be graced by that weary, dimpled smile. he'd say thank you, babe, and you'd to hide your worries upon hearing the rasp in his voice, choosing to plot him with glasses of warm water and honey.
you were brought back to the present, and your eyes travelled up namjoon’s form to meet his eyes, which had been watching you amusedly all this while. you stared at each other, until his puzzled expression broke and gave way to one of those blinding, Cheshire-cat smiles. you walked towards him and looped your arms around his neck, pecking his temple and swaying him from side-to-side.
as always, he beat you to it. “what were you thinking about, standing there? your face was changing expressions…like..like one moment you looked like a kicked puppy and then one moment you looked really hungry, and then worried…” he trails off, craning his neck to properly look at you.
you looked down at him, feeling something akin to a dam breaking in your heart, thinking that this beautiful person was yours, and you could finally declare it, an infinite number of times and you’d never get sick of it. your eyes roved over his forehead, his eyes, down the slope of his nose and settled on his lips.
reaching up to press a finger to smooth the furrow between his eyebrows, you said, “i was searching for you. the rest wanted to play 7 minutes but i didn’t want to."
he pried your arms from around his neck and moved you to sit in front of him, holding both your hands in his. “and why’s that?” he teases, knowing the answer but wanting to coax it out from you, while drawing circles on your wrists with his thumbs.
you feigned ignorance, huffing, “oh, I’m pretty they all ate something with garlic in it just now - i wasn’t up for that."
his thumbs stopped moving. you looked up at namjoon, where he was staring at you from under his eyelashes, plush lips turned up at the corner with a hint of his dimples. “really? that's why? and not cos you've a boyfriend who’s claimed your lips first?"
“what - claimed? Wh—?"
he stops you, gently pressing a finger to your lips. “you’ve said it yourself, babe."
both of you broke into giggles then, and namjoon never let go of your hands, clasping them even tighter. when you’ve recovered, he asked, shaking your hands in his hold, “but, really, what were you worried about?
namjoon looked like he really, really wanted to know, but you didn't want to burden him with your worries. instead, you just wanted to enjoy this moment in time with him, away from the noise and antics of your friends. “i just want you to take care of yourself, alright? i love you so much i feel i could... just cry thinking about it."
he’s silent, looking down at where your hands are entwined, your tiny ones lying mostly in the palms of his, crossing paths with your fingers.
“i know, and you know I feel the same about you right? you should’ve known…if you haven’t by now,” he tapered off into giggles, as you looked at him meaningfully in reply, never always needing words to convey what you felt.
you sat in the sunshine for a while more, sharing earphones to listen to the new El Perro Del Mar EP. snuggling up to namjoon, you rested your head in the crook of his shoulder and closed your eyes, savouring the wind and heat, and the melody wafting through your ears.
the relative peace was shattered with the sound of heavy footsteps filtering through the music. the front doors bursts open to reveal your friends. taehyung and jungkook are the first to yell and jeer at namjoon and you, and yoongi simply scoffs, “ugh, lovebirds,” before stomping back into the house. you remove your legs from where you’ve propped them up on the table, and pluck the earphone from your boyfriend’s ear. he awakes with a start, and you realise with a pang that he had actually fallen asleep. you turn to give a piece of your mind to your friends, but seokjin’s already hastily ushering them inside (you make a mental note to thank him later).
“joon,” you whisper, even though there’s no one around. he shakes his head blearily, and if you weren’t feeling so upset, you’d be laughing at the sight of your boyfriend looking maddeningly adorable as he tried to reposition his hat on his forehead and retrieve his shades from where he’d knocked them off with his own flailing arms.
his voice cracks at the end of his "yeah?" And you nearly lose it, trying to keep your laughter in.
"we should probably go in? I can fix you a drink if you're thirsty," you offer. he shakes his head and makes to stand up, planting his hands on your shoulders to steady himself.
"waaait, before we go in -" he gives you one of those lazy grins, and brings you closer to him, so that your head is directly below his chin, and you're looking up at him. He leans down, wraps his arms around your body and engulfs you in a way you realised only namjoon can hug you; a way wnere you undeniably felt safe, warm and loved. like falling into a bed of marshmallows. like being loved by namjoon.
you bury your face into his tee, feeling the warmth of his skin through the worn-in fabric and deeply inhaling the scent of his laundry freshener and cologne.
"I wouldn't have played 7 minutes if they'd asked me to either," he cutely mumbles into your ear, and you smile to yourself, running a hand down his back.