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Seokjin is a good friend. Too good, one could say, because Seokjin has taken the night off to accompany his best friend slash roommate Yoongi to an important rap battle. Yoongi had gone on and on about it for a month. He had crafted his lyrics under the tender loving care of his wonderful friend Seokjin while said friend lost sleep at three am to answer profound questions such as "how many times can I say fuck before my lyrics become too vulgar?".
Yoongi begs him to come and Seokjin accepts because he needs to make sure that all those sleepless nights this past month have not gone to waste. So here he is, on a Saturday night at a seedy looking place called the After School Club, feeling highly uncomfortable in the massive crowd the rap battle has drawn in.
Yoongi has disappeared, presumably to meet up with his other rapper friends, but not before seating Seokjin at the bar. It's a nice spot at the back of the club, slightly elevated so the stage is clearly visible. "Hi," he says to bartender wearing a nametag that bears the name Eric in bright purple letters followed by a smiley face emoji, feeling the urge to splurge on a rare night out, "I would like a Death in the Afternoon please."
"Isn't it a little late for that though," Eric winks but he pulls out the champagne bottle anyway. "So," he continues as he works, "Haven't seen you around here before. I'm guessing you're here for the rap battle of the century." Seokjin nods. "Suga and Rap Monster fighting on stage spitting fire," Eric grins, "I'm going to end up a millionaire tonight."
Eric Nam, it turns out, is the owner of After School Club who organises rap battles on the last Saturday of every month. He also talks a lot and Seokjin finds himself finishing his drink more quickly than he otherwise might have, in order to cope. His heart does however swell with pride upon hearing about how great ‘Suga’ has been doing. Seokjin has never accompanied Yoongi to any of his performances at this club before, mostly because he works as a waiter in an upscale restaurant every Saturday evening. He's seen Yoongi start out though, at the small bar at their university back when his stage name had been Gloss and not Suga. Seokjin snorts at the memory and orders another Death in the Afternoon.
Rap Monster is apparently also really great. Seokjin still thinks Yoongi will be better, having heard his friend practice almost every day for three years now. Rap Monster. What a pretentious name. How is he supposed to take that name seriously? Eric won't stop gushing about how Suga and Rap Monster have never performed on the same night before, let alone for a rap battle and Seokjin finds that he quickly finishes his second Death in the Afternoon too.
Seokjin waits patiently for the rap battle to begin, sipping at his third Death in the Afternoon slowly. More people pile into the club, and even sitting at the bar as far away from the stage as physically possible, Seokjin feels claustrophobic. He's grateful when the lights on stage finally turn on and the crowd settles down somewhat. A blonde boy walks on stage, who he recognises as the loud Hong Kong exchange student who is friends with Hoseok. Seokjin can feel the oncoming headache already and downs the rest of his third Death in the Afternoon to prepare himself.
"Hey everybody, this is your boy Jackson!" The crowd roars as Jackson poses like Usain Bolt. Jackson might be a tad too loud, but he sure knows how to get a crowd going. Seokjin orders his fourth Death in the Afternoon. Jackson continues to speak in slightly accented Korean, pausing at all the right moments to let the crowd cheer. Seokjin doesn't really hear him as a slight humming begins to fill his ears. But he does hear Jackson shout "Give it up for Suga!" and finds himself scrambling to stand as he cheers his friend on as loudly as possible.
Yoongi doesn't smile much, but he gets up on stage with the biggest gummy grin on his face. Any bitterness Seokjin feels about losing his sleep flies out the window as he claps and cheers with the rest of the crowd because he has never seen his friend look happier. Yoongi makes eye contact with him at the back of the room and gives him a small wave. Seokjin gives him a thumbs up in response. Once the crowd settles down, Jackson also announces Rap Monster on stage. Where Yoongi is dressed in all black (black leather jacket over a black t-shirt with black denim jeans and a black snapback put on backwards), Rap Monster is dressed in all grey. Grey tracksuit pants, grey hoodie pulled over his head and a grey snapback poking out and covering the top half of his face. His clothes are probably as drab as his soul, Seokjin thinks to himself and giggles out loud. He takes another sip of his drink when other patrons cast strange looks at him.
Yoongi starts off the rap battle. It's ironic really that he doesn't use the word fuck at all in his rap. Instead he uses his love for basketball as a metaphor for life, articulating his feelings of being lost and helpless as time passes him by. It's tragically beautiful and Seokjin reminds himself to give Yoongi a big hug when they go home. Seokjin boos when Rap Monster takes the microphone but quickly stops when he earns himself several glares. He doesn't pay much attention to the rap what with all the buzzing filling his ears, but he hears the words "do you" in English being repeated several times at some point. He orders his fifth Death in the Afternoon.
Seokjin only pays attention again when it's time to announce the results. He is sure Yoongi has this in the bag with that tragic tale about the bittersweetness of youth (he reminds himself yet again to give Yoongi a big hug after this is all over). So it takes him by surprise when Jackson announces Rap Monster as the winner. Yoongi looks absolutely devastated, the poor guy. Seokjin wants nothing more than to punch Jackson right now because what the fuck? Yoongi bows to the audience and disappears off the side of the stage. Rap Monster waves to the audience that smarmy bastard.
"Is there anyone else out here who wants to challenge tonight's champion?" Jackson screams. Yes, Seokjin thinks, I will take revenge.
Seokjin gulps down the rest of his cocktail in one go and raises his hand. "Me!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, "Me! Me! Me!" Seokjin feels every pair of eyes in club slowly turning to look in his direction, but he can't feel it in himself to care. Not when Yoongi is a lost little boy who just lost a rap battle to a pretentiously named brat.
Seokjin pushes past the crowd and makes his way to stage. Jackson recognises him when he walks up the stairs. "Jin hyung," he whispers frantically, "Are- are you sure about this?" Yoongi also appears from side stage and his eyes widen in shock. Seokjin gives his friend a thumbs up.
"I'm here to avenge my best friend," Seokjin replies, "I'm good."
"Holy shit," Yoongi whimpers, "Holy fucking shit."
Seokjin can't see the top half of Rap Monster's face but he can see the bastard's lips quirk up (his lips actually look really nice and plump and whoa don't go there Seokjin), clearly amused by this situation. Seokjin snatches the microphone from Jackson. For Yoongi, he thinks. With five Deaths in the Afternoon under his belt, Seokjin dies in the evening for all the world to witness.
In hindsight, Seokjin probably should not have challenged someone called Rap Monster to a rap battle and then gone on stage in all seriousness to say, "I rap like Jay-Z."
When Seokjin wakes on Sunday morning he notices two things. One, he's nursing a terrible headache from last night’s overindulgence in alcohol (Death in the Mornings the cocktail should be called). Two, his clock tells him it's only ten am and Yoongi is actually awake, glaring at him from his own bed across the room. "G'Morning," Seokjin croaks, rubbing at his temples.
"I'm disowning you as my best friend," Yoongi hisses, "I can’t believe you would embarrass me like that. It was bad enough that I lost."
Seokjin groans as the memories of the previous night slowly come back. "Oh no, did I actually say that I rapped like Jay-Z?" Yoongi scrunches up his nose in distaste. Seokjin sits up way too fast in his haste to process the scale of his humiliation and his brain pounds painfully against his skull. Ignoring the pain, he tries to remember beyond the most embarrassing moment in his pitiful life. "Ugh, I don't remember what happened afterwards."
"Jackson collapsed on stage, Eric hyung had his head of security Youngbae hyung escort you out of the premises and Rap Monster almost died laughing. Yoongi and I hauled your ass back to the dorms. Well, Yoongi suggested we dump your ‘bitch ass’ in the Han river but that didn’t really sound like a good idea to me." Ugh, just his luck. Jin Hyosang is sitting on their couch with his mouth twitching like it's holding back a laugh. "I thought you were my friend Seokjin,” he mock-sighs, “You never told me you could rap like Jay-Z."
Hyosang and Seokjin are both doing a nutrition science degree and inevitably became good friends after sharing almost all of their classes together. Hyosang is also an underground rapper. Seokjin has 99 problems and almost all of them are because two of his best friends are underground rappers.
"Hyosang go back to your own room," Seokjin grumbles, throwing a pillow at him (which lands at the foot of Seokjin's bed instead).
"Okay, but if you ever want to battle Rapmon again just let me know. We're in Daenamhyup together." Of course he would be a part of Hyosang's obnoxious rap crew. How else is Seokjin supposed to be even more humiliated?
"I'm going to murder you in your sleep," Yoongi mutters when Hyosang leaves, “Then I’ll dump your bitch ass in the Han river."
Monday mornings are the absolute worst on an average day, but are even worse when your most embarrassing moment has been captured on camera and spread around on basically every social media site for all the world to see. It seems almost everyone is staring at Seokjin during his classes and the attention is unbearable. He hopes for a reprieve when at three pm he goes to work the afternoon shift at the bakery on the outskirts of campus, where there are only a handful of regulars in the afternoon - all of whom are students hoping to study in silence.
"Jackson tells me," Hoseok smirks as soon as Seokjin enters through the side-door, "That apparently you can rap like Jay-Z."
Seokjin dumps his backpack in his locker with more aggression than entirely necessary. "I was drunk out of my mind. You know I don't deal well with crowds," he grumbles, cheeks reddening. Hoseok doesn't say anything further to but there's a half-smile playing on his face and Seokjin can't help but let out an embarrassed laugh. It continues as they man the counter, Hoseok sometimes making eye-contact and wiggling his eyebrows to make him giggle. Hoseok is an overly energetic friend with an infectious laugh. Spending extended periods of time with him can be tiring but he’s so kind, Seokjin can never really be upset with him. All of the teasing is done in good humour too - Hoseok would be the first in line to physically fight anyone who would bully his friends.
Thankfully the students at the bakery seem not to care that Seokjin's voice cracked when he drunkenly slurred, "I rap just like Jay-Z" for all the world to see. Seokjin can finally breathe, away from the awkward stares and amused whispers behind his back. Until at four pm on the dot, Hoseok nudges him and points at the entrance. "Look, your boyfriend's here."
Seokjin's 'boyfriend' is a regular who comes every afternoon exactly at four pm. Seokjin had said the guy looked cute that one time because of his bubblegum pink hair and Hoseok has never let it go since. Not that he particularly minds, the boy is cute and is mostly quiet, which Seokjin appreciates very much (he sends a pointed glare at Hoseok). All Seokjin really knows about him is that he has a beautiful, deep voice and that he’s an engineering student from the textbooks he carries with him.
Today however, Seokjin’s ‘boyfriend’ doesn’t quietly order his usual americano and croissant before taking a seat at the table in the far left corner beside the window. No, the moment he walks in his mouth stretches into a highly amused grin and Seokjin wishes the ground would just swallow him whole. Hoseok silently doubles over in laughter beside him.
“I would like a large americano and a croissant please.” It’s unsettling when the boys orders like nothing has changed even though his eyes are cutely crinkled into crescent shapes in mirth and his lips are quirked - his lips.
“Oh my God,” Seokjin buries his face into his hands, “You’re Rap Monster.”
“And you rap like Jay-Z.” Well, at least he sounds amused and not like he wants to kill Seokjin. “Do you maybe want to grab coffee together tomorrow morning? I’m fascinated to hear about your rap journey.”
Seokjin usually doesn't wake until noon on Tuesdays, his one day off in the week, but he didn't say that to Rap Monster. Instead he wakes up at the crack of dawn and ignores a confused Yoongi returning from his studio as he makes his way to the big cafe closer to the heart of campus. He makes sure to bundle up in a hoodie that he can retreat into in order to hide his face. Rap Monster spots him in spite of his disguise and calls out his name. Even at six in the morning the boy looks remarkably spry. And cute. He smiles adorably, and much to Seokjin's chagrin, it turns out he has a dimple. Lord have mercy.
"Sorry," Seokjin says trying his hardest to ignore the little dip in skin of the other's cheek, "Did you wait long?"
"No," Rap Monster replies, "I just got here."
They shuffle their way inside the cafe and order two coffees. Seokjin insists on paying to try and alleviate his embarrassment. He really challenged this man to a rap duel. And said that he rapped like Jay-Z. A man, he realises, he doesn't even know the name of.
"I'm Namjoon. Kim Namjoon," Rap Monster says when they've finally found a table in amongst the rush of students crying out for their morning caffeine fix before class. Namjoon is a decidedly cuter and less pretentious name than Rap Monster. Seokjin thinks it suits him much better.
"I'm Kim Seokjin," he replies in kind.
It's nice sitting in the cafe that morning. Seokjin learns that Namjoon is an engineering major minoring in philosophy and his rapping ‘is an outlet to critically examine the way the world works in a poetic form’. Namjoon also takes Seokjin’s moment of total shame much better than Yoongi does. “It was cute hyung. Your unique way of expressing yourself. Besides, there are worse things to do when you’re drunk.” Sometimes Namjoon says things that Seokjin doesn't quite understand but he speaks with such passion that Seokjin can only listen enraptured by his deep voice.
When Namjoon has to go to his morning class, Seokjin can't help but feel a little disappointed, but Namjoon insists they meet up again to continue their conversation.
So one early morning coffee meetup turns into two which in turn ends up as a routine arrangement three times a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays). These meetups are Not Dates, no matter how much Hoseok insists otherwise. Seokjin is just getting to know his favourite customer, who also happens to be a rapper that he completely humiliated himself in front of. Seokjin enjoys it, because he doesn't have to pretend to be anything other than himself. They never seem to run out of things to talk about with each other, but they also share comfortable silences. Seokjin learns a great deal about Namjoon.
Seokjin learns that Namjoon has a knack for breaking things, which he finds out when they meet up for morning coffee and Namjoon accidentally spills coffee on himself on every occasion. It’s adorable, the way Namjoon sighs like he’s resigned to his fate. The way his cheeks redden slightly when Seokjin leans in close to help him clean up. (Seokjin learns that Namjoon smells of strawberries.)
Seokjin also learns that Namjoon loves pink, but his Daenamhyup friends don’t think it suits his hiphop image so he wears caps and hoodies to hide his hair onstage. Seokjin makes a mental note to speak to Hyosang about this. “Pink hair looks cute on you,” Seokjin blurts out before he can stop himself. “Besides,” he continues, clearing his throat, “Hyosang still sleeps hugging a massive Pororo plushie.”
“Hyung, can you come to the After School Club tomorrow?”
Seokjin blinks several times in confusion. Namjoon is inviting him back to the place where he completely humiliated himself? It’s been three months and Seokjin still gets random people pointing at him. Not to mention that Yoongi has told him, in no uncertain terms, that Seokjin would wake up at the bottom of the Han river if he ever goes back.
“I can’t. I- I work on Saturday nights.” Not true. He has swapped shifts with Taehyung to work Sunday lunch after the younger boy had begged to get Sunday off to celebrate his boyfriend's birthday. Who is Seokjin to stand in the way of love?
“Oh,” Namjoon says quietly, “It would have been nice if you could come.”
“I heard Rapmon invited Jay-Z to the club tomorrow,” Yoongi says nonchalantly as a zombie apocalypse unfurls on Seokjin’s laptop screen. Seokjin and Yoongi have pushed their beds together to watch a film on Seokjin’s laptop like they do every other Friday night. They’re both curled up together to stay warm in the chilly autumn weather, with Seokjin’s head resting on Yoongi’s shoulder.
“Are you giving me permission to go?” Seokjin sniffles (the little boy just lost his teddy bear!).
Yoongi snorts. “You can’t tell anyone you know me though. I have some street cred to maintain.”
“You’re wearing your favourite Kumamon onesie.”
“Shut up.”
There’s something about the way Namjoon’s eyes light up when Seokjin does appear at the club (having borrowed one of Yoongi’s thick woolen scarves to cover most of his face) that pulls at his heartstrings. “Hyung I thought you weren’t coming!”
Seokjin shrugs. “I swapped shifts with a friend.”
“I’m hoping you challenge Rapmon to another rap battle. Say you rap like 2pac. I’m going to enjoy watching Yoongi drown your bitch ass in the Han. I can’t believe you told Namjoon about my Pororo plushie. Now Ikje won’t shut the fuck up about it.” Hyosang shows Seokjin the ‘I’m watching you’ sign.
“Anyway,” Seokjin ignores Hyosang, “Good luck with your performance Namjoon. I'm sure you'll do great.”
“Thanks.” Namjoon wrings his hands and purses his lips like he wants to something else. “Will you-” Namjoon pauses, “Will you pay attention to my lyrics tonight?”
Seokjin only has time to nod before Ikje comes to take Namjoon away with a wink sent in Seokjin’s direction.
Seokjin still has some time to kill before the performances start and he makes his way back to the bar. Eric Nam is decidedly unhappy to see him. "I might be a businessman above all," he says pointing an angry finger at Seokjin, "But I have no choice but to give you have a two drink limit sir."
It's a fair punishment so he just orders the one Death in the Afternoon and takes a place in the front row. It's a little uncomfortable being squished in a massive crowd but he wants to hear Rap Monster’s lyrics.
Only there are two problems Seokjin encounters. Firstly, it’s pretty obvious the man onstage tonight isn’t Rap Monster - it’s Namjoon in all his pink-haired glory grinning so widely the cute dimple on his left cheek is showing prominently. Seokjin highly doubts he can concentrate on anything other than the dimple. Secondly, the fans around his are screaming so loudly he can barely even hear what Jackson has to say.
What he does notice, is that Namjoon looks directly at him while he raps and while Seokjin can’t hear every word, he knows it’s a love song. He hears ‘just one day’ and ‘even if it’s a dream’ and Seokjin can’t help it. He pulls his (or Yoongi’s really) scarf lower so he can show Namjoon just how widely he’s smiling too.
They almost crash into each other in their rush to meet backstage. “So,” Namjoon says shyly, “What do you think?”
“I think,” Seokjin smiles, “Just one day won't be enough for me.”
There’s a small beat, where the two realise just how close they’re standing to each other and Seokjin’s eyes drop down to Namjoon’s lips. Another moment, when Namjoon gazes questioningly into Seokjin’s eyes before he finally closes the gap. Namjoon’s lips are soft and warm. It’s so gentle, the way Namjoon cups his face with his hands, thumbs gently rubbing circles into his cheeks as Seokjin grabs onto Namjoon’s hips to steady himself. Namjoon's lips feel incredible against his own and his breath smells faintly of coffee.
“Eugh. Romance.” Yoongi pulls a face at them.
“This one,” Seokjin whispers conspiratorially, pulling away from the kiss, “Sleeps in Kumamon onesies.”
In hindsight, Seokjin doesn’t really regret challenging someone called Rap Monster to a rap battle and completely humiliating himself for all the world to see. Except when Namjoon decides to show off his (nonexistent) cooking skills one afternoon. They almost die after Namjoon nearly burns down the dorm kitchen, and he raps sheepishly, “You rap like Jay-Z. I cook like Gordon Ramsey.”