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The snow, illuminated by the indoor lighting of the row of shops and a few distant street lamps, crunched satisfyingly under Namjoon's feet.
He liked walking to the coffee shop for his dose of caffeine despite the fact that he could've for a five minute drive, the silence of the night calming his nerves from the overall stress of uni life. He's thankful that he's already memorized the way that he could walk blindfolded, because staying up for two nights consecutively does nothing to help his vision. He has to blink a few times to keep eyes on the shop, and he may have fallen asleep while walking for a few seconds.
He pushed the door open, bell chiming upon his arrival. The lone barista looks up, grinning.
"You're five minutes late," Taehyung commented as he puts down the jug of milk down the counter.
"Wouldn't miss our date for the world," Namjoon teased, squinting up at the menu. "Do I see a free sandwich in my future?"
"You've already made a bad first impression, buddy. You're late, and now you want your date to pay? Three strikes and you're out."
"C'mon Tae." Namjoon pleaded, hands clasped together. "I don't have time to cook, you know that, with all the ex-"
"Exams, yeah yeah," Taehyung waved away his speech. "You'd study even if there weren't any exams, you nerd."
He pulled out a takeaway bag from under the counter and slid it towards a delighted Namjoon. "Seokjin would kill me if he knew I wasn't feeding you. Now, what would you like to drink?"
Taehyung's asked out of habit, because he already knew Namjoon's detailed order. Taehyung scribbled hastily, letters similar to a doctor's wording, and set to work immediately, bustling about while singing a song that even Namjoon had never heard before. He liked the tune, though, and asked Taehyung for the title while the barista mixes in an unhealthy amount of syrup and caffeine shots. Taehyung had long gotten used to Namjoon's terrifying ability to down anything that could keep him awake.
Namjoon collected his coffee and bid Taehyung a good night as he noted a cute, dark haired boy with doe eyes staring unabashedly at Taehyung, who was smiling brightly at a newly arrived customer.
Taehyung distractedly blew him a kiss while trying not to appear rude to the amused customer, and Namjoon rolled his eyes, ambling away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the boy turning to burn a glare at him and he hid his smile behind his cup.
He stepped out of the cafe to the sight of snow beginning to fall gently, and started a slow, leisure pace. His room felt empty without Hoseok being noisy and constantly happy and Namjoon wasn't eager to return.
Sipping the coffee, he waited for the caffeine to kick in. Was it possible to feel the dark circles under his eyes? That was probably why he didn't notice the boy, juggling a pile of papers and books with a phone to his ear as he popped open the cap of a pen and attempted to write on the top paper, until he rushed past Namjoon.
He watched in mild interest, and with the lack of sleep came the lack of inhibition. It appeared as if his bag's bottom gave out, and it hung there on his side, pitifully torn. His gaze crawled its way around and paused on the boy's ass for a long time. Because, wow, what an ass.
The boy glances back at him in surprise, and he realized that he had just whistled a little too loud- or maybe almost anything can be heard in the dead of night. Then he sees the streetlamp and-
A little too late, the boy turns around and slams into the pole, papers, books, phone and human flying out into the open air.
Awkward silence fell while Namjoon blinked, too stunned to make any move to help him. And then he began laughing. Really hard. Borderline hysterical.
Honestly, it wasn't even that funny. It looked rather painful, but for some embarrassing reason his mouth will just not shut up.
The boy glared at him, but it soon melted away to amusement as Namjoon looked as if he couldn't stop laughing, stumbling forward. "Nice to know I've provided entertainment to someone," he muttered, sitting up and crawling around to collect his belongings,. Namjoon laughed even harder at the misery equivalent to a baby's pout, right as he himself crashed into the exact same fucking pole the boy ran into.
His coffee cup smashed into the pavement and he watched in horror as the coffee splashed across in a wide arc, melting the snow artistically. There goes his caffeine, an amount no one should really have any business consuming but just as many people care about it.
A burst of tinkling giggles pierced through the veil of dismay in Namjoon's brain and his head snapped towards the source of it.
The boy had finally picked up all his papers and sniffled away tears of laughter as he walks closer. "Are you okay?"
He offered the free hand that wasn't balancing everything else (that's some toned arms) and Namjoon stared at it for a second before his mind finally decided to reboot. The cutie was offering a hand. To him. "Oh!"
Who was he to refuse the help of a cute kid with a cuter ass? His hand practically engulfed the boy's and Namjoon felt ready to tuck him into his pocket, law of kidnapping be damned.
With surprising strength, the boy pulled him up singlehandedly. Namjoon stumbled a little, unprepared, and they came face to face in close proximity. His breath fanned the boy's fringe a little and he took a cautious step back, looking at the boy clearly under the bright light.
"I'm Jimin," the boy smiled, and Namjoon could see a little chipped tooth and Namjoon just wanted wrap his arms around this lovable Jimin and protect him from all evils of the world. Especially coffee. Fuck, wasn't there an assignment he had to finish by tonight? He can't remember. Or was it two? But anyways-
"Namjoon," he replied slowly, after a long, patient silence.
"Sorry about your coffee," Jimin apologized, glancing down at what had been his coffee. "You look like you really needed it."
"Still do," Namjoon muttered forlornly, wondering if he should double back and order another, but he remembered that his wallet was pitifully thin, having spent a significant amount on buying the recording equipments he broke a couple of weeks ago.
"Do you want me to buy another for you?" Jimin offered kindly, as if having read Namjoon's thoughts. "It's the least I can do."
"Only if it's a date."
Namjoon flushed red, his whole face heating up like a tomato, stuttering a mess of an explanation and mentally slapping himself for not thinking words thoroughly. He paused when Jimin turned into an absolutely adorable shade of pink, looking down at his books and murmuring something Namjoon could barely catch.
"Okay."
Namjoon grinned stupidly and offered to take up some of Jimin's burden, ignoring the small voice in his head that reminded him of his assignment.
A date is a much better choice than assignments. It's a universally known truth.