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University was always going to be hard work for Namjoon. Sailing through high school on a cloud of praise and A’s and no work, he never quite prepared himself to come to terms with the idea that, one day, there was just going to be something that he’d have to work for. So of course, when that day comes, it’s all much too late and Namjoon trips rather spectacularly over his zenith to flop face first into his muddy puddle of a nadir.
“Nadir?” comes Yoongi’s disbelieving scoff over the phone line. “Namjoon. You failed one class in your first semester. Big whoop.”
Namjoon scowls, irritated that his poetical woes are being shat all over. “Hyung, you don’t understand,” he insists. “I’ve never failed anything! This can only be the beginning of the end.” He hates that he’s whining, but can’t be bothered to do anything about it.
Yoongi’s eye roll practically echoes down the line. “Well, now you’ve failed National History, congratulations and welcome to the real world.”
“I didn’t even want to take a history module!” Namjoon gripes. “It’s all just memorisation! Who the fuck would learn anything worthwhile from knowing a bunch of dates off by heart?”
“Namjoon, I understand where you’re coming from, but the fact is, if you want this degree, you’re going to have to memorise a bunch of useless shit. That means work, because this isn’t like maths, you can’t just understand the principle and work everything out from there. There isn’t a principle. So take some advice from your loving hyung, shut the fuck up, stick your nose in a book and don’t come up for air until all you’re breathing is key dates.”
“You know I can’t learn by rote! I can’t do it, I’ve tried!”
“You have not!”
“I have! I just zone out and then realise three hours later that I’ve turned fifty pages and have no idea what was on any of them!” Namjoon’s starting to tug at his hair now. His father told him that university was going to make him lose a ton of hair, but he hadn’t imagined it quite like this.
“So let me get this straight,” Yoongi begins, “You have absolutely zero problem learning reams and reams of shitty philosophical theory and reams and reams of fucking physics or chemistry or whatever, and you can sit staring at a computer screen for five days producing a backing track, but you find yourself completely incapable of learning twenty key dates in the history of your own country for a multiple choice test that takes half an hour?”
“Exactly,” Namjoon says, relieved that Yoongi is finally starting to get it.
There is a moment of silence.
“So how do you manage all that other shite?” Yoongi asks finally.
Namjoon blinks slowly, considering. “It’s fun. Interesting.”
“So make history fun, then.”
“Hyung, what are you on?”
“History can be fun! Probably. I dunno, get a tutor or something. Listen Joonie, much as I would love to stay on the phone for another two hours listening to your incessant whining, I would rather spoon my eyes out with a rusty spork. Bye.”
“Hyung, wait!” Yoongi has already hung up. “You fucking bastard,” Namjoon swears, stabbing viciously at the screen. He scowls for a couple of minutes before getting bored and flopping face first into his pillow instead. He still can’t believe it. He’s failed a class. He, Kim Namjoon, has actually failed a class. Full-on failed. His little sister will never let him live it down.
And, unless he very quickly finds a way to get over his complete incompetence at memorisation, he’s well set to fail the re-take as well.
Namjoon resigns himself to reality. He’s definitely going to have to get himself a tutor. Now this his sister will love.
“A history tutor?” Hoseok repeats, looking contemplative. “Can’t say I know anyone off the bat, don’t have much to do with the History department myself. Do you need them now, or…?”
“Now,” Namjoon affirms grimly. “Any further up shit creek and there’s no getting me back at all.”
Hoseok nods. “Got it. Well, I’ll ask around for you. Should be a senior somewhere who needs as much money as they can get their little bankrupt paws on. Do I have permission to give out your phone number?”
“Whatever you need to do,” Namjoon vows, infinitely grateful. “You’re the best, hyung.”
Two weeks later, and Namjoon is called out to coffee with Hoseok and his new potential tutor. When he gets there, he is faced with somebody that can only be described as pant-staining-terror-inducing.
Well over six foot. Huge muscles. Body-builder tank top. A face that wouldn’t look out of place on a protagonist in a blockbuster thriller. All in all, not what one would expect from a History major.
Hoseok introduces the titan as Jiwoon, an economics major. Namjoon’s eye twitches.
“Economics?” he repeats, rather squeakily, fingers itching to crush his troll of a hyung’s windpipe.
“No worries, man,” the titan says amiably, his voice low and surprisingly soft. “I’m not supposed to be your tutor. I’m just checking you out for Jin, he’s away visiting family this weekend.”
Namjoon smiles cluelessly. “Jin?” he asks.
Hoseok rolls his eyes. “Lord, you’re slow. Kim Seokjin, History major, currently absent, your potential tutor.”
“Oh, okay.” Namjoon nods wisely, still not quite getting it. “So…why are you here then? Exactly?” he asks the maybe-not-so-scary-after-all Jiwoon.
“Like I said, just checking you out for him, make sure you aren’t some creep.”
Ah, so a best friend or brother, maybe a cousin…
“I’m his boyfriend.”
Namjoon blinks twice. This man is surprising him with every other sentence that comes out of his mouth. Not that it’s so shocking that two men are in a relationship (though it is pretty unusual to have it admitted so freely), but that this particular man is. Not for the first time, Namjoon is fascinated by the extent of his innate stereotyping.
“That makes sense,” he finally says, after what seems like an agonisingly long silence in which Hoseok screams at him with his eyes. Jiwoon—luckily, because Namjoon doesn’t particularly fancy getting his back broken today—doesn’t seem too fazed.
“Yup,” the huge man says with a smile. “So, are we gonna get this coffee or what?”
During the course of the weirdest coffee date Namjoon has ever had the pleasure of being a part of, he learns that Seokjin is a senior of twenty-one years of age, set to graduate with very respectable marks at the end of the year. He, for whatever reason, loves history and is apparently very good at it. He is also, as Hoseok put it two weeks before, desperate for any money he can get his little bankrupt paws on. He sends his apologies to Namjoon for not being there, but his little cousin is currently ill and he needs to be there to make soup and the appropriate sympathetic noises. He has been dating Jiwoon for a year, one month and thirteen days, information which Namjoon did not ask after but is now in possession of anyway.
All in all, it goes well, and Namjoon is set to meet this elusive Seokjin three days later, in the man’s apartment after his Tuesday classes.
He tries to be more excited about it, but history has frankly never lit his fire all that much.
Tuesday rolls around and Namjoon discovers Seokjin to be, like his boyfriend, an endless supply of surprises. To set off the titan bodybuilder image that Jiwoon provides, Namjoon expected something akin to a flower fairy princess, and while Jin definitely has the face for it, his shoulders, which take up almost the entire doorway when he opens it, would certainly make for quite the most disturbing princess Namjoon’s sick, sleep-deprived mind can conjure up.
Namjoon also expected Seokjin to be unbelievably dull. He majors in History, for God’s sake. Namjoon could not have been more wrong: Seokjin is, for lack of a better word, utterly adorable. He offers tea and snacks and makes them even when Namjoon says no and forces them down his throat when he dares to try and refuse a second time and offers seconds with such a threatening glint in his eye that Namjoon sits meekly down and drinks two more mugs of tea in half an hour without a word of complaint.
(He hates tea, but he supposes this one isn’t too bad.)
When the Time to Study finally rolls around like Doomsday, Seokjin smiles with such unabashed excitement that Namjoon actually finds it difficult to feel the customary sense of dread at the boredom to come, which is lucky, because, as he finds out, there isn’t in fact any boredom to come. Seokjin chats about wars and political movements with the same zeal he exhibits while arranging ssal ro ppung artfully on a platter, and Namjoon finds it completely impossible to pay attention to anything else. Even with this possibly heaven-sent gift of unrelenting knowledge, though, Namjoon finds it hard to get the dates to stick. So Seokjin helps him make flashcards with highlighters and glittery gel pens and Namjoon just about wants to pack him into a gift box, tie it up with a ribbon and take it home forever.
Seokjin is already like the wonderfully smothering mother of a friend that Namjoon never knew he needed, and he’s only known the guy for half a day.
At around eight o’ clock in the evening (when did it even get so late?) there is a knock on the door and Seokjin gets up to let in an unreasonably tall high school student with the fluffiest hair Namjoon has ever seen.
“Namjoon, this is Jeon Jeongguk. Jeongukkie, this is Kim Namjoon, a freshman I’m tutoring in history.”
Jeongguk bows politely. “Jin hyung helps me with schoolwork too,” he says by way of a conversation starter.
Namjoon grins. “A real charitable guy, I’ve heard.”
Seokjin smacks him on the shoulder. “Don’t be cheeky,” he warns.
Namjoon ignores him. “How old are you, kid?”
“Sixteen. And you’re nineteen, right?” Jeongguk guesses.
“Yep, only just started my second semester.”
“As fascinating as this topic of conversation is,” Seokjin interrupts, “unless you’re going to continue it in English, Kookie, we’d better get you started on some actual work.”
Namjoon takes this as his cue to leave, gathering up his flash cards and shoes. “Thanks for everything, Seokjin-ssi,” he stops before the door to say.
Seokjin glances up at him and flashes him a warm smile. “It was my pleasure. I’ll text you, Hoseok gave me your number.” Namjoon nods and turns to leave. “Oh, and wait a second!” He’s grinning when Namjoon looks back over his shoulder in question. “Call me hyung, would you?”
The way the afternoon went, Namjoon’s more inclined to call him mom, but he thinks that would probably be weird.
“See you later then, hyung.” He steps out of the door.
“So, how’s the history tutoring going?” Yoongi asks with a shit-eating grin, barely containing his amusement.
Namjoon levels a look at him. “Very well, thanks. We’ve had three sessions now, and he’s already got me calling him nicknames and buying him an overpriced chai latte every week in lieu of actual payment. I kind of want to keep him as a pet,” he muses.
Yoongi raises an eyebrow, looking bemused. “I asked about the history, not your budding romance.”
Namjoon turns a humiliating shade of crimson, prompting a snigger from the devil sitting across from him, and grumbles, “It’s not a romance. Don’t be gross.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Yoongi waves him off. “So, any progress?”
Namjoon nods. “I’ve got a good start on trying to fix the key dates he gave me in my brain, and we’ve covered the first two decades in nauseating detail that I can remember almost all of, so I’d say it’s going pretty well.”
Yoongi looks reluctantly impressed. “After three sessions? This guy must be Jesus.”
“He’s not far off,” Namjoon admits, a faraway look in his eye.
“Holy shit, you’re actually infatuated, that’s disgusting,” Yoongi remarks in a completely inflectionless tone.
Namjoon throws his empty paper cup at him. “Am not. I just admire him, that’s all.”
“And you also want to bone him.”
Namjoon, finding himself wanting of any further projectiles, settles for throwing him a poisonous glare instead. “I told you not to be gross. He has a boyfriend already.”
This sparks Yoongi’s interest. “Oh, really?”
“Yep. And he’s twice your size and three times your weight in muscle mass alone, so I’d recommend you stop with the boning talk while you still have unbroken ones in your body.”
This prompts a fit of wheezing, choking laughter that has Yoongi pounding on the table while tears stream down his cheeks. Personally, Namjoon doesn’t think it was that funny.
“Oh, this is just too good,” Yoongi finally gasps out, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Gangly nerdy you is in love with an actual mom, who is dating a bodybuilder of all things! This I have to see. Make sure to invite them to my next house party.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Namjoon does in fact end up inviting them to Yoongi’s next house party. He also ends up inviting Jimin and Taehyung, who are still in high school and still eighteen and Yoongi is not impressed.
“Underage,” he states unnecessarily, pointing at the two of them in turn. They smile at him beatifically. “Very underage.”
“Only a year underage, to be fair,” Namjoon points out. “Few months, if we’re going to be technical about it.”
“He,” Yoongi jabs a finger at Jimin, “looks about twelve.”
“Well, you look like a stick, but I’m sure there must be some muscle underneath that shirt of yours,” Jimin fires back good-naturedly with his best dimple.
Yoongi stares at him as if he can’t quite believe what just happened, and Namjoon nearly soils himself trying not to laugh.
“Look,” he says, voice pitched slightly higher than normal. “They’re friends from high school, and they’re matriculating here next semester unless everything goes horribly, horribly wrong. What’s the harm in it? I’ll personally make sure they don’t touch a drop of alcohol,” he lies very badly.
Yoongi sighs and gives up. “Whatever,” he says. “Just make sure they don’t get me arrested.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Yoongi-ssi, I’ll wait until after my birthday before doing anything that would risk that,” Jimin flirts shamelessly, eyes dropping very unsubtly down to Yoongi’s crotch.
Yoongi is struck speechless for an astonishing second time, giving the two a chance to laugh charmingly and make their escape into the throng.
Yoongi turns to Namjoon, desperation in his eyes. “Please tell me the other one is more reasonable,” he begs.
Namjoon shakes his head apologetically. “Taehyung is infinitely worse. Sorry, hyung.”
“You’re not at all, you little shit.”
“What’s all this swearing so early in the evening?” says a voice behind them. Namjoon turns to find Seokjin standing there, dressed in very tight jeans and leaning comfortably against his wardrobe boyfriend. “You must be Min Yoongi,” he addresses Yoongi amicably. “I’m Kim Seokjin, this is Lee Jiwoon. Thanks for inviting us!”
“No worries,” Yoongi tells him. “Least I could do for the people that are helping my beloved dongsaeng not be kicked out of university for failing History.”
“I promise you, man, I’m doing nothing in that area,” Jiwoon says. “My history’s as bad as it gets.”
“Yes it is,” Seokjin says, patting him lovingly on the arm. “How are you, Namjoonie?”
“Good, good,” Namjoon tells him with a smile. “Very ready to forget everything in a bottle of vodka, but good.”
“Glad to hear it. On that note, I think I need a glass of soju. Babe, go get me one, would you?”
“Sure.” Jiwoon trundled off in the vague direction of the drinks table.
“This might sound kinda forward,” Yoongi begins slowly, “but how did you manage to whip that one, of all people?”
“Oh, I’m terrifying,” Jin tells him cheerily. “As you are too, if Joonie is to be believed.”
Yoongi looks proud. “I did make a guy wet himself once.”
Namjoon rolls his eyes. “Yes, the guy was even shorter than you and also seven.”
Yoongi glares at him. “No one was talking to you. Especially not me. I’m going over there.”
“Bye,” Namjoon says pointedly. Yoongi slouches away into the fond embraces of friends Namjoon has no idea how he managed to get.
Seokjin watches him go. “He’s nice, I like him.”
“You like everyone.”
“Not true. I like all nice people.”
Namjoon snorts. “You know, I really wouldn’t choose ‘nice’ as the first word to describe Yoongi.”
Jin looks at his curiously. “What word would you choose?”
Namjoon thinks. “’Grumpy’,” he says finally. “And the second word would be ‘softy’.”
Jin laughs. “I can see that. How would you describe me?”
Namjoon looks into his eyes and feels his insides go warm. “’Mom’,” he says honestly.
Seokjin is not pleased. “’Mom’?! Not ‘lovely’, or ‘handsome’, or even ‘friendly’?”
“Nope, definitely ‘mom’.”
“Why?!”
“You force-feed me tea, hyung.”
“You love tea!”
“I really don’t.”
“Well, you need tea. Just like I need my soju, right on time, babe,” he says, taking the full cup from Jiwoon’s massive hand and taking a gulp. “Wow, that’s bad soju.” He takes a bigger gulp.
Namjoon hides his chuckle in his own cup.
“Strong though,” Seokjin continues. “One more of these and I’ll be dancing like nobody’s business.”
Half an hour later, and Namjoon thinks ‘X-rated movie’ might have been a better simile. If the shoulders alone hadn’t already convinced him beyond a doubt that Jin was not in fact a flower fairy princess, this would have been the clincher.
Thing is though, it’s a bad X-rated movie. Real bad. Like Namjoon would have been angry at not getting his money’s worth for the film he’d illegally torrented for free on the internet bad. Dance is very obviously not one of Seokjin’s many talents, but this does not hinder him from cheerfully flailing more or less to the beat while grinding pornographically onto his boyfriend’s crotch. Namjoon—who freely admits he is even worse on the dancefloor—is currently feeling like the most colossal third-wheeling tit there ever was.
Then Jiwoon leaves to get more drinks, instructing Namjoon to take care of his marginally intoxicated boyfriend. Said boyfriend immediately begins dancing with (on) Namjoon instead, ignoring all protests completely.
“Relaaax!” he laughs, grabbing behind him for Namjoon’s hips and, finding them, tugging them firmly against his backside. “It’s just dancing!” Namjoon (and, rather humiliatingly, Little Namjoon) begs to differ. “And anyway, Woonie said to take care of me! This counts!”
Namjoon just shuts his eyes and thinks determinedly of naked grannies. Of all the times for his intermittent bi-curiosity to rear its slightly socially unacceptable head, it would be now. With the pounding bass and the burn of liquor in his throat and the tantalising press of a frankly delectable ass right against his most prized possession.
Taken, Namjoon, it’s a taken ass! A very taken ass! he screams to himself desperately. The thing is though, he understands this perfectly well. It’s Little Namjoon who is selectively deaf, and Little Namjoon has completely taken the wheel.
Namjoon’s rebelling hands are conflictedly inching towards Jin’s gyrating waist when a plastic cup is shoved under his nose. He nearly headbutts it.
“Got you another punch,” Jiwoon grins at him, apparently unsurprised at his boyfriend’s slightly promiscuous dance routine. “Thanks for handling him, he gets a bit rowdy after three units.”
“Yeah,” is all Namjoon can get his constricted throat to squeeze out.
Jin suddenly notices his boyfriend and, with a squeal of joy, springs away from Namjoon to shove his tongue down Jiwoon’s throat. Namjoon almost cries with relief. Little Namjoon screams in anguish.
Feeling even more tit-like, Namjoon decides to tactfully make his escape. With very uncomfortably tight pants, he waddles in the direction of the bathroom to think of naked grannies in peace, and is promptly hijacked by Taehyung.
“Hyuuung!” the boy calls excitedly. “I missed you!”
“You saw me an hour ago,” Namjoon points out.
“Yes, but you were busy watching Jimin terrify your friend. As was I, to be fair. It was pretty funny,” Taehyung muses.
“That it was. Speaking of, where is Jimin? I thought you two would be fucking each other on the dance floor by now.”
“We were, but we barely got past foreplay before Jiminie got sidetracked.” Taehyung seems unfazed. “On the subject of fucking, who was that guy you were dancing with just now? Dancing used in the very loose sense, of course.”
Namjoon’s face flames red and he hates it. “That would be Kim Seokjin, my tutor. Who has a boyfriend that he is very much in love with, so I fail to understand your segue from ‘fucking’. That was strictly and platonically PG-13.”
“I dunno, hyung…” All of a sudden, Taehyung makes a grab for his dick. Namjoon screams and jumps backwards immediately. “That sure doesn’t feel like a PG-13.”
“Taehyung!” Namjoon squawks. “Firstly, that is no way to treat your hyung! Or anybody! Secondly, where is Jimin? Someone needs to stop you from getting some poor guy arrested for sexual assault of a minor. And by ‘some poor guy’, I mean me.”
Taehyung smiles quite, quite satanically. “Something tells me Jimin isn’t the one to be doing the saving, if you know what I mean, hyung.”
All the blood drains from Namjoon’s face and he sprints for Yoongi’s bedroom. Slamming the door open, he promptly covers his eyes and screams when he predictably sees Jimin in the process of very thoroughly sucking his hyung’s cock. This is quickly turning into his worst night ever.
“Hyung!” he yells, hands still slapped over his suffering eyes. “Underage! Remember? Very underage!”
Yoongi sounds extremely grumpy and scarringly breathless when he replies, “Well you aren’t about to report me, are you? Now stop screaming about it and piss off, we were in the middle of something.”
“Yes, I saw that, thank you very much!” comes Namjoon’s squawked reply. “Jimin, come on, you and Tae are leaving. I have been visually, mentally and physically molested quite enough for one evening.”
Jimin whines in protest. “Oh, come on, hyung, don’t be a cockblock! Just because you’re as sexually frustrated as a frigging hamster…”
Namjoon wants to glare at him, but won’t risk removing his hand. “I’ll have you know I am not sexually frustrated in the least.” Not now, in any case. In fact, Namjoon wasn’t sure he’d ever be capable of getting it up again with this particular image seared behind his eyelids. “We’re going, Jimin. Hyung, please put your dick away, I’m starting to see the Northern Lights.”
Yoongi mutters something obscene under his breath, but obligingly zips up his fly. Namjoon finally peeks out. Apart from the glazed eyes and flushed cheeks on Yoongi and the mussed hair and swollen lips on Jimin, the scene is pretty innocent. “Great, thanks.” He beckons to Jimin. “Come on, don’t get hyung arrested for something as stupid as this, he’ll never forgive me, despite it being his own damn fault.” He shoots a glare at Yoongi, who, in his defence, is starting to look mildly horrified at himself.
Jimin gives him his best puppy eyes. “Namjoon hyung, please, we’ve only been here for an hour…”
“Absolutely not. Say your goodbyes.”
Jimin bites his lip and turns to Yoongi, who seems unable to meet his eye. “Um…bye then, Yoongi-ssi.”
“See you ‘round, kid,” Yoongi tells the blanket in a monotone.
Jimin waits as if for something more, but eventually realises that’s all he’s likely to get. He quietly gets up and shuffles shamefacedly over to Namjoon. “Okay,” he says, subdued. “Let’s go.”
Namjoon feels bad for the kid, he really does. But not as bad as he feels for himself. “Let’s go find Tae and get out of here, yeah?”
“Why did you do that, hyung?” Jimin asks quietly once they’ve shut the door. “It was perfect. He’s the most perfect guy I’ve ever seen, and he’s only two years older than me, and he’d had just the right amount of vodka to forget that he wasn’t supposed to touch me…”
Namjoon frowns at him. “Jimin, did you just admit to getting someone drunk in order to sleep with them? Because that’s also illegal.”
“Not like I was making him suck my dick,” Jimin grumbles, trying to hide his shame.
Namjoon shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter. And either way, he’d be the one getting the flack for it. That was decidedly asshole-ish of you, Chim-chim.”
Jimin sighs. “Yeah, I know. Wasn’t quite thinking straight. He just kept calling me ‘kid’ and it was so infuriating! And now I don’t even have his number and I’m never going to see him again!”
“You’re joining the university next semester. You’ll see him.”
“And I bet he won’t want to look at me then, either.”
Namjoon sighs. “Well, what did you think it would have been like? Hyung’s longest relationship on record is two months, and half of that time was filled with fighting. He’s not the commitment type.”
“I wasn’t asking for commitment!” Jimin declares exasperatedly. “I wasn’t asking for anything! I just wanted him. For a one-off, at best a friends-with-benefits, no-strings-attached deal.”
“Jimin, you’re about as good at no strings attached as I am at dancing,” Namjoon tells him, not unkindly. “Trust me, let it go. You need love and cuddles and exclusivity, and Min Yoongi can’t give you that. Tae’s more your man.”
Jimin glares at him. “Tae is my best friend, I’m not about to start dating him!”
“You could.” If Namjoon is completely honest, deep down, he’s always kind of shipped those two.
“I don’t want to. It’s not like that. I love him in a come-over-and-play-Mario-with-me way, not a let-me-shove-my-dick-in-your-orifices way.”
Namjoon winces at the imagery. “Yeah, well, worth a shot. Is Tae also as uninterested?”
“Is Tae also as uninterested in what?” comes Taehyung’s voice from behind his shoulder. Namjoon spins around and nearly knocks the boy out with an accidental flail. Taehyung, luckily, is used to this, and dodges the fist easily.
“Namjoon thinks we should be boyfriends,” Jimin fills him in. Namjoon splutters, unable to come to his own defence.
Taehyung blinks. “I thought we were boyfriends.” He sounds genuinely confused.
“Actual boyfriends.”
“Oh, like sex?”
“And dates, and cuddles, and hand-holding and all that shite,” Namjoon cuts in.
Taehyung waves him off. “We do all that already.”
Jimin raises an eyebrow. “So, what do you think?” he asks.
“Are you actually asking?” Taehyung looks amused.
Jimin snorts. “No, of course not. You’re my friend.”
Namjoon watched Taehyung’s face hungrily for a flicker of hurt. Nothing of the kind is forthcoming.
“And you are mine, mon amour,” Taehyung grins squarely, receiving a slightly watered-down smile from his counterpart. “No dicklust on either side of the pond.” Namjoon sighs as his ship sinks with a pronounced finality. “Speaking of dicklust, how’s the situation with Short, Sweet and Grumpy?”
Jimin’s face falls again.
“Not legally or technically consensual and unlikely to culminate in anything permanent,” Namjoon fills him in.
Taehyung nods in understanding. “Can’t say I didn’t see that one coming. We off, then?”
Namjoon and Jimin nod in synchronisation.
The next morning, Namjoon has the rare honour of receiving a call from Yoongi.
“Hey, hyung, what’s up?”
“Everything is terrible.”
“Hangover?”
“I barely drank anything last night, don’t be fucking stupid.”
Namjoon frowned in confusion. “Sleep deprivation, then. Funny though, Jimin said you were pretty gone. You remember Jimin, right? Small, vacuum-packed, good mouth for a—”
“I remember, I remember!” Namjoon waits for an explanation. “…I may have acted slightly drunker than I really was. I needed an excuse, you know!”
“An excuse for what?”
“You know very fucking well for what, Kim Namjoon!”
“Ah, yes, getting sucked off by a minor. Well, excuse out the window, now explain yourself.”
“…he was just so fucking cute, okay? And hot, and sexy, and all that shit. So fucking confident.”
“That confidence took a bit of a knock last night, you know,” Namjoon informed him sternly, slipping smoothly into Hyung Mode.
“What do you mean?”
“Jimin seems to be under the impression you’re never going to want to see him again.”
“Well, I don’t!” came the scandalised reply. “I can’t!”
“Because he’s underage?”
“Obviously, you moron.”
“He turns nineteen in a few months, you know that, right? You don’t need to feel that guilty, I was mostly joking before.”
“How can I not feel guilty? I manipulated him! He’s just a kid!” Yoongi sounds so much more upset than Namjoon has ever heard him before that he’s starting to get actually concerned.
“From what I heard, both of you were manipulating each other just fine. It’s not like he’s an innocent snowflake, his spirit animal’s a freaking devil pixie.”
“Oh, fuck off. Yeah, he tried to get me drunk, but he failed magnificently, so so what? He made it perfectly clear that it was supposed to be a one-time thing, and—”
“Wait, wait, hold up. Jimin made it clear that it was a one-time thing?” Namjoon can barely believe the words spouting out of his own mouth.
“What are you, deaf? He literally said ‘just this once’. And I just let him do whatever, even though frankly I’m not sure I can deal with just the once, holy shit, Namjoon, he—”
“That would be Jimin trying to be coy, he doesn’t actually mean it,” Namjoon interrupts before he fully comprehends what Yoongi has just said. He chokes. “Wait, what?! What did you just say? You want it to be more than a one-time thing?!”
“Fucking obviously, Joonie, but it can’t happen, he’s eighteen for chrissakes and—”
Namjoon cannot believe his ears. “Hang on a sec, hyung, let me get this straight. You are feeling crushing guilt for not-quite-but-pretty-much sleeping with a minor.”
“Yes.”
“Not only because he’s a minor, but also because you feel as if you were taking advantage of him.”
“Yes.”
“Because you think he only wanted a one-night stand, but you want…what exactly is it that you want, hyung?”
“Nothing! He’s eighteen!”
“Oh, shut up with that already! Yes, you have a point, but this is not what I’m talking about!” Namjoon presses his fingers into his temple. “Say it’s a few months down the line. Say Jimin’s nineteen. What do you want? A…relationship?” Namjoon asks disbelievingly.
“Fuck, Joonie, I don’t know. I really don’t know. All my relationships end in fucking tears, and I don’t want that to happen…” Yoongi goes on, but Namjoon isn’t listening anymore. He’s trying desperately to contain his snorts of hysterical laughter. “…too fucking happy, and I can’t ruin—Kim Namjoon, are you fucking laughing?”
All attempts at restraining himself fly out of the window and Namjoon nearly falls over. Eventually, he gathers himself enough to wheeze weakly, “I can’t believe this, I can’t fucking believe this…”
“What’s your fucking problem? And can you get over it pronto and help me with mine already?”
“Ohh no! This is all on you, hyung, this is your mess to sort out! I am noping my way right out of this one. All I’m going to tell you is that it’s not as complicated as you’re making it. And also that it’s only having sex with a minor that’s illegal. You can date whoever you like.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Kim Namjoon, you better fucking—”
Namjoon presses the ‘end call’ button, still chuckling. If, a couple of years ago, he had been told that one day he would be hearing a lovesick Min Yoongi whining at him down a phone, he would have asked them to get their head checked. Today is going to be a good day.
He quickly texts Yoongi Jimin’s number and puts his phone on silent. He needs to go over his flashcards again or Jin will have his head.
Thoughts of Jin spark off memories from the night before, and Namjoon collapses in his office chair under the weight of his cringing, groaning quietly into his hands. God, that was terrible. He only hopes to high heaven that Seokjin was too far gone to notice Little Namjoon’s reaction to the whole fiasco; Lord knew he needed the history tuition, his make-up test was in a month. He hopes even harder that Jiwoon didn’t notice anything. The guy doesn’t seem like the jealous and controlling type, but Namjoon hazards a guess that anyone would be kind of pissed off if some guy got hard on their boyfriend. Namjoon really doesn’t want to see a pissed off Jiwoon.
Banishing all horrifying thoughts from his head, Namjoon shoves in his earphones and gets stuck into his studying.
He wakes up three hours later, drool covering his cheek and three of his flashcards.
“Fuck,” he swears, wiping everything off as best he can. Some of the highlighter has run a bit, but it’s all still legible.
It appears Namjoon is still utterly awful at revision, just sitting down and learning. Still, actually falling asleep is a new low. Sighing hard, he picks up his phone and calls Seokjin before he thinks to check what time it is.
“Hello?” comes an unfamiliar voice over the line.
Namjoon blinks, thrown. “Uh…hi, this is Kim Namjoon, I’m looking for Seokjin?”
“Hyung!” the voices cheers happily, and Namjoon realises it’s Jeongguk. Shit, it’s half past eight, isn’t it?
“Oh, hey, Kookie, sorry to interrupt your study time.”
“No worries, Seokjin hyung’s making tea just now anyway. He’s pretty hungover, so I don’t think we’re gonna get a huge amount done today anyway.”
Namjoon smirks. “Oh, he is, is he?”
“Who’s that, Kookie?” he hears distantly. “How many times have I told you not to answer my phone when I’m not here?”
“It’s just Namjoon hyung, he wants you.”
“I bet he does.” Namjoon chokes, horrified. Had Jin noticed last night? “Hand him over then.”
A lot of rustling, and Jin’s voice comes clearly through his speakers. “Hey, Joonie, what’s up?”
Namjoon is still in mild shock and takes a moment to reply. “Um…not much, actually. It’s a bit dumb, I had a small problem and called before I realised what time it was, sorry for distracting you from Kookie.”
“Problem? What’s wrong?” Jin sounds so much like a worried mother that Namjoon’s heart deliquesces.
He smiles softly to himself. “No, no, nothing’s wrong,” he says soothingly, “I’m just finding it hard to concentrate on these flash cards and I actually fell asleep on them, so I was wondering if you had any tips.”
“…that’s it? I dunno, ever think of trying coffee?” Seokjin suggests, actually sounding slightly irritated.
Namjoon sucks in a surprised breath at his tone. Fucking hell, what is he even doing? He’s wasting Jin’s time, he should have just apologised and hung up when he first realised Jeongguk was there.
“Um,” he stammers eloquently. “Okay. Good idea, thanks. Look, I’m really sorry for bothering you with such a stupid thing, I wasn’t thinking.”
“Yeah, no worries, maybe check the clock next time, huh?” Jin says briskly.
Namjoon purses his lip, feeling like a scolded child. “…yeah. Sorry.”
“Bye, Namjoon.”
“Bye,” Namjoon says, a bit too late. The dial tone echoes in his ear. He puts the phone down and folds his hands together in his lap, staring at them. The last time he felt like this was when he spilt his mom’s expensive nail polish all over her even more expensive white carpet. He’d forgotten how sickly the combination of shame, guilt and hurt was.
Sighing deeply, he gets up. He needs to go for a walk, try and budge the roiling knot in his stomach. When he gets back, a good two hours later, there are a lot of people at his door. By a lot, he means three, but that’s three more people then are ever usually at his door.
Taehyung, the nearest of the trio, spots him first and waves. “Hi, hyung, where were you? We’ve been waiting ages!”
“Went for a walk,” Namjoon tells him distractedly, trying to peer around his shoulder and see who his other two visitors are. “What’s going on?”
The other two stand up, and Namjoon realises with a jolt that it’s Seokjin; Seokjin is here, with Jeongguk.
“Hi, Joonie,” he said, smiling tiredly. He doesn’t look in great shape; he has huge bags under his eyes and his face is puffy, face tense with his obvious headache. He is practically the personification of a hangover.
Jeongguk smiles at him toothily. “I made hyung come over to apologise for being a dick to you over the phone, and we met Taehyung-ssi here.”
“I was looking for a place to escape my parents for a bit,” Taehyung says cheerily, enveloping Namjoon in a long-limbed hug. “They’re harping on about becoming a lawyer again. Me, a lawyer. Can you imagine?” He laughs, but Namjoon suspects he isn’t feeling completely fine either.
He hugs Taehyung back tightly. “Well, assuming you guys don’t need any introductions, would you all like to come in for a drink?”
Seokjin perks up. “Do you have tea?”
“No,” Namjoon tells him, and he can’t stop his voice from being a bit more brusque than usual. “I hate tea.”
There is a very awkward silence.
Namjoon closes his eyes and breathes. “Sorry. No, I don’t, but do you want coffee?”
“I’m alright with water, thanks,” Seokjin says quietly.
Taehyung clears his throat. “I’ll have coffee.”
“Jeongguk?” Namjoon looks at him.
“Water too, please.” The boy looks uncomfortable.
Namjoon pours two glasses of water and sets the kettle to boil.
“Aren’t you having anything, hyung?” Taehyung asks. “I thought you were addicted to coffee.”
Namjoon shrugs in faux nonchalance. “Not really feeling like it right now, I slept a lot today and if I drink any now I won’t sleep.” In reality, he’s waiting to have a quiet beer or three after they leave, and he never reacts well to being on caffeine and alcohol at the same time.
“Oh, cool.” Tae nods, very obviously not fooled.
“You know what?” Jeongguk blurts out all of a sudden. “I’ve just remembered the bird’s nest I found outside. Taehyung-ssi, do you want to see it?”
Taehyung waggles his eyebrows. “But of course. And call me hyung already, I wanna call you Kookie like the rest but it’s weird when you’re still talking to me like a stranger.”
“We met an hour ago,” Jeongguk points out, already heading for the door.
“Kookie, it’s pitch black out, what are you doing?” Seokjin calls, concerned.
“Doing you a massive favour!” Jeongguk yells back, muttering, “you giant plonker” under his breath. Taehyung following close at his heels, nattering excitedly about baby birds, the door slams shut behind the two of them.
Silence.
Eventually, Seokjin sighs. “Look, Joonie, I’m really sorry about how I was on the phone earlier. I’m just hungover and tired and really impatient today, and I know it isn’t an excuse for taking it out on you, but that’s how it is.”
Namjoon nods. “It’s okay. It was a stupid fucking question anyway.”
Seokjin huffs out a laugh. “You’re really worried about this make-up test, aren’t you?”
“Of course I am! If I fail this twice, I’m going to start getting into trouble!”
“Namjoon, if you just take your time and prepare thoroughly, there is no way you can possibly fail. You’re one of the cleverest people I’ve ever met.”
Namjoon scowls, trying to hide his blush at the flattery. “Jin hyung, this test isn’t about being intelligent, it’s about being good at memorisation. And I’m fucking pants at memorisation, especially dates!”
“You just have to work at it,” Seokjin tells him, likes it’s never occurred to Namjoon before.
“Work at it? What do you think I’ve been fucking doing these past few months? I know you think I’m not doing anything because I’m not improving, but trust me, I’m working my ass off! These flashcards are in my pocket fucking constantly and I can still only remember three of them!”
“You’re right, Joonie, I’m sorry.”
Namjoon groans and runs a hand through his hair. “Don’t apologise, it’s not your fault I suck at history.”
“You don’t suck,” Seokjin says quietly.
Namjoon glances up to see him staring fixedly at the floor. “Yeah, the carpet’s fine, it’s me I’m worried about,” he says, slightly too harshly for it to be funny.
“Namjoon, I’m serious.” Seokjin still isn’t meeting his eye and it’s driving Namjoon crazy.
“You could at least try to lie to my face!” he snaps.
“Argh, godammit, I’m not lying!” Seokjin growls, tugging at his hair and suddenly looking slightly unhinged. “I can’t look you in the eye because I’m embarrassed, Namjoon.”
Namjoon blinks. “Huh?”
“Last night...” Namjoon’s ears burn at the memory. “I remember everything, of course.”
Namjoon’s heart stops. Oh, shit, he thinks. Oh shit oh shit oh shit no.
“I can’t express how humiliated I am about my behaviour. The whole thing was…extraordinarily inappropriate. Just remembering it makes me want to set myself on fire. I’m so sorry.”
“About…the dancing?” Namjoon asks, face a tomato of shame.
“About the dancing,” Seokjin confirms grimly, face in a similar state. “I always get kind of randy, but it’s never bloody that bad.”
“That’s it?”
Seokjin looks up in abject horror. “Did I do something else?”
Namjoon hurries to reassure him. “No, no, god no! I just…thought there might be something else you were angry with me about.”
“Oh, Jesus, Joonie, no!” Seokjin cries, jumping up and smushing Namjoon’s face between his sweaty palms. “No no no, I’m not angry at you at all! I’m just grumpy and embarrassed and tired and I took it out on you because you were there, you haven’t done anything at all! Did I make you feel like that? Oh God, I’m so sorry, Joonie, I didn’t mean to let you think that!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Namjoon hurries to put a stop to the stream of apologies. “I’m sorry too, I overreacted this evening, I’m just a bit tired and embarrassed too, I guess.”
Seokjin’s face screws up in shame. “Oh God, I embarrassed you…”
“Hyung, you didn’t embarrass me even close to how much you embarrassed yourself; it’s fine.”
Seokjin takes a deep breath. “Yeah. Okay, calming down.”
“Good.” Namjoon smiles at him. Jin looks so tired he could be on the brink of dissolution. Namjoon kind of wants to rock him to sleep in his arms, maybe fall asleep like that himself, with his nose buried in Jin’s hair and mouth pressed against Jin’s temple...
The door swings open and Taehyung and Jeongguk walk in, seemingly finished with their bonding over what Namjoon assumes to be a fictional bird’s nest.
Seokjin immediately releases Namjoon’s face and rushes over to Jeongguk. “Kookie, I really need a hug!” he whines, going in for a cuddle. Jeongguk obliges, looking confused.
“Did Namjoon hyung hurt your feelings?” Taehyung asks, uncharacteristically concerned. “He can be stupid a lot, but he never means it.”
“Hey,” Namjoon objects, kind of put out that Jin is the one getting all the coddling. He’s had a harrowing twenty-four hours too, godammit.
“No, me and Joonie are fine now, I’m just emotional because I’m tired,” Seokjin tells him. “I think we should get going, Kookie, I’m about to pass out.”
Jeongguk nods. “Okay, hyung. It was nice meeting you, Taehyung hyung,” he says, smiling shyly at the elder. “See you soon, Namjoon hyung.”
“See ya, Guk. Jin.”
“Bye, Joonie. See you Tuesday, yeah?”
“Sure.”
They’re gone.
Taehyung finally spares him a glance. “So, everything’s fine?”
Namjoon is quiet for just a bit too long before he replies, “Yeah. All good.”
Kim Taehyung is not fooled. “Did you have the Inappropriate Boner talk?” he asks.
Namjoon’s face flares and he glares at his dongsaeng. “No. He didn’t notice that.”
“Thank bejeezus.”
Namjoon agrees wholeheartedly.
“So what did you talk about?”
Shrug. “He apologised for being handsy last night and grumpy tonight. I said sorry for being stupid. All good.”
Taehyung nods. “Fair enough. You still don’t look that happy though.”
“When do I ever look happy?” Namjoon freely admits that he’s being melodramatic now.
Taehyung rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, come on man, talk to me. Distract me from my own problems for ten minutes.”
“You don’t want to talk about them?” Namjoon tries, ever hopeful.
“Hell no,” Taehyung says cheerily. “Now spill.”
Namjoon decides to start on the beer early; Lord knows he’s going to need it. Cracking open a can, he sits down heavily and sighs. “Look, Taetae, I don’t know. I guess I just feel fonder of Jin than he does of me? And it makes me sad? But then sometimes he treats me like I’m his own child and I’m the brightest thing in his world kinda thing? But then he treats everyone like that, and it really confuses me? And sometimes I just wanna pack him up in a little parcel and keep him forever? But like I don’t know if I have feelings for him or not because on one hand yeah kinda but on the other hand hell no he’s my mother type thing, you know?”
Taehyung blinks at him. “How long have you known him for?”
“Bit over three months now.”
This seems to surprise him. “Friend, you got it bad.”
“You see, I don’t know about that, that’s the problem! I don’t know if he’s just a friend to me, or just a mother to me, or just a giant fucking crush to me, do you see my problem?”
Taehyung bites his lip. “Um.”
Namjoon sighs, running a hand through his hair. “Do you ever get kind of overwhelming feelings for Jimin?” Seeing Taehyung about to scoff he adds quickly, “Not in a romantic way, you douche, just really overwhelming friend feelings, like you suddenly want to squeeze him to death or pick him up and swing him around or keep him in your closet forever?”
“Well…yeah,” Taehyung admits, “but hyung, I’ve always been like that. I’ve always been super tactile and super needy, and Jimin has never been one to question random smooches or ass slaps or fucking ear licking or whatever. It’s all just bro stuff, you know?” Namjoon is about to protest and say that he has never felt the urge to lick Seokjin’s ear, but Taehyung cuts him off. “The thing is, hyung, you aren’t like me. You aren’t constantly in need of cuddles and love and kisses. So when you tell me you want to tie Seokjin-ssi to your wrist and never let him go, this is quite a significant thing, you feel me?”
Namjoon nods. “I see your point. But I don’t know! Surely if I like liked him I’d hate Jiwoon, or at least hate seeing them together. But I don’t, Jiwoon’s cool, and he makes Jin happy. I don’t want them to break up or anything like that.”
“You don’t feel jealous at all when they’re together?”
Namjoon considers. “Well, it was really awkward last night, but it wasn’t like how Yoongi hyung was when he saw Hosung getting busy with some girl that one time. He nearly threw up he was so angry.”
Taehyung nods and leans back against the wall. “Do you wanna hear what I think, hyung?”
“Hit me.” Taehyung had an uncanny talent for always hitting the nail on the head, and Namjoon had a feeling this time wouldn’t be an exception.
“I think you mainly want to see Seokjin-ssi happy. But sometimes you get sad that you don’t make him as happy as other people do.”
Namjoon nods, and breathes, and nods again. “Yeah. That sounds about right. I’m fucked, aren’t I, Taetae?”
“Completely.” The boy grins at him. “Changing the subject though, what do you think of Kookie?”
“Jeongguk?” Namjoon is slightly bemused. “He’s a cool kid. Pretty smart, I guess. He’s known Jin hyung for a long time. Why?”
Taehyung smiles at him mysteriously. “I sense the start of something new here. Maybe a new addition to the legendary TaeMin bromance.”
Namjoon narrows his eyes at him. “You want to bone him, don’t you?”
Taehyung looks melodramatically scandalised. “Hyung, he’s just sixteen, of course not! Maybe later.” He winks devilishly, and Namjoon for the life of him cannot tell if he is joking or not.
He shakes his head. “Jesus, we’re all fucking messes.”
“That we are, hyung, that we are.”
Three weeks later, and Namjoon’s revision schedule for History is really starting to pick up the pace. He’s at Seokjin’s more evenings than not now, and they’re both desperately trying to cram as many dates into his head as possible, using a wide array of stupid songs, raps and picture associations.
Namjoon would even risk saying it’s going well, and that he actually feels like he could pass this test.
Exactly a week before Doomsday, Namjoon arrives at Seokjin’s door, kicks off his boots and gets out his flashcards while Jin makes tea for himself and coffee for Namjoon. Namjoon is talking constantly about the new mixtape he’s working on, and therefore doesn’t have much time to realise Seokjin is quieter than usual. In fact, he only notices when a mug of instant coffee is placed before him without a word and he turns to see Seokjin dripping tears into his teacup.
Namjoon is understandably horrified. “Hyung? What’s wrong? Did you burn yourself?”
Seokjin shakes his head, tears flying onto the table. “No, no, I’m fine, I’m sorry.”
“Hyung, you are obviously not fine.”
Seokjin is stubborn. “I am fine, come on, we need to go over the sixties again.”
Namjoon pushes the flashcards out of his reach. “Hyung, you’re scaring me, please tell me what happened.”
Seokjin’s face crumples and he begins to shake. Namjoon reaches out, hesitates, then shakes off his misgivings and lays his hands comfortingly on his hyung’s shoulders.
Seokjin draws in a shaking breath. “Jiwoon broke up with me,” he whispers brokenly.
This throws Namjoon for a loop. “He…what? Why?” This makes Jin cry harder, and Namjoon hurriedly backtracks. “No, no, never mind, it’s okay, hyung, you don’t have to tell me!”
Seokjin shakes his head. “No, it’s okay. It’s okay.” He breathes for a few moments. “He…he just said things have changed. For him. He doesn’t feel…the same way anymore. For me.”
Namjoon is horrified. “Hyung…” He doesn’t know what to say, so he just wraps his arms around him and pulls him in close, his nose in Jin’s hair, his mouth pressed against his temple. “I’m sorry, hyung. I’m really sorry.”
Seokjin sobs against him, tears seeping through Namjoon’s t-shirt, hands clutching fabric in fistfuls. “What did I do, Namjoonie?” he wails piteously. “What the hell did I do?”
“Jin, Jin, no, you haven’t done anything,” Namjoon tells him, hugging him harder and forgetting any honorifics completely. “It’s not your fault, nothing is your fault, please don’t say that.”
Seokjin only cries harder, and Namjoon starts to worry. Is he going to get hysterical? Should I call somebody?
He doesn’t have time to start panicking properly before Seokjin speaks again, not shaking quite so hard anymore. “You know what he said to me?” he weeps, words barely making it out through the tears. “He said he started realising it when you came along.” Namjoon goes cold. “He said he saw the way you looked at me and he realised he hadn’t looked at me like that for a long time. He said he still loves me, but not enough. Not like that.”
Namjoon can’t say anything, the words stick in his throat and he can barely breathe.
Seokjin raises his head, and he looks utterly hideous and completely perfect. “How do you look at me, Joonie?” he whispered, more tears spilling from his eyes. “Do you really look at me like that?”
Namjoon opens his mouth but cannot speak.
Seokjin’s hand slides into his hair and Namjoon shivers violently, arms tightening around Jin’s waist completely without his permission.
“Joonie?” Seokjin murmurs, and he almost sounds normal, almost like he isn’t distraught and delirious and desperate.
The hand curls in his hair and Jin arches up and kisses Namjoon on the lips. It’s so soft and warm and home and Namjoon can’t do this anymore and he pulls Jin against him and kisses him back fiercely. He tastes of tea and salt and tears and Namjoon remembers with a start that Jin is still crying and that this is not real. He pulls away with a start.
“Jin…hyung, we can’t do this,” he says, wild-eyed and shell-shocked.
“Why not?” Seokjin is breathing heavily, half-sobs still wracking his body.
Namjoon swallows. “Because this isn’t what you want,” he says. “Not really.”
Jin pauses. “You’re right,” he sighs finally. “Yes, you’re right. You’re always right.”
Namjoon pretends he doesn’t feel like he’s been stabbed in the gut. “Do you want me to call someone?” he says, voice wavering only slightly.
Seokjin shakes his head. “No, I should probably be alone right now. I need to clear my head. Cry it all out.”
Namjoon doesn’t quite feel comfortable with leaving Jin alone, but right now his main priority is getting the fuck out as fast as he can. “Okay, call me…if you need anything. Even just someone to sit with you for a bit.”
Seokjin finally smiles at him, but it’s watery and heartbreaking. “Thanks, Joonie. I’ll be functional by tomorrow, we can catch up on your work then.”
Namjoon nods, hurrying to gather his things. “Sure, no problem. You…take your time, yeah? I’ll see you tomorrow.” He makes his way to the door, still shoving things into his satchel.
“Bye, Namjoonie,” Seokjin says, and Namjoon tugs on his last boot, smiles woodenly at him and runs for it.
He’s just crashed into his own room, panting and exhausted from the sprint, when a text pings into his inbox.
From: Kim Seokjin
Sent: 2015/07/04 20:28
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.
Kissing you was a mistake, but not because
it was you. I’m just not in my right frame
of mind, I’m sorry.
Namjoon reads the words over and over until he knows them off by heart and he still can’t believe them. Does this mean that another time, in another frame of mind, Seokjin kissing him would not be a mistake? That maybe Seokjin would want to kiss him even if he wasn’t hurting and desperate?
Namjoon decides he needs to take a lot of sleeping pills and go the fuck to bed.
The next day, he expects seeing Seokjin to be the most awkward experience of his entire life, but it’s surprisingly okay. Jin is much calmer and doesn’t kiss him again, but he does hug him warmly in the doorway and thank him for the day before, apologising yet again for breaking down. Namjoon lets himself hug him back and tells him it’s okay, it’s all okay.
He might be imagining it, but he thinks Jin turns into the hug to press his face subtly against Namjoon’s neck.
Over the course of the week, Seokjin starts to slowly return back to normal. He’s not quite happy yet, Namjoon can tell, but he’s recovering, starting to get more sleep, starting to eat more. This makes Namjoon feel so happy and relieved that he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
The night before his test, Jin bakes him actual fucking cookies and feeds them to him as a good-luck snack.
“Now, Joonie, you know what you need to do tonight, don’t you?”
Namjoon nods, swallowing his cookie. “Go to bed early, not think about history and sleep.”
“Very good.” Seokjin strokes his cheek with his thumb, brushing away a stray crumb, a strange, warm look in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Kim Namjoon.”
He passes the test. Waiting outside the room for the half an hour it took for the professor to mark them is nerve-wracking, but the 96% he sees on his paper is well worth everything. He practically flies to Yoongi’s apartment.
Hoseok opens the door and, seeing Namjoon’s delighted expression, calls his roommate quickly into the room.
“I think Namjoon-ah’s got some good news for us,” he says, grinning wildly.
He tells them, and Yoongi is so proud he punches Namjoon in the gut and then actually hugs him. After he eventually releases Namjoon, Hoseok nudges Yoongi in the shoulder. “Go on, hyung, tell him your news too.”
Namjoon looks at his hyung in askance.
Yoongi blushes and can’t contain his smile. “I asked Jimin on a date and he said yes.”
Namjoon’s mouth falls open. “After all these weeks of emotional constipation? How did you manage that?”
“Don’t you think you should be asking me that?” Hosoek says, laughing. “I’m the one who did all the work!”
“Shut up,” Yoongi tells him.
They all decide that a celebratory beer is very much in order.
Two hours later, Hoseok has retired to his room to try and finish his paper due the next day, and Yoongi turns to Namjoon.
“So,” he drawls, “anything new to report on the Kim Seokjin situation?”
Namjoon purses his lips. “Why would there be anything to report?”
Yoongi hums knowingly. “I heard he and his boyfriend broke up a while back. Just wondering if that held any significance for you, if you know what I mean.” He waggles his eyebrows in a ridiculous manner.
“Why would it?” Namjoon asks airly.
Yoongi rolls his eyes. “Fine. Let’s play. Why did they break up, do you know?”
“Jiwoon wasn’t feeling the same anymore.”
“And Seokjin?”
“It came out of nowhere for him. He was majorly upset.”
Yoongi frowns. “Did you see him afterwards? Did he call you?”
“No, we had a tutoring session scheduled. He just started crying out of nowhere and I asked him why and it all just kind of spiralled from there.”
“Where exactly did it spiral to?”
“Hyung, what are you getting at?” Namjoon sighs exasperatedly.
“Rumour has it,” Yoongi begins, leaning forward, “that there was another party involved. I was just wondering if, maybe…well, you have always been sweet on Seokjin.”
Namjoon is scandalised and maybe just slightly ashamed. “You think Jin hyung cheated on Jiwoon with me?! Hyung, I would never!”
“I know, I know, I never said that,” Yoongi soothes him. “I just…I had a feeling that Seokjin kind of felt something for you too, during that party especially.”
Namjoon rolls his eyes. “Hyung, Jin hyung had feelings for everybody during that particular party. Soju goggles.”
“If you say so. So you’re telling me your relationship with Seokjin is completely platonic, then.” Yoongi looks disappointed.
Namjoon hesitates a beat too long and by then it’s too late.
A terrifyingly predatory glint sparks in Yoongi’s eye. “Spill.”
“Look it didn’t mean anything much…” Namjoon is cut off with a poisonous glare. “Okay fine. When Jin hyung told me about the break up, he was super upset.”
“Yes, you said.”
“Like really, really upset. Tears and snot and hysterics and everything. It was kind of terrifying. Anyway, I’m trying to cuddle the tears out of him, like any decent person would, and it’s all platonic,” he gives Yoongi a warning look, “…until Jin tells me about something Jiwoon said. He said that apparently he started realising he wasn’t in love with him anymore when he saw me and Jin hyung together…something about, um, the way I look at him.”
Yoongi looks confused. “Jiwoon thought Seokjin was cheating?”
“No, Jesus! It…” Namjoon’s face is heating up like a halogen stove. “Jiwoon apparently said that he suddenly realised he wasn’t looking at Jin hyung like that, and that he just didn’t love him that much anymore, I guess…?” It sounds ridiculous and Namjoon hates it.
Yoongi breathes out heavily and takes a long swig from his beer. “Well, that’s super awkward. And Seokjin told you all this?”
“Yep.”
“And what did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Of course you did. So then what happened?”
Namjoon takes a deep breath. “He kissed me.”
Yoongi’s eyebrows fly right off his forehead. “What?!”
“But like I said, hyung, it didn’t mean anything!” Namjoon hurries to add. “He was upset and desperate and I was there. It didn’t last any more than five seconds.”
Yoongi is leaning forward in his seat now, completely and uncharacteristically riveted. Namjoon would make fun of him, but he’s the real laughing stock here. “And then what?”
“Um. I reminded him he didn’t want it, and he agreed, and then I kind of ran out as fast as I could?” Namjoon winces.
“You moron. That’s so you.” Yoongi rolls his eyes. “So that’s it, then.”
“Well…no,” Namjoon tells him, “not really.” Yoongi prompts him to go on. “After I got home, I got a text from him…look, I’ll show you.”
Yoongi reads it quickly, then looks up at Namjoon, questions pouring out of his eyes. “The hell does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“Because it sounds a hell of a lot like he means he’d be perfectly happy kissing you under any other circumstances.”
“I know.”
“Holy shit, Joonie, I think he might actually like you.” Yoongi looks genuinely impressed, and Namjoon tries hard not to feel insulted.
“I don’t know…this whole mess is super confusing,” he complains.
“What about you, though? Where do you stand?” Yoongi asks, and this is the question Namjoon has been dreading.
He heaves a sigh. “I’m not sure. Before, it was completely platonic, you know. Nothing there at all, he was just my cute mom-friend-tutor thing. And then the party happened…and it kinda woke me up, I guess. And then I was just really, really confused, but now…after that kiss, after all of it…” He swallows. “I think I might love him? Like actually, no fucking around here. He just…squeezes my heart.”
Yoongi blinks. “Love?” he repeats incredulously.
Namjoon raises his hands helplessly. “I don’t know, hyung! Help me out here!”
“Namjoon, I am the worst person for this kind of shit.”
“You’re the only person I have that can help me with this kind of shit!”
Yoongi throws up his hands. “God, I don’t know! Tell him.”
Namjoon gazes at him in horror. “Tell him?”
“Yeah, just tell him. Honesty is the best policy and all that shite. And Joonie, I really do think you might actually have a chance with this one. I got the vibe from him, you know? Like he really cares about you.”
“That’s the thing though,” Namjoon sighs. “He really cares about everybody.”
“He doesn’t go around kissing just anybody though. He even said: kissing you wasn’t the problem, it was the situation that fucked everything up.”
Namjoon nods, feeling his head go light. “Yeah. He did.” He’s smiling now, just a bit. Holy shit, I might actually have a chance.
Yoongi smiles with him. “Go on, piss off and tell him. Tell him you passed and then tell him about your sappy-ass feelings, it’ll be drama-worthy. And make sure to tell me how it goes!”
“Yeah. Yeah, I will. Fuck, I’m scared though,” Namjoon admits, rubbing at his forehead.
“Of course you are,” Yoongi scoffed. “I nearly shat my pants before I asked Jimin on that date. That’s how you know you care.”
Namjoon shakes his head, then stands up quickly. “If I don’t go now, I’m never going to,” he declares.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Yoongi cheers. “Go forth and vanquish, Kim Namjoon!”
“Okay, hyung, I think you’ve had enough beer now, I’m just going to go, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, you giant nerd. Good luck.”
Namjoon smiles at him, suddenly overcome with love for the grinning man in front of him. “Thanks, hyung.”
Knocking on Seokjin’s door fifteen minutes later, Namjoon feels slightly sick. This is so infinitely worse than the minutes before his exam were.
Jin opens the door in a rush. “How did it go?!” he demands.
Namjoon smiles toothily at him. “I passed, all thanks to you.”
Seokjin squeals and flings himself into Namjoon’s arms. “Oh my God, Namjoonie! I’m so proud of you, hyung is so proud!”
Namjoon hugs him back, pulls the lithe body against his, feels every jut and curve pressed against him. Jin clings to him, not congratulating him anymore, just breathing in and out against Namjoon’s neck.
They break away from each other slowly, and Seokjin takes a deep breath and smiles and steps inside. “I think this calls for a celebratory tea,” he says with a mischievous grin.
Namjoon, for once, couldn’t agree more. He allows Jin to pull him inside and sit him down at the table.
“I can’t believe this,” he’s nattering overexcitedly all the while, “all these months and it barely feels like any time at all, you passed!” Suddenly he is holding Namjoon face in his hands and Namjoon’s heart stutters as his gaze is arrested by Seokjin’s eyes so close to his own. “I’m going to miss you, Namjoonie,” he says, a bittersweet melancholy tinging his voice.
Namjoon blinks. “Miss me?” he repeats.
“Of course!” Seokjin cries. “You’re the coolest guy, the cleverest guy, and Lord knows that was the only test I’ll ever be able to help you with. Hell, maybe I’ll be calling you up one day asking your help with my subjects!”
Namjoon is feeling sick again. “…this is…it, then?” he croaks.
Seokjin lets go of his face to flick him on the forehead. “Don’t say it like that, you’ll make me all emotional! I’m really going to miss those cosy history evenings, it was always nice and calm with you. Kookie’s lovely, but he’s just so hyperactive…” Seokjin rambles, making his way to the kitchen. “I’m just going to make the tea!” he calls over his shoulder. “And yes, you are having tea, this is a special occasion, and it’s the least you can do for our last evening together!”
Namjoon can’t breathe.
Our last evening together.
How can he have been so wrong? How did he misread everything so badly that he actually thought that Jin might have been interested? The possibility that he and Namjoon could go on seeing each other, even just as friends, never even crossed Seokjin’s mind.
Christ, he was on the brink of telling him he loved him.
Namjoon feels tears spill down his cheeks and he just can’t stay there any longer. He lurches upright and all but sprints for the door, opening and closing it as quietly as he possibly can. He runs out of the building.
Yoongi opens his door and stares in shock. “…he said no?” he asks in complete disbelief.
Namjoon just shakes his head and breaks down on his hyung’s shoulder.
After he’s finished thoroughly embarrassing himself, Yoongi hands him a final tissue. “Joonie, this just doesn’t make any sense,” he says, shaking his head. “He likes you, at least as a friend. Why the hell would he just cut off all ties as soon as the tutoring was done?”
Namjoon glowers at the floor. “Maybe he just doesn’t like me as much as we thought.”
“Bullshit, he adores you. This is completely out of character!”
Namjoon shakes his head. “Hyung, I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. I just want it to be done.”
Yoongi looks at him solemnly for a moment. “I think that’s probably for the best,” he says.
Namjoon nods, and gets out his phone. Two texts from Seokjin blink across the screen.
From: Kim Seokjin
Sent: 2015/07/11 16:07
What happened? Where did you go?
Sent: 2015/07/11 16:54
Joonie?
Namjoon winces, sniffs, and deletes the text thread. “I’m done,” he states tiredly. He drops his phone onto the table and leans back into the chair, closing his eyes.
The semester ends and the holidays begin, then the holidays end and the next semester begins and Namjoon is doing okay. He didn’t fail anything this time, and he doesn’t need to get a tutor and he doesn’t need to look at a history book ever again.
People aren’t treading on eggshells around him anymore either, which Namjoon appreciates. It was astoundingly awkward at first, after everybody found out. Jimin felt guilty that his crush had worked out; Taehyung felt guilty because he thought that if it weren’t for him, Namjoon would have remained in blissful ignorance of his own feelings until Judgement Day. Yoongi felt even worse, being the guy that encouraged him into getting his heart stamped on. Only Hoseok acted completely naturally, and Namjoon found himself unbelievably grateful for it. Now he makes sure to hang out with him much more often than he did before; Hoseok’s cheer is always good for him.
He finds himself able to forget about Jin now, although remembering again is just as painful as always, and he even toys with the idea of getting dating other people, before he remembers that he is a gawky, nerdy weirdo who can’t get a date if he pays for it. But that’s fine, he’s used to that.
But then one day there’s a knock on his door and he opens it and finds Jeongguk there and he nearly slams the door closed again right then and there. He hasn’t seen Jeongguk since before his test.
“Um,” he squeaks. “Hi, Kookie?” He hates that it sounds like a question.
“Hi, hyung.” The boy cuts right to the chase. “Look, I know about what happened between you and Jin hyung, from his side at least, and I’m not here to be an asshole about that, but can you sort Tae out, please?”
Namjoon blinks. “Um, what?”
“I don’t know what you’ve told him, but it isn’t fair when you know he doesn’t know Jin hyung well enough to get his side of the story, and it’s starting to upset Jin hyung because…”
“Hold up, hold up,” Namjoon interrupts him. “What exactly are you talking about?”
Jeongguk frowns. “Tae’s been acting really cold towards Jin hyung for a while now.”
Namjoon didn’t even know that Taehyung had been around Seokjin. “When were they together?” he asks, bemused.
“He picks me up from hyung’s sometimes after my tutoring and we hang out after. But he’s barely talking to hyung at all, and when he does, it’s snapping. What have you been telling him?”
Namjoon sighs. “Jeez. I had no idea. Just so you know, I never told him to be like that. He’s always been kind of protective of his friends. I’ll tell him to back off, sorry.”
Jeongguk softens slightly. “You don’t need to apologise, you haven’t done anything wrong. I should have talked to Tae, not you. But hyung, what happened? Why did you just suddenly run off on Jin hyung?”
Namjoon scoffs. “Like it would have made any difference if I hadn't. Not like we were going to see each other again anyway.”
“What are you talking about? Jin hyung always makes sure to stay in touch with his tutoring pupils.”
At this point, Namjoon doesn’t know why he’s even surprised anymore. “Right. Of course he does. Always.” The words tasted bitter in his mouth.
“He was so confused, you know. He still has no idea what he did.”
Namjoon wills the anger away and bites his lip. “He didn’t do anything, Guk. It was just a misunderstanding.”
This seems to confuse the boy even more. “What was a misunderstanding?”
“Everything,” Namjoon tells him.
From: Kim Taehyung
Sent: 2015/10/05 14:56
hey hyung hope u dont mind but jeonggukkie
needs an english tutor big time and kim
he-who-must-not-be-named isnt cutting it
anymore i told him you’d probs be ok doing it
Namjoon rolls his eyes.
From: Kim Namjoon
Sent 2015/10/05 15:02
Yeah sure whatever not like I have a life to
lead or anything.
Maybe he’ll be able to convince Jeongguk to pay him at least. He does feel a bit bad for robbing Seokjin of a job, though. Taehyung, with permission, sends Namjoon Jeongguk’s number, and they arrange to meet at Jeongguk’s place two days later.
Looking back, Namjoon thinks he definitely should have been more suspicious.
He arrives at the correct door on a cloudy Thursday, knocks and, socially inept as he is, is very grateful that it is Jeongguk who opens the door and not one of his parents.
“Hi hyung!” the boy greets him cheerfully. “Look, I’ve just remembered that my mom told me to go buy some milk after school today and the store won’t be open much longer…would you mind just waiting like ten minutes?”
“Sure, sure, no problem,” Namjoon tells him, still completely unsuspecting.
Jeongguk grins his minx grin and escapes, shutting the door firmly behind him. Namjoon wanders into the living room and promptly freezes. Seokjin, about to take a sip of tea from his mug, does the same.
“For fuck’s sake,” Namjoon swears, cursing Jeongguk with all his being. “Was this whole thing a giant set-up, then?”
“Set-up?” Seokjin repeats cluelessly.
“Does Jeongguk even need an English tutor?” Namjoon asks, mostly rhetorically, still completely furious.
Seokjin’s mouth falls open “You’re the new English tutor?”
Namjoon narrows his eyes at him. “Obviously. Why else would I be here?”
“Kookie said we’d be doing history this afternoon,” Seokjin tells him.
“He told me we were doing English.”
“Ah.”
Namjoon shakes his head in disbelief. “Whatever. I’m going.”
“Wait!” Seokjin calls as he turns to leave. Namjoon stops and looks at him expectantly. “I…I’d like to talk.”
Namjoon breathes, in and out. It’s quite difficult. “I don’t know if I want to,” he says weakly.
“Please.”
Namjoon sits down heavily across from him. “Fine, fine. Then talk.” Seokjin’s looking at him in a way that flays him raw and he really wants to hate him for it.
“Namjoonie…”
“Don’t call me that.”
This hurts Seokjin and he can tell, but he nods in agreement anyway. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…why did you leave so suddenly? Did I do something? It all seemed fine, but then I came back from the kitchen…”
Namjoon stared hard at him. “You really have no idea? None at all? Mister Keeps-In-Touch-With-All-His-Pupils?”
Seokjin purses his lips. “I wasn’t sure…I did suspect. But Joonie—” Namjoon glowers at him. “…sorry. But I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“I thought we were friends,” Namjoon spits out. “How was I not supposed to be hurt? Why would you want to just cut all ties? Do I annoy you? Is that it?”
Seokjin shakes his head emphatically. “No, of course not! I…look. I messed up, okay? I was still raw from Jiwoon and I wasn’t quite thinking straight…it just seemed like the best solution.”
“The best solution to what?” Namjoon demands exasperatedly. “And what the hell does Jiwoon have to do with this?”
The words seem to stick in Seokjin’s throat. “Namjoon…I’ve never been a person to just throw myself at just anybody. Under any circumstances.”
Even in Namjoon’s chaos of a mind, everything goes quiet.
Seokjin sighs heavily. “I didn’t even realise until it was too late. And it all just happened at once! I was still in love with Jiwoon, but I…felt things for you, too. Jiwoon noticed even before I did. He wasn’t angry or anything—he realised I couldn’t help it—and anyway, he’d already been steadily falling out of love with me for a while. You turned out to be the push he needed.” He glances up at Namjoon, who is too frozen to even avoid his eyes. “But I kind of panicked. I wasn’t ready to be feeling heartbreak and infatuation at the same time. So…I decided to sacrifice you, for the sake of what I thought was the moral thing to do. But then you were gone and it hurt so much more than I’d expected, but you never replied to my texts and I thought maybe it was for the best after all, for you if not me. So,” he breathes, “now you know why.”
Namjoon can’t say a word.
Seokjin chews at his lip, staring hard at the table. “Jiwoon thought you had feelings for me, too.” He looks up at Namjoon through his lashes. “I thought he was wrong. And then I kissed you, and I thought…maybe he was right.”
Namjoon opens his mouth and hesitates. “So why did you still try to run away?” he says finally.
Seokjin inhales sharply. “You’re the one who ran away, Kim Namjoon. You’re the one who ran.” His voice is cold.
Namjoon chokes out a laugh even though it isn’t funny at all and actually hurts quite a lot. “You know, I was going to tell you I loved you. That day.” Seokjin’s jaw goes slack in shock. “Yoongi hyung hyped me up to it. He thought you had feelings for me too. He felt so bad for being wrong afterwards, you know? And I…I was done. I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
“And now?” Seokjin asks, voice barely above a whisper.
Namjoon can’t look away from him, even though he knows he should. “I don’t know,” he admits.
Seokjin sucks in a deep breath and nods. “I understand,” he says.
There is a long silence.
“…I could try.”
Seokjin looks up sharply. “What?”
“I think I want to try. See if I can. If…if you want.”
Seokjin pauses. “I don’t want you to try and force anything.”
“I won’t. I want to try.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you?”
“Namjoonie…” Namjoon doesn’t correct him this time. “I’m as sure as I’ve ever been about anything.”
Namjoon nods, turning the thoughts over in his mind. He gets up and slowly walks around the table to where Seokjin is seated, his cold mug of tea in front of him. Seokjin is looking up at him, lips parted, and all Namjoon has to do is bend down and kiss them. So he does. Seokjin stretches up to meet him, arms winding around Namjoon’s neck and Namjoon frankly has no idea how he could ever have been unsure about Jin, because this moment tastes purely of home. The press of Jin’s warm lips, the softness of his cheek against Namjoon’s palm, the tug of his fingers in his hair…home.
Completely absorbed in each other, neither of them notice Jeongguk returning from the store until his scandalised shout alerts them to his presence.
“Yah! When I told Tae I’d get you two to kiss and make up, this is not what I meant!”
Namjoon breaks away from Seokjin at a leisurely pace. “Oh, shut up, Guk, this is all your fault,” he says amiably.
Jeongguk grudgingly takes the hint and soon leaves again, presumably for Taehyung’s.
Seokjin catches his hand as the door slams, turning Namjoon to look at him. “Still got misgivings?” he asks, badly disguising his nervousness. “I’m not pressuring you into anything, and I don’t want you to either.”
Namjoon makes a show of considering. “It’s getting better,” he allows. “But I think I’m going to need a bit longer to be absolutely sure.” He tries to look at him seductively through his lashes, but it makes him feel like a twit.
Seokjin nods understandingly, thankfully not noticing Namjoon’s failed attempt at flirting. “Okay, that’s fine. I’ll wait as long as you need me to, Joonie.”
Namjoon rolls his eyes and gives up on coyness and romancing completely. “I’m not asking you to wait, you idiot. I’m asking you to keep on convincing me. Obviously.””
Jin glances up, amused. “Oh?”
Namjoon doesn’t like the way it kind of seems like Jin is laughing at him with his eyes, so he closes the distance between them once again, wondering at the way Jin’s body melts into his. Neither of them open their eyes again for a long time.
It’s the end of the semester: Jin has graduated and is now moving into a new apartment slightly closer to his shiny new job. Namjoon…well. Namjoon is moving with him.
“I still can’t believe how disgusting you two are,” Yoongi complains, dumping a box filled with pans on the living room floor. “You’ve been dating six months, and you’re already moving in with each other! Don’t you have any shame?”
Jin sticks his tongue out at him. “My parents got married after six months of meeting each other for the first time, and they’ve been together thirty years now! Shouldn’t you be the ashamed one, Mr I’m-Dating-A-Highschool-Student?”
Yoongi’s ears burn bright red. “How about you lecture Taehyung, he’s the one who “accidentally” made out with our tiny Jeongguk when he got too excited at his birthday party.”
“Oh, don’t,” Jin groans, covering his ears. “I’m still trying to supress those memories.”
“What memories?” Hoseok asks curiously, entering with arms laden with blankets. “That time we walked in on Yoongi and Jimin getting busy on a tumble dryer?”
Yoongi and Seokjin scream simultaneously and Namjoon and Hoseok crease up laughing.
“Noooooo!” Seokjin squeals. “But that too!”
“Why is everyone shouting?” Jeongguk asks, poking his head around the bedroom door where he, Taehyung and Jimin are trying to put the bed together. The last time Namjoon checked in on them, they had screwed two of the legs on upside down. “By the way, hyung,” he addresses Yoongi, “we definitely need your help now. Tae’s stabbed himself with the screwdriver and the frame looks more like a parallelogram than a rectangle.”
Yoongi rolls his eyes. “My God, you three are talented at being useless.” He walks into the bedroom behind Jeongguk and almost immediately the others hear him yelling, “Kim Taehyung, Jesus Christ, get a fucking bandage on that, you’re getting blood everywhere!”
Taehyung appears three seconds later, looking kind of pale but very pleased with himself. “Me and Jeonggukkie are bound by blood now,” he whispers conspiratorially.
Jeongguk walks out behind him, blood smeared all over his mouth. “You have to swap blood for that, idiot, I’m not bleeding. Also, gross.”
“You love it,” Taehyung chirps over a fluttering Seokjin who is now very loudly fussing over his hand.
They end up having to take a break to take Taehyung to the hospital for stitches, but apart from that, it all goes well. Namjoon and Seokjin are going to have to find a very good excuse for the bloodstains on the floor for the next apartment inspection, but that’s a problem for another day.
After all the others have left, Namjoon flings himself down on the sofa next to Jin and slings an arm around him, pressing a kiss to his temple. “Got you all to myself now,” he comments contentedly.
“You’re going to just bug me forever now, aren’t you?” Seokjin teases, tweaking his nose.
Namjoon grins widely at him. “That’s right, Momma Boy. Bloody forever.”