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Concert season has finally begun. Taehyung would be excited, if not for the fact that he’s been banned from auditioning for the better band. The director had said something about ‘absent from more than half of the marching rehearsals’ and ‘upsetting behavioral record’ and ‘irresponsible’, but Taehyung wasn’t having it. So what he hates marching and has a bit of a problem with authority? He’s still damn good at the sax.
So, now, he’s in the normal band, filled with some people that don’t care about music and some people that genuinely like band, but just didn’t make the rigorous standards that the higher band requires. They have no chair positions and no expectations, demanding that ‘everyone is equal’. Taehyung is in no way, shape, or form equal to the trombones that throw pencils at eachother in the back of the classroom.
///
Jimin is disappointed. It’s not like he was expecting to get into the better band, but it still doesn’t feel nice to be told he’s not good enough. He’s been playing clarinet for 6 years, practices all the time, puts his all into band, and all he gets for it is being trapped in a section with people who stick saxophone headpieces on their instruments.
///
Namjoom is satisfied; he honestly thought he wouldn’t be allowed to participate in concert band. He only joined the marching band because someone quit at the last minute, and they had no one to fill the spot. He learned to read music when he was little, but he’s never played anything other than beginner piano songs, and he certainly didn’t think he would be playing saxophone.
During marching season, he mostly moved his fingers randomly and focused more on getting to his dots. Now, he’s got to actually learn how to play more than Hot Cross Buns.
///
The fateful first day of concert band is here, on a dreadful Monday morning. The assigned seats are posted on the TV, with names and yearbook photos, and people are funneling into the room with instruments in hand.
Namjoon looks at his embarrassing picture on the screen and finds he’s sat between Jimin and Tae in the second row. He’s happy he's by people he knows, since he wouldn’t talk to his seatmates if not. If Tae hadn’t added him to every conversation in History last year, Namjoon would’ve been friendless for the entirety of his high school career.
By the time Tae and Jimin enter, Namjoon’s already mostly set up, his reed in his mouth as he screws on his headjoint. He’s starting to realize that he’s going to sit between the couple, basically separating them from each other, and he feels a bit bad.
“Joonie! I’m so happy I’m sitting by you and not some booger-eating freshman!” Tae exclaims, adjusting his neck strap. Namjoon feels less bad about the seating predicament at Taehyung's words. If Tae says he's happy, then he is.
“Tae, you were a booger-eating freshman just last year,” Jimin deadpans as he removes his reed from the case.
Tae removes his reed from his mouth to stick his tongue out at Jimin, before putting it back.
—-
“Um, Tae, how do I play this note?” Namjoon asks when they get their music, pointing to the first note on the page.
“Like this,” Taehyung holds his saxophone up, his fingers on the correct keys.
“This?”
“No, no, here,” letting his saxophone hang off his neck, Taehyung leans over and guides Namjoon’s fingers to the keys. When Tae pulls back to look at his own music, Namjoon lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
—-
“Jimin, what’s this note, up above the staff?”
Jimin scoots closer to look at the sheet, “Oh, that’s a D, Joon.” Jimin smiles, his face closer to Namjoon than he had realized. Namjoon is totally not blushing.
—-
The real problem starts a couple of weeks into concert season, once everyone’s comfortable.
Namjoon ducks down to grab his water bottle under his chair, bumping his stand and causing his music folder to fall to the ground, papers spilling around his chair.
“I’ll help you, Namjoonie,” Jimin smiles softly.
“No, I’ll get it, Joonbug,” Tae insists.
They argue over who gets to help for an eternity, until somehow the situation escalates to where each of them is rummaging on the floor, trying to pick up more papers than the other.
“I got 8 sheets,” Tae boasts.
“Well, I got 10.” Jimin sasses, smug.
“Thank you guys so much for your help,” Namjoon says genuinely, attempting to placate them, but to no avail.
Their relationship is so strange. Namjoon really wonders what the couple is like when they’re alone.
—-
Each day turns into a competition after that. Dropped pencils turn into tug-of-war, questions into a jeopardy-level battle.
When Namjoon enters the classroom each morning, he’s immediately bombarded with pickup lines from Tae and gifts from Jimin. He’s sure he could write a book of cringy, flirty sayings from memory, and he has more stickers of plants than he could ever use.
“Hey, Joonie, my love for you is like a vine: it just keeps climbing,” Tae smirks, winking. Namjoon replies with a shy smile and continues walking to his seat.
“Look, Joon, it’s a bonsai tree,” Jimin hands him a sticker as he sits down. Namjoon places it on his band binder in front of a jealous Tae, much to the enjoyment of Jimin.
—-
Tae skips school one day, leaving Namjoon and Jimin to deal with band class without him.
“Namjoon,” Jimin says while the ruckus of the band warming up surrounds them, “could I take you out on a date?”
“I thought you and Tae were dating?” Namjoon says, genuinely confused.
“What? No! I literally flirt with you every day!”
“Yeah, but you flirt with Tae more!”
“No, I don’t!”
“Just think about it. What type of things would you do with someone you’re in a relationship with?”
“Well, if I were dating you, I’d take you on dates to wherever you’d like, I’d buy you dinner, and I’d cuddle you all the time.”
“What things do you and Taehyung do when you hang out?”
“We usually go to art museums and eat dinner, and I always pay, and we watch movies in bed and snuggle, and…” Jimin trails off, “Oh. Am I dating Taehyung?”
“Yes, you are.”
—-
When Namjoon walks through the doorway, he’s greeted by Tae on one knee, his head downward as if he’s bowing.
“Jooniebear, would a fine maiden such as thyself allow me to take him on a date?” Tae loudly asks, fully embarrassing Namjoon and himself in front of the entire class.
“I think you should talk to Jimin first.”
“What?” Tae lifts his head, his eyebrow raised.
Namjoon offers his hand to help Tae up, offering a small smile, “Think deeply about how you feel for him, compared to how you feel for me. Talk to me later, after you talk to him, okay?”
—-
After school, Tae and Jimin invite him to the restaurant across the street from the building. Namjoon assumes they’ve finally talked it out and have decided to stop pursuing him and start dating each other. For some reason, the thought of that causes Namjoon's heart to ache.
“So, how’d your guys’ conversation go?” Namjoon inquires when they sit down.
“What conversation?” Jimin asks, confused.
Tae clears his throat, “It didn’t feel right to just talk to him, not when you’re a part of this too.”
“What do you mean?” Namjoon asks.
“I like you, Jimin, and I like you, Namjoon as well,” Tae confesses, averting his eyes.
Jimin grins widely, his cheeks flushed, “I feel the same way about both of you.”
Suddenly, all eyes are on Namjoon. “I think… I like you both, too. If you really want to do this, I want to try.”
The way their smiles grow, and their eyes sparkle, lets him know he made the right decision.
///
“I’ll pay for the bill,” Jimin offers.
“No, I’ll pay for it,” Tae says as he takes out his card.
“No, you confessed first, so you deserve to be paid for.”
“Well, I planned the date, so…”