Archive of Our Own

moving to the city wasn’t seokjin’s initial plan when he had thought about what he was going to do post university. he originally thought he would settle down where he was, be somewhere near his family home in gwacheon, marry someone his family introduced him to, start a family of his own. in short, he had thought his life would be in gwacheon forever which he wasn’t against, gwacheon was a nice town, small, quiet, rural, everybody knew everybody. it was comfortable. but when he got a promotion from his job that would lead him to move to goyang, he couldn’t refuse. at first he had been a bit hesitant, wise words from his family encouraging him to take this step before he was deciding it was the right thing to do himself.

seokjin worked for yomang, a music company aimed at teaching people of all ages, from youth to the elderly, how to play instruments as well as how to sing. initially he was just a front desk operator, handling the calls, booking lessons, chatting with students often- they all loved seokjin- but he had always wanted to be in the lesson rooms and it was a wise friend that encouraged him to audition for and bid for a higher position. and he got that chance with the new promotion. not only would he be a piano teacher for the company, he would be the head of the piano department. saying he was elated was an understatement.

though seokjin made quite a lot working for yomang, he knew the last thing he wanted was to move to a new city by himself, especially knowing how expensive the cost of living was in goyang. it was this thinking that led him to the decision of finding a roommate, a much easier feat than he had anticipated.

on one saturday night he posted on an online forum that he would be moving to goyang and was looking for someone who would be willing to room with him. he listed a few facts about himself and sent the post off. seokjin decided it’d be generous enough to state he was already interested in a place and would be willing to compromise with said roommate if they also had places in mind.

the place he found, with special help from his sister, was an apartment within subway distance of the branch of yomang in goyang. it was also near a nice park and was in walking distance to a marketplace and inner city life. seokjin thought it was absolutely perfect.

by monday morning, he had many responses to his message on the online board; quite a few people showing interest in rooming with him. he almost felt bad that he couldn’t room with everyone interested. one thing led to another however, and soon seokjin was in constant communication with a man by the name of namjoon.

namjoon was just two years his younger, a teacher himself. the younger was moving to goyang to be a philosophy and psychology professor at the local university- seokjin thought that was really cool. namjoon- though a horrible texter- seemed nice. he was fine with the apartment seokjin had been eyeing and talks of signing a lease and paying the first payment together came quicker than seokjin had anticipated. before he knew it, he was kissing his relatives goodbye and boarding on a flight to goyang, leaving gwacheon and it's beautiful landscape behind.

seokjin startles awake as he hears clattering coming from within the kitchen. rubbing at his eyes he takes note of how dark it still is in his room, the clock reading 3:24 am. he shook his head as he walked out into the kitchen to see namjoon frozen, staring right back at him.

it had only been a week of this living arrangement and seokjin thinks he already had namjoon down like the back of his hand.

when he had first landed in goyang, a cab took him to his new apartment where he was met with two moving trucks- his truck and namjoon’s. he watched as the movers maneuvered in and out of their apartment, trying to see if he would spot namjoon but the younger was nowhere to be found.

that is until he heard, “hey, sir? i think you dropped this.” seokjin turned his head to see a pretty man standing with a small ‘o’ on his lips as the cab driver handed him his cellphone.

“ah haha, thank you, thank you,” the man said as he bowed repeatedly, pocketing the phone before throwing an orange shoulder bag across his body, waving at the driver with an appreciative smile before turning and waving at seokjin.

holy shit? this was namjoon?

seokjin had only seen one photo of the younger and it was a blurrier photo of him and a dog, the dog had been obscuring most of his face. he had looked ever so cute in the picture but to see him now, honey toned skin glowing under the sun? seokjin couldn’t help but be a little taken back by how truly beautiful this man was. he always gave credit where credit was due.

soon namjoon was walking towards him, bowing once they were in close enough proximity. “kim namjoon,” he said with a smile.

“kim seokjin.”

namjoon stepped back to look around, watching the movers who were now bowing to them and leaving. “wow. this is it, our big move to the city,” namjoon beamed, and seokjin thought that any worries he had before about being in the city, now disappeared as he felt namjoon’s positive and joyful energy rub off onto him.

they walked into the apartment together and got to work unboxing, agreeing not to tax themselves too much with the task and set up the apartment in moderation.

as jin now stood in the kitchen, staring at a frozen, sheepish looking namjoon, he couldn’t help but shake his head, amused. “i tripped over a box,” the younger said as he scratched the back of his neck.

seokjin snorted. “maybe we really should take a day to just… continue unboxing the rest of these,” he said as he looked around the apartment at all the scattered boxes. “when do you begin work again?” he asked the younger, sliding to sit at their pretty marble island.

namjoon poured some cereal into a bowl before humming. “next tuesday,” he answered. “you start sunday though, right?”

seokjin hummed, shaking his head when namjoon raised the bowl of cereal towards him. “we could take the next three days to really get into all the boxes then. that way we’re done before saturday. i don’t know about you but i’d like the weekend to rest,” seokjin said as namjoon laughed, pouring oat milk into his bowl before joining the elder at the island.

it was quiet for a bit, just the sounds of namjoon eating his cereal and softly humming, a habit of his seokjin had already picked up on. “are you excited about this new-ish job seokjin-ssi? i think you mentioned it was a promotion to head of department?” namjoon placed emphasis on ‘head of department’, seokjin watching as the younger wiggled his eyebrows in the dimly lit kitchen.

he rolled his eyes as he chuckled. “it’s… it’s not that big a deal,” he said as he stared down at his hands. “but yeah, i really am excited. piano… it’s been a passion of mine. when i was a kid, an old best friend of mine was a whiz i mean he could play the piano better than any adult i’d ever seen, we took lessons together. then he moved one day and i made a promise i wouldn’t lose my love of the instrument. and i didn’t,” seokjin told, making eye contact with namjoon for a second before getting distracted and tilting his head. “your eyes…”

namjoon blinked rapidly as he widened his eyes, asking seokjin if anything was wrong before the elder was laughing at him. “no no, like your eyes are really nice. i’ve never really looked at them before. they’re pretty namjoon, like… like…” seokjin couldn’t place a finger on what exactly namjoon’s eyes reminded him of but he smiled as the younger scoffed and raised his bowl up to his face, hiding the pink of his cheeks.

namjoon coughed before responding with, “that’s- that’s a nice story. sharing a similar passion with someone is really something special. there’s a theory that speaks to connection with others-” namjoon freezes as he coughs again. “i- sorry. you probably don’t want to hear about socio-cognitive abilities or psychology right now.”

seokjin tilted his head at namjoon before he was shaking it, laughing a little. “hey, you don’t know what i do and don’t want to hear about. isn’t that part of theory of mind?”

“you… you know about theory of mind?” the younger asked, to which seokjin shrugged. “i took a few psychology classes in university. i only remember so much.”

the pair shared a laugh, talking a little more about plans for the next few days before seokjin was making his way back to his room.

three days flew by as seokjin and namjoon made their new home more them… more homey. and as seokjin hung up a painting in the living room which namjoon insisted had to go in there, he realized just how different he and namjoon’s ways of decorating were, how different they were in their personalities and how that reflected outwardly.

where he preferred pretty velvet couches and plush rugs, namjoon was wooden tables and kamal floor lamps; where he was white tables and decorative gems and jewels, namjoon was orange banners and figurines.

but it fit, it all fit. their apartment didn’t look odd or messy or unorganized, everything seemed to mesh together in a pretty watercolor kind of way. and as he stepped back, hands on his hips as he strolled slowly around the apartment, it felt and looked like home too.

he sauntered into namjoon’s office which the younger was still working at, and gasped in awe at the sight of the bookcases in the room. “wow, you have more bookshelves?” seokjin asked, thinking about the 5 in the living room, 3 of which were namjoon’s.

seokjin watched as namjoon’s neck grew a bit red, the younger halting his shelving to look over at seokjin. “yeah,” he nodded. “i also have two in my bedroom.” seokjin smiled, finding it cool really that the younger was so into books it made him shy when the fact was pointed out.

“hey, i’m only teasing. you should tell me about some of your favorite reads later,” he said with a smile, taking in namjoon’s smaller one. seokjin walked further into the room, looking around at namjoon’s office. it was a lovely and homey environment, welcoming and just… overwhelming comfortable, just like namjoon he supposes.

“since the kitchen has more than just cereal, bowls and spoons now, i was thinking i could cook us dinner tonight,” seokjin said. namjoon perked up, the idea of home cooked food rather than take out sounding amazing. “you cook?” he asked, eyebrows wide.

seokjin chuckled before nodding. “yeah, and i’m pretty good if i do say so myself. i’m gonna go into the market to buy a few things though. is there anything in particular you’d like?”

seokjin watched as namjoon chewed at his lip, shaking his head as he waved a hand in front of him. “no, it’s fine.”

the elder narrowed his eyebrows before tilting his head to stare at namjoon. “nothing? at all?” he questioned curiously. “not even more of that sugary cereal?

namjoon huffed out a breath, smiling before answering. “yeahhh, more of that cereal would be nice. i’m not a picky eater so you truly have free rein. i absolutely love meat just… no seafood.”

“duly noted,” seokjin said with a smile.

“thank you seokjin-ssi,” the younger said appreciatively. and as seokjin nodded and exited the room, he responded with a friendly, “you can call me hyung, namjoon.”

first day.

seokjin’s not too sure why he’s nervous, it’s the first day for just the teachers and execs yet he still found himself on edge. he was walking into this brand new building today as this branch’s new piano head, a complete stranger to these people.

how are they going to listen to someone they don’t know.

seokjin had eaten a quick breakfast with namjoon that morning, the younger bidding him a good day and wishing him luck. and for some reason seokjin believed he really would have a good day just because namjoon said so and namjoon was a really good person so he had to be right.

he took a deep breath before entering the building, bag in hand as he approached the front desk. this yomang had nearly the same set up as the one in gwacheon but it was clear this building was newer as it appeared far more impressive and modern.

“kim seokjin,” he told the man at the front desk who… wasn’t paying any attention to him at all. he was instead eyeing someone to the far right of seokjin. the elder turned towards that direction as well to be met with…

yoongi?

“good morning taehyung-ah,” yoongi said, seeing the man behind the desk but not seeing seokjin himself. taehyung smiled as he handed yoongi what seokjin could see was a lanyard and id badge. wow, they were really fancy here. “morning yoongi hyung,” this taehyung sing-songed and seokjin couldn’t help but to raise an eyebrow.

yoongi was already making his way towards what seokjin assumes are the elevators before he could see the elder and seokjin truly hoped he would see him again soon.

“woah,” he heard, looking back towards the man at the desk to see friendly eyes now staring up at him. “you’re kim seokjin, right? the new piano head, congratulations and welcome,” taehyung stood to bow before handing seokjin his things with the most genuine smile on his face.

“thank you,” he said with a smile of his own before looking back towards the elevators. he couldn’t see yoongi anymore.

“i’m sorry about that.” he turned his attention back to the man behind the desk who had a sheepish expression on his face. “that’s… i totally don’t have a crush on him.” seokjin smiled before snorting and this brought a pout to taehyung’s face before he was dropping his head in his hands. “we just became friends and you’re already laughing at me, you don’t get that privilege for at least another 68 hours.”

seokjin couldn’t help but laugh out loud at this statement, finding taehyung to be wonderful. “my apologies, my apologies. but it really is no problem,” he responded sincerely.

“you should probably get going, ‘orientation’ for teachers and shit starts soon. you don’t want to miss the american donuts,” taehyung smiled.

seokjin was soon making his way towards the elevators and immediately he noticed yoongi was still there, standing frozen as he stared at him. seokjin himself halted in front of the younger, wide eyed as he stared right back. “you- seokjin? kim seokjin?” yoongi stuttered with wide eyes as he stared at jin.

the elder smiled as he and yoongi crashed into a hug. it had been nearly 20 years since they had last seen each other, since they had last spoken, since yoongi’s parents left gwacheon with yoongi. his heart felt like it had jumped to his throat from just… pure excitement. he didn’t know what to do other than just gasp and gape like a fish as he hugged yoongi; the pair pulling back every now and then to stare at each other and speak incoherent, excited gibberish at each other, smiles wide as happy tears sat in hopeful eyes.

“wow,” seokjin said as they finally pulled apart.

“i heard your laugh as i was stepping onto the elevator and nearly got pulled up. i had to step out so fast,” yoongi explained with a laugh of his own. then it was a race to ask the other how they’ve been, what they’re doing here, what they’ve been up to the past twenty years.

“if you’re free after this hyung, i know a nice place we can go and eat. catch up and whatnot,” yoongi suggested as they boarded the elevator. and seokjin happily accepted.

the first day truly was an orientation with their boss introducing all the employees to each other. he learned about the code of conduct of this yomang branch and the policies for employees. they were shown slideshows and presentations, videos and more as they learned about how they’d go about teaching. then it was a tour of the institute before they were back in the large employee room again.

seokjin learned that in addition to just music and singing, this yomang also had dancing which he thought was extremely cool. the dance head, an exuberant man named jung hoseok, had talked a bit about his department, a new addition to the yomang family as of that very semester.

he was beyond excited to start the next day actually teaching students. it was his dream and it was fully coming true.

“you will be emailed your schedules for the fall semester later this afternoon. tomorrow and only tomorrow everyone needs to be here at 9:30am for a full institute assembly with all the students and interns that will be attending and learning with us this semester,” their boss, kim youna, explained. “rented instruments don’t come in until the end of the week due to shipping miscommunication unfortunately, so start thinking about what you’d like to do with your students until instruments do come in. for music teachers, you’ll get a roster of which of your students are just renting and which have paid for their instruments. remember the names and faces so you know,” she flipped to another slide.

“for singing instructors and chorus directors, just a reminder that position and chorus auditions aren’t until next week. we used to do them the first week of program but just so that everything is in shape, they’ve been pushed to next week. lastly, dance instructors, we received sizes for the students taking dance for their costumes over the summer and all dance materials have already come in so label and distribute sets as needed.”

finally, the screen was turned off as kim turned to the employees, hands clasped in front of her. “as you all should know, adult students and our youth aren’t here at the same time. student sessions are in the morning and afternoons with adult sessions in the evening beginning at 6. we’ve changed things a lot this year so that each individual teacher should only have a maximum of 5 individual lessons during a given week. we decided to make fridays through the weekends our recommended individual lesson days just so weekdays are less confusing.

okay now my final, final announcement. we have a new exec with us today from our gwacheon branch. kim seokjin,” jin stood as the room clapped for him. “he is the new director of the piano department so go to him for your piano and musical needs, you all know the drill. thank you all for a wonderful first day and see everyone tomorrow. dismissed.”

seokjin was enthused to begin working at this branch, feeling energy course through his veins like he had truly and honestly never felt before. as he approached yoongi who was speaking with the dance instructor jung hoseok, he couldn’t help but feel like he truly belonged here.

“ah! hobi-ah, this is seokjin, he was my childhood best friend,” yoongi introduces him. “and hyung, this is my boyfriend hoseok.” seokjin’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape at this before he was being pulled into a hug by hoseok. “nice to meet you,” he said with a smile to which hoseok happily returned.

“we’re gonna go to nightgale to catch up for a bit so i’ll see you later at home?” seokjin watched as hoseok resituated yoongi’s glasses, the pair smiling ever so softly at each other.

“that sounds good, i hope you two have fun. it must be a surreal feeling to reunite with your childhood best friend,” hoseok smiled as he looked between the two before turning back to yoongi. “can i invite taehyung-ah over tonight?” he asked in a quieter tone to which yoongi smiled and nodded, sending yoongi on his way with seokjin.

on their way out, he waved to taehyung who waved back excitedly before sobering up as yoongi leaned towards the desk, placing a kiss to the back of his hand. seokjin feels like he could see taehyung melting.

the walk to the diner yoongi had selected was a very short one, probably about 3 minutes before they were being seated, looking at the menus together. he stared at yoongi for a beat before asking, “what was that about?” the younger tried to keep a straight face, responding with “what are you talking about?” before he was blowing his own cover and his facade was falling.

“okay, okay. well… taehyung likes me, i’m sure you noticed,” seokjin shook his head in faux shock before replying, “no,” to which yoongi laughed. “yeah yeah well he also likes hoseok and well we like him too. he’s been over quite a few times… make of that what you will.”

seokjin raises an eyebrow as he listens to yoongi, moving back as water is placed on their table. “you guys… you’ve like… had sex with him?” seokjin asks to which yoongi nearly chokes on his water. “no, no not yet at least. it’s mostly him watching. but we do other things too! like cuddling and um,” yoongi’s face immediately turns red and seokjin laughs, knowing immediately what the younger is leaving out.

“hand holding?” when yoongi doesn’t say anything he laughs a little louder, sobering just enough to order their meals before he’s teasing yoongi again. “still a sucker for hand holding aren’t you?”

yoongi rolled his eyes, pout apparent on his lips. “he really likes hand holding too, fuck off.”

soon, he and yoongi have their food and are making up for lost time. seokjin learns that yoongi’s parents had split, pushing his mother out of gwacheon when he was 7. he learns they lived in a few places before settling in goyang where she later remarried a wonderful woman. for a while, yoongi had stopped playing piano and it was his step mother that got him back into his passion for the instrument.

“i met hoseok right before beginning university,” the younger tells. “he was a dancer for 1million though i never really watched them. he did some busking and i met him while watching one of his street performances. i never cared much for dancing but… in that moment i don’t know i just couldn’t take my eyes off him.” seokjin watches as yoongi dips a fry shyly into ketchup. “he’s a great guy, i can’t wait for you two to become more closely acquainted. taehyungie-ah is also really great.”

seokjin raised an eyebrow. “wow, taehyungie-ah? you and hoseok sound really fond of him.” and seokjin is a bit surprised to see the look on yoongi’s face as the younger nods.

“yeah… yeah we are,” he says with a soft smile. “tell me about your roommate!”

“oh yes!” seokjin perks up. “his name is namjoon and he’s a philosophy and psychology teacher at goyang university. he’s really a really cool guy. funny story actually he could only bring a few of his house plants to goyang so i promised him we’d go shopping for some new bonsais or however that works,” seokjin says, taking a bite of his burger before looking over at yoongi who had gone quiet.

the younger then nods. “he sounds like a hot nerd,” he says and seokjin shakes his head as the pair laugh.

as they walk back towards the yomang building to take yoongi’s car, seokjin can’t help but feel as though 20 years apart from yoongi had barely severed the bond they had, still feeling so connected to the other, almost as if they had never lost contact. he learned that yoongi and hoseok had a dog and a cat, mina and sufi which was funny because the cat was actually hoseok’s and the dog yoongi’s.

as yoongi neared his apartment, they both made promises to invite each other over very soon, exchanging numbers before he was making his way towards his home. he would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited to be home. whether that was because he couldn’t wait to rest on the couch or to be inside, he wasn’t completely sure. but as he opened the door and was met with the sight of namjoon reading on the sofa, he thinks he knows exactly why he was excited to come home.

“hey hyung, welcome back,” namjoon said, closing his book as he stood from the couch, helping seokjin with the bag in his hand as they walked into the kitchen.

“hi joon, i brought you some food from a diner i ate at today.” the younger smiled as he opened up the takeout container, humming at the burger and onion rings inside. “thank you hyung,” namjoon said appreciatively as he sat at the island to eat.

seokjin nodded simply as he moved to wash his hands, turning back to look into the dining room they never used. he snorted, “you know, it’s been almost a month of us living here and we have yet to use the dining room?”

namjoon looked up cutely from his burger before looking towards the dining room himself, laughing around a mouth of food before he was swallowing and laughing out loud. “let’s use it tonight, as an apology to the pretty mahogany wood and abandoned china and placemats.” seokjin shook his head as he leaned on the counter, stealing a fry from namjoon as he told the younger one that he was utterly ridiculous.

“remember that childhood best friend i told you about?” he asked namjoon, smiling when the younger nodded almost immediately. “well, turns out he works at yomang as head of the music department! we caught up today it was… really surreal.”

namjoon smiled wide, genuinely happy for seokjin in a way he thinks no one has ever matched before. it made him feel seen. “that’s so awesome hyung, the universe is really something. i’m so glad you guys got to see each other and catch up.” seokjin had to avert eye contact from those warm eyes of namjoon’s. “do you guys have plans to meet again outside of work?” the younger asked.

seokjin nodded. “yeah. i wanted to invite him and his boyfriend and… their friend over for dinner sometime,” he responded, and namjoon nodded. “that sounds lovely. we’ll actually have another function for the dining room!”

seokjin threw a clean sponge at namjoon as he laughed and walked away to change into something more comfortable.

seokjin’s first week was good, great even. his schedule for the fall consisted of 4 beginner classes, 2 intermediate and 2 advanced with two booked individual lessons though his student for today wasn’t coming in until the following week.

seokjin really liked all his students, the age ranges of all the classes being something he could work with as he planned icebreakers and worked to find ways to ensure everyone was comfortable. it wasn’t mandatory for the students to become close to one another necessarily, but he thought it would only make it easier if they were able to learn in an environment they were comfortable in with people they were comfortable with.

he had woken up early that morning, no particular reason other than the genuine excitement for his solo lesson. the student was one park jimin, a university student taking an intermediate level course with experience in playing piano from when he was younger. his lesson was scheduled for 1pm and for some strange reason that registered in seokjin’s brain that he should awake at 9. part of his reason for waking up so early also had to do with the fact that namjoon’s wednesdays started earlier than his.

as seokjin sauntered into the kitchen, deciding to make a big breakfast for namjoon as he noticed the younger only ever grabbed quick bites before dashing out in a flurry, he realized that namjoon was not yet awake. he tilted his head before staring at the young professor’s schedule on the fridge (they had both decided it would benefit them if they were keen to each other’s schedules.) namjoon had an 11 am that morning, it was 9:20.

jin decided to toss his idea of making a nice korean breakfast for the younger as that would take far too long, quickly cracking eggs and pouring them into a pan before grabbing another to make some pancakes as well. he jogged to namjoon’s room, knocking before carefully opening up the door.

“woah.”

this was his first time seeing namjoon’s room since they finished furnishing everything and… it was just so very him. the entire room gave off the same vibes as the younger’s office did, comfortable and welcoming.

he was about to wake namjoon when the younger’s eyes fluttered open, straining as they stared up at seokjin. “why’re you watching me sleep?” he slurred in a sleepy tone.

seokjin rolled his eyes. “i came to wake you up because it’s 9:27-” before seokjin can even finish the rest of his sentence, namjoon’s eyes are wide open as he jumps out of bed, rushing into his bathroom, duvet following after him as he hopped and skipped to get out of it. seokjin almost felt bad for laughing at him, shaking his head as he made his way back into the kitchen.

adding some mushrooms, cheese and tomatoes to the eggs and he was done, grabbing some tupperware to place namjoon’s food into before wrapping it in a bag and placing it on the counter for the boy.

soon namjoon was rushing out of his room, shoulder bag open as he hauled it across his body. 10:03, the clock read.

“hey, hey slow down,” seokjin said as he rounded the counter, shaking his head as he helped namjoon with his things, turning the younger towards himself before he was resituating crooked glasses onto rosy cheeks. “i didn’t know you wore glasses,” he commented with a smile.

namjoon blinked before coughing. “yeah, yeah um i do. i didn’t have time to put contacts in, so frames it is.” seokjin nodded, handing namjoon the breakfast. “make sure you eat,” he said. namjoon looked down at the food in his hands before looking back up to seokjin bashfully.

“you really didn’t have to,” he said quite softly. seokjin rolled his eyes as he tossed namjoon his house keys. “i wanted to. now get out of here before you get late.” and it was one final goodbye before namjoon was up and out of the door.

seokjin thought the apartment felt empty without the younger.

•••

“i have suzuki books of my own, am i allowed to bring those in for lessons or do i have to strictly use the ones provided here?” park jimin asked.

seokjin nodded, a good question. “you can bring your own, that’s no problem,” he answered with a smile.

park jimin was ridiculously pretty and seokjin was sure he had never seen a face like that in real life before. the younger had a grace to his presence, almost enticing and entrancing if jin were to place adjectives to them. he had spent the former half of class going over procedure as jimin had been off on a study abroad during the first week of programming.

“alright, though we only have 15 minutes left, we should get you to a piano,” seokjin said, leading jimin to a piano and sitting in a chair beside the other who was sat at the bench. “so regardless of level, we’re reviewing scales and arpeggios with everyone, so just play the major scales for me. should i review what they are?” he asked.

jimin gave him a teasing look before shaking his head. “no thank you, i got it.”

they were done before seokjin knew it and he was sending jimin on his way with some sheet music. just then, seokjin’s phone buzzed and he peeked to see he had received a text from taehyung.

taehyung_kim: there is an extremely tall good looking guy here for you in the front. should i send him up?

seokjin rolled his eyes as he began to start typing, stopping as he received another text from tae.

taehyung_kim: WAIT THIS IS NAMJOON????? YOUR ROOMMATE???? oh jin hyung do you mind if i have at him? i’d have to ask yoongi hyung and hobi hyung first but i don’t think they’d mind…

seokjin shook his head as he began to respond before he was receiving yet another text from taehyung.

taehyung_kim: he has dimples… god… is he single? is he into guys? jin hyung he’s talking to me i’m going to ask him on a date.

jin sighed before he was making his way to the elevators, always humored by taehyung’s personality.

taehyung_kim: your private lesson student definitely thinks namjoon is hot, he’s going to get at him before i do no fair :(

seokjin decided to just pocket his phone. once he finally made it down to the lobby level, he saw taehyung behind the front desk, pout on his face with his phone in his hands and namjoon chatting with jimin just a ways away.

“god, there you are! i didn’t give you my number for you to not respond to me hyung,” taehyung said with a pout. “anyways, i was totally talking to namjoon and then your student stole him from me. you need to intervene.”

seokjin gave taehyung an incredulous look as he rolled his eyes. “first of all, namjoon was never yours for him to be stolen from you. second of all,” he turned to look at the pair, noticing jimin’s very obvious body language and catching bits of his tone though the other was further away. he was without a doubt, flirting with namjoon.

“second of all?” taehyung sing songed, prolonging the ‘all’ as he drew jin’s attention back to him.

“second of all, i wasn’t replying because you didn’t give me a chance to you brat,” jin rolled his eyes, causing taehyung to gasp as he leaned on the front desk.

soon jimin was leaving the institute and namjoon was making his way back towards the front desk, lovely smile on his face as he saw jin. “hyung!” he said with a bright expression, dimples poking into his cheeks. “hi namjoon-ah, what brings you here?”

“well i have a few hours until my next class, my 1:25 was cancelled by admin. i was hoping i could get a tour or something,” the younger said as he looked around. “and then go to lunch maybe.” seokjin smiled but before he could speak, taehyung was already talking.

“i would be delighted to give you a tour. seokjin? could you handle the front desk while i’m gone?” namjoon laughed as he watched seokjin and taehyung have a staring contest of sorts before the younger was pouting, huffing before he was slouching against the desk.

“next time taehyung,” namjoon said with a smile. “wow, you remembered my name,” the younger sighed, blinking his eyes up at namjoon.

seokjin laughed and shook his head as he grabbed onto namjoon’s arm, hauling him away from taehyung and towards the elevators.

after an extensive tour of the institute, seokjin and namjoon wandered around the parks, deciding lunch would be light street food as they enjoyed the scenery and the people.

“we should buy a piano for the apartment,” namjoon said, taking a bite from his hot dog.

seokjin tilted his head, “why?”

when he asked his question, namjoon gave him an incredulous look. “because you play piano hyung,” the younger said and jin opened his mouth before squeezing his eyes shut, nodding his head as he fixed his lips into a straight line, hearing namjoon’s laughter. “yeah, right you’re- yeah,” he said, rather embarrassed.

“it would be helpful to you, especially as you continue working at yomang,” namjoon reasoned. “plus you could play for me.”

seokjin looked over at namjoon when he said this, eyebrows squinted as he smiled. namjoon turned to look at him. “we could go today if you’re free later. my last class ends at 4.” seokjin liked the idea, agreeing with namjoon happily. “we can also go shopping for bonsai plants for you. and maybe some pots and other seeds to plant some things out on the terrace.”

namjoon coughed, looking quickly over at seokjin. “we- we don’t- you don’t have to do that. you don’t really like plants anyways so it’s fine really. you allowed me to bring my few plants in the apartment. it’s okay.” namjoon spewed in a rush.

“it’s fine namjoon-ah,” seokjin says, remembering how when he had first been texting namjoon, he mentioned his distaste of plants. truth be told now though, he’d honestly let namjoon cover their entire apartment in plants if the younger wanted to. “i’m free after 4 so let’s meet at madu station, yeah?”

and seokjin smiled when namjoon finally gave in.

“namjoon? namjoon-ah?” seokjin pat his face as he applied spf, padding around the apartment to look for namjoon. he soon found the younger stepping out of the pantry. “ah, are you going to be here later? the piano is being delivered.”

namjoon had insisted on seokjin getting a grand piano after the elder expressed he really wanted one but would be okay with just a keyboard. the younger had even insisted on helping to pay for it. they had spent a few hours after going shopping, rearranging the living room in a way to create a space for the large piano and he truly couldn’t wait. two weeks later and the piano would now be in their home. it was an apricot color, complimenting the tones of the living room well, a true blend of both himself and namjoon he thought.

but he was a bit upset he wouldn’t be here when it came as he had a last minute solo lesson squeezed in before a staff meeting.

to his dismay though, namjoon frowned. “no i won’t actually,” the younger said. it was quiet for a bit before his hand was meeting the back of his neck. “i actually have a date.”

seokjin’s eyes widened as he began to tell namjoon that “it’s no problem!” and “oh no worries, don’t even worry about it,” the pair staring awkwardly at each other for a while.

“you- i could push it back a bit so that i’m here when the piano comes. that’s honestly no problem, i could just explain,” namjoon followed up. seokjin nodded slowly before nodding quickly, humming in agreement. “if you don’t mind then yeah that sounds good.”

and he was soon on his way to work.

work was… interesting in a way seokjin isn’t sure he’d like to dig deeper into. his student today for his individual lesson, a 7 year old beginner, was a sweet girl with such an eagerness to learn, she reminded him of himself. she listened attentively and asked a lot of questions. he was happy to send her home with homework, looking forward to seeing what she would accomplish by the end of the semester.

he hadn’t realized he was in his head until there was a knock at the room door, causing him to jump a bit as he looked up to see a smiling hoseok. “hi hyung, i didn’t mean to startle you my bad. just wanted to see if you were still here to let you know the staff meeting was cancelled.”

seokjin smiled appreciatively at hoseok for delivering the news, realizing this meant he could make it home in time to be there when the piano got there. “thank you hoseok-ah,” he nodded.

“are you free? yoongi, taehyungie and i were gonna order some takeout and chill in the park.” seokjin wanted to say yes, knew he would absolutely love to hang out with the trio but he also wanted to go home.

“i really do want to but… i kind of just want to chill at home this afternoon,” he answered, feeling a bit embarrassed. “i’m sorry.”

hoseok smiled brightly as he shook his head. “you definitely don’t have anything to apologize for jin hyung.” and hoseok’s entire aura was sincere and friendly as he spoke to seokjin. “there will be more outings.” as he stood and embraced the other into a hug, seokjin sighed, glad he would be able to just go home and relax, play the piano once it was all set up. he felt good.

with a goodbye to yoongi and taehyung, he made his way to him and namjoon’s apartment. when he entered, however, he was met with the piano already set up on the white rug he had chosen out for it, a note on the top in pretty handwriting.

hyung: the guys came earlier than expected! i’m out now but i’ll be back home later tonight. don’t play too much piano without me!!!

seokjin couldn’t help but bite his lip at the small note and the complete misuse of the puking emoji the younger had drawn. he wasn’t sure why namjoon loved that specific emoji so much. he shook his head as he pocketed the note, wondering why namjoon didn’t just text him the message.

he sat down at the piano, opening it up as he smiled, taking a deep breath as he ran his fingers along the black and white keys. a grand piano in his home, it was surreal to say the least. and he began to play, hands feeling far more comfortable on these keys than that of the keyboards he had been using all week, pretty sounds emitting throughout the apartment.

when namjoon came back later, around 9pm to be exact, seokjin was up reading in the living room, lights dim as the younger awkwardly shuffled in.

he stared over namjoon who seemed ridiculously deep in thought, completely walking past the living room and into the kitchen where he heard the faucet running. he stood to walk towards the island, leaning carefully against it as he tilted his head at namjoon. when the younger finally turned around, he yelped when he saw seokjin.

“hey, you okay?” the elder asked, genuinely concerned because he hadn’t really seen namjoon so out of it in the one month and a few weeks they had been living together. then he realized, the younger was drunk. he shook his head and snorted when he saw namjoon had completely soaked the cuffs on the jacket he was wearing.

“geez, how much did you drink joonie?” he asked, closing his book as he moved around the island to make namjoon something to sober him up. he heard the younger mumble something. seokjin hummed a question in turn.

“call me joonie more,” the younger said, louder but still soft and low and slurred. seokjin stuttered, not even realizing the nickname had slipped out of his mouth at all.

“are you sure?” he asked, moving to help namjoon out of his jacket, guiding the younger to sit at the island as he brought him the soup. namjoon slumped one hand on his cheek as he began to eat. “don’t drink with someone with a higher tolerance level than you when you’re not much a drinker in the first place yourself,” the younger rambled, words so slurred it took seokjin a second to understand.

he watched namjoon quietly as the other rambled between bites of the food in front of him, talking a lot about his bonsais and the pretty flowers they started growing in the back before he was dropping his head into his hands. “god, i have never been this drunk before.” his first coherent sentence, jin assumed the soup and water were slowly beginning to sober him up.

jin chuckled. “so does that mean your date was bad?” he asked, twiddling his thumbs where namjoon couldn’t see.

the younger was quiet for a while. “when i remember,” he started, “i’ll tell you.” there was a telling frown on namjoon’s face. “i know my limit and i was just… really stupid.”

seokjin was quick to reassure namjoon. “hey, hey don’t call yourself stupid, it happens. at least now you can ensure it won’t happen again.” namjoon nodded in agreement as he drank down the rest of the soup and water.

“and i have to stay up to transfer my lesson plan online? i’m gonna feel this so bad in the morning,” he said with a frown, laying his head down on his arm. seokjin frowned, namjoon seemed really dejected and it was saddening to see the younger in this mood.

he suddenly got an idea. “how about i do it for you,” he said, feeling a bit shy as namjoon lifted his head slightly.

“you… you would do that?” namjoon questioned.

seokjin nodded. “yeah, it’d be no problem. i watched you do it once. it’s just transferring the written lesson plan notes into the slides format and scheduling things for canvas.”

namjoon raised his eyebrows as seokjin spoke. “you really pay attention to me huh,” he said in a tired voice, going to lay his head back down on his arm. seokjin ignored the comment and the pink it brought to his cheeks as he took namjoon’s dishes and washed them.

“go to sleep namjoon-ah. i’ll do what i can of your lesson plan and then if anything, you can finish the rest when you feel better tomorrow afternoon.” he said with his back still turned to the younger.

seokjin couldn’t see the way namjoon lingered behind, the way the younger frowned. but he soon heard an island stool being pushed in. “thank you jinnie hyung,” namjoon said in a quiet voice. seokjin froze his dishwashing, staring at the bowl in his hands and trying to decipher whether he had heard namjoon correctly.

“hyung?” he heard namjoon whisper lowly.

“sorry- sorry,” he said before clearing his throat and rinsing off the dishes, all while keeping his back turned because his face resembled that of an apple. “good night joonie.”

as seokjin approached taehyung the following wednesday, he felt his phone vibrate, automatically assuming it was the younger as he looked up to see that- as per usual- taehyung was on his phone.

the text turned out to not be from taehyung but from namjoon, a smile spreading across jin’s face at the message reading:

roomate_nj: hyung! you want to go biking with me this afternoon? the sunset is supposed to be really nice today. we could bike to illsandong-gu and then hike a bit. i get home before you today so i could even make us snacks

only if you want though

i hope you want to 🥺😙

++

by the time seokjin reached taehyung, the other was now off his phone, smiling a devilish smile up at seokjin as he leaned on the desk expectantly. “texting your boyfriend?” taehyung asked, pretending to peek towards seokjin’s phone.

the elder rolled his eyes. “oh shut up, he’s… he's not my boyfriend,” seokjin said, “plus, he went on a date the other day.” he gave taehyung a look he hoped would push them onto a different subject.

it did not. “and that means what exactly?” taehyung questioned him.

seokjin shrugged as he typed up a response to namjoon. “that he’s into whoever he went on that date with.”

taehyung sighed loudly. “hyung, please. if i kiss you right now, does that mean i’m into you? actually… wait, very bad example. um…” seokjin flicked taehyung’s forehead as he couldn’t help but chuckle, finally pressing send to namjoon.

me: i’d love to namjoon-ah :)

“anyways, what i’m trying to say is that simply taking someone out on a date doesn’t always mean a lot. it could have been just one date, who knows. it doesn’t matter whether he went on a date with someone else or not, it matters whether or not you like him and whether he likes you.”

roommate_nj: we can rent city bikes! i’ll meet you at the metro.

jin made his way up to begin his day, a private lesson first followed by 3 intermediate classes and a beginner class. he was especially excited for his beginner’s class today because they would be joined by the chorus and he was anticipating that.

when he entered the room, jimin was already playing around on the piano, it was a song jin didn’t recognize. “jimin, nice to see you again,” he said with a genuine smile. the younger didn’t return it though.

“are… you single?” he asked, seeming as though he was thinking hard about something. jin raised an eyebrow before nodding. jimin hummed. “thank you, for taking care of namjoon the other night.” this time, both eyebrows were raised. “we… we went on a date that night and he drank a lot… too much actually. i drank way too much too, it wasn’t a very good date,” the younger said as he chuckled, biting at the side of his gums.

“you don’t have to thank me jimin, it’s all good. and i’m sorry the date didn’t end up going too well. this stays between us but, he was pretty dejected about it too,” seokjin said with a frown.

jimin blinked at him. “he was?”

seokjin nodded his head. “he seemed really sad and regretful.”

for some reason jimin chuckled when seokjin said this, frown only deepening once he was done laughing. “are you sure you know why he appeared to be dejected seokjin-ssi?” he asked the elder.

seokjin thought for a bit, remembering how namjoon had mentioned he should have known his limits. “before you even answer,” jimin interrupted, “it’s definitely not at all whatever you’re thinking.”

the elder was confused but they moved on from the topic, flying through jimin’s lesson before seokjin was teaching the rest of his classes. before he knew it, it was the end of the day and he was walking with yoongi and hoseok towards the elevators.

“taehyungie told us you have a date with namjoon today! i hope it goes well!” hoseok said with the biggest teasing smile before laughing, yoongi shaking his head as he felt his partner squeeze his hand.

“it’s not a date,” seokjin huffed, stepping off the elevator and squinting his eyes at taehyung who ducked behind the desk, laughter being heard as both hoseok and yoongi made their ways around the back so they were also behind the desk, both giving the younger a kiss on either side of his face.

“we’re just joking hyung, have a good time,” yoongi said with a genuine smile and seokjin waved at the bunch before he was on his way to meet namjoon at the metro.

fall wear looked ridiculously good on namjoon, seokjin thought, admiring the younger man’s outfit from afar as he made his way towards him. the long jacket, the scarf, the specks he started wearing more, just ridiculously attractive and pretty and seokjin thought there should be a law against namjoon looking this good.

when he reached the younger, he saw that he already had two bikes out of their slots, the meters already running.

“you paid!?” he gasped, staring wide eyed at namjoon as the other muffled his laughter. “why hello to you too hyung. and yes i did pay, i also brought snacks!” namjoon said as he held up a large brown paper bag, the smile on his face making his eyes disappear and dimples appear as deep as the craters on the moon. seokjin had to look away for just a second.

“well we’d better start biking so we can catch that sunset,” he said as he fastened his shoulder bag tighter around his body, watching as joon placed the bag of food in his bike’s basket.

“ready?” namjoon asked before biking ahead, laughing as he heard shouts of protests from seokjin behind him.

they biked together through goyang, making their way towards eastern illsan district. the air was a bit brisker today, indicating those signs of winter’s ascendant on them but seokjin loved it. he relished in the sound of the wind rushing past his ears, mixing with the sounds of namjoon’s laughter and the crinkling of the fallen leaves under their wheels. he thought the way namjoon’s hair blew in the wind was something poetic, but he wouldn’t delve into that right now.

they finally reached the park, locking their bikes into ports before beginning the hike up the hill.

“this is my home,” namjoon said softly as they made their way up, smiling at the trees around them.

“you really love nature,” seokjin spoke, causing namjoon to nod.

“yeah i do. i really love it a lot which is why i’m grateful our place is so close to the parks. even if it wasn’t i would still make sure to bike almost everyday.”

seokjin hummed in understanding, feeling as though namjoon’s affinity for nature was just so very fitting to who he was as a person.

“i’m not sure what it is about nature and being outdoors, maybe it’s the freeness of it all, the serenity and beauty; the way everything is just as it is.” namjoon stopped to pick up a flower from the ground, staring at it before turning to seokjin and handing it to him with a quick shy smile before he was looking forward again.

a magnolia. jin thought it was absolutely beautiful.

“i think it’s special that you love nature so much,” he voiced aloud, twirling the flower between his fingers. “it’s one of the first things i found very interesting about you i mean, not many people make a hobby of biking and going on hikes, or at least not many of the people from where i grew up.”

namjoon chuckles as jin says this, smiling as he points towards a bench a short ways away, indicating that they were close now to the top. “thank you hyung,” he said before turning around and jogging backwards. “i bet i’d beat you,” he said with a big smirk on his face.

and without giving seokjin much warning, namjoon ran ahead, the elder gasping as he ran after him, reaching the bench before namjoon did.

the younger rounded the bench, panting as he stared incredulously at seokjin who was grinning. “what the fuck? you’re- you’re ridiculously fast.” seokjin laughed as he grabbed the bag of snacks, grabbing some wipes to clean down the bench before setting it down on the space between them.

“i used to run track in high school,” he said with a smile, looking down as he grabbed one of many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. “wowww, my namjoonie’s a chef,” he teased through bites, namjoon’s eyes going wide as he flipped seokjin off, bringing his legs up to sit cross legged. it was then that jin realized what he had said, what he had called namjoon and it scared him again just how easily the nickname rolled off his tongue.

“there’s also some hotteok and chapssal donuts. but fair warning, i put quite a bit of red bean paste and nutella in them,” namjoon said. seokjin smiled, a while now of living with namjoon and the younger’s sweet tooth still amazed him.

it was always nice being with namjoon, seokjin realized. he could write an essay of adjectives to describe how it felt everything time he got to just spend time with the younger, got the chance to talk to him, learn something new about him, laugh with him, go to the market with him. though he and namjoon were both very independent people, they came together really well and… seokjin found beauty in that. he’d never met anyone like namjoon before or anyone who made him feel the way namjoon did.

“i learned a huge lesson on saturday,” namjoon randomly spoke after a beat of silence.

seokjin chuckled, taking a bite of a donut. “not to chug fire soju?” he joked, but the younger simply shook his head as he chuckled shortly with seokjin.

“no,” he said, looking up at the elder before taking a piece of the hotteok seokjin had left. it was quiet for a moment before namjoon said, “i learned that saturday was definitely a one time thing.”

seokjin raised an eyebrow at this declaration. he genuinely thought jimin and namjoon would hit it off. “it was that bad?” he asked, but he was surprised when namjoon disagreed quickly. “no! not at all actually. jimin is an amazing guy i just… realized something.” before namjoon could say more, however, seokjin’s phone was ringing.

“oh my goodness that’s so- i’m sorry i have to take it,” he said, looking down to see it was his boss.

when jin returned, namjoon had his knees tucked close, chin resting on the tops as he stared out into the sunset.

“you ever wonder why it’s different colors?” namjoon asks in a rather dreamy tone that catches seokjin off guard as he sits beside the younger again. before he could answer though, namjoon continued, “its because molecules in the atmosphere change the direction of the sun’s rays, it’s called scattering. pretty cool huh,”

seokjin smiled as namjoon glanced at him momentarily before looking back out at the sunset.

and the younger was right, the hill gave them a beautiful view of not only the sky but of the city. he watched as hues of orange and pink lay over goyang like a blanket, casting a pretty glow on everything around them, casting a pretty glow on namjoon. the younger who already had such a pretty honey complexion, shimmering under the sunlight.

and as seokjin looked at him, orange skies and trees behind namjoon, he noticed the younger looked so soft and carefully placed among the scenery, almost as if he was supposed to be here, like someone was supposed to be painting kim namjoon here enjoying the sunset. he thought it was criminal that no one was.

he couldn’t help himself, taking out his phone and capturing a few shots of namjoon staring out into the expanse at the sky. he truly hoped the other didn’t notice and relief, namjoon was so glued on watching the sunset, he barely even moved a muscle.

“it’s so beautiful jin hyung, the sunset and sight?” the younger whispered. and seokjin thinks that namjoon is right, the sight is beautiful.

the slight crease of namjoon’s dragon eyes - he finally realized what the delicately carved shape reminded him of - was beautiful, allowing for the now purple and pink hues of the sky to reflect carefully onto his face. namjoon had long eyelashes which he had noticed in passing before but now, staring at them in this way, seokjin noticed that they almost seemed to disappear every time the younger blinked. it was brisk outside and the temperature was beginning to reflect on namjoon’s cheeks, a slight tint of red to the honey skin there, and seokjin just thought namjoon was absolutely gorgeous. he had no idea what to do with himself.

so he simply responded with a soft, “yeah,” as he continued to look at namjoon, averting his gaze for a moment once the younger met him with the brightest most loveliest smile he’d ever seen the other man muster up, the sun finally going to rest.

they stayed up on the hill for a few hours longer, drawing closer and closer as it got colder and darker before they were heading to take the bikes back to the port.

“don’t fall asleep on the metro,” namjoon said to seokjin as they walked, bumping into each other every once in a while. “says you who almost fell asleep up on the hill.”

seokjin thinks he learned a really important lesson that day. if there was anything he wanted, it was for namjoon to be absolutely cared for for the rest of the pretty dimpled boy’s days.

it was nearing christmas and for some reason, ever since seokjin had become an adult, that simply meant never ending stress and the want to just curl up in his bed until the holidays were over. not because he didn’t like the holidays, seokjin absolutely loved the holidays, but they were also a very stressful time for him, full of schedule and lacking in self care heavily.

it had been a few weeks since he had eaten a proper breakfast, always waking up on his last alarm before powering his way out of the house. a few weeks since he had given himself a chance to just sit and relax. he was holding things down at work while also being the family organizer of christmas back home in gwacheon. his family wanted to have a dinner and for some reason even though he wasn’t even in gwacheon, he was in charge of putting everything together.

he was stressed out.

9:27am, his clock read. he had to clock into work at 10. though the institute was a walking distance away, he would still without a doubt be late seeing as he had yet to even get out of bed. being the head of the piano department went far beyond helping the other piano teachers. piano was needed almost everywhere and as they were planning their end of year showcase, every department needed a pianist it seemed. this meant seokjin had to create piano arrangements, figure out which students would be playing with which company and just- it was too much and he needed a break but he had to wait. he wasn’t sure if he could wait though.

he wanted a break now, wanted to just be able to lay in bed until late and not worry about getting up to go to work. and he loved work, he loved his job. seokjin loved what he did more than anything but he couldn’t help but feel as though lately, playing piano and teaching were seeming far more like tasks on a to-do list than passions of his.

9:38. seokjin huffed as he looked up at the ceiling. he also had some pretty important financial issues to take care of. he had decided towards the end of fall that a car was absolutely necessary, especially for when he needed to do a great deal of shopping during the snowy season.

he had originally planned to be done paying the car off by new years, wanting to pay in large quantities both because he had the facilities to do so and to get the weight off his shoulders. but that plan was not coming to fruition as a scrambled mortgage payment on the apartment and a student loan payment he had forgotten about, threw his entire plan off course. not to mention, he had got word his younger sister needed help paying for a scholarship program and not wanting his parents to worry about paying, he was going to do so himself.

he was just so very stressed.

“hey, hyung? you’re gonna be late if you don’t get up now,” he heard a voice say at his door.

seokjin simply groaned, already feeling a headache coming on and his day had barely begun. he hadn’t gotten any sleep the night before and today was a longer day at work due to the preparations being made. he wasn’t even sure when he would have time in the next two weeks to go holiday shopping, wasn’t even sure he wanted to anymore.

when he didn’t get up out of bed, namjoon made his way deeper into the room, sitting cross legged near where jin lay. “maybe… maybe you should call out,” the younger suggested, pretty dragon eyes staring down at seokjin.

9:45am.

“i would just be more swamped if i did that namjoon-ah. i’d rather just… face everything head on.” jin made an effort to sit up in bed, tilting his head as he realized namjoon was still in his pajamas. “don’t you have an 11:00am today?” he asked the younger, receiving a shaking head in return.

“i cancelled, i’m taking a mental health day.” he said,extra emphasis on mental health, raising an eyebrow at jin who dropped his head into a pillow and groaned.

it was quiet for a while, jin finally picking his head up and looking over at the clock before looking up at the ceiling. “i just can’t,” he said, voice broken in a way he didn’t mean nor want it to be, a tear rolling down his cheek. it was 9:55, he was going to be late.

seokjin heard namjoon gasp and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt more tears threatening to spill over. quickly climbing out of bed he rushed to wipe the tears away. the last thing he wanted was for namjoon to see him cry.

seokjin got dressed and ready for work, leaving namjoon without a goodbye.

•••

work was…

“is everything okay, seokjin? for the past week i’ve not seen the same from you,” chairman kim spoke from across the table. seokjin bit his lip. “the showcase is nearing and we need you on your best game, i know you can be.”

jin just didn’t feel like doing this today. his boss had called him into a meeting at the end of the day when all he wanted to do was go home and sleep until tomorrow. he had been able to shove into a box all his stress, worry and anxiety, teaching his class with a near perfect mask on his face. but as soon as it started nearing clock out, the mask began to slip.

he truly didn’t know how to answer his boss.

“youna-ssi i-” he cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “i apologize for my lack of effort lately. i just-” he couldn’t even finish his sentence.

the taller woman across from him tilted her head as she frowned, furrowing her eyebrows as she stared at seokjin a while. “seokjin… do you possibly need a bit of time off?” she suddenly asked, much to seokjin’s surprise. with wide eyes he furrowed his eyebrows. “excuse me ma’am?”

“do you possibly need a bit of time off i asked. you don’t seem to be yourself and the last thing i’d want is for external factors that are taxing you to affect how you’re doing here,” she spoke calmly. “i’ll give you three days. i know it’s not a whole lot of time but right now, especially so close to the showcase and you being head of piano, that’s truly all i can give you at the moment. but if you need extended time following the winter break, please communicate that with me seokjin. i do care about my employees.”

seokjin blinked as he stared at his boss, unsure of what to say or how to react because three days was a heaven sent offering. three days was truly more than enough and he felt seen by his boss in a way he’d never felt seen in his former job.

“i- youna-ssi,” he bowed, “thank you. thank you so much i don’t think i could thank you enough. three days is more than enough time. i’ll make sure to email you the things i have planned for my classes within these next three days so they don’t fall behind. thank you so much.” and his boss laughed at him as she stood to bow as well, showing him out the door as he practically made a b-line for the elevator.

on his way out, he stopped by the front desk to bid his friends goodbye.

“seokjin hyung!” he heard jungkook, their newest employee, chirp from atop the desk, taehyung, hoseok and yoongi behind it. “hi jungkook-ah, hello trio.” seokjin said as they laughed.

“hyung, did you talk to boss like i told you to?” yoongi asked, leaning against the desk. seokjin shook his head sheepishly. “no. she actually spoke to me first. she’s giving me three days off so i’ll be back and actually in good spirits.”

hoseok and taehyung grinned as they clapped, jungkook and yoongi nodding. “good, i’ve been worried about you and the millions of things you have to do,” yoongi followed up. “i hope you’re able to rest a bit hyung,” hoseok said with a smile.

“i’ll try my best,” he tells the bunch, blowing a kiss to his friends before he was jogging out of the building and to his car, feeling nervous about encountering namjoon after running off that morning.

when he got home however, namjoon was nowhere to be found. he assumed that was a good thing because it gave him more time to think about how he was going to address whatever the fuck happened earlier that morning.

jin decided that instead of focusing on the financial and family shit he had to think about, he would push that to tomorrow, deciding instead to work on the lesson plans for his students for the next three days.

writing up the plans and music scores wasn’t difficult at all, jin taking his time as he savored a single glass of wine on the terrace.

he was fairly done with the plans for the next two days, deciding to send both off to his boss before he was eyeing his watch, 7:28pm, namjoon was still not home. jin decided to step back inside, debating texting the younger before finally pulling his phone out and texting a simple ‘just wondering where you are’, sending before he could think twice about it.

as soon as his text was sent, however, he heard the apple crystals text tone ring throughout the apartment. raising an eyebrow, he made an effort to look around, soon stopping on the island where he found a phone- namjoon’s phone.

“again?” he huffed aloud, genuinely flabbergasted that the younger seemed to uphold his horrible habit of leaving his phone at home.

seokjin rolled his eyes before grabbing something quick to eat and making his way to bed.

funny enough, he couldn’t fucking sleep, stress and worry so loud it was almost as if two people were arguing over his head.

namjoon returned around 9pm, making so much noise as he entered the house, and seokjin couldn’t help but be annoyed with the part of his brain that was ever so endeared by the younger, wanting badly to be upset; to be annoyed that the clashing and banging and whispered cuss words were contributing to his lack of sleep but simply not fully finding it in himself as he turned over, slamming a pillow over his head.

however, it was after one particular crash that he couldn’t help but storm out of his room, coming face to face with namjoon crouched in the kitchen, the younger quickly standing up as he stared at seokjin.

“namjoon, what are you doing?” he asked, feeling a headache coming on from his lack of sleep the previous night, his long day and then his inability to even sleep tonight, none of which were namjoon’s fault yet his brain needed someone to be upset at. he didn’t give namjoon a chance to respond before he was speaking again. “and where were you this evening? i texted you. you left your phone here again you need to stop doing that!”

namjoon raised an eyebrow, seeming to not appreciate jin’s misplaced aggression. “i’m clearly organizing some things and i’m sorry i forgot my phone at home again hyung, it was an accident.”

jin scoffed. “an accident? i couldn’t reach you namjoon! you told me today you weren’t working and then i come home to find you’re not here and you’ve left your phone? what if you got hurt? what if- what if something happened to you and we had no way of reaching each other namjoon-ah? what if you got into an accident?”

seokjin’s breathing was erratic as he clenched his fists on his sides, not even seeing namjoon as he spoke, just seeing white. “god i- i have a fucking headache,” he whispered to himself, moving to grab the advil he had left on the counter, taking one as he leaned against it.

and then it was silent. neither man said another word to each other as they parted ways, seokjin to his room and namjoon to his as the night commenced.

11:36pm, seokjin’s clock read after a series of twists and turns. he decided to give up on sleep, finally turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. he couldn’t help but cringe at the embarrassment that was his outburst earlier. in his state of mind now, he couldn’t at all fathom why he reacted in the way he-

he could. he could 100% fathom why he reacted the way he did. and as jin actively tried to push to the back of his mind the soul reason he lashed out at namjoon, he realized he truly was not sleeping tonight, kicking the covers off of himself as he grabbed his glasses and toed out of his room, making his way to the living room.

ironically, the piano he had been anticipating so much, had collected dust as he hadn’t touched it since the very first day it came in nearly two months ago. dusting it off a bit with the stray swiffer on the coffee table, he finally sat, fingers ghosting over unfamiliar keys.

he took a deep breath before playing, letting whatever was in his heart flow out through his fingers. he soon realized he was playing ever so blue’s onthou, a pretty song he often played back home when stressed. the song was rather short so he found himself improvising, playing a melody of keys from his heart before going back into the song. seokjin took another breath, closing his eyes as he played steven cravis’ anchor, oddly feeling the chords and notes resonate somewhere within him as the crisp smell of namjoon’s many books on the shelves around him, mixed with the smell of the lavender incense he had burned hours ago. he had never looked at the translation for this song, anchor, but from listening to it plenty of times, he assumed it was about a person or thing that kept the musician grounded, kept them wanting to see tomorrow, kept them wanting to smile and do and be better.

as he finished the last note, pressing down hard on the pedal, he realized his breathing was becoming less labored.

he suddenly heard a movement from behind him, turning to his left to see namjoon on the couch, blanket around him as he stared at seokjin, both men froze.

“i um… i- i couldn’t sleep,” the younger said, scratching the back of his neck. and seokjin felt horrible, felt absolutely terrible for lashing out at namjoon earlier.

“it’s okay,” he said quietly, biting his lip. “i’m sor-”

“no, no,” namjoon interrupted. “you don’t have to apologize hyung,” the younger said but jin wasn’t having it.

“yes i do namjoon-ah. i lashed out at you and you didn’t deserve that,” he said, no longer making eye contact with namjoon as he looked anywhere but at the younger. “i really… i had no business getting as upset as i did. i projected all this displaced aggression at you and it was stupid and unfair, and for that i’m sorry joon-ah,” seokjin said, looking back up at the younger.

it’s quite dark in the living room, the only light being from the crescent moon shining through the sheer curtains, but he thinks he can make out a small smile on namjoon’s face. “i accept your apology, hyung,” namjoon said softly, too softly.

it was quiet for a while, both men taking in each other’s presence before namjoon was speaking again. “hyung? do you maybe want to talk about this morning? it’s okay if you don’t, that’s fine i- i understand. i just want you to know i’m here for you and i- i care about you.” jin smiled as he looked down at his hands, smoothing down his shorts before he was nodding his head.

“no, please trust me when i say i do want to talk about it, i trust you a lot i just- i don’t know i just didn’t want you to see me cry this morning,” jin starts, not making much eye contact with namjoon but looking in his general direction. “i shouldn’t have run out like that, that was so disrespectful to you as both a person and as my friend, you didn’t deserve that and so i really am so sorry. it was all i could think about all day… on top of the billions of things i have to do.” the pair smiled at this.

“i…” jin sighed, “i wanted to pay off my car by new years. i have a finance journal and i was set on that being my deadline and all but with everything going on, i completely forgot about our mortgage payment we had due the other day and a loan payment i had due yesterday. ended up taking out the money i had planned for the car and then some, and that completely threw off what i had planned.

i also am planning on paying for this program my younger sister got accepted into since i don’t want that on my family you know? and then my family is expecting me to handle christmas dinner in gwacheon and it’s just like… i don’t even know how to tell them that i’m busy right now and can’t plan something right now for them. i don’t even know when i’ll be able to go christmas shopping, my shopping list for the apartment is like a mile long i just- i don’t know i feel irresponsible and i just don’t want to let anyone down.” jin finished with a heavy exhale, tears welling up as he chuckled sadly, finally making eye contact with a frowning namjoon.

the younger only hummed, silence engulfing the pair for a while until he was speaking. “hyung, first of all, you are not irresponsible. i mean i have never met someone as organized as you. you literally have a financial journal i mean???” seokjin smiled at this, shaking his head as he looked down at his hands. “you’re not letting anyone down by communicating what you’re going through and what you’re capable of. when you don’t do this, you are letting yourself down whether you realize it or not. you can’t just push yourself because it’s what others expect of you.”

jin bit his lip as namjoon spoke, taking in everything the younger was telling him.

“are you going to take tomorrow off hyung?” namjoon asked, genuinely concerned.

seokjin smiled, wiping away some of his tears. “my boss actually gave me the next three days off so, that’s good.” and he relished in the big smile namjoon gave him, soft features and dimples seeming to glow under the moonlight.

“well that is absolutely perfect. i can help you work on some of these things, especially in the mornings when i’m still here and then in the evening? we can spend tomorrow going over your financial journal if you wouldn’t mind that. if not we can do something you’re more comfortable with. and i uh,” the younger scratched his neck. “i actually bought everything on the sticky notes you had posted up on the fridge.” before jin could gasp and interject, namjoon was following up. “hey, no no don’t say anything or tell me i shouldn’t have, it’s the least i could do jin hyung.”

seokjin gaped like a fish at this.

“anyways, i really am here for you so i’m willing to help you out these next few days and even once you return to work. also wouldn’t mind paying more of a share for the mortgage so you can finish paying off your car and loans. it’d only be fair, especially considering i don’t have any debt and only have the mortgage, shared bills for the place and then my own electronic bills to cover,” the younger said with a shrug. “and let me emphasize that i don’t mind hyung, i do not mind. if we have to make the mortgage payment share 60/40 instead of 50/50 for a few months, that’s okay with me.”

jin was truly at a loss of words and at that point there was nothing he could do but let the rest of his tears flow, allowing himself to cry as he wiped at his eyes, shaking his head as he smiled and laughed at namjoon. he was convinced the younger was heaven sent, truly an angel or something because he had never met anyone like him before.

“i- thank you namjoon-ah, i don’t think i could ever thank you enough i… thank you.”

namjoon shrugged, smiling a small smile as he looked down at his thumbs, looking up at the elder again. “it’s no problem hyung,” he said quietly. “okay, now that we have a plan for moving forward, what was that song you last played? it was really pretty,”

it took jin a few deep breaths before he was able to fully turn back to the piano, hands shaky as they stared at the keys. “piano version of anchor by steven cravis,” he said quietly. “it was one of my mom’s favorites and became one of mine too.” seokjin thought it was damn near crazy how he wasn’t even facing namjoon but he could feel the younger man’s smile radiating off of his back.

“can you… can you play some more? you’re an amazing player hyung, the improvisation you did earlier was… it was phenomenal.” jin’s eyes widened as he turned back to namjoon.

“you recognized that it was improve on the first song?” he gasped.

namjoon chuckled.“yeah. remember when i was telling you about my aunt and her music boxes? well apparently she got this vendor to put the song into a music box. it was all she would play.” seokjin couldn’t help but laugh as he made out namjoon rolling his eyes. “oh she loved it. but your version shines a new light on the composition, it’s refreshing in a way the original doesn’t offer me anymore.”

seokjin smiled at namjoon when the younger finished speaking, genuinely feeling the deepest admiration for the man cuddled up in a fluffy blanket on their-the couch. feeling something so unadulterated it was scary.

“thank you joon-ah. and i’m glad your aunt loved the song so much, it’s one of my favorites to play on piano.”

he finally turned back to the piano, deciding on the first song he’d play for namjoon, hands shaking as fingers ghosted the keys. he took a deep breath as he began playing magnus hördegård’s for you, music flowing out of him as if he had played it plenty of times before.

for you was followed by benny treskow’s sunday stroll, followed by 8 humoresques, and hannibal’s canon before seokjin was turning to the couch to see that namjoon had fallen asleep. he stopped playing, staring at the younger’s face which was illuminated by the light of the moon, features painted so softly here. and seokjin once again felt as though someone was supposed to be painting this scene.

he smiled as he closed the piano, tucking in the piano bench before walking over to the couch, hesitating on how exactly to awaken namjoon.

do i squeeze his shoulder? we’ve never really touched before. should i just… call his name?

seokjin, out of shyness, went with the latter. “namjoon, joon-ah,” he whispered, watching as the younger stirred. “joonie,” he whispered a bit louder, receiving a soft, “hmm?” as namjoon slowly sat up. “no more piano?” he asked, sleepy pout on his lips and- fuck.

“you fell asleep,” jin chuckled but namjoon shook his head.

“no, i was only resting my eyes a little.” they both laughed at this as namjoon went to rub his eyes. “i’m sorry hyung, i didn’t mean to fall asleep. i really enjoyed your playing, you’re very talented.”

jin smiled as he backed up, giving namjoon space to stand as the younger man wrapped the blanket around himself. “no worries joon, at least you’ll be able to sleep easier tonight now.”

the younger hummed. “yeah, but not because of the piano playing.” jin blinked, unsure of what this meant but stopping with namjoon in the hallway that divided their rooms. hesitation sat in the air but it dissipated as namjoon gave him a pretty, sleepy smile, bowing and allowing choppy bangs to fall into his eyes. “good night hyungie,” he said, cheeks a rosy color.

and seokjin was sure his matched this hue, feeling butterflies as he bowed himself before responding, “good night namjoonie-ah,” and making his way to his room.

and he slept well that night, waking the next morning to a breakfast full of stolen stares and shy smiles.

“just invite him hyung, i’m sure he’d absolutely love to,” yoongi said, taking a sip from his drink, food now finished. jin groaned as he pouted, yoongi not at all giving him the answer he wanted. “do it hyung,” the younger said, emphasizing every word as he smiled at jin.

“i don’t know… i don’t want to inconvenience him,” he reasoned poorly.

yoongi rolled his eyes, trying his hardest not to laugh at his friend. “hyung, i promise you, asking namjoon if he wants to spend the holidays with you is not in any way going to inconvenience him. just do it! the more you think about it, the less likely you are to do it. plus the worst that could happen is you receive a no, right?”

seokjin went home after his lunch date with yoongi a bit nervous. christmas was in 5 days and he wanted to ask the younger whether he’d like to spend it in gwacheon with him.

following yomang’s (very successful) winter showcase, hoseok and yoongi had invited everyone - taehyung, jungkook, jimin and him and namjoon- to their place to celebrate a successful winter and fall semester. it was nice to have everyone together and surprisingly enough, they had all bonded even closer, becoming friends with each other in a way seokjin had never had before. they had all talked about plans for the holidays but namjoon hadn’t really said much.

more recently, the younger had insinuated that he would be spending christmas at the apartment. and though there was nothing wrong with that, he kinda wanted to spend the holidays with the younger. he already had in mind activities for when they got to gwacheon. his family made tradition of going snowboarding, tubing and sledding as well as ice skating during this time and he remembers joon telling him he was professional in ice skating at some point so the younger would definitely enjoy those activities. he was excited and he hoped more than anything namjoon wanted to go with him.

when he finally entered the apartment, he was met with the sight of a frowning namjoon, bonsai between his hands.

“hi joon, hi kenjeon,” seokjin said as he entered, taking his shoes off at the door before washing his hands and going over to namjoon and the plant on the counter.

“hi jin hyung,” namjoon said with a frown.

the elder chuckled as he tilted his head, looking at the plant namjoon was frowning at. “oh, kenjeon says hi too,” he followed up.

“what’s wrong?” jin asked, more attention on namjoon than on the plant. the younger sighed, “i didn’t realize kenjeon isn’t a winter plant so he’s not doing too good. so i’m a little sad.” seokjin watched as namjoon gently touched the plant, frown only deepening causing him to frown as well.

“oh, i’m sorry joon-ah, maybe we could get you more winter plants that will actually flourish during this time,” he suggested, already swiping open his phone to look up different winter plants. namjoon chuckled, holding the plant with two hands as he sat at the island. “it’s okay hyung,” he said with a shake of his head. “it’s silly to be sad over a plant anyways.”

jin looked up immediately when the younger said this, for some reason feeling greatly offended. “it is not silly to be sad over a plant, don’t invalidate your feelings like that namjoon-ah. people get sad when their phone dies, you being sad about your plant isn’t silly at all.”

seokjin isn’t sure just how much namjoon needed to hear that but if the smile on the younger’s face was anything to go by, he was happy he said what he did. “thank you hyung,” namjoon whispered.

jin realized now would probably be the perfect time to ask joon to go to gwacheon with him, moving into the living room to sit by the tree they had bought and decorated together.

“hey joon, any holiday plans?” he asked, watching as the younger swiveled around in the high stool to look at him.

namjoon thought for a second. “well, i was going to try and find a place that made good nukdujeon and youngyang chaltteok and just watch movies,” the younger said with a smile. “those are my aunt’s favorites during the holidays.” and seokjin smiled, always loving when namjoon spoke about his aunt.

he nodded his head. “well, i hope my request doesn’t get in the way of your plans but um… i was wondering really whether you’d like to come to gwacheon with me for the holidays.”

namjoon’s eyes widened as jin asked the question, staring down at the plant in his hands before back over at jin. “are- really?” he asked in genuine shock.

jin chuckled. “yes really. i’d… really like if you came, it would be really fun,” he assured namjoon. and before he knew it, the younger was enthusiastically nodding his head.

seokjin had greatly underestimated just how much things he would have to take to gwacheon. they were staying for a week, wanting to be back ho- back in goyang before new years. they were leaving that evening of the 23rd to then return the 30th. but… they had a lot to bring.

from presents to their own suitcases to the suitcase full of a cooler of food stuffs his mom had asked him to specifically bring from goyang. namjoon had helped him in the shopping for that. he was grateful they would be taking the express train there, meaning their bags wouldn’t be checked but it also meant they would be hauling 5 suitcases themselves. how they were going to manage? by some miracle he hoped.

“hey hyung?” namjoon called as jin rolled his final suitcase out into the foyer. “can i leave a couple of presents here?”

“yeah, i don’t see why not. just grab them from out of the suitcase full of gifts,” he responded with a smile, watching as namjoon hastily took some presents out and placed them back under the tree.

“okay so yoongi and taehyung are here to take us to the station. do you have everything?” jin asked, going over his own mental list. joon seemed to be doing the same as he moved around the apartment a bit, returning with his glasses on his face paired with the prettiest smile. “yup!” jin hummed, “perfect. lets go.”

•••

the train ride to gwacheon was strangely nerve racking for seokjin. his family had been elated when he told them he would be bringing his roomate namjoon down for christmas. though his mother, grandmother and sisters had already met namjoon multiple times over facetime, this was different. they would be meeting him in person, his father included. he hoped they liked namjoon as much… as… as much as he anticipated, haha.

“next stop, gwacheon station!

“our stop hyung!” namjoon chirped, preparing to grab their suitcases so they could get off quickly. as the train halted to a stop, all doors opening, jin made the effort of helping namjoon get their 5 suitcases off the train and onto the landing.

they grabbed a luggage cart and made their way to the front of the station. “my older sister should be here soon so we shouldn’t be standing around too long,” seokjin said, nerves eating him alive.

“seon, her son is convinced my dimples are fake,” namjoon says with a smile, pretty dimples making themselves present as he and seokjin laugh. “thank you for inviting me jin, to spend time with you and your family? the holidays are really special times so i feel really honored you’d want me to be a part of your family celebration.” all jin could offer in return was a breathless, “it’s no problem namjoon-ah.”

“seokjinnie!” they soon hear from the entrance, spotting his sister seon. she makes her way towards the pair and namjoon is astonished to see just how much she resembles jin, only difference is her hair isn’t black, it’s blonde.

she pulls her brother into a hug before stepping to the side and practically flinging herself onto namjoon who laughs as he embraces her. “hello! hello hello namjoon. oh my goodness, it’s so great to finally meet you!” she says as he bows. “it’s great to meet you too seon-ssi,” he responds.

“please, drop all honorifics with me pretty. okay let’s get this luggage to the car, sam is in the backseat by the way,” she tells the boys.

“i can’t believe you dyed your hair blonde, have mom and dad seen it?” seokjin asked as he climbed into the front seat with his sister. she rolled her eyes, fastening her seat belt as she checked her mirrors before they were heading off towards the family house. “no they have not. they never let me dye it as a kid so i must live out those dreams now.”

the pair looked up at the rear view mirror, watching as sam and namjoon interacted.

“namjoon-ssi, can i poke your dimples?” the little boy asked with a wide toothy smile.

“sam baby, we don’t ask those kinds of questions,” seon said pointedly, but namjoon only smiled, moving his face closer to sam’s booster seat. “no it’s okay,” he said as he turned his head for sam. the boy clapped his hands as he reached to poke namjoon’s cheek, a flurry of giggles emitting from the back of the car as they both clapped and namjoon tickled him.

“he seems so lovely,” seokjin heard seon say lowly to him, tearing his gaze from the rear view mirror. he looked at her before gazing again at the pair in the back who were telling secrets to each other. “yeah, yeah he is.”

they finally arrive at jin’s home and not even a minute after seon has parked the car, his immediate family is hurrying out of the house and surrounding it, none of whom have jackets on. as seokjin steps out the car, moving to bow to and hug his grandmother, he tells her “you should go inside before you catch a cold.” he soon hears a shrill scream from his younger sister and mom, turning to see them surrounding namjoon. he hears a snort from seon as she helps zip up sam’s jacket and lifts him out of the car.

“wow, you are so handsome,” his mother says as she gapes at namjoon, his younger sister holding her hands to her cheeks. “are you single?” she asks to which seokjin’s mom and dad make a noise in the back of their throats. she rolls her eyes. “i’m asking because yiren wanted to know, not for me obviously.” and seokjin thinks that of course yiren, their family friend who might as well be a part of the family, would ask his younger sister to ask namjoon such a question.

“where are you from? what’s it like living with my brother? he’s really boring isn’t he,” his younger sister starts and everyone outside begins to laugh as his grandma shuffles everyone inside. “you can ask him all those questions inside, sang” she tells the girl.

he watches as namjoon bows to and shakes the hands of his grandmother, his mother and then his father, holding his breath at the interactions. “hey, it’s all good jinnie,” he hears seon whisper from behind him, squeezing at his shoulder. “now help me bring these suitcases inside.”

as he enters the house he can’t help but feel a small sense of nostalgia. sure it’s only been about 5 months since he’d last been home, seokjin always making a habit to visit even after he’d gotten a small place in gwacheon, entering the house now reminded him of coming home after a long fall semester at university.

his family was very traditional for a while, sticking to the usual one-person-one-gift rule until the kids- with the help of their grandmother- convinced their parents that they should do more for christmas. every since then, the tree was full of more decorations and presents and this new tradition was a lovely one.

“i was just finishing up dinner so you guys do what you need to do, sang will show you to your rooms,” his mother said before she was walking into the kitchen. the suitcase with the gifts in it was wheeled into the living room and as soon as jin opened it, sang and sam were running towards it.

“woah!” sam said, clapping his hands as he jumped up and down at the sight of so many gifts. namjoon smiled, helping jin place them under the tree until the suitcase was empty.

“did you get me a gift?” sang asked namjoon as she bat her eyelashes. seokjin rolled his eyes at his younger sister but namjoon simply entertained it, nodding strongly as he told her, “of course i did sang. i couldn’t possibly forget about you.” this lead the girl to clap her hands as she looped her arm with his. “i also got you a gift and i’m really excited to give it to you. okay now, house tour! we’ll be right back jinnie!” and with that, the pair were gone, sam running behind them as namjoon crouched to pick him up.

seokjin made his way into the kitchen, watching as his father and sister helped his grandmother remove the contents of the special suitcase he had brought. “thank you again for buying and bringing these things, your belly will thank you christmas night,” his mother told him. he smiled as he moved to help but her cook.

“wow, you’re cooking quite a bit tonight,” he said with a smile and his dad chuckled. “we have guests tonight.”

“that namjoon is a lovely boy,” he hears his grandmother say from behind him as he stirred the sauce for the short ribs, tasting it before adding more seasoning. “he is, where did you say he was from again?” his father asked.

“he was born in ilsan but actually lived here in gwacheon for a while with his aunt. then he moved back to ilsan for sometime before attending university in seoul. now we’re both in goyang together.” he heard hums ring from throughout the kitchen followed by the zip of a suitcase indicating they were finished taking out the things he and namjoon had brought.

“maybe we could invite his aunt over for christmas dinner?” his sister suggested. this idea made his mom very excited. “yes! that sounds like a wonderful idea, seokjin please make sure you do so.”

once she was finished speaking, he could hear that sang had finished her house tour, her laughter ringing out in the foyer. “you go settle in, i’ve got it from here,” his father said to him. and he bowed as he made his way towards the crew.

“you guys will be sleeping in jin’s old room and seon unnie will be in her old room with sam,” sang said, now holding sam who seemed very tired. the pair nodded, jin thanking his sister as he ruffled her hair, grabbing their suitcases as they made their way towards his room.

not much had changed at all other than the fact that he now had a larger bed. he remembers his mom asking him whether it was okay to replace the smaller bed he had in high school with a bigger one and he had been more than okay with it. his room was a gray and white scheme, from the sheets to the fluffy gray rug on the floor. he saw his vanity still tucked into the corner of his room and polaroids of quite a few people he didn’t talk to anymore up on his wall.

“high school kim seokjin huh,” namjoon said as he held up a picture of the younger and a track medal. jin moved closer to it as he laughed, the goggle glasses on his face ridiculously funny even now. “yeah, i was pretty cool back then,” he says with a smile.

“you’re pretty cool now,” namjoon said to which seokjin rolled his eyes. “yeah yeah, you’re just saying that,” he responded as he shook his head. then he turned to the younger.

“in terms of sleeping arrangements, you can take my bed. i’ll sleep on the floor.” namjoon’s eyes shot wide at this, the younger immediately shaking his head. “oh no no, you should take your bed, this is your room. i’ll sleep on the floor.”

they went back and forth like this for a while until finally, namjoon agreed begrudgingly to sleep in seokjin’s bed, the elder taking the floor.

“dinner’s ready,” they heard sang yell, both making their way into the dining room.

“i hope you enjoy our cooking dear,” seokjin’s mother told namjoon with a smile as they all settled down at the table.

dinner, as always, was a lovely time full of sang telling everyone about her day as she bickered with grandma. they decided to go around and just speak about how they’d been doing, sam telling everyone he was very excited to learn that namjoon’s dimples were real. finally, there was a still in conversation before jin’s father was speaking.

“we have an agenda planned for the next few days, so i hope you’re up for getting out in the cold,” he said with a small smile directed towards namjoon.

“yeah! we’re going ice skating and snow tubing and sledding. there’s also a light show we’re gonna go to. we have a pdf of the schedule we’ll text to you.” sang assured him with a pat on the shoulder. namjoon wasn’t even surprised to learn that being organized clearly ran in the family.

it wasn’t long before plates were empty and the dining table was being cleared, namjoon helping the process as he continuously gave thanks for the food prepared.

soon the doorbell rang and yiren was entering the house, wide smile on her face. seokjin and his sisters went to greet her. “hello! how’s my second family doing on this christmas eve eve,” she said with a hum, looking around the house. “we’re good yiren but clearly it’s not us you’re here for,” seon replied with an amused smile on her face.

“yiren unnie, where’s everyone else?” sang asked, pouting as she didn’t see yiren’s younger siblings. “they’ll be here for christmas all day okay honey?” she said, cupping his younger sister’s face. “now jin, where’s this roommate of yours? i wanted to show him around town.”

seokjin could feel seon and sang’s eyes on him, knowing already what seon was thinking since they were nearly able to communicate telepathically. he could hear her saying something along the lines of, ‘you’re gonna let her take him?’

“hello,” came a chirpy voice from behind them, seokjin turning to see namjoon, soap on his nose which he quickly wiped off.

yiren made her way towards him, bowing and smiling. “hi namjoon-ssi, i’m yiren.” seokjin watched as they chatted away, turning back to his two sisters who were staring at him pointedly.

sang skipped away to sam, leaving seokjin and seon at the door, the older woman shaking her head. “now you know sure and well yiren does not just want to be friends with that boy,” seon said, an amused look on her face. seokjin bit his lip as he shrugged, walking with seon towards the pair.

“i’m gonna take namjoon-ssi out! we’ll be back in an hour!” yiren chirped, turning towards namjoon before saying, “i’ll be out at the car,” with a wide grin on her face. he heard a hum from seon before she was moving into the living room with the kids.

“hyung, could you… walk me back to the room? i want to change my shirt. sam got a little too excited with the soap.” seokjin laughed as he hadn’t even noticed namjoon’s soaked shirt beforehand, leading the younger back to his room. he waited outside his door until namjoon was finally finished, walking out with a small smile on his face.

“yiren is very eccentric,” he said with a smile, “she reminds me a bit of jungkook and hobi,” the pair laugh at this as they slowly walk back towards the front. “yeah she sure is something,” he responds.

“well, i’ll see you in an hour hyung,” namjoon said with a smile.

jin opened the door for him, looking out to see it had begun to snow, sticking to the snow already on the ground. “don’t have too much fun without me,” he said with a smile, to which namjoon hollered, “i could never!” before stepping into the car and driving off with yiren.

•••

that night as the family watched movies in the living room, seokjin couldn’t help but have his attention on the clock. it was 10pm and yiren and namjoon weren’t back yet. truthfully if he was so concerned he could just text either one of them but… that would probably be strange, he didn’t want to come off as imposing or anything.

his mother had realized that one of the sofas in the living room pulled out into a futon, telling jin he could sleep there for the week instead of on the floor in his room. jin honestly didn’t mind the idea of sleeping on his floor in his room with namjoon, definitely not minding the idea as the presence of the younger was comforting. but he couldn’t refuse his mom’s suggestion, moving his things into the living room and changing into his pajamas in one of the guest bathrooms.

it was during a particular scene of the movie that they heard the front door opening, laughter coming from within the hallway. sang jumped to her feet and from the sounds of it, tackled yiren and namjoon into a hug. seokjin also stood to greet the others before he was walking yiren back to the door.

as he stood out in the cold near her car, he noticed her hesitating to get inside. “everything okay?” he asked with a tilt of his head. and she smiled, squeezing at his bicep before whispering softly, “he’s a keeper.” she drove away, leaving seokjin confused in the snow.

by the time he got back inside, all the adults were going off to bed, his parents escorting a bummed out sang to her room. “good night jinnie. sam? say good night to uncle,” seon told a sleepy sam. jin smiled as he leaned down to kiss at sam’s cheeks, the younger laughing quietly. “good night seon.”

he took note of how the futon had been pulled out already for him, smiling as he climbed atop it. “hey,” he looked up to see namjoon walking towards him, baggy pajamas on his body as he sat on the sofa seat next to the futon, an arms length away, far too far. “hi,” jin responded.

“sorry we were out for so long. night life in gwacheon is really beautiful, we saw a lot of vendors and what not. you should show me what it's like during the day time,” namjoon said with a smile.

“yeah… yeah yeah i most definitely will,” he responded.

he watched as the younger pulled a bag from behind his back. “i got your mom a few things she had mentioned as i was helping her clean, she was very shocked i had gone and bought them,” namjoon said with a chuckle. “but i also got you a few things. just some conventional things really, i hope you like them.”

seokjin couldn’t help but allow his mouth to fall a bit when namjoon pushed the bag towards him, looking at the younger stunned. “don’t open while i’m still here, it’ll make me really embarrassed,” he said with a laugh.

“thank you namjoon, for whatever it is, thank you so much.” the younger smiled as he stood. “no problem. good night hyung,” he said with that pretty dimpled smile. “good night namjoon-ah,” seokjin returned.

once he dug into the bag he found that namjoon had gotten him a pack of pretty pens, sticky notes, a mug identical to one they had back hom- back at the apartment and a journal. he reached into the mug as he noticed a slip of paper inside, unraveling it to see it was a piece of printer paper with namjoon’s handwriting on it reading: you’re pretty particular about the mug you drink hot drinks in, so i got you a mug like the one at home for our time here :) - namjoon

jin blinked as he read the small message over and over, feeling overwhelmed by it, feeling something at the mention of home. namjoon referred to the apartment they shared as… home. he reached for the pretty journal and opened it up to find a note on the first page from namjoon, looking up at the ceiling before looking back down to read.

i noticed you were running out of pages in your finance journal - namjoon

seokjin couldn’t help but chuckle quietly to himself, wiping the tears at his eyes as he laughed and laughed, shaking his head as he brought a sleeved hand up to his chest and closed his eyes.

namjoon truly was a keeper.

christmas.

it was finally christmas and the mood in the house was bustling with happy, joyful energy as everyone got ready for a day of family and fun. it was tradition in the kim household to shower early in the morning and wear special pajamas for the rest of the day before changing into more formal clothing for dinner later on. breakfast was light that morning to save everyone's appetite for the huge dinner to be eaten later.

he was instructed by his mom to take namjoon out and about today and the elder was genuinely a bit excited to have namjoon to himself, yiren and his family very much all over the younger the past two days, but he truly couldn’t blame them.

as he knocked on the door to his room, he was a bit surprised to see namjoon on the floor, staring at a picture on his phone.

“hey joon, ready to head out?” he asked, smiling as seon pushed past him to throw an arm around namjoon’s shoulders, raising an eyebrow suddenly as she saw the picture. jin closed the door and moved further into the room when namjoon didn’t answer.

“namjoon, are you okay?” seon asked, genuinely concerned.

jin looked at the picture on namjoon’s phone, looking down to see an image of a woman who looked a lot like him and a small boy holding onto her hand. when namjoon finally looked up into his eyes, tears welling in them like pools, he feared that he had missed a huge cue his entire 5 months of knowing namjoon.

“my aunt,” the younger said in a quiet voice. “she loves christmas. i haven’t… i haven’t spent christmas with her since she passed. i- i feel so bad-”

seokjin immediately felt his heart break as tears spilled from namjoon’s eyes. he felt silly that he was frozen, wanting to reach forward and cup the younger’s face, wipe his tears away and hold him. but he couldn’t move, glad more than anything that seon was there to do all three things for the younger, and for him.

“namjoon?” seon spoke softly, “namjoon please don’t feel bad. it’s easier said than done but don’t feel bad, i’m sure that’s the last thing she wants you to be feeling right now,” the elder said softly, smoothing down namjoon’s hair.

finally, seokjin spoke. “i remember you telling me that she loved youngyang chaltteok and flowers. my- my mom is actually making youngyang chaltteok right now, we could take some to your aunt. buy some flowers on the way too,” seokjin suggested and seon nodded, still holding namjoon to her chest.

he wiped at his eyes before smiling. “why’s she making youngyang chaltteok? most people don’t like it,” the trio laughed softly at this.

“well… i told her what your favorite holiday treats were. she’s also making nukdujeon,” seokjin said as he scratched behind his ear, feeling the tips becoming hot.

namjoon smiled at him, a small, “thank you, hyung,” escaping his lips before he was sitting up right and wiping at his eyes. “i’ll be ready to go out in a bit just- i’ve never been to her grave since the funeral all those years ago so… so i’m gonna need just a minute.”

seon gave namjoon one last hug before both siblings were telling the younger to take his time, closing the door behind them. seokjin looked over to see seon wiping tears from her eyes as she walked with him into the kitchen.

when the three older adults saw them, they almost immediately could tell something was wrong. “oh, love why do you cry?” their grandmother asked softly, moving towards seon.

“mom, are the rice cakes ready?” he asked, his mother’s concerned face saddening him. “um, a few of them are. are you hungry? is that what it is?” seokjin shook his head. “i just need one rice cake and one mung bean pancake is all. i’m going to take namjoon to see his aunt.”

it didn’t take long for the three adults to catch on, quiet gasps escaping careful lips as they allowed the information to settle in. seokjin’s father moved to plate four treats for him, covering them with wrap and smiling a small smile as he handed the plate to seokjin. “i added more because she’s family,” he said past him, seokjin turning to see namjoon close behind him.

it was quiet as seokjin’s family members took turns to embrace namjoon, sang and sam coming into the kitchen to give the man words of strength themselves. his mother soon emerged from her room, a woven scarf in her hands that she handed to namjoon with a smile. “i had woven this for your aunt yesterday night. will you give it to her for me?” she asked, lips tight as namjoon nodded.

they bid everyone goodbye as they made their way out the door, the car ride to the flower shop and then to the grave site silent. it wasn’t until they were rounding to a more rural part of gwacheon, the gps directing him to a small house near a hill, that he realized namjoon’s aunt had been buried in the backyard of her home.

they stepped out of the car and seokjin gave namjoon a few minutes before they walked towards the backyard, coming upon a tombstone covered in weeds and vines. he silently helped namjoon clean it all off before the younger was kneeling on the snow in front of the grave, seokjin doing the same but saving him space so he could be close to his aunt.

“aunt,” namjoon’s broken voice spoke as he choked on the single word, and seokjin could feel his own heart breaking more. “you never wanted me to call you that, always telling me just to call you youna because you wanted me to know i was close to you.” jin watched as namjoon looked to the sky before looking at the grave again. “i- i haven’t come. i haven’t been here and i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry that after all you did for me, after accepting me and all, i couldn’t even come and visit you… not once.” namjoon bit his lip as he continued to talk. “i haven’t been in contact with suan for years, we fell off. she didn’t like that i didn’t come visit you and i don’t blame her because i never gave her an answer, a response as to why i didn’t visit. younger me just ignored her texts and her calls. it was wrong, all of it was wrong and i’m sorry. but i’m here now to make amends.”

namjoon set the covered up plate of food in front of the tomb stone, wrapping the scarf around it as well and smiled.

“i’ve met some amazing people youna, you’ll love them, i know you will. i moved from gwacheon back to ilsan after you passed and then went to seoul for university. now i’m in goyang and… and it’s home, i have a home with someone i think i owe a lot to.” namjoon looked over at seokjin before beckoning him to come closer to the tombstone until they were side by side. “his name is kim seokjin, youna. his family lives here in gwacheon and they’re amazing people, they welcomed me with open arms and i’ve never felt so much love on christmas since you’ve been gone.

i saw on social media that suan lives in the states now, she’s a model and such so she’s doing well. i’ll make sure to contact her aunt, i’ll make sure of it. she’s still my cousin and my sister at the end of the day.

i was able to do a lot of traveling and now work at goyang university and teach psychology and philosophy. remember when i used to play pretend as a professor with you all the time? well now it’s a dream come true, life can be incredible sometimes.”

seokjin remains quiet as namjoon continues to talk to his aunt, the melancholy mood from earlier lifting and moving into a more content and resolute feel, namjoon smiling more as he caught his aunt up on everything going on, even cracking jokes here and there. by the time he was done, his tears were dried and he was smiling wide.

“i’ll visit more often, i promise i will. bye for now aunt and merry christmas,” he said as he stood, seokjin standing as he whispered a quiet merry christmas to namjoon’s aunt as well. and soon the pair were back in the car and on their way to the family house.

“thank you hyung,” namjoon said as seokjin drove.

the elder spared a glance at the man in the passenger seat, smiling as he shook his head. “you don’t have anything to thank me for,” he said as he smiled but namjoon protested. “thank you for always being there for me. you’re- you’re a special friend to me and i wanted my aunt to know that.”

“you’re a special friend to me too namjoon-ah,” the elder said with a smile, looking forward with contentment in his heart.

when they arrived back, it was close to dinner time, nearly 7pm. there were more cars parked outside and seokjin knew the house would be bustling and that he probably wouldn’t get namjoon to himself again until much later, a frown placing itself on his face without his knowing.

“why’re you frowning hyung?” the younger asked, alerting seokjin to his facial expression. the elder froze before chuckling, climbing out of the car as he walked side by side with namjoon up the stairs. “my family is going to be all over you,” he said with a shake of his head, opening the front door.

and sure enough, as soon as one of his aunts saw namjoon, everyone was introducing themselves and chatting it up with him, the younger ones included.

seokjin stuck his tongue out at namjoon as he left the younger in the hallway, moving into the kitchen to wash his hands and see the process of the food preparation, and to his surprise, they were almost done cooking.

“how was it?” his father asked, directing seokjin to help him carry a few of the trays and plates of food out onto the table. “it was really good, i think he got the closure he needed.” his father smiled as he nodded thankfully.

jin moved back into the front hallway where family members were still bombarding namjoon. he shook his head amusedly as he stepped between his family and the younger, greeting those he hadn’t greeted on his way in. “okay lovely family, namjoon and i just came in so give us a bit to get ready for dinner and then he’ll answer all the questions you have,” he said, clasping his hands in front of him and laughing as namjoon slapped him on the shoulder.

soon they were moving away from everyone and going to get dressed, namjoon in jin’s room and jin in the guest bathroom. it had been a while, seokjin thought, since he had truly dressed up. outside of nights out with the guys and the suit and tie he wore for the winter showcase, he hadn’t dressed up to his own accord in quite a bit. and so as he checked himself out in the full body mirror in the bathroom, tan button up unbuttoned at the top, black slacks with a pretty gucci belt taehyung had gifted him at random one day, black scarf around his neck and some makeup on his face, he thought this was it, this was the look and he looked good.

as he tucked his suitcase into seon’s room, he heard a whistle as she emerged from the bathroom, hair styled up into a traditional gaenggi style, and seokjin thought she looked beautiful as she always did.

“you look good jinnie, emphasis on good,” she smirked as they walked out of her room together. soon, she was whistling again. “kim namjoon,” she gasped dramatically. and seokjin himself couldn’t help but stare at the pretty boy exiting his room. the younger was wearing a patterned dragon shirt tucked into baby blue pants, a matching patterned fabric tied around his neck. he looked… good as fuck.

seon looked between the pair before pulling them both along by their wrists and into the dining room. they had brought out a table from in the garage and pushed it with the table already in the dining room to allow for everyone to fit around the table. the food was in abundance and just the sight of it all had seokjin full as he sat with namjoon at the table.

from yaksik to tteok mandu guk, tteok sanjeok and more, they were all given permission by grandma to dig into the food, savoring every bite and eating to their hearts content as the dining room bustled with joy.

soon most of the dinner was gone and seokjin’s father was making his way into the dining room with the various desserts as a few of his uncles and aunts helped to make space on the table.

“namjoon, tell us a bit more about yourself,” one of his aunts, grace, suggested.

the pretty man beside him smiled as he wiped at his mouth, clasping his hands in his lap but then unclasping them. seokjin thought it was funny seeing as the younger used his hands when he spoke.

“well, i’m 26, i work as a philosophy and psychology professor at goyang university. i actually have my doctorate in both concentrations.” this earns a reaction from the table as his aunts can’t help but to ‘oooo’ at the information. namjoon chuckles. “i actually did quite a bit of traveling in university for research. i was going through a lot during that time so most of my earlier time was a blur but towards the end, i went to the states, the caribbean, and then to europe. they were really nice places and i enjoyed my stay and studies there.

um… i love plants, a lot. and i actually have quite a few bonsai that i’m growing back home along with a few other plants jin and i have on our terrace and around the house.”

and there it was again, namjoon referring to their apartment as home. referring to the terrace as theirs. it did something to seokjin and he could almost instantly feel his older sister’s eyes on him from across the table.

as family members continued to ask namjoon questions, so enamored by him, it wasn’t too long before the question of, “are you single?” was coming out of the mouths of one of his younger cousins.

“kai,” one of his aunts scolded. but namjoon simply chuckled, answering the question anyways. “yes i am single.”

seokjin heard yiren hum from across the table and watched as she and namjoon had a conversation with their eyes. he couldn’t help but frown a bit, how did they already have telepathy?

“do you have any plans on settling down soon?” an uncle asked. “a fine man like you, professor and doctor? now you can’t tell me you haven’t gone on a few dates, tried to meet some people,” another relative added on.

namjoon was shaking his head as he smiled, him and yiren seemingly humored by something seokjin was being left in the dark about. “i think i’m fairly settled right now,” he began, “and yes i have dated, both in university and in goyang but… i think i’m all set on finding someone right now.”

with this, conversation moved on, family members asking seokjin about what he was up to, asking seon and sam about things. dinner and dessert were over before seokjin could blink, finding himself in the kitchen helping his cousin doyoung and their house cleaner load dishes into the dishwasher.

“what about you?” his cousin suddenly asked. he hummed, confused at the random question. “what about you? are you single? tried dating or anything? thinking about settling down?” once the questions were out, jin was beyond grateful he hadn’t been asked at the dining table, knowing full and well he would have froze had that happened.

he twisted his lip, shrugging as he thought. “yeah i’m single. i haven’t tried dating since i’ve been in goyang though. i’m… i think i’m settled right now. i’m- i’m content right now,” he answered, and doyoung smiled and nodded, nodding towards the living room where the family was now gathered.

“brother brother brother sit down! it’s time to open gifts!” sang said excitedly as she went to sit closest to the tree, seokjin smiling as he went to sit near namjoon.

he watched with a smile on his face as everyone received their presents in their hands, the younger kids throwing wrapping paper all over the place and the adults simply keeping theirs in their reach. it wasn’t custom for adults to open their gifts in front of others on christmas, kids and the elderly being given that grace.

jin elbowed namjoon as his grandmother opened the gift they had picked out for her together, a cushion for her crocheting hobby along with pins and needles. she sent them both flying kisses and he laughed as namjoon and sam fought over who would catch them.

everyone had received their presents, dispersing across the house and in the front or backyard to enjoy themselves before it got dark and cold. seokjin decided to store his presents in his room to be opened later, not noticing namjoon was in tow until the younger was closing the door, a bounty of presents in his own arms as he sat on the rug.

“want to open our presents together?” he asked quietly, selecting 3 to open as seokjin did the same. “yeah sure.”

namjoon chose to open a gift from seon, seokjin’s parents, and seokjin, the elder choosing the same order but with namjoon at the end. “woww, you wanna be me sooo bad,” he teased to which namjoon rolled his eyes.

his first gift from his older sister was a wall mirror with lights, a small note attached inside the box. for namjoon, she had gifted him a plant parent gift set. sometimes seokjin truly appreciated how practical his sister was. next, his parents had gotten him a personalized wine chiller, engraved with ksj on the front.

“holy shit, that’s so cool,” namjoon said in awe as he thumbed over the engraving. they had gotten namjoon mini cacti diffusers and namjoon laughed, absolutely loving the gesture as he placed the fake plants back into their pots.

“okay, now my gift, one of many,” seokjin said to namjoon with a smile, a bit anxious for the younger to open the gift in front of him. seokjin was never a fan of seeing reactions and it showed as he held his breath as namjoon opened his present.

“oh my god-” jin bit his lip as namjoon opened the gift, the younger’s eyes wide and mouth agape as he stared at it. jin had gifted him a dragon aromatherapy waterfall. “hyung-” namjoon’s voice fell off, the man utterly at a loss of words over the beautiful dragon in his hands.

“we both like to burn incense a lot and i know the aroma does reach our rooms from the kitchen, but now you’ll have your own incense burner in your room or office with you,” seokjin said softly, watching as namjoon continued to be in awe of the gift. “plus it’s a dragon and you have dragon eyes.”

namjoon perked up at this, eyebrows raised as he stared up at seokjin. “i do?” he questioned with the tilt of his head.

jin simply rolled his eyes. “yes you do, and they’re very pretty. also, you’re welcome for the gift.” the elder laughed, doubling over as he shook his head at namjoon.

“no no no hyung, thank you so much for this gift it’s- it’s incredible. i seriously appreciate it,” he responded with a smile.

soon the duo were changing into pajamas, sang informing them that family game and movie night were “starting immediately.”

and game night was always fun but seokjin doesn’t think it had ever been this fun before. the first game played was a simple game of mancala, one of seokjin’s favorite. he won three rounds until he finally ended up losing to yiren who’s team cheered and cheered. the second and third game were ggongi and yut, the children easily succeeding in ggongi and celebrating until pulling long faces at the success the adults and elders had with yut. the final game was uno.

if it was one thing seokjin knew, it was that playing uno with loved ones brought out the worst in people. seon attempted to cheat so many times she had to be kicked from the game. in the end, everyone had fun as the group in the living room moved to get comfortable for their movie night ahead, his mom and yiren bringing out treats for everyone to eat.

seokjin heard his name being whispered, looking around before looking over to see it was namjoon calling him. he hummed in response. “do you wanna go for a walk?” the younger asked, seeming a bit shy. and jin smiled as he stood, excusing himself and namjoon from the living room before he was up on his feet. they grabbed their coats, scarves and gloves and made their way out the door.

“i’m sorry if that was a bit abrupt, i know we were about to start watching movies,” namjoon said apologetically.

jin couldn’t help but chuckle, shaking his head as he rubbed his gloved hands together, still cold despite the layer. “it’s not a problem joon. but is there a reason you wanted to leave?” jin then looked up at the sky, it was pitch black out. “and so late?”

the younger was quiet for a while. “i just wanted you to myself,” he said, making eye contact with jin for a moment.

“oh,” the elder responded.

namjoon bit his lip as he kicked at a pile of snow, pulling out an envelope from his coat pocket. “one of my gifts to sang was a check to pay for her scholarship program, lift that weight off your shoulders,” he said as he toyed with the envelope in his hand. seokjin couldn’t help but gasp, a loud audible gasp at this information.

“namjoon, you did what?” he questioned with wide eyes, stopping in his tracks as he stared at the younger who was smiling at him. “paid for her scholarship program hyung.” jin could not believe this.

“anyways, we were interrupted earlier and you didn’t get to open my gift so uh, here.”

jin stared at the large purple envelope in namjoon’s hand being stretched out towards him. he was scared for some reason, scared to take it. “please tell me it’s not money joon because i truly couldn’t take any money from you right now, especially not with you already paying more in-” namjoon interrupted him swiftly, shaking his head as he chuckled. “i promise, it’s not money. please open it, you're making me nervous.”

jin let out a cough of a laugh as he finally took the envelope, looking up at namjoon before looking back down and unsealing the fold.

when he opened it, there were three things inside: a folded up piece of printer paper, a piece of what looked like decorated card stock paper and a bracelet. the sight of the trio of small gifts was enough to bring tears to seokjin’s eyes and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to not break down in tears right now.

he pulled out the card stock paper first and saw that it was a photo board with a circle in the center and what appeared to be constellations, at the bottom, his birthday.

“it’s a personalized star map of how the stars and the cosmos were aligned on the day you were born,” namjoon explained, hands shoved deep into his pockets. “i know you said you like astronomy and stuff and i know it’s like… not something super fancy but i do hope you like it jin,” namjoon said quietly, watching as the elder traced his gloved fingers along the map.

namjoon coughed. “um, the folded up bit of paper is a poem uh… you should read it before you go to bed.”

jin finally turned to namjoon with a small smile on his face, feeling sad and happy all at the same time that he had met someone as lovely as namjoon. he lastly pulled out the bracelet, bringing it up to his face to see it was decorated with piano keys. he couldn’t help but laugh a little as he ran his thumb and index finger over the piece of jewelry.

“they’re hand crafted! i got you a piano one and i got myself,” jin watched as the younger shook his sleeve, pushing it up to reveal an identical bracelet with plants on it.

god, namjoon was so cute, so insufferably wonderful.

the younger was smiling up at him with the widest of grins and jin couldn’t help but to stop walking, feeling a bit nervous as he held up the wrist with the bracelet on it, still making eye contact with namjoon. “can i- um do you mind if i take a picture of our bracelets?” he asked, and namjoon brought his wrist close to jin’s with a small smile as jin captured the picture, caught the moment in time before they were walking again.

“i know i said this earlier and i got to thank your family but i didn’t get to emphasize my thanks to you. i don’t think you understand how grateful and thankful i am for you hyung,” namjoon spoke to his hands and boots. “there’s something about your nature that’s just… really comforting and i’ve never been able to be myself around other people or trust others so i guess… willingly but it’s so easy with you. everything’s so easy with you.” namjoon whispers the last part, leaving jin breathless.

it was quiet before, “thank you too joon-ah, i don’t think i’ve given you the proper thanks you’re owed from me,” jin says gently to which the younger can’t help but chuckle in response to.

“our languages are different hyung, i recognize your thanks through your gestures to me. i promise” he says with a smile. “and through your meals.”

the pair laugh as jin shoves joon a bit, shaking his head as he tutts at him. “okay well i’m very glad you recognize my gestures,” the elder said with a playful roll of his eyes, “but… i also want you to recognize the things i recognize you do for me. you’re really patient with me in ways i’m often not very patient with myself, it pushes me to want to do better by my own you know?”

namjoon nods, smiling as he says, “i know.”

they walk for a while longer, stopping to get ice cream before they’re headed back to the family house, a fresh contented feeling in their hearts. by the time they get back, most of the cars are gone, only yiren’s family’s car is still in the driveway.

“holy shit, how long were we gone for?” seokjin asks aloud. “well dinner ended around 9 o’clock and games finished around 11 so… about 2 hours.” the pair turned to see sang and yiren with smiles on their faces as they closed the trunk to yiren’s car.

“alright, go back inside before your cousins wake up, and tell my mom and dad to hurry because i’m tired,” yiren said to the 13 year old as she gave sang a hug, the younger girl bidding everyone goodnight but not before hugging jin and throwing herself into namjoon’s arms.

once she was gone, yiren was leaning up against her car, eyeing the pair rather suspiciously in jin’s opinion. finally, her parents came outside, bidding namjoon and seokjin goodnight and merry christmas as they climbed into the car. “good night boys, good night joonie,” she said with a smile before climbing into her car and back out of the driveway.

joonie????? :/

as jin climbed into the pull out futon that night, he took the envelope from on top of his suitcase and pulled out the poem from namjoon, the man’s familiar pretty handwriting catching jin’s eye.

“hey,” he heard from the hallway, looking up to see seon with a sleepy smile on her face. “it’s 3am loser, get some sleep.” he blew his sister a kiss as she flipped him off, laughing quietly as he heard her door close.

looking back down at the poem he couldn’t help but think about today. think about how namjoon wanted to take a walk with him, how namjoon referred to their apartment as home and… and it was truly too much. it almost hurt to know that yiren liked his cousin as much as he knew she did.

finally unfolding the paper all the way, he smoothed it out before beginning to read.

it was titled: gold.

gold that is the only yellow element, unique from any other i’ve ever seen or interacted with
unique from any other person i’ve ever come across
i’ve been to london and thailand, brasil and rome yet no other element seems to compare
aurum that is shining dawn, that is the glow of sunrise
prettier than the expanse of the orange and purples of dawn
more beautiful than the pinks of the sunset
gold that feels he’s less than the pure elemental 24 karats with which he consists of
24 karats of intelligence, of resilience, of talent and emotional strength
24 karats of “hyung will do it” of “are you hungry?” and of “wake up or you’ll be late for your 10am”
gold that is a noble metal, never to be dissolved or changed,
please never dissolve or change
my gold that is jin

a sob ripped through jin’s chest as the paper fell from his hands, his right coming up to cover his mouth as his shoulders shook. there was no way. there was simply no way namjoon was real. there was no way namjoon was a real person that had waltzed into his life in the way he did, changing jin’s world around as he now found himself speaking to plants, found himself excited to come home after work everyday, excited to make breakfast in the morning.

there was simply no way namjoon was real.

my gold that is jin, he read again. his gold. he was namjoon’s gold… all this time he had hoped more than anything that namjoon would want to be his, that he could call namjoon baby and be able to hold the other as they kissed. he had thought namjoon and yiren had hit it off but... if he was interpreting this right then… then that meant namjoon liked him, that namjoon had feelings for him.

jin took a deep breath as not to get ahead of himself, wiping his tears as he stared down at the poem again with a shaky appreciative smile.

he tucked it into his bag as he made his way to the guest bathroom to wash his face, stopping at his room door. he decided to simply thank namjoon for the poem. yeah, he’d thank namjoon and go back to the living room and go to sleep, that was the plan.

as soon as he knocked on the door he received an immediate, “come in,” opening up to see namjoon pushing himself to sit up against the headboard, eyes wide like he had been awake in the dark.

“you’re awake?” jin asked, eyes looking at the clock which read 3:34am. the younger scratched the back of his neck. “yeah i- i um. i was just going to bed.”

jin nodded as he stood in the doorway, shifting from his heels to his feet. “thank you for the poem namjoon, thank you so much. i- i don’t even know how to possibly thank you enough but- but just know that i truly loved it. i loved it so much,” he said with a smile he wasn’t sure whether namjoon could see or not.

“you’re welcome, i’m really glad you liked it,” namjoon said, a few octaves above his usual voice.

silence engulfed the pair as namjoon sat awkwardly up on the bed and seokjin awkwardly by the door. the tension in the room was thick, enough unspoken words to fill a swimming pool. so seokjin decided to do something about it.

“joonie,” he asks softly, “can i stay?”

namjoon’s eyes dart quickly to seokjin and the elder can see that he’s shocked, taken by surprise even before it’s quickly dissolving into plain, unadulterated shyness. the younger nods, moving over on the bed to make space for seokjin.

as soon as the elder was lying down they both lowered themselves onto the pillows, facing each other as they lay with their arms under their heads. and it was quiet as they took each other in, the moonlight barely illuminating namjoon’s features but his pretty dragon eyes had jin mesmerized nonetheless. the pretty poet, his pretty poet.

“you have a beautiful way with words joon-ah,” seokjin said softly, eyes resting on namjoon’s face. the younger offered him a smile and a quiet, “thank you,” almost as if he was scared to speak.

“truth be told? i sobbed- bad. it made me crumble in all the best ways,” he followed up, “but it’s not just the poem i’m talking about namjoon-ah, you truly have a beautiful way with words and it’s not even something i can put into words,” he said with a laugh as namjoon chuckled.

“it’s nothing really. the words come easy with you,” namjoon said quietly, eyes on seokjin.

the elder bite his lip, wanting more than anything to touch namjoon, to just reach forward and touch the younger. all these months together as friends and roommates and the pair had never once so as to hug. not even a hug. he wanted to hold namjoon’s hands, knew the younger had a toughness to his palms from gardening with his aunt during his childhood. he wanted to cup namjoon’s cheek, knowing the younger definitely felt as soft as clouds to touch.

and so he did. he took a leap of faith and stretched an arm out towards namjoon’s cheek, cupping it with his hand and nearly melting, watching as namjoon’s eyes widened before the younger was immediately leaning into the touch. he ran his thumb along namjoon’s cheek, breath laboring as namjoon opened his eyes again, staring right back into seokjin’s.

“you’re so beautiful joonie,” seokjin whispered to the younger, wiping at the silent tear that fell from joon’s eye, continuing to smooth his thumb over the boy’s skin. and it was soft to the touch, just like he thought it’d be, just like he had anticipated. namjoon’s skin felt like silk under his fingers.

and they lay like that for a while, seokjin caressing namjoon’s skin until he was pulling the younger to him.

“it’s nearly dawn, you should sleep,” seokjin whispered, namjoon opening his eyes to look up at the elder.

“you’re gonna stay right? you’ll be right here in the morning?” namjoon asked in a quiet sleepy voice, body curling into the seokjin’s. jin felt something squeeze at his heart.

“i’ll be right here joonie,” he reassured the younger.

it was quiet as namjoon moved closer to him, he felt as though this was another side of the man he didn’t always get to see, a deconstructed side outside of the professor in his suit and tie. and as much as he loved suit and tie namjoon, he found he really loved this too. loved the vulnerability that came with this moment they were sharing.

and as he ran fingers through fluffy brown hair, listening to the sounds of namjoon’s steady breathing against his own, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of pure unadulterated contentment.

“good night hyung,” the younger whispered, already on the brink of a dream.

“good night my joonie.”

the remaining days in gwacheon were spent joyously as seokjin’s family went to light shows, roller skating, skiing and more. and his family loved namjoon, loved namjoon so much it made jin’s heart swell and ache all at the same time as they stood before teary eyes and frowns, suitcases to their sides.

his mother and father stepped forward first, smoothing down his jacket before his mom was placing a hand on his cheek. “you guys be safe. call or text as soon as you get home i’m not even joking,” she said with a smile before both were moving to hug him and namjoon.

“i’m gonna miss you, namjoon more but i’m gonna miss you. come visit again soon,” sang said with a pout on her lips as she hugged jin, moving to squeeze namjoon tightly.

his grandmother gave them both warm hugs as she wrapped scarves around their necks, the final goodbye coming from seon and sam. sam ran to namjoon first and the man lifted him into the air, their laughter causing a domino effect on everyone.

“i don’t know what happened christmas night,” seon whispers to seokjin as she looks over at namjoon momentarily. “but i’m glad it did. you two have been a lot closer since and it… it really is beautiful to see. take care of each other jinnie,” she whispers as she pulls her brother into a hug. he sighs into it, burying his head in his sister’s hair.

as they pull apart they both look over to namjoon and sam, watching as namjoon attempts to make a visibly sad five year old happy again. “hey, don’t be sad buddy. you can come visit us really soon!” he says as he thumbs over sam’s cheek, everyone soon realizing that the little boy is crying. seon frowns beside seokjin.

“really soon is too far,” the boy says quietly.

“well how about this sam sam, we’ll set a date for you to come visit us and put a countdown on mommy’s phone. that way you can always know the days until you see me in person again,” namjoon suggests, and this makes sam very happy as he perks up and looks over at his mom. “can we do that please please!?” he asks. and seon nods which makes the boy cheer as he throws his arms around namjoon’s neck, beckoning for seokjin to join the hug as well.

soon the pair are waving at seokjin’s family, making their way onto the train- only two suitcases this time- and getting comfortable for the ride back home.

“your family is so lovely hyung, i see it reflected in you,” namjoon says with a toothy smile as he turns to seokjin who is looking out the window. the elder smiles as he takes one of namjoon’s hands in his, loving the immediate sheet of red that covers the younger’s cheeks. “i’m glad you think so. they really do love you a lot,” jin says as he laughs.

namjoon smiles as he looks down at where his fingers join with jin’s, thinking the image of something so simple makes a picture of art. it’s quiet before, “what about you?”

the question makes seokjin raise his head, looking at a nervous wide eyed namjoon. “what- what do you mean?” he asks. namjoon toys with his fingers for a second, silence filling the air between them as chatter carries on in the train cart.

then, seokjin gets it, taking both of namjoon’s hands in his before he’s using his right to lift the boy’s chin to look him in the eyes. “what about me?” he repeats as he brushes some of namjoon’s hair from his face; feeling ever so nervous but putting on a confident front as he caresses the back of namjoon’s hand with his thumb. “i- i love you. more than they do, for longer than they have,” he chuckled a little bit, eyes jumping between namjoon’s dragon ones.

“oh,” whispered the younger in a shaky voice.

seokjin’s heart suddenly felt as though it was running a mile, beating fast as he sat there with namjoon, finally confessing his deep feelings. “god… i love you so much joonie. i really really love you i- i don’t think you understand.”

namjoon’s bottom lip was between his teeth as his eyes darted between seokjin’s. “i love you too hyung, i love you too,” he said breathlessly.

jin wanted to kiss namjoon, wanted to kiss the other so bad but he knew where they were right now.

“when we get home,” namjoon whispered, “can you make me understand?” namjoon asked in a quiet breathy voice. and at first jin didn’t catch it, didn’t get what the younger was insinuating until he really looked at him, heard the unlabored breaths and saw the shy look in his eyes.

home was not coming fast enough.

•••

the cab trip from the train station to their apartment was a complete blur as both men hauled their luggage
out of the car and into the apartment in a messy fashion. seokjin had namjoon against the door before either could take their jackets off, crashing their lips together in a searing kiss. and kissing namjoon was a mind blowing experience, something in him igniting as he connected with namjoon here.

soon jackets were on the couch and jin was backing namjoon up into the hallway. “we’re going to my room,” he whispered as the younger nodded enthusiastically.

once they reached his room, jin stopped at the bed, lips off of namjoon’s as he held the younger by his waist, hoisting him up onto the bed. “will you be patient with me joonie?” jin asked, running his eyes down namjoon’s body. the younger nodded as he let out a croaked, “yes,” seokjin smiling as he began to undress him.

and he was gentle, leaving kisses on every new exposed part of namjoon’s body, running his lips along honey skin as the younger did nothing but whimper under him. namjoon was soon bare, only his boxers on as he ran his fingers through seokjin’s hair, the elder lowering himself down for a kiss. “you’re so beautiful joonie,” he whispered, moving to pepper kisses down his body until he reached the younger’s waistband, pulling it down with his teeth and maintaining eye contact with namjoon all the while.

“what do you want?” he whispered to namjoon, kissing around the younger’s length as he looked up at him.

it took a few seconds before namjoon was answering, “can you ride me?” bottom lip sitting nervously between his teeth. jin smiled as he kissed the head of namjoon’s length, moving up to place a kiss to the man’s lips as he nodded.

he moved away from namjoon to strip himself fully of his clothes, opening his nightstand to grab a bottle of lube from the drawer before sitting back on his knees. he smiled at namjoon as he poured a messy amount of lube on his fingers. “would you like a show baby?” he asked the younger. and he could see joon’s dick twitch at his question, namjoon gulping as he nodded enthusiastically. “god yes.”

jin turned around and spread himself to where namjoon could see, teasing himself before inserting a finger and beginning to prep himself for namjoon who was bigger than he had expected- and yes he had anticipated.

the elder couldn’t see namjoon but he could hear him, could hear the shaky breaths of the younger as he now scissored himself. he turned around and moaned at the sight of namjoon busy at work, two fingers in his mouth as he fucked his lube covered hand. “all that length and i’m still gonna have to tell you how to use it,” jin taunted breathlessly, third finger sliding in along the first two as he watched namjoon, moaning as the younger whimpered at his words.

“hyung now please now,” namjoon panted and seokjin finally turned around, halting the man’s movement as he moved closer to namjoon.

he kissed namjoon, reaching into his nightstand drawer to grab a condom. he caressed namjoon’s face before pouring lube into his hand, stroking namjoon before he was aligning himself. and if he thought namjoon looked big, the man felt even bigger, seokjin gasping as he grabbed hold of namjoon’s shoulders. he felt the younger squeeze at his waist as he lowered himself, taking namjoon inch by inch, the younger a moaning mess under him. finally, namjoon bottomed out.

“god,” namjoon breathed, eyes rolling to the back of his head as they sat there still. he opened his eyes to look up at jin who was taking deep breaths. the elder chuckled as he saw namjoon’s concerned expression, cupping his right cheek as he pressed a kiss to his lips. “i’m okay, don't worry baby. i’m gonna move soon.”

and surely enough, jin was comfortable enough to begin moving, rising up off of namjoon before slamming back down again, eventually finding a rhythm that worked. they moved together like that, jin thrusting down as namjoon met his thrusts, pretty noises coming from the pretty boy who’s lap he was bouncing in. jin trailed kisses along namjoon’s jaw, biting into his neck and earning a pretty gasp from the younger. he couldn’t help but chuckle into the man’s skin, kissing and nibbling at it as namjoon began to thrust up into him at an erratic pace.

“fuck joon,” he breathed out, listening to the moans and whines of the boy under him as he stroked his own length between their bodies. “plug,” he heard the younger gasp out, visibly close to his climax. seokjin wasn’t too sure what the younger meant. “hm baby?” his response was a cry as namjoon continued to thrust up into him. “come,” jin whispered to joon and that seemed to be all the younger needed before his body was jerking as his thrusts lost rhythm, a loud cry of jin’s name ripping through his throat as he continued lamely thrusting, falling limp against the elder. “fuck baby. shit. you did so good, so pretty,”

“plug,” joon whispered again, sounding exhausted. jin raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened, he then slowly pulled off of namjoon, throwing the dirty condom away and spreading the younger’s legs. and there nestled in between pretty honey thighs was indeed a plug. seokjin felt all the air leave his lungs.

“fuck,” he breathed out, slightly shaking from halting his movements, he had been so close himself. “joonie when the fuck- god.”

he was breathing fast and hard as he leaned forward to probe the plug with his tongue, earning a whine from the younger. “what do you want, baby?” jin asked, kissing the skin around joon’s hole, the younger shuddering.

“use me so you can finish,” he said in a tired, quiet voice, looking down at jin through pretty eyelashes. “are you sure? you seem sensitive right now,” jin responded as he kissed namjoon’s thighs, but the younger only gave him a verbal, “yes,” cheeks a pretty pink.

and the elder wasted no time in rolling on a condom and pouring lube all over as he pulled the plug out in one swift motion, not giving namjoon a second before he was pushing into him, both moaning as he bottomed out. “pretty, you’ve had that in you for god knows how long and you’re still clenching around me,” jin whispered into namjoon’s ear, causing the other to cry.

he didn’t ease namjoon, picking up an erratic pace right away as he chased his orgasm from just moments ago, namjoon mumbling incoherent words underneath him. and it was truly a sight to see, the boy completely far gone and spent, letting seokjin use him to finish off. soon namjoon was coming again, jin following right after until he was collapsing on top of the younger man, breathing heavy as he closed his eyes for a moment, opening to see namjoon shuddering, whining nonsense as tears stained his face.

jin threw away the condom, moving quickly to cup namjoon’s face and the younger seemed to come back to earth at the sound of his name. “joonie. hey,” jin whispered with a small smile, kissing at the tears on namjoon’s face. “you’re okay pretty, i’ve got you.”

namjoon didn’t speak for a while, eyes just staring at jin as the elder lapped up the mess namjoon made on his stomach, pressing soft and gentle kisses all over his body. the younger turned to see the moon through the blinds, indicating it was now nighttime; the clock on seokjin’s wall reading 6:48pm.

then, his eyes widened. “the dinner,” he nearly panicked. jin only laughed, coming up to wrap an arm around namjoon’s center. “the dinner isn’t until 9 baby, don’t worry we’ve got plenty of time. we can take a shower and then you can nap while i cook.” seokjin reassured. “i also would like to take you out on a date tomorrow if that’s okay with you.”

namjoon couldn’t help the smile that drew on his lips as he stared into jin’s eyes, feeling loved by the warm smile on the elder’s face, the warm aura and tone the elder emitted all too much. jin leaned in to cup namjoon’s cheek, eyes dancing as they stared at each other.

“i love you namjoon-ah,” he said quietly, thumb wiping away a stray tear. joon smiled as he closed the distance between them, this kiss gentle and soft. “i love you too hyung.”

and if the pair were suddenly touchier than they had ever been before, who was to notice?

yomang had given the institute a winter break until january 5th and seokjin planned on spending the rest of the allotted time relaxing with namjoon and their friends, as he was now.

it was new years eve and the bunch decided to spend it just chilling together, deciding to hit up a firework show later in the night. the rest of namjoon and seokjin’s gifts to each other had been nothing short of sweet, taehyung describing every gift as a ‘tear jerker’ as he cried real tears every time one man opened a gift from the other.

as jin sat on their sofa, watching as the boys played a card game, he couldn’t help but reflect on the past 5 months. he had moved to goyang without realizing that not only would he be working a job he loved with people he loved, creating friendships he knew deep down would last a long time, but that he would meet someone he loved more than he loved the moon. namjoon was special, special in ways seokjin couldn’t even begin to explain justly in words. and as the younger peered over at him, a wide and pretty dimpled smile on display, he couldn’t help but feel as though he was very much so in love, pulling out his phone to quickly capture the sight of namjoon.

“hyungie, they’re flirting again,” taehyung said aloud with a pout on his lips. everyone laughed at the man, yoongi kissing at his pout as jin shook his head, rising to make his way towards the kitchen.

as he grabbed himself his mug, favoring tea at the moment, he turned to see jungkook perched up on his counter, jimin standing with his arm around the waist of his boyfriend. he squinted at their cheeky grins.

“so?” they asked, grins expecting as jin set the kettle on the stove. he turned to them with an amused look on his face. “so?” he responded. jimin rolled his eyes. “where’d you take him earlier? for your first date that is.”

jin smiled as he recalled the date he and joon went on prior to the arrival of their friends. there was a pretty outdoor restaurant he had discovered online that was designed as if it were inside a tree, when he had seen it he absolutely knew that’s where he had to take namjoon. it was a nice evening, the food and entertainment in the restaurant amazing. they had taken a walk after eating, strolling mindlessly through the streets of goyang hand in hand as they talked about everything and nothing at all. and jin thought namjoon looked so pretty under the moonlight.

“awe,” jungkook said with a frown. “i’m guessing you guys made love once you got back?” jungkook and jimin laughed at jin’s expression, the elder scolding them as he shook his head, pouring the boiling water into his mug.

“you two… are terrible. but to answer your question...” jin peered into the living room where namjoon was laughing at something hoseok said. he glanced back at the couple in front of him before smirking and walking away, leaving them in the kitchen to whine about how he didn’t answer their question.

it wasn’t long until the septet were making their way towards the field holding the new year’s celebration. as they were all slightly buzzed, they decided to walk, the park only a 15 minute distance from namjoon and seokjin’s apartment. seokjin relished in the way namjoon’s hands fit almost like a puzzle into his, the warmth of the other seeming to pass through him. namjoon was chatting about a project he had given his students before break had started and jin was ever so focused on and endeared by the pretty boy he got to call his.

when they reached the park they found an area to spread out their large blanket, everyone piling on as they watched the sky. to their right was a huge clock which was quietly counting down, currently displaying that there were 10 minutes until the new year. once it hit 60 seconds, the clock would begin making noise with every tick down.

jin sat with his legs spread, leaning against a tree as namjoon made himself comfortable against his chest, looking up at the elder with a pretty smile. “did you enjoy the game you guys were playing?” jin asked as he traced his fingers along joon’s face and into his hair. the younger one melted as he leaned into seokjin’s touch. “i did, can you play next time too jinnie?” and who was jin to say no to his baby.

time seemed to fly as the clock soon began making noise, ticking down the seconds to the new year. namjoon made the effort to stand, pulling jin up along with him so they could get a better view of the sky.

0:30

seokjin laughed as he watched namjoon bounce in place, the younger man never able to contain his energy as he stared anticipatingly up at the sky.

soon, the entire field was counting down from 20. seokjin took namjoon’s face, turning the man towards him and staring into pretty wide dragon eyes.

“15! 14! 13!”

he smoothed down namjoon’s hair, smiling as the younger closed his eyes momentarily, opening them again and staring softly up at seokjin. the elder cleared his throat.

“9! 8! 7!”

“namjoon-ah, will you be my boyfriend?”

“5! 4! 3!”

the younger was soon a giggling mess as he threw his head back, the pretty lights of the fireworks above them reflecting in his eyes and dancing on his face before he was throwing his arms around jin’s neck and pulling him into a kiss. chants and shouts of “happy new year!” could be heard from all around them as they melted into each other.

namjoon pulled away after a while to turn around and look at the fireworks. not before looking up at jin with a smile and replying, “of course hyung.” jin’s entire soul felt warm as he wrapped his arms around namjoon, looking up at the fireworks with the younger.

“they’re so beautiful,” he said, admiring the reds, oranges and purples crackling in the sky.

“yeah,” namjoon said, pressing a kiss to the side of seokjin’s mouth before the elder was pulling him in for another one.

and who was to have thought that from his move to goyang, seokjin would find love?

epilogue

“dad? how old is daddy turning?” sooyoung asked curiously. seokjin turned towards the counter to watch the girl situate everything currently on the tray. as he walked over with the freshly cut fruit, he couldn’t help but to chuckle at the question, sooyoung asking this same question every year for the past 4. “i’m not sure he’ll want me to tell you, i don’t know myself,” he replied teasingly to his daughter, squeezing playfully at her nose as she scrunched it up at him.

“boo. your loss anyways because he told me yesterday. you’ll never know,” the little girl said, sticking her tongue out at her dad, laughing as he tickled her.

“all set?” she asked cutely as he placed the final piece of fruit onto the tray.

seokjin gave her a thumbs up as he quickly took off his apron before he was moving into the dining room with his daughter. the younger girl grinned wide as she saw the pretty bag they both decorated full of gifts for namjoon. she was probably more excited than namjoon would be. she grabbed the bag with both hands before the pair were tiptoeing to the bedroom where namjoon was currently sleeping. stopping at the door, seokjin quickly lit the candle on the red velvet cupcake before the pair were giggling to each other as they opened up the door and began singing happy birthday to namjoon.

the man covered up his face as both seokjin and sooyoung climbed into bed with him, big smiles on both their faces as seokjin set the tray on namjoon’s lap, sooyoung holding the gift bag on her own.

“happy birthday daddy!” she said, throwing her arms around namjoon as she peppered his face with kisses.

“happy birthday baby,” seokjin smiled, thumbing at namjoon’s cheek before the younger was pulling him in for a kiss.

“thank you, thank you both so much. i love you both so much,” he said with a smile, the trio hugging.

“eat up, me and dad worked very very hard on this breakfast for you. you can see your presents when you’re done!” sooyoung said pointedly to which namjoon and seokjin couldn’t help but chuckle at.

namjoon reached forward to tickle under her chin. “you got it captain.” her shrill laughter filled the room.

as the little girl made efforts to turn on the tv, flopping on her stomach at the foot of the bed to flip through the channels, namjoon turned to seokjin who already had his eyes on his lover. “thank you jinnie. i’m… i’m beyond grateful to spend another year on this earth with you.”

the elder smiled as he ran careful fingers through namjoon’s hair, cupping the man’s face as he drew them in to a kiss, thumb smoothing over namjoon’s cheek the way he knew the younger loved. when he drew back, namjoon’s eyes were still closed, a single tear escaping as he hummed, finally opening them to smile up at seokjin.

“i love you namjoon, and i can’t wait to spend more years on this earth with you. happy birthday my love.”

fin.