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It's not that it's painfully obvious really. If Namjoon could categorize the relationship, he would say it's warm and subtle, flickering like the flames of a fireplace in winter, rather than a loud and bright fireworks that burst in a million colours on new years day. It's beautiful and soothing, and it doesn't boast in exuberant colours, choosing instead to be quiet but strong.
Maybe Namjoon should be a poet, he thinks, they did always say that he was pretty philosophical when he wanted to be. But it isn't often that pretty words come to Namjoon so naturally. It's real, too real for the modern plastic "literature", and Namjoon thinks it'll an insult if he tried to place this relationship under pretentious words and stress vocabulary.
Taehyung was a naturally curious person, so Namjoon isnt all that surprised when he so quietly edged his way to a spot beside him with an equally pensive-looking Jimin lingering by his side. The question they had asked spoken so quietly, in fear to break the rare tranquility of the moment, that it seemed more of a whisper than anything.
"Hyung?" it was meek, so unlike the usual loud and bright presence that was Taehyung.
"Hmm?" he hums, turning from his place on the couch and leaning down towards the two that were sitting on the carpeted floor, near his foot.
"I ..We were just curious, but.." and Taehyung trails off, eyes roaming towards the two sleeping forms on the opposite couch.
"It's.. hard to explain Taetae" Namjoon explains, seeing Taehyung and Jimin nod, unassuming.
"They aren't in a.. romantic relationship with each other. Its not that, if that's what you're wondering" because Namjoon knows romance, and he knows how selfish it can get sometimes.
He plays around with a few words in his mind, slowly searching for the right ones.
"It's selfless ", he decides, and he wonders if Taehyung and Jimin understands what he's trying to say.
It seems he doesn't have to worry though, if the blooming smiles on their face is any indication.
-
Namjoon was 11. Known as the boy with gangly limbs and stumbled on his own feet even on a flat ground. Isolation found him when the other kids had decided that he was the odd and clumsy kid that no one liked. He still clearly remembers the summer morning, when he had been outcasted again, sitting alone on the swings, when a boy with a burgundy coloured cap and blue strapped sneakers approached him.
"Hey, cheer up" the boy had said, soft brown eyes staring straight at Namjoon's as he offered a hand to him. Namjoon had hesitated at the gesture, unsure, before very carefully meeting his long fingers with the boy's upturned palm.
Namjoon had reveled the warmth that he felt when their fingers link , the lingering feeling akin to how he remembers his mother's hand had been , and let the boy pull him up from his seat. It should have felt weird, holding hands with a complete stranger, but Namjoon couldn't find it in himself to let go, not when the boy gave him a smile so bright that it could rival the sun.
"Im Hoseok, Jung Hoseok."
When Hoseok first introduced him to Yoongi, he wasn't sure what to think. It was difficult to place, how a kindly boy like Hoseok could be best friends with the school menace.
Maybe it was what they called ying and yang. A long story of how opposites attracted and complimented each other. But Namjoon didn't understand at first, and he could only in tense in uncertainty when Hoseok pulled him towards the other.
"Kim Namjoon, Min Yoongi" he hears Hoseok say, and Namjoon pricks when grey sharp eyes lands on him, like a steel knife that could cut so deep into his skin.
There hardly was any need for introductions, if Namjoon was to be honest. There wasn't a single kid in school that has never heard of their resident "problem child" afterall. It's safe to say that every school had their own troublemaker and Min Yoongi just happened to be theirs.
He witholds the urge to sigh in relief when Yoongi finally looks away and doesn't bother sparing him as much as a second glance.
"Hyung, why don't you introduce yourself?" and Namjoon panicks when Hoseok very carelessly throws an arm around the elder.
Although Namjoon wasnt a fighter, he wasn't about to let his only friend get punched in the face. Because this is Yoongi, known widely for his short temper and violent tendencies. The same person whom once socked a boy and broke his front tooth because he had been "too close for his liking" .
So Namjoon braces himself for an inevitable fight and clenches his fist, ready to launch when Yoongi makes a move. Namjoon stills, waiting for an explosive reaction...that never comes.
Instead, he finds himself staring unabashedly in disbelief when Yoongi's expression softens at Hoseok's clinging and makes no effort to push him away.
"You already did that for me Dumbass," he says without spite, but still complies regardlessly.
This time, Namjoon doesn't flinch when steely eyes turn back to him and a passing understanding is shared between them. Namjoon belatedly realises the reason why Hoseok was never bullied for picking up the "clumsy oaf" as a friend.
"Min Yoongi, pleasure is yours" and a smirk replaces the downturned curve of his lips.
From there, the perfectly mismatched trio starts a bond that soon becomes unbreakable.
-
"The first time they met. Yoongi almost beat him up you know?" Seokjin asks, a knowing smile on his face when he catches the questioning gaze that's sported on Namjoon's face.
"If you were wondering, and I know you were, about how they met".
Namjoon nods then, not bothering to hide his interest in the subject and signalling for Seokjin to continue.
"You know how Yoongi is, he hates loud people and Hoseok just happened to be one" Namjoon finds himself grinning at that.
"So what happened then?"
"To be honest, its all a bit confusing. Yoongi had demanded for them to meet up at the school yard after school and although it was very obvious that Yoongi had all intentions to beat Hoseok to the ground, Hoseok still bodly showed up"
Seokjin rolled his eyes, looking extremely exasperated as he recounted the story.
"Yeah sounds exactly like what Hoseok would do"
Seokjin noded sagely, eyes filled with amusement at their friend's antics.
"So everyone expected Hoseok to turn up to school with a black eye at least. Maybe a few missing tooth as well. So no one could have figured when Hoseok turned up unscathed the next day"
Namjoon laughed out loud then, unable to let loose the few chuckles that erupted from his throat.
"So what ? How did he do it?"
"Apparently, Hoseok had shown up 10 minutes late with a popsicle in his hand and said-"
"Sorry Im late but you seemed like you had a bad day and ice cream usually makes me feel better. Truce?" a deep husky voice finished and Namjoon didn't have to look to know the deadpan expression on Yoongi's face was present.
Namjoon flashed a sheepish smile to his right where Hoseok and Yoongi was now perched, and Seokjin merely shrugged unapologetically at being caught blabbing.
"Hyung, why are you passing the story like its some bedtime story?" Yoongi grits, throwing a halfhearted glare their way.
Seokjin huffs, brushing off Yoongi like he was a petulant child "come on, its just Namjoon anyways. He's the only one I've told".
"I don't understand though, what made you change your mind hyung?" Namjoon voices out, trying to understand the missing part to the story.
Yoongi sighs then, and a sharp cheeky grin appears on Hoseok's face.
"Think about it Joon, does our school sell any ice cream?"
"No" he shakes his head in reply and Hoseok's grin only gets wider.
"How long does it take to get from the school to the nearest convenience store?"
Namjoon ponders for a moment before he comes up with his clear answer and he finally pieces it together.
"At least a good ten minutes, hyung..and a solid twenty minutes if you go to and fro"
-
It had taken a while for him to figure out as well. Between the secret glances and soft touches, Jeongguk often found himself observing and theorising the meanings before he finally understood what it was.
It was strange. The first time he had found the two sleeping together in the same bed naked and barely covered by sheets, Seokjin had to physically remove him from the doorway.
"Hyung what?" He remembers asking in shock, mind reeling as he tried to process the images that was forcibly running through his head. "I didn't mean to- I didn't know -"
"Kook-ah, you know as well as I do that its not like that" he hears Seokjin sigh, and the eldest places a comforting hand on his shoulder before he turns away and leaves Jeongguk with his thoughts.
It wasn't hard to figure really. After all, they had years of friendship between them and Jeongguk prides himself as one who understand situations fairly quickly.
So he smiles, and his heart swells pridefully when he realizes exactly how it is. And Jeongguk feels no doubt when he loudly barges into the room and throws himself onto the two sleeping figures.
-