i dream in the shape of your mouth (2/2)

[itachibana13]

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Seokjin wakes up feeling like his head is empty. It's a weird feeling he doesn't like too much. At least it's better than a hangover, but it’s still not the most pleasant feeling in the world. It's another one of Seokjin's weird drinking effects, also why he doesn't drink very much.

He glances at his phone and thinks back to last night. For what it's worth -- for what he expected of Namjoon -- the party was pretty tame. They drank, sat around, kind of danced, and talked. Nothing crazy. It's not Seokjin's first party, and definitely not his wildest. If anything, it's probably not even close to Yoongi's tamest party.

It takes a moment or two to realize that he's not in his bed, and that's kind of alarming. There's also someone else in the room.

He peers over the side of the bed and finds Namjoon on the floor, wrapped in a thin bedsheet. Whoops.

Oh, he realizes. Seokjin fell asleep in Namjoon's room last night, after running away from the party downstairs. He had expected Namjoon to wake him up, but apparently not.

Well.

Now comes the question of what to do. Does he go home? To go home without telling Namjoon is kind of excessive; this isn't a one night stand or anything. But he should probably tell Namjoon, so at least the poor thing can sleep in his own bed. But if Namjoon wakes up he'll probably talk. He'll probably also have a hangover.

The door knocks then, and Seokjin debates opening it until he hears Taemin yelling, "If you don't say anything, I'm coming in!"

"Uh, come in?" Seokjin asks, not quite sure what the protocol is. Taemin barges in anyway, regardless of whether he heard Seokjin or not.

"Oh," he says, looking at Seokjin. "Uh, hi. Namjoon hasn't got laid in a really long time. I was wondering when that would change."

Seokjin coughs. "I'm not-- I'm not a one night stand. I just fell asleep here last night. No sex."

Taemin doesn't look like he believes him. "That's what they all say," he replies, confirming Seokjin's suspicion. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Down there," Seokjin says, pointing to the side of the bed Taemin can't see. He walks over to see Namjoon passed out on the floor and and sighs.

"Wake up, dumbfuck," Taemin says, nudging Namjoon's leg. When nothing happens, Taemin gets out his phone and grins at Seokjin. "I really hope you're not a one night stand, because this spectacle would be a shame to waste on a no one."

He presses buttons on his phone and a loud blaring erupts from it, causing Namjoon to scream and flails upwards, confused for a second before he sees Taemin and attempts to swipe in his direction, but it’s slow enough to have Taemin jump back, cackling. Seokjin slowly realizes that the blaring is actually someone screaming in some language he can't recognize.

"That's not funny!" Namjoon yells, but Taemin's cackling anyway, and Seokjin can't really find it in himself to conceal his amusement, so he laughs too, and that's when Namjoon looks up at Seokjin, eyes still blinking sleep and hatred away.

"What's that supposed to be?" Seokjin asks.

Taemin grins. "Namjoon said he believes in ghosts, so I tried to summon one in his room. He didn't like it, so I changed it to a demon summoning."

"The audio is him yelling it at me as I threw things at him,” Namjoon explains bitterly.

"He didn't have holy water so he thought a good replacement was whiskey."

Namjoon tries to defend himself, but Jiho takes that moment to come into the room to bark at them, "If you guys really don't want chocolate chip pancakes, that's cool and all, Youngjae and I can eat them all -- hey Seokjin -- but if you want any, comme des fuckdownstairs and eat, like Taemin was supposed to tell you."

"Hey," Seokjin says, getting out of Namjoon's bed. "Um. I should probably get back? Yoongi's probably wondering where I am."

"Don't be stupid," Taemin says, "Yoongi probably doesn't give a shit, but I also bet you Yoongi would want chocolate chip pancakes, so join us and take some back to him. Or don’t, and brag about how you had chocolate chip pancakes.”

Yoongi probably doesn't give a shit. Seokjin had approximately 0 texts and 0 missed calls when he checked his room this morning, but at the same time, Yoongi is probably nursing a very big hangover and sleeping off the effects of a much more intense party.

Seokjin ends up finally going back to his dorm three hours later, after pancakes, Youngjae's retelling of "what an extreme and unhealthy piece of shit at dancing kind of person" Namjoon was last night, and a demon incantation from Taemin. Seokjin's not quite sure what to think of the last one, but the house hasn't set fire yet, so it probably isn't as serious as they make it. Apparently everyone in the house has been woken up by Taemin's demon summoning rituals at least twice.

He gets back at the same time Yoongi does, both of them nearly knocking into each other in the front of their dorm room. "Hey," he says, and Yoongi grunts.

"Too loud," he says, opening the door and nearly falling face front on the mat. "Hangover bad."

"What did you do last night?" Seokjin asks, walking around Yoongi, who immediately collapses onto his bed. He beckons Seokjin to toss him a water bottle.

"Many things. Many people. Uh, don't mix Tequila and Rum. No, do actually. It's great. Just hydrate yourself before. And after. Always hydrate yourself. Also, keg stands are only great for the first ten seconds."

"I'll try to remember," Seokjin replies, snorting. He grabs a water bottle from under his bed. "I went out too -- I went to Namjoon's place. Remember him?"

Yoongi laughs. "How can I not? He's a hard person to forget. Your crush is more than obvious, even if I didn't."

"I don't have a crush!" Seokjin half yells, throwing the water bottle much harder than he should. Yoongi, having been in worse situations, catches the bottle easily. Well, Seokjin thinks, now that Yoongi's laughing even harder, he needs to think of some excuse that redirects this train of thought. "I just think he's interesting. I mean, you said yourself, he's a hard person to forget."

"Hard to forget doesn't mean I think about him all the time," Yoongi replies. "But whatever. Not my love life. Oh wait, what love life-- Ouch! You little fuck, I gave you that whiskey."

Seokjin chucks the tylenol bottle at him, smacking him right in the middle of the forehead. "Who needs love lives?" Seokjin huffs, opening up his laptop. "I just need Netflix. Fuck your whiskey."

"Don't fuck the whiskey," Yoongi mumbles as he empties the water bottle in one go. "Have they fixed the water filter in the hallway yet?"

Seokjin shrugs, having already launched himself onto his own bed with no plans to be productive for the rest of the day.

Monday comes, and Seokjin finds himself too lazy to actually go back to the library. The prospect of seeing Namjoon is tempting, but not tempting enough as his bed and shrimp crackers.

He does manage to get himself into his classes and out, barely, and congratulates himself by cooking himself kimchi jjigae and smacks Yoongi's chopsticks away every time he tries to steal a piece.

"Don't you have to go meet your date?" Yoongi grumbles, finally stealing a piece of kimchi when Seokjin looks up in confusion.

"Namjoon?" he asks, "I'm sure he'll just study with another friend. I deserve a break."

"It's surprising he hasn't texted you," Yoongi replies. "I always thought of him as the clingy type."

"We're not actually dating," Seokjin says, promptly ignoring Yoongi's yeah right. "We just study together. And we study a lot, so."

"Namjoon studying is like me staying sober," Yoongi says, "are you sure he doesn't just go on Tumblr next to you?"

"Even if he does," Seokjin says pointedly, "the library is not the worst of places to hang out."

Yoongi snorts. "Fuckin' nerd."

Seokjin shrugs and clicks the next episode of Running Man.

Seokjin finds Namjoon in their spot of the library before him, which is weird because Seokjin is pretty sure he has a class right now.

He mentions this as he tosses a bag of chips onto the table, followed by a plastic bag, placed down more gently. Namjoon looks up at the sound, then down at the back, and Seokjin watches his eyes light up and mouth curve into a smile. "You got bubble tea?" he asks excitedly.

"I didn't know what flavor you liked," Seokjin explains, "so I got black milk tea, if that's okay. I got taro, but if you like that better you can have it."

"Black milk tea is perfect," Namjoon replies, fishing it out of the bag. "And I didn't go to class. It's just a bunch of presentations, and I don't go until Tuesday anyway."

"Bad student," Seokjin chides as he gets his stuff out of his bag. "Your professors probably think you're that artistic rebel kid. He motions to Namjoon's outfit, bright green earbuds and OBEY snapback. He's even wearing a black tshirt with an anarchy symbol on it.

"Well they wouldn't be wrong," Namjoon says. "Does everyone think you're the good by-the-books teacher's pet? Sometimes I wonder how Yoongi is your roommate."

"Me too," Seokin mumbles, opening up his notebook. As he flips to a blank page, something flops onto his head, and he looks up to see Namjoon's snapback.

"You actually look pretty good in my snap," he says, running his fingers through bleached hair. Seokjin wants to touch it maybe. "Keep wearing it."

"It doesn't match my outfit," Seokjin says, looking down at his plaid blue shirt.

"Snapbacks go with everything," Namjoon says. "Have you met Soojung? She wears snapbacks with flower dresses all the time."

"You know too many people," Seokjin sniffs. "Hurry up and concentrate on your presentation."

Namjoon laughs, but doesn't take his hat back. "Whatever you say."

Seokjin ends up accidentally wearing it back to his dorm.

"So how's your boyfriend?" Hyosang asks.

Seokjin looks up from his ramyun. "Boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend."

Hyosang stares at him, eyebrows raised, until Seokjin has to prompt him to speak. "Namjoon's not your boyfriend?"

Seokjin shifts uncomfortably in his chair. "Namjoon? He's not -- we're just friends. And frequent study partners."

"Whatever you say," Hyosang says, bringing his glass of water to his lips. "I'll get it out of Namjoon."

"Well," Seokjin gulps, not entirely sure what that means. "How's your exam week going?" he asks, changing the subject.

"Awful," Hyosang replies. "I hate school."

"At least you don't have an exam Monday morning."

"True."

Seokjin laughs, slurps some ramyun, and tries not to think about what Hyosang meant before.

Seokjin doesn't even go to his dorm after the exam. He heads straight to the library and to a very sleepy Namjoon reading over his essay. Before Namjoon can say anything, Seokjin digs his head into his shoulder and groans, "good night," before closing his eyes. He feels Namjoon shaking slightly beneath him.

"Good night to you too," Namjoon replies, amused.

About two hours later, Seokjin wakes up not on a table but not on the floor. His head isn't on anything hard, actually. In fact, it feels a lot like denim. Jeans? It doesn't hit him until he hears the clicking of Namjoon's keyboard above him. He would manage to fall asleep on Namjoon's lap, though he's not exactly sure how.

Fingers touch his hair, then retract, and Namjoon looks down at him. "O-Oh, you're awake?"

Seokjin rubs his eyes. "How did I get down here?"

"You kept falling off my shoulder, so I just maneuvered you onto my lap. "Rest well?"

"No," he mumbles, turning to the other side. This leads to him facing Namjoon's stomach -- more importantly, his dick, and turns back around. His head is still pretty much situated on Namjoon's crotch, and now that this fact is in Seokjin's head, he doesn't think he'll be able to get it out just yet. Welp. Might as well get up before he does something more awkward than it already is.

Namjoon laughs when Seokjin sits up in his chair. He looks over when Namjoon doesn't stop laughing, even after he's turned on his laptop and everything.

"Your hair," Namjoon explains, after looking at Seokjin's befuddled face. "it looks like a piece of art, honestly. Abstract art. Or like, modern art. Abstract modern art. I feel inspired just looking at it."

"What kind of inspiration does it give you?" Seokjin questions mid yawn. Normally he'd care, but he's still tired and really just wants to go back to sleep. Preferably on Namjoon's lap, but that's something he'd rather not elaborate on.

"Like-- a romantic poem. Or something," Namjoon says, face abruptly turning bright red. "Never mind. Just, art, yknow?"

"Sure," Seokjin says, reaching up to fix his apparent Picasso hairstyle. It isn't until he's patting down his bangs until he realizes what Namjoon said. Romantic poems. Seokjin's messy hair makes Namjoon want to write romantic poems. Well. Well then.

"Anyway," Namjoon says, clearing his throat. "My friend Jackson was asking if he could join us studying. Is that okay with you?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Seokjin says, still thinking about poems that are romantic. Namjoon doesn't even seem like the type to write poetry, or anything. Then again, Namjoon is supposedly an English major. Now he really wants to see Namjoon's poetry. If he has any. Which he doesn't, Seokjin's sure. But hypothetically, if he really were to, that would be something that Seokjin would hypothetically want to see.

Jackson shows up and studies for a bit until Seokjin has to leave for his evening class, and they all bid each other goodbye.

The week continues like that, weirdly enough. Apparently, according to Namjoon, word has got out that he’s a lot more studious than he used to be, and now a few of his friends want to see what’s up and possibly also be studious now that the nightlife has lulled in sight of the second round of midterms. Seokjin takes it as initiative to invite some of his friends, too, the very small amount of friends that he has, and then it’s a party.

On Tuesday Namjoon shows up and slides a cup of hot chocolate across the table to Seokjin, who smiles and accepts it graciously. “Not coffee?” he asks.

“You drink too much coffee,” Namjoon replies. “You have an exam coming up don’t you?”

Seokjin sighs, thumbing the tiny mouth hole on the lid. “Yeah. I won’t be getting much sleep this week.”

Namjoon grins. “I guess that’s more hot chocolate then,” he says, and Seokjin laughs incredulously.

It turns out to be true.

Seokjin goes through the next week sleeping nearly four hours a day, drowning himself in coffee during the day and tea during the night and Namjoon pats him on the head and encourages him when he needs and it makes him rest when he needs that, too. It's very weird, the way they click together, two very different people who shouldn't fit at all but somehow the disjointed sides fit together perfectly like a puzzle piece.

On the days Seokjin is nursing himself with a coffee, Namjoon comes in and slides a cup of hot chocolate across the table, smiling sympathetically.

"You should get a medal award," Seokjin groans, staring at the bits of pink and blue highlighter that have bled onto his hand. "You're amazing."

"A medal award," Namjoon repeats, and lets the awkward phrase hang inbetween them. "Maybe you should get less coffee and more sleep."

"Can't do," Seokjin groans. "This exam will be the death of me, I swear. Why am I even an Econ major? I should've just done philosophy or something."

Namjoon flicks him in the middle of his forehead. "Hey, philosophy can be hard too. Don't hate on other people's majors."

Seokjin sighs and mumbles something under his breath and turns the page. "From now on, I hate the colors pink and blue. They're awful. I should've gotten a yellow highlighter."

"You say that every time," Namjoon says. "Have you even read anything worthwhile in the past ten minutes?"

Seokjin thinks about it. Looks down at his textbook and at the multiple highlighters and pens scattered across the table. "Uh. I tried?" He flips back a page and sees if there's anything that he actually remembers.

Well. He does remember looking at that graph, so that counts for something, right?

Namjoon shakes his head. "Nope. This isn't going to work. Pack your things up, we're leaving."

Seokjin's head snaps up. "What? No, we can't just-- What are you doing?"

Namjoon grabs his textbook and puts it into Seokjin's bag for him. "You're not studying, even if you think you are. Studying at your textbook for half an hour doesn't count, nothing happens from doing that. We're going on. We're gonna go on a date."

"What?"

Seokjin mind shuts down. Date? They're going on a, what? A date? That doesn't make any sense, they're not even, they haven't--

"A date," Namjoon repeats, then looks at Seokjin with thinly concealed amusement. "We're just gonna go to the cafe and chill for a bit. Seriously, you look like you need some rest. I'd rather just take you back to your dorm and make you sleep, but I don't think you'd actually listen to me, so we're just going to get a sandwich or something. Then, after you have properly relaxed, you can go back to the books."

Seokjin is still trying to calm down from the word 'date'. Okay, so not a date. Just a, a hang out? Yes, that. Whatever you call that. It's not a date though. Dates involve things like feelings and actually liking the other person! And Seokjin definitely does not like Namjoon. Not in that way, at least. Definitely not.

Namjoon picks up Seokjin's backpack for him, and it's at this point where Seokjin realizes that Namjoon doesn't actually have his own backpack with him. "Where's your stuff?" he asks.

"Hm? Oh, I only had my laptop, so I just kind of stuffed it into your backpack. If that's okay with you."

Seokjin shrugs. "Well. You are the one carrying it, so I don't see why I have any reason to complain."

"Then let's go!" Namjoon says, grinning, and Seokjin trails a step or two behind him as they walk out of the library. "What's your pick, Starbucks or Tour Les Jours?"

Seokjin wrinkles his nose. "Tour Les Jours. Starbucks is overpriced and lame. Also not after their recent controversy. "

"The recent controversy." Namjoon repeats to himself. "I didn't think you were into that kind of thing. Social justice and whatnot. Especially since you're an Econ major. Are you?"

"Hm? Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" Seokjin asks. "Are you?"

Namjoon laughs, but his eyes light up in this way that Seokjin’s never seen them do before. "I'm a social justice minor, come on, didn't you know that? What do you think all these papers I write are? Linguistic analyses?"

"Yes?" Seokjin asks meekly. "Are they not?"

Namjoon shrugs. "Sometimes they are. But that's cool, I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff. Most guys aren't. The only guys that I know of that are are usually also gay, or at least in the LGBT community. Wait, this makes sense."

Seokjin laughs.

They finally approach the cafe, and Seokjin looks around at the order list. Maybe he shouldn't get coffee, like Namjoon said. What else is there besides coffee, anyway?

"Try getting an iced drink," Namjoon says, as if reading his mind. "It's... refreshing."

Seokjin snorts. "Wow, where did you get that idea from? I had no idea they could be refreshing. What a new concept."

"Shut up," Namjoon sniffs, giving Seokjin mocking pouty lips. Seokjin tries his best not to think about how kissable they may or may not look. (They don't! Not at all. Just a teeny bit. But miniscule, really.)

"Go," Seokjin says, pulling out his wallet. "I'm the hyung here, I'm gonna pay. Tell me what you want and then go get us a table, okay?"

"That's not fair, you've never used your hyung card before. You barely even qualify as hyung!"

"Did I ask for your qualifications?" Seokjin snaps. "Either tell me what you want or I'm going to buy you a large Americano."

Namjoon wrinkles his nose and glances up at the menu. "Just get me an iced tea or something.”

Seokjin beams at him, teeth and all, until Namjoon glowers and walks away to find a table for them to sit at. He turns back just in time to find the cashier beckoning him, and orders a medium hot chocolate and a large iced tea.

When he scouts out the table Namjoon found, there's two more people sitting there, two faces Seokjin recognizes very well. They turn to him at the moment and grins. "Hyung!" one of the yells.

"Taehyungie! Jungkookie!" Seokjin calls, laughing. "You were here? You know Namjoon?"

The three of them grin up at Seokjin as he places Namjoon's drink in front of him and takes the last seat remaining at the table next to him. He hasn't seen Taehyung and Jungkook in almost a month, all of them having been busy with their own schedules. The last time he hung out with them, Taehyung was trying to teach him out how to longboard, and it didn't turn out well for anyone.

"We were here together studying for our Chemistry midterm on Thursday. We saw Namjoon and called him over! But hyung, how do you know Namjoon?"

"Me? What does that mean, we're closer in age than you are, I should be asking you that question. We just study together a lot at the library."

Namjoon laughs. "Yup. I hit him a lot on the head."

"It hurts," Seokjin grumbles, sipping his hot chocolate.

"We know Namjoon hyung from our Comparative Literature class! We had a project together. He kept calling us the breakfast club, because none of us really seemed like we clicked with each other, but we all actually got along really well. Actually, speaking of, did you heard about Soojung? She and Minhyuk just had their one year anniversary. I'd like to claim all the hard work and ownership for that couple. It was all us, right Namjoon hyung?"

Namjoon nods. "It was. Soojung was a brat and didn't want to do anything about the fact that both she and Minhyuk liked each other, and both of them knew it. That's sort of how we became in class friends to just friends in and out of class. It was pretty cool."

Seokjin nods and listens to the stories the three of them had to tell. Seokjin himself has always been a quiet one, never one to go out of his way to create a distraction, and by default, never one to have any cool stories to tell. Or any stories at all. But he likes listening, and he likes dreaming. They go hand in hand, right? It's not the worst thing in the world. Sometimes he gets jealous, looks at everyone around him and thinks about how they're probably having a much more fun time than him, but also revels in the fact that he can relax and just read a book and hang around people he likes. And those people usually have stories to tell him anyway, so it's not that big of a loss.

"And basically, that was the time Taehyung wasted perfectly good food. I'm still mad at him about it."

"It tasted bad anyway," Taehyung grumbles. He then shifts in place and looks at Seokjin. "What about you, hyung? What have you been up to?"

"Uh." Seokjin hates this question. "Nothing much, really. You know me guys, just hitting the books and going to sleep. My life is boring. I've got this guy," Seokjin pokes Namjoon in the side for emphasis, grinning victoriously when Namjoon groans, "to keep me up."

Taehyung and Jungkook stare at each other. "To keep you up...?"

Seokjin stares at them. "Yeah? When I sle--" It hits him then, what they're thinking. "Oh! Guys, no, what are you idiots thinking? When I fall asleep in the library, dumbasses. Get your head out of the gutters."

Namjoon attempts to stifle a laugh behind his hand and fails. "It did sound that way, hyung. You really do need to work on your wording sometimes. First medal award and now this?"

Seokjin shrugs. "My mind is all over the place, I don't know how to concentrate anymore."

"Uh oh," Jungkook says, "that's not good. Do you have an exam, hyung?"

Seokjin groans and tries not to faceplant into his drink. "It's his International Econimics class," Namjoon says for him, gently patting Seokjin on the back. He feels fingers tickle at his nape, then massage gently. It feels kind of nice.

Taehyung and Jungkook share a look as Namjoon pulls his arm back and clears his throat. "Wait, so what major are you Jungkook? I know Taehyung is doing Astrophysics."

"I'm biochem," Jungkook says, and Seokjin wrinkles his nose.

"Ew, science majors."

"It's okay, because we're gonna be ballers one day," Taehyung says, laughing.

"No, we're going to be stuck in labs," Jungkook shoots back, and Taehyung wilts.

"I'm going to work for KARI," Taehyung mumbles under his breath. Seokjin laughs as he draws little nondescript figures on the table with his fingernail.

"What's KARI?"

"Korea Aerospace Research Institute," Jungkook explains. "Taehyung's lifelong dream is to build a spaceship."

"He's going to be the space monkey on the ship," Namjoon says, and they all laugh at Taehyung's hey!

Namjoon tells them all about his dreams to travel the world and be a translator. Seokjin is content they don't ask him what he wants to do, because he honestly doesn't know. He'd rather work for a company with a 9 to 5 day job, but he can't really say that, so he doesn't, and no one infringes. It's always interesting to see what everyone wants to do though, and he feels pretty good about his friends when they leave to go back to the library.

"See?" Namjoon says. "That was relaxing. Now you don't have to be so fidgety."

"I guess," Seokjin sighs.

Seokjin’s exam comes and goes, and on Thursday he shows up with a box of munchkins to cheer on Namjoon as he finishes his final paper for his Gender Studies class.

“Munchkins?” Namjoon asks, eyes lighting up. “You really are my angel!”

“What does that mean,” Seokjin laughs. “Your angel?”

“Oh, uh, nothing,” Namjoon mumbles, laughing a little nervously. He clears his throat uncomfortably. “Hoseok and I were joking around. It’s nothing.”

“Uh huh,” Seokjin says, letting it go anyway, mainly because he’s too nervous himself to investigate further as to what that means. “How far along are you in your paper?”

Namjoon groans, throwing his head back and pen forward onto the table. “I have.. half of it outlined. I may have been playing League for the past hour and a half.”

Seokjin stares at him, sliding into the chair next to Namjoon. “Seriously? Your paper is due tonight! What the hell?”

“I don’t wanna do this...” he whines. “Will you write this paper for me for 20,000 won?”

“20,000 won? At least 200,000. Not including taxes. And then a personal tip on top.”

“Do I look like the CEO of Samsung to you?” Namjoon asks.

“Obviously not, if you did, you wouldn’t be writing papers about gender studies.”

“Ouch,” Namjoon says. “That cuts deep.”

Seokjin laughs. “Not as deep as the cut in your GPA if you don’t finish this paper.”

“Alright, well. True. What about you?”

Seokjin shrugs, digging into his backpack. “I have a group project, so I was gonna delegate jobs and stuff to everyone else in my group, because I don’t trust any of them.”

“How cruel,” Namjoon sighs. “You really are gonna be a future CEO.”

“Shut up and write your paper,” Seokjin says.

Namjoon takes one final look at him and grins, turning back to his laptop and notebook.

Namjoon finishes his paper about five hours later, right before the cafeteria closes, and Seokjin forces them both to go. Nearly five minutes into their meal, Seokjin feels someone looming behind him.

“Thought we’d find you here,” the someone says, and Seokjin looks up to see Hoseok grinning. “It was either here or the library. And where ever you were, Namjoon would probably be there too.”

“What does that mean?” Namjoon asks between a mouthful of tofu.

“You know exactly what that means,” Hoseok sing-songs, and Seokjin flushes. Namjoon looks at him for a brief moment, to see if Seokjin’s looking at him, and then glances away when he is. “Anyway, do you have room for two more? I was with Yoongi, and the only thing Yoongi does beside drinking is eat, and I have meal swipes to get rid of, so we’re here.”

“Yeah, of course,” Seokjin says quickly. “Want me to help pull up a table?”

“Nah, we got it,” Hoseok replies, then turns around to wave over Yoongi, who’s standing a few feet away.

Namjoon swallows his food and extends a hand out to Yoongi. “Hey, I’m Namjoon. I think we know each other, but never actually met?”

“Oh yeah,” Yoongi replies, shaking his hand. “Yeah, heard a lot about you. From this one,” he gestures to Seokjin, “and through Sojin. She was a big fan of you.”

Namjoon laughs, looking over at Seokjin really quickly. “Oh yeah, Sojin’s the best. We had class together last semester. It was a shitty class, and we ended up getting shitfaced a lot together.”

“That does sound like the things I’ve heard,” Yoongi says, also glancing at Seokjin.

He tries not to feel like his roommate is meeting his boyfriend for the first time (because that’s Not what is happening), and his said made up boyfriend is trying to win over roommate’s opinion, because that is definitely what it’s starting to feel like.

“So after second round of midterms end,” Hoseok cuts in, looking between everyone, a certain knowing in his eyes, “I plan to get very drunk? Because I have an Anatomy exam on Friday, and that sucks. You all should join me. I already know Yoongi is going to join me. Namjoon, you don’t have a choice, Taemin’s hosting the party.”

“Does that really leave me with a choice?” Seokjin says, laughing. “My roommate and my friend are both gonna be out partying and leave me by myself?”

Hoseok gives Seokjin his signature toothy grin and laughs. “Perfect! Jimin’s not coming, by the way. I figure we should clear that up now, so we know what to expect.”

Namjoon swallows hard and Yoongi sits back in his seat, arms crossed, looking like a won some sort of competition. Seokjin isn’t sure what just happened, but he’s also a bit too scared to ask, so he doesn’t.

“So you finally met Namjoon today,” Seokjin says after he comes out of the shower. “Thoughts?”

Yoongi flips over a page in his textbook, looking very bored. “I’ve seen him before you have, why are you asking me?”

“But you guys never met, right? How was it, finally seeing each other, in the flesh and all.”

“Seokjin,” Yoongi groans. “It was half a meal, how do you expect me to have an opinion? And you’re not cool, stop saying shit like that.”

“Rude. And I mean -- you’ve been more opinionated about people you’ve met for less time,” Seokjin replies, running a towel through his hair. He hopes he sounds as casual as he looks. He thinks he looks casual. This is casual, right?”

“If you’re asking me if I approve of him as your boyfriend, then I have no opinion and refuse to comment.”

“Why not?” Seokjin whines, then pauses. Shit. Fuck. “I mean--”

“See?” Yoongi snorts. “You’re completely see through. And so is he. Go have transparent sex or something. Now leave me alone, I have to actually study.”

Seokjin snorts this time. “I haven’t seen you study in three years.”

“I haven’t seen you get laid in three years, yet here are. Now go away.”

Seokjin is tempted to tell him that they live in the same room, he can’t go away, but his face burns and he’d much rather leave, so he disregards that fact and runs down the hallway to Hyuna’s room.

Namjoon isn't in the library the next day -- Seokjin gets a text message about having to go to office hours, and without any bright earbuds or weird rap music to accompany him, Seokjin also doesn't go to the library. He ends up lounging on the top of Hyosang's dorm, accompanied by said individual, as the sun sets over the skyline of Seoul.

"So how's the boyfriend?" Hyosang asks, after attempting to shoot the crumpled up wrapper into the trash bin. He misses.

Seokjin groans. "I told you last time, he's not my boyfriend."

"At least you know who I'm talking about," Hyosang replies, shrugging. "That says something."

"Only because you already asked this," Seokjin retorts. Something about Hyosang knowing he likes Namjoon is very embarrassing. Probably because Hyosang has a big mouth, and if Hyosang knows, in the next two days, so will the rest of campus.

"But you do like him," Hyosang confirms, and Seokjin finds very little willpower in him to deny it, so he doesn't. Figures that he wouldn't even need to tell Hyosang for him to know.

"Unfortunately," Seokjin says, "but it's okay. I'll get over him soon. There's a month until finals, plenty of time."

"Why do you have to get over him?" Hyosang asks, grabbing Seokjin's ice cream wrapper. He tosses it at the trash can as well, but gets it in this time. Grinning, he turns to look at Seokjin, running a hand through his hair. "You're so weird.Take a chance, damn. If things don't work, who gives a fuck? It's not the end of the world. Things happen because we make opportunities for ourselves in life. No one gives it to us."

Seokjin snorts. "That's the smartest thing I've ever heard you say in your life."

Hyosang laughs. "But you do agree that it's smart, yeah?"

"Whatever, I'm tired man. This crush business is exhausting."

"It's true," Hyosang replies, pulling out his phone. "But it's worth it, in the end."

"Is that your girlfriend?" Seokjin asks, watching Hyosang tap his screen lightly.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. We're supposed to watch a move tonight. Something about aliens. I dunno, she's a weird one, man."

"Perfect for someone as crazy as you," Seokjin states. "I still need to meet her. And go, dude. You're gonna be late again."

Hyosang says something about patience, but ends up leaving anyway. Seokjin picks up Hyosang's first ice cream wrapper that missed the trash can and tosses it in on the way back to his dorm, and ends up staring at the past few exchanges between Namjoon and him on his phone. For a while he had been wondering if it was worth liking Namjoon, or if he should try to stop (as if these things are voluntary, Seokjin muses). Maybe he should give it a shot. He's not entirely sure what "giving it a shot" entails, since Seokjin doesn't plan on confessing anytime soon. Maybe something will happen -- magic, if you will. Or an opportunity. An opportunity presenting itself would be nice.

He recalls what Hyosang said previously, about creating opportunities, and sighs. This stuff is too stressful, he decides, in the end, and distracts himself when a message from Yoongi pops up on his phone.

Thursday comes around, and Seokjin ends up dragging himself to the library with nothing better to do. There, he finds a very familiar blonde haired man in his usual seat. That’s weird, Seokjin thinks, because Namjoon’s paper was due the other day, and he doesn’t think there’s any other midterm that Namjoon has to really study for. Something, intuition, or maybe just hope, is telling Seokjin that maybe he came here just for him. “Didn’t you hand in your essay already?”

Namjoon jumps in his seat, and Seokjin laughs. “Jesus,” he says. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Seokjin says, pulling out the chair and plopping himself down. “So what are you doing here?”

Namjoon scoffs. “You had your exam on Monday, I could also ask you the same thing. Why are you here?”

“Because Yoongi and his friends are getting drunk in our room, and I’m not really about the day drinking life. Or the drinking life in general. What’s your excuse?”

“I was bored,” Namjoon says adamantly. The lie is written all across his face, and by now Seokjin thinks his intuition was right, but he wants to get it out of Namjoon himself.

“You were bored,” Seokjin repeats, “so you came all the way to the library to sit by yourself in a corner?”

“Come on,” Namjoon whines. “Do I really need to have to be doing schoolwork to see you?”

Seokjin almost feels bad, but he’s never seen Namjoon blush before, or pout, so he doesn’t really feel all that bad at all. “You have my number,” Seokjin says, instead of making fun of him. “You could have just texted me. Where do you wanna go?”

Namjoon stops to think about that. “Wanna go see a movie?”

“A movie? We’d have to take the subway,” Seokjin mumbles. He hasn’t been off campus much, since Seokjin comes from the suburbans outside Seoul and doesn’t know much about city life, therefore sticks to the pathways of his university and doesn’t wander much outside unless it’s with a group of people that do know their way around Seoul. It’s also a thrilling idea, leaving campus, a little getaway from school work -- and with Namjoon, on top of that.

“I know one that’s nearby. Well,” Namjoon says, “it’s an hour away, but it’s the best option. I know how to get there, since it’s near my old high school. What’d you say?”

“Sure.”

The words leave Seokjin’s mouth before he can even think about it, but there’s no time to backtrack, especially not when Namjoon’s tossing his all his stuff into his backpack without a single glance back at him. “Awesome! Let’s drop our stuff at my place, then we can head out.”

Namjoon spends the two minute walk back to his apartment explaining exactly how to get to this movie theater and what it's near, and Seokjin pretends to understand exactly what he's talking about.

"I don't even know where the subway stop is," Seokjin admits, after Namjoon's tossed both their backpacks on his bed.

Seokjin jumps, but Namjoon just groans when a high pitched scream comes from the direction of Taemin's room. "You can't summon a demon, I have holy water in my room!" Namjoon hollers, kicking Taemin's door. He then turns to Seokjin. "Oh, really? It's behind the math and science building."

"That's why I don't know."

Namjoon laughs as they go down the stairs. "I hate science, too."

"Is Taemin doing a weird ouji board thing again?" Jiho asks from where he's watching TV.

"Yeah," Namjoon calls out, and opens the door for Seokjin.

Seokjin hears Jiho snort, "Stupid fuck," as the door slams behind them.

"You guys really are used to Taemin's weird shit," Seokjin says, amazed.

"Usually happens when he's stressed," Namjoon explains, and points in the direction of the subway stop. "I think he has an exam on Tuesday, so that's probably why. Organic Chemistry, or some shit."

"Science," Seokjin says bitterly.

By the time they get into the subway, Namjoon's told him all about how he got into a fight with his professor and walked out of class. In turn, Seokjin tells him about the time they dyed Yoongi's hair in the communal bathroom, and had Jongup walk in the moment they were washing the red out of his hair and thought it was blood.

Namjoon laughs as he taps them both in with his metro card, and they sit next to each and discuss what movie they want to watch. They decide on the new sci-fi movie, based off of some book, and spend the rest of the subway ride in silence.

Namjoon drags Seokjin out of the station and into the streets, and he looks up at the skyscrapers and feels a little tiny, a little lost amongst everything, but Namjoon nudges him with his foot and they move along slowly.

The university they go to is a small one, located near the edge of Seoul. It's actually closer to Seokjin's home than it is to Namjoon's, who actually lives in the city.

"Why do you walk so slow?" Namjoon asks, slowing his pace so that it matches Seokjin's, who looks down at his feet, then up at the passerbys who quickly overtake him.

"I didn't know I walked so slow," Seokjin mumbles, then yelps when Namjoon places his hands on Seokjin's back and pushes him forward. "What are you doing?"

"Hurrying you up," Namjoon snaps, "the movie starts in fifteen minutes, and I want nachos."

Seokjin rolls his eyes and picks up his pace, and Namjoon finally falls back into place next time, their shoulders bumping against each other.

Halfway throughout the movie Seokjin turns over in his seat to Namjoon fast asleep in his chair and groans. Thankfully there's only three other people in the theater with them, down in the front, so they don't hear him, or see him when he pokes Namjoon in the side. It does nothing, not even when he throws popcorn at him.

"Why'd we even go see a movie if you were going to sleep though it?" Seokjin nags as Namjoon orders drinks for them at a nearby cafe.

"It's not my fault!" Namjoon argues, thanking the cashier when she gives Namjoon his change. "The plot was so cliche, the characters were underdeveloped, and the dialogue was so sloppy. My little sister could have written a better script."

"What are you, some type of high fashion movie critique," Seokjin snorts. "I liked the animation."

"The animation was a 6.5 at best," Namjoon states.

"You didn't even watch it, how would you know?" Seokjin snaps, hitting Namjoon on the head with a napkin. "Shut up and go get us a table."

Namjoon says something under his breath but does what he's told anyway, and Seokjin brings them their drinks later, quite liking the high table Namjoon picked by the window.

"It's really late now," Seokjin notes, watching the sun go behind one of the skyscrapers.

"Yeah," Namjoon sighs. "Thankfully tomorrow's Saturday, so we don't have any classes."

"Hoseok and Taemin are having that party," Seokjin reminds him, "at your place. You're going to be busy."

Namjoon sighs again, and Seokjin kind of pities him. He's fortunately never had the misfortune of Yoongi hosting a party in their dorm -- which would be a pretty stupid idea, considering how small their dorm is, but if Yoongi wasn't so lazy, Seokjin can guarantee that he would try. "You're coming, right?"

"I guess so," Seokjin says. "Yoongi's also going, so probably."

Namjoon nods, and they finish the rest of their drinks and talk about the mundane things that have happened inbetween their many library meets. Seokjin's finds himself willing to talk and not so insecure about what he's saying, even ends up being told by Namjoon to "calm down, we're in a public place, use your inside voice".

Love is a weird concept to think about, but Seokjin does think there's something quite special about Namjoon, and the way they connect. It's not that they just connect, it's also Seokjin doesn't think he wants to connect with anyone else this way, and is glad it's Namjoon.

They leave close to closing time, getting back to campus rather late, and this time it's Seokjin who drops Namjoon off at his house and grabs his backpack before he goes back to his own dorm and crawls into his bed somewhere around three in the morning.

Seokjin starts his Saturday relaxing in his dorm room and reading a book while Yoongi sits across from him on his own bed, watching TV shows on his laptop. The only time he moves is when Eunji comes to their room with cookies she and a few other kids on their floor baked together downstairs in the communal kitchen. Seokjin spends that hour in her room, hanging out with her, Mark, and Yura.

By the time he comes back to his own dorm room, Yoongi’s gotten food for the both of them, which means Seokjin really isn’t going to leave his room until it’s time to go to Namjoon’s place.

“I heard you went on a date yesterday,” Yoongi casually says as Seokjin munches on dried seaweed.

“That wasn’t a date,” Seokjin groans. “It was like... bros hanging out.”

“Bros who wanna fuck,” Yoongi clarifies, and Seokjin sighs and rolls over in his bed.

“No one said that, you have no proof.”

Yoongi flops down onto his bed. “But you haven’t denied it.”

“I figured as much was obvious,” Seokjin says, shoving another piece of dried seaweed into his mouth and chewing furiously. “Why waste my breath?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi retorts without missing a beat, “gotta ration oxygen for make out sessions.”

“Shut up you--”

“Oh look, I’ve lost interest,” Yoongi replies, flops down onto his bed. He shoves his earbuds into his ears as he says, “Make sure you’re ready by like, 10 or 11. Wake me up.”

Seokjin makes faces at his back and throws a wrapper at him. It lands on the floor in between their beds.

Seokjin makes up for his missed throw from before where he throws crackers at Yoongi's bed and earns a well earned grunt from the massive pile of pillows and crackers.

By the time Seokjin forces Yoongi out of bed and into clothes, he's received five messages from Hyosang, Hoseok, and Taemin respectively asking where they are.

Seokjin ends up heading there first without Yoongi, thanks to said roommate going back to sleep and promising he would come by later with a few beers or something.

Hoseok appears to already be thoroughly drunk and greets Seokjin by yelling wildly in his face, followed by a hug, followed by a, “Yooooooo, man, you came through!”

“He’s really drunk, if you couldn’t tell,” Taemin calls out from behind him, cider beer in hand.

“Yeah,” Seokjin says. “Is this where I’m the awkward sober person in the middle of the party?”

Taemin shrugs. “Namjoon hasn’t really been drinking, neither has Minah.”

“Where’s Namjoon?” Seokjin asks, waving weakly when he hears someone inside also scream his name in what he assumes in a greeting. It sounds like Hyosang.

“Lounge,” Taemin says, motioning to the left.

Seokjin quickly walks in past Taemin and Hoseok, mumbling a hi to the both of them as he passes, and into the lounge, where Namjoon and a few other guys and girls are settled around a TV. Some gag show is on, Seokjin briefly glances at it before turning back to the rest, who all turn to greet him. He recognizes maybe half of them.

“Seokjin!” Namjoon yells, grinning from ear to ear, “you finally came! You’re late.”

“Yes, well, you know,” Seokjin mumbles, “Yoongi’s fault."

“Is he here?” Namjoon asks, looking behind Seokjin. “I don’t think I saw him.”

“He’s not here yet,” Seokjin replies, “can I sit next to you?”

Namjoon pats the space beside him. “It’s all yours. There’s not a lot of us today -- it’s not really a party, more of a rather big hangout, so we’re not doing much, aside from like watching random TV shows.”

“You’re not drinking?”

“Not feelin’ it,” Namjoon says, shrugging. “How’d you spend your day?”

Seokjin smiles, waving at Jiho as he walks by. “I slept. All day. It was great.”

Namjoon laughs. “Spent your day very productively.”

“Seokjin!” someone yells, and Seokjin screams when two arms wrap around his neck in a hug. “You didn’t say hi to me!”

“Hyosang,” he groans. “Please, don’t kill me.”

“Yeah,” Taemin says. “I need virgin blood for my next sacrifice.”

“Hey!” Seokjin yells, and Hyosang and Namjoon laugh around him. They spend the next hour sitting around the lounge and chatting mindlessly. Seokjin grabs a beer at some point and casually sips it as the night goes on. Yoongi comes in later with a few more drinks, and eventually the conversation tapers off into smaller groups, leaving Namjoon and Seokjin to their own devices.

“Is that water in that bottle or is that some discrete way of drinking alcohol without showing anyone that you’re drinking alcohol?” Seokjin asks.

Namjoon laughs, peering at his water bottle. “No, it’s just your regular old tap water, refilled after I finished it.”

“Do you happen to have any more?” Seokjin asks. “This beer isn’t really doing anything, and I’m kinda not feelin it.”

“You’re barely drank any of it,” Namjoon points out.

“I’m really not feelin’ it,” Seokjin emphasizes. “Not quite sure why I even came, I’d rather be under my blankets still.”

“Wow, well I see how it is,” Namjoon says, hurt. “I was gonna invite you to grab a water bottle from my room, but now I won’t.”

“That’s just rude,” Seokjin retorts.

“Yeah, rude,” Namjoon mocks, but he stands up anyway. “Hurry up or I’m gonna drink the water myself.” Seokjin shrugs and places the beer bottle on the table before following him up into his room. “I keep them under my bed,” Namjoon says, leaning down to grab one. “In case there is a bad drinking night. And there are many of them. Yesterday was a bad drinking night after I came back from the movie.”

Seokjin isn’t listening to him though, because he’s seen something rather odd. “You were watching the League Championship Series?” he asks, looking at Namjoon’s laptop screen. “You’re such a nerd.”

“Hey!” Namjoon yells, banging his head on the bottom of his bed. “How did you get onto my laptop?”

“It was open,” Seokjin says, followed by a, “nerd.”

Namjoon reappears from under his bed, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. “That hurts, dude. LCK is serious business. It’s at the semifinals now.”

“I know nothing about computer games,” Seokjin mumbles. “But you’re still a nerd.”

“I think on the scale of nerdiness, I’m definitely much lower than you.”

Seokjin considers this, because true, well played, but then says, “Yes, well. You watch League. You watch League.”

“You’re just a hater. Allow me to show you!” Namjoon says, grabbing his laptop. “Onto the bed, because I only have one chair.”

That is how Seokjin ends up watching computer games for the next hour and a half, settled in next to Namjoon in his bed. They end up along the way on youtube, both of them pressed up against each other.

“Hey,” Namjoon says suddenly, turning to look at Seokjin. “Can I kiss you?”

Seokjin’s mind falters. Where did that even come from? “What?”

“I really want to kiss you,” Namjoon says slowly, reaching up to place his hand on one side of Seokjin’s face.

Seokjin’s throat dries up as his eyes meet Namjoon’s, half lidded and full of want. He should probably say something, maybe like how he should absolutely kiss him, that they should do more than that, really, Seokjin really wants to kiss him. He leans his head in slightly, and jesus, finally Namjoon gets it, because he leans in and kisses Seokjin slowly, softly, and Seokjin very carefully places his hand on Namjoon’s hip, not entirely sure of what’s okay and what’s not. He hears soft laughing against his lips, and pulls back.

“So I know this is the wrong order to do things in,” Namjoon says, “but will you go out with me?”

“You’re not a very orderly person,” Seokjin replies, letting his hand stay put on Namjoon’s hip. Just in case. “It was expected, well, not really, but you know what I mea-- I mean. Yes. You’re my boyfriend now, no takebacks.”

“Wow,” Namjoon whines. “It’s almost like I got a say in this. Almost.”

“Yes, well you know what we should do less? Saying. Less saying and definitely lots of more kissing,” Seokjin states.

Namjoon shrugs. “Can’t really argue with that.”

Seokjin has to climb over Namjoon to get the remote, and he’s met with hands on his hips, and looks down in confusion. “What?”

“Nothing,” Namjoon says, thumb idly stroking the skin of Seokjin’s hipbone, and someone yells from the kitchen.

“Stop fucking on the couch!” Youngjae calls out.

“They’re too tame for that,” Taemin replies as he walks past. “Probably have only confessed and like, hugged.”

“Are you holding a skull?” Jiho asks. “Dude, you have to tell me if we’re going to be expecting cops soon because like I already got caught with weed--”

“Your house is really noisy,” Seokjin mumbles, digging his head into Namjoon’s shoulder. “Is it always like this?”

“Yup,” Namjoon confirms, wrapping his arms around Seokjin. “You’re gonna have to get used to it.”

“Fuck.”

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