Chapter Text
Bonus Track 1: Hyungs
Two days before the hospital
Jungkook sits on his bed in his room, fingers flying over the game on his phone.
He is very done for the day today and would like very much to be alone and to ignore his hyungs.
He really wants to ignore his hyungs.
Because apparently everyone wants to act like they’re living in a drama and Jungkook has really never liked those. If suddenly everyone knew kung-fu and they all turned out to be assassins or something, that’d be fun. But nope. He gets dropped into a drama, not an action movie.
He’s tapping the phone a little harder than he needs to right now and there’s a satisfying little thumping rhythm while he hits the falling tiles.
So Jimin and Namjoon hooked up. Jimin is wonderful and Namjoon is wonderful and if they’re happy then that’s fantastic. Wonderful people deserve each other. Love is pretty great.
But nope. Not good enough for the rest of his hyungs. Instead, everything around him is crackling with bristling tension like there’s been a knock-down, drag-out fight.
Argh. Jungkook had wanted to get away from the whole thing. Instead he brought it in here with him.
He closes down the game and starts flipping through songs on his phone looking for something he wants to listen to. Then his phone vibrates and a little text box slides down before disappearing again.
Yejin (Ninja Queen)
Wanna see how my day went? *pic*
Jungkook opens the text immediately and sees a selfie of her sitting in a coffee shop, elbow on the table, chin resting on her palm and her tongue slightly out in an “uck” face.
Before he messages back, he spends three minutes taking half a dozen selfies, mouth drawn to the side and his own eyes exaggeratedly wide with frustration.
Oh man, I’m sorry.
Here’s my day, btw.
He attaches his best frustrated face pic. Or at least the one that feels cutest.
Aw. What’s going on with you?
Gonna kill my hyungs. You?
Gonna kill my oppas.
Love it when we have things in common.
Just dead hyungs and oppas everywhere. Great foundation for a relationship.
There’s another picture. This time she’s holding up a butter knife and pretending to look threatening.
Jungkook laughs out loud. Then he saves the picture. And the one before, too. She’s got her hair up in buns on either side of her head today and pink strands are falling around her face. He spends about 10 seconds pausing on how cute it is, despite the silliness of the photos.
Poor hyungs and oppas. Never saw it coming.
Jungkook bites his lip.
What’re you up to tonight? Wanna meet up and commiserate?
He holds his breath for a moment.
That sounds awesome.
And he exhales.
Come over to my place and we’ll make murder plans?
Jungkook grins at his phone.
Lemme know when’s good for you and I’ll be there with ice cream.
Mint chip.
Obviously.
8:00?
Perfect.
Forget his hyungs. Jungkook is having a great day.
Bonus Track 2: Man Up and Put On Your Mom Jeans
The day Namjoon is rushed to the hospital
Jin does not like being responsible.
Okay, rephrase that. Jin is extremely responsible. He doesn't like having to act like it though.
But there's a reason the joke is that he's the mom of the group.
“I’m going to the hospital,” he says turning to Jungkook and Yoongi half a moment after Namjoon has disappeared. “But we should work out a rotation so that we’re there in shifts.”
“Shifts?” Jungkook asks.
“I don’t know what’s up but I don’t think Jimin’s going to leave until it’s figured out. So just in case… you guys should come by this afternoon. Then tell Tae and Hoseok to come this evening.” There is no rhyme or reason to this division of labor, just who happens to be in front of him. “We’ll see how the day goes. But I think it’d be a good idea to also have someone there and someone at home. And to make sure we don’t all get totally worn out.”
“Okay,” Yoongi nods. “We’ll figure things out here. Text us once you’ve got a better idea of what’s going on.”
“Uh, guys?” Jungkook is looking around. Jin was so caught up in organization he didn’t notice the buzzing around him. It feels like everyone in the building is talking to the person next to them in slightly hushed tones.
Well this whole morning is a nightmare on a lot of levels.
That’s not his problem right now. Let everyone else figure that part out.
Jin sees both Namjoon’s and Jimin’s phones on the floor and grabs them before heading back to the prep room. He grabs his bag and stuffs some tissues in it and steals a packet of make-up wipes.
Jimin probably looks like the heroine in a break-up scene by now.
Okay, he thinks, anything he’s missing? He runs by the break room and grabs a couple of protein bars and bottles of water on his way out.
Dammit. He really has turned into a mom.
One of the producers grabs him on the way out.
“Hey, is that true? Like, how long has that been going on?”
Jin doesn't have to ask what that means. And anyway, he's known about it for what? Not even four days now? And Jin has felt weird about it for four days. He’s still not over it.
“I gotta go.” He’s not dealing with that right now.
When he’s finally at the hospital, finally checked in as a guest, and finally directed to the waiting room he sees Jimin. He’s staring at a plastic bag in his hands, stock still, a little statue of frozen fear and vulnerability.
Jin’s heart breaks.
He’s over it.
He sits down next to Jimin and affectionately rubs his friend’s shoulder.
“How’re you holding up?”
Bonus Track 3: Yoongi Feels Pretty Good
Two weeks after the hospital
Yoongi hears the shouting before he sees Namjoon storm out of the office, obviously choking back tears, jaw set hurt and angry. Yoongi had only made out a few words that PD Bang had yelled and “Jimin” and “professional responsibility” were in there.
So he knows what that was about.
Yoongi is mad before he knows it. Suddenly he understands something in his gut and Yoongi is furious. Pure unadulterated rage carries him into his boss’s office and he’s slamming the door shut before his brain fully catches what he’s doing.
“Yoongi, now is a really bad time.” PD Bang sounds tired and upset.
Yoongi doesn’t care. He doesn’t get angry, really truly angry, very often. But when he does his mouth has a tendency to run and he can’t really give two shits about stopping it.
“Shut up.” His voice is level with barely contained rage. “You are going to shut up and you are going to listen because you have just done one of the most fucking stupid things I have ever seen in my life.” The PD looks up at him surprised and alarmed. Yoongi has had his rages but he’s never talked to his boss like this. Not even close.
“You’ve got no idea what it’s like. You don’t know what it’s like to have to put your entire personal life into the shadows. And yeah that’s what we signed up for but fuck that. And I’m sorry, I’m sorry if two of your stars dared to have feelings for one fucking minute but you do not make them feel shit about that.” Yoongi hits the desk for emphasis. PD Bang looks like he’s going to say something but Yoongi barrels on. “That kid you just let run out of your office?” He points emphatically at the door. “How the fuck do you think he feels right now. How the fuck. And even if you don’t give a damn about that, that’s one your fucking golden geese you crushed right there.” Yoongi pauses, he breathes. He’s furious about so much right now, it’s hard to stay on track. “I know,” he starts again forcing himself to be quieter, more level, “that this is a big fucking deal. That if this gets out, it’s not just them, it’s my career, it’s all of us that are going to get fucked. But come on, this is Namjoon and Jimin. Two of the least impulsive people I’ve ever met in my life. This didn’t start last week. This has been going on for a year. And it’s been fine. Fine. And we’re their family so you know what that means?”
The PD is just staring at him now like he’s hypnotized, completely shocked into near silence. He sounds dazed when he answers Yoongi’s rhetorical question.
“What?”
“That means that you call our PR people and have them come up with a response to half a dozen worst-case scenarios because that’s what the fuck we pay them for. That means we take stock and realize that if this gets out we might be fucked in some places but there’s a whole chunk of the world that’ll be fine and we’ll figure out how to thread that needle. And then we hope it never comes to that. We go back and we tell our friends that we support them because that’s what. you. fucking. do.”
Yoongi collapses into one of the chairs in front of PD Bang’s desk. Up until the moment he’d seen Namjoon tear out of the office Yoongi had resented them both, at least a little, for making all their lives a bit more precarious. But it’s not them. It’s their whole context that’s the issue. So many stupid things conspiring together to make any of this difficult.
He feels empty and washed out after his outburst. But he keeps his eyes steadily fixed on the PD. He’d gotten into a few scrapes when he was younger. He knows you don’t let up when you’re tired. You let up when you’ve won.
PD Bang stares back at him.
Yoongi wonders if there’s a universe where he could fire him.
The older man sighs and rubs his face with his hands. Yoongi remembers he wouldn’t fire him. He’s not that kind of person, he didn’t build that kind of place. None of them would still be here if it was.
“Okay,” he says after a long pause. He looks like every possible human emotion has run through him in the past ten minutes.
“Okay?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
* * *
Yoongi finds Namjoon in his studio sitting in his desk chair and staring blankly at his phone.
“Hey.”
“Hey.” Namjoon doesn’t even look up.
“So… what’s going on.”
“Oh just trying to figure out how to tell my boyfriend that I probably really fucked up both our careers. What’s going on with you.”
“Yeah, about that.” Yoongi sits down on the love seat, elbows on his knees. “I think you’ll be okay.” Namjoon looks up and raises his eyebrows. “We talked it out. I mean, I mostly screamed but yeah. I think I got through.”
Yoongi stands up again. He can be bad at big feelings and right now it feels like there’s going to be a lot of them. He claps a hand on Namjoon’s shoulder before the look on his face can turn into words.
“It’ll be okay.”
Then he walks out.
Yoongi feels pretty good right now.
Before he gets two steps, though, he turns on his heel and pops his head back in the door.
“I’m really happy for you. Don’t fuck this up.”
He shuts the door and hears a soft and slightly confused, “thank… you?” as he leaves.
Now Yoongi feels pretty good.
Bonus Track 4: An Application to Date Park Jimin (Version 3.1)
Two and a half weeks out of the hospital
Namjoon is sitting on the couch reading a book when Taehyung finds him and hands him a stack of paperwork. It looks like a quiz. A really long quiz.
“If you want to date Jimin, this is the application.”
“Excuse me?”
“I expect this in my office by Friday.”
“Tae, you don’t have an office.”
“Friday,” he says almost threateningly and then walks away.
Namjoon stares down at the pile of papers in his hands.
“Really?” he says to no one. “Really?”
* * *
Namjoon figures that Taehyung might not actually expect him to finish this insane application he put together. Which is exactly why Namjoon is filling it out right now. If he doesn’t, he reasons, Taehyung will hold it over his head and use it to give him shit whenever it’s convenient. This way, at least Namjoon gets to fuck with him a bit.
He’s gets through the first couple of pages of boilerplate questions pretty quickly.
(Name: Kim Namjoon
Address: I live with you. We co-own the same condo.
Telephone number: You texted me five minutes ago.
Bank account number: No.
Favorite color: Black)
His pace slows down when he gets to the top of page three.
Please select how you identify:
a) straight
b) bi
c) gay
Note: If you have selected a, please know that no one cares if you are experimenting. You have automatically failed this test. Please throw yourself in the trash and stay away from Park Jimin forever.
Namjoon draws back when he sees the note. He hopes it’s just a general warning. He gets a feeling that it’s not, though, that there’s something real behind it. It makes his heart hurt.
Namjoon stares at the question longer than he feels like a rational person should. He debates writing something about sexuality being a spectrum not a binary and chastising Taehyung for being reductive but that feels like a dick move more than anything. He circles B, instead. Technically correct. Close enough. In any event, not really anyone's business other than his and Jimin's.
And, honestly, when he thinks about, it’s not just sex. There’s a million little things Namjoon has realized he likes. He likes picking out who gets what role in a dance. He likes the way Jimin is smaller and more delicate than he is but he also likes that he’s stronger. He likes the way it feels when Jimin curls into his side but he also likes just laying on Jimin’s chest, being held and that being okay. There’s this way that all these roles he’s used to keep sort of being shaken up and turned around and he keeps finding new ways that he likes it like that. He thinks he’d want it like that no matter what the gender of the person he’s with. It feels comfortable in a way he didn’t realize he was missing.
He reads the rest of the questions on the page, all of them about sexual tastes. It’s surprisingly vanilla.
He slashes the entire section red and writes to the side.
1) I’m not going to tell you the details of our sex life.
2) You should have consulted Jimin on these. He’s more interesting than you want him to be.
Okay, that seems sufficiently obnoxious. Moving on.
Namjoon fills out a few other questions- allergies, favorite movies, describe your ideal vacation. He corrects the handful of typos he sees in bright red, makes small comments next to questions that annoy him. (“Please describe your musical tastes.” “Jesus, Tae, you didn’t tailor this to me at all did you.”)
Please describe your plans for your first date or your first date, if it’s already occurred.
Once Jimin had asked him what would have happened if they hadn’t known each other, if their lives had gone differently and they’d just happened to run into each other in a coffee shop. Met in some completely ordinary way. Namjoon had spun out a sort of love-at-first sight story for him, because even if it was silly, hearing it had made Jimin’s eyes soft and painted his face with a small dreamy smile.
In real life, Namjoon knows that if that were true, if he didn’t know Jimin and just saw him in a coffee shop one day, he’d be completely bowled over. You’d probably be able to knock him down with a feather. But he has no idea if he’d be able to pluck up his courage and ask him to have coffee with him. Or dinner and a movie. Or out for a drink. Something. He’d like to think he would. But he’s honestly not sure he’d be that brave.
Right now, though, he’s a little jealous of the hypothetical version of them. They never had that coffee. Never had dinner and a movie. Never had that drink. Never got to have that exciting, nerve-wracking first date, all ordinary hopes and awkwardness. Instead they’d had a lot of covert sex in hotel rooms. Which had been great but it’s not… that.
He wonders if maybe it’s not too late.
Please describe your intentions with Park Jimin.
It’s the last question. The phrasing and the context make the question painfully cheesy and a little silly. It still stares back at him, heavy and meaningful. He tries to think of snarky answers he can use to annoy Taehyung but nothing comes.
Fuck it, Namjoon decides.
Might as well go with the truth.
* * *
“Namjoon-hyung, good news!” Taehyung hugs him, entirely too exuberant for the first thing in the morning. Namjoon is standing in their kitchen making himself a cup of coffee. He hasn’t even figured out breakfast, yet.
“What happened?”
“You passed. 88%. Solid B+.”
“Thank you?” Namjoon sips at his coffee. “Passed what?”
“The application. You passed and you are now clear to date Park Jimin.”
“Oh. Good. Good thing.” He raises his mug in a small toast. “Good for me.”
“Yup.” Jungkook is sitting at the breakfast table and Taehyung reaches over him to grab a banana. “It was kinda dicey but… the last question.” He puts his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder on his way out of the room and there’s something kind and sincere in his eyes. “Damn.”
Namjoon’s still groggy so it takes a moment for things to sink in.
“Wait, what? ” he says turning to Jungkook. “How do you get graded on an application? And what the hell happened to the other 12%?”
“Hey,” Jungkook shrugs, mouth full of toast. “Just be happy you passed.”
Bonus Track 5: Scales and Pictures
Three weeks after the hospital
Hoseok is trying. He’s a good friend, so he’s trying hard.
He feels like he’s going through something like the stages of grief. It’s not grief- that’d be silly. But there's a cycle of emotions and he knows he’s going to land on acceptance at the end. But he’s not there, yet. So he’s trying. He’s pretending.
That’s why he offers to help Jimin pack. That’s why he slides a present on to the back seat before they go.
Acceptance. He’s going to end up there, so why not play-act like he already is.
“I don’t remember where I’m going, so you’ll have to give me directions again.”
“Sure,” Jimin nods. “We could just type the address into your phone, though.”
Hoseok makes a face.
“I like Jiminie’s voice. And I really hate the automated voice. She always sounds like she’s mad at me.”
“Okay, make a left, then,” Jimin says as they pull out into the street.
They make their way across the city to the little apartment, making small talk and jokes about the songs on the radio.
Hoseok does his best not to react when they walk through the door. But it’s strange finding out your friends were leading some kind of a double life. Harder still when you’ve stayed awake worrying about them too many times and you find out that this… this is where they were the whole time.
“So,” Hoseok says holding out a paper shopping bag. “I bought you something.”
Jimin peeks inside.
“A photo album,” he says, pulling it out.
“For your wall.” Hoseok says scratching the back of his head. “I assumed you’d want to take it with you.”
“Oh!” Jimin makes a choking laugh and covers his smile with his hand.
“What?”
Jimin runs his hand over the front of the album. The word “wonderland” runs across it. Hoseok had thought it’d be sweet.
“The whole thing… it started because I made this joke. And then Namjoon found this horrible poster, so I wanted to cover it up. Which is what started the pictures.” He looks up at Hoseok and Hoseok can see tears glittering around the edges of his eyes. “We kind of kept the nickname to annoy each other. It’s a little funny to take it with us.” Then he reaches for Hoseok and hugs him tightly. “Thank you.”
Hoseok hugs him back. For some reason that little bit of context makes him feel a little better. Makes the whole surreal thing just an inch more grounded.
“Can I ask you something?” Hoseok asks letting him go.
“Anything. What’s up?”
“Your relationship. I know it’s none of my business. And I need you to know that I get that.”
“Okay.”
“But.” Hoseok takes a breath and says a tiny prayer that Jimin’s going to understand. “It sort of is. And I don’t mean that in any kind of invasive way,” he rushes to add. “But we don’t have normal lives. We’re all sort of hooked together and there’s been kind of a set way that works for a long time now.”
“That’s true.” Jimin watches him, photo album clutched to his chest like a teenager holding a textbook.
“Your whole thing… that changes all of that. So it’s going to take some getting used to. I’m not trying to be a dick here…”
“I know,” Jimin interjects, nodding.
“But it’s a new thing and there’s a lot of new ‘what ifs’ now that weren’t there before.”
Jimin just nods again, letting him talk.
“So, what I need to know...” He balls his fists and spreads his fingers out a couple of times, like he’s casting off nervous energy. “Let me rephrase that. I want to be the good supportive friend. And I’m going to be. But I need to hear you tell me that we’re going to fine.”
“We’re going to be fine.” Jimin doesn’t hesitate to repeat his words. “I get that maybe this all feels weird but…” He walks over and puts the album on the breakfast bar. “I keep this set of scales in my head,” he says holding his hands out flat, palms up. “On one side is all the good stuff we get. All the success and what we do and everything. On the other side is all the crap stuff. Just about everything in my life goes on the scale.” He lifts the second hand up and drops the first one down. “No matter how much stuff ends up on the other side, the first side is always heavier. So there’s a limit to how much things can get to me because this,” he holds up the second hand a little more, “is never going to be able to balance out this,” he gestures with the lower hand.
“Okay,” Hoseok has no idea where this is going but he wants Jimin to know he’s following.
“All of us. That’s not on the scale. And I don’t think… I mean, I know Namjoon doesn’t think about it that way, the scales and everything, but it’s the same thing for him. All of us together, it's too important for that. And Namjoon and I…” Jimin shakes his head and sticks his hands in his back pockets. “We’re not on the scale either. And that’s why we’ll be okay. There’s no balancing act. And there never will be. It all just is.”
Hoseok nods but he’s seeing something different than what he asked Jimin, now. He’s seeing the through line from Jimin crying in the bedroom through what he’s saying now and into the future. He realizes there’s going to be movers. Furniture shuffling around. It is different now. But it’s going to stay different.
Their lives are so strange. In no time at all they’ve gone from practically begging to fill up a 400 person theater to suddenly packing stadiums. Instead of seasons their lives are broken up in cycles of creating, rehearsing, and being bombarded with promotional projects and interviews. He wouldn’t give an inch of it up but it makes it hard to stay on his feet and keep his balance. Sometimes their unit at the center of everything feels like the only stable point in the universe.
That changing is terrifying.
And there’s also Jimin. Hoseok loves him to bits, no doubt. They have tons of things in common from dancing to just having naturally optimistic personalities. He loves the way they can bounce off each other’s energy. But there’s always been this fragile edge to Jimin, this reason that Hoseok has always wanted to stand between him and the world.
Once in an interview they were asked who in the group they talked to when they were sad. Everyone had pointed at Jimin. Jimin had pointed at him.
But Namjoon’s the one Jimin ran off with when he was breaking.
He finds himself wondering what it’s going to be like having his own room.
“So,” he says picking the album up and walking over to the wall. “I want to hear some stories about this stuff while we take it down.”
“Okay.” Jimin walks over and smiles at him. Then he points to a picture of himself holding a cupcake. His mouth is full and he's laughing, half covering his mouth with his hand. There's frosting on his lips, his fingers, and a bit on his bangs. “This was just so, so dumb…”
Hoseok takes the picture off the wall and looks at it.
Jimin looks so happy. And no matter what else, Hoseok likes that.
Bonus Track 6: The Romance Package
One month into the tour
This whole stable-adult-I-love-you relationship thing throws Jimin more than he expected it to. Not in a bad way, in this way where he keeps getting knocked back an inch or two over something completely innocuous.
Like now. Right now he’s standing in the hotel bathroom with a mouth full of mouthwash that’s starting to burn his cheeks because he noticed their toothbrushes on the counter and stopped in his tracks.
Jimin’s just never had this before, never had someone whose presence was assumed. And yes, because it’s Namjoon and they’ve lived together for years, this is not the first time he’s looked down and seen Namjoon’s toothbrush next to his and known it belongs there but… even the goddamn toothbrushes are different. The toothbrushes are better.
They’re toothbrushes, for god’s sake. But they’re their toothbrushes.
“Jimin?” There’s a short rap on the door-frame and Jimin spits out the mouthwash, thrown back into motion like he’s been caught in the middle of something.
“Hey, what’s up?” he says in between rinsing his mouth out and wiping his face off with a towel.
Namjoon is standing there in bathroom doorway, already comfortably tucked into a hoodie and pajama pants, face decorated with a pair of black plastic frame glasses. Jimin likes him like this. Cozy. Intimate.
“So it looks like we’re going to have tomorrow night free.”
Jimin’s brow creases. Unexpected free time on a tour…
“Is everything okay? Did something happen?”
“No, no!” Namjoon waves a hand. “Good news. The venue wanted to juggle some things around on their end and asked if we can do soundcheck earlier, that’s all.”
Jimin relaxes a little. “Oh, cool.”
“So… having started this off in what looks like the worst way possible now,” Namjoon leans his head on the door frame and smiles a little mischievously. “Can I take you on a date tomorrow?”
Jimin smiles. “I dunno. I think I’ve gotta check my calendar.” Namjoon gives him a look. “Yes, of course, absolutely. What do you have in mind?”
“I don’t know, yet. But I thought it might be fun to do the whole first date thing where I bring you flowers and tell you you look nice and then we go have dinner or something. Since we never got to do that.”
It’s a very cute Archie comic book idea of a date. “That sounds great.” Jimin walks over and tugs on the strings of Namjoon’s hoodie a little. “But don’t forget I’m still a boy in this scenario, okay?”
“Sure. I just happen to know you're a boy who likes flowers.” Namjoon counters.
“Oh totally. You have to bring me flowers.” Jimin gives him a little smile and lets his hands fall from the hoodie strings to rest on to Namjoon’s chest. “Just make sure they’re manly flowers.”
“Only the manliest flowers for the fairy prince,” Namjoon teases.
Jimin laughs and lets him claim a mint-flavored kiss.
* * *
There are no flowers, manly or otherwise. Jimin isn't even slightly surprised. They started early but of course the soundcheck runs late. And there's an uninspiring dinner of greasy Chinese food brought in once it becomes obvious that they’re not getting out before well into evening.
He does his best to hide it, he’s still focused, still on point, but Jimin can see Namjoon’s disappointment while he pokes at his chicken and broccoli.
So Jimin comes up with a plan. He draws up google maps on his phone and pulls one of the translators aside, practically shoving the map in his face. Route determined he finds one of the more indulgent managers and all but corners him until he agrees to alternative arrangements to take them back to their hotel.
Luckily, it’s not too late when they’re done for the evening. They’re all a little worn out from the long day but Jimin is determined now. The second tech says they’re done he shoves a face mask and a cap at Namjoon and tells him to get his coat.
“Okay, let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Date. Come on.”
Namjoon looks surprised but he’s pliant and he lets Jimin quickly guide him past security shouting, “all worked out with the managers, back in a bit!” before anyone can stop them or forcefully insist on chaperoning.
“So where are we going?” Namjoon asks, once they’re outside the stadium.
“Coffee and a walk.” Jimin shrugs. “Seems like a classic first date thing.”
“I thought I was supposed to take you out.”
“Well, you’re dating a gentleman so get used to it.”
Namjoon’s face is half hidden by the paper mask but Jimin can tell by his eyes that he’s smiling.
“Okay.”
The walk to the cafe is a little annoying, the footpath on the bridge runs right next to the cars and they have to take another path over a freeway. It’s not picturesque but at least it’s quick.
“Order for me,” Jimin says when they get inside the little cafe. “I want a hot chocolate. To go.”
“I don’t speak French,” Namjoon responds.
“Well, you can read a menu a lot better than I can. So go use your super power.”
Namjoon throws him a look. “You know, you’re a lot better than…”
“Hot cocoa, Joonie.” Jimin pushes on his back. “Go.” This was his idea but the idea of having to sound out a pile of foreign letters that stand for noises he can only half-make sounds like one of the circles of hell right now. Being a gentleman has its limits. French is one of those limits.
As expected Namjoon competently gets them a couple of hot drinks and somehow even manages to draw out a laugh and a smile from the girl behind the register. Not much later they have paper cups in hand and are crossing the freeway again. But instead of leading them back to the stadium, this time Jimin guides them to a footpath that runs by the canal.
It’s quiet and empty. They can hear the rushing water and the path is lit by pools of light from regularly placed lampposts. It reminds him a little of when they go on walks at home. It’s peaceful and despite their mad break for it, Jimin can feel the tension of the day drifting away.
They banter while they walk and for a bit they play at pretending to make first date small talk. What's your sign, your blood type... is that your go-to hot beverage? Easy surface questions they've never needed to ask. The silly play-acting lasts about five sentences until, "so, what do you do" comes up and Jimin gives Namjoon this "wow-I'm-shocked" face and says, "You're kidding! I'm in BTS, too!"
It's hilarious but it also feels like there's too many heavy jokes packed into that one line to ever completely pull them out. Conversation drifts into other things after that.
At the end of the path, they come to another bridge across the canal, but this one is a footbridge. The stadium and their real lives are on the other side, so they stop in the middle and lean on the railing, watching the water flow by below.
“Thanks,” Namjoon says, “this was nice.”
“Your idea,” Jimin nudges him a little. “And thanks for…” he holds up his paper cup.
“You’re welcome.” There’s a ‘you could have done it yourself’ floating in the air but Jimin knows Namjoon won’t say it. He’s good about knowing when to be encouraging and when not to poke Jimin’s anxieties.
“Can I ask you a question?” Jimin says after a moment of silence.
“Sure.”
“Why did this matter so much to you? It’s nice but…”
“I was just thinking…” Namjoon taps his cup on the rail a few times. “There’s a lot of things we’ve missed or haven’t done. And I want you to have everything,” he admits. “The whole romance package. I don’t want you to look back and think you had to give anything up or skip anything because our lives are weird. It’s just… I like seeing you happy. I like it when I can make you happy.”
Jimin sips his cocoa and stares out at the dark water for a bit.
“You know you do, right. Make me happy.”
“I hope so.”
“I think,” he says, taking Namjoon’s hand in his, “sometimes you forget how much I like you. I like having the whole Namjoon package in my life. That’s the best thing.”
“Thanks.” Namjoon smiles and squeezes his hand. “I like the whole Jimin package, too.” He pauses. “Can I ask you a question now?”
“Shoot.”
“What kind of flowers are manly?”
“I have no idea.” Jimin laughs. “I was dying to see what you’d come up with.”
“Next day off we get, I’m asking the first florist I find.”
“Probably something spikey and weird.”
“There’s a joke about stamen somewhere in there.”
Jimin laughs again. “Is that dirty? I have no idea if that’s a dirty joke.”
“I think that depends on how you feel about flower genitals.”
Jimin lets go of Namjoon’s hand because he’s laughing so hard now, he needs to hold on to the railing.
“I’m going to be randomly thinking about flower junk and laughing all night, now. Thanks a lot for that.”
“Flower junk is a great phrase,” Namjoon laughs.
Jimin gets himself together and straightens up so that he can look Namjoon in the eyes, even though he’s still smiling. “Okay, my turn to ask another question.”
“Okay.” Namjoon responds taking a sip of his coffee.
“Do you put out on the first date?”
Namjoon almost does an honest-to-god spit take. “Not usually” he says after he’s managed to swallow. “But,” he looks over at Jimin a little suggestively.
“Yeah?”
“I think I could be talked into it.”
“Make an exception for me?” Jimin asks pressing his side up against Namjoon’s a little.
“Yeah,” he takes Jimin’s hand again and smiles at him. “I've got a good feeling about this one.”
Bonus Track 7: Thank you, Mrs. Park
Six weeks into the tour
“Jimin, do you know where my notebook is?” Namjoon’s voice floats out of the bedroom into the living room of the hotel suite.
“In your bag, the over the shoulder satchel one,” Jimin calls back, drawing a card. Jungkook and Taehyung look over their hands at him a little curiously.
“That’s the red one. I need the blue one.”
“Drawer. Bedside table. You put it there so you wouldn’t lose it.”
There’s the sound of a drawer opening and closing.
“Thanks.”
Jungkook and Taehyung are still looking at him curiously.
“I know where his stuff is and he knows where my stuff is.” Jimin shrugs. “Don’t ask me why.”
Taehyung glances around the suite. They’re definitely the two messiest people and the combined powers of their disarray is impressive.
“I’m amazed that anyone knows where anything is,” Jungkook replies, playing a card.
Jungkook is relentlessly organized. Because of course he is.
“Hey, we can’t all be Marie Kondo,” Taehyung retorts.
“Your shirts don’t need to give you joy to go in the closet. They just need to go in the closet.”
“So,” Jimin says changing the subject while he draws another card, “did I tell you guys there’s a Mrs. Park now?”
“What’s that mean?” Taehyung asks.
“Hi,” Namjoon raises his hand, walking into the room. He has a pen in his mouth while he sifts through a small pile of papers.
Taehyung is pretty sure the expression on his face mirrors Jungkook’s. Which is a little confused, a little shocked and completely frozen.
Jimin cracks up and claps his hands.
“Here,” he gets up, picks up a hotel ‘thank you’ card and sets it down on the table where they’re playing cards. “Cleaning staff figured out there are two people staying here and the room’s under my name. So the card’s addressed to ‘Mr. and Mrs. Park.’”
“Second time now,” Namjoon holds up two fingers, still talking through the pen that’s in his mouth.
“That’s hysterical,” Taehyung says picking up the little card and turning it around in his hands.
“Next time, you’re Mrs. Kim.” Namjoon tells Jimin, stuffing the papers into a folder, apparently satisfied.
“Probably not.”
“Yeah, probably not.” Namjoon concedes. “Okay, gotta go do interview prep.” He leans over and gives Jimin a quick kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you. See you soon.”
And Namjoon is out the door.
Taehyung had wondered what this was going to be like, after things calmed down. It’d been hard to picture what it was going to be like having a couple in the group. He hadn’t thought there’d be five third wheels but he still hadn’t been sure what it’d look like. He was a little disappointed in himself, honestly. It felt like a lack of imagination on his part.
It turns out it’s domestic. It’s kind of nice.
“Hey, I have something for you.” Taehyung digs around in his bag a bit, then pulls out a stack of stapled papers and hands them to Jimin. He’d thought about giving this to him earlier but Taehyung had wanted to wait until things felt like they were settled. He wanted it to be a nice gesture and not another bit of melodrama.
“Oh my god, Tae. Namjoon told me about this.”
“What is it?” Jungkook leans over to look at it.
“It’s an application. Tae gave Namjoon an application to date me.”
“Oh, yeah. Heard about that.” He says going back to the game, laying another card on the table. “He passed. That’s good.”
“I can’t decide if you’re my best friend or worst.” Jimin says to Taehyung, flipping through the pages.
“Excuse me for having standards.” Taehyung takes the quiz back, flips to the last page and gives it back to Jimin. “Anyway, this is the part I thought you’d want to read.”
“’Please describe your intentions…’” Jimin puts the paper down and glares at Taehyung. “Do you seriously think I’m your daughter or something? And you’re my regressive 1950s dad now?”
“Just read it.” Seriously. Jimin can be incredibly stubborn sometimes.
Jimin sighs and looks back at the application.
Taehyung hadn’t been sure what he’d been expecting when he’d written that question. Maybe sarcasm. Hopefully a nice indication of something good.
That’s not what he’d gotten.
Taehyung has been singing Namjoon’s words for years now. He knows his cadences, his quirks, and above all, he knows how astoundingly good he is at piecing together whole worlds from his feelings.
He can only imagine that it’s another thing entirely to have those words directed at you. About you.
As if on cue, Jimin’s hand moves up to cover his mouth as he reads and Taehyung can see the paper shake, just a little. Jungkook leans over again to read over Jimin’s shoulder.
“Whoa.”
“Can I keep this,” Jimin says quietly. He gets his hand to still and swallows.
“I thought you might want to.”
There’s a kind of happy ache in Taehyung’s chest.
Good job, Mrs. Park, he thinks. Well done.