Chapter Text
If someone had told Seokjin six months ago that the year would end with Namjoon out of all people going down on his knees in front of him, he would have laughed so hard he would have probably cried. Still, here he is, currently in that exact situation with a combination of meticulous planning and a bit of pure luck, but most of all he knows it’s all thanks to that damn ring and its ridiculous magic powers.
Anyway, for any of this to make any sense, what’s needed is to go back in time, straight to the starting point where, for the whole parallel, the story begins with a wedding proposal that’s not an actual proposal. Confusing? It is that for Seokjin at least because nothing about this was ever supposed to be anything that serious, anything with consequences. The whole idea was done out of a whim, intended as a silly gag with a hint of sentimental value, but it seems like his plan backfired on him drastically. Look, the thing is Seokjin never meant the ring to fit only Namjoon’s ring finger, to be too small to go anywhere else on his hands. He just wanted to be the first one to congratulate Namjoon on his birthday before going on his day, he got things to do and places to be, okay, but he didn’t know the short encounter at the gym would end up changing his life forever.
All right, all right, he’s being dramatic and escalating stuff for the sake of a better story, but like said, what he can tell for sure is that he definitely didn’t foresee any of this following when he picked up the gift for Namjoon, Seokjin swears on his mother’s life. It was already a lot to ask Namjoon to try the ring on his fore and middle fingers, just to be sure it really won’t go there, and listen to his panicked whining of “hyung, it won’t fit” and “hyung, it will get stuck if you press any harder” with reddened ears, and although that alone felt like a fever dream, Seokjin would have never guessed that would be the least crazy part of the chain of events he unwittingly unleashed, events that would not only test his patience but also his sanity.
Interestingly, nothing happens at first. Or, if something does, Seokjin is too busy focusing on the final leg of his solo promotions among other things to notice anything unusually extraordinary going on around him despite there being signs hinting at that and basically whispering something big is coming his way.
“Something big is coming.”
It’s the last stop of Seokjin’s world tour in Incheon on the first day of November when Taehyung pulls him off to the side on the backstage before the rehearsal, glasses perched on his nose and his emotional support backpack hanging snugly on his shoulders.
Seokjin blinks, more than a little confused by these cryptic words.
“Huh? Do you mean today? I really hope so, it is my final concert and your first appearance performing after two years. It can be nothing but huge!” Seokjin agrees, an encouraging smile stretched on his face, but Taehyung only gives him a series of slow, firm shakes of his head.
“No?” Seokjin continues, even more puzzled. “Are you talking about next year then? Our upcoming comeback sure is long-awaited and it's expected to cause all kinds of buzzle,” he says, thoughtful, but Taehyung shakes his head again before he looks around them and, once clear there’s no one else listening, he grabs Seokjin by his arm and leans in closer, his face almost coming in contact with Seokjin’s as he carries on, whispering in a low, soft voice not unlike sharing a secret.
“There’s just something going on with your aura.”
“My aura,” Seokjin repeats, automatically blinking a second time.
“Hmm.” Taehyung nods, pulling back. He looks at Seokjin deep into his eyes. “It’s always been strong, but there’s something different this time. Whatever it is, use the change well.”
“What, what do you mean? Use what well?” Seokjin tries to ask him to elaborate, but Taehyung is already on his way, not explaining himself further after offering the last piece of wisdom. It’s almost like he never said anything in the first place.
Seokjin looks after Taehyung as he makes his way to the stage for the last practice and he hastens his steps to catch him. Back in his mind he makes a mental note to ask Taehyung later in better time what all that was about. He sure has a lot of questions.
The concert comes and goes, and they never talk about it again. Taehyung doesn’t bring it up and Seokjin, in true fashion, pretty much forgets the whole conversation soon enough, enjoying the rare days off he’s blessed with after an eventful year. His schedule finally freed up for the time being, Seokjin makes the most of it, having a moment to focus on the most essential as he games all night and sleeps late, until it’s time to get back to work, his teammates already eagerly waiting for him to return and continue putting finishing touches on the album with them alongside memorizing choreographies and polishing the moves, both old and new.
It’s that moment when things start to become weird, Seokjin recalls afterwards. The way it happens for the first time is just so subtle that no one can blame him for not immediately realizing he’s in the presence of something supernatural, something not explainable by science or common sense, not even when it crashes into him, quite literally.
“Woah, careful there,” Seokjin says slightly amused when on his way to the dance practice Namjoon suddenly appears around the corner and accidentally runs into him in the company hallway, colliding with him rather roughly.
“Sorry. I wasn’t looking where I was going,” Namjoon apologizes, seemingly embarrassed as he waves the phone in his hand as an explanation before he shoves the device into the pocket of his jacket. Their eyes collide much gentler for a brief moment when Namjoon straightens back up, but then Namjoon averts his gaze again, his hands coming to adjust the mask on his face.
Too… Handsome… Unfair.
Seokjin’s steady step he was taking toward the practice room door comes to a halt, and he turns to look at Namjoon again as something warm leaps inside him. Did he hear right? Did Namjoon just call him… handsome? He’s taken aback by the sudden praise, it’s not that usual for him to hear such things from his members when cameras are not rolling, not from Namjoon, anyway, and although it’s unexpected, it’s also appreciated even though Seokjin doesn’t understand why Namjoon would say it now, the praise basically coming out of nowhere. Well, no matter the cause, Seokjin will still take it and count it as a win.
“Always so polite,” Seokjin says, brushing it off with harmless teasing not to reveal his own slight flusterment. Let’s not show too many emotions all at once. Conceal, don’t feel. Yeah, that's excellent advice to live by.
“It’s good to see you, you know, after a while,” he continues, more serious this time, and he watches pleased how smile lines form around Namjoon’s eyes.
“It’s good to see you, too, hyung.”
For some reason Seokjin feels giddy for a long time after that.
It’s just that it doesn’t stop there. Of course, Seokjin didn’t naively assume everything to return immediately back to normal—as normal as the life of worldwide idols just can get, that is—after completing their military service and reuniting as a group, he knew to expect things to be different, potentially have some bumps in the road and everything not being just sunshine and roses all the time, but this is not what he had in mind when he went through all kinds of possible scenarios how the future may look like and what it may hold for them.
What happened during the months we were apart? Seokjin ponders who knows how manyth times after the bombardment of all sorts of different comments and compliments have been constant and nonstop for several days. They are always singular words: handsome is a popular one, but there are also adjectives like beautiful, or gorgeous, or, good gracious, sexy, and Seokjin’s insides haven’t stopped performing somersaults ever since the sudden flattery began. That can’t possibly be healthy, right? He’s pretty sure it isn’t. At this point he’s going to start to charge fees if this keeps going much longer; his heart is fragile and he has no desire to go into cardiac arrest at such a young age.
Needless to say, Seokjin has no idea what’s suddenly gotten to Namjoon. One compliment every now and then is more than okay, but after the third and fourth times it becomes confusing, and once the number count passes seven in one single day, it has grown into a questionable pattern Seokjin doesn’t seem to be able to solve. Sure, he can’t say he’s complaining, anything but, but he would have never in his life predicted this big of a change in Namjoon’s behavior. It’s known that Namjoon has been on an individual journey in the search of finding himself, at one point to such an extent the members were concerned he was seriously considering becoming one with the mountains and letting himself be covered in moss, but to everyone’s relief that was prevented in the end. Seokjin doesn’t know how they would have explained that to the fans. Instead, it seems Namjoon came back willing to be more vulnerable and honest with the closest people around him, to the point he's sharing his deepest thoughts more freely and laying bare his most personal feelings openly and without shame.
Great! Good for him! Though if you ask Seokin, maybe Namjoon is being even too open with all that. Seokjin can’t even completely avoid Namjoon because they are spending so much time together as a group again in different practice rooms and studios and recording booths, but they did all these things in Los Angeles during the songwriting camp as well, and Seokjin has a hard time trying to pinpoint what’s changed when they are now back home in Seoul. Has Namjoon missed me so much or what? Seokjin entertains himself with the thought, but whatever the reason is, it’s starting to be distracting, and Seokjin’s performance is taking a hit because of that. It’s nice to be called pretty, sure, but too much is too much, and it’s time to let Namjoon know they can’t continue this way.
“Namjoon, I know you find your hyung handsome and hyung is flattered, but you must understand enough is enough,” Seokjin finally tells him one late November evening after another long day of practice and other necessities done for the new album. This is the way to go, he congratulates himself. Setting boundaries in a serious manner but still keeping it humorous. Well done, Seokjin. This will surely send a clear message.
What he meets, instead, is utter confusion.
“Sorry? What are you talking about?” Namjoon asks, brows drawing together as he stares at Seokjin, looking for clarification.
“Hey, you don’t have to pretend. You guys love to tease me about my age, but my hearing still works just fine, you know? I’m well aware the company has encouraged us to give positive feedback to each other and the staff members, and I appreciate it—I truly do!—but please, tune it down a notch at least, okay? Hyung is trying to work here, and your words make it a tiny bit difficult,” Seokjin finishes with a lopsided smirk, hoping this will do it and put an end to this, but Namjoon, if possible, seems even more at loss.
“Hyung, really. I don’t understand what you are trying to tell me,” he says, and although Seokjin doesn’t get annoyed that easily, he’s slowly starting to reach that point. He clearly heard Namjoon call him gorgeous today. Why can’t he just admit it!?
“Namjoon, please, you know you can be honest with me.” Seokjin sighs. “Just a moment ago you said—”
“I’m serious. Today has been so hectic we haven’t had a chance to have a proper conversation before this moment, so I can assure you I haven’t said whatever you imagine I have said to you,” Namjoon cuts him off, voice drained before he continues, eyes pleading. “Hyung, if you’re trying to be funny, I have to tell you that you aren't really doing a great job. Seriously, I’m not in the mood for your games tonight.”
Seokjin can’t believe what he’s hearing. Did he say games? Games? What games? He is not playing any games! If this was Jungkook, he would already be ready to physically fight him at the audacity because he’s just trying to establish his limits and set things right while Namjoon is the one here disregarding his feelings and brushing the whole thing off as a joke. He’s just about to tell Namjoon rather bluntly what he is thinking about this disrespect, but just in time he pauses to think for a moment and he shuts his mouth.
Because as crazy as it sounds, Namjoon is right. Apart from casual greetings and fast chitchatting, they really haven’t been in close proximity to partake in longer conversations or, as it seems, to exchange compliments or other pretty words with each other. Come to think of it, he hasn’t seen Namjoon talking, not the first time this happened, not today. Seokjin has only heard his voice—or has he? Has this been just a figment of his imagination all this time? But how could it be? The words have been so vivid, like Namjoon would have spoken them right into Seokjin’s ears, and he knows the voice has belonged to Namjoon. Seokjin would recognize that low, deep timbre everywhere, even in his sleep.
Maybe it’s that. Seokjin hasn’t had the best nighttime sleep in the last couple of days and that combined with the months long world tour and other activities must have taken its toll on him so it’s completely plausible he’s just tired and that’s somehow caused auditory hallucinations. This is the price you pay when you gain popularity, he supposes. Such is life.
“Hyung? Is everything okay?” Namjoon asks, Seokjin’s lack of response and the stretched silence between them no doubt beginning to worry him.
“Sorry. Hyung has to think,” Seokjin says, leaving abruptly in deep thoughts without saying another word to Namjoon who is left behind even more baffled.
This must be fixable. Tonight Seokjin will take a half-body bath, eat lightly before going to bed and tomorrow will be a better day. Yeah, this is better work.
Newsflash: it doesn’t work. Starting early in the morning, the same pattern repeats, and Namjoon’s voice still haunts Seokjin throughout the day as clear as a bell. Seokjin’s mind is spiraling because he can’t get his head around any of this because nothing appears to make sense anymore. What isn’t he understanding here? Is he slowly descending into madness or is there another plausible explanation for everything? Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Seokjin doesn’t seem to have other choice than putting a figurative detective hat on and really getting to the root of the matter at any cost—by means of law, of course—and what’s a better course of action than investigating the surroundings from afar first and observing the culprit in question in the scene of crime. If the person in this case happens to be Namjoon… Well.
It’s often loud and chaotic when the seven of them gather round, and sometimes it’s hard to keep track of who is talking and catching on who is saying what when there are like three different conversations going on at the same time. That’s the case also tonight when they all have got together to enjoy a late dinner, but Seokjin perseveres and works with what he has under the conditions given to him, going as far as sitting opposite Namjoon at the long table to keep his eyes on him while also having him within a perfect earshot. Not to look too suspicious just sitting there and monitoring their leader, Seokjin pays attention to the conversation and takes part in the topics at hand here and there, but he keeps his main objective in mind and doesn’t let his concentration waver, following Namjoon’s every move as discreetly as he just knows how to. He hasn’t mastered the art of poker face for no reason, after all.
The hands of the clock move forward, and Seokjin listens to Namjoon talk about crustaceans and ethics of eating them and later he watches him almost burn himself on the grill before Yoongi softly scolds him and steps up to inform he will be in charge of the meat from now on, but nothing significant happens in the does-Namjoon-call-me-with-pretty-names-or-am-I-only-imagining-things department. Maybe Seokjin’s chastising worked, anyway, and Namjoon became more careful what he lets slip out of his mouth, or maybe Namjoon really was telling the truth when he insisted never doing such a thing. Even in his drunken state of mind Seokjin feels that somehow both options seem to be in conflict with everything that’s happened lately, but he’s exhausted both in body and mind to find energy to give it more thought for now.
“It’s getting late. I think I’m going to start to head home,” Seokjin says, eventually giving up and admitting defeat. Nothing is happening anyway so he can as well go to sleep and leave all this behind. At least he now knows the profession of a private investigator may not be the best career choice for him if he ever retires from the music business. He was seriously getting bored out of his mind.
Seokjin receives multiple “good night, hyung’s” and “see you tomorrow’s” as he slowly gets ready to leave. As he proceeds to get up from his seat after making sure that he has everything he needs with him, his eyes lock with Namjoon’s at the last moment.
“Night, hyung. Thanks for the great evening,” Namjoon says, eyes warm but tone warmer, and Seokjin smiles, intending to say the same right back at him, but he doesn’t get that far when he hears Namjoon’s voice again.
He’s so beautiful it hurts.
This time Namjoon’s lips just aren’t moving along with his words.
Next, many things happen at once. First, Seokjin suddenly feels a lot more awake and, as the words sink in, he can feel how heat creeps up the back of his neck until his face is red from the tip of his ears all the way down to his chest. Second, it finally hits him what’s going on here, what’s been going on for days, possibly for weeks, the realization striking straight into his skull with the force of a sledgehammer.
Oh god, Seokjin thinks head spinning as the puzzle pieces click together in a flash. I can read Namjoon’s mind.
Obviously, Seokjin freaks out. Badly. Thank you for your interest, he appreciates the concern. Seokjin would like nothing more than to run around and shout his lungs out—and he does but only internally: even with his mind at the brink of total chaos he is fully aware his current location is in a public restaurant and he has a reputation to uphold. That’s basically the only thing stopping him from making a complete fool of himself. Then again, to his defense, this is not something that happens to people on a regular basis, if at all, and understandably even Seokjin’s first reaction in the situation is to assume he really has gone nuts, and not necessarily in a fun, controlled kind of way that could, perhaps, be expected of him.
The reaction is justified if Seokjin can give his honest opinion, it’s not that you learn every day you suddenly possess one of the superpowers you dreamed of having as a kid. If Seokjin had got to choose, he would have picked something different, though, invisibility or an ability to fly, something cooler and more useful, you know, but apparently his opinion was not that important in the grand scheme of things. Indeed, why wasn’t he asked? He could almost consider that rude. Where are the manners? What about consent?
Seokjin is so indignant at the way he’s treated and the lack of choice on his part that he almost bypasses such valid concerns as how or why or what in the hell, but Seokjin isn’t sure if he even has enough brain power to host a successful Q&A session at two in the morning. Geez, couldn’t anything in his life be normal for more than one second at a time? Of course, just when he had hoped his days would become even a fraction more balanced and simpler or that he could just enjoy the ride of life for a little while, something like this had to come about. What kind of luck. What the fuck.
The chair makes a screeching noise against the floor when Seokjin pushes it back and he stands up on wobbly legs. From the outside perspective he’s acting nonchalant, like he just didn’t get thoroughly shaken to the core, like Namjoon just didn’t achieve a perfect all-kill with one, simple line. It’s too much, and he really can’t tackle any of this whatsoever for reasons, and mind simultaneously blank and full of importantly irrelevant questions Seokin walks toward the exit in haze, almost bumping into a glass door on his way out. Only later, when he’s fled the scene and he’s sitting in the back of a car getting a drive home, half awake, half dozing off, does he realize he never said proper goodbyes to Namjoon.
Way to go, Seokjin. Way to go.