Wait, why were you thinking about that trip again? Ah yes, proximity, right. The point is that Namjoon was comfortable enough to let you go with them on their trip (and you've joined them on two other trips hence) and you slept on the same bed each time.  Granted, you only slept, but still, it counts as progress, right? 

The downside is that you still don't get to spend a lot of time together.  Seeing each other once or twice a month is not normal for a non-long distance relationship.  What's the point of you moving to Seoul if you don't get to be with Namjoon often? You live 20 mins away from each other by bicycle, for Pete's sake. So with a sad sigh, you rate Proximity as Needs Improvement.

The third and last item on your list is Recall.  How often does Namjoon think about you? What are the things around him that remind him of you?  Thinking about his room back at the BTS dorm, you groaned in frustration, remembering he doesn't keep a single picture of you.  It's not as if you didn't try. Whenever you meet, you make sure you take a couple selca with his phone.  It's not your fault he keeps losing his phone, darn it!  Last Valentine's day, you even gifted him a photobook full of pictures taken while you were on your monthly dates.

You checked your phone to count how many times he initiated a text conversation or a phone call with you in the last 3 months and came up with less than a dozen. Too low, you thought. Why were you always the one who texted or called first? Were you also the one who asked him out on dates? You tried to recall-- well, the movie date with Tae and Lena was Namjoon's idea, or at least it might have been Tae's, but still, Namjoon asked you out, so that definitely counted as a point for him.  The shopping date for his dad's birthday gift was Namjoon's idea as well, so two points for him,  but it was your idea to join him and his group on their out-of country concerts, so that counts as three for you.  

Namjoon asked you out on Valentine's day, but you may have given him a nudge or two the week before, so you may have to count that as half for him and half for you.  He has appeared without any prior announcement on your doorstep twice before  when he was feeling down (yes, despite how talented and gorgeous Namjoon is, he still gets moments of insecurity and depression) and spent those days on your couch watching sitcoms while you cooked him his favorite comfort food.  The rest of the times you were together, you were the one who suggested hanging out so a total of 4.5 points for Namjoon and about 2 dozen points for you.  Definitely not a good sign.

All in all, it seems your plan to make Namjoon fall in love with you is not progressing as well as you hoped.  You fell asleep with a frown.

____________

Saturday morning came and you met Namjoon's family for brunch at their hotel.  Namjoon came late because BTS had a guesting at an early morning talk show.  You were chatting with his sister while finishing up your second cup of coffee when you felt a kiss on your head and Namjoon's hand on your shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm late," he apologized to his parents.  

"It's okay, son. You came as early as you could." his mom said, opening her arms for a hug and a kiss. Namjoon complied, then hugged his father, too. He then forced his sister, who took the seat beside you when you started chatting, to move back to her original seat.

You passed him the bread basket and poured him some coffee.  

"Oppa, will you have time to come to Ilsan before I go back to the US?" Nara asked.

"I'm not sure, Nara-ah," Namjoon replied. "We're busy promoting our new song.  But later this year, in September, we'll be having a concert tour in the US. I'll have a week free after the LA concert so i can visit you at university."

This was news to you and you couldn't hide your surprise. Namjoon must have felt your silent response to his words so he turned to you and said, "I only confirmed it with Bang PD-nim this morning. "

"That's great, Oppa!" Nara exclaimed. "I have so many places to show you. And you can meet my friends there."  Nara looked at you and asked, "Do you want to come, too? It would be even better if you're there."

"I don't know, Nara.  I have to check my work schedule." you said.

"Hey, don't just assume people will drop everything for you," Namjoon scolded his sister.  

"I agree it will be good for you to visit Nara in the US, ________-ah," Namjoon's father said.  "You kids can have a little bonding time before you all settle down to get married."

Nara complained, "I'm not planning on getting married for years and years, Appa."

"Ssh, Nara, your dad is talking about your Oppa." their mom explained.

You gave a sideways glance to Namjoon, trying to see how he felt about the mention of marriage again, but he just continued eating.

___________

You and Namjoon dropped his family off at the airport.  His mom took him aside and talked to him for about 20 minutes before they checked in and went in at the boarding gates.

On your way back to the city, you asked if he had plans for the day.

"Not really.  Suga-hyung just want to run through the arrangement for this new song we wrote." 

"Ah, so he's back in Seoul now?" you remembered Suga was in Daegu just a few days ago.

"Yeah, he came back two days ago." Namjoon replied. "What about you?"

"I don't have plans today. " you said. "I thought maybe we could spend the rest of the day together, watch a movie or something."

"Well, if you don't mind waiting a bit, I'm free after the run-through. In about 2 hours I guess." 

"Okay." you said.  "If the maknae's are practicing, I might watch them or help film a Bangtan bomb or something."

"Yah, stay away from filming those." Namjoon warned. "The kids go crazy sometimes."

You laughed and said, "I'm used to it, don't worry."

______________

At the Big Hit studios, the maknae's Taehyung and Jungkook were busy practicing their new choreography while Jimin was off to the side with the eldest, Jin, painstakingly teaching him the more difficult steps. When they saw you come in, Jin waved at you while Tae and Jungkook stopped practicing and rushed to give you a hug.  You ruffled their hair and asked how practice was going.

"It's going okay, Noona," Jungkook said with a smile. "The new choreography isn't hard."

"Yah, speak for yourself!" Jin shouted across the room. "I'm having the most difficult time here."

"I think it's more difficult for me, hyung," Jimin teased.

"Blame Sungdeuk-hyung," Jin replied, passing the blame to their talented choreographer.

"Is it okay if I watch you guys practice?" you asked.  "I'm waiting for Namjoon-oppa to finish with Suga-oppa and Hoseok-oppa."

"No problem, ______-ah. I just hope you won't get bored." Taehyung replied.

"How can I get bored watching 4 handsome guys dance?" you said with a smile.

__________________

An hour later and you were bored.  BTS seemed goofy and teased each other a lot in their videos, but when it's time to work, they don't waste time with jokes and chatter.  They practice with the seriousness of more experienced artists. Maybe that was why they have become so successful as a group despite their young age.  Everyone in BTS was so determined to do well and they devote hours and hours into perfecting their moves, their songs, their rap and their singing. After they finished a set, you excused yourself saying you want to check if Namjoon is done with his work. They waved goodbye good-naturedly after asking for your opinion on how they did.  They were great, of course, and you told them so.

You chose to forego the elevator and opted to climb up the stairs to the BTS production studio on the third floor (the dance studio was on the ground floor) because the elevator was on the far side of the building and you thought you needed the exercise.  As you reached the third floor landing and turned the corner, you heard voices coming from the open door of the studio and thought you recognized Namjoon's voice.  Oh good, you thought. If they were talking, then that means they're done. You were about to shout out a greeting when you heard your name mentioned.

"Just tell ______. It's no use being miserable about it." the voice you think was Suga's said.

"But, hyung, how do I do that?" Namjoon's voice, questioning. " My parents are so dead set on us marrying. My mom even handed me her own engagement ring this morning to give _____. But I don't want to."

You felt like your heart stopped at what you heard.

"Mon, it will be more fair to _______ if you just honestly told her how you feel." Hoseok's voice.

"But what if she hates me for pretending all this while? She's been my good friend, my best friend, for the longest time. To just tell her...."

"Better than marriage without love, isn't it?" Suga's voice. "You were the one who told Hoseok 4 years ago that a relationship not based on love is the thing you hate the most. So why put yourself through it?"

"You're right, hyung." Namjoon's voice.

You forced your feet to move but it took a lot of effort.  You don't want to hear anymore.

"I have to think over how I'm gonna say it." Namjoon again.

"Just don't take too long or you'll end up married before you know it." Hoseok again.

At this, you were able to turn around and ran back down the stairs, tears threatening to fall down.

____________

Part 5 to follow.

Again, I apologize for taking too long to update. I wrote and rewrote this chapter several times, not being totally happy with it.  

Thanks to moofers3 and yellowlight_4 for your suggestions.  I have decided to keep Namjoon's story here, regardless of how long it becomes.  I hope you all bear with me :)

Thank you all for reading and I appreciate all your comments. <3