After Jimin moved into Namjoon’s apartment, Namjoon had a little bit more money to spend on going out. He claimed that he saved most of it, but the way he kept taking me out to nice restaurants made me beg to differ.

I liked having Jimin around Namjoon’s place. Truthfully, I thought I’d hate it, but he was such a polite and sweet person, always giggling and telling me how funny he thought me. Plus, Namjoon would get kind of adorably jealous and throw his arm around me every time Jimin complimented me or if he thought I paid too much attention to Jimin. It felt nice being on the receiving end of jealous attention, for once.

“It’s a beautiful day outside!” Jimin shouted as he danced into the living room, b over with springtime happiness. Namjoon and I simultaneously groaned when he flung open the curtains and caused a glare on the television.

“Jimin, get out.” Namjoon threw an arm over his eyes. I burrowed my head into his chest, trying to avoid the light.

“You guys get out. Jane and I are going to the park if you wanna join. Gonna see the cherry blossoms.”

“More like make out under the cherry blossoms.” I mumbled into Namjoon’s shirt. Smelled like his cologne and body wash. Delicious.

“Yeah, why would we wanna tag along and watch you two stick your tongues down each other’s throats?”

“Because…” Jimin pointed at the scenery outside. “It’s gorgeous. And you’re wasting your life watching Practical Jokers.”

“It’s not a waste if we’re enjoying it.”

“Yeah.” I agreed.

Jimin shrugged. “Suit yourselves. I’m off to make memories with my beautiful girlfriend. You should do the same.”

After Jimin left, humming happily to himself, Namjoon turned to me.

“Do you wanna go outside? It is nice out.”

I shrugged. “Sure. I like cherry blossoms as much as the next person.”

“Let’s go to Wissahickon Valley Park. They’ve got, like, a river and waterfalls.”

Namjoon dimpled down at me and I dimpled up at him. We both poked each other’s dimples, a new nauseating couple thing we’d started that made me absolutely melt inside.

“Love you.” He whispered, pressing his nose against mine until they were both flattened. I giggled and the sound came out nasally and half-formed. Namjoon chuckled, then kissed me.

“Love you, too.” I whispered back, grinning shyly. Damn, did I love him.

Namjoon had packed us a picnic lunch, meaning he’d stopped at a convenience store and bought us some sandwiches, chips, chocolate bars, and fruit. After a tiny bit of hiking, we’d settled down next to an actual waterfall. A small one, to be sure, but still breathtaking.

After lunch, Namjoon stretched out for a nap. I lay down next to him, my head on his chest, and read my book. A tiny butterfly floated past us; Namjoon lifted his arm and stretched his fingers towards it.

“When did you first realize you fell in love with me?”

I snapped my book shut with a strangled noise erupting from my throat. Didn’t he know I was shy about this sort of thing? He his side and pulled me into his arms, gently trailing his fingers up and down my back.

“I knew about a month after we started dating each other. It felt like too soon, but you’re just so loveable, you know? Anyway,” he continued with a soft chuckle, “it was that night you drank way too much and almost threw up on your Timberlands. Do you remember that? You were and groaning and calling for your mom. Curled up on my couch in a fetal position and clinging to my jeans, telling me you were gonna die and to tell your mom you loved her. And I just thought to myself, ‘Damn, I must really love this girl if I’m going through all this trouble.’ And then I realized that, yeah, I did love you.”

“That’s hella unromantic! I was throwing up and you fell in love with me?! Unbelievable.” I snorted. “Joonie, why couldn’t you have fallen in love with me when I’m doing something cute, like…like braiding my hair or hanging out with little kids or some ?”

“Diane, that’s real love.” Namjoon argued. “That’s like, real life right there. Who you gonna want taking care of you when you’re sick, some who likes you when you’ve got your pretty curls dangling around your face and your sweet little dimply smile, or me, who loves you when your hair looks like a squirrel tried to make its home in it and you’ve got dried vomit stuck to the side of your face?”

I started to laugh. “Boy! You make a pretty convincing argument. Now, let me tell you, I’m looking for somebody who is gonna love all of me. Like, my whole damn self. And my hair never looks like a squirrel tried to live in it, young man.”

Namjoon kissed my nose with a little grin. “Baby, you know I’m just playin’.”

“Whatever. At least I don’t wear culottes and think I’m fashionable doing it.”

“Right, but my culottes are Givenchy, and all your clothes come from Forever 21.”

I smacked him. “How can you afford ing Givenchy culottes? What the hell do you even do for your job?”

“I’ve got a couple of rich fans that send me things. What can I say?” He shrugged.

“ you, Joonie. I love my Forever 21 clothes.”

Namjoon ate another sandwich while I continued to read my book. He asked me questions from time to time and I answered noncommittally.

“Do you think I’m a good rapper?” He asked suddenly.

I looked up from my book for that one. “Uh…”

“Oh.” His face fell. “I see.”

“Joon, you didn’t even give me a chance to answer. Just caught me off guard, that’s all.” I closed my book and scooted closer to him. “I think you’re a good rapper. I don’t love all of your stuff, but you don’t even love all of your stuff. Sometimes you get it just right, though, and I can’t stop listening. You’ve got it in you, boy. You’re just working on it. Everyone works on it.”

He shuffled his fingers through his hair with a sigh.

“You mad at me?” I smiled nervously.

Namjoon slung an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. “If you had given me a bull answer I would have been mad. But you were honest. Plus, you believe in me, yeah?”

“Yeah. I believe in you.”

We shared a kiss, then lay together quietly, wrapped in a comforting snuggle.

NAMJOON’S POV

Diane talked in her sleep. Like, legitimate, full-fledged conversations in which she’d seem like she was awake and responding to you, but was actually in a deep sleep. She didn’t know I knew, but as we lay together on that picnic blanket in the park, she tried to convince me that it was a good idea to microwave aluminum foil. She told me that it wouldn’t explode, that it was good, you could use it as a blanket to get warm. I couldn’t help cracking up when she suggested that last one, which hurt her feelings.

“ you, Joonie.” She mumbled in her sleep. “I’m ing smarter than you, you stupid genius.”

“You’re the smartest, my queen.” I said fondly as I pushed a curl back from her face.

“You’re laughin’ at me, but you don’t even know how smart I am. Microwaved aluminum foil would make an excellent blanket. Mark my words, sonny. You’ll find out.”

“I don’t ever wanna find out. You’re never microwaving foil around me, baby.”

“I’ll microwave whatever the I want!”

“Oh my god. Wake up, c’mon. Let’s go get dinner or something.”

Diane ignored me and drifted back into a heavy sleep. I laid down next to her and pushed her head onto my shoulder. A tiny speck of drool slid from and onto my skin. Gross.

“You never answered my question. When’d you first know you loved me?” I whispered to her sleeping form.

I played with her curly hair, something she never let me do when she was awake, thinking to myself and whispering to her.

“You know, I really hated when you got all swept away by that Kai guy. Felt so jealous I wanted to eat my fist. You looked at him like he was your ing dream come true. I wanted to punch something, I swear to God. Almost broke up with you. Almost. But…I don’t wanna let you go. So, you can’t leave, okay? You just gotta stay with me forever. ‘Cause I’m saving up to buy us a house, you know. One of those fancy- townhouses in Old City. You deserve to live in luxury. I wanna treat you like a queen. Wanna have a baby with you. Wanna slip a ring on your finger and keep you forever.”

Diane opened her eyes and stared straight at me for a long moment. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep, but I felt frozen inside. This was not how I planned on having this conversation with her.

“Joonie. Is there a cat on my head?” She asked me quite seriously.

“No, bae, there’s not a cat on your head.” I chuckled in relief. “You .”

“Love you, Joon.” She mumbled, closing her eyes.

“Love you, too, my queen.”