Jin had always thought of himself as a normal guy. He excelled in things like cooking, Nintendo games, and school work, while he failed at anything involving physical activity, socializing, and, god forbid, flirting. He liked to keep to himself for the most part and he had done so all throughout high school.

Now he was a senior sitting at a lunch table with a DS in his hands, a half-empty plate in front of him, and Taehyung on his left. It was a typical lunch hour, minus Yoongi who was still waiting in line for a tray of food. Jin enjoyed enjoy the simple workings of his friendships. Tae usually played Pokémon next to him, sometimes switching Jin for whatever Mario game he’d brought as an extra in case he’d gotten bored of the first, and Yoongi kept his earbuds in, sometimes a notebook in front of him as he scratched words on the blue lines. It was peaceful and easy and Jin liked it that way.

“Something weird just happened.” Yoongi sat down on the seat facing Jin, pulling out an earbud. Jin quickly paused his game, lifting his eyes to face the other male. Yoongi flicked his pink hair out of his face for a second, his eyebrows knitted in the center.

“What’s up, hyung?” Taehyung asked, his eyes still on the screen in front of him. The younger boy was different from Jin and Yoongi, who usually stayed away from extroverted actions and kept to themselves quietly. Taehyung had always been loud and full of energy, usually able to give multiple things his attention at once while also drawing attention to himself.

“You guys know that junior, Kim Namjoon?” Yoongi said, his eyes flipping between the two across from him. Taehyung snorted and Jin just nodded. Of course they knew Kim Namjoon. At this point, who didn’t know the blond haired soccer player? He’d been the reason their team was currently on a winning streak, even if they’d been the shame of the school two years prior to Namjoon joining varsity. “He just came up to me to ask about Jin’s relationship status.”

Taehyung suddenly flipped his DS shut, his eyes wide. “Are you serious?” Yoongi just proceeded to nod his head and take a bite of his lunch while the youngest burst out into a fit of giggles. “Jin-hyung, you have a secret admirer!”

Jin could feel the heat rising on his cheeks. “It’s not exactly a secret if I know who it is.” He flipped his game back open, resuming where he’d left off. “Plus, just because he asked about something like that doesn’t mean he’s interested in me in that kind of way.” He tried to focus on chasing after the red mushroom that he somehow managed to jump over instead of run into while distracted from thinking about how his face was probably the same shade of red.

“I don’t know, Jin.” Yoongi stabbed his fork into the mixed vegetables on his plate, bringing a carrot to his lips. “He seemed really nervous when he asked.”

Jin shrugged, because he didn’t need to worry about something like this. So what if a popular and, well if he’s going by general opinion, attractive guy had asked if he was single? Jin had a nice life remaining under the radar, one underclassmen was not going to disturb that.

~ * ~

There were a lot of perks to being a senior in high school. Most of the time underclassman steered clear of you, especially the freshman. Jin has never been a scary looking guy. Actually, for someone who didn’t try, he was actually pretty good looking. Maybe that was why most people tended to keep out of his way, or maybe they didn’t and he was too busy playing a game to acknowledge anyone besides a pair of Italian men.

Another perk, was that you were allowed to take a free period as long as your grades and credits were in order. A lot of students left campus, but that was too much of a hassle for Jin, who preferred to stay in a usually deserted corner in the library. There was a plug in right next to the wall, enough space to lay out any notes or homework in case he decided to start that early, and it was quiet because no one ever came to the medieval poetry section.

“Can I sit here?” A deep voice startled Jin, causing him to jump a second too late and fall into the lava in Bowser’s castle. Inside, the older one seethed. It had taking him forever to get to this far in the boss level and now he would have to replay the whole thing for the millionth time. He shot a glare up to whoever the hell was trying to talk to him in a library for ’s sake. Right as he was about to spit out a biting comment, he locked eyes with the stranger and his voice caught in his throat.

Kim Namjoon was much better looking up close. Now, his blonde hair looked almost silver and Jin could see how his cheeks dimpled with his small smile. The younger boy, who had always seemed to be loud and outgoing whenever Jin saw him from afar, looked timid and shy. His hand lightly held the chair on the other side of the table, waiting on Jin’s permission.

Jin could only give a slight nod.

“Sorry to interrupt your game,” Namjoon quickly apologized as he took a seat, his feet accidentally bumping into Jin’s outstretched legs. Jin shot them back, sitting straight in his chair. He could feel heat rising into his lightly tanned cheeks. Namjoon was no longer making eye contact with him, but rather switching between staring at his own hands to the bag he’d set in the chair on his right. “Uh—most of the other tables were taken, or…” He trailed off and the older followed his line of sight to the empty tables a few feet away, “...or something like that.”

Jin was worried that maybe his eye sight was going bad from being in such close proximity to such a cute guy, because he could swear that a pink color was now tinting the soccer star’s cheeks. “Its fine,” Jin said without much thought, his hyung instincts picking up as he felt a need to comfort the other. “It’s nicer to sit with someone, anyway.”

Namjoon smiled fully and Jin noticed how much deeper his dimple were this time and how his eyes crinkled into little crescents. He gulped, looking back down to the game in his hands. He heard paper shuffle and when he peaked back up at the blond-haired boy, he saw that Namjoon had pulled out his own homework. They stayed like that for the rest of the hour, neither one bringing up conversation again.

When the bell rang, Namjoon jumped to his feet and murmured a quick goodbye before leaving Jin to wonder what the hell just happened.

~ * ~

The new library arrangement continued for the rest of the week, but not much was said past greetings and goodbyes between the two students. Usually this would have bothered Jin, he typically shied away from interacting with people if he didn’t need too. He wouldn’t call himself shy, more like content with his current social standing and friendships. But with Namjoon it was different. All of a sudden Jin’s voice caught in his throat, he found himself wanting to break the silence with small talk or anything so that the younger’s dark eyes would meet his own instead of stay trained on the English homework in front of him. All of a sudden, shy was the perfect word to describe Jin, also awkward, and flustered, and just all around nerve-wracked by the tall soccer player.

So by the time Friday rolled around, Jin found himself less focused on the game in front of him and more focused on the blond standing in line waiting on food and chatting with a younger student with chubby cheeks and dark brown hair.

Obviously Namjoon would have a lot of friends. That was a perk of being a well-known and admired peer, right? But for some reason Jin could feel a knot twisting in his stomach as he watched the younger boy laughing along with Namjoon, even reaching a hand out to pat the soccer star on the arm.

“What are you glaring at, hyung?” Taehyung said in a curious tone, following Jin’s line of vision to see the laughing duo. “Oh, do you know Jiminnie?”

“Jiminnie?” Jin said, his gaze shooting to the boy on his left.

“Park Jimin, the soccer player,” Taehyung pointed to the dark haired boy next to Namjoon.

“Oh, he’s on the soccer team too?” Jin asked, not really paying attention to just how he phrased his question.

“Too?” Taehyung brows knitted together, looking back to the long line at the front of the cafeteria. Suddenly, the younger boy’s face relaxed and a rectangular smile formed on his lips. “Jin-hyung, don’t tell me you’ve got the hots for Namjoon-hyung?”

Jin jumped, looking at his friend with wide eyes, waving his arms and trying to force out some sort of denial to his question. Before he could say anything coherent though, Taehyung called out to someone and Jin stilled when he heard an unfamiliar, high pitched voice.

“Hey Tae!” Jin turned in horror to see both Jimin and Namjoon heading towards their lunch table. Jimin sat his food down across from Taehyung, leaving the only the seat across from Jin open. Namjoon looked hesitant, a similar expression he’d worn the first time he’d requested to sit across from Jin in the library. “Do you guys know Namjoon?” Jimin reached a hand back to drag Namjoon forward by the shirt, forcing him to set his things down on the table and take the empty seat.

“Kim Taehyung,” Taehyung said pointing at himself. His arm reached out to grab Jin by the neck, dragging him against the other. “I’m sure you know Kim Seokjin-hyung.”

Namjoon blushed, “Uh, yeah.” His eyes met with the Jin's before flickering back to the boy next to him. “Nice to meet you.”

“Seokjin-hyung, do you ever go to the soccer games?” Jin forced himself to look away from the blond to focus on Jimin.

“Uh, not usually,” Jin said with a shrug. “Not really a sports person.”

“There’s a game tonight, you should come.” Jimin smiled, nudging the boy next to him. “Right, Namjoon?”

“Jimin.” Namjoon gave him a dark look, before looking back to Jin. He coughed slightly, cheeks still holding a pink color. “But it would be cool if you did, Seokjin-hyung. I mean, only if you wanted to though.”

Jin took in a deep breath, hoping the red on his own cheeks wasn’t too noticeable.

“Yeah, maybe.”

~*~

“Care to explain why you dragged me to a crowded stadium for a sport I literally can’t give two s about?” Yoongi cursed, glaring to the side where a toddler was throwing more popcorn than he was eating while his mother chatted to another woman, oblivious to how disruptive her kid was being. “I swear, if I get one more greasy kernel on my lap, I will strangle you and the kid, the law be damned.”

“You’re no fun, Yoongi-hyung.” Taehyung said, throwing his own popcorn at the face of the grumpy senior. “We’ve got to support Jiminnie,” the younger then wiggled an eyebrow at Jin, “and Namjoon.”

Jin blushed, hitting the sophomore’s ribs with his elbow. Yoongi raised an eyebrow, his mouth forming an ‘O.’

“Didn’t know you and the super star were dating,” He smirked. “Congrats.”

“We’re not dating.” Jin said.

“Yet, you mean.” Taehyung shoved a hand of popcorn into his mouth.

Jin would’ve responded, maybe tried to deny the accusations that he liked Namjoon, but the announcer’s voice could be heard over the speakers and he was too busy trying to find the boy he definitely didn’t like.

His eyes quickly caught sight of the Namjoon’s blond hair. He was in the front with a few other players, waiting for the game to officially start. Jin didn’t know anything about sports though, but he got the basic task at hand. They needed to get the ball in the goal on the opposite side of the field and so as the game started, he kept his eyes on the ball. Soon his eyes trailed away though, to focus less on the ball and more on the players, or rather, one player in general.

Within minutes of the game starting, the ball had been passed to Namjoon and he maneuvered around multiple opponents to kick it into the net and score the first goal of the game. When he did that, the crowd jumped to its feet and so did Kim Seokjin. Without even realizing it, Jin was cheering out for the junior, a large smile on his face. His eyes didn’t leave the younger, who was receiving slaps to his back from his teammates as he ran to the other side of the field. That’s when Namjoon looked up to the stadium and Jin swore that he was looking straight at him. Jin’s cheer caught in his throat, but he didn’t break the eye contact.

Namjoon broke out into a large grin, looking back to the other players on the field and Jin really hoped that maybe Namjoon had seen him. That maybe, the smile was because of him.

~*~

“Never knew you were such a soccer fan, hyung.” Taehyung said, looking up at Jin who was still standing with a grin on his face as his eyes looked over the scoreboard one more time. They had won. Even if this game wasn’t a championship or anything, he was still happy. Because Namjoon had scored the winning goal. Because just like every other time he’d managed to kick the ball into the opponent’s net, his eyes always seemed to look back up to the stands. Because every time he’d looked, it felt like he was looking at Jin.

“I think he’s more a fan of who’s playing rather than the game itself.” Yoongi stood up, stretching out his limbs after being crouched down staring at his phone screen for the past two hours. Jin shot him a look, but didn’t deny the accusation. If he was being honest with himself, this game would’ve been a lot less interesting if Namjoon hadn’t been playing.

“Let’s just go home.” Jin said, pushing Taehyung towards the staircase. They all three pushed through the mass of people, trying to get out of the crowded stands and make it to the paved asphalt below. Jin had surprisingly enjoyed himself tonight. It was nothing like the sports games his father had dragged him to, forcing him to leave his Gameboy behind. It was safe to say that his dad was more than disappointed when Jin had stopped going to practices for various sports at the local activity center, preferring to play the same Nintendo games he’d always loved instead.

As they were close to the gates leading out to the parking lot, Yoongi suddenly pulled Jin back. “Sounds like lover boy is calling for you.” He pointed a thumb behind him and Jin noticed a tall, blond running towards them, still in his uniform.

“Seokjin-hyung!” Namjoon called, stopping in front of the three boys. “Ah, good your still here.” He gave Jin a full smile, which slowly melted into nervousness as he noticed the two other boys around the oldest. “Hey, Yoongi-hyung, Taehyung, did you guys—uh, did you enjoy the game?”

“You were great, hyung!” Taehyung shouted, giving Namjoon a thumbs up. “Jin wouldn’t stop cheering every time you scored. These old ladies had to ask him to be quiet like ten—“

“Okay, Taehyung time to get the car ready.” Yoongi interrupted and Jin thanked him silently. He pulled Taehyung by the arm and dragged him to the parking lot, giving a wave and ‘good job’ to Namjoon.

“It was a good game,” Jin started, looking at Namjoon first before realizing the other boy was also staring intently at him, his cheeks red and lips slightly parted. He shifted his gaze to the ground below, kicking at nothing. “You—you did well.”

It was a lame thing to say, but Jin had never been good at talking to cute boys. Namjoon let out a soft chuckle, causing his cheeks to heat up for the millionth time. Jin looked up again, meeting his dark eyes, which were slightly covered by wet hair. His dimples were out again and the older wanted to just reach out and pinch them.

“I’m really glad you came, Seokjin-hyung.” Namjoon said, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve never seen you at a game before, but this time when I looked up you were there and I couldn’t believe it. Honestly, I thought I’d imagined it—” Namjoon stopped, realizing what he had unintentionally admitted too.

Jin took in a sharp breath, not really letting himself believe the words he said. Namjoon had looked for him and not just at this game, but at every game. He’d actively searched him out in the massive crowd screaming in the stands. Suddenly Jin’s heart was beating harder than before, because this also meant that Jin hadn’t been wrong, that Namjoon was actually looking at him, looking and smiling, after each scored goal.

Jin’s heart and mind were both racing so quickly that he didn’t even notice how the younger was trying to apologize and make excuses.

“I’m so sorry Seokjin-hyung, I—”

“Jin,” Jin said without thinking, noticing the boy’s frazzled state.

Namjoon looked at him in confusion, standing still. “What?”

“Call me, Jin or Jin-hyung, but none of my friends call me Seokjin.” Jin answered, for once feeling calm around the soccer star. Namjoon stayed still for another moment, before releasing a long breath.

“Okay,” he said, “Yeah, we’re friends.” The large smile smoothed its way back onto his face, his dimples coming out once again. “Jin-hyung.”

~*~

“Are you watching a drama?” Jin asked, looking over Namjoon’s shoulder to see a crying female standing out in the rain on his laptop screen.

“I—uh, no I’m definitely not watching some clichéd, sappy romance story, no,” Namjoon quickly pressed escape, but for some reason his hands decided to stop working and somehow managed to hit the volume button instead. The younger boy quickly ripped the earbuds out with a small yelp as a cheesy ballad almost busted his eardrums. Jin started laughing at the scene in front of him, throwing his bag down onto the table and taking the seat next to Namjoon. “Okay, yes I was watching a drama alright? But it’s really not my fault, hyung. My sister kept watching it in the same room where I was doing my homework and I got invested. I know it's trash, but I have to find out what happens now.” He gave the older boy a pleading look. “Please don’t tell my teammates.”

Jin smiled at Namjoon’s attempt to look as much like a puppy as possible. “Okay, okay, your secret is safe with me,” Jin reached over for one of the earbuds, putting it in his ear. “But only if you let me watch too. I got behind because of this new game that came out a few weeks ago and honestly I’ve never been good at multitasking.”

Namjoon’s eyes lit up, quickly nodding his head and putting in the remaining earbud and pressing play. After the game, the two had somehow been able to forge a friendship that went beyond pink cheeks and silent studying. Jin had somehow managed to figure out how to be calm around the cute junior and maybe it was because he was finally letting himself like the other, even if he thought it wouldn’t, or couldn’t, go anywhere. Namjoon was out of his league. The blond was overly popular and attractive, while Jin was no one important.

Still, Jin was hyperaware of how close they were. He knew he was barely inches away from brushing the other’s shoulders, or that he could he easily reach out and take the Namjoon’s hand which was settled on his lap. But he didn’t, because he was trying to learn how to be content with this much. With watching corny TV shows or letting the younger borrow his DS so he could watch him utterly fail at Mario Kart. He was content with friendship, that’s all he needed. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

Once the period had ended, they’d made it to the end of the current episode. They both began packing up, getting ready to head to their last class for the day, when Namjoon reached out for Jin’s phone that was sitting on the table. Jin raised his eyebrows, asking a silent question, but Namjoon ignored him and continued messing with the older one’s phone.

“I put my number in,” He smiled, then dug his own phone out of his pocket, waving the lit up screen. “And sent myself a message, so I have yours.”

Jin felt his composure loosening, his heart rate speeding up. “Ah—oh, okay cool.”

“Text me later, okay?” Namjoon’s smile was light, his eyes softly pleading. Jin nodded slowly, still processing what had happened, while the younger boy quickly bounded away with a grin on his face.

That night, Jin found himself in a situation. How does one go about texting the most popular guy at your school? Even worse, how does one text the person they like? Because Jin doesn’t do this, he doesn’t do crushes, so this situation is new and foreign.

So he laid in bed, his phone held in front of his face. He stared at the white screen where a new message was pulled up, Namjoon’s contact information entered already. He bit his lip, trying to think of what exactly to say. He couldn’t back out of this, not after seeing just how happy the younger had been when he'd agreed. His thumbs quickly pressed down on three keys and he rushed to press send, before he chickened out.

“’Hey’? Really Jin?” He murmured to himself, running a hand over his face. “You get the number of the cutest guy in the school, possibly the world, and you it up first go. Way to be lame.”

Before he could try to figure out some way to remedy just how uncool he was, Jin’s phone buzzed.

From Kim Namjoon
Hey, Jin-hyung! Don’t watch anymore of that drama okay?? We have to finish it together.

Jin tried to hold back a smile. Obviously he wasn’t going to disagree, because that meant spending more time with Namjoon. He quickly typed out a response, agreeing to the younger’s demands. A minute later his phone buzzed again.

From Kim Namjoon
It’s going to take forever to finish it if we can only watch one episode a day, though…

So Saturday afternoon, Jin opened his door to find Namjoon, casually dressed in ripped jeans and a white shirt with a collar large enough to expose the base of his throat and where his collarbone started. Jin let his eyes run over the skin for a second, before quickly looking away to meet Namjoon’s eyes.

“Hey, hyung.” He smiled sheepishly at the older. Jin returned the smile and opened the door wider, motioning for him to come in.

“My room is upstairs.” He pointed to the staircase a few feet from the entrance and nudged the younger with his elbow, making his way towards it. Once they reached the room, Jin did one last quick inspection to make sure nothing weird or embarrassing was sitting out. He’d had a thorough cleaning spree after suggestion the two boys meet here to finish of a few episodes, but he was still nervous to have the younger in such a closed space. They’d only been together in public and it was hard enough for Jin to hold back his urge to reach out and hold the other. “You can sit on the bed.” He said, moving to pick up his laptop off of his desk and then moved to sit next to Namjoon.

It was fine, everything was fine, until Namjoon scooted closer, his thigh pressed against Jin’s. “It’s kind of hard to see the screen from so far away.” He murmured, keeping his eyes on the screen as he moved the computer so it was laying half on Jin, half on Namjoon. Jin’s heart started to beat faster when Namjoon’s hand had brushed his leg slightly to move the computer and it didn’t slow down because now Jin could feel Namjoon taking in each breath as his shoulder rested against his own.

Jin found himself wanting to lean back, to give in to the feelings. Being so close allowed Jin to notice their slight height difference, how Namjoon’s shoulder was at the perfect height to be a nice pillow. How if Jin turned slightly, he would see Namjoon’s exposed neck. How if he looked up just a teensy bit he could see Namjoon’s pink lips, slightly puckered in frustration as something complicated happened on the screen. How if Jin just stretched a bit forward he could meet Namjoon’s lips with his own—

Jin moved without thinking, almost in slow motion, as he reached out to leave a lingering kiss at the corner of Namjoon’s mouth. The boy next to him stilled and Jin realized what he was doing and pulled back, causing the laptop to fall in between them, the drama still playing.

“What…” Namjoon quietly said, his voice almost hoarse as his eyes stayed on the older boy. “What was that for, hyung?”

“Namjoon, I-I’m sorry!” Jin quickly raised his hands to cover his face, hoping to cover just how red he was. How could he have been so stupid? What happened to friendship being enough? He felt the bed move and the laptop shutting closed. Namjoon was probably leaving, all because he couldn’t keep his ing hands to himself. Jin had done it. He had ruined everything in a single go.

Suddenly, there was a hand on each of his wrists, lightly pulling his hands away and exposing his face. Namjoon looked at him, a light pink dusting his cheeks, but then his eyes moved to Jin’s lips and before the older realized it, they were kissing again. This time, though, their mouths were fully overlapped, softly moving against each other. Namjoon’s hands left Jin’s wrist, one moving to the back of his neck, the other resting gently against his hip. Jin pulled closer, his own hands finding themselves running through Namjoon’s blond hair.

Namjoon broke the kiss for a second, moving to straddle Jin before diving back in and this time adding heat to the kiss. Soon, his tongue was on Jin’s lips, asking for entrance and Jin opened up. His hands moved to run down Namjoon’s neck, tracing the collarbones until his fingertips were under the fabric of his shirt. Namjoon’s own hands made their way under the cotton of Jin’s t-shirt, running lightly up his sides.

Jin couldn’t stop himself, breaking the kiss to line kisses up Namjoon’s jaw, his hands tugging at his shirt to bring him even closer. Namjoon breathed out heavily, almost as Jin continued to line kisses down to his neck. “You said before—ah, dammit,” Jin the skin where Namjoon’s neck met his shoulder, causing Namjoon’s grip on his hips to tighten. “You said friends—that your friends call you Jin.” Jin hummed in response, not ready to have his mouth separated from Namjoon, especially not after being taunted by the skin exposed by his loose collar. “I thought that meant——you wanted to just be friends.” Jin pulled away, taking note of how nice the red spot looked against Namjoon’s tan skin. Then his gaze shifted to the boy above him who was staring back, his gaze serious. “I don’t want to be just friends, Jin-hyung.”

Jin’s heart sped up, his lips parting in a slight gasp as he took in Namjoon’s words. “I’ve been in love with you since freshman year. The cool, handsome upperclassman who always keeps to himself, I don’t know how or when but I fell pretty quickly.” Namjoon’s hands made their way out from under Jin’s shirt to lightly caress his cheek. “It took me almost two years to work up any kind of courage to ask someone about you and then talk to you. I even convinced the counselors to allow me to take a free period even though I’m only a junior, just so I could see you every day.” He took in a deep breath. “Just so I could be near you.”

“Namjoon,” Jin thought it must be a dream. He must’ve been hallucinating that the school’s soccer star confessing to him while he straddled his hips on his bed. He wanted it so badly to be real, for it all to be real. He reached his arms around the younger’s neck, pulling him so their foreheads were practically touching. “I don’t think I can be just friends with you.” He gave the other boy a soft smile, his lips ghosting over Namjoon’s. “I can’t get you out of my head. Ever since you caused me to replay a whole boss level,” Namjoon let out a soft ‘sorry,’ “—and dammit, who said you get to be this cute? Who the hell gave you the right to have dimples deeper than the ing ocean?” Namjoon broke into a large grin, the culprits appearing on each side of his cheeks. “How am I supposed to resist those?”

Namjoon closed the distance between them, continuing the kisses from earlier. It felt different this time though. It wasn’t unsure like the first, or heated like the second. It was secure and lasting, but also filled with longing that the two had felt for each other.

“So, what does your boyfriend get to call you?” Namjoon teased, not moving too far from the other boy, his breath fanning over Jin’s lips.

Jin smirked, “Anything he wants.” He pressed his lips softly against the others.

“Well then, Jinnie, looks like we’ll have to reschedule our drama watching session.” His eyes flicked to the closed laptop laying on the opposite end of the bed. Jin followed his gaze and smirked, pushing Namjoon off of him and reversing their positions.

He leaned over Namjoon, “I guess we will, Joonie.”

Author's Notes

So, sorry this update is kinda late and also, sorry for any mistakes grammar/spelling-wise. I've been working on this for the past two weeks and I read through it once but I always miss something. I hope you guys liked it though and I'm also hoping to update again soon, but it probably won't be this long. (This kind of stuff takes me forever, especially while I'm in school.) Feedback is always appreciated and I want to say thanks to my new subscribers. I hope I'm not too disappointing.