Coffee Love #7 - Be My Strength
Word Count: 2,618

Date in Chapter: 2016 November 11

Note: Happens the Friday after Coffee Love #6. Continuation of the Namjin thing~ Um…I don’t really know what to warn for on their part? I guess…general suspicion? Also, some Junghoon complications. Not anything too serious, but it’s lightly hinted at in this chapter. We’ll probably have a Coffee Creamer (chapter set in the future, like the one at the start of season 3) next or soon. If you guys want it. Short chapter. Sorry.

Jungkook’s POV

        “Hyung,” Jungkook says, lying on his back with his head hanging off the bed. He looks at this boyfriend, who is busy on his computer. Messaging his instructor or something, Jungkook doesn’t really know. Ever since the break started, he had been more focused on his work than ever before, even now that Yoongi had given him the day off, he still focuses more on getting his work done than he does on Jungkook. He knows he’s being selfish, but Jungkook is sure that he doesn’t like this focused and determined Jihoon when Jungkook’s not the thing he’s focused on. “It’s like…two o’clock, and we haven’t eaten anything yet.” He rolls over onto his stomach. “Come on. Let’s go somewhere for lunch.”

“We can order something in,” Jihoon says without looking away from his computer. He’s supposedly e-mailing his instructor to ask about one of the designs in his current assignment. “I don’t have the time to go out and eat.”

“You don’t have the time for anything these days.” Jungkook complains, sitting up on the bed. “You don’t have time for me,” He adds under his breath, but he’s sure that Jihoon doesn’t hear it. He grabs his phone, but he only taps the screen as he thinks. “What do you want to eat?”

Jihoon doesn’t respond right away. He sits and stares at his computer screen at first, and his eyes soon brighten up. He sets his notebook aside and walks over to the bed, standing in front of Jungkook. It’s weird to say, but he actually looks tall from this perspective, where Jungkook is lying on his stomach, looking up at him. “We can go somewhere if you’d prefer.” Jihoon says.

“I thought you were too busy.” Jungkook says back, and he pushes himself up into a sitting position, and Jihoon slips between his legs, wrapping his arms around the younger’s neck.

“I just asked my instructor for an extension on my project.” Jihoon tells him before leaning in and placing a kiss on his lips. “I didn’t expect him to, but he already replied and told me that he’d give it to me.”

Jungkook is thankful that Jihoon has more laid back instructors this semester. Last year, he couldn’t get any extensions regardless of his reasonings. “I want lamb skewers, then.” Jungkook says as he places his hands on Jihoon’s hips.

“Anything you want,” Jihoon tells him. “I’ll buy it.”

Jimin’s POV

        “Park Jiminie!”

Jimin turns around at the sound of Taehyung’s voice. The younger is walking into the office with go bags of food, and, had it been anyone else coming to Jimin’s work in the middle of the day, he’d probably really be embarrassed. With Taehyung, however, he’s just more excited to see the other.

“What are you doing here?” Jimin asks when Taehyung reaches his desk, ignoring all the eyes that are on them.

“I came to grab you for lunch. Yongguk hyung said it’s fine, so I just came in.” Taehyung tells him.

“But I thought you had to work.” Jimin says back.

“I did, but there wasn’t much to do so Sungjong sent me home.” Taehyung says. “And it’s really boring being home without you…and it’s also lunch time. So, come on.”

“I love you,” Jimin whispers so that no one else can hear him.

Taehyung turns back to look at him with a smile. “I’m sorry, my sweet boy,” He says, teasing. “I couldn’t hear you. What was that?”

“I’m not saying it again.” Jimin tells him, and he doesn’t argue when Taehyung grabs his hand and pulls him up from his chair, pulling him away from everyone else fifteen minutes before Jimin’s break is even supposed to start.

There’s no way Yongguk actually agreed to this. Taehyung is just being mischievous as always, and Jimin knows that, if they get caught on break early, Jimin will get in trouble. Still, he can’t really find it in himself to argue. It’s always exciting to break the rules with Taehyung. Even when they get caught, it’s still fun and something they’ll be able to laugh about later.

Yoongi’s POV

        “I hope you’re ordering enough for three.” Yoongi says before laughing when Hoseok seems to jump at the sound of Yoongi’s voice right behind him. Yoongi can only be thankful that the dogs don’t bark at him when he comes in like they bark at everyone else under the moon, and Jojo is cool enough to not blow his cover.

“Hyung, don’t do that.” He snaps, lightly punching Yoongi in the shoulder. “What are you doing home anyway?”

Yoongi shrugs, and he pulls Hoseok’s hips against his. “Things were slow at the company, so I figured I’d come home for lunch.” He tells the younger one. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” Hoseok says back, kissing Yoongi. “I would if I had already ordered the food, however. You’d be screwed.”

Yoongi shrugs again, and he allows Hoseok enough space to pull away and place the call. “I’d just make you order something again.” He assures the younger one.

“I don’t doubt it.” Hoseok says as he reaches for his phone. “Noona said she wants Italian, but if you want something else—”

“Italian’s fine.” Yoongi agrees, and he joins Jiwoo where she’s sitting at the breakfast bar. “You get the day off?”

“I get Fridays off now.” She says. “You know, as long as I don’t get called in.”

Yoongi nods, thinking he’s sure glad that he didn’t choose a job like being a doctor. He likes being the one in charge and having a set schedule for going to work. He doesn’t get called in on random fashion emergencies. Now that would be something.

“Do you get called in often?” Yoongi asks.

Jiwoo shakes her head. “Not really.” She says. “Not as often as Rome.”

“So…what are you two going to do when the baby comes?” Yoongi asks. “I mean, what will you do with you two randomly getting called in to work?”

“Well, when the baby first comes I’ll be taking time off, of course.” Jiwoo says. “I get paid maternity, and, even if I didn’t, Rome makes enough money from his practice alone to supply for us.”

“What I want to know,” Hoseok says when he gets off the phone with the Italian restaurant. “Is when Rome is going to propose.”

Jiwoo unsuccessfully tries to bite back a smile as she glares at her younger brother. Yoongi has always found their relationship to be cute the way they tease each other, but they really care about each other and look after each other as well. “I’m sure he will when the time is right,” Jiwoo says. “Even though we’re having a baby, I still want a proper proposal. Like he means it and thought it out well, and he’s not asking just because of the baby.”

“I get that.” Yoongi says.

“Really?” Hoseok questions, raising his eyebrows at Yoongi.

“Sure,” Yoongi says. “The way he chooses to propose says a lot about the relationship. If he asks just because of the baby, it seems like that’s it for the relationship. You still want to know that you care about each other and that the baby isn’t going to take away from all of that.”

Hoseok smiles, and he leans over the counter, bringing his face close to Yoongi’s. “So what did your proposal say about our relationship?” He asks softly.

“Nothing since you took it back, you .” Yoongi returns.

“I don’t mean the first one,” Hoseok says, bumping his forehead with Yoongi’s. “I mean us spontaneously getting married in Italy. That one.”

“It says a lot.” Yoongi tells him. “Like that I’m sure enough of us to have done something so ridiculously spontaneous without the fear of making the wrong decision.”

Hoseok finally brings their lips together in another kiss, which Yoongi was waiting for.

“I just hope my story is as romantic as yours.” Jiwoo chimes, reminding Yoongi and Hoseok of her presence.

Namjoon’s POV

        By the time Namjoon gets home in the evening, he wants nothing more than to lie down and take a nap. He had been up since 4:30 that morning because Seokjin’s car is in the shop for repairs, and Namjoon had to take him to work this morning. Just to get a feel for how Seokjin does it, he decided to stay up afterwards instead of sleeping to his normal time. By now, he almost feels like he could just fall in the floor and sleep comfortably there. He doesn’t know how Seokjin does it. Every. Single. Weekday.

He recalls that it’s Friday, so that means that Seokjin will be hanging out with his friend after work. That means that Namjoon doesn’t have to pick Seokjin up because his friend will be taking care of that. Still, Namjoon hasn’t met this friend, and he’s not sure if if it’s even safe for Seokjin to be hanging around him. What started as jealousy toward Seokjin’s mysterious friend has eventually turned into fear that he might not actually be good toward Seokjin. Although Seokjin has been handling himself better these days, he’s still kind of fragile, and it’ll be easy for his anxiety to pick up at anytime.

“I’m going to check on Seokjin hyung,” Namjoon says to Latte, who greeted him at the door as she does every time he returns home from work. He walks back out to the garage and gets in his car. He at least needs to meet this friend just to put his mind at ease, and Seokjin has been trying to get Namjoon to meet him anyway—so it’s not like he’ll be imposing if he goes just to check things out. Hell, Seokjin is his husband for crying out loud, so he can’t be imposing either way.

Namjoon parks in the parking lot at the side of the cafe, and he gets out his car. As he rounds the corner, he sees Seokjin standing with a man outside of a car that’s parked of the side of the street. He helps Seokjin put his jacket on since it’s cold, and Namjoon can feel a fire burning at the pit of his stomach. The action looks too intimate to be just friends, and it really pisses Namjoon off. Seokjin has two arms. He’s perfectly capable of putting his own damn jacket on.

“Joonie!” Seokjin’s tone clearly shows that he’s happy to see the younger one, and it kind of vanquishes all of Namjoon’s anger on the spot. He doesn’t seem surprised or saying things like: Why are you here? You shouldn’t be here. So it’s hard to say that the two seem suspicious together at all.

“Hyung,” Namjoon returns as he approaches the two. He adjusts Seokjin’s jacket to be sitting on his shoulder properly, and he plants a quick kiss to his husband’s lips.

Seokjin frowns, looking at him with a concerned expression. “You look like you need to sleep.” He says, and his frown only deepens. “Have you been awake since bringing me to work?”

Namjoon could lie and say that he went back to bed. He could lie and say that he feels fine, but he knows by now when a good time to lie to Seokjin is and when a good time to lie isn’t. “I have.” He says.

Seokjin keeps his worried gaze on Namjoon for a moment longer before turning back to Joonmyeon, at least that’s what Namjoon remembers him calling this friend. When he switches his gaze to Joonmyeon, Namjoon does the same. He’s not a very big guy, shorter than Seokjin. He’s not even really muscular, and he doesn’t seem to be all that threatening. Maybe Namjoon really was worried over nothing.

“I’m going to have to cancel our meeting today.” Seokjin says. “Namjoon really needs to get home and take a nap, so…”

“That’s fine.” Joonmyeon says, smiling, and he keeps smiling as he looks at Namjoon. “It was nice to finally meet you.” He says, and he bows before he gets into his car as Seokjin pulls Namjoon away.

Honestly, that’s not how Namjoon imagined the encounter going at all, but it’s better that there were no arguments or fights happening that would trigger Seokjin’s anxiety. The elder pulls Namjoon to the car, and he takes the keys from his husband, telling Namjoon to get in the passenger seat. He’s in no shape to be driving home.

“I’m sorry,” Namjoon says as Seokjin starts to pull out of the parking lot.

“Why?” Seokjin questions, genuinely confused.

“For…everything.” Namjoon doesn’t even know where to begin. He feels like he hasn’t been the best he could be to Seokjin recently. “For…being distant. Not listening to you. Not trusting you. And…for not trying as hard. It just…it seems like you’re doing so well on your own these days that it doesn’t seem like you need me—”

“Don’t be stupid.” Seokjin cuts him off. Normally Namjoon doesn’t like being cut off, but it really doesn’t bother him this time. He doesn’t actually want to say anything, so he’s glad that Seokjin stopped him. “I might be better at handling things on my own, but I’ll always need you, Namjoon.”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” Namjoon says, resting his head on the window, watching the the blurs of the ground zoom past his vision as Seokjin drives. He’s mostly trying to hide the tears in his eyes because he doesn’t want Seokjin to see him cry. Not over this.

“I need you to be the strong one.” Seokjin tells him, and Namjoon lifts his head just enough to look over at Seokjin who has his eyes on the road. “You are used to dealing with my insecurities and anxiety that it’s like a normal thing for us. You know just what to do when I’m scared, but I don’t know what to do when you’re scared. And it scares me when you get scared or when you’re upset like this. I know it seems like an impossible expectation, but I just want you to be strong all the time because I don’t know how to be the strong one.”

Namjoon really hates that they are in the car, driving right now, because he wants nothing more than to lean Seokjin’s seat back, climb on top of him, and make him scream. “It’s funny that you say that,” Namjoon says with a small laugh. “Because I think you’re the strong one. If it weren’t for you, Hyung, I wouldn’t have any strength, and I think that’s why I seem weak right now. Because I feel weak if I think about us not being together.”

Seokjin spares him a glance, and a smile spreads across his face. “You don’t need to say such sappy things,” Seokjin tells him. “I can’t resist you when you get like that.”

Talking in the car is probably the best healer for any relationship. It’s really quite impossible fore someone to just walk in on you and disrupt your conversation, and it’s so easy to be honest with the other person knowing that you two are the only ones that are ever going to hear the words that said.

Feeling much better, Namjoon leans across the center console and brings his mouth right by Seokjin’s ear. “I was just thinking,” He whispers in a low voice. “How about we have some fun first, and then nap together afterward.”

He smirks at the chill that runs down Seokjin’s spine, but the elder agrees, and Namjoon can’t wait for him to pull into the driveway.