Kim Namjoon (BTS)

“Ah,” Namjoon said with a chuckle as he sat down across from you.

It had finally happened. You should have seen it long before the moment when he walked through the bistro’s entrance. You had fallen trap for your parents’ wishes, after all.

You had lived next door to Namjoon for five years now. You were both close enough to be seen as friendly neighbours, but nothing more than that. There had been a couple of times where you had shared a meal before or had a drink together when your day had been rotten, but neither of you had stepped past that point.

Despite both sets of parents wishing for you to.

“Should we go?” you wondered, and Namjoon shook his head immediately. You smiled. “You do know if we stay here, it’s considered a date.”

“Our parents will be thrilled, won’t they?”

You grinned, peering around. “I’m amazed they’re not hiding away in a corner watching on with glee.”

Of course, you understood why your parents were vying for Namjoon as your next partner. He had all the traits in a man that made him the ultimate catch. He took good care of your parents and had charmed them both. Apparently, you had done much in the same towards his. Yet, the idea of dating Namjoon had never been one you wished to push.

“They want this Christmas Eve to be where we fall helplessly in love with one another over this candlelit dinner,” Namjoon commented with humour laced in his tone.

Yet his eyes didn’t match the dimpled smile. They lingered, far too long, too hopeful. And as you stared back, you found yourself falling.

-----

“It’s the same table,” you mentioned with a fond smile and Namjoon nodded, helping you into a chair before sitting across from you.

You watched as the lights danced across the walls nearby, enchanted by the romance of it all.

This past year had been full of it.

It was rather ironic, you thought. A year ago, you had simply believed you would share a quaint meal with your neighbour and then go home, curl up on your couch watching a Christmas movie.

You hadn’t even gone home that night, finding yourself across the hallway entangled in Namjoon on Christmas morning.

And over the next few months, you had fallen deeply in love.

“It’s not entirely the same,” Namjoon mentioned, lifting a hand in greeting to the set of parents seated in a booth down the room. He then leaned across the table to you. “We’re being chaperoned this year.”

“Maybe we should have last year, and then I wouldn’t have ended up pressed against your front door,” you mused, and Namjoon laughed.

“I’m sure you wanted that more than me, Y/N.”

“All those years we told our parents no, and then one Christmas Eve, we ended up here.”

“They were right.”

“Should we let them have all the glory?”

“Definitely. Their plans led to me falling for you.”