okay, namjoon will admit it.

he’s ing broke.

he knew he should’ve thought it through when he saw that 385,000 won (half of his yearly budget) momentum 2.0 headphones. in his defense, they were really, really great headphones, they’re easy to spot (for when namjoon loses them) and they don’t break easy—perfect for him.

but now, because he spent said money for those headphones, he didn’t even have money to buy even instant ramyun for breakfast and dinner.

so when a flyer that’s too bright and topped with a shady font that said he could eat for free on a newly-opened restaurant miraculously found his hands, will there be any reason for him to reject? and anyway, he could tell that the hyung one year above him, a photography major min yoongi, was getting tired of feeding namjoon every day, so maybe namjoon could spare him one lunch and just find food on his own.

so there was kim namjoon, whose stomach is growling very loudly and furiously, holding a very suspicious flyer on his hand, standing in front of a restaurant named 솔로 반점. he slowly walked through the door and was greeted by an equally suspicious smiling man.

“hi, are you single?” the man asked.

namjoon could feel his eyebrows knitting into a frown, “yes...?”

he doesn’t know if the man blatantly ignored his discomfort or he didn’t just notice because his smile got wider and turned into one that reminded namjoon of the hyenas in lion king. “right this way, sir.”

of course, namjoon followed and sat on the seat he was given. it looked like he was facing an altar, honestly, all dark wood and enclosed space like a cabinet. namjoon thinks it was ridiculous. who in their right mind would design their tables like this? but well, who is he to question things, when there’s free food?

he was pulled out of his thoughts when the waiter gave him a menu, telling him to other what he wanted, and that the quantity doesn’t matter.

namjoon’s eyes almost bulged. “you mean, this is free, but i can order how much i want?”

“yes sir,” the waiter said without hesitation, smiling at namjoon like he’s blessed.

so namjoon ordered almost half of the whole menu, because a person;’s got to stock for the winter right? of course he’s a little bit embarrassed, but the waiter’s smile didn’t waver, even a little; so namjoon thought that the person who built this restaurant is surely going to heaven because he helped a dying, broke, and lonely college kid (namjoon) survive.

within minutes, the first food came, jajangmyeon, a food namjoon haven’t savored for a long time. namjoon dug in after thanking the waiter.

he was almost done with his jajangmyeon when a message appeared. he wouldn’t have noticed it if he didn’t look up at that moment. it said: “do you want someone to eat with you?” with the options of “yes” and “no” below.

and no, namjoon doesn’t want anyone to eat with him, he came here for the food and nothing else, but part of him also got curious, maybe this was some kind of twisted joke the owner made, a joke that will mock namjoon’s singleness, but okay, whatever, namjoon’s not the slightest bit offended (take that owner-nim).

so after another mouthful of jajangmyeon, he pressed yes, knocking the bowl and spilling all of its black sauce in the process all over the table and his shirt. then right at that moment the wall slid up, revealing a person on the other side.

“holy no,” namjoon exclaimed because 1) he realized that this was the restaurant’s main racket after all, asking him if he’s single and whatnot. Man, that’s so ing corny and 2) the person just witnessed namjoon getting black sauce all over his squeaky clean, fresh from the laundromat white t-shirt.

“hi,” the person said, hesitantly, “are you alright?”

“yeah, fine,” namjoon said quickly, cleaning the mess on his t-shirt with a tissue like it would make a difference. god, namjoon was so embarrassed.

the person didn’t reply for a while, so namjoon kept scrubbing his shirt vainly, mostly to avoid eye contact and embarrassing himself even more.

“are you sure?” the person asked slowly. namjoon looks at the person properly. well thank all the gods for giving namjoon a handsome and nice person to see him have one of his episodes where he breaks everything and be embarrassed.

“you know you’re only making it worse?” the person said, a smirk lilting his voice.

“,” namjoon said when he realized that what the person said was true, throwing the napkin as far away from his shirt and staring at it like it was the one who did this in the first place.

“sorry about that,” namjoon said sheepishly after a few seconds.

the person smirked, an upturn on one side of his lips, but unlike most smirks, his didn’t look cocky, it just looked like the heavens shining some kind of light on him, “’s alright. happens to me all the time when I was a kid.”

“well… you were a kid then,” namjoon said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

the person laughed. “i’m seokjin.” he reached out across the table, offering his hand for namjoon to shake. namjoon noticed how broad his shoulders were.

“namjoon,” he said, shaking seokjin’s hand once before letting go.

they settled into quite an awkward silence, seokjin was still slurping on his jajangmyeon (namjoon held back all the cliché about destiny and fate his mind was threatening to even think about) when namjoon’s waiter arrived, carrying a rug on one hand (even though namjoon didn’t remember calling for him) and another dish in the other hand.

“this service is for couples,” the waiter said curtly, smiling at the both of them before wiping the mess namjoon made in a flash and leaving them again.

they laughed awkwardly. couples?

“so do you like to eat it without sauce?” seokjin asked, peering into the bowl in front of them. namjoon has no idea what he’s talking about, but he said yes, so that he won’t embarrass himself for even asking what the food is.

seokjin sighed, “thank god, i was worried you’d say no.” and poured all the red liquid into the dish.

namjoon took one serving and quickly had a taste, choking at how spicy it was.

“so, what do you do namjoon?” seokjin asked while chewing on the unknown food like it was cotton candy. what the . how does he even eat that.

“erm, i’m an economics major on seoul university,” namjoon answered, getting a serving of the food in front of him. he was still hungry, and the smell of the food is appealing enough.

“oh! i go to seoul university too. i’m double in creative writing and psychology,” and wow, a handsome, nice, and smart guy—whatever did he do to deserve such treatment from the skies?

“really.” namjoon replied, and it sounded like he was bored and disbelieving and rude so he quickly covered it up with a cough and blurting up whatever’s on his mind.

which turned out to be a bad idea. because what came out was: “are you doing anything after this?”

seokjin’s eye widened a little before he laughed. “you’re so cute,” seokjin said in between laughs, “and no, I got nothing to do except for twelve-page essays and finals to study for, but that can be done later, right?”

“uhh…”

“i’m kidding, namjoonie,” seokjin said, laughing again, “sure, i would love to go out with you.”

okay, namjoon will admit it.

he’s ing broke.

he knew he should’ve thought it through when he saw that 385,000 won (half of his yearly budget) momentum 2.0 headphones. in his defense, they were really, really great headphones, they’re easy to spot (for when namjoon loses them) and they don’t break easy—perfect for him.

but now, because he spent said money for those headphones, he didn’t even have money to buy even instant ramyun for breakfast and dinner.

so when a flyer that’s too bright and topped with a shady font that said he could eat for free on a newly-opened restaurant miraculously found his hands, will there be any reason for him to reject? and anyway, he could tell that the hyung one year above him, a photography major min yoongi, was getting tired of feeding namjoon every day, so maybe namjoon could spare him one lunch and just find food on his own.

so there was kim namjoon, whose stomach is growling very loudly and furiously, holding a very suspicious flyer on his hand, standing in front of a restaurant named 솔로 반점. he slowly walked through the door and was greeted by an equally suspicious smiling man.

“hi, are you single?” the man asked.

namjoon could feel his eyebrows knitting into a frown, “yes..?”

he doesn’t know if the man blatantly ignored his discomfort or he didn’t just notice because his smile got wider and turned into one that reminded namjoon of the hyenas in lion king. “right this way, sir.”

of course, namjoon followed and sat on the seat he was given. it looked like he was facing an altar, honestly, all dark wood and enclosed space like a cabinet. namjoon thinks it was ridiculous. who in their right mind would design their tables like this? but well, who is he to question things, when there’s free food?

he was pulled out of his thoughts when the waiter gave him a menu, telling him to other what he wanted, and that the quantity doesn’t matter.

namjoon’s eyes almost bulged. “you mean, this is free, but I can order how much I want?”

“yes sir,” the waiter said without hesitation, smiling at namjoon like he’s blessed.

so namjoon ordered almost half of the whole menu, because a person;’s got to stock for the winter right? of course he’s a little bit embarrassed, but the waiter’s smile didn’t waver, even a little; so namjoon thought that the person who built this restaurant is surely going to heaven because he helped a dying, broke, and lonely college kid (namjoon) survive.

within minutes, the first food came, jajangmyeon, a food namjoon haven’t savored for a long time. namjoon dug in after thanking the waiter.

he was almost done with his jajangmyeon when a message appeared. he wouldn’t have noticed it if he didn’t look up at that moment. it said: “do you want someone to eat with you?” with the options of “yes” and “no” below.

and no, namjoon doesn’t want anyone to eat with him, he came here for the food and nothing else, but part of him also got curious, maybe this was some kind of twisted joke the owner made, a joke that will mock namjoon’s singleness, but okay, whatever, namjoon’s not the slightest bit offended (take that owner-nim).

so after another mouthful of jajangmyeon, he pressed yes, knocking the bowl and spilling all of its black sauce in the process all over the table and his shirt. then right at that moment the wall slid up, revealing a person on the other side.

“holy no,” namjoon exclaimed because 1) he realized that this was the restaurant’s main racket after all, asking him if he’s single and whatnot. Man, that’s so ing corny and 2) the person just witnessed namjoon getting black sauce all over his squeaky clean, fresh from the laundromat white t-shirt.

“hi,” the person said, hesitantly, “are you alright?”

“yeah, fine,” namjoon said quickly, cleaning the mess on his t-shirt with a tissue like it would make a difference. god, namjoon was so embarrassed.

the person didn’t reply for a while, so namjoon kept scrubbing his shirt vainly, mostly to avoid eye contact and embarrassing himself even more.

“are you sure?” the person asked slowly. namjoon looks at the person properly. well thank all the gods for giving namjoon a handsome and nice person to see him have one of his episodes where he breaks everything and be embarrassed.

“you know you’re only making it worse?” the person said, a smirk lilting his voice.

“,” namjoon said when he realized that what the person said was true, throwing the napkin as far away from his shirt and staring at it like it was the one who did this in the first place.

“sorry about that,” namjoon said sheepishly after a few seconds.

the person smirked, an upturn on one side of his lips, but unlike most smirks, his didn’t look cocky, it just looked like the heavens shining some kind of light on him, “’s alright. happens to me all the time when I was a kid.”

“well… you were a kid then,” namjoon said, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

the person laughed. “i’m seokjin.” he reached out across the table, offering his hand for namjoon to shake. namjoon noticed how broad his shoulders were.

“namjoon,” he said, shaking seokjin’s hand once before letting go.

they settled into quite an awkward silence, seokjin was still slurping on his jajangmyeon (namjoon held back all the cliché about destiny and fate his mind was threatening to even think about) when namjoon’s waiter arrived, carrying a rug on one hand (even though namjoon didn’t remember calling for him) and another dish in the other hand.

“this service is for couples,” the waiter said curtly, smiling at the both of them before wiping the mess namjoon made in a flash and leaving them again.

they laughed awkwardly. couples?

“so do you like to eat it without sauce?” seokjin asked, peering into the bowl in front of them. namjoon has no idea what he’s talking about, but he said yes, so that he won’t embarrass himself for even asking what the food is.

seokjin sighed, “thank god, i was worried you’d say no.” and poured all the red liquid into the dish.

namjoon took one serving and quickly had a taste, choking at how spicy it was.

“so, what do you do namjoon?” seokjin asked while chewing on the unknown food like it was cotton candy. what the . how does he even eat that.

“erm, i’m an economics major on seoul university,” namjoon answered, getting a serving of the food in front of him. he was still hungry, and the smell of the food is appealing enough.

“oh! i go to seoul university too. i’m double in creative writing and psychology,” and wow, a handsome, nice, and smart guy—whatever did he do to deserve such treatment from the skies?

“really,” namjoon replied, and it sounded like he was bored and disbelieving and rude so he quickly covered it up with a cough and blurting up whatever’s on his mind.

which turned out to be a bad idea. because what came out was: “are you doing anything after this?”

seokjin’s eye widened a little before he laughed. “you’re so cute,” seokjin said in between laughs, “and no, I got nothing to do except for twelve-page essays and finals to study for, but that can be done later, right?”

“uhh…”

“i’m kidding, namjoonie,” seokjin said, laughing again, “sure, i would love to go out with you.”