“Are you angry?” Namjoon finishes drying another plate and puts it on the cupboard.

“Why would you say that?” the person beside Namjoon, who is busy washing, gives the boy a look.

“Well, you keep eyeing your knife collection, and honestly, it’s slightly disconcerting.”

Seokjin let out a big sigh while finishing the last plate in his hand.  He leaves the gloves inside the sink and brings his weight towards the refrigerator.  Gulping the water from a glass, his eyes meet Namjoon’s who is been sitting on the dining table. Namjoon’s eyes are crowded with questions, Seokjin knows that, and heaps of worries that not everyone can see, but Seokjin certainly can.

“I’ve read Romeo and Juliet,” Seokjin trails with a cloudy face, “and by far it is the most realistic romance story out there.”

“Really?” Namjoon notes himself to re-read the book again afterward.

“Yeah, it shows you that love makes you want to kill yourself.”

Namjoon is mentally face-palming himself, feeling vulnerable all of the sudden.

And that’s one time when the gracious Seokjin meets Shakespeare.  It is not the first time, surely not the last either.  Namjoon himself, who has claimed himself ‘the world’s most eligible man for Kim Seokjin’, cannot come up with a single idea why he is acting so literate lately.  He knows when Seokjin cooks fried chicken it means Seokjin is currently happy about something.  He knows when he talks to his Mario doll it means he is missing home.  He knows when Seokjin changes the bed sheet to blue, well he’s just running out of the pink one.  Hell, Namjoon isn’t claiming himself for nothing.  But for the past month, after encountering this literati Seokjin, Namjoon thinks he needs to consider his claim again.

But he won’t give up on the claim that easily, yet.

“!” Namjoon curses.  He trips over a banana skin near their apartment, making him fall and spills all of the groceries on the pavement.  Seokjin, who has been walking ahead, spins around to find his dearest grapes and the new pan that he cherishes very much sprawling on the road.  He gasps before rapidly helping Namjoon recollect everything.  Only after he is sure that his precious pan is fine, Seokjin remembers Namjoon just fell a moment ago.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Oh, I hate whoever left that banana skin on the road!”

“Even if it was me?” Seokjin asks.

“It wasn’t you,” Namjoon is standing again and they continue heading back to their shared apartment.

“How come you’re so sure?” Seokjin lifts his eyebrow.

“Because I know it wasn’t you.”

Seokjin shrugs his shoulder, giving up since it was not him.

“However, don’t jump into a conclusion that fast, Namjoon.  What if the one who left it was your dearest friend?  Or an old and weak grandma?  Or your generous lecturer?  Or freaking Drake?”

“Whoever, I still hate him or her.”

“Namjoon,” Seokjin says with a deliberate tone, “if you hate something in a person, you hate something in him that is a part of yourself. What is not a part of ourselves does not disturb us.”

That sentence somehow rings a bell in Namjoon’s canny brain. That phrase is too awfully familiar but Namjoon could not recall it. He spares Seokjin, who has a proud grimace plastered on his face, a look.  Seokjin looks so satisfied that it taunts Namjoon to think Seokjin already expects to say the words.  Was he really the one who left the banana skin? Namjoon mutters inside his head.

“You’re reading a book again, aren’t you?” Namjoon asks.

“It is yours, ‘Demian’, and it is indeed a great book,” proud never leaves Seokjin’s face.  “You don’t mind if I read your book, right?”

“Of course not.”

Namjoon is determined to discover the reason behind Seokjin’s new hobby, which is reading and quoting them here and there on a daily basis.  He keeps glancing at Seokjin when they are having a dinner.  Seokjin, who normally eats with peace, is busy typing and scrolling down his phone.  Namjoon has to admit that he is kind of curious about what Seokjin is seeing, but choose not to disturb him.

“I noticed that you have a new Tumblr account,” Namjoon says after emptying his plate. His statement successfully catches the older’s attention.

“How did you know?” Now Seokjin’s eyes are fixed on Namjoon.

“Well, I’m your boyfriend.  I monitor you from time to time, and the last time I checked your laptop, it was full of prompts from Tumblr.”

“Wow! That’s like….,” Seokjin tries to find the right words, “Severus Snape-level obsessive.”

Namjoon’s eyebrows meet when he tries recalling if Seokjin has been reading Harry Potter lately.

After finishing the dishes, Namjoon and Seokjin settle down on the couch and watch Netflix.  Unlike Seokjin who is enjoying the film, Namjoon is still drowned in his own questions.  He deadly wants to ask Seokjin an explanation about his sudden change of preference.  But the question always hangs on the tip of his tongue.  After contemplating through the whole session of “The Bourne Supremacy”, he decides to ask Seokjin.

“I just find the beauty of books lately,” Seokjin answers too early and his cheeks blush almost at the same time and the world’s most eligible man for Kim Seokjin catches on quickly that Seokjin is lying.

“But you’re the most beautiful book I’ve ever read,” now Namjoon is just teasing the older.

Seokjin rolls his eyes which Namjoon simply giggles at. “I know that,” Seokjin answers.

“So what is it? I know you too well that you never have a good relationship with books.”

“Promise you won’t laugh at me?”

“I promise.”

“I met a friend of yours a while back, Hoseok. He said you always notice a person who loves to read and find it charming. He also said that you thought it would be nice if you had a companion who knew a lot about literature. So…,” Seokjin avoids Namjoon’s eyes, “I hate reading, but I’m trying to impress you.”

One part of Namjoon’s heart softened and the rest is getting warm. He remembers telling Hoseok that, but it never came to his mind that Seokjin would take that seriously. His eyes don’t leave Seokjin’s, who is immersed in embarrassment.  Now, if he recalls everything one by one, Seokjin is always like that.  Namjoon once said that he liked using saggy clothes. Three days later, he found Seokjin wearing baggy pants and loose sweater, which people other than Namjoon would think Seokjin had some kind of fashion issues. There was also a time when Namjoon told Seokjin how he liked the native English people pronounce English words, after that every morning Seokjin would greet him in English, not to mention every night he would say “Sleep well, Joonie,” which made Joonie a little bit aroused because of his false-pronunciation.

“You know, you don’t have to do that,” Namjoon says, leaning Seokjin’s head to his shoulder.

“I just want to know how you feel towards certain things, Joon.”

“I appreciate that, but don’t change yourself, even for me.”

“Nah, of course I won’t do that,” Seokjin giggles.

Namjoon feels delighted to know how much Seokjin will endeavor to impress him. That side of Seokjin always catches him off guard.  Oh, Namjoon thinks he is falling for Seokjin all over again.

“You know what?  Nowadays I’m really interested in serial drama.  I actually read less book these days, and drama will cure my bore,” Namjoon mutters, which makes Seokjin turns his head towards the younger with a face full of questions.

And soon the living room in that particular apartment is filled with chatters, giggles, and warm ambiance.

Namjoon wakes up to find Seokjin is not beside him in bed.  It’s been a week since the literati Seokjin incident, and everything is how it used to normally be.  The sound of boiling water can be heard from the outside of the bedroom.  Leisurely, Namjoon makes his way down to the kitchen, and then sits on the dining table.  It’s not long until Namjoon feels bored just sitting there watching Seokjin’s back, who is cooking.  He gets up and decides to annoy him a little bit.

“Hyung, you know what would you be if you were a vegetable?” Namjoon asks, standing beside Seokjin.

“What?”

“A cute-cumber.”

Seokjin folds his forehead and pulls off the most disgusted expression ever.  What the heck? If I had to be a cucumber it should be a chic-cumber, not a cute-cumber, Seokjin murmurs.  Namjoon chuckles beside him as if he could read Seokjin’s mind.  Nevertheless, Seokjin ignores the younger and continues to cook because he finds himself already hungry.

When the meal is done, Seokjin brings them to the dining table and hungry Namjoon hastily eats his serving.

“You’re as bad at flirting as Anakin Skywalker in Episode 2,” Seokjin says.

Namjoon almost chokes up his food hearing this.

Here we go again, Namjoon thinks.

a/n in NAMJIN we trust /O/