Peculiar You •• Namjin AU

5 : Priorities

"Tests are finished." Namjoon collapses on his office chair, despair written all over his face.

"And I failed two core subjects." He mutters to no one in particular, head lolling back in exhaustion.

Jin stifles a laugh as he looks up from his phone, greeting Namjoon with a grin. "That's great news, isn't it?"

"No its bad news. I just failed horribly." Namjoon says weakly, letting the chair spin around.

Jin hums, returning his attention to his game. "But its over now." He says, yelping when he dies in game.

"I have to make up my grade somehow..." Namjoon explains, ignoring Jin's gameplay. "There's going to be make up tests tomorrow, I need to study."

Namjoon groans in frustration as his spinning comes to a halt, "God, I'm so fucked."

Jin pauses his game, giving Namjoon a glance. "Don't take it personally, Joonie." He says, soothing him. "It's just a piece of paper."

"Yeah well that piece of paper is my life." Namjoon replies, sighing as he leans unto the desk.

Jin stares at him, watching as his shoulders droop in defeat. He leans back and sets his phone down to face Namjoon.

"Didn't you want to be a musician?" He asks, tilting his head in question.

Namjoon stills, considering the question. "I did. I still do, but I have to start somewhere--" He glares outside the window, "--unrelated first."

"Sounds like you're forced to be a goody two shoes."

"No I'm not!"

Jin laughs at his outburst, "Then chill out. Don't put yourself down so early, especially with big dreams like that."

Namjoon sighs once more, his expression turned grim. "It takes a lot of hardwork to get a decent life, Jin." He murmurs, wringing his hands together.

There's a glint in Jin's eye when Namjoon says his reply. He averts his eyes, looking back on his phone.

"I didnt say hardwork is a bad thing." He says, voice even and collected.

"I'm just saying you need to know when to take a break." Jin's smile looks a little bitter when he faces Namjoon again. "I mean, what's hardwork for if you die doing it."

"I do know when to take a break." Namjoon replies, a little more forceful this time. "And that time is not now."

Jin doesn't reply for a while, just staring curiously.

"We sound married right now."

Namjoon chokes, "What?!"

Jin doesn't elaborate, only stretching his limbs leisurely. "...Okay Namjoon." Jin smiles genuinely as he moved to stand up, neither mocking nor joking.

"Do you want to go home early today, then?"

"What? Why?"

"I can handle the paperwork on my own for today." Jin says, his smile replaced with a bright grin.

Namjoon gapes at him, disbelief in his tone. "That's...generous of you."

"I know, I'm such a great person."

"I'm taking that back."

Jin chuckles to himself, "See you, Joonie." He says, shooing him away good-naturedly.

★

True to Jin's insistence, he does end up leaving school early.

Hoseok looks at him in surprise when Namjoon says he's not going to stop by the lounge for today.

"Did something happen?" He asks, genuinely surprised.

"No. It's just for today."

He gathers up some books from the library and heads home, leaving Hoseok to wave goodbye as he heads to Jimin and Taehyung's room.

It felt a little weird, leaving for home while the sun was still out. The past months he's been used to going home late, so being able to see it set is a pleasant change.

It's quieter than what's he's used to as well; only the distant sounds of people and his footsteps is all he hears.

Since he had student council work and Jin to deal with, he didn't have any alone time to indulge in.

And now that he has it, it feels oddly comforting and disturbing without anyone to keep up a chatty atmosphere.

Namjoon reminds himself that this is a once in a lifetime chance, so he might as well enjoy it.

He arrives back home, greeting his mom hello, before running upstairs to his room.

Collapsing on the bed, he throws his bag somewhere near his coat rack, which causes it to fall from impact.

He groans.

He'll pick that up later.

For now he'll semi-suffocate himself on the mattress.

The mattress isn't doing much to block his air though, because its so stiff. Suffocation will probably work faster with a pillow, though.

Pillows.

"Fuck." Namjoon swears, sitting up as fast as he could before ambling towards his bag on the floor.

He rummages for his phone, immediately going through his contacts for Jin's number.

He ignores how Jin customized his contact profile with hearts and calls him in haste.

There's a few rings before Jin picks up, shocked. "Namjoon? You called me?"

"Yeah, uh, sorry." Is his first instinct to reply.

"You're not breaking anything, no need to say sorry."

"Funny Jin."

Jin laughs, "Why did you call?"

Namjoon clears his throat, leaning back on his bed. "The orders for Yoongi's pillow and table cloth, I forgot the shop's number so I haven't called in yet."

"Really?" Jin doesn't sound irritated, so Namjoon breathes a little easier. Jin clicks his tongue in amusement, "That's forgetful of you."

"It isn't too late to make a call right now, is it?" Namjoon asks, worried.

"No of course not. They're open twenty-four hours." Jin replies, easing his worries. "But you can rest your handsome head, I'll handle it."

Namjoon sits up again, ignoring the sudden dizziness it causes. "What?" He exclaims, "Jin you're being so responsible it's scaring me."

There's a huff of anger from the other line, "That's rude of you Joonie"

"Yeah but..." Namjoon tries to defend himself; trying and failing. "...it's true."

"Whatever Joonie." He can hear Jin rolling his eyes, "I'll go on and be responsible now."

Namjoon settles back on the bed, sighing for the umpteenth time that day. "Yeah okay. Bye."

He probably shouldn't assume things that just because Jin was carefree he was automatically irresponsible. He got voted president after all.

Namjoon's always assumed Jin won by pure charm, since he did have a lot of it.

"Namjoon?"

Namjoon jumps in surprise, realizing he hasn't hung up yet. The phone is still very close to his ear.

"Thanks for the compliment." Jin sounds like he's about to burst out laughing.

Shit.

"Bye Jin."