Rental Boyfriend [NAMJIN]

Chapter 14: Narrow

"Kim Seokjin of Family Love Corp, how may I help you?" Seokjin greeted, he never knew when he had a personal call or a business call, hence he answered with formality every time. Namjoon found it amusing, which Seokjin liked.

"Ah, Seokjin-san, so glad you answered. We need to discuss a few things, this call may be long, I apologise if there's any inconvenience." The voice of his boss rang quietly through his ear, always polite, always apologetic.

"No inconvenience at all sir, not to worry." Seokjin paused Brooklyn 99 and turned his attention to the call, no longer zoning out.

"Ah, thank you Seokjin-san. So, the first thing I want to discuss is the pay raise I want to give you. I want you to be in the same role as you're in now, but I'm going to pay you more than your co-workers for it. You do your role brilliantly Seokjin-san, and I want the record to show that." Seokjin smiled softly, pumping his fist into the air gently as well, making sure not to be heard by his boss.

He wanted to be able to pay for him and Namjoon's dates, he wanted to be able to afford a lot. The pay raise would mean a lot, because he knew that the people who got this pay raise usually quit the company after a while because they had enough money to survive on their own for a year or two without the company and usually already have another job lined up in their itinerary

"Thank you very much sir, I'm gracious to have received such an opportunity." He bowed, even if his boss on the other side of the phone couldn't see it. He felt blessed to have received such a grandeur opportunity, but he also knew that more work meant less time with Namjoon.

"Now that we have that settled... there's something else we must discuss." His boss' voice grew sombre, as did his tone. His voice lowered and quietened, signalling that something was wrong. Seokjin knew that the spirit of his boss was rarely dampened, hence he too softened his voice.

"...Yes, sir?"

"I'm worried about you, Seokjin-san." Seokjin nearly dropped his phone right there and then. 'He's never worried about me; he usually doesn't care about well being... what changed his mind? What's so bad that it actually concerned him?'

"How so, sir?"

"You've been called in a lot lately by customers, and I know this must be stressful towards you, are you alright? Do you want me to call your customers and tell them to back off a little?" Seokjin's heart fell. He hadn't kept track of how many times his customers called him and he hadn't limited his visits with Namjoon. A lot of his visits with Namjoon were unpaid apart from the school visits, and he did seem to be out a lot. Seokjin thought, that perhaps, Ayaka had said something, but he was not sure, so he did not inquire further.

"No thank you, I'm all good." He denied gently.

"Are you sure? You must be exhausted." 'What is it with the pressure?' Seokjin asked himself. 'Why does he care all of a sudden?'

"I'm okay, I swear." He was talking to himself more than anyone else, reassuring himself.

"If you insist. Well, I'll be off then." 'Now that sounds more like him.' Seokjin relaxed. 'Whew.'

"Goodbye sir."

"Goodbye Seokjin-san." Seokjin hung up, finger scrolling through his contacts to find Namjoon's. Satisfied once he did, he hit the call button and put the phone to his ear, allowing it to ring.

"Hello?" Seokjin grinned when he heard Namjoon's soft voice from the other side of the line.

"Darling, how are you?" He could hear Namjoon choke and he could hear Namjoon's attempts of speaking. He laughed; his inner windshield wiper being activated.

"D-Darling?"

"You like it?" Seokjin asked, intrigued by Namjoon's reaction.

"Yeah, strangely a lot. I guess it's more sophisticated than babe or honey, it's pretty is all." That, Seokjin agreed with. To him, most pet names were cringy and were for newlywed teenagers who didn't know any better. 'Darling' however was a different story, it was more mature, it was more sophisticated.

"Pretty just like you." Seokjin flirted teasingly, every syllable thought through carefully and made to have a reaction.

"Don't do that to me Kim Seokjin! You know my cheeks go super red whenever you do that!" Seokjin laughed once more before smiling and reassuring Namjoon through the phone.

"I like it when you're flustered, don't worry love." Seokjin laid on the couch with his phone still in hand and readied himself for what Namjoon would say next, ready to listen.

"Why'd you call?" Namjoon asked, hint of curiosity in his voice. Seokjin tried to find a way to form his next words so they didn't sound blunt or rude.

"We have to make our visits less frequent." Seokjin winced at how blunt he sounded, not intending to sound so harsh. 'I hope it isn't like with my exes, I hope Namjoon lets me speak.'

Namjoon was in shock, his eyes widened and his lips fell into a partial gasp, automatically assuming the worst to happen.

"Are you breaking up with me?" Seokjin's heart shattered when he heard that, he knew Namjoon expected the worse, but he didn't know Namjoon would go to immediate extremes.

"No, of course not Namjoon, no. Let me explain, yeah?" Namjoon nodded into the phone, though Seokjin couldn't see it. He was sceptical, but he listened anyways.

"Okay."

"At my company, if you come into the company single, you're not allowed to date, much like an idol. It interferes with our job and what we have to do, because some of us have to pretend to date someone. It isn't ideal to actually be dating someone whilst you do this. Anyways, my boss has noticed that I've been called a lot lately, and he's starting to get worried. You see, my boss rarely worries about someone other than himself and the company, so I'm actually concerned that I'll either get fired or we'll be forced to break up." Namjoon smiled despite himself, and despite the situation they were in. Seokjin was honest, but not brutally so. Namjoon liked that he was gentle with his words but a little too honest at the same time.

"Okay, thank you for trusting me with that. I think we can work something out. How about we meet on Saturdays and Wednesdays? Does that sound good?" Seokjin cooed quickly at Namjoon's cuteness before getting back on track.

"That sounds perfect darling, thank you for being so understanding about all this. My past exes were not impressed when they heard this, most of them wouldn't even let me explain. The others broke up with me afterwards. Lucky for you, you knew what you were getting into." Namjoon was surprised to hear that, he knew that Seokjin had exes before, but he didn't know that they had left him so quickly just for his career. Namjoon understood it was hard, but to be as heartless as to break up with someone for their career? Namjoon hoped he'd never feel that way.

"That I did. Maybe it's coincidence that we just happened to fall for each other and know the consequences, perhaps we got lucky?" Seokjin smiled at the thought and ran a hand through his hair, despite lying down.

"I do think so, I got pretty lucky to have someone as perfect as you." He could nearly hear Namjoon blush, he swore he nearly did.

"Seokjin!" Seokjin laughed heavily and Namjoon smiled, he loved Seokjin's laugh, windshield wiper or not.

"I have to go pick up Jimin from school." He mentioned both sadly and happily, he didn't want to leave the call but he also needed to pick up his child. He had been worried for Jimin lately, especially after him fainting, so he liked having Jimin back home, it signified another day he got back safe.

"Alright darling, we'll talk later?" Namjoon nodded, though Seokjin couldn't see. It was more to himself that anything else.

"Yeah, see you." Seokjin smiled softly.

"See you soon." He then hung up, turning off his phone and sitting up on his couch. Seokjin sighed, looking to the turned off TV pathetically. When he saw his slightly darkened reflection, he groaned loudly.

"I am so fucking whipped."

Author's Note: Find yourself a man like Namjoon who's willing to listen to you, my god. Side note, I'm starting online school Monday, where I am, quarantine has been put back up again, so wish me luck for that. :(