OCTOBER 2023
SEOUL
Having spent the last nine months completing his military service, being free to walk through the city felt sadly nostalgic for Namjoon. A familiar face caught his eye through the display window glass. Her hair was different and her style had been adapted but it was definitely Hana. An unconscious smile grew across Namjoon's face- he hadn't realised how long it had been since they'd last spoken. Although it made sense, Hana was always more of a friend to Mimie than himself. Still, he couldn't deny that her impulsive comments and fan-girl behaviour had been his only source of confidence at times.
He hesitated to greet her. She was dressed differently. The style he remembered her wearing was always more eccentric than Mimie, but it had worked for her. Now, however, she looked like a conventional career woman. The only colour he recognised on her was on her nails, everything else was bland and neutral and her skirt still had its label on it, which stuck out from behind. A common enough mistake for most, but Hana had always been so well put together in his memory.
Without even having a conversation he could sense the dramatic change in her and it caught him off guard. It was more than that, though. There was an undercurrent of nervous energy like when he took the stage at any event being streamed live, or at a concert. The drive of having something to prove. What exactly it was that he felt the need to prove to Hana of all people, he wasn't sure.
Hana had been relentlessly supportive of him since the day they met, uncomfortably so at times. She'd been his very own personal fangirl, always within reach, always excited to see him, always mournful to leave. He'd lost her when he'd lost Mimie. She'd all but fallen off the map in the last few years and to see her before him, just a glass window away was oddly uplifting.
Despite his reservations, Joon found himself stood before her, beaming. Anyone would have thought she was the idol and he was the fan.
"Hana-ssi?" Blinking in shock, a moment of silence passed before Hana jumped to her feet, greeting him with a bow and a confused expression.
"Namjoon-Oppa," Her eyes were wide but not with the usual excitement, instead, there was a hint of panic in her voice.
Only then did it cross Joon's mind that it might not have been entirely appropriate for him to impose of her out of the blue. His eyes drifted across the table laden with sweets and cakes, before landing on a middle-aged woman in a suit and an older gentleman- he was definitely older than Jin, if not already 40.
"It's a surprise to see you here." She spoke so formally that Joon couldn't help feeling discouraged. He had to physically prevent himself from looking hurt and confused.
"I'm sorry," he blurted, bowing regretfully, "I was just walking and it's been so long-,"
"Naekkeo, you didn't tell me you had such famous friends," The older man stood, one arm wrapping around Hana's waist and the other extending forward toward Joon. He accepted the gesture, but couldn't fight the way his brow furrowed. The man had called her 'Naekkeo', and the way he was holding her was so intimate... surely she wasn't in a relationship with him.
"I didn't mention it?" she chuckled, although in Joon's opinion it sounded a little forced. "Jagiya, this is Namjoon," she spoke before anyone could respond, "Namjoon-Oppa, this is my fiance, Lee Kwangkyu."
"Fiance?" Joon echoed with shock, his eyes finally catching sight of the heavy rock situated on a bright gold band on her fourth finger. Now, Namjoon really wasn't one to cast judgements about who a person chooses to love, but something about this particular pairing left a chill in his veins. It didn't sit right with him.
"Wow, congratulations," he quickly recovered, forcing out a wide smile whilst plotting his quickest way out of there. He'd not thought through the encounter and now they were all uncomfortable. "I can't believe Mimie didn't mention this to me," he added without thinking, but again reality hit too late. Of course, she hadn't mentioned it to him- they hadn't spoken in so long...
Pushing the thought away, Joon cleared his throat and bowed again, taking a step backwards towards the door,
"Sorry to have interrupted, I just wanted to say hi, but congratulations again..."
"You should come," Kwangkyu piped up before Joon could make a full retreat back out of the door. He was forced to pause with a jarring amount of distance between him and the happy couple.
"What?" Hana questioned before Namjoon got there,
"You say he's a friend of yours? Then he should be with us, right?" the man shrugged, "In fact, you are all invited, we'd be honoured to host Korea's pride on our big day." Considering his aversion to the couple, and the discomfort of the encounter, Namjoon's immediate reaction was to politely decline. However, somehow he once again fell to the mercy of his body. Accepting the offered envelope from Kwangkyu with both hands, Joon bowed to the elder man.
"Of course, we wouldn't miss it," That was a promise he was in no position to make considering he had no idea when the wedding would take place or whether any of the other members wanted to go, or even remembered Hana. Nevertheless, once he'd spoke the words there was no taking it back and now he was quick marching back to the safety of his car with the unmarked envelope shaking in his hand.
Still clutching the envelope, Namjoon continued walking the streets of Seoul until the sun had set and his stomach was rumbling. It seemed nine months was all it took for his city to forget his face because he hadn't been recognised all day (not including Hana because he'd approached her rather than the other way around). It was both liberating and concerning to be able to move so freely.
The Bangtan dorm was empty when he made it back, a bag of takeout in his hands. Even before they'd enlisted, it wasn't uncommon for the members to sleep at their own apartments. Right now was different because they had only just been discharged so the other six were actually all visiting their families right now. Still, even though they had reasonable excuses, it didn't stop the dorm from feeling so empty.
As it had many times before, Joon's thumb twitched above Mimie's contact information. He didn't even know for sure if she was in Korea, but his mind was egging him on to tell her about bumping into Hana and her old fiance. Actually, he had a lot to tell her. A text from Jungkook was reminder enough not to go there, however. Instead, he replied to JK and discarded the phone across the sofa.
There were a million and one unfinished songs on his computer; Joon had told the label he'd complete at least five before they returned to schedule. That was now three days away and he'd not even managed to finish one. He'd spent the whole day putting it off and now he was only a room away from the laptop and he still couldn't bring himself to even log in.
It wasn't even as if he didn't have anything to write about. Nine months away from his equipment had practically jump-started his creativity. He had a whole shoebox stuffed with lyrics he'd been forced to record on scraps of paper when they had come to him whilst he was mid-mission of on patrol. He was just scared. Scared he'd lost his touch. Scared he'd been changed by his experiences. Scared the world no longer cared for Bangtan's music. It had been so long since they'd released anything, especially in terms of Kpop standards.
*******
A/N
Heyy!
I hope you're still streaming PTD.
Who else saw Namjoonie's Vlive today? I missed the beginning because I was still asleep but his hair omg he looks so good.
Have a great day
Todays theme is:
BANGTAN IN BLUE JEANS
bonus pick of that GOGO performance with OT7 in skinny jeans
:')