❛barely awake, i let precious time go by❜ - abba
it doesn't make sense how fast time seems to go. his birthday passes by inexplicably with a lame text message from his busy mother and a beautifully illustrious letter from his little sister, aejoon. somehow, october is already upon him with the burgeoning piles of golden leaves stacked around campus. taehyung and jungkook often find themselves being swallowed whole by the larger piles when they jump into them, their shared laughter heating namjoon's insides as the settling of an autumnal chill is ushered in.
jimin's birthday party comes just as rapidly. seokjin and yoongi open their minimalist, modernized dorm room to the five younger boys in a fascinating change of scenery from hoseok and namjoon's usually quite homey room. in place of normal wooden furniture, everything is metal or glass in the limited color scheme of black, white, gray or powder blue. luckily, jimin's birthday lands on a saturday and the boys can spend all day with each other, lazily cuddling on the comfortable shaggy rug on the floor while watching yoongi play some anime on his computer.
seokjin orders in for lunch, dragging a compliant jungkook along with him to the gate to pick up their large order of pizza from papa johns and uber eating some panda express for jimin who really craves it on this particular day. the group switches from the anime to the leonardo dicaprio version of the titanic that the birthday boy quotes through and through.
as cute as jimin is acting, it really is a just a facade when it comes to namjoon. when they all spread out to eat, the smaller pouts at yoongi to feed him. "it's my very very special day, gigi. i want to remember it only with special memories. please? pretty please?" and no one can resist a pretty please from the pretty-as-a-peach boy himself, so the boy sighs and begins to feed jimin pizza. namjoon giggles at the sight before yoongi glares at him with malice and restraint. goosebumps raise on his skin and he shuts his mouth, turning to watch taehyung play around with his slice of pizza.
he begins to mutter numbers, pulling off a stretch of melted cheese, ripping a slice of pepperoni in half and removing all the meat in general. "one forty, sixty, sixty, sixty, two hundred. five-twenty. no no no..." hoseok notices and eats the pepperoni off his plate. he whispers what namjoon can only recognize as an encouragement and watches taehyung take a shaky bite from his slice. he doesn't watch anymore and focuses on seokjin messing around with jungkook.
that's when jimin decides to strike, crawling his way over to namjoon's lap with the box of panda express. "open your mouth, hon." he complies out of fear, a long noodle slipping into his mouth. "babies need to eat a lot so they can finish growing." he pinches the older's cheek, feeding him more and more. "isn't that right, baby boy?" yoongi makes a disgruntled noise from the back of his throat at the comment, puffy cheeks ablaze with second-hand embarrassment.
"y-yah, jimin, d-don't play with me like that if you don't mean it." everyone seems to pause. the room goes quiet and the only sound is the air conditioner blowing through. jimin continues to twirl noodles onto his plastic fork for namjoon, shaking his head at the cynicism from the older. "i wouldn't have said it if i didn't mean it," he says quietly. "now open up or i'm gonna feed jinnie next."
"that's hyung to you!" the chaos is restored in less than a minute. they're back to watching cheesy movies on yoongi's laptop in no time as a distraction for seokjin's disappearance to the "bathroom". when he returns, the golden sun is casting a strange glow on the metallic room. "hey, i don't want to ruin the fun, but i found something really strange in the garden and i need your help." the garden was a reference to the rooftop teeming of plants all around. each year, a senior in the kymi dorm hall is chosen to run the garden on the roof to keep the dorm's tradition running.
rich boys don't always come with rich culture. another strange and popular tradition at cascata was to "haze" and initiate freshmen by throwing the freshmen naked in the pool at guadiana dorm. it was banned within the first few years and the hall has since found friendlier and new methods of initiation for their freshmen.
the first thing namjoon notices is the string lights he only ever sees in those aesthetic vloggers' videos and his sister's room. they wrap around the entire perimeter, over and under various pots and branches until they end up coiled at the base of a potted calathea. the next thing were the larger than life movie posters of pictures taken by the friday club of times when jimin has modeled for them. one of these posters was the very same 'nevus' photo of the peach dripping down his face. in the center of it all was a small fruit covered vanilla cake on a stilted table, candles ready to be lit for the birthday boy.
namjoon wishes he had a party like this for his birthday. instead, all he got was a dull wednesday full of homework, presentations and quizzes. without time to think about it though, cone birthday hats are stuck onto their heads and sparkly confetti is thrust into their hands to throw. for some unknown reason, there's a bathtub full of pink liquid near the table and a camera around their eldest's neck. the first line of action is to throw jimin into the tub, which catches namjoon by surprise since all the boys seem to be laughing. so he joins in, splashing water at the others and throwing golden confetti all over themselves.
seokjin takes photos for them, an etched smile on his plump lips. the six of them are soaked to the bone, soapy pink suds and confetti stuck to their skin after the water war soon ended. hoseok's blonde hair was now some tinted, muted strawberry laffy taffy color thanks in part to the water. "hurry, blow the candles before the sun goes out." yoongi takes out a lighter and proceeds to light all the candles for jimin. "remember to make a bunch of wishes!" namjoon reminds them, cloaked in a shared happiness that feels surreal to the core.
"okay, then i wish for jeon ju-" taehyung shakes his head before slapping a hand over his best friend's mouth. "minnie, you can't say them out loud or else they don't come true!" when he lets go, the older is blowing out his sixteen candles in a flash. namjoon, himself, is reminded he's not sixteen anymore. if the same star is listening to his birthday wishes, then he wishes for a stable year. his wish last year was to start feeling better, and the star he wished upon granted him his wish, albeit a little slowly.
when the whole cake is devoured, the group starts pouring back into the building, namjoon leading the group out with taehyung and jungkook following closely behind. the three boys wait patiently as seokjin runs after them with the key to their dorm in his hand. although not part of their original agreement, everyone decides to stay over for the night. hoseok and namjoon leave to their own room first to get their pajamas and clothes for tomorrow.
"i'm gonna brush my teeth really quick, seok! huh-" the older pulls him into a hug, leaving the trace of a kiss on namjoon's temple. "hoseok, what's going on?" he feels fingers run through his hair, twirling and tugging on strands. "what you said earlier- don't feel like that, okay? it hurts to know you even think jimin wouldn't mean what he says. you're special to us and you're special to me..."
he tries to look at hoseok's face but is held tightly in place. "please, don't pity me. i know i'm not much help but i can stand up for myself." it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts- and namjoon knows somewhere in his heart, he's going to regret saying that. "i don't pity you. nothing i ever do for you is done with pity. i do it because i want to, because you're important to me and i-" the door opens to yoongi with a flushed face. namjoon and hoseok pull apart from the shock and the panic.
"hurry up, we're waiting for you to choose the next movie." and he turns right around and back outside the room. namjoon follows him with his toothbrush and his clothes, leaving hoseok to stand there wallowing in an unsaid fondness for his roommate. namjoon leaves feeling the same fondness co-existing with the idea that he is unwelcome within their friend group.
all seven of them are entangled, despite their varying levels of skin showing. jimin decides in the back of his all-holy mind to wear only boxers to bed, leaving little next to nothing to the imagination. then there's jungkook, who shows up in a muscle top and again, boxers. surprisingly, hoseok is the next least dressed, sporting only basketball shorts and his gym shirt with yoongi wearing almost identical pajamas. seokjin is wearing a long sleeved version of the gym shirt and some comfortable looking pajama bottoms with an alpaca design. namjoon chose to wear one of hoseok's large green hoodie he wears all the time paired with his sister's cute heart-filled trousers. taehyung is the most covered, suiting up in an adorable blue polka dotted onesie.
"that's my sweater, joon," hoseok mentions tugging down the sleeves past the younger's palms. it's way too big on namjoon, which makes no sense since he's taller than hoseok. "you look cute in it!" taehyung jumps on namjoon's lap to put the hood over his head. the only thing visible now was the older's dimpled smile as taehyung pulled on the strings of the sweater.
"let's play a game, instead. we've already watched movies, yoongi." seokjin grabs one of the many empty bottles on a tidy desk and puts it in the middle of the group. for such a minimalist effort, there was a lot of random garbage on their desks. "lets play three minutes in heaven. the goal is for the spinner to put the best hickey on the other person he lands on. got it? by the end of the game, everyone should have a few different hickeys on their neck or chest. jimin, you wanna spin first?" birthday boy nods, clambering over to the bottle from hoseok's lap.
swing! it lands on jungkook. the two walk over to the closet and seokjin presses start on the timer. two minutes pass when you can hear jungkook's cute whimpers. the timer goes off loud and the pair walk out, their youngest sporting a deep purple hickey under his ear. swing! yoongi and jungkook walk over to the closet while jimin chuckles under his breath, still gasping for air. three minutes pass and the two walk out, yoongi's neck a light red from jungkook's little lips. yoongi spins. swing! the bottle keeps going, skittering along the floor until it passes namjoon and lands slightly on taehyung but just barely. in reality, it lands smack in the middle of the two.
"you get six minutes for both of them, yoongi. godspeed, partner." namjoon and taehyung stand up with yoongi in tow, sliding into the quiet closet. yoongi starts on taehyung, the younger leaning down a bit for the senior to start marking him up. it begins with the swirl of his tongue followed by the light nips of skin. taehyung softly cries out, gripping tightly onto the older's t-shirt with each bite. then yoongi sucks on the spot of skin, wet smacks leaving the confines of his mouth. namjoon feels out of place in this intimate moment, eyes watching greedily as he sucks in the event for himself.
seokjin calls the passing of three minutes and when yoongi lets go, taehyung's neck is darker than jungkook's. he walks out, winking at namjoon before closing the door. yoongi does mostly the same routine except on the underside of namjoon's jaw, visible for the entire world even if he tries to cover it. the only other difference is how many kisses are pressed into the patch of skin and he feverishly craves it, leaning more into yoongi each time. his lips are latched into place, tongue lapping at warmth every few seconds. the bites come after the initial hickey and namjoon moans frenetically, louder with each prolonged bite he is gifted.
there's a knock on the door and yoongi pulls away, a smirk on his lips. a heat makes its way down past namjoon's belly and he blushes. "three minutes are up, boys." seokjin sticks his head in, eyes widening upon seeing the damage on namjoon's skin. a deep purple hickey anchored right on his jaw and several smaller ones running across the expansion of his neck. "y-yah, you didn't follow the rules-" "i claimed him. the others are just gonna have to find other places to leave their marks," yoongi says loudly before walking out, leaving namjoon to pull down the sweater to avoid confrontation.
taehyung is the next to spin, pulling seokjin himself into the closet. swing! jimin calls three minutes, revealing several bite marks on the eldest's neck instead of any hickeys. swing! seokjin lands on hoseok. when their three minutes are up, there's no mark on hoseok, instead two pairs of red lips slick with spit emerge. swing! the game continues until everyone except for namjoon has had multiple turns in the closet. by a stroke of luck, he hasn't been chosen to go in the closet again. and then it happens- jimin's spin lands on him.
the two go into the closet, jimin immediately attacking his neck with kisses. "that idiot- thinks he can make a- a claim," he breathes out between kisses. namjoon whimpers when hoseok's hoodie is slipped over his head and the younger's lips are attached to his collarbone, engulfing the area he chooses. when he pulls away with a harsh tug, the patch is a dark blue. without really any time to say anything, jimin kisses him with such force, namjoon can't help but melt like butter in his hands.
seokjin calls time and jimin ushers the taller out of the closet, hoodie still off and slightly disoriented. "happy birthday to me."
❁
namjoon wakes up with an ache across his chest and face only to realize he's been buried by two bodies above him. hoseok is next to him as usual but jungkook is laid across his chest and taehyung's thigh is choking him- probably why he woke up in the first place. he shoves the leg away and realizes there's still an ache on his skin. that's when he realizes that what happened last night is real and temporarily on display. he shakes hoseok awake who in turn looks around confused, momentarily forgetting they slept over.
"what's wrong, joon?" he looks at the younger who's pointing at the rainbow of hickeys on his skin. "how the fuck am i going to cover these up? if a teacher sees it, i'm screwed and my mom's gonna kill me and- seok, i can't go back there. i can't go back, please-" jungkook stirs from on top of him and grabs at the hoodie. "iron man-hyung, i don't feel... so good..."
namjoon giggles, rubbing the hair back down on jungkook's forehead to temporarily ease the conflict he feels inside. hoseok leans over him on his elbow, looking at the deep marks left on his roommate's skin. "you can easily cover up with a sweater for down here. i think i know someone in one of the other dorm buildings that has makeup to cover up your jaw. if not, we'll go buy some of that shit today. if they try to take you, don't believe for a second i would give you up."
namjoon believes him.
❀
a chilly late october morning comes with more boys ambushing their room. namjoon wakes up first this time, basking in the cuddles hoseok gives him and realizing there's someone or something watching him. jimin and yoongi sit on hoseok's bed, watching taehyung scribble in a leather bound sketchbook. "mm, what are you all doing here?" namjoon groans, rolling over to bury his face in the crook of his roommate's neck.
taehyung coos loudly, yoongi throwing a pillow in his direction with a gruff 'shut up' on his lips. "my ears hurt- you're being loud," namjoon complains, holding onto hoseok's shirt cutely. the older mumbles, barely able to open one eye. "joonie, what's wrong?" taehyung coos again, this time, with jimin laughing at his side. "oh. makes sense."
somehow, the two drag themselves out of bed, namjoon limply wilting into taehyung's lap to rest some more. "he's like a little puppy! hehe." something stirs in his chest, making him open his eyes again. "can you... play with my hair please?" and the younger obliges, watching as the others intently watch on. "do you like it, joonie, or do you want me to scratch more?" judging by the sleepy whine in the boy's throat taehyung lessens the scratching and instead replaces it with soothing pats of comfort.
"you guys are mean. namjoonie and i were sleeping," hoseok pouts, slumping against the frame of his bed. "but, hyung, we wanted to get ice cream!" "even you, yoongi?" the older male shrugs before answering in a whisper. "yeah." namjoon turns his head to look at taehyung. "i want ice cream, too." after their arrangement, the five leave to get ice cream. they take a bus downtown and stand in line at a local creamery, yoongi pulling namjoon with him to snatch a table for them on this warm day.
"looks like it's going to rain, yoongi hyung." the other nods, barely acknowledging namjoon. suddenly, a cute redhead pops into their view holding a strawberry ice cream. "oh kihyun, what are you doing here?" the new guy waves and leans against the table before sitting down to sit in front of yoongi. namjoon felt his confidence drop to zero, shrinking into himself at how pretty this kihyun is.
"i was gonna watch a movie after this and maybe check out that new record shop! i heard they're carrying a favorite artist of mine there and i wanted to see," kihyun states, beaming about his plans of the day before turning to look at namjoon. "who's this, yoongi? are you guys on a date, or something like that?" yoongi immediately shakes his head, crushing the rest of his assurance that this day was going to be happy. "s'not a date. he's hoseok's roommate."
and just like that, he became only the roommate to yoongi. not the friend, not the classmate, just the sad old roommate. anxiety settles deep in his bones, but namjoon continues to sit there, a fake smile plastered on his face. "hi, i'm hoseok's roommate, namjoon. nice to meet you."
roommate roommate roommate roomma-
yoongi notices the blank expression on the younger's face, a complete one eighty from the glittery, vivacious boy that was just at his side a few minutes ago. "s'great to catch up with you, kihyun. text me later, okay?" the boy happily nods, walking off with his ice cream. yoongi goes back to typing on his phone and ignoring namjoon. the younger completely deflates in his seat as they wait for the other boys to bring out the ice cream.
jimin is the first to walk out with two ice creams in his hands, handing the slightly larger one to namjoon. "hey, bub! i didn't know whatcha wanted so i got you the biggest one with... um, cotton candy and mint choco chip with a bunch of spr- joon, why do you look sad? did gigi say something mean?" namjoon shakes his head, forcing a small smile towards the younger. "n-no, minnie. i was thinking about my sister. she's just getting so big."
the smaller boy pets his hair, sticking out the large ice cream cone already dripping from the sweltering heat. "eat it quickly, hyung. it's melting real fast and my baby can't get more sad." namjoon grabs the cone and immediately laps at the waffle cone to pick up any drips down the sides. jimin hands yoongi the other cone, a small vanilla sugar cone probably meant for a child. the older doesn't pay it any mind and starts on his own treat.
namjoon watches the other two boys walk out with three more ice creams. taehyung just has a cup of vanilla while the other two are just as impressive as his own. it's infuriating to watch them be so close with each other because he knows they like each other- maybe they're even in love. it's infuriating to know that he's the third wheel three times over. jimin laughs at a joke someone says and yoongi looks at him like the entire world is in front of him because, to be completely honest, it really is. his heart breaks and mends over and over with this group of boys so dear to him yet so far away.
when they return, hoseok cuddles namjoon in the little library at the back of their dorm building. "seok, do you even like having me as your roommate? i mean, i know it's uncomfortable and you'd probably rather have your one of your b-boyfriends in the room instead of me, so why didn't you switch me out with one of them instead?"
hoseok frowns at him, the feeling of his chest pulling away from his backside craving his touch again. "why wouldn't i like having you in the room if i like you too?" namjoon turns to stare at hoseok with wide eyes. hearts are not supposed to beat this fast. "i thought it was obvious. i've liked you for a while now. is that why you were sad today? and don't say you miss your sister because i know what that looks like," the older states, somehow getting closer to him.
"oh. you like me?" and it's a feeling that namjoon hadn't been able to label his own affections with. it makes sense now- the longing in his chest whenever he was away from one of the boys for more than a few minutes, the giggles on his lips whenever something silly occurred between them, the jealousy that rips through him when he sees them happy together. these feelings were one of a crush. it had been too long since this type of love- unrequited or otherwise- coursed through namjoon's blood.
"mmh, i like you. i go out of my way to show you that i caught feelings for you. hell, all of us caught feelings for you," he calmly states, chest puffed out and lips upturned in a smile. "even yoongi, hyung? he always acts like he doesn't even want to be around me, so there's no way he even likes me." hoseok scoffs, pulling out his phone. "seok, what are you doing?"
yoongi shows up after a minute, holding onto a chipotle bowl. he looks slightly flushed from running, guac smeared on his sweater when he walks into the room. "what's the emergency? is namjoon okay? are you okay? what's going on, babe?" he drops to his knees, setting the bowl of chipotle down in front of namjoon's chest. the youngest of the three sits up onto his knees, brows furrowed and cheeks puffed out. "do you hate me?" yoongi looks between hoseok and namjoon with wide eyes before closing them and shaking his head. "this is the emergency? i thought someone was hurt or dying or something not-"
"i'm hurting so can you please answer me?" namjoon asks, mixed emotions clouding his face. yoongi sighs, looking down at the new green stain on his shirt. "i don't hate you. is that it?" the younger's face brightens for a moment before he gets closer and leans forward to look yoongi in the eyes. "aren't i annoying to you? wouldn't it be better if i weren't hoseok's roommate or your lab partner or something?" the older growls low in his throat, looking away to avoid making eye contact as his face reddens. then he stares namjoon dead in the eyes with the cold, hard glare he gave him the time he bumped into him. "no. you're not annoying most of the time, but you're getting real fucking annoying right now. why the fuck are you asking me this now?"
hoseok cuts in with an awkward laugh, pulling the youngest back into his chest. "he doesn't believe me, ahaha... he wanted to confirm his own suspicions." yoongi lifts his lip up in disgust, grabbing namjoon's hand to bring him closer to him. "suspicions about what? that i don't hate him? that i don't find him annoying? joon, it wouldn't make sense for me to claim you if i didn't already like you."
it's endearing to yoongi how the boy turns around to look at hoseok for an already received confirmation of affection. hoseok nods at him and namjoon turns around to apologize to yoongi. "m'sorry for doubting you, hyung. m'sorry for not believing you, seok. i like you both very much." it's formal and stiff, but the two can tell by the sprouting blush on the younger's face that it's sincere.
yoongi's the first to grab his face and kiss him square on the mouth, hoseok following suit afterwards. namjoon leaves the library with new marks on his neck, thick lips slick with saliva and an ugly green guac stain smeared on his sweater. nothing changes much afterwards other than the return of a pliable, kissable yoongi in their dorm room. namjoon doesn't object the notion either- especially not when he's included in the long drawn out make out sessions on their floor.
he wouldn't have asked for it any other way.
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y'all pls send me requests for any otps you wanna see in the next chapter bc it's gonna have some smut and i have no plans as of rn!