Kim Seokjin is having certain difficulties in breathing at the moment.
Basically, his heart feels like it's going to jump out of his chest. Maybe he should run for his life now before he embarrasses himself. He's been used to people watching him cook, but not like this. This was different. This was unsettling.
When Taehyung told him that there was a condition for him to be able to use the kitchen he didn't think it meant the King would be watching him so tentatively. At the moment, said king is sitting on a chair with his legs crossed, elbow propped up on a knee and chin resting on the palm of his hand. He wore a set of white silk pajamas that had a neck that was way too low to be considered a minor distraction.
Oh and glasses. The King wore glasses.
At this proximity, Jin is embarrassed at his simple cotton plaid pajamas. He looked fluffy, not at all good looking nor manly like the man that was watching him as if he would vanish if he took his eyes off of him. The guy is literally following his every move like a hawk.
"Can I ask a question, Your Highness?" the elder asks as he flips some pieces of meat over on the pan. Maybe if they talk a bit this wouldn't feel so awkward. Seokjin is good at small talk, consider it the results of his improv classes.
"You may."
Seokjin blushes at hearing his deep voice. That tone should be illegal on men like him. "If you wanted to taste my cooking so badly, you could've just had someone bring you a plate, but to come all the way here and watch me cook. . ." How should he put this? He feels flattered? A bit creeped out maybe?
His Majesty straightens in his seat. "I've made you uncomfortable," he notes. A statement, not a question.
"No! No!" Seokjin protests, lying through his teeth. The king is looking at him with these big puppy eyes and Seokjin suddenly feels bad. "Okay, maybe a little?"
The blonde sighs. "Seems like I came off a bit too strong," he comments. Mostly to himself.
Seokjin doesn't deny it.
"Truth is," The King begins hesitantly, scratching his jaw a bit, "I want to get to know you a bit? You made a good impression on me so I just wanted to talk for a bit. Perhaps if this is too much then consider it as getting to know each other as friends first?"
"Friends?" Seokjin repeats, thinking he heard wrong. The King's nod, however, says otherwise. Then there's that look again, the one where Seokjin finds himself having a hard time saying no.
"Do you not want to, Seokjin-ssi?" He looks almost disappointed. Almost as if he were some sort of sad puppy. Seokjin hesitates.
It wasn't that he didn't want to. It just felt as if he couldn't. Could a simple pedestrian such as himself be friends with the King? It seemed something very odd. As if he wasn't worthy to even be in the same room as him.
But that face. Ugh, that face. It looked like it was begging for him say yes. "That's. . . fine," he finds himself answering after a few passing seconds, though still doubting the whole situation in general.
The King practically beams at his answer. Fuck. There were those dimples. And if Seokjin where a dentist, he'd be completely enamored with this guy's teeth. "Well, then how about we start with you calling me by my name," The King asks, all too eager. He lifts himself from his seat and made his way over to the elder, stopping only a few inches away from him. "You can call me Namjoon," he states, dark eyes piercing into Jin's.
Let's not get to informal, Seokjin tells himself. "Namjoon-ssi," he says carefully as if he could somehow wrong His Majesty's name. The King —Namjoon, he corrects himself— smiles at hearing his name on the elder's lips. "And then what?" Jin asks curiously, letting himself be guided by this man.
"Friends usually try to have light conversations to get to know each other better, no?"
Seokjin nods. Usually one would ask the other questions, a bit of Q&A to see if they were easily compatible. Wait— compatible?
They lapsed into an uneasy silence.
The pot started boiling. Seokjin turns to it to remove the lid and bring down the temperature. A question surges in his head. He finally decides to break the ice. "So. . .you like men?" he asks slowly, his attention still on the pot so he doesn't face the other.
The Kin —Namjoon laughed, his dimples appearing clear as day. "Is that really so hard to believe?"
Yes, it was. Namjoon was gorgeous, handsome, elegant and serene. Every woman on the planet would gladly throw themselves at his feet. Yet he let down those women by announcing his preference.
"I mean, don't you have to, produce an heir or something?"
"That's a very 'Jonseon era' way of thought, don't you think?" Namjoon replies, reaching around Seokjin to open a cabinet and pull out a glass. All the while pressing their bodies together. "Why is it always the King's responsibility to produce an heir? At the end of the day, the child will be half the amount of royal blood that I am, the same as if my sister or brother would produce and heir. If it's due to last names then the child can be registered according to the royal name. I don't see it as a problem."
Seokjin tried to scoot away from the King's close proximity. "S-so will the prince be the one to-"
"Let's leave that up to whoever wants to have kids first," the King interrupts, filling his glass with water. "I do not like seeing it as a duty. We should all have children if we want them, not just because someone is saying it's our duty."
The pink haired male nods, managing to understand his way of thought. The King —Namjoon he reminded himself— suddenly reaches out, grabbing a lock of Jin's hair. "I haven't had the chance to say," he whispers, voice low, "I really like the way this color looks on you."
"Really?" Jin asks, almost too eagerly. He felt embarrassed at the way his heart was pounding, he was sure it was loud enough for the King to hear it, even with his back turned to him.
He froze when he felt a weight on his shoulder, out of the corner of his eye he saw that the King's head was comfortably placed on his shoulder, a soft smile on his face. "Yes, I'm certain that I like it very much."
Seokjin had to concentrate on something else. He wasn't used to flirting, personally didn't even know if the man touching his shoulder is flirting. But he wasn't used to it. He was too close, his shoulder felt like it would go up in flames at any moment. To distract himself, he quickly turns around and grabs a spoon, dipping it into the pot. He takes out a spoonful and tastes it. It was great. "It's ready," he announces awkwardly, turning back to the other. "You should, uh, go sit down."
Namjoon did as he was told. He sits down at the fine table and watches as the pink haired male fills up a bowl. He brings it over and places it on the table before him. The King stares at its contents. He saw red broth, beef and vegetables. He eyes it curiously, lifting the spoon. "This is. . .?"
"Yukgaejang," Jin informs him, taking a seat in front of him with his own bowl.
Namjoon nods and then sinks his spoon into the soup, getting a bit of everything and bringing it to his mouth.
Jin eyes him carefully, expectant. He's always been one to love it when other people enjoy his food. This was one of those cases where he himself wouldn't be able to take a bite until he heard the other's opinion.
If heaven had a taste then Namjoon instantly knew what it tasted like. The beef was tender, the vegetables had an amazingly fresh taste and the tang from the spiciness of the dish left nothing to be desired. "Oh fuck, this is amazing," he breathes, taking in one spoonful after another.
Seokjin smiles, feeling content, and begins eating his own bowl of food.
After a moment, Namjoon looks up at him, frowns, noticing something before reaching out to Jin's face and rubbing his thumb across the elder's lip. Jin instantly feels the rush of heat go to his face. His Majesty must've noticed, seeing as how he smirked.
"Sorry," he says, going back to his soup. "You had a stain."
Seokjin felt his face go even warmer. "T-thank you," he whispers. Namjoon laughs a little, seeming smug.
"Are you a professional cook, Jin-ah?"
Jin got caught off guard, "Jin-ah?" he asked, a bit surprised that the other was now dropping the formalities.
"It's what your friends call you, no? Jin?" His expression suddenly turns worried. "Am I not allowed to call you that? We are friends now, right?"
Jin quickly corrects himself. "A-ah, yes that's fine. I was just surprised is all." Namjoon's teeth showed as he smiles. Jin looks away, ears burning. He clears his throat. "And to answer your earlier question, cooking is just a hobby. I was studying at Konkuk University."
"Was?"
Jin gives him a droll look. "I was kind of dragged out of my house a few weeks ago and haven't been able to attend classes."
He watches as the King opens his mouth to speak, then something seems to dawn on him and his lips form a small "oh" before he goes back down to his soup. "Sorry," he mumbles, ashamed. "What were you majoring in?"
"I was in the Department of Film & Visual Arts. Basically majored in acting."
Something got catches in Namjoon's throat. Seokjin quickly hands him a glass of water. Once he was recovered and could breathe again, the King narrows his eyebrows. "Acting?" he asks, seeming shocked.
Jin didn't miss the look he gave him. "Yes. Is that a problem?"
"No, no." Namjoon waved his hands frantically in front of him, "It's just. . .I was trying to avoid all the actors and idols from the start, it's why we never drafted any."
Jin raises a brow at that. "Why?"
Namjoon seems to hesitate before a small tint of pink creeps up on his cheeks. "Cause they can pretend so easily that they're in love with me."
Seokjin is genuinely surprised, a part of him actually felt a bit hurt. "So now you think that I can also just pretend that?"
"Can you?"
"Do you think I am?"
"I don't know honestly what to think of you," Namjoon says honestly, putting his spoon down. "I've been eyeing you since day one." —Jin blushes at that— "And you're. . .different. You were willing to be kicked out in order to help your brother. I heard nothing but good comments from the staff regarding you. You've made me laugh with one of the weirdest jokes I've heard in my life. You cook amazingly, and Jungkook seems to like you a lot. Doesn't that seem a bit too perfect to be real?"
He should be flattered. Really, he should be. But it's hard to feel flattered when someone is basically telling you you could possibly be a fake. "I guess that's up to you to decide, isn't it?" he answers, then stands and walks over to the pot and begins pouring it into a large container that he would place in the fridge. Jungkook had already taken it upon himself to provide a fridge, especially for Tae's food and even had some staff buy him fresh ingredients, plus buying him extra containers for everything. Honestly, Seokjin was a bit embarrassed.
"Jin-ah." He hears Namjoon call out. Jin turns. The King had already stood from his seat. Plate in hand, he walks over to the sink. Namjoon sets the plate and then faces Seokjin, seeming nervous.
"You're not here because of the money are you?"
At first, Jin is a bit taken aback by the question. Honestly, he was here because he was forced to be. Because some stupid soldiers had to barge into his house, kill his mother and then basically kidnap him and Tae. But he knows what Namjoon is really asking him and he stops to think about his answer. It would be a lie to say no, that he wasn't interested in the money. He and Tae needed it now. Once disqualified from the competition, Jin would have to drop out from Kankuk and work so that Tae could study, maybe even find two jobs. If there was any way they could have a bit more money, Jin would manage to at least finish his degree and pay for Tae's education all while paying for their house.
"I'm here because I haven't been disqualified yet," he simply answers, closing the fridge.
Namjoon moves from the sink over to him. He leans against the fridge. "Not because of me?" he asks, seeming a bit disappointed.
"I don't know you well enough to make a decision on whether I like you enough to stay because I want to."
Joon moves again. This time his hand reaching out, lightly touching the elder's fingers. Namjoon's gaze locks on Seokjin's and dares to ask, "What's your opinion of me, so far? Because as of right now, you're driving me crazy."
To have to words said so effortlessly to him, made Seokjin fall into a sudden stupor.
The distance was also throwing him off. The simple touch of the other's hand against his fingers made his skin feel like it was burning.
He could literally feel the blood curl up to his ears, heard his heart pounding in his ears, felt his breath go ragged. His body was telling him to do something ridiculously crazy, his mind telling him to just answer the man in a logical manner.
Given the circumstances, however, Seokjin couldn't think logically. Namjoon is handsome. Namjoon seems nice. Namjoon has fucking dimples and a blinding smile and Seokjin would be lying to himself if he wasn't even the least bit interested even though he knows he doesn't really know the guy.
So before he chickened out, before he decided to actually think reasonably about what he was going to do, Seokjin pushed himself up on his tiptoes and pressed his lips softly against the King's.
Against Namjoon's lips.
"You look like you're in a daze," his brother notes as Jin enters their now shared room. Tae eyes the blush that forms on the elder's cheeks, gives him a very smug look. "Did your date with the King go well?"
"It wasn't a date," Seokjin retorts as he throws himself face down on the bed, hiding his blush from the younger Kim.
"Close enough," Taehyung teases, sitting on the bed next to him. "You two were alone, no one else around, you were in your adorable jammies. . ."
Jin throws a pillow at his face. The younger boy laughs at his brother's antics. "You should've told me that he would be there."
"Why? So you could wear a sexier pair of pajamas?"
The elder groans into his pillow. He never thought himself that he would be in a position like this. Never thought himself to capable to just assault a man's lips as he did a while ago. Especially when that man was the King of South Korea. His feels his face grow hot again as he remembered his actions, but also remembered how Namjoon had responded. Immediately wrapping his arms around him and pushing him closer, their bodies pressed together and kissed him back with much vigor.
Jin wants to squeal into his pillow. He had never felt like this in his life. It was a new feeling. He wasn't used to it. It never occurred to him that such a thing would happen to him.
But it did.
He kissed the King. The King wanted him.
Personally, Seokjin found that Namjoon was too ridiculously charming to not be wanted back.