"You have ten minutes, Namjoon," Yoongi tells him. "I can only keep the cameras off that long."
Joon nods and pats the small general on the shoulder, "Thank you."
"Yeah, you owe me."
Namjoon goes into the office. Jin is sitting slumped in a chair, back turned to him. He seemed to be deep in thought, didn't even notice the door shut.
"Jin-hyung."
Seokjin jumped in the seat, he turned so fast, his eyes grew wide. Namjoon saw almost a thousand emotions reflect in his eyes. Namjoon was sure his did the same.
It had been a while since he had had Jin so close. His heart soared as their eyes met, Namjoon felt dizzy, giddy even. He should say something, something to ease the tension in the air, something to break the silence.
Jin speaks before he does. "Your Majesty."
Namjoon felt his face fall. They were going back to those formalities, huh?
His distress must've been obvious because a few seconds later Jin's features soften and his eyes turn warm. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" the elder asks.
Namjoon nods, pulling back the chair next to Jin so that they can sit facing each other, "Two and a half weeks," he says softly, looking down at his hands. "It's been two and a half weeks."
Seokjin nods. Namjoon keeps going.
"You've been avoiding me."
Another nod from the elder, "I have." Silence follows. Namjoon squirms in his seat. How many minutes have passed by now?
"How have you been?" the king asks suddenly, attempting to break the silence.
The raven haired male raises a brow, as if amused, "I've been okay," he says. He cocks his head. "How have you been?"
The king pursed his lips together, his dimples showing as he did so. He sucks in a breath, "I've...I've been going crazy, Hyung," he sighs. It was now or never. He began to talk frantically, getting it all off his chest."I've been going crazy. I can't think straight, my mind is a mess and the only thing that manages to go through my head is you. That I want to see you, that I want to touch you, that I..." he groans and hides his face in his hands, "that I'm really sorry for what I did."
Seokjin doesn't say anything.
"I am really sorry, I know this doesn't change anything but I wanted you to know that," Namjoon added, looking at the other seriously, "I wanted you to know that I still love you. Only you. It's always been you."
The elder just sort of stares at him for a bit, his features are soft, there's a tiny smile playing at his lips. "I see," is all he says. Namjoon has to hold back a small whimper.
Please just say you still love me.
"I got your message from my siblings," he says, not getting his hopes up anymore. "Honestly, I have no idea how to prove my words to you. But I'll do my damn best to do it." He fumbles with his hands, "I just need to be sure that you still want me."
It was all he needed. Feelings changed. He just worried that maybe Seokjin's has. Geong-min and Jungkook didn't give him details of their discussion together. They only told Namjoon that he had something to prove.
Before him, Seokjin sighs. He straightens up, looks at Namjoon in the eyes, "You know what I feel and what I want." He says simply. Namjoon waits silently for more. Seokjin gives in, "I want to be with you. But I've come to realize how this relationship is not set in stone just because you gave me a ring or because you shower me with kisses. You're pressured by your advisers, your public, and the whole country. And unfortunately right now, I'm not their favorite."
"That doesn't matter to me, Hyung," Namjoon jumps in his seat, leaning in, wanting so bad to just grab the elder's hand. "In the end the decision is mine to make." He smiles, "I was actually starting to lose hope. I thought that maybe your feelings have changed."
"They haven't. But your feelings could," Seokjin notes. "One night with Jimin made you kiss him." The spite in his voice was evident with that one, "In just one night you forgot about all your promises to me."
Namjoon felt his face fall but at the same time he understood the older male's worries. It dawned on him in that moment. Sensing Jin's insecurities, seeing him look away. The only way to prove his love for Seokjin was to choose Seokjin. Despite the public's wants, despite the arguments from his advisers, he needed to choose Seokjin.
He could do that. It was intention all along. It may take a long time to do so, heck even Namjoon didn't know when the competition would end, but until then Seokjin would be hesitant.
"Please wait," Namjoon says, voicing his thoughts, "I'll prove it to you."
There was a knock at the door, "Yah, Joon-ah, you got two minutes!"
Namjoon shifts in his seat, leans in closer to the other, "Would it be too much to ask to kiss you?" he asks hopefully.
Seokjin looks away, but Namjoon can see the hint of pink on his ears, "Yeah, it'd be too much."
It hurts him, yes. But he gets it.
He gets up. Seokjin stays in his seat. Namjoon bends over and cups the top of the elder's head, giving it a quick peck. He feels Seokjin turn rigid in his hands.
"Don't give up on me," Namjoon whispers before letting go.
As soon as he does the door opens, Yoongi is entering with his hand covering his eyes. Namjoon rolls his eyes. "We're not making out, Hyung."
"Oh thank god," the general says bringing his hand down, "I did not want to see any of that mushy shit in my office."
Namjoon laughs. He turns to Seokjin, gives him a wink, "I'll see you tonight," he says, to which Yoongi replies a quick 'gross'.
Seokjin just nods. As soon as the king is out of sight, however, he slumps down in the chair and clutches his chest, letting out a deep breath that he had been unknowingly holding in.
Yoongi raises a brow at him and scoff, "Hmp. Drama queen."
"Shut up," Seokjin says, still slumped in his chair, "Yah, how could you do this to your hyung? I know you know that I was trying to avoid him!"
The general shrugs, "He looked pitiful. Also, I was tired of him coming in here every chance he got to see you through the security monitors."
Okay. That was just plain adorable.
Seokjin placed his hands over his face and groaned. Why was Namjoon so cute? Who allowed him to be this way? Who gave him the right? He was really making it hard for Seokjin to not fall deeper.
Yoongi dully stared at him before he spoke, "So, yeah. Not that I find your presence in here annoying...scratch that. I do. Yeah, can you leave? I've got work to do."
The elder removes his hands from his face to glare at the general. He gets up from the seat and walks out, but not before making faces at Yoongi behind his back.
He walks down the hall. Blushing slightly as he recalls the small peck he received. He sighs. He was most definitely whipped for the king. But he couldn't give in so easily. The competition was uncertain and Jin didn't really want to get hurt.
He sat down and got his hair and make up done. Taehyung and Hoseok were giving him weird looks. Obviously, they were both curious as to why he got asked to stay behind, he would tell them later. In fact, it seemed like the whole room was staring at him again, he didn't have this much attention on him since he was seen as a threat.
"You okay?" His newly acquired friend, Lee Jae-hwan, asks as he walks over. His hair had been dyed a very light gray that looked almost white. It had been left in its natural bowl cut fluffiness while his clothes did the talking for him, sporting a black choker, a loose pink and white striped dress shirt and black pants. "You two kind of made a big scene here."
"Yeah," Seokjin sighed as his stylist made faces at him through the mirror, "Just what you'd expect in this sort of competition, no?"
Jae-hwan nods, a smile on his lips, "What was it about though?"
"Men. A man, if I have to be exact."
That gets a laugh out of him. "Ah," he says as he finally understands. He pats him on the shoulder, "Don't worry though, I'm sure it'll be you. In my eyes, its always been you for that spot." He leans in and whispers, "Do you need me to break his leg or something? I could make it happen, I got several guards under my charm at the moment."
Seokjin smacks him on the arm, Jae-hwan just chuckles. "Don't worry though, buddy. You'll catch everyone's eyes today. You look good tonight. Really good."
Jin hoped so. He checked himself in the mirror. His black hair was slightly parted, his make up was natural but clearly done to bring out his lips. He wore a black shiny, glittery jacket, with a white dress shirt underneath, tucked into a pair of tight black jeans ripped at the knees and a loose shiny wine colored tie.
Okay, yeah. He did look good.
Currently he was a bundle of nerves. He had to focus on tonight's concert. He had been practicing his solo for a weeks and he was somewhat confident there, but his dancing during the group performance was another matter.
Still, he had to try his best. The fact that he didn't want to be hurt didn't mean he didn't want to continue to be a part of the competition. He had to make an attempt to stay. Especially with how things were right now.
Seokjin smirked to himself on his way to the practice room. Honestly, whatever happened to the whole "I'm the King baby, I can do whatever I want" ordeal that Namjoon had said on their date? Guess that only applied when you had sovereign powers.
He walked into the rehearsal room. He was a bit late but the instructor didn't seem to mind since Jin was in the back. They were just finishing up the first round of the song while Jin waited in the corner to join in.
Once the music ended, there were a few applause. He caught sight of the instructor patting Jimin and Hoseok on the back. Jimin beamed. Jin's eyes widened as he noticed the smaller boy's look.
He was wearing a low cut v neck tank top under a shiny royal blue jacket, tight black pants and a pink and black checkered patter scarf used as a choker.
His hair had been dyed silver and showed the majority of his forehead. His makeup had focused on his eyes, giving them a smokey and seductive look. Especially with the blue contacts he wore.
Seokjin bit the inside of his lip. His thoughts were interrupted as he was ushered to his spot. They ran by the opening choreo several times to get a feel of it in their wardrobe.
It was after the 5th time that Jimin slipped, falling to the ground. The instructor stopped the music and ran over. Jimin pushed himself up and just bent over, his breathing harsh and balancing the weight of his body on his knees.
Jin ran over to him to check to see if he was alright. "Jiminie," he said as he placed his hand on the smaller male's back, "Are you al-" Jimin smacked his hand away before he could finish.
The silver haired glanced up at him. His eyes narrowed and his voice broken by his harsh breaths. "I won't let you win," Jimin glared as he got up and walked back to his spot in the center.
Seokjin watched as he pulled on a smile to assure the rest that he was fine and that they should keep going. Seokjin looked down at his hand, the one Jimin had smacked.
He raised a brow at it, before he stared at the small boy at the center and just huffed a bit of breath.
"Rude little brat."