PROMISE
( part one )
WORD COUNT 4.2K
OVERVIEW namjoon hears a new voice on campus, and it soon develops into a friendship fueled by infatuation. ( soft art school au / jeongguk is the cutest thing ever!!! )
PLAYLIST infatuation / brockhampton, promise / jimin, bellyache / billie eilish, lucky strike / troye sivan
∆
IT'S NOT UNCOMMON to hear music being played in the corridors of tokyo's art student dorms, especially in the musicians wing. it's even less uncommon to hear singing. but this is... different. namjoon doesn't know why.
kim namjoon sits on the small balcony of his equally small student apartment, golden skin soaking up the sunlight gratefully. it's the first month of spring, and he adores the warmth, the beautiful pastel colours springing up around the dorms, the sakura blossoms blowing everywhere in the soft breeze. it's exactly what he's sketching in chalk; the view of the courtyard from his balcony, in soft pastel. gentle music plays from his bluetooth speaker, perched on the small table he's using as a footrest, and all in all, namjoon feels relaxed and content.
he's just etching a student walking across the courtyard when he hears a pretty song. the pretty song. he lifts his gaze from the paper, attention piqued, and tries to identify the song, tries to find it's player. he turns off the music he was listening to, and searches.
"my v is for vendetta, thought that i'd feel better, but now i've gotta bellyache..." the song makes namjoon think of far too sweet lemonade at the spring flower festival back in his hometown, ilsan, and frosty spring mornings. it's comforting, sung by a gentle voice that could be perceived as feminine, but there's a tone to the pronunciation that makes namjoon think it's a boy singing.
he stands from his seat, still looking. he sees the comedy club kids — on more drugs than you'd expect — the harajuku style kids — they're fun, they throw good parties — and then, finally, the musician kids, namjoon's own crowd. that's where his eyes meet the source of the gorgeous voice.
dressed in a white t-shirt that makes his skin glow a soft golden hue, and a pair of mom jeans with rips exposing his thighs. he holds in his petite hands a pretty white ukulele, with flowers painted on the wood, and his fingers strum what namjoon assumes is an original tune. being on the second floor of the apartment blocks, namjoon can see him almost perfectly from his spot under the weeping cherry trees, sat on a bench with two other students namjoon recognises. he's gorgeous; his lips match the pink blossoms, his eyes — rimmed with gold eyeshadow and perfectly winged eyeliner — sparkling in the sunlight. but, above all, he's intriguing.
namjoon knows the boys sat with him; kim taehyung, a jazz nerd who owns a small dog that all the girls go crazy for, and park jimin, a dancer with thick thighs and a cute laugh. both are korean, same as namjoon. they're also both in the class he has in around thirty minutes, so he's sure he'll be able to talk to them during that.
namjoon curls a scarf around his neck and grabs his backpack, making sure his pencil case and music history notebook and book are all in there, before grabbing his coconut water from the fridge and heading out, troye sivan playing in his headphones as his yellow doc martens slap against the floor. the music building is a five minute walk from his dorm, and it's one he walks nearly every day, normal, but he almost walks into a tree when he sees the same ukulele boy walking the same route. cheeks pinkening, namjoon darts to jimin's side.
"minnie, minnie — who's the guy with the ukulele?!"
jimin jumps in shock, a hand on his chest at namjoon's sudden outburst, painted nude lips parted in an 'o'. "jesus, joon, calm down!" he chuckles with a smile, wrapping an arm around his significantly taller counterpart. "what was that, then?" he turns up his hearing aid so he can hear namjoon's rambling. this is a usual occurrence.
"that boy with the ukulele, who you were hanging with — who is he?" namjoon asks, his cheeks pink as peaches at this point. jimin grins widely, holding his sweater paw to his mouth.
"oh, that's gukkie! jeongguk, that is. he's new, and he's hard of hearing, like me, so he like instantly went next to me in dance class after he saw my hearing aid. isn't he good?" jimin said this all excitedly, and namjoon nods along. the new boy's speaking in japanese with nakamota ryuho, who everyone knows as the intimidating kid, but he looks low-key whipped for the new boy. namjoon can't blame him.
"guk!" jimin calls the pretty boy, who turns around. you're headed to music history, right?, jimin signs, and the boy nods, slowing his pace so he ends up next to jimin and namjoon. namjoon hides his pink cheeks in his scarf, but his embarrassment only heightens when he squeals at the sight of something crawling under jeongguk's shirt.
"joonie-hyung, are you okay?" jimin asks worriedly, wide eyed, and namjoon wants to slap himself. he points at the weird mass moving beneath jeongguk's t-shirt, and the made-up boy looks down.
"oh my god, sorry, that's cheddar!" namjoon really only registers the cuteness and softness of his voice, and it's around two seconds later that he realises the boy is holding a white rat in his hands, cooing at it.
"awe! he's so cute!" jimin coos, scratching the top of the rat's head. jeongguk looks up with starry eyes, carefully placing the rat on his shoulder.
"sorry about that, i know it's a little odd. i'm jeongguk," he grins, and namjoon really finds it hard to not melt on the spot.
"'m namjoon," he responds, pulling the scarf away. jeongguk's hearing aids can be seen now, similar to jimin's, and namjoon makes sure to speak how he does with jimin, in case jeongguk doesn't hear him. "that's, like, your pet?"
"mmhm!" jeongguk nods, letting the rat play with his ear piercings. "yeah, my therapist told my grandpa i needed a therapy animal or somethin', so i got cheddar two years ago. i have two others, rocky and stilton. rocky's short for roquefort."
he giggles, actually giggles, and both namjoon and jimin look smitten. "i'd love to meet them someday," jimin says, now hooking his arm around jeongguk. the musical boy is taller than jimin — then again, who isn't? —, but he's soft and lean and all thick dancer thighs and slim arms, chubby cheeked and thin lipped. his makeup really stands out, the golden colour of the eyeshadow making his irises seem like deep pools of river water. namjoon really wants to draw him ( he probably will end up doing it later ).
"joonie-hyung's a cat person, but his parents have the cutest dog! it's this fluffy little thing called monnie." jimin's saying to jeongguk, and namjoon nods along. jeongguk smiles widely, teeth on display.
"have you got a cat now, then?" he asks, teasing his bottom lip between his teeth.
"yeah, i do. 'lil siamese-looking kitten named ninja. she is tiny," namjoon holds his hands out to demonstrate the smallness of his kitten, and jeongguk coos. "she treats me like a human jungle gym. it's like, i'll get home, and she'll just 'rawr!' and jump onto my legs."
"cute," jeongguk giggles behind his hand. cheddar has now snuck into the large pockets of his loose mom jeans, his little head sticking out. "aw, he'll probably sleep in there. cutie."
"c'mon, we've got class!" jimin grabs both of their hands and starts to run, and namjoon groans, long legs beginning to pick up the pace. jeongguk laughs, hair blowing gently in the wind, and they speed their way to the music theory classroom, where students are filing in.
"we always sit in the back, come with us!" jimin says to jeongguk, who smiles and follows. he takes the seat to the right of namjoon, and they share an armrest. namjoon tries not to think about it, but his arm prickles at every touch, jeongguk's elbow brushing his forearm as the boy messes about on his phone.
"gukkie!" jimin calls, and jeongguk's head flicks upward, hair in his eyes. "you and joonie should come to mine later. i got a new tarantula, 'n he's super cute!"
"no, no, no, i do not do spiders." jeongguk says very quickly, and namjoon agrees with him. jimin pouts; his three pet tarantulas are his babies. everyone at this school knows about them. he has a freaking instagtam dedicated to his spiders.
"you can come to mine?" namjoon says tentatively, and jimin gives him a look that says 'good job hyung!', having clearly noticed that namjoon likes the new boy. jeongguk nods, but he seems unsure. "i've got three free coupons for the best veggie food takeout around here, and a good sound system. and no spiders."
jeongguk perks up, eyebrows raised. "oh! i'll come, then. i don't have any more classed after this."
"how did you know guk was veggie?" jimin whispers to namjoon once jeongguk's busy organising his notebook for the class. namjoon shrugs.
"hunch. all the people you hang out with seem to be. and who doesn't like veggie food?" namjoon chuckles. he spots their professor walking in, so he and jimin start to prepare their things for class.
"alright, okay, but have you ever seen an ugly rat?"
"have you met kim taehyung?"
"guys, taehyung's not ugly! — the real ugly rat here is you, jimin."
yes, this is a real conversation. jimin, jeongguk and namjoon are in the stairwell of namjoon's building, walking up the stairs. jimin has decidedly got a vendetta against rats because jeongguk insulted his favourite animal (tarantulas, obviously), and so he started making points. jeongguk is arguing against these points. namjoon, honestly, is just watching them and adding occasional comments.
jimin slaps him on the shoulder in response to the insult, while jeongguk laughs triumphantly. his ukulele sticks out of his backpack, and cheddar's little head peeps out of his jean pocket, the rat seemingly smiling at namjoon as he scampers up jeongguk's back.
"namjoon, how old are you?" jeongguk asks this out of the blue, and he splutters a bit after realising it sounds weird. "i-i mean, uh, should i use honorifics?"
"oh," namjoon laughs. "i was born in '94. jimin's in '95."
"ahh, you're both older than me. okay, hyungs," jeongguk's entire face glows when he grins, and namjoon smiles back. he jogs in front of the two younger boys and takes his key off his necklace, opening the door to his apartment.
namjoon's apartment isn't huge, nor is it much to look at. he's a minimalist kind of guy, so he picked an apartment where the walls are painted lilac, chalk-dust blue and white, while the floorboards are a light wood. his living room collides with his bedroom, because he likes natural light to wake him up, so his messily made beige bed sits in the corner, beside his piano. jeongguk gasps when he sees the instrument, running over to look at it.
"woah," he whispers under his breath, stroking the keys. cheddar drops himself onto the keys, causing a plink! noise, and jeongguk laughs as the rat scatters across the length of the piano. "shh, cheds, c'mere."
jimin makes himself at home, unlacing his green boots and leaving them at namjoon's door, before sitting heavily on namjoon's black sofa, releasing an 'oof' sound. ninja screams softly — an odd habit she has — before pouncing onto jimin's lap.
"oh, uh, i should probably hide cheds," jeongguk says. he and namjoon are standing a little awkwardly — weird, considering it's literally namjoon's house —, so namjoon nods and watches as jeongguk whispers something to cheddar, removing the ukulele from his backpack and placing cheddar in there instead. "there's a pack of rat snacks in the bottom, he'll be okay."
"okay... uh..." namjoon looks at jimin, who gives a look that says "dude".
"jeonggukkie, what was that song you were singing earlier? namjoon heard it," he says, and honestly, thank god for jimin being namjoon's best friend who saves him from awkward silences. jimin pats the space beside him. "come on, sit, dumb-dumb."
jeongguk sits, and namjoon sits on the loveseat a little distance away from them, curling his legs underneath him after he unlaced his shoes. "it was an original, the song," jeongguk explains, smiling softly and playing with his hair, not really making eye contact as his cheeks turn dusty pink. "i dunno, it's just something i dabble in — that's one of my finished songs. it's called bellyache. i'm kinda proud of it."
"you should be!" namjoon says, maybe a bit too enthusiastic, so he coughs and continues. "i mean, uh, it's really really good, jeongguk. i heard you playing from my balcony a while back."
"ah, um, thank you hyung." jeongguk smiles shyly, looking up at namjoon through his eyelashes. namjoon's heart flutters a little at how gorgeous and starry-eyed he is, how he looks so shy and bashful. it's cute.
"can we hear another, gukkie?" jimin asks. he's so free with his nicknames and his petnames and the cutesy way he asks questions; namjoon's a 6ft tall bundle of awkwardly long limbs who doesn't know how to articulate sentences properly, despite wanting to be a writer. jeongguk's cheeks turn rouge, and he shrugs.
"i-i mean, i guess — um..." jeongguk goes for his backpack, taking out a notebook with 'lyrics & chords!' scrawled on the front with a bunch of cutesy shiba inu stickers. god, this boy is too cute. he flips through it, finding a song with the title written in yellow, and he places his fingers on the strings carefully.
"i've been watching you, for some time, can't stop staring at those ocean eyes..."
jeongguk's voice is smooth honey to namjoon's ears, all sweet and charming english lyrics. his eyes remain focused on the paper as he plucks a sweet love song out with his beautiful pink lips spinning poetry. namjoon watches, enthralled, lips slightly parted in shock; his heart seems to melt like butter in the hands of this beautiful boy, whose voice is crafted from sunlight and strawberries, pure melody.
jeongguk finishes the sad, slow song and looks up at namjoon and jimin nervously. jimin's plump lips are parted slightly, and namjoon's eyes are full of galaxies. "i-it's a bit rough, i know—"
"jeongguk, it's— it's amazing!" namjoon is, surprisingly, the first to cry these words, devolving into a mess of compliments. "the rhythm is beautiful and the lyrics are like—like poetry, and your voice really suits it and oh my god—"
jimin giggles, noticing how flustered both of his friends are. he really is the perfect cupid. "jeongguk-ah, it's really beautiful."
"th-thanks," jeongguk hides his red cheeks in his hands. "i-i wanna get some demos o-out, on soundcloud, but i don't have the recording equipment or the skills."
jimin looks at namjoon wide-eyed. everyone on campus knows namjoon dabbles in music production, and that he's converted the bedroom in his apartment into a makeshift recording studio. he mouths 'now is your chance!', and namjoon clears his throat.
"actually, jeongguk-ssi, i, um, i have a recording studio, and i've produced some stuff before, so if you want—" he scratches the back of his head and shrugs. "i'd be happy to help you." he looks away from jeongguk, embarrassed.
"r-really?"
namjoon looks back up. jeongguk looks enamoured at the idea, his eyes bright and hopeful. namjoon nods. "really, y-yeah."
"thank you hyung!" jeongguk throws his arms around namjoon unexpectedly, throwing the older off his rhythm. namjoon sits there, shocked, for a moment, before chuckling and awkwardly placing his arms around jeongguk. he's so tiny, so lithe and cute; he smells like lemons and a hint of mint. it's sweet, suits him.
"thank you thank you thank you!" jeongguk squeezes namjoon before pulling back, lips spread wide in a smile. "oh my god — when is it okay for me to record here?"
"oh, uh, i dunno," namjoon looks over at his calendar. spring holidays are coming up, so there's some exams next week, and then they're free. "uh, jimin, when's spring break?"
"uh, the 20th? yeah, cause i'm going back home on the 19th." jimin responds, scrolling through his phone and letting namjoon deal with his awkward crush-at-first-sight. namjoon hums.
"okay. how about you come over on the 21st? we can exchange numbers and chat about it more?" namjoon suggests. jeongguk nods, pulling his phone out already. "just come here with your ukulele and your lyrics, and hang out for the day. hell, you can keep me company over spring break."
externally, he seems calm. internally, his nervous system is ringing bells, screaming at the top of it's lungs because he's potentially going to be spending the whole spring break with jeon-gorgeous-gguk. oh my god.
"thank you so much, namjoon-hyung," jeongguk grins, letting namjoon punch his number into his phone. he saves himself as 'namjoon 🌱', but he bets jeongguk will add a hyung and maybe a heart. who knows. "i'll definitely call you."
21/03
11:23AM
GUK 🐀: hey namjoonie-hyung!! is it okay if i come by at twelve?
NAM-HYUNG 💘: yeah, sure!! one question though: do you live off campus?
GUK 🐀: yeah, i live with my grandpas downtown. why?
NAM-HYUNG 💘: well i thought i could save you the trip home (which is apparently l o n g jfc) and let you stay the night? only if you want to, ofc
GUK 🐀: yeah that'd be cool!!! my granddad will appreciate not having to drive there again. i'll bring an overnight bag. see u!! 💘🍓😚
NAMJOON IS FREAKING the fuck out. he can't believe he actually asked jeongguk to stay over. where did that courage come from? jimin would probably say it's his inner confident gay jumping out, but jimin talks a lot of shit.
"oh god..." namjoon looks at the absolute mess that is his current apartment. day one into spring break, and he's already got empty arizona tea and coconut water bottles on the floor, clothing scattered over his couch... and half an hour to clean up.
he quickly puts on a drunken tiger record and starts to tidy up, collecting all his trash in a bag and all the clothes into a hamper, which he'll later sort into clean and dirty later, when he's not totally preoccupied with how jeongguk views him.
he throws a galaxy patterned blanket over his couch, makes his bed, stacks his books on his desk by the window, straightens the drawings hanging on the walls. he feeds ninja, makes sure all his recording equipment is working, lights a lavender scented candle, and goes to change out of his messy pajama-like outfit.
once he's dressed presentably in a pair of loose stonewashed grey jeans, a wide necked yellow sweater with the sleeves pushed to the elbow and a backwards snapback, striped red and yellow socks on his feet, he goes to the kitchen and puts the kettle on, so he can have some tea with jeongguk. ninja rubs up against his legs and he leans down to scratch her head, switching his music to a calmer artist, khalid.
there's a knock on the door in the same instance that the kettle boils, so namjoon turns it off and goes to answer it. jeongguk beams at him from the corridor, and namjoon nearly blanches; the boy is dressed in a red and black striped collared t-shirt, dropping off his shoulder to expose his collarbones, this tucked into a a pair of mom jeans which once again hug his teeny-tiny waist. a pair of yellow combat boots and that same backpack complete the look, along with the most gorgeous pair of delicate wire-framed glasses that rest on his nose. wow.
"hey hyung!" jeongguk beams, and namjoon sidesteps to let him in after saying hey. "hope this isn't too early for you."
"no, it's fine, jeongguk-ah," namjoon says, leading the younger to the kitchen after he unlaces his boots. "do you want some tea? i've got ginger and lemon, or mint."
"oh, ginger and lemon sounds delicious, thanks," jeongguk giggles when he sees ninja, squatting down to pet her soft head. "hello princess, how are you? aw, you're so cute, look at you." he grins, straightening up as namjoon pours the tea. "my granddads were all questions. 'who's this boy? is he safe? how old is he?'. i ended up having to show them your instagram to prove you were real."
namjoon chuckles, stirring the tea. "they're just protective, hm?" jeongguk nods, sitting at namjoon's small circular dining table, as namjoon places the tea down and sits. "why do you live with your granddads?"
jeongguk shrugs. "well, ah, they're my dad's dads — well, grandpa jeon is, granddad became his husband after my grandpa's divorce —, and my dad kinda, uh, left me with them? and then left forever? when i was seven. so they're practically my dads. i love them."
"you didn't really know your dad," namjoon says, and jeongguk nods. "oh well... guess having two granddads is better than no dad."
"definitely. they're the grumpiest old gay men you'll ever meet, and i love them," jeongguk laughs, sipping at his tea. he removes his backpack and rummages inside for his notebook, pulling it out. "so, uh, i've got like two songs i definitely want to record. i have ideas for the beat — i don't want them to just be acoustic, ukulele things. i want the uke to be included, but also accompanied by other things. you know?"
namjoon nods, understanding completely. "yeah, yeah, i know. so what're the songs?"
"one is bellyache, which is the one you heard — you know, the whole 'my v is for vendetta...' deal —, and the other is one called my boy. i've also got a bit of a new one in the works... it's a bit different. 's called california."
"okay, cool," namjoon accepts the notebook as it's handed to him, open on the page for california, the song title written in pink. "is there a reason why you write all you songs in english?"
"oh, um, it's sorta my first language," jeongguk blushes a little, inexplicable. "my grandpa tuan, he's half thai half english, so i grew up speaking it more than korean. it feels right to me."
"that's really cool," namjoon chuckles, reading through the lyrics.
maybe i just need to go to california
'cause i am young, don't wanna die, yeah, can't afford it
maybe i just need to go to california
so that when i get old you'll blow all my brains out
"this is really good, jeongguk," namjoon looks up with a smile. jeongguk makes a 'pssh' noise, brushing him off. "i'm serious. okay, let's finish up this tea, and get recording?"
"yeah!" jeongguk grins, his teeth cute and bunny-like, with clear braces on them. namjoon's once again entranced by the beauty of this musician; the mole beneath his lip, the scattering of pimples across his left cheek, the small splat of freckles across his sun kissed nose, his big bambi eyes bright and wide.
namjoon leads him into the studio, which is a spacious room painted in white, with soundproof panelling covering the wall it shares with the other apartment. a laptop and a computer sit on a desk with a light up keyboard and a small ryan figurine in front of them, and in the corner of the room there's namjoon's mic, which he hasn't used in a while. jeongguk gapes, looks around wide-eyed, blinks at the equipment, at the soundboard beside the mic.
"oh my god," he says, amazed. namjoon chuckles, watching as his hands brush over the tech. namjoon's got a synthesizer and a soundboard that his parents gifted him, and some editing and producing software he got during a steam sale. "this is amazing."
"thanks," namjoon chuckles, moving the mic to the middle of the room. the way it's organised, he can sit at his desk (which sits away from the wall) and look directly at jeongguk as the boy sings. jeongguk's gently fingering his ukulele, in awe. "alright, uh, just... stand here, put these headphones on. or do you want a chair? i can get you a chair."
"t-that'd be great," jeongguk's stuttering, and namjoon realises it's because his hand is on his waist, namjoon having guided jeongguk into place in front of the mic. they both flush; namjoon moves his hand and goes to get a chair.
in the kitchen, he gulps down a glass of water. it's jeongguk, ,he tells himself. you're just helping him record some tracks. stop being such a mess.
he carries back one of the stools from his table and places it behind jeongguk, the brunette smiling and thanking him, tuning up his ukulele. namjoon sits down and turns his systems on, moving the synth and the soundboard so he can use them while at the desk. if he puts his headphones on, he'll hear what the mic's picking up, which is currently ukulele strings being tuned and jeongguk's gentle humming.
"okay, whenever you're ready," namjoon tells him. jeongguk nods, placing his notebook up on the sheet music holder. "first song?"
"bellyache," jeongguk says, putting the headphones on. "i wanna — woah, i can hear myself, ew, okay —" he laughs. "i wanna do this acoustic first, and then try adding more beats."
"whatever you want," namjoon says, and it's weird being able to hear his own voice when he speaks. "okay, in five?"
jeongguk nods.
"five, four, three, two, one — go!"
∆
12.01.19
I THINK THIS IS MY FAVOURITE ONESHOT EVER U GUYS SHHSJAKA
jeongguk is me tbh i lovE RATS and namjoon is also me cause i am a blushing fOOL IN LOVE
the songs jeongguk mentions, in order, are bellyache, ocean eyes and my boy by billie eilish, and the lyrics namjoon reads are from california by yungblud! i super recommend both of these artists they're super super good
hope u guys are okay!!! i can't believe we're at 18k guys shsjsjj i love you so much!! sadly once i get to oneshot n.100 i'm gonna end this and start another oneshot book, but let's see if i can get a 20k q&a before that!! woooo!!!!
— love, jace