Yoongi was so busy eating a bit of each dish he didn't notice the looks Namjoon and Jin exchanged.
It was getting late; it was almost closing time, but Yoongi didn't want to leave just yet. He was having a good time there, even with the jokes Namjoon made at his expense or when Jin poked his cheeks just when his mouth was full and he couldn't send him to hell. It was only about four or five days that he had been having these incomprehensible situations, but now that he was here with his friends and enjoying their company, much more time had passed. It was a shame that good things lasted so little.
Once they finished, the two boys waited outside at the back of the restaurant until everyone finished cleaning. The air was already starting to be sharp at night, and it was mandatory to go out with a coat that could stop the cold. Yet with everything he had eaten, he was barely aware of the cold airbrushing his cheeks. What he was aware of was Namjoon, who was by his side and kept moving from one side to the other, as if he was waiting for someone else or turning something over in his head.
"You're good?" He asked.
Namjoon stopped short and turned his head so fast that he must have jerked it.
"Yes, I'm fine, why do you ask?"
Yoongi raised an eyebrow, although it couldn't be seen much through the hair that fell on his forehead.
"Well, to begin with, you haven't stopped moving since we left. You usually wait sitting on the stairs."
"Oh." It was as if at that moment he realized what he was doing. He blinked slowly twice and then said: "don't worry, it's nothing."
Of course, that could only mean that he had to worry because it was something Namjoon was thinking about too much. So Yoongi stared at him, hoping the other would realize that he wouldn't convince him with just that.
In a few moments, he had Namjoon on the stairs, sitting down, and running his hand through his hair, probably trying to figure out how to tell him what he wanted. This only got Yoongi to look at him more closely.
"It's nothing bad." He started by saying the stop, to which he just nodded. "It has to do with what you told me this morning. Well, not exactly with the shadows, because I still don't know what it means or why. But today a couple of things happened that made me think. "
Yoongi waited for him to continue, but seeing that time passed and Namjoon said nothing else, he ended up asking him.
"What is the conclusion then?"
"I can't do it alone."
"The what?"
"Tell you. I need moral support for this. "
"What?"
"If I tell you now, it probably wouldn't make sense. So we'll wait until we get home and Jin Hyung and I will tell you everything. "
"Ah, no wonder you took so long with that call after the meeting."
Namjoon just grimaced and looked at Yoongi as if apologizing. He just shook his head from side to side with a small smile.
"Knowing you, it sure isn't that bad."
At that moment, the employees began to leave, said goodbye to them and then divided into different groups to go home. The last to leave was Jin, who promptly closed the door after making sure he had set the alarm. After that, the three of them went to the parking lot that was a few meters away and got into Jin's car to go home.
Jin and Namjoon lived in a fairly well-off apartment building. Although it was not overly elegant, the difference was there, in the walls without cracks and in the door that opened without emitting a deafening screech. Inside the apartment, things kept a similar style to the outside: everything seemed new, although, in reality, it was not; the lighting made it seem that way; the furniture was modern and comfortable in style; the kitchen, the lifeblood of every home if you asked Jin, was equipped with everything necessary to cook for the entire building, at the very least, and the place was clean as a whistle. There was nothing out of place, and it should be strange given Namjoon's ability to destroy everything in his path, but Jin made sure that the number of disasters was kept to a minimum. It was enviable the way these two had adjusted to each other in such a short time after their meeting.
As Jin showered, Yoongi and Namjoon started putting away the impromptu shopping they had made halfway through. Well, Namjoon would hand her things and Yoongi would put them in the fridge and cabinets.
"I understand that I don't want you to go near the stove, but forbid you to enter the kitchen? Really?" Yoongi commented as he kept putting things in the cabinets.
Namjoon was leaning on the counter, showing from time to time where everything was going. "It was an accident. I swear."
"As usual," Yoongi answered automatically.
"Look, it's not my fault that the honeypot was badly closed."
"Oh, so it all started with the honey pot. Interesting."
Namjoon ignored his sarcastic comment and continued with his account.
"I was just going to take the boat to make a hole and put something else in, but it was not properly closed up, falling to the ground and smearing everything."
"And is that why he has forbidden your entry?"
The boy sighed with resignation. "Maybe in my attempt to prevent the boat from falling over, I ended up taking a few things with me." He said as he dropped completely onto the counter with his head down. Yoongi shook his head from side to side. "But it was an accident! How was I supposed to know that all that was going to happen? "
"Everything that happens to you is by accident. You should make yourself look at it. Maybe there is a solution and you are here regretting not being able to enter the kitchen. " Yoongi said, leaning against the sink and looking at his friend with amusement.
"You enjoy my suffering too much, Hyung," Namjoon said in a plaintive tone.
"It's not my fault you're an easy target."
Namjoon had a replica ready on the tip of his tongue when Jin emerged from the bathroom with damp hair and comfortable clothes.
"Joonie, my love, you know I love you, even if you are clumsy." The older said as he put an arm around her shoulders and kissed him on the temple.
"Does that mean I can step into the kitchen now?" Namjoon asked hopefully.
"Of course," Jin replied, making Namjoon grin from ear to ear. "But only when you can go a full week breaking nothing."
The frustrated and piteous sound that came from the back of the young man's throat was comparable to that of a dog being punished for biting the cushions of the sofa.
"Come on, don't be such a whiner. You just have to overcome the challenge and you will have your reward. " The older of them said with a wave of his hand, dismissing it. "Now it's time to get comfortable after a hard day at work."
Yoongi was quick to agree with him with a desperate "Yes, please" while the other rapper kept whimpering and complaining that Jin was too strict with him.
"I thought you loved it when it was hard on you," Jin said with an innocent look and tone.
If you've spent little time around Kim Seokjin, you wouldn't think of anything beyond his words. But when you have known him as long as Yoongi, and you see things you are not supposed to see, you realize right away that everything is fake; you learn to read between the lines. And as much as Yoongi tried not to, his mind was working too fast to have time to stop him. The fact that Namjoon turned tomato red and smiled shyly didn't help at all.
"Cut the roll," Yoongi said dryly. "You will have time to do your things in private."
"Our things?" Jin repeated, puzzled, almost in a whisper. "How old are you, 10? It's called having sex. Incredible, by the way. The one that makes you mush. "
Beside Jin, Namjoon just nodded his head. Yoongi dropped onto the couch with a grunt.
"Very good, lovebirds. Could you stop groping him? Later you can fuck—"
"That tongue!" Jin quickly scolded him.
Yoongi took a deep breath and repeated in his mind that Jin was older than him and that he couldn't send him to hell.
"Later you can have a wonderful sex marathon anywhere in this house. So why don't you please sit your nice behinds on this wonderful and comfortable sofa to tell me what you have to say to me? " He said in a quiet, low voice, accompanied by a small smile.
The two of them moved at the speed of light and sat on the loveseat that was right next to the sofa Yoongi was sitting on.
"Being the oldest, I shouldn't say this, but I'd rather hear you swear than hear you speak like that again."
"It's really scary," Namjoon added.
Yoongi just rolled his eyes and settled into the corner of the couch, with his legs tucked up and one arm resting on the arm of the couch. After a couple of seconds waiting for someone to say something, Jin got up to get something to drink (water, probably) and Namjoon took the moment to give Yoongi an idea of what they were going to talk about.
"Well, as I told you earlier in the alley, it's not a bad thing. It doesn't even have anything to do with work. It has more to do with your personal life. " Namjoon started as he ran his hands over the denim that covered his thighs.
Yoongi knew it was a nervous gesture, but he couldn't think of any reason his friend might be in that state. Of course, what he had told her about the shadows was disturbing, but neither had any idea how to fix it or why they appeared.
"Yes. You also said that it had something to do with the shadows that have been stalking me, but it has nothing to do with it. "
Namjoon ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, it is quite difficult to explain."
This story belongs to @nometoloko on AO3. I'm just her translator.
Aaaand cut! I have activated my bitch mode. Wait for the next chapter, my lovely readers.