"joon, thank you so much!" areum said, walking out of a store, excitedly, holding a bunch of clothes.

namjoon figured the "boyfriend" thing to do would be buying his girlfriend things she wanted.

he just didn't realize how much of a dent it would make to his wallet.

"no problem," he said.

jimin lagged a ways behind the couple, holding a few shirts that he'd bought for himself, and trying to catch up with them.

"are you sure you don't want to get any clothes, joon?" jimin asked, "i know that one store had tons of namjoon-looking clothes," he said, smiling.

namjoon just laughed, shaking his head,

"i'm alright. i have enough to wear."

areum just watched the two talking, gushing at how adorable they were.

"you two are so cute."

namjoon's eyes immediately went wide, blushing, quickly turning to look at jimin.

jimin just laughed it off, not thinking too much into it.

namjoon, on the other hand, was having an internal panic, not knowing how much longer he could handle the current situation.

-

"so, you two met on the first day of school?" areum asked, taking a bite of her food.

the three had shopped around a bit more and then settled on a place to eat at the food court.

"yeah," jimin said, eating some of his food as well, "i asked to sit by him."

namjoon tried to hide his smile, looking down at the floor.

that day was so special to him.

"aw, that's cute," areum said, letting her hand fall to rest on joon's knee, "i wish i knew joon since the first day of school."

namjoon just flinched a little, trying to focus his attention on the food he was eating.

neither of the boys said a word, continuing to eat their food.

"i'm gonna run to the bathroom," jimin said, setting his fork down.

"okay. hurry back!" areum said, with a smile.

jimin agreed, scurrying off to find a bathroom.

as soon as jimin was gone, areum spoke up.

"so... jimin," she started.

namjoon looked over at her, his heart immediately starting to race.

"w-what?"

she just laughed, finding namjoon's confusion humorous.

"he's really sweet," she started, still smiling.

namjoon just bit his tongue, beyond scared to hear where areum was going with all this.

"well... you know my good friend cho?"

"yeah," namjoon said, quickly, needing to know what aruem was going to say.

"well... she's been trying for awhile now to find a nice guy to go out with and... well... i think she'd really like jimin. is he single? i could set them up," she said, "and then we could go on double dates and stuff!"

namjoon shook his head, almost immediately, his possessiveness over jimin kicking in.

"he... he wouldn't want to."

areum looked confused.

"why not?"

"he just... he wouldn't be into her."

areum just sat there, confused as to why joon turned her down so quickly. she began trying to think of any possible explanation.

"is he seeing someone?"

namjoon shook his head.

"does he know cho or something? does he not think she's cute?"

joon shook his head again.

"then what is it?"

namjoon just stayed silent, taking another bite of his food.

areum just sat there, thinking of any other possible explanations.

"is he..," areum started, wondering if what she was about to say was out of line, "like..."

namjoon just stared at her, not picking up on what she was trying to say.

"what?"

areum just shrugged

"is he like... gay?" she asked.

namjoon looked taken aback.

"what?"

"i mean... i don't care if he is. i was just curious."

joon felt his stomach twist.

his immediate reaction was to defend jimin.

he didn't like someone talking about him like that. it's not like being gay was some horrible thing to be called, but namjoon grew up with it being thrown at him like it was something horrible. like it was... gross. he couldn't help but be triggered by the word and want to shield jimin from it.

"he's... he's not," namjoon said, "why would you think that?"

areum just looked confused, wondering why joon was making such a big deal about it.

"since you said he wouldn't be into my friend... i just assumed. it doesn't matter if he is or isn't, joon. it's no big deal."

and almost on cue, jimin walked back over to the couple.

"i'm back," jimin said, smiling and sitting back down, "what'd i miss?"

namjoon and areum just sat there for a minute, not responding.

"ugh... nothing much," namjoon said.

jimin just nodded, going back to eating his food.

-

"this is it," areum said, settling in front of the door to her dorm.

the three had finished up at the mall and now joon was walking areum back to her dorm, making sure she got there alright.

jimin was there, too, but since it was a friday he was planning to spend the night at joon's, so he was just walking with them, not wanting to stay by himself in the car.

"oh... alright. well... i'll see you on monday, then," namjoon said.

areum nodded, unlocking her door.

once she got the door opened, she just stood there, like she was waiting for something.

jimin was standing a few feet away, but he could still see the scene playing out clearly.

"well... goodnight," areum said.

she stared at him for another moment, like she was hoping he would make the first move.

but, considering how clueless namjoon was, she took the initiative into her own hands and started leaning in closer.

namjoon didn't catch what was happening until she was a few inches from his lips.

they had been on a few dates.

it wasn't weird that she wanted to kiss him.

that's what couples do.

they were supposed to kiss.

but namjoon just couldn't do it.

he backed up quickly, far enough away to where she couldn't reach him.

"goodnight!" namjoon said, quickly heading back towards jimin.

jimin just watched the awkward display play out, deciding against talking to namjoon about it.

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sorry this was a little late !

i wanted to make sure i was happy with the plot i planned out before posting another chapter! i also thought of a few other ideas i wanted to incorporate & i'm super exited for them!

i really hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. i know it's probably a little boring still, but i promise the pace should pick up soon !