"that class was literally the most boring hour of my life," jimin said, dramatically as he stepped out of the classroom, namjoon walking beside him, "like... we didn't even do anything. what was the point?"

namjoon fumbled for a response, his hands dug deep into his pockets as he shrugged,

"uh... i don't know," he said.

jimin glanced up at him, his frustration melting into a smile as they walked together on the pavement.

they continued down the path side by side, not saying much, before jimin looked over and asked,

"do you have another class after this?"

"y-yeah," namjoon stammered, glancing down at the paper folded carefully in his hand, "it's in like an hour, though."

"what class is it?" jimin asked, trying to peek over and see out of curiosity.

namjoon glanced back down at his note and replied,

"sociology."

jimin froze mid-step, his eyes widening in excitement as he latched onto namjoon's arm.

"no way! with professor chung?"

"yeah," namjoon said, with a nod, feeling slightly confused over jimin's enthusiasm.

"we have another class together! this is gonna be so fun!" jimin said, adding a little skip to his step.

namjoon smiled faintly, his gaze flickering downward as jimin's joy practically radiated off of him.

"what were you planning to do for the next hour?" jimin asked.

namjoon shrugged again, in a self-conscious motion,

"i'll... probably just sit on a bench and wait for class to start."

jimin scoffed, jokingly,

"a bench? that's no fun! why don't we go to the café. we can get drinks and talk," jimin said, wanting to get to know the mysterious boy more.

namjoon hesitated slightly. the idea of having to sit with someone and hold a conversation for an hour sounded completely nerve-wracking.

but jimin's bright, expectant gaze made it impossible for him to say no.

namjoon didn't want to say no.

"y-yeah, okay," he said, nodding.

-

inside the café, the warm aroma of coffee and pastries surrounded them. the hum of conversation and clinking dishes filled the air and namjoon began to feel his stomach swarm with nerves.

and honestly, he felt kind of bad.

it's not that he didn't want to talk to jimin or spend more time with him, because he definitely did.

he just didn't know how. he felt awkward and weird about himself and he hated feeling like he didn't know how to make conversation with the other.

"what do you want?" jimin asked, tearing his eyes away from the menu and looking over to namjoon.

"uh... i guess just a normal black coffee is fine."

"black coffee?" jimin questioned.

namjoon just nodded, wondering if that was an odd choice or if jimin thought it was weird or something.

but all the other did was light up in a smile, pushing on his arm lightly, in a joking manner.

"no wonder you're so tense," jimin said, laughing and walking up to the counter.

namjoon just smiled to himself, watching as jimin started to place his order, feeling his cheeks warm slightly.

"hello! we'll have a plain black coffee and a hot chocolate with extra whip, please," jimin said.

he leaned over to namjoon and whispered, like it was some kind of top-secret information he was asking,

"do you like cheese danish?"

namjoon hesitated for a just a moment, before he nodded his head and jimin quickly turned back to the clerk.

"sorry. can we get a cheese danish, too, please."

the clerk nodded, typing the order into the register. jimin pulled out his wallet, but namjoon reached over, tapping his arm hesitantly,

"j-jimin, i can pay. you don't have to—"

"it's fine," jimin said, laughing, "you let me sit by you and talk your ear off for an hour. the least i could do is pay."

namjoon bit back a smile, a blush spreading across his face, as he looked down at his shoes.

"here's your receipt, sir. your order will be ready in a few."

jimin just thanked the man and smiled, grabbing the receipt from him.

"let's go find a table!" jimin said.

he reached for namjoon's wrist, pulling him gently through the café until he found a small table in the center of the bustling space. jimin plopped down in one of the chairs, looking perfectly content, while namjoon hesitated, shifting his weight nervously.

"is this alright?" jimin asked, clearly noticing the other's hesitation.

"uh..,"

namjoon thought for a moment. he contemplated asking jimin if they could move to a table in the back or go outside to eat, but he didn't want to seem more odd than he assumed he already did, so he just sat down.

as soon as they were both seated, a worker brought their drinks and danish over,

"thank you!" jimin said, immediately reaching for the danish. he tore it in half—very unevenly—and pushed the larger piece toward namjoon.

"here," jimin said, taking a big bite of his own piece, his eyes widening in delight, "mmm—this is so good! you have to try it."

namjoon looked down at the danish, feeling a little weird about eating in front of everyone in the café.

especially jimin.

he didn't even know exactly why the thought of it made him feel so anxious, but he decided to try it anyway, not wanting to seem rude.

and he was— indeed— pleasantly surprised.

the danish tasted amazing.

jimin could tell just by namjoon's change in facial expression that he liked it.

"good, right?"

"yeah," namjoon admitted, nodding as he took another bite, before he added, with his tone a little softer, "thanks... for getting it."

"of course!" jimin said, his tone as warm as the hot cocoa clutched in his hands.

it was silent between them for a moment, jimin just glancing around at everything in the café, clearly fascinated.

he turned to namjoon after a moment,

"you seem really smart," he said, out of the blue, taking a big swig of his hot chocolate.

namjoon looked up at the other, feeling a little caught of guard, "huh?"

jimin smiled, with a shrug,

"i mean... you just have this... vibe," he said, motioning with his hand to empathize his point, "it's cool... you're cool. you kind of... keep on the down-low, huh?"

namjoon was honestly shocked at what he was hearing.

he assumed jimin thought he was a total moron after his terrible first impression. he thought he made a fool of himself. but now jimin was saying he thought he looked... smart? that he was... cool?

namjoon shrugged, offering a small, shy smile,

"y-yeah. i guess i do."

and suddenly,

he felt just a little more safe with jimin.

the other leaned forward a little, smiling right back at him when he said,

"i like you. you're different."

namjoon felt his cheeks warm for the millionth time that day, but this time, he didn't look away. instead, he let his eyes remain locked with jimin's. 

and just like that, without either of them realizing it in the moment,

namjoon and jimin's famous tradition had begun.

_______________________________

sorry for the short chapter! the first few might be kind of boring because they are just getting to know each other but it will pick up soon! also i'm gonna try to update every day or at least every other day with this story since i was so bad at updating my last book 😔 fingers crossed haha