Chapter Text
"Are you sad to go?"
Namjoon isn’t even surprised when two strong arms wrap around his waist. He relaxes back against Seokjin’s chest, lacing their fingers together on top of his stomach. He sighs, watching the empty gym room sadly.
"Sad to leave. Happy to go home with you." He turns his head just enough to catch a glimpse of Seokjin’s profile. "I missed you, hyung. Thank you for coming to the class today."
It’s rare for them to be away from each other for so long, but when the director of their former summer camp had offered Namjoon the spot of trainer for the advanced group, he hadn’t been able to say no. Namjoon had, in turn, invited Seokjin to come co-teach the last lesson with him before the end of the camp. His intention of being reunited with his hyung had been very transparent but Seokjin had not hesitated one second to make some time in his schedule to join him on the island.
"I missed you too. Would never pass on an occasion to spend time with you, even if you're just inviting me for my ping pong skills."
"Table tennis," Namjoon corrects on reflex. Seokjin kisses his cheek. "The kids were really impressed by you, the national team star player."
"They're only calling me that for my look," Seokjin says, sneaking another kiss on Namjoon’s cheek. Namjoon turns his head just in time to press their lips together instead and what was supposed to be a short, sweet kiss turns longer and more passionate. Namjoon quickly gets lost in it and chases after Seokjin’s lips when he leans back with a soft laugh. "Those kids were more impressed by you than they were by me. I think the short one wanted to bite my ankles."
"She has character," Namjoon says with a chuckle, still a bit dazed by the kiss.
"She told me you deserved to win the gold instead of me," Seokjin adds, hiding his face in Namjoon’s nape and tightening his arms around him. "I think she had a little crush on you."
"Nah, we just bonded when she came to cry to me cause the girl she liked rejected her.”
Seokjin hums against his skin. "Such a good coach. Familiar story."
"Is it?"
"Uh, I guess I never told you?” Namjoon feels the familiar burn of Seokjin’s blush against his skin. Cute. “The summer your father got you out of here I went to cry to the coach about it the very night it happened. I wanted to call your father to tell him everything was my fault but the coach said it would probably be worse if he knew you were late to the training cause you spent your evening kissing a guy, so. I didn’t call him. I had so many regrets but the coach was really, really nice to me. He helped me a lot. He liked you a lot."
“You had regrets?”
Seokjin nuzzles against his jaw, presses a little kiss under his ear and sighs softly. “I was over the moon when we kissed but then you disappeared from my life and it broke my heart. I would have given anything to rewind that night. Would have given up kissing you if it meant I could spend more time with you and prevent you from getting hurt.” Namjoon brings their linked hands to his mouth to kiss Seokjin’s inner wrist, feels his pulse flutter against his lips. They’ve talked about this summer several times in the year they’ve been together but this is the first time Seokjin is so open about his feelings. “Do you have regrets?” Seokjin asks after a beat.
Namjoon looks at the room he’s standing in. The gym looks smaller now that he’s an adult, more stuffy, older. There are traces shoes left on the rubber floor, some of them probably from his own shoes, some from Seokjin, some from their friends. He spots a stray ball that was forgotten during the last cleaning of the summer. The atmosphere smells like sea salt and sweat. If he closes his eyes, he can hear the sounds of balls bouncing on the tables.
Does he have regrets?
When he was offered the position, he did wonder if coming back would do him good or not. He came looking for peace of mind. He squeezes Seokjin’s hand in his. He knows now he’s found it.
“This is still my favorite place on earth,” He says. He trusts that Seokjin understands his answer.
“Better than our flat?” Seokjin teases him lightly.
“Better than our flat” Namjoon confirms, earning a soft Hey! in return. “Second only to our flat when you’re in it.”
Seokjin hums. “Smooth. How about I help you finish packing so we can go back there, then?”
“Hey, I’m finished!” Namjoon protests. He doesn’t get an answer, but Seokjin’s silence is telling. “Almost.”
“Too busy comforting heartbroken fourteen years olds to pack to go home to your boyfriend, uh? Come on, lead the way. I wanna see your room.”
It feels weird, walking from the gym to the old dormitory holding Seokjin’s hand. He doesn’t have to be worried about his students seeing them together, mainly because they already left, partly because he doesn’t care if the whole world knows he’s in love with Seokjin, but this place holds many memories for both of them.
“Oh, you were rooming in the students’ part of the school?” Seokjin asks when they walk through the familiar hallway, the same faded mint doors framing them.
“You know they need some of us to stay here to monitor them at night. I volunteered.”
“How many secret parties did you stop, exactly?”
“None.” Seokjin raises his eyebrows at him, visibly unconvinced. “Not because there were none, just because I’m nice like that. We really thought we were discreet back then, right? Kids think they’re so sneaky. It was so funny seeing them yawn in their breakfasts, elbowing each other like they thought they fooled me so good.”
He stops in front of his room’s door, side eyeing Seokjin as he punches the code and opens it.
“Wait… That’s my room,” He finally says, following Namjoon inside. “That’s where we kissed for the first time. Did you choose it on purpose?” He laughs when Namjoon nods, pulling him in by the waist. “Sap.”
“I’m the sap?” Namjoon gasps, putting his hands on Seokjin’s chest innocently. “Me? Should I remind you what you called me in a national magazine interview?” He enjoys seeing Seokjin’s ears turn bright red, the blush spreading to his cheeks quickly.
Jimin sent him the article in an email with thirty shocked emojis a couple of days ago. Namjoon had rolled his eyes at first, thinking Jimin was once again making fun of him by sending him pictures of Seokjin after he’d admitted in secret that he always found him hot in those photoshoots. He’d changed his mind when he saw that to What would you say is your biggest achievement? Seokjin had answered Getting my boyfriend to fall for me. As much as he enjoys teasing Seokjin about it, he can’t deny that he felt terribly emotional when he first read it. He’ll probably never stop marvelling over the fact that Seokjin loves him as much as he does.
“Well,” Seokjin mumbles, clearly embarrassed. “What can I say, it is my biggest achievement. I worked so hard for it! Spent hours in this room plotting about how to make the nerdy noodle boy fall head over heels for me, and look at us now.”
“I love you, hyung,” Namjoon says, cutting the rant he was sure was about to come as Seokjin started speaking quicker and quicker. “Thank you for never giving up on me.”
“I love you too,” Seokjin answers, pouting a little. Namjoon presses a short kiss to his pouty lips, laughing when it melts into a smile. “Wanna make out like we’re teenagers again?”
“What happened to packing up and going home?” Namjoon asks, punctuating his words with little kisses.
“It was before I learned you’re such a romantic idiot boy, whom I just want to kiss forever. Wanna recreate our first kiss, Namjoon-ah?" Seokjin suggests in a sultry tone. Namjoon laughs to his face.
"Real romantic indeed. You, me, the floor of a dusty boarding school room. I am old and delicate and it's much too hard!"
"You are delicate," Seokjin agrees, "My delicate boy. So big and strong and gentle." He walks Namjoon backwards towards the bed inexorably and Namjoon wants to laugh at him for thinking he's sneaky. "Wanna know how I felt when it happened?"
Namjoon nods and lets Seokjin push him until he's sitting on the bed. No stiff floor for his poor ass, little mercy.
"I was," Seokjin says, climbing on his lap and wrapping his arms around his shoulders. He leans until their lips are barely touching. "So fucking mad at Jimin. Furious, really." Namjoon burst into laughter, clutching at Seokjin's sides. "And so nervous. I was scared you'd say no, and then scared you'd say yes. I was just fucking terrified. And you were looking at me like I was poisonous or something, and I kept cursing Jimin in my head while asking myself if I wanted you to say no or yes. I was a mess."
"You still are," Namjoon says, his hands leaving his waist to come ruffle his hair. Seokjin smiles widely.
"For you, yes."
When Seokjin finally connects their lips, it's nothing like their first kiss. Namjoon isn't trembling with nerve and anger. He doesn't feel out of depth. Seokjin drops all his weight on his lap like he always does instead of hovering there like he thinks he has to be ready to flee any time. Slowly, Seokjin's hand creeps under the collar of his shirt, dipping between his shoulder blades, the fingertips of the other moving light and slow against his nape. He sighs in Namjoon's mouth, teases the tip of his tongue to Namjoon's top lip. "Missed you," He whispers, not putting any space between them. "Love you. I wish seventeen years old Seokjin could see this."
"Weird," Namjoon comments, turning the short kisses into a longer, deeper one. "You've always been a weirdo, hyung."
"And you love that weirdo."
"I do."
He's getting lost in the kisses, in Seokjin's presence and his wandering hands when a voice interrupts them, making them jerk away from each other.
"Coach?" His favorite student calls. She halts at the door when she sees Seokjin still on his lap, Namjoon's tight hold on his waist. "Oh my god! I'm sorry to interrupt, I thought you were alone!" She hides her eyes behind her hands in shame as Seokjin disentangles himself from Namjoon and stands up, offering him a hand to stand as well.
"It's alright, Yeonha, it's our fault for not closing the door. Did you forget something?"
"No!" She squeals, still hidden behind her hands. "My parents aren't there yet, I just wanted to thank you again. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, you did nothing wrong," Seokjin assures her. She drops her hands a little to look at him, looking even more ashamed. Namjoon assumes she's remembering telling him he didn't deserve his medal, and now realizes she insulted her coach's boyfriend. He's sure the poor girl must be mortified. "Was Namjoon a good coach to you? He's the best right?"
"Of course he was good!" The girl exclaims, almost defensive until she remembers who she's talking to. "He really is the best, you're right."
"Right! But I saw you play and I'm sure he had not much to teach you, you are a very good player, Yeonha. In which team do you play?"
Namjoon could laugh when he sees how easily Seokjin charms her, her embarrassment totally forgotten. She talks his ear off about her teammates and her ambitions, stopping only when she hears her parents calling her name from the hallway.
"Thank you again coach, I'll see you next year." She says with a bow. "Seokjin-ssi, good luck on the American championship."
"She's nice, after all," Seokjin says when she disappears.
"She is. But why does my student know more about your schedule than I do?" Namjoon asks, wrapping his arm around Seokjin's waist. Seokjin wiggles a bit to turn around and kisses his dimple.
"It's in a month. I wanted you to come with me, actually."
"Oh, really? Do you think I have nothing to do but follow my handsome, rich, popular and talented boyfriend around, hm? I have things to do too, you know?" He turns to look at him when Seokjin doesn't answer to his teasing and finds him looking down, his ear traitorously red. He kisses the tip of it quickly before leaning back, waiting for Seokjin to talk, but he doesn’t. Instead he digs his hand in his pocket, fiddling with what he finds here, apparently unsure whether to talk or not. Namjoon kisses his cheek, hoping it can calm him down without pushing him to talk if he’s not ready to.
Finally Seokjin turns in his arms, burying his face in his shoulder and mumbling something unintelligible. "Couldn't hear you, hyung," Namjoon says softly, kissing the top of his head.
Seokjin doesn't move his head but he takes his hand out of his pocket, presenting him a pinkish thin ring tightly held between his index finger and his thumb.
"I was hoping you'd come with me," He says again, loud enough to be heard but still lower than usual. "And that you'd marry me."
Oh.
Namjoon's shaky hand closes around Seokjin's. He feels the shape of the ring digging in the skin of his palm. "Hyung, look at me." He smiles down at him as Seokjin slowly looks up. He holds his waist tighter and kisses him until Seokjin relaxes in his arms. "Of course I'll marry you. Can you put it on my finger for me?"
"Sure."
Seokjin's hands are trembling as he takes Namjoon's in his and slides the ring on his finger. He almost drops it once and laughs nervously as he does, but he looks proud when he finally succeeds. The light pink ring is a nice contrast to Namjoon's suntan skin; next year when he comes back the ring will leave a lighter mark around his finger.
“I was planning on getting you a nicer ring,” Seokjin says, looking down at Namjoon’s hand. “But I saw this one in this tiny shop and it felt right to buy it. It’s, uh. Carved from a seashell.” He starts fidgeting, clearly embarrassed. “God, it's ridiculous. I’ll get you a better one later.”
“Nothing could be better, hyung.” Namjoon puts his hand on Seokjin’s chest, where he knows the seashell pendant rests against his skin, then presses their foreheads together. “It’s perfect. I love you.”
Both their eyes are glassy but even in this state, blushing and emotional, Seokjin is still the most beautiful man Namjoon has ever laid his eyes on. He smiles at him softly, his cute cheeks puffing up as he does. “Hey, Joonie,” He whispers tenderly. He brings his hand to Namjoon’s cheek and cradles it delicately. “Wanna get freaky with an engaged man?”
Namjoon bursts in laughter, happy when Seokjin follows him until they’re out of breath.
“Just for that bad joke you’ll have to wait until we’re married,” Namjoon says, booping Seokjin’s nose. He wrinkles it, going crossed eyes to watch Namjoon’s finger and whines.
“You shouldn’t make your fiance wait like this! How cruel…”
Namjoon rolls his eyes. “Until we’re home. Better?” Seokjin nods, eyes widening cutely.
“Oh, let’s finish packing quickly then!”
Namjoon watches him fussing with his stuff, grumbling about the number of books he packed for such a short amount of time, putting one of his hoodies on top of his shirt under the guise of saving some space in his suitcase. He looks at the ring on his finger and smiles to himself.
He’ll come back next year and all the years after that and then, forever, he’ll go home to Seokjin.