Chapter Text
summer was upon them and classes were back once again. namjoon didn't enjoy neither summer or school.
he also wasn't excited to know someone new entered his school. he was only hoping with everything he had this person wouldn't become one of his bullies, as the rest of them were.
the boy didn't know what was wrong with him. all he did was focus on his studies, read his favorite books and keep to himself. he never hurt anyone, never offended anyone, never even stood on their way. so why did they hate him so much?
the reason of why everyone mocked him on class, hit him at corridors, and the teachers didn't move a finger was unknown to him. the reason of why he wouldn't fight back was clearer to him than to everyone else.
if he fought back, there would be a reason for everyone to keep being mean to him, if he didn't, things wouldn't be as bad. so he kept quiet, took in the hurtful words and the punches and kept reading his books. he wasn't expecting for someone to take them for him either, why would anyone?
so when the new kid saw him being beat up namjoon's heart skipped a beat. he wasn't very big or had any muscles but namjoon knew how much anyone could hurt another person regardless of physical attributes. the abuse seemed to hurt more at the prospect of someone new already hating him so fast.
but then he did the exact opposite, and namjoon was left astounded.
"why are you picking on him?" the boy's voice was thin, and he seemed younger than namjoon himself. yet he could hear anger and confidence behind it.
"cause he's a pathetic nerd, obviously. wanna help?" the words barely left the bully's mouth before they were shoved right back in when the boy threw a punch right at his mouth.
when the second bully turned to him and started to beat him namjoon was left in shock. he could see the small boy taking punch after punch for him and he couldn't understand why he would do this. he didn't even know him, and there he was, blood starting to show from how mad the bullies were.
however, they didn't keep it on for long, but in the time they took they were fierce, throwing a few kicks at the boy's body before leaving him on the floor.
when they left namjoon didn't hesitate to check on him, kneeling before the boy and trying to clean the blood from his face with his own shirt.
"why did you help me?" namjoon's voice was low and unsure, scared that the boy would turn on him or tell him he owed him.
"i didn't want you to get hurt." he said, getting up with namjoon's help and dusting the dirt off his pants as if he weren't hurt at all.
"b-but you got hurt." namjoon's eyes were wide and he looked clueless. that made the boy smile faintly and friendly put his arm on his shoulders.
"that's alright, i can take a punch." that took namjoon by surprise even more. he didn't have any friends, and the only time other kids would approach him was to bully him so this felt foreign, but good, nonetheless.
"i'm namjoon, what's your name?"
"i'm jeongguk. let's be friends, i promise they'll never touch you again."
"you don't have to do this." namjoon said, lowering his eyes.
"but i want to. we can keep each other safe. deal?" jeongguk said, retreating his arm so he could shake the boy's hand. namjoon quickly shook it back.
"deal."
—
it seemed to work, and jeongguk was always ready to defend namjoon, even when namjoon tried to take the beating for him. of course he didn't like getting all bruised and hurt. but seeing his friend take the beatings that were supposed to be his were still painful, regardless of him pretending they didn't hurt at all.
besides that, they went great together. jeongguk didn't make fun of him for his big books and his studies except for the few times he insisted namjoon was missing the fun part of life by being too engrossed in studies.
still, namjoon could tell he wasn't serious. he wanted to share what made him happy too. namjoon often agreed to his not too smart games, such as climbing trees or spinning too fast on the merry-go-round.
but his favorite was lying down on the shade of a three in the hot afternoon with jeongguk. it was used mostly for resting after using so much energy, their skins sticky and shiny with sweat. sometimes if they were lucky one of them would have money for an ice cream.
the birds chirped and other children shouted far away and they were quiet until they regained enough energy to talk about something. namjoon wished he could stay on one of these moments forever.
besides those, jeongguk's list of mischieves also included pranks on teachers or their own bullies. they were always harmless but still made namjoon a bit scared. but it was worth seeing them playing out, and even though that could never compare to the pain and sadness and ruined days those people put namjoon through, he felt a bit avenged from seeing it.
sometimes namjoon didn't get what jeongguk was up to, most of them he was just trying to make him laugh. it often worked.
another of their favorite activities were when there was no class and they could hang around at jeongguk's place. the younger reading a comic while namjoon read a book. watching silly movies jeongguk liked while namjoon questioned unnecessary things about it and made jeongguk laugh in return, stating "it's not that deep."
they have sleepovers, listen to their favorite songs and discuss things they like, people they don't and what they want to be when they grow up.
namjoon wasn't usually very optimistic, he just wished he'd be liked more often than not. if that didn't happen, he would wish to be succesful by himself and try to stay away from people as hard as he could.
but now when he had a best friend and he was more than he could ever ask for. he couldn't imagine a second of his life away from him. so when he told jeongguk he wished they'd remain as best friends forever and have a long and good life together; reading all the books and executing many pranks, the boy smiled at him as wide as he could and nodded.
"yes, namjoonie! we'll be together forever and have loads of fun together!" namjoon's eyes sparkled at how enthusiastic the boy was at the prospect. he couldn't ever imagine he'd made someone happy for just being himself. that he could be good enough, or at least good enough to not be hated.
that night they slept facing each other while smiling and namjoon thought how he wouldn't trade this for anything in the world. even if for meeting jeongguk he had to be beaten up for years over and over again, it was worth it. he wouldn't hesitate on doing it again.