Black Swan (Kim Namjoon x reader)

Chapter 22

Early in the day, when the mist of the morning began to settle on the flowers and plants outside, you began with today's work. The agenda for today included picking fresh strawberries that you planted last month and baking a cake for a special boy. Namjoon, who was right beside you, was bittered and nagged at you. "You didn't even bake a cake for my birthday," he huffed, his arms crossing. He crouched down in front of the strawberries and wondered if he could somehow put them on fire. But it would ruin your hard work and he didn't want to see you sad.

"I made you 12 sushi rolls by hand," you recounted. It took you the whole day to precisely roll all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces and made them look presentable. They were certainly not restaurant-worthy but they had their own rustic, homemade charm. Namjoon was more than delighted to come home to that after his show. He made a wish that you would always be smiling next to him. "Don't be a big baby. Jimin is your friend and I just want to do something nice for him."

"Whatever," he scoffed. "But don't be nice to other boys."

You picked the last strawberry off from the plant and felt pleased with the results. The red fruit resembled rubies. You couldn't want to eat them. Namjoon helped you get up. "I don't see anyone else besides you and your close friends. Besides, it's good to be nice to people. If they do fall in love with me, what's wrong with that?" you laughed as you headed inside. Namjoon's face molded into a pout. He kept his head low and followed you. Once you placed the strawberries in the sink, he yanked your body around with his hands pressing against the cabinets above. He leaned forward, you could feel his breath down your neck. His eyes kept their cold and stone gaze.

"Do you want to say that again?" he asked, his voice was low and velvet. His magic roared spectacularly within his body. It was enough to make you feel more intimidated than usual.

You gulped, "It's good to be nice to people?"

He shook his head, "The other part."

"Um," your thoughts were running wild, he was so close. "Nothing."

He pulled back, giving you air to breathe. He looked satisfied. "Good, it better be nothing."

Your attention went to washing the strawberries, but your mind was somewhere else completely. Ever since that night in his room, the nature of your relationship took a weird turn. He was much more vocal about his feelings and he would deliberately try to get closer to you, even going as far as telling you to sit on his lap while you read in the library. While the offer was tempting, you always turned him down. Not only was the situation at hand dire and critical, but this unspoken thing that the two of you are dancing around makes no sense. It was like a switch was turned on and suddenly, Namjoon professed his feelings for you out of the blue. It didn't add up. He could have anyone and yet he was here on a Sunday morning, spending time with you. Perhaps it was just to kill time. You would relieve him of his boredom until the battle was over, but then again, it hasn't even begun yet.

Namjoon noticed the disturbance in your action. You hadn't moved from your spot and the water was steaming. He caught your hands and moved it out of the way. "What's wrong?" he asked hastily. He turned the water to the cool side and let your hands sit under the stream.

"It's nothing," you replied. He wasn't amused with the lie. He learned to recognize the fake smile you put on to drive the attention away from yourself. It had been that way for as long as he had known you.

"Don't lie to me," he demanded softly. The words bloomed the cocoons inside your stomach. "Tell me what's wrong? Did someone do something to you? Did I do something wrong?"

"No," you answered right away. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Should I have done something then?"

"What would you have done?" You thought about the numerous girls he must have been with before and wondered about the number of times he pinned them to a wall and stared them down until they started to melt. Maybe he whispered something sweet to him, lingered on their neck, kissed them and made them dizzy. You weren't anything special.

"Whatever you're comfortable with," he hummed.

You turned to face him. "What?"

"What?" he repeated. "I'm not going to do what makes you uncomfortable, Y/N." He sighed and grabbed your now cooled hand. "Look, I know this is a really weird and unideal circumstance that we're in. And when I said those things to you that night, I wasn't really clear about my intentions or how I want this to proceed. To be honest, I've never thought about dating or being in love in general. I don't know what I want from this. I just know that I don't want to not be around you and I don't want to mess this up because this is the first time."

"The first time you're in love?"

"Yeah," he answered quietly, covering his face with the back of his hand. "And the first time I'm doing this in general."

"You're kidding!" you exclaimed.

"Why do you sound surprised? I'm not some sort of playboy."

"Well I just assumed because you're so....handsome and charming."

He rolled his eyes, "Just because I like performing in front of people, doesn't mean I'm a people person. I tolerate some of them."

"And what about me?"

"Do you really have to ask?" He picked up a strawberry and placed it in front of your mouth. Naturally you leaned forward to bite it. But Namjoon had other plans. He moved the fruit and replaced it with his lips. When you realized it, it was already too late. His lips were just as sweet as how you imagined the strawberries to be. They were also warm and soft. He pulled you closer by the waist and deepened the kiss. You closed your eyes, leaning your body against his. Fireworks exploded all around you. You could feel strands of your hair floating like you were being electrocuted. For the most part, Namjoon knew what he was doing. He wasn't hurting you and you weren't pushing him away so that's a good sign. Before he let go, he bit the corner of your lips as a mark. He rested his forehead on yours and tried to regain his breath. "I adore you."