secrets | namkook.

prologue.

september 24, 2001.
seoul, south korea.

it's a slightly chilly autumn day, shades of reds and ochres swaying through the winds, leaves swirling in and about around - autumns in korea are beautiful.

soft giggles accompanying the sound of birds chirping, only to be interrupted by a cry. the young boy would hiss, softly reaching out to cover his knee; his toys scattered around were not the things he was worried about right now.

"joo hyung!" the little boy, jungkook, would cry out, watching a taller boy run over to him, glancing at him worriedly and then at the wound. it wasn't anything too deep, just a small scratch with blood barely seeping out.

"oh no, koo.. does it hurt too much?" namjoon, previously referred to as 'joo hyung', would gently reach out for a handkerchief from his pocket, neatly tying it over jungkook's scraped knee.

"it hurts a lot, hyung!" jungkook would whimper, tears brimming in his eyes as he watched the elder of them two tend to his wound.

"koo, hyungie is gonna call eomma or appa, okay? stay here, hyungie will bring help!" the elder was quick to yelp, because he knows he's not that strong enough to pick a toddler up that's almost the same size as him — small steps quickly waddling forth to run over to his home.

poor little jungkook sniffled as he held onto his dear toys, watching namjoon return with his appa jogging close behind. the male would carefully scan jungkook's legs for any other injury, whatsoever, relieved there weren't any.

but it's adorable how his son tends to his best friend's injuries, acting as if the entire world is in danger.

only if he knew. jungkook was namjoon's entire world.

be it having breakfast, going out to play or probably sleeping — namjoon had always wanted to do it with jungkook. it wasn't hard for them to become best friends, being the only two young boys in the same neighborhood brought them closer.

and jungkook equally admires namjoon too; they're barely an year apart — but it's funny how much more mature namjoon is. he understands things you wouldn't expect a five year old to.

he's a prodigy. everyone agrees.

and that's why namjoon is the first one to dash inside his home, his father following from behind, arms gently carrying jungkook and his toys.

the elder boy would quickly grab the first aid kit from his parent's room, running back downstairs, handing it over to his dad — he feels bad that he doesn't know how to do first aid, makes a quick promise to himself that he'll learn it as soon as he could; he would never want his jungkookie to be in pain.

"no!" the youngest of them three would cry out at the first contact of the swab against his skin, hating the way the antiseptic felt on his wound. "that hurts!"

and that pains namjoon, to know his jungkook is in pain too — quickly takes the swab from his father's hands to shake his head. "can we not use just water instead, appa? you can put that cream on that eomma always puts on my wounds when i get hurt.. please?"

the elder boy couldn't help his smile break out when his father nodded, small dimples etching onto his cheeks as he quickly waddled over to the bathroom, bringing back a cup filled with water.

"koo! this won't hurt at all.. hyung is gonna clean you up, okay? and then appa is gonna put cream on it! it smells nice too.."

"it won't hurt right, joo hyung? promise?" jungkook couldn't help but let out a scared whisper, awaiting an answer. namjoon would quickly shake his head, placing a kiss atop the younger boy's knee.

"see? i even kissed it. it's gonna heal faster, okay?" he'd smile — and that's all that jungkook needed as a confirmation, leaning back against the sofa as namjoon wiped his wound clean with a new cotton swab dipped in just water, his dad quickly applying the ointment as well.

"there you go, boys. i'm gonna call your mom, jungkook, okay? go home safely with her-"

"appa.." namjoon would softly word out , tugging at his dad's hand, starry eyes staring up at the male.

"uhm, can koo stay over? we haven't had a sleep over in so long.. plus you promised you'd let koo stay over if i do all my homework, i did!" the toddler would become all pouty and sulky, looking up at his father.

and well maybe being a prodigy comes with an exceptional talent of getting whatever you want.

so there the duo was — cuddled up on namjoon's bed, giggling as they read a comic book, soft laughter filling up the room; it's way past their bedtime but hey, staying up sounds much more fun.

"hyungie? will you kiss my ouchie when we sleep?" jungkook would whisper as he watched namjoon turn the light off, either of the two boys cuddling close in the coolest bed jungkook has been in — come on, his parents were mean for not giving him a car shaped bed, but it's nice that his 'joo hyung' has it so he at least gets to sleep in it for once.

"you want me to kiss it? of course i would, i could kiss you anytime" namjoon would giggle, getting up to softly kiss jungkook's knee; more like his band-aid, smiling as he came up, kissing the younger kid's forehead as well.

and that caught jungkook offguard, cause namjoon has never done that before, staring up at his hyung with big, starry eyes.

"hyungie! what was the kissie for?"

"well, appa always kisses eomma on the forehead when he says 'i love you', so i did that too.."

"you love me, hyung?" jungkook would ask, watching namjoon lay down beside him, who nodded as he covered either of them with a big blanket.

"of course i do, koo. i always will."

"promise?"

"promise, koo."

⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀

it's been seventeen years to that promise, and there hasn't been one single day when namjoon has broke his promise — at the end of the day it's always jungkook he looks out for, it's always been jungkook who he wants to hold.

but have those feelings been reciprocated? not really..

⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀

⠀⠀⠀⠀