Worth the Wait

Prelude

"Here," Jin holds out a bottle to Namjoon as he reaches the end of the small dock.
Joon looks up at his friend and smiles, taking the sweaty bear from him, "Thanks."
Jin grins, sitting down on the dock next to Namjoon. Close enough that they could lean on each other if they wanted to, but far enough away that they were not touching.
Jin kicks his slides off and carefully lowers his feet into the pond, surprised that the water didn't feel as cool as he thought it would.
The summer was coming to an end, and this was going to be the last one like this. At 20 and 22, most of their friends had already moved on, finishes college, gotten jobs, or started families. As if by some unspoken agreement Namjoon And Seokjin had waited. And for several years.
But they both knew they couldn't wait here in this small, wooded town any longer if they were going to chase their dreams.
"I still can't believe you are going all the way to France for cooking school," Namjoon says, pouting at the pond as he kicks at the reeds submerged in the cool water.
Jin sighs, chugging half of his beer in one go, "You are going to Seoul anyway, you won't even have time to realize I'm not there."
Namjoon snorts, studying the label on his own bottle, "As if I could ever forget every time, I have to eat ramen instead of your cooking."
This makes Jin laugh, he was already the best cook in town, and everyone knew it. They had all helped to raise the money for him to go to the best culinary school in France, knowing he could become one of the best chefs in the world.
"I'll just mail you some food to your dorm," Jin puts his bottle down and lies down on the rough planks of the dock, "How come there's a dock here? I've never seen a boat."
Namjoon looks up, the thought bringing him out of his dread of the next day's unavoidable events, "That's a good point. I've never seen a boat here either."
He turns slightly, only one foot in the water now, "Do you think someone had one at one point?"
Jin looks up at his younger friend, "I would assume so if they built this whole thing for it."
Namjoon looks away, Jin's face was hard to look at for too long, his features too perfect on his face, "Maybe it was for fishing?"
Jin hums, "True, I've seen fish here before. We should have thought of that sooner, we could have come fishing here."
"We could have brought a boat," Namjoon adds, finally drinking some of his beer.
Jin's eyes light up, "That would have been a perfect day, how could we not think of that sooner!"
Namjoon laughs dryly, "We would think of it on our last night here."
This sobers them both, smiles vanishing from their faces as the implications of 'last night' sink in.
They sit silently, Jin staring at the stars and Namjoon fidgeting with the label on his beer.
"Joon," Jin finally breaks the silence, his voice cutting through the sound of crickets and frogs.
Namjoon looks down at his friend, expectant.
"Joon, just cause we are going different ways," He sits up, taking the beer from Namjoon's hands, filling them with his own unique fingers, "It won't change us or our friendship."
Namjoon looks down again, not able to keep eye contact while knowing this statement was probably not true, "How can you think that?"
"I don't think it!" Jin says, exasperated, "I know it!"
Namjoon chuckles, but grips Jin's fingers ever so slightly tighter.
"Hey, I'm serious, even if we drift apart and grow on our own, you will forever be my best friend," Jin brushes his thumbs across the tops of Namjoon's hands, smiling at the younger softly.
"Then can you make me a promise?" Namjoon asks, watching the path Jin's thumbs were making.
"Of course, anything you want," Jin responds immediately, his normal happy carefree attitude showing through.
Namjoon looks up, eyes meeting Jin's, "If we are both single at 30 and 32, let's get married."
Jin stares at him in shock and Namjoon begins to bite his lip, worried that this had been a bad decision.
A smile finally splits Jin's face in two and he laughs, "I would love that Namjoon, I promise that if I'm single at 32 I will marry you."
Namjoon grins, glad that it's dark enough to hide the blush rising up his neck, "Good. Then you won't forget me."
"I couldn't forget you even without that promise," Jin says, relaxing again against the wooden boards.
"You better not," Namjoon grumbles, turning back to the pond, both feet in the water once again.

The next morning, they wake up on those same boards as the sun rises, wrapped up in each other's arms despite the already warm later summer day. They walk slowly back through the woods to their village, stop at the end of the trail, and just look at each other for a long moment.
"I should go, I have a few things to finish packing before my train to the airport," Jin finally says, taking both empty beer bottles from Namjoon.
He nods, "I should catch my train to Seoul."
Neither of them moves for another long moment until Jin smiles, takes a step forward, and wraps his arms around Namjoon.
They hug longer than is strictly necessary and then Namjoon waves as he watches Jin disappear down the road.
He finally heads back to his house, needing to get read of his own trip, heading into a new part of his own life.