worth it

one.

pushing the door open effortlessly, your brother pushed aside the pair of fuzzy houses slippers that sat next to the doormat. sliding off his shoes, the boy accompanying him glanced around the house. it was average, not too big or small, and the typical appliances and furniture sat in their typical places. overall, it wasn't much different than his own home.

making their way to the kitchen, the pair of guys set their bags down at the wooden table as your brother shuffled over to the fridge. "you want anything?" jiwon asked him, "my mom went shopping yesterday." namjoon shook his head. "i'm all good, thanks." he said, looking at the family photo that adorned the wall next to the table. he looked at the four smiling faces, quickly identifying who each family member was. one of them caught his eye, her stunning eyes and pearly white teeth causing him to do a double take.

"you have a sister?" he asked, turning back around to his acquaintance, who had sat at the table with a handful of random snacks he had rounded up in the fridge and pantry. "yeah, i do." he said nonchalantly as he ripped open a small bag of candy. "i didn't know." namjoon said, unable to take his focus off of you and your mere existence. "i don't think i've ever seen her around school." jiwon nodded. "yeah, well, she doesn't go to school with us." he said nonchalantly. namjoon knew he should have just left it there, but something was gnawing at his brain, he just had to know more about you.

"how come?" he questioned. your brother shrugged. "ah, you know. things happen. it was just...better for her to go somewhere else." he said, giving namjoon a look that obviously told him to stop prodding. getting the message, he cleared his throat awkwardly and sat down at the table. "so, uh. right. let's start with math. you said you needed help with...inequalities?" he asked, prompting another nod from your brother, who shoved more candy into his mouth before reaching for his notes. the pair had barely gotten through the first two questions before the front door swung open.

you breezed into the kitchen a second later, ditching your blazer on a chair and grabbing a glass from the cabinet. "hey," jiwon said, "how was school?" he asked, turning his attention away from his paper, and luckily, also from namjoon, who looked like a deer in headlights. you nodded as you filled the glass with cool water and ice. "it was fine. i'm just glad i can relax for a little bit." you sighed, sipping the icy drink in your hands. "how about you?"

he shrugged his shoulders, turning back to the table. "same as always. we're doing homework now." he said, picking his pencil back up. you shuffled over to the table, standing at the corner of the table as you peered at the books and problems scattered everywhere. "i can see that...what're working on?" you questioned. jiwon scoffed, shaking his head. "don't ask me, i don't know what any of this is. namjoon's the smart one here." he said.

namjoon, whose heart was racing at your close proximity, jolted his head up at the sound of his name. your wide eyes met his own dark, mocha ones, and he still struggled to find the right words, regardless of the simplicity of the prompt. "uh, inequalities. you know, greater than, less than, that type of stuff. annoying at first, but not so bad once you get the hang of it." he stuttered, the smile on his face a harsh contrast to the panic in his head. had he rambled on too long about math? did you think he was weird now?

you smiled softly at him, nodding your head in understanding. "sounds...awful." you joked. namjoon chuckled, perhaps a little too much, at your words and glued his eyes back down to the paper in front of him. "i'm going to go lay down. i'm beat. good luck with the inequalities, alright? and namjoon," you said, "nice to meet you." you said, giving him one last smile before heading off to your room for the afternoon.

jiwon, who had obviously moved on from the interaction quickly, continued on with his homework normally, every now and then stopping to ask namjoon why he seemed so spaced out all of a sudden. brushing it off as nothing, the boy tried to concentrate on the tasks in front of him, but just couldn't.

the poor boy was a wreck inside, feeling so many unfamiliar emotiosn at the same time making his head spin like a top. you were an enigma, that was already made evident by your cool demeanor and the way your brother talked so little about you. it was also obvious that it was supposed to be that way, he knew by the look in jiwon's eyes when he asked about you, that you were supposed to be kept quiet, kept safe and hidden away from the dangers of the world.

and that's exactly why he got reeled in so quickly.

namjoon was smart, a genius even. it seemed like he knew everything about everything. at least, that's what it felt like to him. there didn't appear to be that many things that he didn't know, and whatever he didn't know, he could pick up a book and become an expert on within a day. his intelligence was gift, sure, it had gotten him ahead in just about everything and anything he ever wanted could be brought to him on a sliver platter. but, every highlight has its shadow.

when it came to life outside the classroom, the brilliance that he possessed served to be a hinderance more often than not. namjoon, blessed cursed with an intellect unlike many before him, had been told over and over that someone with a mind like his should research every little thing he could, and learn more about every topic he came across, and study and study until he quite literally could not process another fact or piece of knowledge.

and he did.

and (not so) suddenly, namjoon's mind had morphed into a more of an encyclopedia, chock so full of information that any sense of mystery was perceived as a red flag, something that needed to be studied, rather than a lesson that could be learned by sitting back and letting it happen. but this time around, something was just different.

maybe it was your beauty. your thick, shiny hair, your curious gaze, or your angelic features. or maybe it was fate, maybe it was meant to happen this way. something about you was just so...enticing. instead of feeling like you were just another code for him to crack, he found your mystery alluring, like a puzzle he didn't want to solve. the mystification clouding his head was intoxicating, and the burning desire to know more of you contrasted with the addicting drug of your cryptic nature that had seduced him so easily, it didn't take namjoon long to figure out that this was a battle he was going to be involved in whether he wanted to or not.

and boy, was he ready to fight.