LOUD | NAMJIN

Chapter 1: A Trip Down Memory Lane ~ Namjoon

Namjoon

Namjoon gingerly scrubbed the counter, making sure not to miss a spot. He would hate to be chewed out again by his boss like the last time and miss anymore writing time. After staring at the painstaking slow hands of the clock slightly drop from second to second for hours on end, it was finally the last 15 minutes of his shift.

Due to his horrible sleep schedule (all caused by his extreme love of writing), he was constantly late for his early morning shifts, thus being forced into his least favorite shift which he was currently working now...

The Nighttime Shift.

It wasn't that this shift was his least favorite because it was bustling with customers or even that he, being the last shift, was assigned with cleaning up the drink station and the kitchen. He never minded those kinds of shifts. In fact, he actually preferred them.

No... What Namjoon hated the most about this shift was the ear-splitting silence of the Café during the nighttime hours. Sure, it wasn't entirely late, it was only 9:46 pm. However, with no customer flow, and only the soft hum of the refrigerator and coffee machines, the lack of activity made it extremely difficult to want to stay the entire shift versus just closing up shop early and calling it a day.

But he couldn't afford to lose this job. Having run away 5 years ago, he was honestly lucky to still be alive. He came to the city on his own volition, knowing quite well he had no plan when he reached his destination. And sure, the first couple months were rough: living from shelter to shelter and performing underground to potentially make money to help himself get by. That's where he met Min Yoongi.

Initially, they were put up against each other for a rap battle. When Namjoon first saw Yoongi perform, he was in awe. His verbal flow was effortless, yet eccentric, and the emotional state of his pieces touched Namjoon. It's as if his heart and his mind were lit on fire.

After the performance ended, Namjoon waited for him outside the venue, his back leaning on the wall as an act for the sake of looking cool, only to fail because his stomach was turning with anticipation and fear.

Flashback

"Excuse me, Agust D?" Namjoon called in a slightly hesitant voice.

Yoongi had his headphones in when leaving the building, but was still in the process of selecting a song. He looked up to see a tall, lanky, and fidgety man. He silently chuckled at the sight. He pulled the bud out of his right ear and began to whip it around his finger.

"Take a breath man, you don't have to be nervous", he smiled casually. "My name is Yoongi." He stuck his hand out in a friendly way, hoping a handshake would calm the fretting man. Namjoon proceeded to shake his hand, feeling more comfortable as he did so. 

After a long pause between the two, Yoongi decided to break the ice. "So what can I help you with?" Yoongi calmly asked, praying he wouldn't relapse Namjoon.

"I came out tonight after getting a request to rap against you a couple weeks from now. I like to check out my competition ahead of time, so I know how to practice beating them" he drawled out slowly, hoping not to provoke the man in front of him, as he had done of precious occasions due to being horribly foolish when crafting specific sentences.

"Anyway, I was watching you perform, and couldn't help but get so in tune with it. I felt like I could feel your memories wind up inside of me, and it felt brutal and amazing. How did you learn to write like that?" he marveled.