it's just kissing | m.j ✓

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

And this is after one of his flings had already bitch-slapped the man. At this rate, Jimin is going to leave the bar on a stretcher one day.

"I didn't want you to get in trouble," Jimin mumbles in response, looking distracted by the hot pain spreading across his face.

"Jimin-"

"It's fine. I mean, I've never gotten punched before and now I have, right? Another one off the bucket list! And plus, I'd rather be punched by you than some stranger," Jimin chirps in a lame attempt at alleviating the heavy tension in the room. Honestly, Jimin wasn't thinking too clearly when he had jumped in. In his state of mild panic, all he could think was how much he didn't want things to get out of hand, especially when he was involved as well and had run in between the two rather blindly. In retrospect, he could've just pulled Namjoon back or something, because man, the punch had hurt. For a brief moment, he wasn't aware of what was up or down or where he was or whose hands were on him. He could vaguely make out someone calling his name from a distance and the next thing he knows, he's being carried into the familiar office of his boss.

"Jimin, you could've really hurt yourself," Namjoon replies with a sigh, burying his face into his hands. He doesn't know why it is that nothing goes as intended whenever Jimin is involved. First, Jimin gets slapped because of him, and Namjoon had spent the next few days bothered by his role in the smaller man getting hurt. But all of that guilt paled in comparison to what he's feeling now. Namjoon may be against the idea of beating someone up, but he had trained in boxing as part of his workout regiment, which meant that he knew how to throw a real punch when needed.

Namjoon did see Jimin jumping into his vision and he had tried to pull back, but the momentum was too strong, with less than a fraction of a second to spare, so all he could do was somehow cushion the blow as much as he can by jerking his body back. Yet, he couldn't avoid making contact with Jimin's face, and well...

There is a small knock, and Hoseok walks in with a pack of ice and a towel, looking every bit concerned by what had happened. The manager hands the items to the bar owner and leaves the office, telling them to let him know if they need anything. Namjoon quietly thanks the man before returning his attention to the smaller man who winces in pain as ice is pressed against his cheek.

"Can I ask you a question?" Jimin says after a moment of silence, and Namjoon nods as he continues to press the ice, applying as little pressure as possible. "Umm...why did you, you know, pull me away from Jaebum?"

Namjoon exhales slowly through his nose, choosing his words carefully. He's not entirely sure how to go about answering the question, because in all honesty, he himself isn't even sure why he did what he did. All he remembers is Taehyung coming to tell him that the guy looks like bad business with perhaps too much alcohol in his system, so he had watched the two careful, assessing for any sign of foul play. He wasn't stupid. He knew all too well what went down especially on nights like their Halloween party, and Jimin's costume and a drunk horny date was a recipe for disaster.

At the end of the day though, Namjoon didn't really have any reason to meddle in Jimin's affair. Jimin was an adult capable of making his own conscious decisions and dealing with the consequences. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if the asshole had decided to take Jimin to the nearest surface and fuck him until Jimin can't walk straight for a week. If Jimin was all for it, than so be it, but the thing is, Jimin wasn't up for it. The man was clearly uncomfortable with the proximity and the touching, but for whatever reason, the douchebag had continued with his advances.