It Takes Two (Kim Namjoon)

Calmed

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***

I couldn't find my speaker. Of freaking course.

I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face and into a sloppy bun with a hair tie on my wrist. The walls were thin enough between rooms that I wouldn't be able to play my music loudly anyways, but it was a habit that I didn't intend on breaking just because I moved halfway across the world.

I looked through another half-unpacked bin in the small closet. Nothing. Defeated, I rummaged through a purse for some headphones and played some music. As always, Sia calmed my crazy down and for a moment, the pounding music made me forget what a new place I was in. It was hard for me to shake off the bitter taste left in my mouth yesterday that came with meeting the band. For whatever reason, I was already beating myself up over the idea that we hadn't hit it off as well as I thought we would have. I wasn't a boring person by any means, even though I was definitely not as socially able as my university degree would suggest. I just thought that it would have been easier to relax around the boys after eating with them.

Needing to shake off some nerves, I began to curl my hair and bounce around the bathroom with the beat. As I worked through my routine and got closer to getting ready to leave, the bouncing turned to a full-out dance concert in my little living room, and I began to feel at home again.

I opened my eyes, and met the stares of Hoseok and Namjoon. I immediately dropped my arms and ripped my headphones out of my ears.

"What are you doing here?" I practically screeched.

"We've been knocking on your door for nearly ten minutes. Yumi told us to come get you."

I looked at my watch. "Am I late on my first day?"

"You're late and you literally live in the office."

I groaned, and ran to grab my bag. "Let's go."

We got halfway down the hall before anyone said anything again.

"So about that dance," Hoseok started.

I tried not to groan again. "Don't start with me."

"You should practice with us sometime. And be in our next music video," Namjoon teased.

I almost smiled at the joke. What had I been worried about? Instead, I laughed drily.

When we reached the practice rooms (which were on the complete opposite of the apartment complex), I felt extremely overdressed. All the boys were wearing stylish yet comfortable clothes to dance in, and Yumi and Haneul matched their looks. I ignored it and hopped near the closest camera, remembering what Yumi had walked me through yesterday in the media room that was full of cameras, computers, lighting equipment, and whatever else we might need to document the life of Bangtan. Haneul helped show me exactly how they set up the camera, and then set up my phone so that I could tweet from both accounts.

Jungkook came over to me then, and I smiled at him gently, trying not to scare him away. He seemed to be in his element though. "Hey, Viv! How did you sleep last night?" he asked.

"Like a rock," I admitted. "I'm still getting used to the time change."

He nodded. "You seem to be handling it so well. I always have a tough time on airplanes." His lips twitched into a bunny smile.

"Well, I could never tell." I went back to looking at the phone.

"Viv," Kookie said. I looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"I know this is a big change and all, but you seem kind of wound up about everything."

"I do?"

"Yeah. We all really like you, and I'm so happy that I finally have someone younger than me here. But to be honest, you seem like you take yourself too seriously. It ages you."

I blinked. "Jungkook oppa, this is my job."

"Don't call me that. I don't believe you're actually younger than me yet."

"What? Why not?"

"Don't lie to me. I heard you read books and knit in your spare time."

I glared at him defensively. They were practical hobbies. "So?"

"You're basically an old lady. I should be calling you noona." He was teasing me at this point, his smile taking over his face.

"Just get to your point."

He smiled wider. "This is our job too. Maybe the corporate guys scared you, but look," he said, motioning his head towards everyone else, "look at all the fun they're having. You're one of us now, even if we don't know each other well. So have fun."

I nodded slowly, unsure of what just happened. Was I really taking the job too seriously? Should I relax more?

I didn't think too hard about it, because then Yoongi came up behind Kookie and grabbed him. "Come on, it's time to dance."

Before I knew what was happening, I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Can I borrow this?" Namjoon asked.

"Um..." I said as he took the phone from my hand and began to film Yoongi and Jungkook struggling with each other. Eventually their skirmish interrupted Jimin and Jin dancing, and everyone began to bicker.

"I'm trying to make Jin hyungie a better dancer!" Jimin whined.

"Hey," Jin protested. "When you have more height, it's harder to move well."

Namjoon returned next to me to watch everything as Tae took over filming on my phone. "I hope you're ready for all this. We tried to reel it in yesterday."

"Did you really?"

"Yes. Didn't want to overwhelm you."

I sighed. "You didn't. I was worried I'd done something wrong there at the end." Soon after we'd finished eating, Yumi had swept me away for more orientation, and I'd gone straight to bed after that. I didn't have a chance to makeup for my slight to K-pop.

"Of course not. We're fairly awkward around girls, even on the team. Especially pretty and new ones."

I tipped my head to the side. So maybe I had just freaked out over nothing. Or maybe I'd just underestimated how awkward we collectively were. "I'm hoping I won't be too American for you."

Namjoon laughed then. "No," he said in English. "We won't judge you harshly for being American. You seem like a good person, Viv."

"I'd like to think so." I remembered something else he said. "Not sure about the pretty though. Haneul told me I needed to lose weight."

Namjoon gave me a blank look, and then his expression became moderately offended (on my behalf, if I wasn't mistaken). "Well he's wrong. I think he's joking, but he's wrong."

I laughed in an attempt to bring a smile back to his face. "Thanks, oppa."

He went to go dance with the rest of them, as they all finally settled down enough to film appropriately.

My worries were gone.

We fell into a pattern.