It Takes Two (Kim Namjoon)

Taught

A month later, I was trying to practice writing my words on a blank piece of paper. For some reason, writing in Hangul was the hardest part for me, but I hadn't wanted to ask anyone for help. The new apartment complex was large and vibrant and open and, maybe the best yet, far away from dour-faced managers. I loved the change, and I finally felt like the boys and I were living together comfortably.

If only I could find a place to write quietly. These apartments were huge, but there seemed to be something going on in each room. Finally, I found one with some nice grey couches and a computer on a desk in a corner.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively, hoping I wasn't bothering anyone, but more importantly, that no one would see what I was about to do.

"Aish," came a harsh reply.

I squealed, and saw the blue-grey head of Yoongi poke up from the couch. "Yoongi! I didn't see you."

"Clearly," he said, flopping back down on the couch like a grumpy cat.

"Sorry. I'll go," I said quickly, making a move back out the door.

"No," he said. "As long as you're doing something quiet, I can still nap."

"Okay," I said slowly. "It's just writing."

He perked up at that. "Writing what?"

I gave him a look. "Nothing worthy of your genius. Go back to sleep."

Yoongi didn't argue with that, and soon I was sitting at the desk and feeling like I was completely alone as I practiced.

"You're muttering as you write," he groaned out about fifteen minutes later.

I sighed. "Sorry."

Just then, the door opened from behind me.

"Oh, thank goodness, Joon," Yoongi said. "I texted you hours ago, though."

I turned around to see Namjoon smiling between Yoongi and me. "Hey, Viv, do you need help with something?" he asked.

I puzzled through what just happened in my head. "Did you ask Namjoon to come here just so I would leave?"

Suga nodded, his eyes closed once again.

"That's cold."

He smiled slightly. "I love you Viv, but you must be terribly dumb."

I made some grumbled parting remarks at Yoongi, making his smile broaden as I stomped out of the room. After Namjoon had closed the door behind me, I turned to him and half-whispered, "You don't have to help me with anything, you know."

He wasn't listening to me though. "Let me see this," he said, snatching at the paper in my hand.

"Hey!" But he had it already.

I lunged at him to get it back, but he held it over his head. There was no way I could jump that high normally, but my heels emboldened me to take a risk. With my first jump, my fingers grazed the bottom of the paper. Namjoon responded by holding it even higher over his head, straightening his arm. My second jump missed completely, but when I landed, I hit my heel oddly and, to make matters worse, I had landed too close to Namjoon and ricocheted off his chest. The combination sent me falling backwards, and I thought for sure I was a goner until Namjoon's arms grabbed my waist. He fell forward a little with my weight, but by the time we hit the opposite wall, we were steadied enough.

I stared wide-eyed at him, extremely conscious of his hands still on my waist and the proximity of his face as he leaned down towards me.

"Are you okay?" he asked lowly.

I nodded, but the rhythm that my heart was setting left me entirely unsure of whether I was still a goner or not. Slowly, I lowered my hands until they rested on the thin sleeves of his white shirt, and traced the length of his arms until my hands were resting over his. I was hoping he wouldn't release me just yet, and he didn't. Instead, we just kept staring at each other. If I wasn't mistaken, we were both breathing heavier, although we hadn't exerted that much energy.

Before he knew what was happening, I slipped my fingers around my paper still in his hand and yanked, spinning out of his grip as I did so. I sent a silent prayer that neither of us had a paper cut and took off running down the hall.

"No fair!" he yelled after me, and took off after me.

I started squealing with laughter, knowing I didn't have long until he tackled me. His arms came down around me a few seconds later, sending my heart skittering down the rest of the hall without me. Namjoon locked his arms and with strength I didn't know he had, he lifted me up and carried me into the nearest empty room while I laughed.

He threw me unceremoniously on a couch. I kept laughing, especially at the serious expression on his face. Finally, he cracked a smile.

"Do you really not want any help?" he asked. "I can teach you."

My laughs faded, and I nodded. I had nothing to be embarrassed of in front of this man. "That would be great, actually." I looked around me. "Um, maybe we should find a different room, though. Doesn't someone live here?"

"This is my room," he said.

For some reason that made my body freeze. "Oh." My voice squeaked unnaturally.

"So we can stay in here," he continued, motioning at a desk in the corner that I hadn't seen. He didn't seem to notice how red my cheeks suddenly looked. "I typically like to write in the room you and Yoongi were in before, but that desk should still work."

"Okay," I said uncertainly. I got off the couch and headed for the desk, sitting down with my paper and taking out the pen in my pocket.

"Can you write our names?" he asked.

Quickly, I wrote down Namjoon's full name. "Um, it may look like clumsy scrawl though," I admitted.

"No, it actually looks a lot neater than anything I write. How do you write in English?"

"Oh, it's messy. Watch," I said, scribbling down some translated lyrics from one of their songs that I listened to this morning.

Namjoon stared. "That's one of our songs."

"Yeah?"

"I thought you said you don't listen to K-pop."

I blushed. "I told you I've listened to your songs before."

He shook his head. "This is an old song. And you knew it off the top of your head." Namjoon's eyes turned from studying the page to piercing into me. "Viv, I believe you might actually be an ARMY."

"I already told you I was."

"Because you were obligated to be."

"Well, maybe I made it seem like that," I said. "And it's partially true. I didn't listen to your music until I was interviewing, but once I listened to it I was hooked. You guys make wonderful music."

His lips twitched into a sardonic smile. "But if you left us, would you like us still?"

I looked at him seriously. "I promise that no matter where life takes me, I will always be cheering you on. You're too special to me now," I said truthfully. The weight of my words made me painfully aware of how close we were again. "All of you," I added on, hoping to break whatever tension had thrown itself in between Namjoon and me.

A dimple appeared. "Okay. Well, I'll teach you, but only if you help me learn Spanish."

"Spanish?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Yeah. I want to expand more."

I shrugged. "Alright. Let's get started."

When I finally got back to my room, the sun had set, my body was tired, and my mind was completely devoid of anything except for one thought: I was definitely a goner.