CRIMINAL MINDS | KNJ

dates

Namjoon isn't super familiar with dating. He doesn't go on dates, let alone ask people on them. Most the time, he'll only know if someone is interested by Taehyung or Hoseok telling him after the fact how he just completely accidentally shut down a girl he met in the field. It's never intentional, Namjoon just tends not to notice the subtleties of flirting, especially when he's working on a case. Something equally good and bad about Namjoon—he can never be deterred from his goal when he's working.

When he had asked Eunsook out on a date, it had been instinctual. In reality, the words just popped out of his mouth before his brain had a chance to process them. It's not that he doesn't want to go on a date with Eunsook, it's just that he doesn't know how to go about planning it. For a 25 year old guy, Namjoon is painfully inexperienced with the whole dating scene. So, he asks Taehyung, his resident expert with words, to help him craft the text to Eunsook.

It takes ten minutes and three drafts of the text, Taehyung grumbling about how overly analytical Namjoon is being about this. Namjoon knows he isn't truly bothered, though, by the way the smile never truly leaves his face. Though younger than Namjoon, Taehyung is much better at the relationship thing. Maybe calling Taehyung's interactions with people "relationships" is a little generous...they're more like a string of one night stands in which the girls and guys who caught Taehyung's eye for the night are smitten with him for a long time after.

Once the text is finally to Namjoon's liking, they send it. He gets a reply about an hour later, since Eunsook was in class. They arrange to meet up at a cafe, but Namjoon is secretly scheming to take her to the art museum next door. Art museums are one of his favorite places to go when he's not working, and he has a feeling taking Eunsook to one would be a perfect date.

Eunsook is thrilled, to say the least. She has never had time for a love life before, but if Namjoon's the subject of her affection, she thinks she can make some room for one. The whole week leading up to the date, Eunsook seems to have a little more pep in her step. Seokjin teases her endlessly for it, but she can't help it. She expects Jungkook to join in on making fun of her, since it seems to be one of his favorite pass times, but he doesn't. In fact, he's unusually quiet all week. Distant.

Eunsook is curious. She knows their friendship is supposed to be ignorantly blissful, supposed to be all fun and games, nothing serious, but she can't help but wonder what's gotten the loud Jungkook to be so quiet. Once, when Jungkook is out in the dining room taking an order, Eunsook turns to Seokjin.

"Should we talk to him?" Eunsook whispers. "Have an intervention?" Seokjin sighs, shaking his head. "Why not?"

"He'll tell us when he's ready. Sometimes people have to work through things on their own." Seokjin explains. Eunsook tries to be satisfied with his response. She knows Seokjin is probably right, but something about the way he looked up at Jungkook on the CCTV screen, something about the emotion in his eyes, tells her he knows something she doesn't.

All thoughts of her two friends are out of mind, though, when she makes it to the coffee shop for her date. She sits down, five minutes early. Her stomach is full of butterflies. She would never admit it to anyone, but she changed her outfit five times before settling on the jeans and oversized burgundy sweater she had tried on the first time. She's never been more conscious of how she looked. Eunsook knows Namjoon wouldn't care how she looked, since he's seen her at her worst and most sleep-deprived at the diner. Still, she applies some natural makeup and even puts in earrings.

Five minutes pass, and she's watching the door shamelessly, waiting for Namjoon to walk in. She has a feeling the man is punctual, it just fits with his personality. The waiter comes over, and Eunsook orders two black coffees for them, knowing Namjoon's order by heart after taking it so many times. The waiter brings them back and sets them down on the table. Eunsook mumbles a thanks, too focused on the idea of Namjoon.