A Caged Bird | Minjoon

18

"just one more," namjoon sighed to himself, grabbing one last action figure from his shelf, wrapping it in bubble wrap and packaging it nicely into a shipping box.

namjoon had been thinking all night about how to buy jimin that sweater and managed to come up with a pretty good idea. he had searched through the internet and found some of his action figures had grown to be pretty rare. he wasn't exactly thrilled about selling some of his favorite ones, but it was well worth it to buy jimin the perfect gift. besides, joon had plenty of action figures. it would be no big deal for him to part with a few of them.

namjoon grabbed all the packages off of his bed and walked out to find his grandfather. he needed to borrow his car in order to get to the post office, and then drive to the small local store to get jimin's sweater.

"grandpa!" namjoon shouted, calling for him, "can i use your car?"

a few seconds passed before sung-ha was walking out into the foyer, seeing joon standing there with some packages in his hands.

"of course you can, joonie," he said, looking a little suspicious, "where are you going with all of those?"

namjoon just shifted the boxes in his hands, not really wanting to answer.

"i just... sold a few things online. no big deal."

sung-ha raised an eyebrow.

"you've never sold anything online before," he said, "do you need money for something? you know you can always ask me if you need anyth-"

namjoon cut him off.

"it's for jimin," namjoon said, quickly, "i mean... he wants this sweater thing and i wanted to get him a christmas present... so i just... sold a few things that i don't need..."

sung-ha looked surprised.

"you mean... you sold your things online so you could get something for jimin?" sung-ha asked, his face softening, placing a hand on the boys arm.

"it's no big deal," namjoon said, "i mean... he always gets stuff for me."

sung-ha smiled.

"that's very sweet, joonie. i'm sure he'll love whatever you're getting him."

namjoon just smiled, not looking directly at his grandfather, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"i hope so."

-

"just the sweater then, sir?" the elderly woman behind the counter asked, folding it neatly and placing it into a bag.

"y-yes, thank you, ma'am."

"no- thank you," she said, "it's been awfully hard running this place all by myself lately. i appreciate the business."

"o-oh... no problem," namjoon said, "s-sorry about that."

"it's alright," she said.

the woman pressed a few buttons on the cash register, printing namjoon's receipt and placing it in the bag.

"you were here yesterday, weren't you?" the lady asked.

namjoon looked up at the lady, not expecting the remark, "u-uhm... yeah... i was."

"with that boy... the pretty looking one."

namjoon couldn't hold back a small smile, his cheeks darkening.

"y-yes... that's right."

she smiled.

"he wanted this sweater. is it a gift?"

namjoon was a bit surprised with how in tune the woman was with her surroundings, surprised she remembered all that.

"yeah... for christmas."

the lady smiled once more.

"that's very sweet. you two make a cute couple."

namjoon stopped for a moment, his mouth parting.

he was just about to speak up and tell the women they were just friends, but he stopped himself right before he spoke.

he liked someone thinking the two were together. he liked how it felt... someone thinking jimin was his and vice versa. it's not like the woman would ever see the two of them again... joon couldn't think of a reason they would come back. it wouldn't hurt if she thought they were dating.

"...thank you," namjoon said, feeling giddy, his heart rate picking up slightly.

"of course," the woman said, handing namjoon's bag over to him and smiling, "you have a nice day, sir. i hope your boyfriend enjoys the sweater."

joon just smiled back, thanking the lady one last time, grabbing the bag from her, and walking off, happily.

-

the whole drive home, joon felt ecstatic. he felt like he was floating, like he was having one of those amazing dreams he always had. he couldn't get the words the lady said to him out of his head.

"you two make a cute couple."

"i hope your boyfriend enjoys the sweater."

he liked the way it sounded- liked the way he felt when she said it. he liked someone thinking jimin was his.

"my boyfriend," namjoon said, testing it out for himself, driving along the quiet road, "jimin is my boyfriend."

he smiled to himself as arrived back home, feeling butterflies in his stomach.

"my boyfriend," he said, one last time, before he grabbed the sweater and went inside.

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joon's so soft omgggg🥺 he's the complete opposite of joon from my last minjoon book lmao