Pathways

Autumnal War

The last week had been particularly atypical for Namjoon since it began with him getting a girlfriend. He didn't do that every week but, truth be told, he never had Jin hyung as a wingman before. He promised himself that as soon as he could, he would invite Jin out for drinks as a "thank you" because MunHee was not only smart, she was cheerful, passionate about music, and dancing and she seemed to genuinely like him for who he was. It was refreshing and exciting but the week had also come with some peculiar revelations.

Not only did he get to meet the famous Taehyung, the missing friend, and some sort of pivotal character in a story with a punchline, but he spent time with him one morning, completely randomly, after Jungkook went to work. Many people would be intrigued to find somebody in their kitchen all of a sudden but Tae was an ace at forwarding conversations, making him an excellent partner no matter the subject discussed.

Since then he knew Tae slept in Jungkook's bed and not having him on the couch was such a small detail that Namjoon didn't think much of it. He didn't see how Jungkook's ears grew longer and his eyes wider each time the name Taehyung was mentioned. He missed that, but what he thoroughly noticed was the maknae's scene in front of Prism.

The last 24 hours were, by far, the most curious out of all the week. It was already afternoon when he reached his apartment after a full morning with Yoongi. His other hyung got dumped, to put it simply. His fiance had been with him the previous night and in the morning she was gone. Yoongi looked like he was taking it fairly well. He was being rational, logical, and maybe even a little bit cold. He looked preoccupied but who wouldn't have been in his situation?

Probably Namjoon needed to learn how not to stick his nose in somebody else's business because after calling Dae noona himself he learned that reconciliation was highly improbable. He took advantage of a short shower Yoongi wanted to take and he called the woman so he could figure out if there was any point in encouraging the hyung to chase after her. Sadly, she answered the phone and very politely and calmly explained that she was sure of her decision, did not regret it, and does not see things "working out" anytime soon if ever. Without complaining, she explained that Yoongi and her were fighting frequently, over the smallest of things sometimes and it ate away at what they wanted to build together.

Maybe if she would have cried or screamed, Namjoon might have insisted that she gave Yoongi another chance but her tone was secure, disappointed, and with a strange nuance of freedom. Yoongi's relationship was over. The younger one had no doubt about it.

As he started going up the stairs to his apartment, Namjoon couldn't help but think about relationships. He was grateful that MunHee had the energy to cope with him, his brain, and his well-known clumsiness because nothing forced her to be with him. She walked into his life and he had been happy since the moment they held each other's hands. One single person could bring happiness if they were allowed, they could alter the course of their partner's days, decisions were suddenly made for two, keeping the other one in mind.

He didn't believe in love at first sight but he believed in attraction, he believed in fondness and he could see how those two feelings combined with the simplest moments of happiness transformed into love.

Inevitably, his thoughts rushed back to Jungkook. Could the same timeline theory be applied to Jungkook? What was the birthing point of his fondness for Taehyung? How could he feel attracted to another man? Was Jungkook always attracted to other men but kept silent? Was that why he barely dated? Unlikely, because Namjoon knew Jungkook wasn't adverse to women or relationships in general. But why Taehyung?

Why not Taehyung? The boy was good looking and he was smart, with an out of the box mentality. Namjoon liked him as well but Namjoon couldn't imagine being with him. What happened to Jungkook that made such a difference in his perception?