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Life, as they say, comes at you fast. About 25 miles per hour if Jungkook had to estimate.
It’s a little bit his fault, because he’s running late and he refuses to embarrass himself by walking in and getting called out by Professor I-Hate-My-Life-So-I-Will-Make-Sure-You-Hate-Yours-Too, and maybe he’s not exactly abiding by all the traffic rules and regulations as he should be.
He doesn’t see the bike coming until at the very last minute, letting out an admittedly pretty undignified squeak as he stumbles out of the way, landing on his butt on the pavement with an unceremonious thump. There’s lots of clink-clanking of metal parts and what Jungkook thinks is the steady whir of a bike wheel turning (but could be the proverbial wheels in his head as he tries to figure out what just happened) and then, the sound of rushed footsteps approaching.
“Are you okay?”
Jungkook cracks an eye open and he’s blinded by the sun directly in his eyes, squinting.
“Could you move your head a little bit?”
“What?” the guy standing above him asks, confused. “Can you move yours? Actually, I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. Maybe I should call someone — “
“Can you just —,” Jungkook says, more insistent this time, gesturing left with his hand. “A little.”
The guy blinks, puzzled, but moves his head just right until he’s backlit by the glow of the sun in a halo around him like some kind of lanky and a little bewildered-looking angel, and Jungkook realizes — oh, he’s cute.
“Are you hurt?” the guy asks, eyes wide with concern. “Did you hit your head when you fell?”
Jungkook debates saying something cheesy like no, but looks like I fell for you, but the guy is starting to look a little more wild around the eyes with every passing minute, and Jungkook figures saying that would probably not help him prove that he’s not suffered any head trauma, despite what the guy seems to think.
“I’m fine,” he says, extending his arm. “Help me up.”
The guy pulls him up easily (which, hot, he thinks, and files that thought away for future reference) and he dusts himself off.
“I’m really sorry about that,” the guy says.
“It was my fault, too,” Jungkook says. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
“I don’t know what happened. I tried to stop, but I think the brakes must’ve jammed.”
“Is your bike okay?”
The guy winces a little and turns to look behind his shoulder, where his bike lay on the sidewalk.
“It’ll be okay,” he says, turning back. “I can get it repaired.”
Jungkook nods. “That’s good.”
There’s a moment when they just stare at each other.
“I should probably, uh, get that,” the guy says, suddenly, and takes a few tentative steps back. “Don’t want any more accidents, right?”
“Right.”
“I’m really sorry again.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Okay,” the guy says, nodding. “Okay, uh, bye, then.”
“Bye,” Jungkook says, slowly. He debates adding we should do this again sometime, because he’d honestly happily get almost hit by a bike again if it was by this guy, but he decides that would probably be a weird thing to say, all things considered.
He stands and watches sympathetically, instead, as the guy collects his mangled bike off the sidewalk and gives him a small smile and a last little wave before walking off.
Jungkook’s not ashamed to admit that he spends the better part of the week following the near accident dwelling on the fact that he didn’t even catch the guy’s name. It’s a shame, really, because he was just so cute, but the chances of finding him on campus again without a name to go on are pretty slim. He’s also seriously running out of nicknames, because Cutie and Dimples might still be kind of cute, but Linguine Loverboy not as much, and he’s on his way to class, trying to think of new ones, when he sees him.
Bike Boy.
Jungkook stands and gapes for a bit, trying to figure out whether he’s seeing things, because the guy is literally just there, hanging up posters on a wall, wearing a pair of shorts that show off miles and miles of gorgeous tan legs in a way that would probably offend the delicate sensibilities of the academic administration on campus-appropriate attire. They’re not here to see it, though, and Jungkook, for one, doesn’t mind one bit. He mentally adds Thigh-sicle on a Bicycle on the list of nicknames and springs into action.
“Hi,” he says, brightly, stopping a little behind the guy.
The guy jumps, turning around, and his eyes widen momentarily.
“It’s you,” he says, surprised.
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, smiling. “I didn’t get your name last time.”
“It's Namjoon.”
“Thanks,” Jungkook says, and tries to keep a straight face, but there’s a smile tugging on the corners of his lips when he continues. “I kind of need it for the insurance claim.”
Namjoon raises his eyebrows, amused.
“Insurance claim, huh?”
“Mm-hm.”
“Guess I better get your name, too.”
“It’s Jungkook.”
“Okay, Jungkook,” Namjoon says, firmly. “My lawyer should be in touch shortly.”
Jungkook finally allows himself to let out a laugh at that, before gesturing at the posters on the wall.
“What’s that?”
“These?” Namjoon asks, smiling. “Advertisements for the Environment Club. I thought putting these up should help get the word out.”
“You’re in the Environment Club?”
“Yeah,” Namjoon says, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I, uh — I kind of founded the whole thing.”
Of course, he did. Like it isn’t enough that Namjoon looks like he should be playing the male lead in all the dramas on TVN, Jungkook must now also live with the fact that Namjoon spends his free time protecting baby birds from predators and is probably also responsible for, like, single-handedly saving all the world’s turtles and red pandas from extinction. Of course.
“Oh, wow,” Jungkook says, impressed. “That’s really cool.”
Namjoon chuckles, a little abashed. “Thanks.”
“What — uh — What is it that you guys do?”
Namjoon’s face lights up.
“Lots of stuff,” he says, beaming. “Theme nights, fundraisers, community clean-ups. That kind of thing. Oh, and crafts workshops, sometimes.”
“Crafts?”
“Yeah,” Namjoon says. “Like, last week, we built a bug hotel.”
Jungkook doesn’t really know what a bug hotel is (he knows of bugs in hotels, following an unpleasant encounter with a giant cockroach in a hotel bathtub once, which is a memory he’d rather not return to), but he nods anyway.
“It’s all open for everybody,” Namjoon says. “I can give you a flier if you’re interested.”
“Sure.”
“I should have one in here,” Namjoon says, digging into his bag and rummaging around. “Aha.”
He pulls out a stack of fliers and hands Jungkook one, which he takes.
“We built some bird houses earlier,” Namjoon says. “We’re gonna be painting them this week, just to make them look a bit nicer, before we set them up around campus. You’re welcome to come along.”
“Sounds great,” Jungkook says.
Namjoon smiles. “I’ll see you there, then?”
“You bet,” Jungkook says, smiling back.
Jungkook considers himself pretty environmentally friendly. He’s no, like, Jacques Cousteau, but he walks everywhere and tries to recycle and brings a reusable cup with him when he gets coffee, even if he forgets sometimes.
He’s going to have to step up his game, though, now that he’s committed to a mission of hopefully wooing Namjoon with his knowledge (and maybe his impeccable taste in music, after he learns through some light social media stalking that Namjoon majors in Music Technology). He figures the best place to start is to polish up on the latest on the world’s environmental issues.
It starts out pretty okay. He reads a few articles on the Great Pacific garbage patch (which he learns is actually not a patch at all) and deforestation of the Amazon, which make him mostly sad and a little angry. He gets sidetracked by an article called 6 Soothing Animal Webcams to Watch, deciding that he’s earned it, watching two otters scurry around their enclosure until he feels better.
The further he gets into the research, the more complicated it gets. There are words like circles of sustainability and technoecosystems, which, he doesn’t really know what those mean, but he can sort of figure out. Then, an article directs him to a research paper on the prevalence of fluorescent pseudomonads in, like, different types of soils and that’s when he stops reading, closing his laptop.
Maybe he doesn’t need to know all this. Namjoon did say that the club is open for everybody, which means that they probably don’t expect him to know much and he doubts there will be a quiz on the door about how much he knows about fluorescent pseudomonads, whatever those are.
He’s got to be okay.
There’s no quiz at the door, but Jungkook ends up almost getting cold feet about the whole thing, anyway, loitering outside the room entrance awkwardly while he tries to work up the courage to go in, before finally biting the bullet.
It’s more people than he was expecting inside. Not that he thought the Environment Club was unpopular or anything, but he’d figured that it would just be kind of niche, that’s all. There’s not anyone he knows, though (and more importantly, no sight of the one familiar face he was hoping to see). He starts feeling a little overwhelmed and out of place, wondering if he could still make his great escape unnoticed, turning around to go and bumping straight into someone’s chest.
“Sorry,” Jungkook says, automatically, and stops.
It’s Namjoon. He’s wearing a yellow apron and he looks a little flustered like he’s been running around, holding onto some paintbrushes that he keeps far to not get paint on Jungkook’s clothes. There’s a small speck of green paint on his cheek that Jungkook stares at.
“Oh, Jungkook,” Namjoon breathes out, happy and surprised. “You made it.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, brightly, pulling himself together. “Here I am.”
“We just keep bumping into each other,” Namjoon says, playful.
“We do.”
“I’m glad you made it,” Namjoon says, warm.
There’s sunlight streaming in through the big windows and people moving past them, a little chaotic like an unorthodox arts and crafts class for college students, but Jungkook wouldn’t mind staying like this for a bit longer, anyway. They don’t get to, because someone calls Namjoon’s name.
“Come,” Namjoon says, encouraging. “I’ll introduce you to everyone.”
Namjoon seats Jungkook down next to his friends: Yoongi and Hoseok from his study programme and Seokjin, a postgraduate student, who introduces himself with an easy smile. Namjoon sets Jungkook up with painting supplies and an unpainted birdhouse before someone calls for him again and he excuses himself with an apologetic little I’ll be back.
Jungkook quickly finds himself at ease with Namjoon’s friends, despite having felt a little nervous about the prospect of being left alone with people that he doesn’t know. They make polite conversation, asking him about his studies and hobbies, listening and nodding attentively while they work on their birdhouses. They’re encouraging and funny, the type of people that make it natural to feel comfortable in their company.
“Oh no,” Hoseok says suddenly, brush in hand.
Jungkook looks up, curious.
Yoongi peers over, as well, and asks, “What’s wrong?”
Hoseok holds up his birdhouse, showing them a bird that he’s painted on one of the walls.
“I think I overdid it with the feathers,” he says, frowning. “It’s not supposed to have a mohawk.”
“It’s a mo-hawk,” Seokjin says.
Jungkook laughs at that and Seokjin flashes him a quick smile, before going back to his work.
“It looks fine,” Yoongi says. “Gives it character.”
“You really think so?” Hoseok asks. “What do you think, Jungkook?”
Jungkook nods quickly, taken by surprise. “It’s cute.”
“Wow, look at you,” Yoongi says, appreciative, glancing over at Jungkook’s work. “Looks good.”
“Yeah,” Hoseok agrees. “Yours is really cool.”
“Thanks,” Jungkook says, a little embarrassed, ducking his head and focusing on painting petals on the sunflower that he’s working on. He pointedly ignores Hoseok and Yoongi exchanging a look over his head, Hoseok cooing so cute.
“Namjoon,” Seokjin says, looking up as Namjoon walks past with two cups of murky paint water. “Come over for a second.”
Namjoon does, stopping by their section of the table.
“Was this your plan all along?” Seokjin asks, mock accusing, nodding in Jungkook’s direction. “Recruit an art student to do all the work for you?”
“No, hyung, come on — “
“You’ve been running around all afternoon,” Seokjin says. “You should sit down.”
“I will,” Namjoon says. “But I still need to — “
“Namjoon,” Seokjin says, firm. “Stop being type A about this and sit down. They’ll survive for a bit without you.”
Namjoon looks like he’s about to argue but he must decide against it, because he plops down on a stool next to Jungkook. Seokjin gives him a satisfied nod and joins in on a conversation between Hoseok and Yoongi about, like, the types of birds they’d be if they were birds. Jungkook is only half-listening.
“Aren’t you going to paint one?” Jungkook asks.
“No, um, I’m just overseeing,” Namjoon says.
“Do you want to?”
“Want to what?”
“Paint something,” Jungkook says, offering the paint-dipped brush to Namjoon. “You can do it on mine.”
The conversation happening next to them is turning more passionate by the minute (“Okay, but I think we can all agree that the kingfisher is obviously the superior bird, what the fuck’s the hummingbird got to — “ “No, that’s wrong on so many levels — “), but Jungkook tunes it out in favor of looking at Namjoon, who looks back, a little surprised.
“It’s fine,” Namjoon says. “I don’t want to mess up your work.”
“You won’t.”
“Are you sure?”
Jungkook nods, enthusiastic, and Namjoon takes the brush, still a bit hesitant. The background chatter quiets down suddenly.
“What should I paint?” Namjoon asks, coming out soft in the space between them.
“You could do a flower,” Jungkook suggests, pointing at an empty space. “There, if you want.”
Namjoon nods and gets started. He’s cute when he focuses, Jungkook thinks, eyebrows a little furrowed as he paints the outline of a little flower and fills it in with blue.
“Is that okay?” Namjoon asks, when he’s done.
Jungkook smiles, bright. “Yeah, hyung, really good.”
Jungkook spends a week psyching himself up to ask for Namjoon’s number, only for it to be Namjoon, who suggests that they should swap contacts (“So I can keep you updated on everything with the club,” he’d said, casually. “Only if you want, obviously.”). It’s still a personal win on the whole wooing Namjoon front.
At first, Namjoon only texts him about the club meetings or maybe the occasional how’s it going with coursework, I hope you’re not too stressed and you’ll do great, which is fine, but also pretty standard. Jungkook decides he might as well test the waters a little. He starts sending Namjoon pictures of things he sees around campus, like cool plants and the squirrel that tries to steal his lunch, captioned with I feel bad, look at his sad little face :( and why does he want my sandwich though and maybe we should do squirrel food aid with the club. Namjoon must not mind too much, replying with laughing faces or a bunch of nature-related emojis and even a heart once (and Jungkook had to screenshot just for that).
Even Taehyung and Jimin take a break from only having eyes for each other to ask him about it when they catch him smiling down at his phone, a little dopey, for the fifth time in the span of three days.
“Did you get a boyfriend and not tell us?” Jimin asks.
“No.”
“Who are you texting then?”
“Nobody.”
Jungkook definitely feels bad for calling Namjoon a nobody, when he’s very much a somebody, but whatever it takes to stave off Taehyung and Jimin.
“Oh?” Taehyung says, looking up from Geometry Dash. “Is that his name?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, sarcastic. “Kim Nobody. His middle name's Stop Asking.”
“So, there’s no boyfriend?”
“No,” Jungkook says.
His phone dings with a message, then, because the universe is always plotting against him, obviously. He scrambles to turn it on silent and Jimin looks a little smug.
“Potential boyfriend?” he prods. “A candidate?”
Jungkook huffs, rolling his eyes. “This isn’t The Bachelor.”
“You didn’t answer the question, though.”
“There’s no boyfriend,” Jungkook says. “Or candidate, or whatever.”
Except, well, there kind of is, but Jungkook doesn’t want to jinx it.
“Okay,” Jimin says, letting up.
“Is it one of the professors?” Taehyung asks.
“No,” Jungkook gapes, repelled. “No, ew, no, who do you think I am, what — “
“I don’t know,” Taehyung continues, shrugging, looking up from his phone as he loses the level. “It’s not us texting you. You don’t have a boyfriend. I’m just saying, your professors must be some sweet talkers if their emails get you looking all lovesick like that.”
Jungkook buries his face into a decorative cushion.
So, Jungkook might have a newly discovered thing for nice voices. Well. Namjoon’s voice specifically.
He really likes listening to Namjoon talk, not even about anything special, just when he’s talking about articles he’s read or the ideas he has for the club, voice deep and soothing, all casually intelligent and earnestly passionate in a way that makes Jungkook feel things he’s never felt before.
Namjoon gets apologetic sometimes, saying something like sorry, I’ve probably talked too much or sorry, I should stop, this is probably boring you and Jungkook wants to kiss the uncertain expression away from his face and assure him that he could be reciting the phone book and Jungkook would still gladly have that shit on repeat. He settles lamely for saying no, you’re fine or it’s interesting, keep going, instead, but there’s a relieved look on Namjoon’s face, nonetheless.
They’re grabbing lunch together (which is a new development that Jungkook feels pretty excited about), securing a table for themselves in the corner of one of the cafés on campus, knees knocking together underneath. Jungkook is halfway done with his meal, while Namjoon keeps getting distracted between bites, talking about some fishing documentary that him and Seokjin watched.
“The problem is all the by-catch,” he says. “I think they said something like 30 million tons each year that nobody’s doing anything about.”
Jungkook frowns. “Why?”
“It’s all just badly designed,” Namjoon says, a little sullen. “Like, they said most agreements don’t even define limitations on by-catch or anything, so they get around it like that.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh — and apparently, vessel owners can, like, get around the laws by using a bunch of loopholes, as well.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says. “That’s not good.”
“I know,” Namjoon says, frustrated. “And they’re only supposed to be fishing for shrimp, but then they end up going for, like, all the octopuses and squid, too, even though they’re not allowed, but they can just play it off as an accident and — “
“Get away with it because there’s no way to call them out on it,” Jungkook finishes for him.
“Yeah,” Namjoon says and frowns. “Sorry, we can talk about something else now. I know this isn’t the most — “
“No,” Jungkook interrupts, quickly. “This is interesting.”
Namjoon looks uncertain.
“Sounds pretty serious, too,” Jungkook continues, concerned. “Like — aren’t they taking things out of the ocean that are supposed to be there? That’s got to start having some effect.”
“It is,” Namjoon says, still hesitant about whether to continue.
“Did they say anything about that in the documentary?” Jungkook prompts, gently.
It doesn’t take much until Namjoon is on a roll again, talking about conservation rates and maximum allowable yields and balancing environmental interests with the economic needs of fishing communities, while Jungkook listens. He loses himself a little in the flow of Namjoon’s voice and the movement of his hands as he gestures to make a point, only snapping out of it when Namjoon stops talking, suddenly.
“Are you okay?”
Jungkook blinks. “What?”
“You looked a little zoned out.”
“No,” Jungkook says. “No, I’m okay.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, yeah. You were talking about the sockless salmon.”
“Sockeye salmon.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says. “That.”
“I don’t want to bore you,” Namjoon says, suddenly. “We can talk about something else.”
Namjoon looks confused and unsure and Jungkook feels emotion bubbling up in his chest, wanting so badly to explain to Namjoon that he’s got it all wrong, that bored is the last thing Jungkook feels, the complete opposite, actually, but it feels like the wrong place to say something like I could listen to you talk forever.
“You’re not boring me,” he blurts out.
Namjoon stares at him.
“You’re not boring me, hyung,” Jungkook says again, calmer. “You’re really not.”
“Jungkook, you don’t need to, like, prove anything to me by listening.”
“I’m not proving anything,” Jungkook says, a little fierce, but he doesn’t want there to be any doubt in Namjoon’s mind, any lingering fears that Jungkook is only doing this to prove something, or worse, out of pity or anything equally ridiculous like that, when he literally feels #blessed to be here.
“Oh.”
“Sorry,” Jungkook says, a little sheepish.
“It’s okay.”
“I want to hear what you have to say,” Jungkook says, quieter.
Namjoon nods. “Okay. What was I saying?”
Jungkook chuckles, a little relieved. “The sockeye salmon.”
Namjoon smiles. “Oh, right.”
“Tell me about it,” Jungkook says, gently, and Namjoon does.
Jungkook starts taking the longer way to class on Thursdays just to pass by the Music Building, where Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok use up their one-hour free period in the afternoon by setting up a stand with a rickety folding table and a sign that says STAND FOR CHANGE.
“Couple Hotties Appreciating Nature’s Gifts and the Environment,” Hoseok had said, once, smiling playfully at Jungkook, while Namjoon sighed long-sufferingly, all not this again. “CHANGE.”
The stand is pretty popular, especially for something that happens mid-afternoon on a Thursday, but Jungkook figures it is not that surprising, considering that Hoseok isn’t wrong about the first part of the acronym. Namjoon, though, remains endearingly oblivious to all the girls and guys flocking to him, sliding up a little too close to be just friendly and batting their eyelashes up at him, eager to talk about their environmental concerns.
“She wanted help with her houseplants,” Namjoon says, frowning, but his lips turn up to an appreciative smile, as he takes the coffee cup that Jungkook hands him.
Maybe in addition to taking the longer way, Jungkook also stops to get coffee for Namjoon, because Namjoon still has an afternoon of lectures ahead of him. Jungkook first did it under the guise of oh I got some for myself too but now he just asks for a single medium Americano that he gives Namjoon the first thing when he stops by. Yoongi and Hoseok teased him about it the first time, all where’s our coffee kid, dramatic and mock offended. They watched Jungkook get flustered, struggling through some explanation that doesn’t involve admitting that he was so nervous about getting Namjoon coffee that he didn’t even think about ordering for the two of them, before Hoseok laughs and assures him that they don’t mind. Seriously.
“Houseplants?” Jungkook asks.
“Yeah,” Namjoon says, a little pensive. “Apparently her orchid is dying.”
“What did you tell her?”
“I didn’t know what to do,” Namjoon groans. “I tried explaining to her that that’s not exactly an environmental issue, but I felt really bad, because we’re supposed to be, like, open and inclusive and she kept insisting and — “
Namjoon trails off.
“And?”
Namjoon hesitates a little.
“She was saying that she’s heard about my plants and apparently I look like I have good hands,” (Jungkook rolls his eyes internally), “— for that kind of thing and she sounded like she was really struggling, so I, uh, maybe said that I can go over and take a look at it.”
Jungkook’s eyes widen. “You didn’t.”
“Don’t judge me,” Namjoon says, embarrassed.
“Oh my god,” Jungkook says on a breath, fighting back the urge to laugh.
“I panicked.”
“Namjoon,” Jungkook says, slowly. “You do realize that there’s probably no orchid, right?”
“I mean, I do, now.”
“Right,” Jungkook says, amused. “Just now.”
“I’m not going to go,” Namjoon says, quickly.
“Go where?” Yoongi asks, joining the conversation.
“Some girl’s place to take her of her fake orchid,” Jungkook says. “Houseplants and chill.”
Yoongi raises his brows. "Is that what they call it nowadays?"
“I’ll just tell her something came up,” Namjoon says, a little flustered.
“Getting her hopes up like that for nothing?" Yoongi says, teasing. "Cruel, real cruel.”
Namjoon frowns, defensive. “I didn’t realize what she meant.”
“How could you not? You should’ve seen the way she was all over him, Jungkook.”
Jungkook thinks he’d rather not.
“I don’t know,” Namjoon says, defeated.
“Kim Namjoon,” Yoongi says, chuckling and shaking his head. “You’re really something else.”
He moves on, then, joining the conversation between Hoseok and someone really passionate about their business idea for recycling coffee pods.
“I didn’t think —,” Namjoon says, shaking his head. “I don’t know. Whatever.”
“Didn’t think what?”
“I didn’t think she’d be interested, I guess.”
Jungkook is stunned, then, and honestly a little offended, because how could Namjoon be saying all that like he’s not an absolute fucking catch talking, ask anyone, and the worst part is that he doesn’t even seem to know it.
“Are you kidding?” Jungkook asks, incredulous.
Namjoon shrugs.
“But you’re so —,” Jungkook says and laughs, a little nervous, and stops himself, before he accidentally blurts out his undying love. “Trust me, you’re fine.”
Namjoon looks like he’s taken by surprise. “Thanks, Kook.”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, firm. “You are.”
Namjoon smiles. “You, too.”
Jungkook is about to head out, putting on his shoes at the door in a rush to leave, before he’s stopped by Taehyung and Jimin. He’d thought that he could just sneak out past them without them noticing, while they’re being all domestic and stupidly in love, nothing new, sprawled all over each other on the couch, but no such luck.
“Where are you going?” Jimin asks, leaning over the back of the couch.
“Uh,” Jungkook says. “Environment Club meeting.”
It comes out sounding like a question.
Taehyung’s head pops up over the back of the couch, as well. “Environment Club?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when have you, like, been into the environment?”
“It’s a new thing.”
“Uh-huh,” Taehyung says, slowly.
“Never too late to start being a better person,” Jungkook says, a little defensive.
“Right.”
“I’ll be back later,” he says, scrambling to tug on his jacket, before they ask more questions.
“Sure,” Jimin says, suspicious. “Have fun!”
Jungkook is already out the door.
Jungkook has had a terrible, awful, no-good week. He’s stressed out and tired and he’d just wanted to take a quick nap, just to feel a little better about everything before going to Environment Club, except then his stupid phone alarm doesn’t go off and he wakes up thirty minutes late, jumping out of bed in a rush to get out. He’s still a little bleary-eyed when he arrives, pillow creases on his face, trying to pat down the hair sticking up funny at the back of his head. He’s so over this week, he decides, save for the fact that he’s going to see Namjoon now, which makes it all exponentially better, except —
Jimin and Taehyung are there.
They’re sat on his spot, one of them on either side of Namjoon, talking to him animatedly while Namjoon nods along, engrossed.
“Jungkook,” he says, looking up when he sees Jungkook walk in, a little surprised, but so warm. “Hi.”
Jungkook stands and stares at Jimin and Taehyung.
“What are you doing here?”
“We’re making friends,” Jimin says, way too cheerful.
“You guys know each other?” Namjoon asks.
“We’ve met a few times,” Jungkook says, as Taehyung says, “We’re roommates.”
Taehyung smiles at him, playing innocent, and Jungkook glowers at him.
Namjoon chuckles. “Okay.”
“I thought me and Taehyung could come and see what the club’s all about,” Jimin says, looking at Jungkook. “Since you seemed pretty eager to get here, last time.”
“Okay, I think you’ve seen enough,” Jungkook says, already a little alarmed at the idea of what embarrassing things Jimin and Taehyung have already shared about him with Namjoon. He loves his best friends, truly, but he also knows they don’t think, sometimes.
“Come on, Jungkook,” Namjoon says, oblivious to his alarm. “It’s always good to have new people join us.”
“Good to be here,” Jimin says.
Jungkook slides into a seat at the table and looks between Taehyung, Jimin and Namjoon, unsure, as they delve back into their conversation.
“What were you saying?” Taehyung asks Namjoon.
“Oh, uh, I just think that people no longer connect with the nature as much as they should.”
Taehyung nods, eyes flicking to Jungkook. “And each other, too.”
“Yeah,” Namjoon hums. “We definitely try to make this a place to make connections of all kind.”
“Oh, Jungkook, here, has definitely made a connec— “
“Okay,” Jungkook says, loudly.
“I think we should all do more for the environment,” Jimin muses, suddenly,
“It’s true,” Namjoon says, before his voice goes a little discouraged. “I think people can be put off by how much effort they think it requires.”
“Sure.”
“There’s also a misconception that cleaning up the outdoors is, like, this messy work, which is not true,” Namjoon says, frowning.
“Yeah,” Jimin says, catching Jungkook’s eye mischievously, before he continues. “You don’t have to worry about Jungkook, though. He likes it a little messy, anyways.”
Jungkook chokes on his spit and feels his face go hot, while Namjoon lets out a polite laugh.
“Yeah,” Namjoon says, turning to look at Jungkook, fondly, while Jungkook tries to will his face to turn back to its normal color. “He’s been a really good sport.”
“I’m sure,” Jimin says. “He’s clearly so into you. The work you do, I mean.”
Namjoon flushes a little.
“Jimin,” Jungkook says, warning, and Jimin laughs, an innocent, twinkling sound.
“Speaking of sports,” Taehyung pipes up. “Jungkook, you used to be really into the outdoors when you were little, right?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says. “But we don’t need to — “
“Oh, really?” Namjoon asks, sincere.
“Yeah,” Taehyung says, excited. “He used to go around, like, lifting rocks and climbing trees, you know, regular kid stuff — “
Jungkook groans. “Tae, please.”
“Okay, okay,” Taehyung says, laughing. “I’m just glad you’ve found your passion for the great outdoors. You know, among other things.”
“It’s cute,” Namjoon says, reassuring, and Jungkook’s stomach swoops.
“It is,” Jimin agrees, before leaning in conspiratorially towards Namjoon. “You’ve got to look out, though.”
“Oh?” Namjoon asks, genuinely concerned, raising his eyebrows like he’s being let in on a secret.
“Yeah,” Jimin says, serious. “If you’re not careful, Jungkook might just try and climb you like a tr—“
Jungkook kicks Jimin under the table, before he gets to finish that sentence.
“There’s a beach clean-up coming up next week,” Namjoon says, casually, one day. “I was wondering if you wanted to come.”
“With the club?” Jungkook asks.
“No, uh,” Namjoon says, fidgeting a little. “Just you and me.”
“Oh.”
Jungkook’s totally calm, thanks for asking. It’s not a big deal, he tells himself, but he can’t help thinking that it is a big deal, the biggest deal, and he’s feeling a little giddy with excitement all of a sudden, bubbly and wonderful. He wants to ask Namjoon whether he just got asked out, but there’s a part of his brain that points out that maybe Namjoon didn’t mean it that way and asking would just make this awkward. He must hesitate for too long, because Namjoon’s demeanor goes a little disheartened.
“It’s fine, if not,” Namjoon says, quickly. “You probably have something better to do, anyway.”
“No,” Jungkook says, breaking into a smile. “I’d love to.”
That’s how Jungkook ends up at the beach on a Saturday morning, the first properly crispy day of the month, both of them bundled up in coats and scarves as they go around with grabbers in hand, looking for litter in the sand. They’re not being the most productive, though, because Namjoon keeps getting distracted by all the crabs and critters in the sand, which is way more endearing than it has any right to be, chattering to them in tiny voices, saying things like don’t worry, we’re cleaning up your house and oh, you have your own house, though, right?
Most of the crabs are tiny, Jungkook notices, as Namjoon shows them off to him excitedly, cupped gently in the palm of his hand, which makes Jungkook think —
“What’s the world’s biggest crab?”
“The coconut crab.”
Jungkook knows all about Namjoon’s environmental nerdiness, but he’s still pretty impressed by how quickly the reply comes.
“That sounds pretty cute,” Jungkook says. “How big is it?”
“I read somewhere that they can be up to forty centimeters long.”
So much for cute.
“Forty?” Jungkook asks, gaping. “As in, four-zero?”
“Yeah,” Namjoon says. “It’s the largest arthropod on land, actually.”
Jungkook nods, wide-eyed, equally impressed and horrified.
“What if it, like, catches you?”
Namjoon laughs.
“It’s a valid question,” Jungkook squeaks out, poking Namjoon with his grabbers.
“I don’t think they’re after you, Jungkook.”
“But what if?”
“Well,” Namjoon says. “I heard if you tickle them, they let go.”
“That’s —,” Jungkook says. “— not comforting at all.”
“It’s kind of cute, though,” Namjoon says. “Right?”
“Sure,” Jungkook says, slowly. “Does it actually work?”
Namjoon shrugs, breaking into a grin. “I don’t know. Let’s hope I never have to find out.”
Jungkook breaks out from his terrified semi-breakdown to let out a laugh, and Namjoon is laughing, too, dimples out in full force, cheeks a little pink from the cold, the wind tousling his hair. Jungkook suddenly feels a little overwhelmed by the urge to kiss him silly and never let go.
Before he gets to, though, Namjoon says, “We should probably get back to work.”
“Yeah, okay,” Jungkook agrees.
They get hit by a week of persistent rain, which is kind of inconvenient and annoying to most people, but Jungkook can’t find it in himself to complain about the bad weather, thinking about all the trees and plants and little freshwater fish that must be living their best life (and wow, he’s really starting to sound like Namjoon). The rain is not so good for other things, though, such as —
“I forgot to laminate them,” Namjoon says, staring forlornly at the mess of colors and soggy paper that has become of his Environment Club advertisement posters. “They’re ruined.”
“Don’t say that,” Jungkook says, frowning. “We can fix them.”
“I don’t think we can,” Namjoon says, sad. “I’ll just come back and collect them later. It’s fine.”
“I got it,” Jungkook says, quickly, and Namjoon stops to look at him.
Jungkook feels a little brave suddenly, grabbing Namjoon’s hand. Namjoon looks down at their hands and then back up, a little lost like Jungkook’s never seen him.
“I’ll take care of it.”
Namjoon blinks. “You will?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, determined. “Don’t worry about it.”
It’s kind of vague and not super reassuring, and there are about five emotions that pass across Namjoon’s face in rapid succession. He settles for looking a little pained and a lot conflicted, like he’s not sure if he’s supposed to let Jungkook run with it or not. They’re also still holding hands.
“I got it,” Jungkook says, again, squeezing Namjoon’s hand gently. “Seriously.”
“Okay,” Namjoon says on a breath, nodding.
Jungkook walks Namjoon to class and comes up with a plan. He goes back to pick up the posters, before he realizes that he probably shouldn’t put them in his bag when they’re all wet and gross (he said he has a plan, okay, not a perfect plan), so he settles for holding onto them tight as he books it to the nearest craft store.
He knows he must make quite the scene, walking in all wet from the rain, covered in paint from cradling the posters against his chest like the precious cargo they are. The store is pretty empty, though, and the clerks hardly pay attention to him in favor of helping out the clearly more seasoned crafters. He goes around, scanning the aisles for supplies he needs, picking up cardboard and paints, but also grabbing a pack of colorful pipe cleaners and a bag of googly eyes on a whim, chucking them into his bag.
He beelines it straight home after paying, dropping everything on the floor of his room, digging out the hairdryer and getting to work. There’s probably a point to be made about, like, fire safety and the potential hazards of using a hairdryer to dry wet paper, but there’s not time to waste and he’s not going to just sit around and wait for the posters to dry on their own. Necessity is the mother of innovation and all that.
It takes a lot of concentrating and creative angles and careful maneuvering to not step on any wet paint or any of the finished posters, but Jungkook pulls it off (he’s not the Twister champion of the group for no reason). His room looks like a tornado blew through a craft store by the time he’s done, but the posters come out looking pretty great, even if he does say so himself, near-exact restorations of what they were before. There are also a few new ones that Jungkook made out of excess cardboard, because he wasn’t going to let any materials go to waste.
Taehyung and Jimin come knocking eventually, a little concerned at first, and then just confused, when they take in the state of his room.
“What’s all this?” Jimin asks, and Jungkook gives them the run-down of what happened and then about his crush on Namjoon and his mission of hopefully boyfriending him and, now, his latest plan, all of it pouring out in a rush.
“They look great,” Jimin says, encouraging, when Jungkook is done.
Jungkook looks at him, suspicious. “Aren’t you gonna say ‘I knew it’?”
“I’ll say it,” Taehyung volunteers. “I knew it.”
Jungkook laughs. “Thanks.”
“They’re so cute,” Taehyung says, looking around. “That one’s my favorite.”
He points at the poster with a bumblebee on it and a text that says BEE THE CHANGE.
“Do you think he’ll like them?”
“Namjoon?”
Jungkook nods.
“Yeah,” Taehyung says. “Obviously.”
“He’ll love them,” Jimin says, reassuring.
“I hope so.”
“I know so,” Jimin says. “There’s no way he won’t.”
Jungkook nods again, hopeful, looking at his handiwork.
Taehyung reaches over and pats his head, “Go get your boy.”
Jungkook gets to campus extra early next day and spends an hour fighting with the laminator in the library to rain-proof the posters, because learning from your mistakes is the first step to success. It’s worth it in the end, the posters turning out even nicer than they were before, neat and glossy under the overhead lights.
He texts Namjoon when he’s halfway through hanging up the posters where they were before, asking Namjoon to meet him there. He gets maybe a little emotional thinking about how it also happens to be the first place they met (well, the first place they met properly, because the first time they actually met, Jungkook was down on his butt on the pavement and that’s hardly romantic), which seems fitting for what he’s about to do. He’s in the middle of trying to decide whether he’s put up one of them a little lopsided or he’s just tilting his head weird, when there’s a gentle breath from behind him.
Jungkook turns around and Namjoon is there.
“Hi,” Jungkook says, excited.
Namjoon stares a little past Jungkook’s shoulder at the posters behind him, dumbfounded, and then looks at Jungkook’s smiling face.
“What’s this?”
“I told you I’d take care of it,” Jungkook says, matter of fact.
“You did,” Namjoon says, slowly. “You made these?”
“Yup.”
“How?”
“Hairdryer and some art supplies,” Jungkook says, casual. “And, like, a couple hours.”
Namjoon looks a little disbelieving, still, nodding. “They look great.”
“Thanks.”
Namjoon nods again, mostly to himself, like he’s confirming that this is happening.
“There’s actually another one,” Jungkook says.
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” he continues, pulling out the final poster from the bag and handing it to Namjoon. “It’s not for the wall. I made it for you.”
Namjoon takes it.
Jungkook spent the most time on that one. It has trees and birds and bumblebees painted on yellow cardboard and some crabs that he put together from red pipe cleaners and googly eyes. He could have probably done a more thorough job of gluing them on, he realizes now that he’s looking at it, because some of the pipe cleaner crabs look like they’re hanging onto the cardboard for dear life, while a few of them are missing eyes or legs, but whatever. He watches as Namjoon reads the text in the middle.
I THINK WE’RE PAST BEING ECO-FRIENDLY. WANT TO BE MY ECO-LOVER?
Jungkook’s gaze flits between his shoes and Namjoon’s face, as Namjoon takes it all in with an unreadable expression. It takes long enough that Jungkook starts thinking he’s made a terrible mistake, that maybe Namjoon doesn’t appreciate a gesture like this, and he’s staring a hole through the tips of his sneakers as the nerves eat away at him.
“Jungkook.”
He looks up and Namjoon is smiling. That must be a good sign.
“Yeah?”
“I love it.”
“Oh,” Jungkook says. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Namjoon says, softly. “You got the crabs and everything.”
Jungkook nods.
“I like them,” Namjoon continues. “I like you.”
“Really?”
Jungkook cringes, because he definitely didn’t mean to say that, but Namjoon chuckles, anyway.
“Yeah,” he says. “Been waiting for you to catch up.”
“Catch — what?”
“I’ve tried dropping hints, you know.”
“Huh,” Jungkook says and feels a little like that one stupid meme of that one-eyed thing from SpongeBob, where it says I didn’t think I’d get this far.
Namjoon must get it, though, chuckling.
“Can I kiss you?” he asks.
Jungkook nods, unable to do anything else, but Namjoon doesn’t seem to mind, getting in close and grabbing Jungkook’s face gently. There’s a second, when Jungkook just gets to appreciate the warmth of his body and the faint smell of his cologne, before Namjoon presses his lips onto Jungkook’s, sweet and plush. Jungkook kisses back, a little clumsy and probably bordering on just too eager, but he’s feeling fifty-two emotions right now, and Namjoon needs to know.
“It’s a yes, by the way,” Namjoon says, when he pulls away.
“Yes?” Jungkook asks, confused.
“There’s a question,” Namjoon says, lifting up the poster. “On here.”
“Oh, right,” Jungkook says. “So, yes?”
“Yeah, Jungkook,” Namjoon says, fond and amused. “Yes.”
Jungkook grins and kisses Namjoon again to seal it.
Jungkook decides that he can’t with a clear conscience call himself Namjoon’s eco-lover if they don’t step up their environmental consciousness game in all things relationship. That’s why he insists that they start implementing some essential measures to improve, including, but not limited to, sharing clothes (no need to buy new ones) and showering together (to save water, duh).
Namjoon remains an avid reader, so Jungkook takes it upon himself to start sending his boyfriend links to articles like Natural Pleasures — A Short Guide to Keeping It Green Between the Sheets and 50 Shades of Green: 10 Tips to a Sustainable Good Time, together with the suggestion that they better put some of the tips to good use. Namjoon flushes pink, looking unimpressed (“Natural Pleasures? Seriously?”) but Jungkook is happy to confirm that the tips on that list are very much tried, tested and true.
Jungkook knows the importance of just appreciating the beauty of nature, though, which is why he suggests that they take their bikes to take a stroll along the Han River, stopping to take pictures of the sunset. Namjoon always looks gorgeous, that’s a given, but especially so, when he’s standing against the backdrop of the pink-and-purple sky, and Jungkook sneaks a few pictures of that to himself. He needs a new lock screen, anyways.
“Just appreciating the view,” he says, when Namjoon calls him out on it.
“The view?” Namjoon asks, amused, putting his phone away.
“Yeah,” Jungkook says, grinning. “The best one, too.”
Namjoon laughs, dimpling and gorgeous, and his eyes are a sweet, sweet brown in the glow of the last sunrays.
“Come here,” he says in fond exasperation, pulling Jungkook close and kissing him, slow and sweet, their bodies pleasantly warm, where they’re pressed up against each other and Jungkook knows, then.
Saving the planet has never felt sweeter.