Book Exchange Romance | A Kim Namjoon FanFic

Chapter 12 - Namjoon

"Rest assure, I am not telling Cristina. Not until you decide you want me to or until whatever this is, takes form." She said. He looked at her, she was smiling.

"Oh, so this is a thing now?" He said teasingly.

"Eat. It's going to get cold." She said. He smiled and started to eat again.

After dinner, they decided to take a stroll around the park, by the river. It was late at night so there weren't many people out. They were both wearing masks. They were quiet, but it wasn't an awkward silence. There were some couples here and there, but the park and the surroundings were mostly empty. And the couples around were mostly teenagers who didn't pay them much attention.

"So, what brought you to South Korea?" He asked her.

"I'm an English teacher." She said. "I teach kids from ages 5 until 10." She said. "I also manage an after-school program for adults and teens." She said. "Mostly adults. The teens that come to the after-school program usually go there to get help for the college admission exams." She said.

"Wow." Namjoon said speechless. "Working with kids, that takes a lot of patience." He said. While he didn't relate to her on the kid's aspect, being the leader of BTS and the bunch of kids the group had, he definitely sympathized with her. If managing adults was difficult, managing kids must be double the trouble.

"It does. Managing kids is not easy and definitely not for the faint of heart." She said. "But I grew up around kids, I always did tutoring jobs in the library on my town. I would teach kids how to read. So, when the time to choose a career path came, it was an easy decision." She said, shrugging. "There was no questions. I wanted to be an elementary school teacher." She said. He admired the passion with which she was talking about her career. "After I graduated college, I decided I wanted to teach abroad. I applied to teach here in South Korea and Japan. Got accepted in South Korea, packed my bags and came here." She said.

"What about your family?" Namjoon asked her. She looked down at the floor. "You don't have to tell me." He said.

"No is fine, it's just in the three years that I've been living here, no one has asked me about my family. Except haraboji." She said. "I'm an orphan and an only child. My parents died in a car crash when I was 3, I was with them, but I don't remember much of it. It all happened so fast. I grew up with my grandparents. My grandpa died when I was 12 and my grandmother died the year of my college graduation. I never met my other grandparents. My mom was cast aside from the family after she married my dad." She said. Namjoon was speechless. He was heartbroken. "All my life, I took refuge in my books." She said. "That's why I read a lot." She said. She looked up at him. "I'm fine. I made peace with it." She said. "You don't have to feel sorry for me or anything. Really. It's fine." She said, looking up into his eyes, giving him a sad smile. The wind blew and she wrapped her arms around herself. Namjoon took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders. "Thanks." She said, looking at him. "What about you?" She asked him. He didn't want to tell her about his family, while not perfect, it had always been there for him.

"What about me?" He asked her, hoping she will divert from the question.

"What made you wanna be an idol? Your family?" She said.

"Well, I originally was an underground rapper." He said.

"Underground, as in illegal clubs?" She asked him. He looked at her. "Wow. You really are a rule breaker and a rebel." She said. He laughed.

"No, but I wasn't famous either." He said. "I used to do a lot of open mic and freestyles. Then I got approached by this rapper and he told me to audition for Big Hit. I did and I passed, and well the rest is history." He said. "My family has pretty much been there for me. Both my parents and my younger sister." He said. They arrived at the lake area of the park and walked to one of the benches and sat down.