Heimat

CHAPTER 2

Sixteen-year-old Namjoon stood near the place which has been serving as their secret meeting place for many years . It's been eight years since they became friends. And yet, every single time Namjoon saw the pretty boy run towards him, he couldn't fight the smile that spread on his face. Every single time Seokjin smiled at him, his heart skipped a beat. Every single time when he pulled him in for a hug or leant up to press a kiss on his cheek, he could not stop the pink hue spreading on them.

Frankly speaking Namjoon was never the one who showed emotions freely. He wasn't closed off like his father but not exactly open like his mother. Always had his guard up. But when him and Seokjin were alone he let his guard down. There was something about the boy that made warmth spread in his chest when he smiled and acted cute. Being around Seokjin just made him feel different. He did not understand what it was yet. But he felt different around him. That was for sure.

In his eyes Seokjin still remained as the most beautiful person he had ever seen. He looked so fragile, so gentle that Namjoon couldn't help but condemn anything that dared to hurt him and brought tears of pain in his eyes. Currently he was waiting for Seokjin at their hideout(as they liked to call it) for their usual meeting. It was taking longer than usual for Seokjin to show up which was making Namjoon jittery. He shouldn't be so nervous, yet he just couldn't help it. Everything about Seokjin brought him to an edge. A part of him nagged him to go ask Minji why he was late. 

Not many people knew about Seokjin's and his secret friendship. Minji and her brother, Jimin knew about it because not only that they were their friends but also because their father was the medic who's shop had to be crossed in order to reach the route which led to their hideout.   Only Jin's younger brother Jungkook who he had come to adore and treated him like his own little brother knew the way there actually. Jungkook even came to hang out with them once in a while. 

He had refrained from telling all his friends about it as many of them were snobs from other wealthy families and unnecessarily tattled about other people's business. His closest friend, Hoseok and his cousin Taehyung knew about it. The moment they met, Taehyung and Jin seemed to click, thanks to Taehyung's humor and charming attitude.

"Joonie!", the familiar honey voice called out to him, making him sign in relief as he turned around to face him with a smile. "I'm sorry I'm late. Something....happened."

Seokjin smiled at him but Namjoon immediately noticed that something was wrong. It was a half-hearted smile. His eyes did not have the familiar crinkle and his cheeks did not go up like they usually did.

"Hey...you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright", he answered with a smile although Seokjin knew there was no use trying to hide his sadness as Namjoon would figure it out sooner or later.

"Seokjin tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing Namjoon-ah don't bother thinking about it. Tell me, how was your day?"

That confirmed Namjoon's suspicion that something was definitely wrong and it was serious. It seemed to have affected Seokjin a lot which concerned Namjoon. "You know there is no point in diverting the topic as I'm not going to let is pass just like that. What happened?"

"I'm telling you there's nothing wrong Namjoon why don't you understand?! I'm okay and that's it", Seokjin burst out startling  him. He caught hold of Seokjin's arms. "Tell me what's wrong Seokjin-ah", he pressed pulling Jin into an embrace.

Seokjin signed as he buried his head in Namjoon's neck, taking in his faint but calming scent. " I'm leaving for Busan Kingdom in a few days. My uncle lives there. All I know is that we won't be coming back anytime soon. Appa says we'll be back only after I, Seokjung hyung and Kookie present. I think I won't be able to return until hyung finishes with his studies. He plans to continue his studies there". Namjoon did not reply, just tightened his arms around him.