Kismet (Taejoon)

3 - A bit ridiculous

Normalcy was a rarity in Namjoon's book. With him having to never go through presenting, or not being able to attract anyone at all, having to stay by the sidelines without anyone ever noticing him. And to him, he found comfort in the familiarity of being invisible, as cheesy as it sounded. It was true. It was the kind of feeling he was used to dealing with.

However, this guy... this guy was the real deal.

This stranger's ability to spout strange things in a matter of seconds was unbelievable. Namjoon's starting to think that it's actually this guy's talent to be able so unpredictable at any given time.

Everyone around the table ogled at the two of them, looking at them back and forth. Namjoon was sporting an appalled expression, his hand flimsily holding his chopsticks and he held on to it for his dear life for he may have experienced another heart-dropping moment in his short life. This is truly jarring. Such a handsome man wouldn't just say that out loud in front of his friends the first time that they met?! Ridiculous.

The still unnamed man smiled, as if he pretended to be unaware of the gazes he was receiving from his friend, he was mesmerized by the sight of his alleged "mate" in front of him. The eccentric guy casually sat beside his Yoongi hyung and drank his glass of water, acting oblivious to the fact that everyone was looking at him with strange looks on their faces. He was a bit exhausted because of the raging and mixed feelings that he felt when he met his still alleged mate. He never took his gaze off the man that he met just this night.

A stifled laughter broke off from Jin, the oldest one of them all. He shook his head in disbelief and soon enough, a fit of giggles erupted inside the restaurant as the others joined in with the oldest. Even Namjoon was able to let out a giggle or two with them. However, Namjoon's still unnamed alleged mate was the only one who seemed like he didn't get the joke, and hence, he was dumbfoundedly looking at everyone.

"Why are you guys laughing? Is there some inside joke that I didn't get?" Taehyung looked at them with a puzzled look on his face then he sat beside Yoongi with his shoulder hunched up like he was visibly sulking.

Taehyung grinned again so maybe he could at least ease the discomfort that was evident in the guy that-he-still-didn't-know-the -name-of-but-he's-overly-attracted-to as of the moment. Trust him, his smile always worked like magic. It worked when he broke his neighbor's window, who also happened to be a nice old lady who lived alone. It happened when he played baseball by himself when he was only seven years old.

His toothy smile also worked when he accidentally lost all his mom's spare cherry blossom buttons. He always thought that if he planted his mom's beloved buttons, more of it would grow from dirt. He "rightfully" buried them in hopes that they would turn into tree-bearing buttons in the shape of cherry blossoms.

His beaming smile especially worked on nice old ladies. His alleged mate wasn't one but he was hoping that the latter would forgive him for his behavior just this night. He got a little too excited. That's all. They were mates after all. He was sure he would be quickly forgiven for his sudden behavior.

"You're such a character. No wonder they're friends with you," Namjoon said.

Hoseok cleared his throat and motioned his hand over to the newly arrived guy.

"Namjoon, meet Taehyung. He's my dongsaeng in my Philosophy class. Taehyung, meet Namjoon. He's my childhood friend, and I'm also his personal and permanent scenter," Hoseok joked as he leaned closer to Namjooon and wrapped his arm over the taller's shoulder to make him get closer to him. He nosed on Namjoon's neck before bursting up laughing.

The gesture made Namjoon a bit self-conscious, his heart started to pound with the amount of tension that increased from the way Hoseok was doing it to him in front of people he only met, and this new Taehyung guy. Namjoon swore for a moment there that he caught a glimpse of darkness in Taehyung's eyes, somehow he was completely aware of the other's presence now.

Before Namjoon could even recognize the emotion that he saw, it was gone in mere seconds. Taehyung's eyes lit up innocently and the light from his eyes was back. He looked away from Taehyung and focused his attention on the food. He jokingly elbowed Hoseok to get him off him.

"Nice to meet you, Namjoon. It's nice to see that you're close with Hoseokie here." Taehyung eyed the both of them. He wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was digging holes in their foreheads while eating.

"We grew up together after all. It's not like I had any choice."

"Hey! That's mean!" Hoseok pouted and leaned slightly to Namjoon's side.

Again with the excessive clinginess from Hoseok. Hoseok's now acting like he's all over him just because Taehyung joked about calling him his mate. What should he do with this friend of his?

"Personal scenter aye? Hoseok scents you?" Taehyung asked.

"Yup. He does it for me for a handful of reasons. One is my inability to have any kind of scent."

"Wait what? Are you serious?" Taehyung looked at him skeptically.

"Uhh yeah? I don't. It's a medical condition." Namjoon shrugs and he tried his best not to feel uncomfortable with being asked. It's not like he minds being asked about his condition, he's just too awkward to deal with anyone's reaction because of it.

"But that's impossible. I can literally smell you, Namjoon-ah." Taehyung tilted his head a little.

That nickname was uncalled for. A sudden fit of coughs erupted and it wasn't just Namjoon choking on his rice. Hoseok too.

The others at the table just laughed as they listened in to their conversation. Now everyone was looking at Taehyung weirdly for they still didn't smell nor know what he was talking about. Namjoon smelled like nothing. How could he?

Namjoon's eyes widened at the sudden realization. Maybe... maybe he forgot to take a shower? No way.

Did he stink?

Namjoon gulped and slightly flared up his nose and he sneakily inhaled on his shirt. Nope. He didn't smell unpleasant at all. At least that part made him sigh in relief.