Astray || Adrift Book 2 || •PJM• ✔️

Namjoon: The 18 Year Old and the 48 Year Old

1 MONTH LATER

At this point, Namjoon would rather watch paint dry.

He glares down at the textbook, right at the words spewed out on the paper. 'Commander Park Jimin - The Legendary Accomplishments He's Made'. What are the odds Namjoon is one of those accomplishments? As expected, he hears a few giggles around the room, eyes being thrown at him.

"Mr. Park, has your father ever told you about the Ganymede War?" the teacher asks.

"Why would he? I learn about it here," Namjoon replies, going back to doodling on the pages.

The students laugh as usual, the teacher returning to her lecture on why the Ganymede War was so influential. Something about how Mrs. Park conquered her demons and put her father in a grave. Namjoon glances at the artwork on the page. Not his artwork, the actual art someone made to depict the events that happened all those years ago. Over two decades ago. He contemplates the idea of killing his own father because he was abusive. Would he? The question has him halting his movements, his breath doing the same for a moment.

His eyes scan the text, picking up on key words. 'Before he was Diamond Commander Park Jimin, he was Silver Engineer Park working onboard the Hephaestus, a transport vessel designed by a Martian Captain named Captain Kwon. Executive Officer Kim Namjoon was the one who gathered a team of rookies to investigate the distress signal that would change everything'.

Namjoon huffs at the info. Named after an XO. Not a bad way to be named, but yet another way his father is treating him like a replacement for an old friend rather than a son. Maybe he's a prisoner. The more he thinks about it, the more he knows it's true. The moment he was born in this cell was the moment he was imprisoned forever.

Namjoon shakes the thoughts away and gazes at the small dragon he drew. Fantasy, a genre he's always loved. They've seen the stars, now he wants to see the magical creatures in those novels he enjoys reading. It brings him to a world much better than this one, where he's constantly seeking a way to make his life his own rather than 'Park Jimin's son'. His other siblings get similar treatment, but as the firstborn, he gets it the worse. Is this how his mother felt, being born into a family where her father was famous? He wonders how she coped with it. Oh yeah, by putting him in the ground. The difference is he wasn't really a hero. Jimin though? He's the hero of the solar system.

Twenty minutes of learning about Commander Park later, he's dismissed from class and walking down the corridors. There's a few squeals of delight. Fangirling. He sighs, not even needing to look up to know what's coming. "How was school, buddy?" Jimin's voice says.

"Boring. They just talked about you the whole time."

Jimin chuckles, stepping in sync with his son. "You know, you could probably learn a few things from my adventures."

"How to not be horny?"

His father scowls. "You're grounded."

Namjoon bites back his urge to laugh. "How are you 48? You act like a 12 year old."

"If you don't enjoy life, then what's the point in living it?" he asks. Namjoon can't argue with that. "I act like a child around my family, but when it comes to business, I'm more mature than you can probably imagine."

"You? Mature? Those are two words I wouldn't use in the same sentence."

Jimin smiles, his eyes smiling with him. The two march down the halls until they find their quarters. Mom and dad have their own, the kids having separate rooms all in the same wing so they're still close. His eyes dance around the metal doors, pondering how it came to be like this. What happened to the colorful parts of life? Now all he sees is gray.