lux ✧ minjoon

14. lukewarm

this chapter is a throwback, in namjoon's point of view and gives more information about how the gang came to be what they are currently. because this is more of an info chap and not extremely related to what's going on w/ namjoon in the last chapter, i will post 15. soon after this ((:

Pain has an element of blank;
It cannot recollect
When it began, or if there was
A time when it was not

- emily dickinson

✿

[ west orange, junior year]

"why'd you order so much food?" yoongi whined, lips set in a pout, messy dark blue hair splayed over his forehead. he held 2 full bags in his pale hands, large servings of wonton soup, teriyaki chicken, dumplings, and rice that hoseok had splurged on. he looked annoyed, but he was probably twice as hungry as the other boy was, seeing their apartment in the distance like a beacon. 

they had only been living together for a few months and things were going smoother than either of them had expected. yoongi woke up early always, sitting on their balcony to stare at the morning sky, cooking breakfast after the sun rose. hoseok followed, sniffing until the smell of food led him to kitchen. they simply navigated around each other.  hoseok overlooked the little baggies and pill bottles that were placed around the house like they weren't even there. and yoongi ignored the shiny pistol within hoseok's bedside table in return. 

"i've got the munchies, yoongs." he ignored the dirty look the shorter threw him at the nickname, a teasing edge to his voice. he bumped into his side, leading him down an alley behind the chinese takeout place where they had picked up the food, their usual shortcut. he felt yoongi skid to a stop and followed, stumbling into his back with a grunt. "why did you-" 

there, against heaps of green garbage bags full of rank week old food, was a body, limp, only held up by the plastic underneath it. yoongi without second thought, dropped his bags, running over to the man like he was a paramedic himself. hoseok watched as he checked for a pulse, brows furrowed until little lines formed on his forehead. 

"is he alive?" 

"kind of," the shorter man sounded unsure, and that wasn't something that was heard from him often. "he's barely breathing." 

"should i call 911?" hoseok tentatively walked closer, wincing at the bruises and welts he could see, eyes almost popping out of their sockets with his final step. he scanned the body with red rimmed irises, stopping on the small circle that was burned into the skin, one that could only be formed by a cigarette. he held back a heavy sigh, rubbing a fingertip over an identical scar of his own, a scar that had healed a long time ago. 

"i don't know." yoongi bit his bottom lip, looking torn, hand still pressed against the unconscious man's pulse, "what if he's like us?"

＊

namjoon woke up shivering, under a pile of warm blankets in a unknown room. he blinked up at the ceiling for a pause before struggling against the weight on him, confused and panicked, a hoarse scream trying to leave his throat. he kicked his arms and legs out, squirming even more when he hit something, looking around frantically.

yoongi walked over to him, shushing him gently, as hoseok whined, a hand held to his calf where a bruise was definitely forming. "hey it's okay! it's okay! um, we found you behind old city, you were really beat up. my friend hoseok cleaned your cuts and patched you up. i promise we're not trying to hurt you." his voice stayed steady, reassuring, staring into the other's doe eyes with sincerity. "my name is yoongi. you've been sleeping for about 7 hours now."