LUMINESCENCE | K.NJ ✓

XVIII - THE CIGARETTE LIGHTERS

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN—THE CIGARETTE LIGHTERS

NAMJOON PACED IN his living room as he waited for Nouri to arrive. Yoongi was passed out on his couch instead of in his own home, but that was the least of Namjoon's concerns. He needed to double check the information he had gathered before he presented it to Nouri, make a pot of coffee, comb his hair, change out of his pajama pants. The list went on.

"Would you quit being so loud?" Yoongi groaned from the couch as Namjoon poured water into the coffee pot, spilling a bit on the counter in the process.

"Hyung, not to be rude or anything, but this is my apartment, and I have stuff to do. Isn't it enough that I let you come into my home in the wee hours of the morning and crash on my sofa, no questions asked?"

There was no reply—either Yoongi agreed with Namjoon, or he had fallen back asleep. Namjoon figured the second scenario was more likely than the first.

As he ran a comb through his hair with one hand brushed his teeth with the other, he heard a buzz from the keypad by his door. He froze—Nouri was early.

With a newfound urgency, he threw his comb to ground and rushed to the sink to spit out his toothpaste. As he rinsed his mouth, the buzz sounded again.

"Namjoon, go let whoever that is in already," Yoongi griped from the couch as he sat up, hair sticking out in all directions.

"Ish Nouwi," Namjoon spluttered through his mouth full of water and toothpaste.

"Did you say Nouri?"

"Yesh! Nouwi—"

Namjoon cried out in denial as Yoongi threw off his blanket, sauntered to the door and pressed a button. "Come on up," he said shortly before sulking back to the couch.

"Yoongeh!" Namjoon spit into the sink and wiped his mouth off before rushing towards his bedroom, running into the door on the way. "Why would you do that hyung? I'm not ready!"

Yoongi didn't respond. He simply laid back down, covering his head with the fluffy blanket he had been sleeping with before.

As Namjoon pulled off his plaid pajama pants in a rush, he heard a knock at the door. He quickly grabbed a pair of jeans and struggled to pull them on while walking towards the door at the same time. Whilst he hopped on one foot and attempted to get the first pant leg on, Nouri knocked again.

"Namjoon? Everything okay?" Her voice was muffled through the door.

Flustered, Namjoon blurted the first thing that came to his mind, which happened to be, "Pants!"

"What?"

"Pants! I'm not wearing any!"

"Oh—oh, sorry. I'll wait."

After finally buttoning his jeans, Namjoon took a breath in attempt to compose himself before opening the door for Nouri. With pressed lips and smiling eyes, it was clear that she was trying to hold back her laughter. It crossed Namjoon's mind that perhaps he should try to play the "nonchalant cool guy" act and pretend like nothing had happened, but he decided against it. Nouri knew him too well to fall for that.

"You look nice," Nouri said as she stepped inside. Namjoon couldn't tell if it was genuine or if she was poking fun at him—perhaps somewhere in between. He sighed and closed the door behind him, sending a silent curse towards his hyung.

"Sorry about that," he mumbled. "Yoongi let you up before I was ready."

"Yoongi's here?"

Namjoon gestured towards the couch. Yoongi poked his head out of the blanket, hair even wilder than it was moments before. He nodded a greeting to Nouri before disappearing beneath the cover once more.