CRIMINAL MINDS | KNJ

vulnerability

"So, yeah. That's how I got probably the most beautiful human I've ever seen to hate me." Namjoon finishes his story, leaning back into the luxurious seat of the jet. His coworkers do not look very proud of his Eunsook escapades, and he doesn't blame them. They're on their way back from another successful case in Brooklyn, New York, and Namjoon took the opportunity to get advice on his current situation.

"I doubt she hates you, but, I mean, that's kind of a dick move, Kim." His unit supervisor, Min Yoongi, tells him. Yoongi is only a few years older than him, but the man seems to have wisdom beyond his years. For someone like Yoongi, who he respects and whose opinions he values, to call him a dick, he must have really been out of line. "You called her out on something she's rightfully sensitive about."

"I didn't mean to." Namjoon explains, sighing in disappointment in himself. "I thought she wanted my opinion."

"Aw, Joon. Don't beat yourself up too much. You made an honest mistake. It was all a miscommunication." Hoseok attempts to soothe him. Hoseok tends to have that affect on people—a calming, safe energy, which is what makes him perfect at his job. He's the unit's liaison for most everything; between them and the state government, between them and the media, between them and the families of victims.

"I could've easily avoided it, if I just shut my stupid mouth." Namjoon exclaims, running a hand through his brown locks.

"Hey, stop it." Taehyung speaks up, mouth half full of the microwave ramen he's eating. "That mouth is not stupid. It's brilliant, just like the rest of you." Taehyung is the team's interrogation specialist. He always knows exactly what to say to get inside the unsub's head and understand how they feel, which is probably why he always knows what to say to make Namjoon feel better. "You're someone who can name every absurd fact in the book, like...I don't know, how many packets of ramen are sold annually--"

"Ninety-five billion." Namjoon blurts, resulting in the other three agents chuckling. His eidetic memory is something extremely useful to their team, but also allows him to remember most everything he sees or hears.

"See?" Taehyung grins at him kindly. "You can do stuff like that. Your mind moves so much faster than the average person's—"

"That I can sometimes not pick up on basic social cues. I know, we've talked about it." Namjoon interrupts once more, clearly still torn up about it. Namjoon normally leaves the deliverance of bad news to victims' families to the other members of the team, namely Hoseok, for this reason. He misses the nuances of emotion when his mind is fixated on the facts and figures of the case. When he's fixated on anything, really, he misses certain subtleties—and in that moment at the diner, he was so, so focused on not trying to seem cool in front of Eunsook that he missed how she truly felt.

"It's not a bad thing, Namjoon. It's part of who you are. If you go to her and apologize, explain yourself and establish that the whole thing was a misunderstanding, she'll forgive you." Taehyung reassures him. It's clear to them that Namjoon is truly interested in this waitress, which is random and kind of odd to them, considering half of the people they meet in their field attempt to flirt with him while they are working on a case and Namjoon is completely oblivious. They've never seen him this distressed about a girl. Namjoon winces as his ears pop, something that always happens to him when their jet descends.

"Look, we're landing. You said she works the night shift?" Hoseok asks him, and he nods. "Well, it's only three o'clock. You've got plenty of time to figure out what you're gonna say. Don't stress." He says, and Namjoon knows he's right deep down, but it doesn't do much to destress him at all. Thanking his friends and coworkers, they all gather their things. Namjoon goes to follow Taehyung and Hoseok off of the jet, but Yoongi stops him with a hand on his shoulder.