Love (Kim Namjoon x reader)

Chapter 2

Hye Jin lifted her feet up and began swinging, the red envelope collected sand off to the side. Her heart was racing but she tried to focus her mind somewhere else. Although she had been envisioning this moment, similar to many other girls, having the physical object that determines her future is a daunting burden.

The sun had been overshadowed by the skyscrapers of the city. Pink and blue paint splatter the sky. Somewhere under the same atmosphere was the person she's supposed to fall in love with. And if she couldn't love them, or if that person couldn't, then the nervousness would all be for nothing. It's anticlimactic, now that Hye Jin thought about it. If it doesn't work out, they will both go back to being strangers and the algorithm would find her someone else, though the second choice hardly ever works out as much as the original decision.

Rapid footsteps came from behind. Hye Jin didn't need to turn her head fully to know that it was you. There was a box topped with a red bow in your hands. She knew better that it was not a present. Not that her best friend wasn't the affectionate type that won't spoil her even on her birthday, but the two of you were still college students trying to save as much money as possible for future endeavors. Hye Jin always knew she would become a CEO, or maybe even president. She hasn't decided yet, and neither have you.

Well, that's not exactly true. You were set on being a doctor, a pediatrician to be specific. It seemed that your future education and career path had been laid out for you. And in a month, so will your love life. It will produce better results than anything you can do, considering your nonexistence list of lovers or experiences. It wasn't because you have vowed yourself to Bangtan, since that's absolutely impossible and you were more of a realist, but there was no point in dating with Red String. It reduced heartbreaks and produce long-lasting marriage. At least you hope.

"Happy birthday, Jin Jin," you said as you handed her the box. Once you sat down on the swing next to hers, you were able to catch your breath. Just because you can survive hoards of fangirls at airports does not mean you can survive the walk up the hill.

"Did you buy this or did you steal this from work?" Hye Jin asked skeptically. "Also if you call me Jin Jin, people might confuse me with that one idol dude."

"As if they will ever believe I know Kim Seokjin personally," you chuckled. "But for your information, I baked the cake myself. Minji let me practice with my baking skill when the shop wasn't so busy."

She pulled the bow off and undid the strings. The lid opened to reveal a small matcha cake with chocolate ganache and strawberries. Her eyes lit up a little and the saliva started to form. But being your best friend, she decided to tease you. "Was this the only one you made?"

"Yup, you should feel special." you huffed. Your fingers were still stained green from stirring the matcha very aggressively.

"And did Minji supervise you?"

You tilted your head and pouted, "No? She was in the front overlooking the register."

Hye Jin hummed a response, "So this could be potentially poisonous."

"Yah," you slapped her shoulder. "If you don't want it, I'll take it home."

She laughed, dodging your hands as you tried to take the box back. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm sure it's beautiful. Thank you. And thank you for coming."

"Duh, it's an important day. Everything will be okay." you assured, squeezing her hand three times. It was a habit.

"Speaking of important, how was seeing the love of your life?" she asked.

You sighed, "I know you're stalling. But I'll entertain you anyways." You pulled your phone out to show some photos that you have finished polishing and ready to be posted soon. Hey Jin swipe, "oh's" and "ah's" were her primary reactions.

"You take such good photos," she praised. "And don't you dare say it's only because of the camera."

"Well, of course, it's not the camera," you acknowledged. "It's also because I had beautiful models."

Hye Jin exhaled and rolled her eyes. "True. But there's something else too." She showed you one specific photo of Namjoon, eyes smiling wide right at you. It was when he first noticed you were there. "This one. I can't explain it but it feels like he wants to look at you. Through the picture, I can feel something that he reserved for you. And I think that's why fans love your photos the most, because they can feel what that is."

"You're being ridiculous. He looks at the camera like that because he knows it's going to be viewed by other ARMY." you laughed. When the laughter stopped, your eyes wandered to the crescent moon. "When we make eye contact, strangely, I feel sad. One day, he's going to look at someone like and it's going to be a thousand or a million times more gentle than how he looks at me or the camera. He's going to mean it, his eyes will be meant to look at that person. Maybe it's love or admiration. And just for one day, I wish he would see me. Just me, without the mask, without the cameras, without Koya, and that's the only way I can pretend that it's all for me."

"Wow, that was deep and depressing." Hye Jin remarked. "But I want someone to see me too."

"But my birthday is soon, so I need to get that thought out of my head."

"You never know, he could be the one." Hye Jin winked.

You chuckled, shaking your head. "Enough stalling, open the damn envelope." you nagged. Hye Jin hesitantly reached down, brushing off the excess sand on the surface. Her hands shaking with every movement. The content consisted of only a piece of paper with a name written with black ink.

"Jung Whee In. Birthday: April 17th." she read out loud. "That means she'll be 21 next year. But her name sounds familiar."

You nodded in contemplation, "Isn't she in the music school? The one that has the voice of an angel and sings opera?"

"You're right!" she exclaimed, "Wait, this is actually crazy. I can't believe this is happening."

"Are you happy?" you asked, uncertain about what her reaction indicates.

"Duh! She's fucken hot!" Hye Jin yelled. Some children passing by on their ice cream stroll with their parents glanced over and their parents ushered them quickly away. "But what should I do next?"

"Breath," you stated. "Then then send her a text. I'm sure she's waiting for you."

"You're right, I need to get home too." She was quite flustered, almost falling off the swing as she grabbed the envelope, the cake, hugged you tightly, then skipped home. You remained on the swing and started posting the harvest of today's labor.