Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The Line was established the moment that each of them accepted the offers they received to become stars. The Line became official the moment they brought pen to paper and signed away their lives in hopes of dreams coming true.

Or in Seokjin’s case, in hopes of making a name for himself. 

It had never really been his dream; to become an idol. His eyes had been set on acting- but he figured that accepting one of the many offers he received from entertainment companies would at least give him a foot in the door. He expected that.

What he didn’t expect, however, was that he would find himself feeling things that didn’t belong within himself, or within the industry, for one of his band members. But it happened, and it came with a great shock.

For The Line is only temporary. 

<3

Chapter Text

“Hyung, what’re you making?”

Seokjin jumped, jolting in his place in front of the sizzling stove as a grovelled, deep voice sounded from somewhere behind him. It was one of their rare days off that they chose to spend at home, so he decided that he was going to make everyone breakfast. His head snapped in the direction of the voice-

“Namjoon-ah, you’re up early.” His voice was soft, mixing with the gentle smile that tugged at his plump lips before he turned his attention back to the hob.

“Hm.” Namjoon hummed in response, tiredly trudging closer to his hyung who focused on flipping whatever it was that was in the frying pan. Within mere seconds, he was so close to the elder that he was able to stand up against his back and lay his chin over his shoulder in a heartbeat.

For some reason, Seokjin found himself becoming frozen, feeling how Namjoon was pressed against his back, and how the latter’s breath briefly made contact with the skin of his neck. His heart did a flip, but he didn’t recognise it.

”Ah,” Namjoon hummed lowly as he peered into the pan from over Seokjin’s shoulder, “Bacon. Yummy.” 

“Yeah.” Somehow, Seokjin struggled to speak. He felt breathless. Maybe he was coming down with something?

Or maybe it was just the blurring between the lines?

<3

“It’s beautiful, hyung.”

Seokjin batted his eyelashes as his plump lips fell slightly agape, speechless as his bedroom door had jolted open to reveal Namjoon with a pile of familiar sheets in his hold. 

“You should really submit this to be on the next album,” Namjoon nodded to himself as if he was the surest man in the world as he walked into the eldest’s room with a few papers in his hands, his eyes still skimming over them, “You’re really talented at converting your feelings into lyrics, hyung.”

He could only stare, blinking slowly as the younger came even closer, and closer, until he was plopping himself down on the bed. They were sat next to each other now.

“I’m being serious, hyung.” 

Once again, the sound of Namjoon’s deep and gentle voice pulled Seokjin out of his shocked trance. He hadn’t been expecting a visit. 
“You really think it’s beautiful?” Insecurity waved over the elder’s tone as he spoke. Deep down, he kind of liked the way the latter had barged in unannounced. It showcased how comfortable they were with one another.

”Really.” Namjoon nodded subtly, finally placing the papers down on Seokjin’s bedside table before turning so that their gazes met. 

They were so close, Seokjin realised, as he felt Namjoon’s thigh pressing against his. His heart did that unfamiliar flip again just as it had in the kitchen a few days prior.

“They’re your own thoughts, hyung?” Curiosity laced the younger’s tone. He was being mindful, smiling again when Seokjin nodded hesitantly. “Your words are beautiful, hyung. You’re beautiful. You should know that.”

The Line became recognised.

<3

Seokjin didn’t know what to do with himself.

As the days went by, he found himself becoming more and more breathless whenever he made contact with Namjoon. His heart began to flip more often- so much that he had began to recognise it.

But why was this happening? He was clueless. Well, he wasn’t clueless, but he wished he was. Things would be so much easier that way.

<3

All seven members were stood outside the door to their shared home, waiting for company cars to come and collect them to drive them to the airport. They had been scheduled to shoot another show along the lines of ‘In The Soop’. The wind was nippy- it was freezing cold. 

“God, why do they tell us to come out at certain times when they’re always late?” Someone groaned. Seokjin glanced towards the voice- it was Yoongi.

”I’m sure they won’t be too much longer, hyung,” Jimin hummed softly, patting Yoongi’s shoulder as if to comfort him, “They’re probably stuck in traffic or something.”

Finding himself smiling with admiration at the sight of their interaction, Seokjin chimed in,
”Gi-ah, would you like me to go back inside and get you another jacket so you can wear one now? I want to get one for myself anyway.”

”It’s okay, hyung,” grumbling, Yoongi shook his head, “but thank you.”

Seokjin shrugged,
”Suit yourself.” 

Unfortunately, he found his gaze locking on Namjoon for a little too long as he turned around to head back inside. His heart flipped once more. The latter caught drift of his staring and smiled softly before reaching into his pocket to attain something. The key to the door. 

“Here you go, hyung,” the taller man turned to the door, unlocking it with a swift ‘click.’ In return, Seokjin hummed a soft ‘thank you’ before reaching his own hand out to use the door handle-

Oh. 

Namjoon had the same plan, it seemed, as his hand ended up on top of Seokjin’s over the handle. He laughed softly, yet didn’t remove his hold; instead, he went with it, and gripped the elder’s hand gently as he pushed down on the handle to open the door. The warm touch didn’t linger any longer than that, but Seokjin shamefully wished that it had.

”Thank you,” he breathed out once more, not letting his eyes make contact with the latter’s before he entered the house. 

When the door clicked shut behind him, he raised a hand to clutch at the fabric of his shirt that lay above the position of his heart. It was flipping again. “Focus,” he cursed at himself, forcing his mind to return to the goal of getting an extra jacket for himself.

<3 

In the short time that it took Seokjin to go to his room, put on a jacket, and return outside, almost everyone was gone.

Keyword: almost everyone.

“You ready, hyung?” Namjoon smiled, his dimples showing off between the creases of his cheeks as he relocked the door. “It’s just you and me to a car. Fun, right?” Blinking slowly, Seokjin could only mutter a soft ‘yeah.’

It wasn’t too bad, was it? No. It couldn’t be.

Except, he realised that it in fact, was that bad, as the younger man decided to sit in the middle seat to be sat directly next to him instead of against the other window. It was that bad when Seokjin felt a large hand resting on his thigh, just above his knee, for the whole duration of the two hour drive. It was their thing though, wasn’t it? Namjoon had always rested a hand on the elder’s thigh when he was nervous. It helped to ground him. 

So why were Seokjin’s thoughts only now beginning to cross The Line?

Chapter Text

Being considerate and self-sacrificing were some of Seokjin’s best qualities.

Unfortunately, good things can also be bad.

Well- except- the situation he found himself in wasn’t necessary bad at all. Rather, it was puzzling.

The group had arrived at the place they were staying to film- and as always, the first thing they did was decide on the room-situations. The large house had enough rooms for each to have their own room; bar two. Two of them would have to share.
Seokjin, being the generous, self-sacrificing man that he was, offered to be one of two to share, so that the others would have one less unfortunate person. Well, not really, but it felt that way. Hence, he was now-

Puzzled.

Puzzled as to why Namjoon immediately offered to be the other unfortunate room-sharer. If it were any other member, Seokjin wouldn’t have been reading this far into it.

His heart did that flip again,
and The Line got a little closer.

<3

“Hyung, do you mind if I take the right side of the bed? There’s an extra outlet there, and I’ll need to work on tracks with my laptop.” 

Somehow, Namjoon had already gone to look at the room and haul all of his luggage into it, before Seokjin even found himself looking towards the stairs. The younger stood at the top of the staircase while Seokjin froze mid-step-

Oh no. It can’t be.

Noticing his shock, Namjoon elaborated, “There’s only one bed, hyung. Don’t worry, it’s king sized.”

Fuck.

Seokjin was suddenly starting to dote on his previous decision to be considerate and self-sacrificing.

He couldn’t help but wonder-
Does The Line exist in the middle of a king sized bed?

<3

The room was a nice size; not too big, not too small. Just the right size. It was cozy. The floor was the same warm-toned wood panelling as most other parts of the building, with a nice sage green fluffy rug planted beneath the edge of the bed. Overall, when Seokjin looked at it, the word ‘earthy’ would come to mind. And then, his mind would wander, and he would recognise that when he thought of the word ‘earthy,’ he would picture Namjoon.

”Thanks again for letting me have the right side of the bed, hyung. This is really neat.”

Even his voice was earthy. Deep, and sometimes coarse and grovelled, like the rumbling and grinding of stones. The occasional raspiness that would play hide and seek in his throat reminded Seokjin of the soaring of waves; like a riptide, sucking him in. He responded,
“No problem, Joon-ah.”

“You don’t mind that we have to share a bed, do you, hyung?” Namjoon questioned, his dimples coming out from their hiding spots alongside a considerate smile. He was shuffling across the room now, plomping himself onto the right side of the bed so that they could continue their conversation. The eldest was sat cross-legged on the left side, his back leaning against the headboard. Flip. His heart was back at it again.

Clearing his throat was a tempting action, but knowing that it would leave a bad ring of air, Seokjin let it remain dry,
”Why would I mind, Namjoon-ah?”

”I don’t know. Just a thought.”

”I’m glad it’s you,” Seokjin smiled fondly, yet his heart rippled with anxiety at that very same moment, “I feel most comfortable with you.” He paused, wondering if he was sounding weird to the latter- he supposed that it was a possibility, and hence, continued in a way that would act as a disguise as well as lightening the mood, “But don’t tell Yoongi I said that.”

Amusement was evident in the way that just a single dimple painted Namjoon’s cheeks, his smirk stretched to only one side. An eye roll was rewarded,
“Of course not.”

<3

It wasn’t too late in the evening when Seokjin decided he would head to bed. 

After having gone scope out the area alongside Jeongguk and Hoseok, they bought takeout for everyone, and they all ate it together when they got back to the building. The eldest did his part in washing up before retreating to his assigned room.

”Gosh…,” Seokjin sighed to himself with his arms stretching up over his head, earning a couple of faint ’crack’s. He was cozy now- sporting his favourite pair of blue button-up pyjamas. Some would claim that it was corny of him to wear pyjamas with a bunch of cartoon versions of himself on them- honestly, he would probably say the same thing, if only he were oblivious to how comfy they were. The material was heavenly. 

A yawn forced its way out of his plump lips, his face knitting up with the tensing. As he climbed into bed- the left side, of course- he could only let out a satisfied groan of approval once he pulled the covers up and over himself. 

<3

Apparently, Seokjin wasn’t quite far enough on the left side of the bed. 

This amazing fact was discovered when Namjoon had came crawling into bed in the pitch black, and the bare skin of his legs and arm hit the poor sleeping man next to him. 

“Hyung.” The younger spoke with a hushed vocie, snaking his way under the coves, “hyung, are you awake? Scooch over.”

”Mmh?” Seokjin could only groan, hardly out of his sleeping state. “Joon-ah, you’re here?” 

“Yeah, hyung. I’m here,” the bed wobbled a little as Namjoon shifted in his place, getting comfortable between his words. “Move over a little?”

“Move over?” Seokjin grumbled, his brain still slumbering, and his eyes still closed with his long eyelashes brushing against the height of his cheeks.

”Yeah. Please.”

”Okay.”

”Thanks.”

Unfortunately for Namjoon, he never specified which direction he wanted Seokjin to move over in. Thus, he couldn’t really be mad when the elder man only ended up even closer to him, their legs finding their way to become tangled with one another. His breath hitched, and his heart hopped. 

Namjoon had always found his heart to hop in the close comfort of Seokjin. It was calming.

That’s right. It was calming- so nobody could really blame him for the way he didn’t push his hyung away, right? For reaching his arms out and encaging the elder in them ever so gently? For falling asleep so close like that?

Does The Line still count if nobody else is around to see it?

Chapter Text

When Seokjin blinked his eyes open the next morning, he found himself freezing in place. His breath hitched, and that damned organ in his chest squeezed tight. 

He found himself Immobilised.

Immobilised at the sheer proximity of him. Of Namjoon. Their legs were full-on entangled- but not only that, Seokjin was encaged. Incarcerated by Namjoon’s embrace. 

With great speed, he quickly squeezed his eyes back shut. Not that he had been able to see much when they were opened anyway, with how his forehead was squashed up against Namjoon’s chest. Thank god the man was wearing a shirt; if the fabric wasn’t there to separate his forehead from the man’s bare skin, Seokjin knew he would’ve had a heart attack and died, right then and there. Not that what he was already experiencing was much different.

The feeling of Namjoon’s arms was dangerously comfortable. Dangerously… enticing.

One of the younger man’s forearms lay underneath the curve of Seokjin’s neck, separating it from the mattress. The rest of his arm curved at the elbow to allow for his hand to press widely against the dip of the elder’s back, using it as leverage to embrace him tightly. However, Seokjin found the other arm to be more distracting.
It fell down to Namjoon’s side at the top, the joint of his elbow resting on his own hip— and then bending forwards at the joint, his wrist and large hand laying over the curve of Seokjin’s waist. Parting his plump lips, Seokjin could only suck in a shocked gasp. His heart was doing loads of that flip again.

And then, as if it couldn’t get any worse, Namjoon began to stir in his sleep, letting out one of those earthy-toned groans that he does with his one hand reflexing to squeeze at Seokjin’s waist.
Sparks shot through the elder’s body, and he found himself somehow even more immobilised than before. He panicked. It would be best to pretend to still be asleep, right?

”Hyung?” There it was again. That grovelled voice that was now in a slight mumble thanks to power of sleep. “Are you awake?” 

A response never came.

Seokjin expected Namjoon to wriggle and writhe his way out of their position, but the jolting never happened. 
Instead, Namjoon only held him closer, his embrace tightening before relaxing once more when he returned to sleep.

Flip.

Seokjin was royally fucked.

The Line faltered.

Chapter Text

“Hyung, you’re up early.”

Seokjin jumped, a jolt coursing through all of his joints as one of his hands raised over his chest in surprise. It was Namjoon.

Namjoon, who had already been gone from bed when he had awoken. 

“How come you’re making breakfast? It’s the first day, you should rest.”

The taller man took further steps into the kitchen, settling with his back resting against the far end edge of the kitchen counter. On the other hand, Seokjin quickly returned his focus back to the task at hand. Cooking. He wouldn’t let his heart do more of those silly little flips in that moment. He spoke,
”I felt well rested enough to get straight to it, I guess. I haven’t slept so well in a long time.”

Oops.

Cursing at himself inside of his head, Seokjin could only pray that Namjoon didn’t find his words to be weird, for the reason he slept so soundly the previous night was clearly because he slept in Namjoon’s arms. Not long after the younger returned to sleep after originally stirring, Seokjin followed, having been unable to fight the re-closing of his eyes. He was alone when he woke up again.

And now, here they were.

“Me too, actually,” a small smile let Namjoon’s dimples show as he spoke, “been a while since I slept so deeply.” He let his posture relax, his elbows resting on the counter behind him as he leaned back, observing the elder. It was odd, but he could only be glad that Seokjin had a positive night too. Frankly, he had been worrying over whether or not his hyung had been uncomfortable and restless because of their proximity when they slept.

In that moment, Namjoon could only let his eyes swallow the sight of Seokjin. There was something so pleasantly domestic about the sight of the latter.

Namjoon’s heart pounded and thumped within his chest.

<3

Nothing more had been said that morning in the kitchen. 

Somehow the silence wasn’t unpleasant- but rather, comfortable.

Nonetheless, silence was still silence. Words were still left unsaid.

Maybe their silence was part of The Line.

Chapter Text

"So, that's the gist of things as of right now from our side." The head producer's head hung a small nod to himself before he continued, "Do you guys have any ideas about what you want to do first?"

It was the second evening of their stay. After spending the first full day relaxing after travel, all seven members sat comfortably on the couches of their filming house's living room. They had been tasked with discussing a plan of action for the beginning of their shooting alongside the head producer; a short, stubby yet neat man who sat ahead of them in a chair that he had dragged along. 

Seokjin, however, was not really paying attention to the things being said. Zoning out had become a bad habit of his— especially when he was zoning out because his mind was too busy circling over the way Namjoon had embraced him the previous night. 

"—eally good." With a nod to his head, Namjoon's gaze was suddenly on Seokjin, "What do you think, hyung?"

At the sound of the word 'hyung' (and the person's voice the word sprouted from), Seokjin was suddenly ripped away from his deep thoughts. He quickly turned his head towards Namjoon and offered a nervous smile,
“I agree." 

In reality, he had no idea what he was agreeing to, but he believed it was just best to go along with it to avoid being caught zoning out. Well, kind of. It was mainly because he had this odd calling to go along with whatever the latter had said, purely because it was him. Because it was Namjoon. But he refused to recognise that fact, pushing away the little flip that his heart did. He noticed how everyone else turned their attention towards him also, as if so much time had passed that they'd all spoken already, too.

Namjoon smiled back at him, his dimples creating a soft dip in his cheeks,
“Perfect, it's settled then. We'll stay behind here and plan it out further."

“Sounds like a plan."

<3

To say the least, the 'plan' in question caught Seokjin by surprise. Namjoon was suggesting they did some activities together, alone, because as he had stated; 'the fans want more content between the two of us.' 

Now, as to what that 'plan' actually entailed, Seokjin still remained pretty unsure. He was zoning out again.

"Here, let me show you." 

Again, Namjoon brought him back to the real world by suddenly moving to sit next to him— pretty closely next to him— with his eyes glued to the phone in his hands as he searched for something on it. Not knowing what to expect, Seokjin was pretty taken aback by the things that lit up on the younger's phone screen. He had opened his notes app and was scrolling through a big long list before—

“Ah, here it is. Look!" And then, the screen was lifted slightly in the gentle grip of his big hands to allow Seokjin to see properly. 

___________

notes

Things to do with Jin hyung !!

1• Try fishing with him

2• Make music together 

3• Cook together

4• Learn something new (sewing?)

5• Gaming

6• Go shopping

7• Go to an art gallery

8• Visit cool places in the area

9• Painting

___________

Frankly, Seokjin was stunned. It would be okay, and quite sweet, if it wasn't for the fact that Namjoon had quite clearly cultivated this list quite some time ago— he took note of how the latter had to scroll so deep into the app the find the list, and how the things written in it weren't necessarily specific to shooting a show. Not that it wasn't still sweet nevertheless- no, it was too sweet in Seokjin's mind. Had The Line prevented Namjoon from sharing this with him before this time of perfect opportunity? 

Flip.

"Which do you like, hyung?" Somehow, there was a cacophony of timidness and fondness in Namjoon's tone, his spare hand awkwardly reaching behind his neck to let his fingers rub against the skin on his nape. His heart did that little hop again— but he didn't want to seem too eager. 

Seokjin could only sit and blink away for a few moments. Eventually, he replied, his eyes still locked onto the screen,
"All of them."

"All of them?" Hop.

"I like all of them." Flip.  

All Namjoon could offer was a dimpled smile of excitement in return, 
“I’ll send the list to you, then,” he let out another one of those earthy hums, “but which would you like to do first?”
Somehow, that question caught Seokjin off guard. He paused for a moment, his thoughts trailing.

<3

Eventually, the two men had moved the conversation elsewhere; returning to the room they were doomed to share together whilst filming so that they could canvass it further. Seokjin sat on the edge of the room’s large bed with his feet softly padding against the wooden floor every so often. Their discussion continued with him sat there whilst Namjoon stood leaned against the doorframe of the room’s en-suite, toothbrush in hand as he brushed his teeth between words. The sight was innocent and the enthusiasm he displayed in the meantime was quite cute. 

At least that’s what crossed Seokjin’s mind for a mere second before The Line re-entered his thoughts.

“It would be best do something here in the house first, no? To start off with, I mean. Don’t wanna just dive right into it.” As he brushed his teeth, the foaming toothpaste that filled Namjoon’s mouth caused his speech to become a little unclear.

Seokjin laughed softly to himself at the sight before agreeing,
“Yeah, that’d be good. Maybe gaming? Best to keep it lazy at first.”

“Mh,” Namjoon hummed in approval, “Exactly.” He turned around and took a few moments to spit out the toothpaste in his mouth at the en-suite’s sink before moving to sit next to his hyung on the edge of the bed. “You’re the gaming expert here out of the two of us, so I’ll let you choose what we play.”

If it weren’t for the fact that the very edges of their thighs were pressed together ever so slightly, Seokjin would’ve laughed at the comment. 

Flip.

He forced his eyes to rip away from the sight of the contact of their legs; to try and ignore it. Instead, he turned to look back at Namjoon. It wasn’t the best decision, he decided, as he quickly noticed the splotch of toothpaste foam on the corner of the younger’s lips. 

Flip.

He cursed at himself internally, shaming his heart for doing those god awful flips again. One of his hands itched to raise— to wipe away the remnants of the toothpaste— but he merely tensed his crooked fingers into a small fist instead. He shouldn’t cross The Line.

“Why’re you looking at me like that?” Cocking a curious eyebrow, Namjoon’s head tilted off to the side with a faint slant.

Seokjin only scrunched up his nose before stating,
“You’ve got toothpaste on your mouth, Joon.”

“Ah!” Suddenly, the skin on Namjoon’s cheeks were tinted with a light redness that carried embarrassment and the tail of something else; something Seokjin couldn’t quite place. “Thanks, hyung.”

It was strange. 

The unfamiliar tugging in his chest was strange.

The Line was getting closer.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Seokjin woke up with a groggy grunt stuck in his throat. With his eyes still closed, the joints of his arms began to move, flinging out in an attempt to stretch. 

Except, his elbow knocked into something before it could complete its movement.

"Ngh..." 

A voice sounded from right next to him; so close that there was a padding of hot air releasing onto the skin of his neck. His eyes darted open wide and immediately landed on the thing (person) next to him that had prevented his stretching.

Namjoon.

How could he forget that he was sharing a bed with Namjoon?

"Hyung?" Groaning, the sleepy male's eyes remained tightly shut, accompanied by a furrowing of his eyebrows. "That hurt."

Seokjin's neck and ears flushed red, and he spoke quickly with a panic in his voice,
"Shit, I'm sorry. Sometimes I stretch when I wake up— I wasn't thinking."

"Mmh, it's okay," the younger's voice presented groggy and deep with a soft hint of raspiness, and Seokjin ignored the thought of how he wouldn't mind it being the first thing he heard every morning, "Go back to sleep, hyung."

"We should get up, Joon. It's the first day of filming."

"Don't wanna..."

The breath was hitting Seokjin's neck again, and he stilled. And then all of a sudden, Namjoon shifted in his place before moving his arms to encapsulate him in them, all while his eyes remained closed. 

Flip.

Seokjin was immobilised once more, his breath hitching as a storm of confusion and conflict surged through his mind. Why was Namjoon being increasingly touchy with him? There was the back hugs when he cooked, the holding his hand on the doorknob, the closeness in the back of a car despite them being the only ones there, the sheer proximity of how their legs brushed together that time they sat on his bed, the embraces at night when they slept, and now this. For some reason, Seokjin didn't know if he wanted to know the reason why— or the answer to why he himself had gone along with the closeness so naturally— because he had an inkling in the back of his mind that it would breach The Line.

Alas, he stayed frozen, lying stupidly still as he tried so hard not to pay any attention to the muscular arms embracing him again. He felt how Namjoon's limbs relaxed against him once the younger had quickly returned to slumber. He felt how the latter's nose pressed into and tickled the side of his neck.

Unfortunately for him, his effort to not feed into that behaviour failed. He eventually found himself returning to dreamland too, his body leaning into the comforting hold in its resting state.

<3

“-and here is where Namjoon hyung and Seokjin hyung are staying~”A voice sounded from behind the bedroom door, trickling its way into Seokjin’s sleeping brain, “They lost a bet, so they’re the only ones who have to share a room. Isn’t that cool?”

As the door began to creak open, so did Seokjin’s eyes. He groaned tiredly before a wave of panic was suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks— whoever was entering the room was clearly accompanied by someone with a camera. He couldn’t be seen- filmed- sleeping entangled with Namjoon. That would definitely cross The Line.

“Oh, shh!” It was Jimin, all dressed up and clearly awake for a while already. “Hyung, you’re still sleeping?”

Peeling his eyes in the direction of the latter and the cameraman, the eldest took note of how the singular version of the word ‘hyung’ was used, essentially meaning that he must’ve been alone. Immediately, his eyes darted to the space on the bed around him to confirm. A sigh of relief left his plump lips as he realised that Namjoon wasn’t there. That there was a lack of warmth on his body where there wasn’t any arms embracing him. 

He returned his gaze back to Jimin and smiled sheepishly, feeling more at ease,
“Oops?”

“Look, hyung is so sleepy with his cute bedhead,” the younger pointed, directing the cameraman to focus the camera on Seokjin. “The fans will screenshot this for sure.” A cheeky grin overtook the short man’s plush lips. And then, he darted forward.

There was suddenly a pair of feet jumping on the bed next to Seokjin’s resting figure. He groaned, but couldn’t help the chuckle that left his lips as he fondly watched the latter childishly force him to wake up.

<3

Later that day, once everyone was up and about, Seokjin found himself chatting to Yoongi, both of them sat outside on a pair of garden chairs. It was quite chilly, but they were dressed warmly, but the view of the sky was too pretty to miss out on in that moment. Members of the camera crew stood off not too far in the distance, the eyes of the cameras spying on the two idols. They were used to it.

“Do you think it’ll get warmer soon?” Yoongi’s deep voice filled the atmosphere. He sat with his bony fingers fiddling with the end of the garden chair arms. 

“I hope so.” Seokjin hummed, his eyes still looking up at the sky as he spoke, “Namjoon wants to try fishing with me whilst we’re here, so hopefully it’ll get hot and we can have nice weather for it.”

“Damn. I’ll have to wait my turn to go fishing with you then,” Yoongi tutted playfully. “Hyung, I’m so hurt.”

“Oh, you big baby. There’s only so much of hyung to go around,” the eldest grinned sheepishly, playing along, “and Namjoon has a whole list of things he wants to do with me. Make your own list and then we can talk business.”

“A whole list?” Yoongi cocked an eyebrow with curiosity. Meanwhile, his hands moved to rest in his lap as he listened to Seokjin’s chuckled response.

“Yep. We’re gonna do some gaming later today to start. It’s like a bucket list.”

“A bucket list, huh?”

“Yeah. I think I’ll call it a bucket list.”

<3

“Ready, hyung?”

Both Seokjin and Namjoon sat comfortably in the house’s living room, taking their places on the main sofa. There was a large scale TV on the wall ahead of them, a console on the stand beneath it, and two controllers on the table ahead of them. Now, there was no cameramen around them— only a couple tiny freestanding cameras that they had been given to set up and use themselves. 

“Ready!” Seokjin beamed, aiming for one of the controllers as he reached a hand out with purpose.

Oh.

It appeared to be the doorknob situation all over again. 

Namjoon had the same intention, it seemed, his hand gunning for a controller— unfortunately, the same controller that Seokjin was aiming for— until it knocked against the top of the latter’s hand, resting on top of it with a light grip. 

Flip.

Hop.

After freezing in place for a few moments, Seokjin’s head darted in the younger man’s direction, his eyes wide as he fought the redness threatening to overtake his neck and ears. Namjoon did the same, and their eyes met. 

Flip.

Hop.

This was bad. The Line was approaching.

Seokjin stiffened, noticing one of the little cameras they had set up in the corner of his eye. 

Oh yeah. They were filming.

Hence, he quickly began to play it off, forcing a playful grin,
“You want this controller? I’ll play you for it.”

“What, like ‘rock, paper, scissors’?” An amused yet puzzled look overtook Namjoon’s facial features.

“Yeah, like ‘rock, paper, scissors.’” 

“Oh, you’re on.”

It was lucky that Seokjin had experience in acting, he thought, as a wave of relief passed through him for the second time that day when Namjoon played along with his diversion. Internally, he cursed at and questioned himself. 

Why was his heart doing those odd flips more and more often as the days went by? And why was it only ever around Namjoon? Why was Namjoon being so touchy with him? Was he reading too much into it?

When had The Line become so blurred?

Chapter Text

The Line had become threatened the moment that the two men began to embrace in the safety of the night. Seokjin’s mind was heavily conflicted, his body freezing up but not rejecting the warmth.

He cursed at himself at night; belittling the way he didn’t reject the arms around him, the way he didn’t move away or say that it was wrong and made him uncomfortable— except, it didn’t make him uncomfortable. In fact, he was too comfortable with it, and that’s what scared him. It was terrifying how it felt so right, when really, it was so wrong.

Additionally, Seokjin was perplexed as to how Namjoon was openly initiating the increasing physical contact. Was he ignoring The Line? Or was it just casual intimacy of two close friends to him? Seokjin didn’t know. He was terrified of not knowing.

<3

The second day of filming was going smoothly, and Seokjin couldn’t help but appreciate how good the members had become at entertaining the cameras. 

He could only hope that he, himself, was good enough to hide the dreaded flips that his heart kept doing around a certain rapper.

It wasn’t too late in the day— only five PM. They had an early dinner, claiming that they were allowing time for their stomachs to settle before they could have drinks together later on. In the meantime, Seokjin was relaxing on one of the living room armchairs, having been scrolling aimlessly when someone else entered the room. He looked up and met eyes with Namjoon, who held some sort of tin in his hands and showcased a big grin.

“Time to tick another thing off the list, Hyung.” Seokjin couldn’t help but be curious as his eyes followed the latter who strode closer, watching him with intrigue as he placed the tin container down on the living room table before dragging a second armchair to make them sit side by side.

With a flick of a finger, Seokjin shut his phone off and stuffed it into his pocket as he straightened his lazy posture. He questioned softly,
“What’s this, Namjoon-ah?”

“A sewing kit!” The said male beamed, plopping down in the armchair once he had finished pushing it as close against Seokjin’s as possible. “We’ll cross ‘sewing’ off the list today. What do you think, hyung?”

Letting out a hum of approval, the eldest watched closely as Namjoon delicately removed the tin’s lid to reveal the contents inside. It had a tiny container filled with sewing needles, a couple of cute pincushions, two embroidery frames, and an awry of different coloured thread rolls. Furthermore, he also took note of the fact that the cameras in the room hadn’t been turned on. The directors must’ve decided that sewing wouldn’t interest the fans.

“Be careful now, Joon. Let’s not have any injuries here, okay? Or else.” Seokjin’s silvery tone held a node of fondness. He observed how Namjoon grinned sheepishly at his words, his dimples peaking through.

Flip.

Stop it.

A husked rasp was present in Namjoon’s voice when he chuckled at the latter’s comment. It was coarse yet somehow soft at the same time; Seokjin couldn’t help but compare it to the rounded bark of a tree branch— the twists that thinned and sprouted smooth leaves from its edges. A pretty sight to behold.

“Alright, alright.” Namjoon’s lips curved into a side smile as his hands made a point of over-delicately removing some needles and threads before continuing, “Is this good enough for you, worry wort?” 

A gentle laugh was pulled from Seokjin’s chest— border-lining that of a deep giggle— “Spectacular.”  And then, he was cocking an eyebrow with curiosity and pausing for a moment before asking, “But Joon, do you know what you’re doing? Have you done this before?” He added, “Or are you secretly just a mastermind at sewing?” 

Namjoon’s grin only widened to both sides that time, all the while his hands worked away before holding out some of the items as an offering.
“Here, hyung.”

“Thank you.”

<3

Namjoon had claimed that he had indeed taken one or two sewing lessons before.

Seokjin could only assume that he must’ve taken them a very long time ago. 

They had been at it for an hour already, and were only just starting to attain a streak of success. Well, it was very messy and un-pretty, but at least they had finally made a continuous start. 

Unfortunately, the embroidery design that Namjoon originally picked out was a tad (a lot) too intricate for them. Instead, they settled on something simpler that they picked out together; a minimalistic flower— the sort you would often find in children’s colouring books.

So far, they were both finished with the single lined stem, and were beginning to work on the circular heads of the flowers. Although, the transition between a straight line and a curved one was proving to be quite difficult, Seokjin thought. Much like the change in his thoughts and the flips in his heart. He observed how the delicate, gentle movements of Namjoon’s hands contrasted their large size and roughness of certain points in their skin.

Alas, Namjoon finally got the hand of it. He was already a quarter of the way through the circle when Seokjin noticed that he was too far ahead of him for his own liking— the eldest had always been competitive. Determined to finish the circle before the younger man, Seokjin sped up, his eyes shifting between his own hands and the latter’s every so often.

It was not the best decision.

Especially because he wasn’t paying too much attention to his own hands as he was constantly looking over at Namjoon’s to see how far behind he still was. And maybe just because his eyes kept lingering, but he wouldn’t recognise that.

“Shit!”

Seokjin hissed, the items in his hands falling out of his grip and into his lap with one of his hands grabbing at the other arm’s wrist. 

He had poked the needle quite deeply into the tip of his index finger.
He was bleeding.

Namjoon wasted no time in setting down his own items and shifting in his armchair to be sat facing more towards the elder, reaching his hands out to gently take hold of his hyung’s bleeding hand, guiding it closer to himself so that he could take a look. A frown took place on his lips,
“Hyung, be more careful. I’m the one who’s supposed to get hurt doing this stuff— not you.”

Blinking slowly, Seokjin grimaced at the stinging sensation in his finger. He had always hated how such tiny cuts never failed to hurt the most.
And then, his grimace was replaced by a look of confusion. Why was Namjoon bringing his hand so close to his face?

Oh.

Oh?!

For whatever reason Seokjin couldn’t quite place, Namjoon was… trying to stick his finger into his mouth? Baffled, his instincts kicked in and his heart began to thump with panic, causing him to try and rip his hand away from Namjoon’s grip— to get his finger out of his mouth. Instead, his wrist was met with a tightening grasp that refused to let him pull it away.

“Namjoon?!” His eyebrows scrunched together, appalled, “What are you doing?!”

For a brief moment, Namjoon released the finger from his mouth and looked back at his hyung with a sheepish grin, 
“Seokjin hyung, did you know that sucking on a cut stimulates nerves which blocks pain? And can sometimes aid in stopping the bleeding?”

Seokjin froze, his confused expression deepening,
“What?”

“It’s true. I’ll show you later.”

And then, Namjoon was taking the tip of the finger into his mouth again. Seokjin was abruptly brought back to reality from his frozen state when the younger began to suck on his finger. He tried his best for a few moments to pull his wrist away, but the latter refused by tightening his grip.

Instead, Seokjin had to settle for looking absolutely everywhere except for Namjoon.

His ears were already burning red. 
He knew he was going to have a heart attack if he was to look at the man. 

He knew that the sight would only corrupt his mind even more than it’d already become.

He knew that it would breach The Line.

However, it felt like it was going on forever, and his eyes decided to move on their own; slowly dragging and dragging until— they met with Namjoon’s.

Flip.

Seokjin’s body tensed. They were making hard eye contact as Namjoon literally sucked his finger. His whole face, his neck, and his ears immediately became hot, a flushed redness taking over them. But somehow, he couldn’t manage to look away.

Flip.

And then, Namjoon started to slowly take even more of the finger into his mouth with a torturing glide— the whole thing, despite the cut only being on the tip of the finger— and sucked even harder, his tongue dancing around the joint of Seokjin’s finger. All the while, he kept hard eye contact, his gaze confident and sharp. Seokjin shuddered and was unable to stop the heaviness starting to plague his hitching breath. 

It went on for way too long, until eventually, Namjoon pulled his mouth off with a ‘pop’ and let go of the elder’s wrist, leaving his finger covered in saliva.

“See? I told you!” A grin so big and sheepish took over Namjoon’s dimpled lips, “It stopped the bleeding!”

The latter was frozen. He wanted to kill Namjoon. 
The sight, the action, the feeling— Seokjin knew it was all wrong. 
His groin, however, had different a different opinion.

The Line had declared war.

Chapter Text

After the 'finger incident,' Seokjin found himself unable to sleep that night.

All he could manage was staring at the small plaster wrapped over his index finger as he laid with his back to Namjoon. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly save him.

When Namjoon arrived at their shared bedroom, the elder had pretended to be asleep already— and yet the latter came carefully climbing into bed before sneakily sliding his arms around him from behind, back hugging him with a great gentleness.
As he lay and listened to the younger's soft snores that pressed into the back of his shoulder, Seokjin became victim to the thoughts in his mind. 

He thought about it all— the lingering touches of their hands, the cuddling in the night, the eagerness to spend time together, the too-intimate finger sucking— Namjoon had initiated everything.

And then, he paused with furrowed eyebrows. What if he had initiated something and just didn't realise it? What if he had accidentally started something that was doomed to end badly? Something that would be doomed to cross The Line?

Only, it had already been crossed.
There was no going back from this.

So did he really need to be so guarded?

<3

The morning after, it was Seokjin who woke up first, after finally managing a mere two hours of sleep.

Despite this, he felt more awake than ever. His mind was still ticking and turning with the thoughts he lay with. They were going to be the death of him.
He decided that he was going to let his guard down for a little while— since Namjoon had clearly done that already— and see how things would go. The only difficulty was that it made him a hundred times more nervous. Luckily for him, he had studied acting.

The warm breath of the sleeping man behind him hit his nape with soft pads, the feeling bringing him back to reality. Taking a deep breath to ready himself, Seokjin pursed his lips before carefully rolling over in his place; landing in a position where he was now facing Namjoon, whose arms remained draped over him. 

Seokjin's breath immediately hitched at the sight. Namjoon's face was so calm, so unbothered— so peaceful. Their faces were too close; noses almost touching at the points.

"Namjoon-ah." The eldest's voice was low and hoarse from slumber (or lack thereof), "It's time to wake up." He let his arms gently shuffle so that one of his hands could raise, his crooked fingers planting softly onto the sleeping man's cheek before rubbing small circles into it with the pad of his thumb. 

"Mmh?" Stirring, Namjoon's eyebrows furrowed slightly, wanting to be lulled back into slumber. 

Seokjin spoke once more, his voice lowering to a whisper, "Come on, Joon."

"Hyung?" Namjoon let out a half-asleep groan, his eyes still remaining shut. His arms tightened around the elder.

"Come on, Joon-ah. It's time to get up," coaxing once again, Seokjin let his finger with the bandaid sweetly push a strand of hair behind the latter's ear.

Flip.

He cringed at himself. What was he doing?

It was too late to change his mind though, as he found Namjoon's eyes slowly blinking open ahead of him to meet with his own. His hand paused its movements almost instantly, fingers slowly retreating back to form a ball against his palm with hesitance.

"Ah." Mumbling, Namjoon's voice and gaze remained sleepy, though he clearly noticed the hand near his face, "You're-... you're awake first this time."

There was something with how Namjoon was clearly surprised by his actions that made Seokjin's chest tighten unpleasantly. He quickly pulled his balled-up hand back to retreat lower until his arm rested down at his side, and apologised with his voice disguised in a faint whisper,
"Sorry. That was weird of me."

"It's not weird. I don't mind."

Oh.

"Okay.” Looking away awkwardly, Seokjin fiddled with the blanket that lay spread over them. 

"Hyung," Namjoon began, his voice slowly becoming more awake and aware, "I was hugging you. So it's payback."

What?

Oh.

Prior to this, Seokjin had been forcing himself back to (or pretended to) sleep in the mornings, having waited for Namjoon to get up first so that he didn't have to awkwardly clamber out of the embrace.
He hadn't considered the fact that to Namjoon, it might've appeared as if Seokjin had no idea that they had been cuddling at night. 

"Sure, it's payback."

They lay there for a bit longer in silence; Seokjin still not meeting Namjoon's gaze that remained on him the whole time. Until eventually, the younger spoke up again,
"So what were you waking me up for, hyung?"

Seokjin hummed,
"To cook."

"To cook?"

"Yeah, to cook." He nodded subtly, his eyes finally raising back up to meet with the latter's again, "Cooking was on your list. I thought we could do breakfast together this morning-" the tip of his nose scrunched for a moment, "- unless you would prefer to do something else today. Or nothing today. That's fine too."

"Let's go cook, hyung."

The Line strengthened its borders.

Chapter Text

‘Breakfast’ had turned out to be more of a ‘lunch.’

By the time Namjoon and Seokjin got downstairs and attained everything they needed, it was already twelve PM.

Nobody seemed to mind, though— it appeared that everyone else was still sleeping in late, the only other person downstairs being Jeongguk, who had discovered the outside gym. Well— and the camera crew, of course. Luckily, the only on-shift cameraman was busy filming the youngest member, so Namjoon and Seokjin got the privacy of using the set-down cameras again.

After some time spent discussing what to make, they had settled for Korean fried chicken, accompanied by rice and a vegetable stir fry. Seokjin had allocated tasks between the two of them; he would prep the chicken and make the marinade, as well as put on the rice, and Namjoon would be in charge of chopping up a variety of vegetables.

The kitchen was a decent size— quite big, but not too big. Seokjin appreciated it as it prevented him from having to get all close up to Namjoon in order to squeeze past him, like they had done in many situations prior during their time of living with their team. 

There was a small island in the centre that curved on the edges to allow for barstools on the other side, and the main countertops allowed for ample space. However, one downsize Seokjin had found with his time in this kitchen so fae during filming, was that finding what he needed could be a little complicated thanks to the generous amount of cupboards and storage.

So far, he had gotten the rice prepped so that they could turn it on to cook at the right time, and was coating the chicken in a batter that he had made. Behind him, Namjoon stood against the island, cutting up all the vegetables. So far, he was doing a good job, and had finished slicing all of the peppers.

To fill the air, the younger had connected his phone to a small speaker and pressed play on a random playlist that he’d saved. It was nothing too heavy, but rather calming. Seokjin knew a lot of the songs that came on and began humming along to them in content as he worked away.

“Hyung,” Namjoon suddenly spoke once Seokjin’s humming had stopped to allow for an opening, “I cut my finger. It hurts.”

Seokjin’s attention was quickly captured. He quickly stopped what he was doing and washed his chicken-covered hands with a lightning speed before crowding behind the younger who remained facing against the island,
“Where? Let me see.”

Only, Namjoon wasn’t cut. He set down the knife in his hand before turning around to face the worried man who only looked at him with a puzzled expression, a sheepishly mischievous grin taking place on his dimpled lips,
“Gotcha.”

“Namjoon!” A small whine in his tone, Seokjin raised a hand to gently push at the man’s shoulder, scolding him, “Don’t do that to me. You almost gave me a heart attack.” 

Namjoon lifted his arms to fold them over his chest, one of his eyebrows cocking up with intent,
“And what would you have done if I really did cut myself?” His grin widened, “Would you suck my finger too?”

Freezing in place for a good few seconds, Seokjin was stunned, his eyes widened and blinking. He became flustered with his lips parted in an attempt to speak, tripping over his words instead. His ears and neck reddened as the image of Namjoon sucking on his finger the day prior took over his brain.

Oh god. They were filming.

Panicked, Seokjin’s eyes darted between all of the cameras they had set down in the room, sat on top of countertops and shelves. This would definitely have to be cut out of the footage. Hopefully, the overseers wouldn’t question them.

“Just kidding.” Chuckling, Namjoon gave Seokjin a playful shrug before he turned back around to continue his task, taking the knife back into his hand. 

It took the elder a minute or two to pose himself before continuing what he was originally doing.

<3

“Namjoon-ah, are you almost finished chopping those up?” Calling out over his shoulder, Seokjin reached his hands out to switch on the rice cooker. He had put the chicken on to fry already just to get the process started. There was a second pan ready for when Namjoon had finished with the vegetables so that they could go into it.

“Uh— yeah, I’m just a bit stuck with the spring onions at the moment,” Namjoon replied, sighing to himself when he made another slice that squashed and separated the scallions again, “but everything else is done.”

Humming softly, Seokjin turned to walk closer to the younger whose back was to him, but paused for a second. He had been about to guide Namjoon from behind, like he had done a couple times before. But things were different now— now The Line was in the picture. 

His eyes brushed over the cameras again as he thought to himself. Eventually, he settled on the decision that it was okay and could be brushed off as fan service, since they had done exactly that in the past. 
Taking another few steps until his broad chest was pressed against Namjoon’s back, Seokjin reached his arms out around him. His head reached over to rest the shoulder ahead of him, and his crooked hands gently rested over the latter’s, guiding them. For a moment, they both froze in their places.

Flip.

Hop.

“Like this.” Mumbling softly, Seokjin snapped himself out of his trance in an attempt to distract himself from how his heart was pounding and flipping maniacally inside his chest. He could only hope that Namjoon couldn’t feel in against his back. 

“You must be magic, hyung,” Namjoon observed their joint actions, trying to deny the way that their hands pressing together created an addictive warmth. He was a bit stiff, however, as the clearly manic-beating of the older man’s heart thumped against his back, and it reminded him of how real this all was. 

It was a confirmation that was yet to be dealt with. And truthfully, neither men knew if it would ever be dealt with; if it was too dangerous to deal with. The Line made it safer to ignore it— something that they both knew. 

Whether one of them would threaten The Line and talk about it, however, was another story.

They both tiptoed around it, afraid that one of them would highlight it, yet still engaging with each other in ways that added to the mass of things left unsaid.

The Line stood on guard.

Chapter Text

A/N

sick at the moment and gotta force myself to go to work because yo girl gotta pay rent

bear with me for a couple days