#jinpanman

“Psst… psst, Joonie, wake up. It’s a snow day!” you whisper, putting all your might into rousing your giant tree of a best friend from his deep slumber.

“___? What are you-, what time is it?” Namjoon yawns, his biceps straining against his sleep shirt as he rubs the back of his neck.

“Time to go outside! Now, you have exactly 20 minutes to brush your teeth and get bundled up before I come in and do it for you! We can’t waste a single moment!” you usher Namjoon up off your couch, grinning to yourself as he sleepily lumbers his way to the bathroom, nearly bumping into three walls on his way there.

As you wait for him to freshen up, you set yourself to the task of making a quick breakfast for you both. Snow days with Namjoon had been your favorite thing ever since the two of you met and became friends in the third grade. A day off of school meant you going over to Namjoon’s house, or him coming to yours, the two of you making snow angels and drinking enough hot cocoa to clog your arteries.

Namjoon pads into the kitchen, hair damp from the shower and dressed in his coziest sweater. “You’ll catch a cold with wet hair,” you tsk, causing him to grin widely and flash his dimples.

The two of you bundle up and head out for some winter fun. A most welcome chill greets you outside, and you find that the snow is soft and fluffy underneath your boots. Namjoon wandered off quickly, awing at the wonder of the snow covered trees.

A wicked idea sparks in your brain. Reaching downwards, you grab a fist full of snow. Shaping it in your fists, you don’t spare a second before launching it at the back of Namjoon’s head.

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Thirty minutes later, it’s an all-out war between the two of you. Snowballs fly back and forth in the air, little icy comets just waiting to make landfall.

While Namjoon was a formidable competitor, what you lacked in strength, you brought up for in speed and agility. Zipping through the snow, you dodge each one of his attacks seamlessly, high off the promise of victory in your hands, when suddenly- THWACK!

A large chunk of snow clips you in the back of the head, dizziness overtaking you before it all fades to black.

. . .

“___, wake up please! Sorry, I didn’t mean to throw that snowball so hard,” Namjoon pleads, watching you blink open your eyes.

Taking in the sights around you, you realize you’re in a sterile hospital room, hooked up to an IV. Eyes widening in horror, you glare at Namjoon, who blushes sheepishly.

“You’re fine,” he says. “I got worried because you were down for a little bit, so I panicked and took you to the ED. All the tests came back normal. Just rest up okay? I’ll make us some soup when we get back home.”

“First, you nearly take me out with a giant snowball,” you croak, voice hoarse from disuse. “And now you want to kill me with your noxious cooking?”

You feel your head spin, clutching your temples from your annoyance at Namjoon.

“___? You’re going to hate me for this,” Namjoon squeaks out. “But I had to tell them I was your boyfriend to get you checked in.”

The fog clears, and you rip the pillow from underneath you, ready to launch it at his head.

“KIM NAMJOON!”

The Ones Who Sit Side-by-Side

Countermelody | MYG. When you’re out with the guys eating hot pot, Yoongi (very sexily) uses one hand to crack and drop an egg to poach in the broth, at your request (read: challenge). If you don’t sit next to him, how are you supposed to run your hand up his thigh to tell him how much that turned you on?

Hideaway | KSJ. You probably do both, but the majority of the time, Jin is all too happy to sit next to you, like when you’re middle schoolers being told about the dynasty you’re about to inherit, or when you’re college kids sliding into your usual booth at the bar, or when you’re angrily scarfing down food at a restaurant after a stressful morning at work. A king always sits beside his queen.

Idol Hands | KNJ. You end up having dinner together on the night that you meet, and Namjoon makes it a point to come around to your side of the table to join you. He likes being beside you. And it’s a nice contrast to your dynamic with Jungkook.

Kittenfishing | KTH. In the story, you kind of do both, but I always see you side-by-side because you’re neighbors who share a wall. And if you count the dog park and Bang Si-hyuk’s party as public places, then you do seem to prefer to sit next to each other.

Like Butter | MYG. When you get dinner in the story, you sit across from each other, but you technically start off sitting side-by-side at work as he sips his coffee and you discreetly test out a vibrator... Anyway, can’t you just hear him chewing and snickering about something, his deep voice floating into your left ear? Both of you finishing each others sentences even as you focus on your meals separately? Yoongi stealing glances at you to memorize the hex code of your eye shadow or lipstick? 😍

Office Hours | KNJ. In other settings, like the faculty meetings, you sit across from each other, which illustrates the antagonistic nature of your dynamic. When you go to dinner together in Chapter 03, you sit at a square table, sharing a corner, adjacent to each other. When you go to to the speakeasy in Chapter 06, you choose a round table, your two chairs on the same side of the curve. Both are very sweet and soft moments, and I actually like that this mimics how you are in private, like when you sit next to each other in bed as you finish grading papers. (sigh)

The Ones Who Sit Face-to-Face

A Weekend with Noona | MYG. When you go to Mrs. Ahn’s bakery, you sit across from each other. But I also like that, because you’re Yoongi’s stylist, you need to have a direct line of sight to his face, by either sitting across from him, or standing behind him as he sits in the makeup chair. 

The Cul-de-Sac Cons | JJK. You start off the story kinda facing-off against each other, but it softens into facing the truth about each other and your dynamic, starting with that tasteless meal in the diner when your first job goes south. I think that’s a common theme in the relationship that you two have. The weight of confrontation.

Idol Hands | JJK. Because your relationship starts off in the public eye, much of your positioning has to be staged more directly. He sits across from you during dinner at The Gold Tree, which is where things really start to pick up, and, depending on the ending you choose, he also sits across from you during breakfast at the hotel, when things start to change between you two. It’s a nice contrast to your dynamic with Namjoon.

In the Margins | MYG. Another enemies to lovers story, another face-to-face dynamic! You sit across from each other at lunch when Yoongi decides that he wants to publish his novel with your publishing company, and it sets up this nice moment of him putting his manuscript down in the middle of the table and gifting it to you. Meeting you halfway. Inviting you to do the same.

Matchmaker | JJK. Yet another enemies to lovers story, and this time, you need to sit across from each other at dinner because you are observing him while asking him questions to prepare him for his practice date. It’s a nice contrast against Yoongi sitting beside you, illustrating that Yoongi is on your team, literally on your side, but not who you direct your attention toward in the end.

Both

Bear with Me | PJM. At dinner, you sit face-to-face, but when you have smoothies with Jungkook, you’re side-by-side. Honestly, a better category for you two lovebirds would be “The Ones Who Are Always Tangled Up In Each Other”.

Bon Voyage Noona | OT7. Easy --- this one’s an OT7, so they’re kind of all around you!

Mini-Version for The Road to You

For the other OT7 fic that I have, I thought I’d do a quick rundown of Side-to-Side, Face-to-Face, Both, and Neither for each of the boys!

Side-by-Side: Yoongi. Past You and Yoongi grab a meal and sit on the curb next to each other, eating while you talk about writing. Present You and Yoongi sit next to each other at the coffee shop, drinking while you talk about writing, haha. You’re cut from the same cloth.

Face-to-Face: Namjoon, Hobi, and Jungkook. Past Namjoon and You start off by snacking side-by-side in the courtyard of the art museum where you meet, but by the time you’re dating, and when you meet Present Namjoon to re-hash the past, you’re not only on opposite sides of the table, but the issues that you faced. Past Hobi serves you almost every morning at the coffee shop and even sits across from you on the day that you officially introduce yourself, so there’s an element of observation always there, even as you and Present Hobi chat about your history together over paella. Past Jungkook and You sit next to each other in class and are partners when you work, but whenever you eat, you’re across from each other, just like when you fight in the coffee shop later in your college years.

Both: Jimin and Taehyung. These are your earliest relationships, but they’re also the relationships that kinda set everything in motion. They’re also relationships that represent home. So it makes sense that you’re usually next to each other, almost like family.

Neither: Jin. You and Jin don’t actually... eat... a... meal together? Huh. That’s crazy, haha. Well, suffice to say that your relationship is quite rocky, and maybe this is one of the ways that it shows.

“Tell me I’m good,”  he all but pleads, begs into the modest swell of your chest, the cleavage that disappears past the pretty white macrame that holds you together.  His hands are everywhere, eager as ever, tracing over your skin like he’s a man lost at sea and he might find home in the notches of your spine, the rungs of your ribs.  He seeks out your warmth, hopes to find treasure buried beneath your valleys and peaks.

You try to do as he says - try to offer him the words he so desperately wants to hear - but it’s hard when you’re gagged and bound, barely able to move an inch.

He knows that.  That’s the whole point.

“Tell me, baby.”  Jimin’s face disappears into the crook of your neck, mouth sucking bruises over every part of you he can reach.  (As if he hasn’t already painted the expanse over and over, layered rouge so dark you’ll be forced to wear turtlenecks for weeks.)  

You whine against him, the sob muffled by the silk that sinks into the spaces between your teeth.  It’s terribly soft - one of your favourite toys, printed with a lovely pattern - and soaked in saliva, the same wet warmth dripping down your chin.  

The hands looped behind your back wiggle, fingers stretching in desperation.  They’ve been bound for so long they’re starting to tingle, though you’re not quite sure it’s not just pleasure branching through your limbs.  You’ve been pushed to the edge so many times everything’s just a little hazy, soft at the edges and dream-like.  

Even fatigued, it feels okay, if not a little too much.  (You don’t mind.  You never mind.) 

Something like a laugh comes, so incredibly sweet you can’t help but hone in on it, letting it wash over you.  It’s not your fault your boyfriend sounds so pretty, lyrical and intoxicating.  He can’t blame you for how your lashes flutter shut, lids sliding darkness over blown-out pupils. 

He does blame you, though, and he’ll punish you too.