⮕ summary: back to school shopping. two people. one book. what could go wrong? a lot of things, actually. but then again, some things could also go right.
⮕ pairing: kim namjoon x reader
⮕ genre: fluff, crack, angst, bookstore!au, college!au, a condensed version of enemies to lovers
⮕ word count: 3.9k
⮕ rating: pg-13
⮕ warnings: mild cursing, the slightest references to what happens at a frat party
⮕ a/n: okay first things first, aAAAHHHH dynamite came out! and it’s an absolute bop (and record breaker)! so i decided to post my very first piece of writing in celebration. and also, because it’s that time of year again, you know, back to school season (yay? idk), i decided to use that as the theme to this drabble. hope you guys enjoy! :-D
p.s. if you wanna talk to bookstore!namjoon or bookstore!y/n, feel free to do so here!
okay so
maybe it wasn’t exactly the best idea you’ve had to go back to school shopping literally ONE week before school starts
you can’t help it! you’ve just naturally been a procrastinator. there’s nothing you can do about it
well, there actually are lots of things you can do about it, but you’ll get to it later (haha, get it?)
anYWAYS
you’ve finished all of your supply shopping and almost all of your book shopping
keyword being almost
you would’ve got everything except barnes and noble didn’t have one of your textbooks
hoW?!?! isn’t barnes and noble a giant bookstore retail chain? how can they have literally every book you can think of exCEPT the very one you need?!?!
and you’ve gone to other bookstores too but they don’t have your book either
today is just not your day
so you’ve decided to take a look at one more place before you have to turn to the online edition of your textbook
which really isn’t ideal because after two minutes you’ll probably “accidentally” end up scrolling endlessly through your instagram feed
so in short, if you want to pass this course, you really, really need this textbook. like, a lot
you pull up to a cute little bookstore, nestled in between a starbucks and a barber shop
Pied Piper Books, it reads. cute.
you push the door open and are immediately welcomed with the smell of warm vanilla. bells on top of the door jingle to alert the (cute) guy at the front desk to your presence
“hi! welcome to pied piper books. i’m jimin, how can i help you today?” he asks with a grin, eyes shifting into happy crescents
“hey, i’m y/n. i was looking for a psychology textbook. um, this one?” you say, holding out your phone to show him the title of the book on your phone
he squints at the screen before nodding eagerly
“oh yeah! there’s a whole rack of psychology textbooks in the back,” jimin exclaims, “you should be able to find it there”
you thank him profusely before strolling to the back of the bookstore, taking in everything around you. there are books of all kinds: nonfiction, historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, and more! it’s incredible how this cozy little bookstore has enough variety of books to rival the last barnes and noble you went to
“ah! here it is!” you exclaim when you finally see your textbook in the middle of the shelf
what luck! it’s the last one there, too. you reach your hand out to grab it when, suddenly, another hand bumps into yours
“oh, shoot, sorry!” you hear a smooth, low voice say
you turn to look at who the owner of the voice is and you have to physically concentrate on keeping your jaw from hitting the floor
in front of you is one of the most attractive men you have ever seen in your life
actually, scratch that
in front of you is possibly the most attractive man you have ever seen in your life
he's got honey colored skin and black hair. his burnt umber colored eyes twinkle with the lights of the bookstore. his lips, very plump (and kissable), are forming into a smile
he's smiling at you!
wait- why does that smile look kind of weird?
now that you're getting back to your senses, you realize he's giving you one of those tight-lipped smiles, not a genuine one. and his hand is slowly tightening on the book you have your hands on as well
"um," you're not sure how to phrase this because:
1) there's a vERY handsome guy nearly holding your hand
2) said guy isn't looking very fondly upon you right now
3) he's trying to take the boOK YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ALL DAY
so as much as you would like this hunk to see you in a positive light, you would like to pass your psych course a lot more
"i, uh, i really need this book. like, a lot. for a course? that i need to pass. yeah. so this book is gonna help me pass. and i need it. a lot. yup," you blabber
what? it's not your fault this (very attractive) guy is making you all flustered
he nods slowly and smirks, making heat rush to your cheeks
"that sounds really fun," he drawls. "but i need this book too. i mean, isn't it fascinating how the human mind works? i'd love to read this book, especially once i get out of class."
is he being serious right now? he's got to be kidding… right? no sane human being just reads a textbook for fun
"oh, yeah. very funny. but out of all the other textbooks here, why choose this one?" you say, rolling your eyes, attempting to yank the book to your chest
unfortunately, you're not as strong as you hoped because Textbook Boy didn't seem to budge at all
that's when you see his arms
long story short, they're very attractive. and his hands, too. are those rings you see? um, is it getting hot in here?
gulping, you add on, "plus, what kind of lame person chooses to read a textbook instead of, i don't know, an actual book?" keeping your eyes trained on his hands holding the book, inches aways from yours
he chuckles. "wow," he remarks as you finally look into his eyes, "do you not know what sarcasm is? of course i'd rather read something carl jung has written over whatever pearson has published here. i need this for my psychology class too, sherlock," he shakes the book that the two of you are holding
did he just insult you? of cOURSE you know what sarcasm is. you're the queen of sarcasm. novices tremble in your wake. who does this guy think he is?
"well, i'm not going to just give up this textbook. i spent all day looking for it! can't you just go somewhere else?" you groan out, running your free hand through your hair in frustration. you miss the way that his face softens for a second before returning back to its original determined appearance
"sorry, but as much as you need this textbook, i do too. i have class next week and-" he begins before you cut him off
"wait, do you go to seoul national university?" you ask, to which he nods uneasily. if he ends up wrenching the textbook out of your hands sometime later today (because it doesn't look like you're going to let go of it anytime soon with the death grip you've got on it right now), you're not going to follow him back to his dorm and kill him just to get a textbook, are you?
he didn't think you were mental upon first glance, but now he's starting to change his mind. maybe going on another long search in other stores for the textbook (that he'll probably have to end up purchasing online anyway) is worth it if he comes out alive at the end of the school year
"oh, cool! i go there too. so do you have professor lee for psych, then? i have him. i'm so glad he didn't give us summer work. like other professors i have assigned so much stuff for us to do. i'm happy that-" you start rambling again, making the guy smile and shake his head
"yeah, i have professor lee. and i also need this book," he lamely tugs at it again. you pout and are about to say something when someone interrupts him
"well, well, well. what do we have here?" jimin saunters over, taking note of Textbook Boy and you. specifically your guys' hands and how close together they are
“i came over because i thought i heard some yelling. but you two look, um, busy right now. glad to see you resolved any issues,” he teases after seeing the two of your flushed faces
“no, jimin, we actually do have a problem-” Textbook Boy begins before getting cut off by jimin
"you know namjoon, when you asked me for a book, i didn't know you were also meeting your lady friend here,” jimin interjects, wiggling his eyebrows at you teasingly, making you even more embarrassed than before
so his name is namjoon
wait, as in kim namjoon?!
like THE kim namjoon?!?!?!
you’ve heard a lot about him before but never seen him in person yet. (what? is it really that bad of a thing that you prefer binge-watching netflix over social interaction?)
he’s one of the most popular guys on SNU’s campus. the guy that everyone swoons over, boys and girls alike. beauty, brains, and brawns, kim namjoon’s got it all. the perfect friend group, the perfect wardrobe, the perfect life. he’s got everything
well, almost everything. just not this textbook, and you’ll be darned if you go down without a fight
“okay, wait. there’s been a misunderstanding. i’m not his lady friend. i need this textbook for my psych class. like right now,” you explain
so let’s think
if you just yank the book out of namjoon’s hands, run through the aisle and dodge jimin (who might side with namjoon because you’ve heard they’re in the same frat), the book could be yours. if you’re lucky, you can run up to the front desk and see if anyone else is there so you can pay and leave before namjoon and jimin catch up to you
taking in a deep breath, you decide to bring your plan into fruition
namjoon's talking right now: "jimin, you know how much i need this book, man. come on, man. i mean, we're bros. who helped you pass midterms last year? me, right?"
great, now's your chance!
you yank the book to your chest and start to run, when all of a sudden-
"hey, wha- oOF!" namjoon exclaims as you try to run away from him, suddenly tightening his grip on the book, but it's too late. the tug you gave on it sends him flying into you
“what the- OW!” the two of you begin to drop to the ground. bracing yourself for the fall, you close your eyes in anticipation and land with a thud, book clutched to your chest, and back on the ground. not the most comfortable fall, but definitely better than face planting
when you open your eyes, you nearly shriek
positioned right above you, staring into your eyes with a dazed look, is namjoon
you’re under him. like, not even in a frat party or anything! in the middle of a bookstore out of all places!
eyes widening, you push him off of you, quickly scrambling away and look at jimin sheepishly, who watched the whole ordeal go down. if you were embarrassed at being caught holding the same book, you’re downright mortified right now and ready to crawl into the nearest hole
“okAY! so uh, i’ll leave you two to whatever it is you guys are doing. uh, but just hold in all your desires till you guys get home. this is a public space, after all.” jimin teases, eyebrows raised and inching slowly to the front desk where he wouldn’t have to see whatever the two of you would do next
it’s strange, jimin thinks to himself. namjoon’s never mentioned a girl to their frat before, but here he is, cozying up to y/n. weird. he shakes his head with a soft smile and continues on his way
oh no
so now you’re back to square one
alone with namjoon
and the textbook
did you forget to mention that you’re alone with namjoon?
it was much easier when you didn’t know who he was and could talk smack in front of him, but now? now you’re a lot more nervous
because you fought with THE kim namjoon over a textbook. SNU’s kim namjoon. and then you essentially pulled him on top of you in front of his friend. and on top of that, you still haven’t got your book yet
who knows? if jimin and namjoon are friends that could mean namjoon gets a preference, and thus, the textbook. they could make fun of you afterwards and you’d be forever known as the lunatic who tried to seduce namjoon to get a textbook. ouch. not a pretty picture.
for the first time, things are starting to look bleak
“uh, so we can totally pretend that didn’t happen. no worries,” namjoon chuckles, scratching the back of his neck in a combination of nervousness, embarrassment, and shyness. you can now see his dimples, which means he’s probably giving you a genuine smile, but you still can’t help but feel bad
tucking your knees into your chest and placing your chin on top of them, you whisper out, “i’m sorry.”
you squeeze your eyes shut and continue, “i really shouldn’t have done that. i didn’t mean to make you fall. like i just- i’ve been looking for this book everywhere, you know? and when i just found it, i guess i got way too excited. by the way, i didn’t mean to offend you with whatever i said. it’s just, you know that i have a tendency to- “
“ramble, i know. really, y/n you’re fine. i get it. i’ve been freaking out over this book too,” namjoon consoles you, placing a comforting hand on your shoulder. “don’t be too hard on yourself, okay?”
you nod weakly
“hey,” he continues, “how about this? we share the book instead. we anyway both have professor lee, so this method could be easier, you know? plus, we can share notes too.”
regaining your senses, you snort, “no offense joon, but i barely know you. it’s cool if we share things, but let’s start small and just share class. i don’t know how much of you i can tolerate.”
you meant for that to be a joke. can he tell? oh god, that was not good timing. you were literally having a breakdown a couple minutes ago. does namjoon have the same sense of humor as you? does he even have a sense of humor?
“for your information, yes i do have a sense of humor. you were thinking out loud by the way,” namjoon mentions dryly when you look at him in confusion. “and ‘joon’? we’re making nicknames for each other already, baby? i thought we’d wait till at least the second date. are we counting this one as our first?” okay, so now he’s pulling your leg
wait, kind of literally
his hand (the one that was around your shoulders at first) is now resting at his side. and because the two of you are sitting against a bookshelf next to each other, it’s now slightly brushing against your thigh
you stare in shock. THE kim namjoon touching you??!?! not sure if this is a blessing or a curse
“oh shit, sorry. my bad,” he finally notices after following your line of vision after seeing you gape at your legs.
great, now you’re going to think that he’s a creep! just because he’s popular on campus and in a frat doesn’t mean he likes to spend his free time feeling up girls
plus, he wants to make a good impression on you, as crazy as it sounds. he’s heard about you before, and you’re one of the smartest people on campus, staying holed up in your dorm to study rather than go to a party
(he doesn’t know about your crippling netflix addiction that you disguise immaculately. no one does, thankfully)
plus, you’re pretty and, although he would never admit it to your face, funny
anYWAYS
so what if he has a teeny-weensy crush on you? it’s not even that big of one. it’s so tiny. the smallest. not even there
yup
namjoon doesn’t have a crush on you
spoiler alert: he’s wrong about that
and you definitely don’t have a crush on him either
spoiler alert: he’s wrong about that too
so the reason why his heart skips a beat whenever you make eye contact with him is definitely a coincidence and not because he has a crush on you
right?
spoiler alert, again: wrong
he clears his throat, “sorry, you can have the book. i’ll just buy it online, i guess”
you pout and start to argue because you still feel a bit guilty, but he stands up and offers you a hand, which you look at hesitantly but still take
“you’re not gonna like, pull a WWE superstar move on me are you?” you joke
“who says i won’t?” he smirks at you, while pulling you up closer toward him
the sound of footsteps round the corner, probably jimin, and the two of you break apart before anyone can catch the two of you in another compromising position
an excited voice exclaims, “goOD NEW GUYS! i found an extra copy in the back! wow, i mean, that’s SUCH a coincidence! what great news!” jimin waves a textbook in his hands with a big grin on his face. a little too big of a grin, if you’re being honest
“i DEFINITELY didn’t know that we have extra copies in the back at all times! wow! isn’t this awesome?” he continues
is he JOKING?!??! you know you did NOT just spend this much time fighting for a book you could have had the entire time. and you definitely know that you did not spend a solid fraction of it embarrassing yourself in front of kim namjoon
speaking of namjoon
he doesn’t look so happy with jimin either. his jaw is now clenched and arms are crossed intimidatingly. he glowers at his friend and raises an eyebrow.
wait… that’s kind of hot. if you’re being honest, it’s really hot
"jimin, you're shit at lying, you know?” he says, “what was the real reason you didn’t give us the extra copy ahead of time?”
should jimin tell you guys the truth? well, a part of it wouldn’t hurt. he can already tell the two of you like each other based on your body language and thought leaving the two of you alone would help you two get even closer
he laughs, “no i literally forgot for like the entire beginning of your little argument and then i thought it would be fun to see how it pans out.” the smile on his face turns to a slight grimace as he sees the two of your unamused faces
you turn to namjoon, wondering if he’s thinking of getting “revenge” on jimin like you are. still keeping his eyes trained on jimin, he nods imperceptibly as if the two of you had communicated telepathically
“well, jimin, you did get us to agree. unfortunately, it’s not about the thing you want.” you say in what you hope is an intimidating manner. thankfully, namjoon adds more oomph to your words by cracking his knuckles
“okay, great! while you do that, i’m going to be at the front desk, ready to ring you guys up. you know, actually doing my job? have fun, you two! try to come up with something original and scary if you’re getting your so-called ‘revenge’, won’t you?” jimin grins and ambles off
oh my god, why is he so carefree? it’s lowkey frustrating
when the two of you are alone once again, namjoon turns to you, a question at the tip of his tongue
“so are we gonna beat his ass or what?”
you shake your head and furrow your eyebrows (namjoon finds it endearing that you’re serious about teaching jimin a lesson but he’ll never tell you)
“no, we have to think something out and be clever about it. plus, physical violence isn’t exactly my forte.”
“that’s fine,” namjoon replies, checking the time on his watch. “but it’s getting kind of late right now and i have to get some stuff ready for my frat.” seeing your face fall he adds, “let’s meet up sometime soon though, okay? how about we meet up at the starbucks next door later?”
is this his way of asking you out on a date? you’re kind of in shock at the idea
nonono, don’t overthink it y/n, it’s a casual meetup. casual.
namjoon doesn’t like you! you don’t like him… that much
it’s fine!
“oh! can i have your number then? it’ll be easier for us to communicate,” he adds on, feeling slightly nervous. which is kind of weird because pretty much all other girls on campus would flip their shit if he asked that and say yes without hesitating. but then again, they also don’t accidentally pull him on top of them in the back of a bookstore
who knows? you could say no
“sure,” you stammer out, still in surprise. namjoon hands you his phone to fill out your contact information and you save your name as “y/n :-D”
he lets out a little chuckle at that, simply saying, “cute,” and you swear you can hear your heart combust
the two of you head to the checkout counter, where jimin smiles knowingly at you two
“i’ll be expecting something extraordinary from you nerds,” he teases, to which the two of you roll your eyes
“i’ll catch you later, okay?” you tell namjoon while heading out the door, to which he nods with a dimpled smile. “and thanks for nothing jimin!” you call out, waving at him sarcastically
“you got the book in the end so be grateful!” jimin yells back
before the door completely closes, you hear namjoon threaten jimin, “once we get back to the house, i’m going to beat your ass for real,” to which jimin responds lazily with “sure, but you’ll be thanking me when the two of you start dating.”
you bite your lip to stop laughing. when you open your car door and look down when you see that someone has texted you
from unknown number: well today was certainly interesting… does meeting next week at 3 work for u?
from unknown number: shoot, sorry i forgot to say my name lol. this is namjoon btw
smiling down at your phone, you type back a response
to namjoon: sure! sounds great! c u then :)
you jump in surprise when you hear a noise come from inside the bookstore which seems to be jimin’s voice
“DUDE LOOK, SHE SAID YES!!! SHE’S TOTALLY INTO YOU!”
wow, he’s surprisingly loud. and accurate, too? are you that obvious about your crushes?
“NOW’S YOUR CHANCE, ASK HER IF THIS IS AN OFFICIAL DATE!”
well, it could be your chance too
smirking, you quickly type back a response before namjoon can say anything
you hope you said the right thing
to namjoon: it can be an official date if you want it to be one ;) i know i’d like it that way
setting your phone down, you let out a deep breath you didn’t know you’ve been holding and get into your car
slowly pulling out of the parking lot, you sneak a quick glance into the window of the bookstore and see namjoon staring at his phone in shock with an open mouth and jimin standing next to him, eagerly looking at the screen
jimin catches your eye through the window and winks at you with a smile
okay
so did you say the right thing? fingers crossed you did
your phone buzzes again, indicating someone has texted you (hopefully it’s namjoon)
a big smile breaks out on your face once you pick up your phone
from namjoon: i like the way u think ;)
from namjoon: so it’s on then? an ACTUAL date next week at 3? we can decide on how we’re gonna mess with jimin later lmao
so uh... yeah... there it is! i'll pretty much read anything and will enjoy it somewhat, so if you have any fic recs or want me to read your fics, send them my way!! :-D
tagging @animebunnyyy @kpopruinedmygrades @smileyoongle @bartholowoof @poppysvibrator @koosluver yuhhh if u wanna do it u can but u don't have to 🤩🥺🙃 but yeah
