Kim Namjoon and Kim Seokjin's lives were lonely.

Jin grew up on a farm, away from the rest of the world. He only had his dad. No mother, no siblings, no pets, no friends. He ended up dropping out of school by thirteen to help with the farm. 

Everything changed when his dad passed. Cancer. It's not like they had the money for the medical bills, so Jin ran away after he was gone. There was no where to go. Nothing to do. Jin planned to die by running around his hometown. He wanted to die seeing the sights he never got to see since he was so cramped on that stupid farm. Right when he thought he would die from starvation, someone came for him. Kim Namjoon.

Namjoon was also lonely. His life was ruined by his friends. They spread lies all the time. Lies and lies and lies, so many lies that they eventually got to his parents, and they were beyond pissed. They weren't bad parents, they just believed the very convincing lies. He got framed for a crime he didn't commit and had to run away. Otherwise, he would've faced up to thirty years in jail. At that point, he felt abandoned. He barely managed to escape the police coming to arrest him. He hid in abandoned warehouses, restaurants, and cars. He did what he had to to survive.

Then, Namjoon got picked up by an underboss for Unmei. Namjoon figured he was already going to jail, why not at least have protection from it, right? He soared through the ranks based on his sheer determination to gain something back. He got greedy. And when he met Jin, they both got greedy for more power. More money. More status. For once in their lives, they wanted to have something other than themselves. 

They found consolation in each other and became great friends, the closest friends around. They wanted to take something from the world, since the world took so much from them. Namjin wanted to rule a mafia. They wanted to be the skippers. The ones calling the shots. But they also didn't want to lose their friend, Yoongi. Their life came in a full circle. They're lonely again. Lonely despite being surrounded by so many.

Namjoon stares at Jin, who stares back. They're in Namjoon's room, thinking over everything that happened. His shoulder is still healing, but it's not too big of a deal. Jin's been dressing his wound and trying his best to do 'physical therapy', which is really just stretches and not moving the arm too much. 

They shot Namjoon's shooting arm. Wonderful. He lets a soft groan pass his lips as he does a small arm circle. Yeah no, this thing isn't even close to healed yet.

"What should we do?" Jin asks.

If only Namjoon had the answer. "I'm not sure. Now since we're on the run, it's not like that power we wanted is in our reach."

"Were we wrong to do that?" Jin softly mutters. One look into his brown eyes tells Namjoon all he needs to know. They've been friends long enough for him to read him like a book.

"I don't know," Namjoon replies. "But what's done is done. No point in dwelling over it. The best we can do is let me heal and prepare for the next attack. I'm sure it's coming soon."

Jin guides Namjoon over to his bed, the two sitting down. "I have something a little more serious to ask," Jin starts, trailing off to eye Namjoon as if asking for permission.

"Go ahead," Namjoon replies, fluffing his pillow before leaning his sore back onto it. Part of having a bum arm means the rest of your body doesn't really feel like doing anything. It's safe to say Namjoon hasn't been very active. At least the others go out shooting and workout all the time. Namjoon doesn't do any of that.

"Do you think the others are against us?" Jin asks in a hushed tone, as if scared of being heard despite the thick bedroom walls and the heavy closed door.

"I think they're cautious, sure, but I don't think they'd leave us. Yoongi put himself in this position with us. As did Y/n and her fellow mafia members."

"Y/n did it for Yoongi, Jimin did it for her, and I don't know why Hoseok did it. They aren't doing it for us. The only ones doing this for us is... well, us."

Namjoon purses his lips and strokes his chin, considering this. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," Jin replies. "Y/n and I aren't really friends. We get along and I helped her a lot, but we're not friends really. Just allies. She doesn't care about me. Yoongi's probably hiding how pissed he is at us." Again, Namjoon finds himself questioning Jin's thought process. He understands Jin lost a lot and is scared of losing more, but this exact behavior is what got them here in the first place: jumping the gun, not considering all the options on the table.

"Jin, listen to me, please," Namjoon whispers. He places a hand on the older man's shoulder and meets his eyes. "Let's wait this out. If they turn out to be against us, there's not much we can really do. I mean seriously, four on two, one of which is injured. Not great odds."

"We were two against the world at one point."

"These are our friends," Namjoon says, his voice almost cracking. "They're on our side. I know Yoongi's not lying, he's with us. And Y/n cares about everyone around her. Jimin will do whatever she says. Hoseok is the only one I'm not sure on."

Jin considers this, then lets out a long breath. "Yeah. You're right. I-I'm sorry, you're right."

Namjoon quickly brings Jin into a hug. "I know it's been a long time since we've seen happiness, but it'll happen. We'll feel the sun soon, I swear," Namjoon mumbles.

Jin nods against his shoulder and hugs back, squeezing the younger one as tightly as possible. "Thank you for always having my back."

"Thank you for being in my life," Namjoon replies. There's a few more beats of silence until they finally part, meeting each other's eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"I want to," Jin says with a chuckle.

Namjoon smiles, Jin doing the same. Again, they stare. There's not much to do or say. "Can I be honest?" Namjoon asks.

"You can always be honest with me."

Namjoon's smile grows to show off his dimples. "We may be different in so many ways, but there's no one else I'd rather have as my best friend. My brother."

"This is starting to get a little romantic," Jin says in a joking tone. Namjoon laughs, Jin taking a moment before laughing with him.

That classic windshield wiper laugh of Jin's catches Namjoon's attention. He'll never admit it out loud, but Jin's laugh makes him laugh harder. Honestly, his laugh is almost always funnier than what's being said. Regardless, Namjoon dials down, peering at Jin. 

"Do you at least agree?"

"What happens if I say yes?" Jin asks with waggling brows.

"I'll love you a little bit more."

Jin lets out a sigh. "Joon."

"Jinnie."

"For some reason, I'm gonna say yes."

And just like that, all their worries got put to rest. 

For now...