(if anyoneâs confused, Iâm talking about this fic here!)
First off, I've gotta confess - I'm legitimately unsure of what to feel about the fact that I caused so many of you to become so confused about the ending! On one hand I feel pretty bad because you guys are the cinnamonest rolls to ever roll, and a cliffhanger ending (ha ha, funny) might have been disappointing. Â
But on the other hand, I actually feel kind of at peace with it, because yes, an open ending was completely part of my agenda. You're actually supposed to interpret it however way you like; if Jimin lives he lives, but if he dies he dies :')
In this vein I realize that it could be hard to envision him either way, due to how this fic is legitimately just a bunch of text messages (sans the last chapter) with little contextual info...so I just thought I'd share with you guys my own two interpretations of this fic, one entertaining the possibility of him dying, and one of him living.
(Even though...for someone to share their interpretation of their own open-ended story...might be kinda illegal? Or at least defeating the purposes of fiction or some shit?? Either way, I think you guys deserve an explanation.)
Before I start explaining, though, I'd just like to stress that there's seriously no fixed answer to whatever happened in the end (or from the beginning, for that matter). But as a homage to all of you, here are two theories I have made, on my own fic.
i. Jimin's dead. But so is Yoongi.
The only reason they get to meet and converge again is because they exist in the same state.
Here in chapter 12, Yoongi "huffs, clouds thick with breath and miles travelled. Years travelled." The "years travelled" here actually represent his life.
Which brings me to this point: Yes, Yoongi's lived his whole life missing Jimin; commemorating his presence with daily shots of the sky. In essence, he's had to live a life without Jimin, no matter how long, say from at least 27 (3 years since the start of the fic) or to a ripe old age. You could think that he's only made it this far because of sky's daily renewal - it provides him with the strength of persistence through his loneliness, so in a way, the sky's presence has replaced Jimin.
Regardless, Yoongi's life without Jimin must have been an arduous journey. This is seen from the very first line of Ch 12: "He never thought he'd get there." which signifies that he'd never have the faith that he could make it this far in life (and in death). I also tried to express the same feeling in "all these goddamn years".
But apparently, as Yoongi puts it in the last chapter, "Good things come to those who wait." because after death, Yoongi (or tbh essentially just his soul) arrives at the Himalayas, where Jimin was said to be last seen before his disappearance. Here, he sees Jimin again during the new sunrise - it's the dawn of their new afterlife together (ha ha ithinkimsofunny). Here, in "Jimin smiles, the same crescents rising, like how they used to in the mornings, like the first breath of the day.", "first breath of the day" is apparently an ironic jab at my own fic because they're both dead lol, but it could also work if you see that they're going to be the source of each other's sustenance during their afterlife.
When they meet again, Jimin looks exactly the same - he's barely aged a day.
Which means, yes, Jimin had died during one of his mountainous extravaganzas in the Himalayas, seeing as to how his appearance is the original state he was then. (The reason why he died is completely up to you, but for me, I intuitively go with the idea that he found his freedom, and in reveling in his newfound freedom and fervor to become one with the sky, might actually have literally tried to become one with the sky. I don't intend to explicate this because it might get bloody.) And because I probably love pain, this brings us to Chapter 9, where Jimin composed that last message to Yoongi on his birthday. He probably left the confines of the earth for the sky at that very point in time, which is a thing I did on purpose because it would make his death day the exact same as his birthday, but at the same time, you could say that he's only truly living when he becomes one with the sky. The chapter title, "forgive me", is a reference to him apologizing to Yoongi for leaving him, and subsequently the whole world behind, in pursuit of his freedom.
As for Yoongi, he might be 70 or 80 at the time he died before coming here, but he, too, appears the same (as evinced by how Jimin recognizes him). This is because the last time he truly lived was when he was last with Jimin, before Jimin ran off to the Himalayas.
In the same vein, "a floating spar of dreams both living and left unlived" in the bottom 9th paragraph of chapter 12 is a direct reference to how Yoongi's life must have suspended at the time Jimin left him; a direct reference to the above point.
Now that you know they're dead, chapter 11 might make more sense because Jimin says "Who am I kidding? You've never actually looked my way, have you." which indicates that Jimin had become one with the sky, which is, well, a common euphemism for dying.
The fact that they're both dead also makes sense of why they aren't able to send the messages out, because, well, they're dead.
You might also have noticed that in chapter 10, Yoongi said "It's my last day here before I fly off from this place (India)" - "fly off" could mean by plane, but for the purposes of this interpretation this is just a metaphor to say that he'd just travel away from that place using whatever means souls do - fly, if you will.
Tldr; one possible track in this fic is that Yoongi and Jimin have reunited in death.
(Note: This is just a particularly detailed personal interpretation; you're free to reconstruct the details however you want, eg you could think that Jimin simply fell off the cliff instead of flying off towards his sky of freedom, or even simply died of an old age in the Himalayas.)
ii. Jimin's alive. And so is Yoongi.
As I mentioned earlier, the only reason they get to meet and converge again is because they exist in the same state.
In this interpretation, the same state is the state of being alive, but at the same time, being spiritually liberated by the vast openness of the Himalayan sky.
In "He huffs, clouds thick with breath and miles travelled. Years travelled.", the "years travelled" would simply signify the fact that he took so much courage to take up Jimin's love for the sky as well as his habits of early mornings and runs, and subsequently, crawl his way to the Himalayas to put himself in Jimin's perspective. For these efforts, he is rewarded at the end with their well-deserved reunion, where Yoongi finally deserves to see Jimin again because he's finally learnt to put himself in Jimin's shoes.
As for Jimin, the reason he'd stayed in the Himalayas without returning is, tbh, pretty darn selfish, but his immense fear of the suffocation necessitates a life up on the mountains, where he is almost one with the sky.
Which explains "Who am I kidding? You've never actually looked my way, have you." Because Jimin is so close to the sky, looking at the sky would almost mean "looking my way", too.
Which means the "fly off" in Chapter 10's "It's my last day here before I fly off from this place" here is literally on a plane.
In sum, all that really happens in this interpretation is that Yoongi finally deserves to see Jimin again, because he learns to put himself in his shoes, which is, to put it in the context of this fic, "finally waking up early enough to see the sun rise".
It might be selfish of Jimin to simply have left for good and subsequently need Yoongi to adapt to his desired lifestyle of freedom in order to live with him, but Jimin, in this fic, has an immense fear of suffocation, as well as a growing addiction for freedom (as seen from his love for the sky, and how he actively seeks higher and vaster spaces ever since the start of the fic). In turn, Yoongi's neglect of Jimin when he was still in Seoul could have presented Jimin with an unbearable stasis that exacerbated this suffocation and impelled him to leave for the vast openness of the Himalayas, where he starts living for himself, just like how Yoongi had with his career.
Tldr; Jimin simply ran away for years and kind of âwaitedâ for Yoongi to come find him.
You might have noticed that the second interpretation is significantly shorter than the first. It's mainly because at least for me I felt it'll be much simpler to grasp the second interpretation after the first one puts things in an alternate perspective. It's also because the second interpretation is much less painful; it's easier to simply justify all of Jimin's inexplicable actions to his sheer desire for freedom, which supports his exceedingly wayward and (tbh) very selfish actions.
(But because Yoongi loves him more than anything else, it's all good, yeah? :D)
Personally, because I do wish to live, I want to go with the second interpretation (and keep them both alive). But because I probably love pain, I confess that I prefer the first interpretation (which is a thing I only just realized after writing the interpretations out).
So in a way, I also have this post to thank to let myself realize which side of the fence I sit on, HAHAHA.
Once again, I cannot stress enough just how much this fic is very (extremely exceedingly completely) open to interpretation. It's really just a bunch of text messages, so you can think of the above as merely my theories. It's also true because I had to put myself in the perspective of a reader, rather than a writer, in order to get this chunk of text out.
Which brings me to what I have to say next - given the open-ended quality of this fic, I'd really like to hear if you have disagreements, or better yet, any alternative interpretations of this fic!!!!! There is no right answer (even if there is I wouldn't know what it is) - it'll make me happy to see if your perspectives of what happened, even if it varies quite a bit (for instance, one lives and one dies, which disagrees with my premise that they must be in the same state to converge). So get your creative juices flowing and hit me up if you want :D
And once again again, I can't stress enough for how much everyone has put up with this fic, what with slow updates and indeterminism and all that jazz. Uni is so tiring, but at least my finals are over and I finally get to write this piece of thing out for you guys, even if it really isn't any good!!! I just felt you guys deserved a minimum explanation.
But if this explanation is lacking (which, in retrospect, it probably definitely is because I'm not the clearest writer out there), please understand and feel free to hit me up and ask more questions/seek clarifications/demand further explanation/throw rocks at me/talk to me about anything at all!
(Though, life gets in the way of life, so I'm sorry in advance if I don't reply too early!)
Thanks so much for reading - you'll always be my sky.
yoonmin. text message fic. angst. multichaptered 4k. chapter 4Â is now up, crossposted here on ao3!
chapter 1 chapter 2Â chapter 3
yoongi kept looking at the sky and it wouldnât answer,
but maybe the sun was there all along.
(alternatively titled, â55 times yoongi took photos of the sky and the one time he really saw itâ. )
From: Park Jimin
To: Min Yoongi
2 July, 2.13pm
Hey, hyung. I tried to wake you up so we could go out and get lunch and then go to the hilltop park after but you started snoring and wouldn't budge, so I cooked you some and went home
yoonmin. fluff/humor. college au / chain letter au. 1.5k.Â
click to read on ao3!
On top of being dateless for the upcoming school ball, Park Jimin receives a chain letter threatening something worse than death - a loveless, helpless life of eternal solitude. Just when he thinks his day wouldn't get any worse, he might or might not have been caught passing the chain letter by, of all people, the extra mysterious guy who lives at the very end of his block. (And just when he thinks his day wouldn't get any worse, it also happens that said mysterious guy is, in fact, rumoured to be a ferocious, bloodthirsty vampire.)
Park Jimin is having a field day - if, that is, said field refers to a minefield.
 First, he'd gotten back his grades for the midterms - abysmal, as usual, if only even more so than the usual red marks on paper he'd always had to wait for his mother's good days to obtain the parent's signature for. (On bad days, it would be a near concussion caused by frying pan plus no dinner for him that night.) This time, he'd actually managed to come in second in class - from the bottom, that is. (At least he didn't place dead last. Small mercies.)
 Second, he's beginning to become a rarity of his kind in class - dateless, loveless, and forever alone. And the annual Graduation Gala is in two weeks. And in his entire lecture cohort (a bustling hall of a staggering three hundred people, mind you), he's one of only two people who haven't acquired a date for the ball. And it isn't like he can ask the other person, because (a) he doesn't even know who that person is and (b) that person probably doesn't even plan on going, as seen from their lack of efforts to ask Jimin himself. In fact, there has even been rumours that this remaining mystery member of their cohort is actually a vampire. ("Rumour has it that he's the descendent of Dracula, that his surname is Min, and that he's very mean," Taehyung taunts in a dramatized stage whisper, to a smack of his head and a huffed "shut up" from Jimin, but really, even Jimin has to admit that loveless or not, he does actually want his lifeblood intact.)
 Third, just when Park Jimin thinks he's finally received a love letter (his first and only!! complete with pink hearts dotting the envelope!!), bestowed upon him from the gods and his prospective admirer and date for the ball, he stands at the door of his shabby dorm, opens the letter (hands trembling with anticipation) and -
 "Congratulations. You have received a lucky letter. Pass this letter on to thirty people and a whole succession of good things will happen to you this whole year. You will also meet the love of your life."
 "What the fuck," Jimin mutters as he reads on.
 "However, should you fail to do so, you will be unlucky for seven years. You will step on dog shit every day. You will also be forever alone."
 Jimin drops the letter, the words "forever alone" resonating repeatedly in his head in a traumatizing stage whisper. It was as if the writer of the "lucky" letter (Jimin's saboteur, more like) had read his mind in advance and found the gall (the wit) to bold and italicize the words he fears the most.
 Well, just his luck. Might as well try and be optimistic about the whole thing, right? Maybe if he photocopied this - no, simply scanned it and emailed it to 30 others, he'd find the love of his life. Maybe he'd land a date for the ball. Maybe it would be a good thing.
 Except when Park Jimin heads to the photocopy machine in the hostel and waits for it to start up (jauntily tapping his feet to the audible cranking of nuts and bolts as he did), his eyes finally land on the disclaimer at the bottom of the letter -
 "Warning: you have to hand copy this letter and pass it forward to their doorsteps by hand. Every single one."
 Park Jimin is definitely having a field day.
  When Park Jimin finally finishes copying all thirty of these letters, it's already nightfall; the dark of the barely-moonlit sky a desolate reflection of his pathetic self. He hasn't touched a single word of his thesis due tomorrow - and as far as he's heard, his new professor is the spawn of satan, and definitely not one to easily let students off.
 Well, at least most of his peers were in their dorm and probably sleeping by now. No one would probably notice if he were to creep up to their doors and slot them in between the metal door grills, right? He peers at the wall clock, the numbers "23:01" glaring at him in a fierce neon yellow. It is good timing. Small mercies.
 And hence Park Jimin commences his midnight trail around the block of his hostel, casually and deftly slipping his painstakingly handcopied love letters into the doors. It's actually gratifying, to say the least, cursing those who had made fun of his sorry dateless self in ways both subtle and non-subtle, because if linking hands with their lovers and brandishing it in Jimin's face is not mockery then he does not know what is. He'd even had to resist slipping two into Kim Seokjin's dorm - the guy is a sunbae, after all, albeit a most hated one, for he receives an average of 50 love letters in a week, on top 25 real life confessions. From all the genders alike. And it isn't like all those letters and confessions really matter, because his one true love of a stable three years is none other than the esteemed council-president-cum-valedictorian-cum-grade-skipper Kim Namjoon. Which means more than seventy have their heart broken every week, by the great Kim Seokjin. And Jimin hasn't broken even one. (He has had his heart broken around seventy times though, come to think about it.)
 It's soon his very last letter, and try as he might, he can't quite bear to slip this last letter into Taehyung's dorm door. He is, after all, his best friend. Although he does also happen to be a best friend who pays no heed to Jimin's feelings as he always makes a show of kissing Jungkook full on in the face in the presence of his ill-fated best friend. (Though, really, truth is that if he'd sent it to Taehyung, he'd only get all thirty back. And he definitely wouldn't appreciate having to write 900 curse spam letters, no thank you.)
 So Jimin decides to tread into uncharted territory for once. After all, what could be the harm? Jimin hasn't even seen anyone take a single step that particular room, in the far opposite corner of his own dorm. Could it be the living quarters of that mystery student in class, the rumored vampire descendant?
 Then again, probably not, rationalizes Jimin's brain, because this is modern Seoul, after all. Who knows, it could in fact be an uninhabited apartment, but hey, no one said anything in the letter about not being allowed to give the letter to the house's prospective owner, right?
 In fact, even if there is, in fact, a vampire occupying the room, no one said you had to pass on a chain letter to only humans, right?
 What could be the harm, right?
 Except when Jimin drops the letter in front of the door (jumping a little in his victory of having secured a whole year of good luck, including the chance to meet his one true love) he hears the wooden door click, and within seconds, the dorm door in front of him latches open, leaving him staring face to face, deer in the headlights, with whoever (man or ghost or worst, vampire descendant) had been in the room the whole time.
 And his first instinct? To run.Â
 And just right before he reaches the safety of his room, he feels a hand on his shoulder and his soul nearly leaves his body.
 In a moment of near-perfect dramatisation, Jimin's knees seem to lose all strength, dropping to his floor limply. "Please don't kill me please don't kill me I nearly wanted to avoid 7 years of bad luck and a lifetime of being alone - "
 "What the hell are you muttering on about," the ghost? person? vampire? in front of him pants, arms perched on his knees. "Frickin' Jesus, and all I wanted was to make a peaceful trip to the convenience store for dinner," the guy mutters as he straightens himself upright before extending his right hand towards Jimin. Jimin grabs it; it's unexpectedly warm, for a vampire.
 "Did you think you saw Dracula or something? Did you really have to run this fast? You're a fucking madman, that's what you are." The guy sighs, sticks the letter in Jimin's face. "I just wanted to tell you that you dropped this," the guy squints into Jimin's eyes full on, Jimin's "love letter" in his left hand, and hell as if he isn't the palest being Jimin has ever laid eyes on.
 And it might just have been a moment of the strangest epiphany, because human, ghost, or vampire, hell as if he isn't also the cutest Jimin has ever laid eyes on.
 "And, you're Park Jimin, right? The only other guy in class who hasn't secured a date for grad ball?" The guy says suddenly, a look of slight embarrassment washing over his pale face, now tinted slightly pink with an unmistakably human blush. "I also ran after you to just tell you that you're cute, and maybe kinda sorta just ask you out for the ball," the guy scratches his head sheepishly. "Will you be my date?"
And because Park Jimin is most definitely having a field day, he finally realises that things can actually be good, and that chain letters do actually come true, sometimes.
sugamon. crack. college/rapper au. 3k. insfired by and for @jinmomâ. (donât have expectations for this, though, because this is my brand of lameass crack weâre talking about)
crossposted on ao3! formatting is much less atrocious there.
Aspiring rapper-slash-producer Min Yoongi finds out that his favourite rapper is not only a fellow student in his college, but also hosting an intense rap battle in school, and hell is Yoongi excited about meeting his celebrity crush.
But when he opens the door, fully expecting to see a charismatic and jaw-droppingly badass Rap Monster, what he never expects to see is a guy in antiquated, googly round eyeglasses and a disgustingly pink Christmas sweater.
Min Yoongi hadn't come for this.
Sure, he hadn't expected much. After all, what could come out of a college student-hosted spinoff, especially one with a name as lame as Show Me The Cash ? (Whoever decided on the name apparently didn't even try and be clever, unlike the Comedy Club people the other time who hosted a comedy competition called Show Me The Funny.)
But while he hadn't expected much, he'd definitely expected more, because the piece of paper which had advertised this upcoming rap battle had read Interested parties, please photocopy this form and look for Rap Monster at Clubroom 7B from 5pm to 8pm by the end this week.
Rap Monster. The flyer had read Rap Monster. The Rap Monster. And Rap Monster was definitely much to be expected, because if anyone was into rap and didn't know who Rap Monster was, they definitely were hella fuckin' late as hell on the upkeep.
And while Min Yoongi definitely knows who Rap Monster is (read: listened to his mixes approximately five hundred times every night), he definitely hadn't known that Rap Monster is a student studying in the same university as he did.
Well, not until he saw the flyer, at least.
Anyway, because Min Yoongi definitely saw the name Rap Monster on the flyer, he just can't not sign up for this shit, right? Lame as it might sound, it would guarantee a chance for him to interact with Rap Monster (the Rap Monster, holy shit) and, okay, maybe the competition doesn't sound so lame after all. (Show Me The Cash doesn't even sound like such a bad name after all, now that he thinks of it. Rather similar to the original name, in fact.)
So here Min Yoongi is, dashing about the campus corridors on a Sunday evening when he could have been sleeping instead, trying like hell to locate Clubroom 7B (does the college even have 7 storeys?? he didn't even know) just because the flyer had said "from 5pm to 8pm by the end this week" and after a dizzying, tiring and frustrating ten minutes of darting aimlessly about and getting into a full-blown panic five minutes before registration ends, he finally finds the place. Clubroom 7B. Okay. This is it.
So he takes a deep breath, smoothens down his pants (wrinkled and unironed as hell, what a great first impression) and opens the doors and prepares himself to meet the Rap Monster, holy shit, the famed mysterious producer and mixer and rapper who refuses to show his face on TV who is apparently somehow a student in his very own fucking school, the Rap Monster with the crazy awesome lyrics and just totally happens to be his fucking celebrity crush even though he's got no idea what he looks like and -
The door opens with a loud creak. He doesn't see anyone he'd expected. There's only a strange, studious guy bent over his desk over a stack of papers wearing...what had to be the roundest and geekiest and oldest spectacles that had ever existed and will ever exist, and...grandma pink sweaters? Seriously? Grandma pink?
Min Yoongi certainly hadn't come for this.
"H-hi?" He squints at the dude, who apparently hasn't noticed his presence yet. Could he have gotten the wrong place? If he had then it's bad news, because it's definitely 8pm by now. He does a double take at the room number. Nope, correct place. Strange. He squints at the dude again, who still hasn't noticed him. "I'm looking for a Rap Monster-ssi? Do you happen to know where he went?"
At the sound of someone speaking the pink dude's ears seem to perk up as he turns towards Yoongi, even startling a little. Lame, goes Yoongi's brain. Pink Dude yanks his hugeass yellow headphones off (yellow? really?) to reveal a set of fluffy-looking teal green hair. (Really, though? Isn't teal a colour for frickin' high schoolgirls?) He stares back at Yoongi, smiling a little.
"Hi! Looking for Rap Monster? That would be me."
What?
"What," Yoongi chokes out as he gives this guy a onceover. "Kim Namjoon", his nametag read. Hell, who even wears a nametag at this age? He has no time for this shit. "Right. Now tell me where Rap Monster went. This is urgent."
"I actually am Rap Monster." The nerd grins in what must be the most diplomatic way possible, and, okay, maybe those dimples are pretty cute after all. But still. Nerd. He was but a nerd who had too fucking much time on his hands and dared to prank him and many potential actual rap fans who wanted to meet Rap Monster. Fucking hell.
"Lol yeah, and I'm Santa Claus, who the fuck are you trying to fool, fucking shit." Yoongi throws the registration form onto the ground, stomping on it for good measure. He was a fucking idiot. What made him actually believe that Rap Monster would be a student in his school hosting a fucking rap battle in a school as lame as this? Fucking hell is he an idiot to fall for such a prank. "You think you're funny? Fuckin' loser. Ain't got no fuckin' time for stupid bloody pranks like this played by fuckin' nerds by you. I'm out."
Min Yoongi storms out of the door of Clubroom 7B, leaving Kim Namjoon and the poor crumpled registration form sadly upended in his wake.
 ---
 "And who did he think he was? Huh. Rap Monster? Rap Monster? I told him if he was Rap Monster, then I must be Santa Claus. Such a fuckin' loser." Yoongi shoves three whole pieces of bulgogi in his mouth, downing his meat with a dose of soju as he smashed the cup slightly too forcefully on the innocent wooden table. "God, I never felt so much like a fucking idiot."
Hoseok sighs. Runs a hand longsuffering through his hair as he poured his hyung another drink. "Hyung," he moans. "Maybe you should just, I dunno, chill, y'know? No use getting this angry over a spilt chance of meeting with RM-sunbaenim."
At the sound of this Yoongi glares approximately five meat-cutting daggers at Hoseok, who retreats backwards a little before resting his face on his palm, propped up against the table. He sighs again after a moment, looking at his watch a little. "And," Hoseok sticks a piece of meat in his own mouth. "Who knows? Maybe he really is RM-sunbaenim. You never know, eh?"
"What the fuck," chokes a Yoongi with his mouth full of barbecue, but Hoseok is already sprawled flat on the table, having already drifted off into his own blissfully drunken sleepland, probably dreaming of a peaceful life without a ranting hyung bothering him over meat and alcohol, leaving a sad, angry and frustrated Min Yoongi with a shit ton of sad, overcooked meat and exactly 5 sad drops of lemon soju left in a sad glass bottle.
Just then, a familiar track starts playing over the speaker. Fuck, goes somewhere in Yoongi's brain. Why did it have to be this track, of all possible songs? Fate really is bent on rubbing it in for him today. Yoongi headdesks, missing the sizzling BBQ pit by mere centimetres.
The doorbell rings in a shrill welcome and Yoongi slowly crawls upright. Is it closing time already?
Except it isn't closing time just yet, because whoever just walked into the store for a midnight BBQ extravaganza happens to be a certain Kim Namjoon.
Curse him, this foolish destiny. He wants to hide in a hole. Please don't see me, begs some part of Yoongi's panicked, inebriated brain. The fucker was probably having a real kick out of his stupidity, and, okay, maybe it was his own fault for believing the stupid flyer. But it was really just due to him really wanting to meet a rapper and producer he'd really respected since the humble beginnings of his rap days? Yoongi might be pretty famous in the industry himself, but even famous people have their idols, right? But now he'd probably just gone and come off as desperate, and as a result this bloody Kim Namjoon probably split his gut laughing at that sheer determination, and...he just really wants to hide in a hole.
Except he definitely can't hide in a hole, because Kim Namjoon definitely did see him, and is now walking towards his table.
Oh, fuck.
"Hey, Suga-ssi!" Namjoon's voice, while deep and almost growling, is somehow friendly as hell and Yoongi wants to punch his guts out for it. How dare he mock him further. "What a coincidence. You didn't take back your registration form the other day, so I assume you're still enrolling into the competition?"
What?
"What?" Yoongi squints at the bespectacled asshole in front of him. He's in slightly better clothes today, though basketball caps and long white sweaters didn't exactly cut it yet this century, at least in Yoongi's view. "What?"
"Yeah," Namjoon only grins, and it makes Yoongi want to stab himself for not managing any coherent comeback apart from a bamboozled "what". "I'll text you the details sometime soon. See you then!"
Namjoon then leaves the table, heading towards somewhere near the back of the restaurant, and Yoongi feels like he's about to die. Stupid fucking dimples. Stupid striking teal hair. He shouldn't have had so much soju; his stomach feels like it's on fire. Yoongi's definitely about to die.
Meanwhile, the same track still blasts from the speaker, and as much as Rap Monster sounds like he's telling him to please don't die, Yoongi's grip on his consciousness apparently slips from his weak, pathetic grasp as he sinks onto the wooden table beside a snoring Hoseok.
Strange, though, that the last thing he thinks before he falls dead asleep is that Namjoon's voice actually did sound kind of familiar.
 ---
 Yoongi wakes up to a beep from his phone. The fuck does anyone want this early? Not like he even has professors who remotely give a shit about his attendance grades.
 Received from: Unknown number [27 May 13:04]
Hi! This is Rap Monster here. Kindly be reminded that you have signed up for the Show Me The Cash showdown next Sunday! Details can be found in the link here. See you there!
 The actual fuck ? This joke is still ongoing? Hadn't this Kim Namjoon fucker gotten enough kick out of his mortification already?
Come to think of it, this really is quite a lot of effort going into a prank like this. Does this fucking asshat really want to drain Yoongi dry of his humiliation for a whole fucking lifetime?
Because if Yoongi doesn't step in and fucking teach this bastard a lesson this time, he'd really never be able to live it down for a lifetime.
 Sent to: Park Jiminnie [27 May 13:16]
Park Jimin. I need to enlist your help next weekend.
 Received from: Park Jiminnie [27 May 13:41]
?
U ok, hyung? Ur awake, & actually texting me? :0
Anyth wrong, hyung? :0
 Sent to: Park Jiminnie [27 May 13:50]
No questions asked. I just need you to come to a place with me. You don't even need to do anything. Just workout your arms the day before and wear your sleeveless tee.
Oh and please bring your fake tattoos.
Wait no. Don't bring your fake tattoos. Just wear them before we meet. Large and obvious, on your biceps. Make it so that everyone can see it.
Hyung will go to the gym with you if you do it. Please, Jiminnie.
 Received from: Park Jiminnie [27 May 14:02]
Uhm.
Okay...sounds fake, but okay...
 ---
 Today is the day. Sunday. 4th June. Also known as the day Kim Fucking Namjoon would meet his fucking demise in a smouldering, murky cauldron of shame.
He has nothing to fear now. On his right is a Park Jimin (sleeveless and complete with bulging bicep tattoo and threatening as hell itself) and when Kim Namjoon tries to laugh at him later on, he would see Park Jimin's magnificent biceps that could beat him up just with him doing so much as look at them and then he would choke on his own spit and promptly die. And on his left is an overexcited Kim Taehyung...which, well. At least he's got a killer uppercut and a lot of enthusiasm to spare. Could be useful in certain situations, such as the time he sat on and almost throttled to death the guy who tried to hit on Jeongguk.
But apparently everything is going...normally? Too normally, in fact. So normally it's unsettling. Just a while ago he'd arrived at the designated location (an actual concert hall, what the fuck) and it's been...strangely convincing. There was a whole bunch of people, with the typical rap people donning singlets and caps and gold chains and shit, and even girls wearing shirts such as "I LOVE RM" or "RAP MONSTER IS A MONSTER".
This is exceedingly weird. Could this really just be an extremely elaborate prank? Because apparently, it's been starting to come across as more than extremely elaborate, at this point in time.
So elaborate that Yoongi is actually kinda sorta starting to think that it kinda sorta might just be true that the pink glasses nerd he saw the other day is Rap Monster, after all.
Shit. Maybe he should just make a dash for it now?
Except maybe it's too late to make a dash for it at this point in time, because the crowds have evidently started assembling near the stage area, bursting into hushed, excited whispers as they did.
And in a matter of seconds, there is silence from the floor as the lights dim; a person appears on stage, bopping charismatically to a beat that has started blasting over the speakers.
As the beat catches on, a spinechilling sensation rips through Yoongi's spine. The stagelights spill and the track is unmistakable. Equally unmistakable are the gawdy round glasses and gross pink sweater.
"Holy shit, hyung," breathes Taehyung. "I can't believe you brought us to see Kim Namjoon, live. The Rap Monster, in the flesh," Taehyung soothes a hand to his forehead.
What?
"What," Yoongi far-from-deadpans, internally panicking and flitting like a fly trapped in a stove. "You already know this guy is Rap Monster? You already knew what Rap Monster looks like? And not only that, but you also already knew his name ?"
"Of course," Taehyung just about shouts, eyes wide in a bewildered and highly fishlike manner. Even the pure Jimin is looking at him, mouth slightly ajar. "Anyone with a semblance of Googling skills would know what Rap Monster a.k.a Kim Namjoon looks like."
"Please don't die," sings Kim Namjoon otherwise known as Rap Monster on the stage. Yoongi agrees with him as he pleads with his knees to not turn into jelly.
Jimin had fake-tattooed himself in vain today.
 ---
 Yoongi could be embarrassed. He really should be, in fact - after all, he'd been disgracing himself since two weeks ago when he'd gone up and handed in the application form and mistakenly made fun of a Kim Namjoon who definitely was not a 100% bogus Rap Monster unlike what he'd thought, and when he went back to his dorm late that night he'd probably be packing his bags and going off to bury himself in a random ditch somewhere back in Daegu and never step out onto the streets ever again in his life.
Except, for some strange reason, Yoongi isn't quite as embarrassed as he thought he'd be. Rather, he's downright enamoured. Amazed. So wowed he couldn't barely even move his feet to get out of the audience area and into the stage for his rap battle showdown that is apparently right after the not-so-fake "Rap Monster Showcase" earlier, because whatever words are tumbled out in a fierce (and probably Yoongi-targeted) spit of fire from Namjoon were lit, as mortifying as the whole situation could be.
Luckily, there's still a few moments before Yoongi has to get up on stage, and even more luckily is the fact that Yoongi had been practicing, if, well, rap-ranting at Kim Namjoon counted as practice for a rap battle.
Not so luckily, though, is the fact that someone familiar is now beginning to walk towards him, and as much as Yoongi wishes to hide in a hole, that preferred option is definitely not one of the possible eventualities at the moment.
"H-hey," Yoongi tries, attempting like hell to not turn into an overcooked tomato. "I'm sorry about the other day, I really didn't kn- "
"You said you were Santa Claus," is Namjoon's only utterance as he smiles, looking as diplomatic and annoyingly approachable as he had the other time. "You said you were Santa Claus, right, Suga-ssi?"
Shit. Fuck. Shit. This guy has the memory of a fucking elephant. There is no getting out of this now. "Uh, yeah but sorry about that I wasn't thinki-"
"Then give me a present, Suga-ssi," Namjoon grins. "I'd like a present. Or two, maybe."
What?
"What," Yoongi breathes. "What would you like? I would give you anything - "
"I'd like your newest mixtape," Namjoon interrupts a little bashfully, and had Namjoon been just another random dongsaeng he'd have been throttled to death by Yoongi by now for his intrusions, but so far Yoongi is simply too frazzled to react. "I'd been trying to order that mixtape but apparently it's out of stock." Namjoon breathes, and Yoongi can't quite help but notice that he is turning...a little red?
Namjoon breathes again, evidently patting himself on the chest a little. "And maybe...I'd like you to go out with me?"
What?
"What," is all Yoongi manages to say before the backstage staff pushes him out and onto the stage.
 ---
 "What the hell, hyung," Hoseok wheezes, red with apparent laughter. "I can't believe you actually rapped a fucking love song on Show Me The Cash and fucking won. I think you might as well join Show Me The Funny together with me next time."
"Shut the fuck up," Yoongi grumbled into his lemon soju, and he can only thank the heavens for having the cup large enough to hide his reddened face. "And it wasnât even my fault.â It wasnât even his fault, right? He was only too shocked at the moment and all he could think of was how the hell he was going to respond to his sudden-as-fuck confession.
"And didn't I tell you?" Hoseok slaps his lap, quaking with giggles with his mouth full of barbecued meat. "Kim Namjoon was real. And obviously you got extremely lucky, because that asshole sure is tall and who knows he might not only be a Rap Monster, but also an actual monster beneath - "
"FUCKING HELL, JUNG HOSEOK," Yoongi splashes the remnants of his lemon soju cup in Hoseok's face as he jolts upright abruptly, pushing the chair backwards towards the neighbouring, and from the impact, a tomato falls splat into the BBQ pit from the table. Yoongi's face can't help but feel a little like that tomato. Evidently his sudden burst of humiliation seems to have managed to shock the rest of the restaurant, as well as the customer who has just walked in.Â
And as fate would have it, said customer happens to be someone familiar.
"Here comes your boyfriend," sings an evidently unfazed Jung Hoseok as he drips with lemon soju. "This is my cue to scoot. Thanks for the meat and booze, hyung!"
Curse him, this foolish destiny.
(Except Yoongi realises, as he stares at his boyfriend's stupidly grinning face and disgusting Christmas sweater, that his foolish destiny might not actually have blessed him, after all.)
yoonmin. text message fic. angst. 2k (though most words are used up in text message formatting). crossposted here on ao3!
yoongi kept looking at the sky and it wouldn't answer,
but maybe the sun was there all along.
(alternatively titled, '55 times yoongi took photos of the sky and the one time he really saw it'. )
From: Min Yoongi
To:
3 February, 6.43pm
Finally woke up early enough to watch the sun set. The view outside this sad one-room kitchenette of mine is blocked by various crumbly skyscrapers, but this evening's sky was pretty damned decent anyway and I thought that maybe you might have wanted to see it.
[Attached: sky1 .jpg]
Click â here to read it on AO3!!
From: Min Yoongi
To:
5 February, 7.30pm
Woke up at exactly 6.45pm again today, but it wasn't exactly my fault this time. Hoseok came over today. Namjoon and Jin-hyung were with him. Told me to get off my ass and stop moping around and get something done. Y'know, same old bull. Jin-hyung was even giving that motherly disapproving pout, and you know when he makes that face I can hardly stand it.
[Attached: sky2Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
8 February, 6.50pm
Woke up in the evening again. I think it's starting to become a habit. Anyway, I realised something when I looked out of my sorry excuse of a window today. You know that Japanese doll thing you bought from Osaka as a souvenir for me the time you went with your family? Teru-Teru-Bozu, or some shit? He's still there, hanging on the windowsill. He's getting Extremely Dusty, though.
[Attached: sky3Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
11 February, 7.50pm
Slightly darker sky today. The sun was already setting halfway by the time I took this photo. Apparently Jin-hyung caught me in my apartment awake and he dragged my sorry ass out to go for an evening jog. I just walked and eventually ended up just sitting on a bench, though, so I'd say this round ended in a tie. You get a much better photo this time, though. No shitty buildings blocking the view.
[Attached: sky4Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 February, 6.49pm
I jogged a grand total of 50 meters today. Mostly because Hoseok jumped around and dragged me along with me, but still. Be proud of me. I actually moved.
[Attached: sky5Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
16 February, 7.01pm
They've been dragging me out to exercise almost every single day now. And I hate to admit it, but it's also becoming somewhat of a habit for me now. You know when you do things too much, they'll become a habit.
[Attached: sky6Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
23 February, 6.46pm
I think there's something wrong with me. I woke up to go to the hilltop park myself today. No Jin-hyung. No Namjoon's flaily arms or Hoseok noises. Just me and my shitass phone camera. I even jogged a little. Be proud of me; even I'm actually a little proud of myself this time.
[Attached: sky7Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
24 February, 5.54pm
I've been waking up earlier and earlier these days. Maybe it's my age. They say people wake earlier the older they get. Managed to get a shot of the pre-sunset today.Â
[Attached: sky8Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
28 February, 7.10pm
Sunny day today. 7pm and the sun hasn't set. Pesky things about summer are when you want to sleep but it isn't night yet. But then again I'm nocturnal, so that doesn't really apply to me.
[Attached: sky9Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
29 February, 5.50pm
Happy Leap Day. Apparently Hoseok and Namjoon and Jin-hyung and the rest aren't bugging me as much anymore. Maybe they finally realize that I can at least act like a semi-decent human being. Or maybe I've finally turned into at least a semi-decent human being. Anyway, Jin-hyung's been stopping giving me that disappointed look and Joon hasn't been crossing his arms in that bossy way you used to hate whenever he talks to me these days.
[Attached: sky10Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 March, 4.23pm
Happy March. Afternoon sky today. There were so many clouds - some of them look like popcorn. Reminds me of the time we went to catch that silly movie and you ended up with half your bucket of popcorn under your seat.
[Attached: sky 1 1 .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March, 6.32pm
Happy Birthday to me. Pretty sky today.
[Attached: sky12Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
12 March, 6.50pm
I still remember when I hated taking photos of the sky. I take that back, now - I can barely stop myself from taking a shot every day now, even if it's just with my crusty phone.
[Attached: sky13Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
14 March, 7.07pm
Rain today, so no sunset. Only thunderclouds. I finally remembered something, though. You know those Teru-Teru-Bozu things? You did say he's supposed to keep the rain away. Superstitious as that is, it's not working, apparently.
[Attached: sky14Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
14 April, 6.32pm
Been three months and I've been jogging and taking photos of the sky almost every single day now. Some of them are not so nice, though, so I don't send you everything. What was the thing you used to say? When you keep doing things, they become a habit. You were right.
[Attached: sky15Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
15 April, 6.20pm
I still remember when I hated taking photos of the sky. Said they were boring, or some shit. You took my camera and took like five hundred shots of the sky and more than half of them were either underexposed or too bright.
[Attached: sky16Â .jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
15 April, 6.21pm
Okay but in your defence, the other half were prodigiously fantastic - for some reason you got the lens flare down perfect. Might have been your personality. Loud and bright. Sunny. Not as glaring as Hoseok, though.
[Attached: sky17Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
25 April, 6.20pm
Rain again today. That fair weather doll isn't working again today, even though it's mid-spring.
[Attached: sky18Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
25 May, 6.53pm
The weather was goddamn hellish today. Seoul always gets like this in the summer, and we all fucking hate it. At least I managed to get a great shot of the sky today as compensation.
[Attached: sky19Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
6 June, 7.00pm
Woke up early enough to get a perfect timing for today's mandatory evening sky shot on the hilltop today - look, the sun even resembles an egg yolk a bit.
[Attached: sky20Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
17 June, 5.48pm
You know, sometimes I loathe myself for taking photos with this phone camera. But it's the least I could do, right?
[Attached: sky21Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
18 June, 6.40pm
You know, sometimes I really miss my camera. But I can't bear to look at it.
[Attached: sky22Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
19 June, 5.48pm
You know, sometimes I really miss you.
[Attached: sky23Â .jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
19 June, 5.49pm
I take that back. I miss you, all the time.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
18 July, 5.48pm
Where are you?
[Attached: sky24Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
20 July, 5.00pm
It's been three years. Answer me.
[Attached: sky25Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 August, 5.00pm
What am I even saying? Your number's been terminated long ago. I can't even send these out. You'll never be able answer me.Â
[Attached: sky26. jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 August, 5.01pm
You never answered me.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 August, 5.05pm
Maybe you'll be able to answer me when we actually find you.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 August, 5.06pm
If. If we actually find you. I never really was quite the optimist.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 September, 7.05pm
I wish I had someone to share all these pictures with. The sky's a lot nicer when you're not the only one under it.
[Attached: sky27Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 October, 7.05pm
I wish I had you to share all these pictures with. The sky's a lot nicer when you're under it. Happy Birthday.
[Attached: sky28Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
15 October, 5.57pm
Been raining a lot these days. Must be a fall thing.
[Attached: sky29Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 November 6.01pm
Stopped going running for a while. Namjoon came over and tried to knock some sense into me and now we're at the hilltop again. Fantastic. The view's actually fantastic, though. You should see it.
[Attached: sky30Â .jpg]Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 November 6.02pm
What the fuck am I talking about? You probably can't see it.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 December 6.12pm
Fall's almost completely over and winter's here. Leaves are dying. Getting a little drafty these days. My message box, too. I'm almost hitting the unsent drafts limit. Never thought I'd get this much to hesitating, right?
[Attached: sky31Â .jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 December 6.13pm
Wrong. I've been hesitating for three years.
Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
7 December 5.03pm
Finally touched my camera. It's been a while. A little dusty, but it still works.
[Attached: sky32Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
8 December 5.33pm
Broke the camera. I scrolled through the camera roll and the photos you took of the sky were still in there. The photos I took of you taking photos of the sky were still in there. I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 3.12pm
The camera's fixed. Namjoon headed down to that old engineer we used to visit and apparently he's still doing well. Business has grown, in fact. But memory is gone.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 3.13pm
And so are you.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 3.14pm
I miss you. Please come back.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 4.32pm
Please.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 4.39pm
I need you.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
10 December 4.39pm
I miss you.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 December 4.39pm
Been a while. I think I don't miss you as much anymore. Looking at the sky helps. Sometimes.
[Attached: sky 33 .jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 December 4.45pm
I lied. Looking at the sky doesn't really help.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 December 4.50pm
I lied. I miss you as much. Probably even more.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
15 December 7.12pm
You lied. You said you'd come back. You never did.
[Attached: sky34Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
16 December 4.52pm
You lied. The sunshine boy on my windowsill isn't working. It still rains every time I look at him.
[Attached: sky35Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
17 December 2.54pm
Where are you? I've been waking up earlier and earlier these days. Deserves a reward, don't you think?
[Attached: sky36Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
18 December 2.12pm
Been taking a lot more photos of the afternoon sky lately. Maybe they're helping, after all.
[Attached: sky37Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
19 December 1.42pm
Been raining a lot less lately. Maybe he's working, after all.
[Attached: sky38Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
20 December 12.52pm
I still miss you, Jimin.
[Attached: sky39Â .jpg]
From: Min Yoongi
To:
20 December 12.40pm
Where are you?
Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
21 December 11.01am
Finally managed to wake up in the morning, even though it's cold and almost snowing. Not early enough to see the sun rise, though. I'll try again tomorrow.
[Attached: sky40. jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
22 December 9.30am
Getting there.
[Attached: sky41Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
23 December 7.02am
Finally managed to wake up early enough to see the sun rise. Except it was too cold and it snowed, so I didn't see the sun rise any way. Curse me, this foolish destiny.
[Attached: sky42Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
23 December 12.39pm
It snowed again today. We never found you. You were my one and only. I lost you. But I never found you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Curse me, this foolish destiny.
[Attached: sky43Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
24 December 7.10am
Reached the hilltop exactly 3 minutes after the sun rose. The view's still magnificent, though.
[Attached: sky44Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
25 December 6.39am
This might be the best Christmas present I've received in three years. I made it. And I think you're here with me. Is that you? That bright, orange spot in the horizon, rising up to the sky? That must be you. Because you look beautiful. Merry Christmas to you, too, Park Jimin.
[Attached: sky45Â .jpg]
Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
26 December 7.10am
You always did look beautiful. I miss you so much. Happy Boxing Day.
[Attached: sky46Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
28 December 7.39am
I saw you again, today. Beautiful, as usual.
[Attached: sky47Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
29 December 7.00am
Hitting the draft limits very soon. When I have to delete all these drafts in a matter of days I'll never be able to retrieve them.
[Attached: sky48Â .jpg]Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
29 December 7.01am
I never was able to retrieve you.
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
1 January 6.41am
The sky's beautiful today. It's a new day. Happy new year.
[Attached: sky49Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
13 January 4.18am
I still miss you.
[Attached: sky50Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
14 February 5.50am
I still love you.
[Attached: sky51Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
23 February 7.51am
Sky's slightly pinkish today. I also saw cherry blossoms, which is amazing considering spring is only almost beginning, so that's a bonus.
[Attached: sky52Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
5 March 5.59pm
Visited your parents today. Jeongguk came along. They're doing well. Here's a photo of the famed Busan sky, complete with seagull.
[Attached: sky53Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
8 March 8.00am
Cherry blossoms are in full bloom. Wish you were here to see it.
[Attached: sky54Â .jpg]
  From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March 5.23am
I miss you. I love you.Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March 5.23am
I love you, Park Jimin.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March 5.23am
But I think I might finally be able to let you go.
From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March 5.24am
Where are you?Â
From: Min Yoongi
To:
9 March 5.25am
Wherever you are, we're all still under the same sky.
[Attached: sky55Â .jpg]
  (1000 drafts failed to send. 1000 drafts deleted.)
i'm talking to myself again (talking to myself again)
Good mornin' darlin'
Can I bring you some coffee in bed
Did you sleep well
We got a full day ahead
I love you too dear
I love you too
Tammy Wynette - Talkin' To Myself Again
Prompt: âSomebody can kill themselves by jumping from your ego to your IQâ
sugamon brotp (ft. a very concerned jin). 732w. canonverse crack.
"No, no, no hyung this isn't how it's supposed to work," Namjoon taps furiously on the keyboard, the sounds of fingernails and plastic clashing chattering like teeth on a particularly cold day, an added annoyance above the blockage of soundproof headphones.
"Whatever," is Yoongi's nonchalant response.
"What whatever, hyung," Namjoon sighs, smoothening a longsuffering palm over his currently grey and shortened fringe. The íěě°í Epilogue promotions were nigh and they'd barely gotten any rest over the rushed and hushed production of íěě°í songs and now the two who have been mainly taking charge of music production in their group have finally actually got some time to themselves in the studio, this childish shit is evidently clogging everything up and still he refuses to budge.
"Hyung, just listen to me. This whole situation is going downhill, and if we do this we might still be able to salvage everything. Please, hyung. We've worked so hard and so far for this." Namjoon attempts with all his might to keep his voice as level as possible, but his hyung isn't even doing so much as to leave his gaze from the computer and his hands from the keyboard to hear him out for even a moment and even the calmest and most everloving of people would have lost their shit by now. Namjoon's voice cracks a little at the end, and Namjoon nearly does, too.
"What do you know," Yoongi mutters, barely an audible whisper under his breath, but Namjoon somehow catches it anyway in a sudden moment of aural lucidity. "It's not like you're any good at working this shit."
"What?" Namjoon stops; turns abruptly to look straight at Yoongi. "What? What did you say?"
"What, what what what what what," Yoongi's voice elevates from a soft mumble to a barely subdued shout in a steep crescendo. "I said it's not like you're any good at working this machine!"
Meanwhile, the door to the studio abruptly opens, a nervous-looking, blotchy and slightly sweaty Jin holding an extra large sharing plate of jjajangmyun in one hand and the door knob in the other. "Stop fighting now, would you," Seokjin huffs, voice slightly elevated in panic. "I know you guys don't like to be disturbed but I've heard every bit of your argument for a good five minutes and I think it's about time I step in." He sighs, equal parts breathcatching and frustration, squeezing his eyes shut as he prepares for the incoming ramble he would attempt to cease the argument between them with. "I know the song productions are getting rough and you guys have had vastly different experiences with the Maschine but would you guys just cooperate for a mo - "
Just then, Jin opens his eyes only to realize a number of things:
Firstly, the two of them are not currently sparring on the floor in a heated wrestling match, but haven't actually heard him at all, with Namjoon screaming something along the lines of somebody can kill themselves by jumping from your ego to your IQ, Min Yoongi and Yoongi evidently going out of the rules of traditional Korean wrestling by attempting to rip handfuls of Namjoon's grey hair out, half-growling half-screaming something along the lines of I'm your hyung you brat.
Secondly, the Maschine was lying peacefully unplugged to the studio computer, and whatever's on the computer screen isn't whatever music that was about to be released as covers or solo tracks and such, but instead, a heated co-op game of Warcraft.
Oh. So they were talking about Warcraft machines.
"What are you guys, twelve??" Jin facepalms; half the exasperation directed at the immense lack of maturity in the studio and the other half directed at his own folly. "The fangirls won't be very happy if you turn up to a fanmeet bald, Namjoonie."
Still no response. At this point in time the argument between the two was already heading into uncharted, irrelevant territory, with Yoongi screeching something along the lines of bigger height doesn't mean bigger dick, you fucktard.
Jin swiftly dumps one pair of the two disposable chopsticks he's brought with him into the dustbin, bringing the jjajangmyun and the remaining pair of chopsticks away with him. They'd come scrambling out of the studio exactly half an hour later hungry and tired, Jin's experience told himself as he slurped a mouthful of noodles. It's just the way they de-stress.
Original request (sent in via chat): Hi there, you're a namjin trash right? :D have you notice that namjin is often seen next to each other in soooo many occasions? Can you write a non-au story about that and also hAVE YOU SEEN JIN'S BLONDE HAIRRRR!?!!!!? ďźâ§ââŚďźthank you vm
namjin. 2k. non-au/canonverse. fluff. | crossposted on ao3! itâs recommended that you read it there for an easier time.
It started with casual camaraderie. Coincidence. Chance, whatever you call it. Jin always seemed to be right beside Namjoon when it was time for photoshoots, and Kim Namjoon was just starting to get very comfortable with the fact that he got to take a photo with his favourite hyung almost all of the time.
Until suddenly, his dongsaengs started jostling for the esteemed opportunity to take photos with Jin, who was supposed to be his photo partner, and Namjoon felt more salty than he ever thought he would - and, maybe it wasn't just something as simple as casual camaraderie anymore.
It started with casual camaraderie. Coincidence. Chance, whatever you call it. He just happened to be there, at the right time. He'd either be telling Namjoon something like Joonie-ah Jimin seems to be running a slight fever or what should I make for dinner tonight, the maknae's been craving lamb skewers lately. Something like that. Something that had very much to do with his duties as the unofficial second-in-command of the band.
Yes, that had to be it - after all, he is vice leader, right? Even if Bang PD didn't explicitly declare the fact, it was sort of an unspoken rule that might have come with the natural responsibilities of being the oldest member in the group (and in the same vein, the most mature.) And on top of that, Namjoon is the leader of the pack, right? Wasn't it perfectly normal for the vice leader to constantly consult the leader on things? Seokjin would always approach Namjoon when he had an opening - and in the hectic pandemonium of idol life backstage time seems to be the only opening.
And because backstage time is also known as unofficial photoshoot time for @bts_twt and @bts_official and the fan cafe and everything else, it was only natural that two people (the leader and vice leader of a group called Bangtan Sonyeondan, to be exact) who were standing next to each other would get caught in photos together, right? There was nothing more than that, right?
Except, Namjoon finds himself...not entirely sure if there is something more than that.
He'd been enjoying taking photos a lot more lately - sure, Kim Namjoon aka fashionista of BTS aka aspiring G-dragon (just kidding, that'll be such a joke, kinda) loved taking aesthetic selfies for KimDaily, but when it came to group photos he wasn't exactly the most photogenic individual out there - he'd wind up looking highly awkward and strait-laced amongst the jaunty bunch that were his dongsaengs.Â
But he'd been enjoying taking group photos a lot more lately - and the entire point was that Kim Seokjin was taking the photo beside him in every single one of them.Â
It was...it was odd. Seokjin is downright beautiful (it didn't even have to be said, he's the freaking visual for fuck's sake) but Namjoon didn't feel like a squid beside his naturally endowed hyung. Rather, he felt comfortable. Close. Sometimes, Seokjin would place a hand on Namjoon's shoulder or sling an arm around Namjoon's neck or even hook a hand around Namjoon's waist, and it felt snug. Warm. Even in the cold of Seoul winter it felt like the pieces were fitting in place instead of falling apart like they seemed to do in the latter seasons. It felt...it felt right.
And what felt even righter than all these group shots were those duo selfies that Seokjin somehow kept initiating with Namjoon, probably for his own Twitter or for the fancafe - probably for convenience's sake, really, seeing as to how Namjoon was always discussing something with him at the time. He'd sling an arm around Namjoon's shoulder, maybe even lock him in by pulling an arm around his waist closer - and it was warm. It fit right, especially with their compatible, almost negligible height difference. Namjoon would find himself smiling - not the perfunctory, half-hearted dimple smile he'd always give when he was attempting to be polite to someone he didn't like or didn't agree with, but an unabashed smile he wouldn't even notice he'd flashed. It felt...it felt happy was what it felt like.
And the strangest part was that somehow, every single time, Namjoon couldn't help setting those selfies as his wallpaper. Every single time. In times of strife (such as now) when selfie time became sparse, he'd zoom in to portions of him and Jin-hyung in group shots and set them as his homescreen. (Clandestinely, though - he had no need for questions.)
And...it just became kind of routine for Namjoon, taking photos with Jin-hyung right alongside him. It just became sort of like some kind of habit, the sort that developed because he did them too much. ("Don't keep doing that," Jin-hyung would tell him sometimes, when he left his socks lying on the dryer or left the toothbrush on the sink or forgot his phone on the backstage sofa. "It'll become a habit.")
Yet, what was happening now is that for some reason, the photographic destiny between them...felt like it was fading. Dissipating into the depths of the unknown. Draining away with the inexorable passage of time. Because it feels like every single member seems to be cockbl- no wait, photoblocking him and Jin-hyung at any available opportunity. During backstage breaks these days, Tae or Jiminnie or even Jungkookie recently would be going on about something like Jin-hyung my shirt button's loose or hyung help me touch up on my makeup - and in the midst of all that, the photographer would ask for a photo and Namjoon would then miss his chance. And if he were to be entirely honest, he wasn't entirely happy about that - it wasn't like Jin-hyung was their real mom, he was their hyung. Their fellow team member. Their vice captain. Couldn't they just let him rest, even during breaks? Couldn't they just let him discuss important matters with their leader such as...such as how Jimin was running a slight fever or what to cook for dinner because Jungkook had been craving lamb skewers lately but lamb is bad for the growing body -
Wait. It wasn't like Jin-hyung was their real mom, right?
And neither was Namjoon their real dad.
And it was then that Namjoon realised, turning his phone lockscreen on and off repeatedly in frustration, staring at that selfie of him and Jin-hyung (taken a whole two weeks ago for fricks' sake,) that he was inevitably and undeniably in love with Kim Seokjin.
And worse still, it wasn't just a photo thing. He didn't just think that this person looked perfect beside him in photos (though to be honest, Namjoon felt he was perfect, in every sense of the word) and he didn't just think that he felt warm to the touch when their bodies made contact in the proximity of close-knit photo-taking (though to be honest, all Namjoon could think about during those times was how much warmer it'll be when they were to be if it were to be their whole bodies touching, and not just their arms and shoulders). It wasn't just a photo thing, because ever since this photo thing, Namjoon hadn't quite been able to keep his eyes off the way his feet looked fantastic in Converse, the way he sang his hardest during practice, the way he always cooked and dusted around the dorms with such finesse and meticulousness. The way he moved, in general.
And ever since this photo thing, Namjoon hadn't quite been able to keep his mind off how it's not just recently but in fact, forever since he'd always been staring at him this way, like he was a jewel in a kaleidoscopic glass - and it's been forever, hasn't it? This love thing.
It started with casual camaraderie. Coincidence. Chance, whatever you call it. It wasn't even like Namjoon asked for him to be there. He just was.
But right now, it wasn't just casual camaraderie any longer. It wasn't just some sort of habit. It was love.Â
And in times such as now, when Tae or Hobi or Jimin were slinging an arm around Jin's neck, asking him to, god forbid, take a selfie with me hyung, Namjoon felt...he felt hurt was what he felt. He felt green. With jealousy. Salty as fuck, as Yoongi-hyung's less-than-sanitary mouth would put it.
"Take a selfie with me hyung," Tae chirped a little too happily, hopping up to Jin-hyung a little like the goddamn adorable puppy he was. "My green highlights look cool today."
And Namjoon just couldn't help but to, well, break this losing streak or something he'd been having lately. Break this...break in habit, whatever it was called.
"Tae, could you leave me and Jin-hyung for a moment? We need to discuss something," Namjoon intercepted, solemn and curt. Taehyung only shrugged at the sudden severity of the air, bounding after Hoseok instead.
But after Taehyung left the room...the whole irony was that Namjoon didn't actually quite know what to say. After all, I think I'm in love with you didn't seem like much of an appropriate thing to drop all of a sudden, especially when they were in the midst of their comeback and RUN was gunning for champion the first time and -
"Stop pouting," came a voice beside Namjoon. Seokjin's voice. "It'll become a habit."
"O-oh," Namjoon stuttered eloquently. He hadn't even realised. "Sorry hyung."
"It's okay. Are you thinking with your face or something? In times like these, it's really much more efficient to think with your mouth. Speak up, Joonie-ah."
Well, then he had no other choice, right? It wasn't like he could properly concentrate on this vital moment in the band's musical career if he didn't get this off his chest. Better to say it and have his heart broken in the initial stages, right? It was an inevitable thing, anyway. And maybe after that, Jin would simply avoid him completely thereafter, and there would be a good chance for him to get over him and -
"Jin-hyung," Namjoon choked. "I think I'm in love with you." He laughed, and it was a wistful, choking laugh. "I get so jealous whenever you're taking group shots standing beside the other members, or worse still, selfies with the other members, and it just kinda stings that we haven't taken a photo together in so long and I don't know what to say - "
"Shut up, Kim Namjoon," Seokjin, in the singlehandedly most threatening and least motherly way Namjoon had ever seen him, glared down at Namjoon, who was at the moment gaping in his chair and bracing himself for the worst. "Shut the fuck up."
And then he kissed him.
"W-what," Namjoon breathed. "You're not angry at me?"
"I am," Seokjin was still glaring at him. "I am still angry at you, because all this time I've been finding excuses to take photos with you, beside you in group shots, and you'd never even noticed."
Wait. What? "What? Those were excuses?"
"Of course," Jin sat himself in the chair beside Namjoon's. "Don't you realize all those matters could have waited till when we got back to the dorm? Those were all domestic matters, Namjoon, but group photos and selfies we only take during work,"
Domestic matters? Excuses? Then, did it mean -
"Then hyung, does it mean - "
"Yes, I like you too, idiot." Then he leaned down to kiss him again. "Stop being an idiot. It'll become a habit."
And fifteen minutes later (in the middle of their rehearsal, to be exact) there was a message notification from Jin-hyung, and in the photo attachment entitled [ourfirsttime.jpg] was photographic evidence of their lips touching for the first time, with the enclosed message being:
Here you go, as compensation for being too popular with my dongsaengs for photo opportunities lately. Envy my magnificent selfie taking skills of sneaking one even during the first kiss with my boyfriend. You can set this as your new wallpaper now. <3
 -- Bonus: Five months later, at the íěě°í: Young Forever concept photoshoot --
"Ya, Kim Namjoon," Jin said as he plopped down on the bench on the hot air balloon beside Namjoon, sighing a little as he did. "I thought I told you to stop pouting. It'll become a habit."
"I'm not pouting," Namjoon lied. He really wasn't. Okay, maybe he was - but he had good reason to do so, right? His boyfriend wasn't paying any heed to his needs these days. He'd gone off and run off and taken selfies with the maknae lines again, and in group photoshoots he stood beside Hobi, Suga-hyung, Jiminnie, anyone - anyone but him. They weren't even paired up for a single concept photoshoot this time unlike that one miserable arm wrestling shot in íěě°í pt.2 (though in Jin's defense, he got the most solo shoots this time because it was his turn to be blond and it was a big hit), so even if he was pouting he had good reason to do so - but suddenly there was a pressure on his lips, and when he looked up all he could see was his boyfriend's face, bright and smiling and beautiful in the way only he could be.
"There you go. Happy now? I'm sorry for recently, Joonie-ah. Your boyfriend and his new hair are just simply too popular with everyone recently," Jin cooed as he rested his head on Namjoon's shoulder, closing his eyes as he did. "I'll take more selfies with you when we get home after the shoot, okay?"
"Hyung, we're in public, they could take a photo of us this way and the fans'll go mad with fan fiction and fan art and rumours'll - "
"Ya, ya. Is it hyung, or is it jagiya?" Jin turned to glare at Namjoon before resting his head down on his shoulder again. "Also, I don't care. And I'm sure you don't either, right? If the photographers capture us this way, this scene might turn into a beautiful concept photo. Unless your reputation of being a straight, available oppa is more important to you than your jagiya,"
"You're right, hyung. I mean, jagiya," Namjoon let his inhibitions and head fall to his boyfriend's shoulder as his face slowly lit up in a ripening tomato red, and it might have been lucky that he'd already had blusher on before this. "Good night, hyung."
"You mean good day," Seokjin muttered sleepily in response, but Namjoon had already fallen deeply asleep, and dreaming into the middle distance of whoever was already at his shoulder.
If you're still doing fic prompts, can you do one with Namjin? Where Jin is swimming in a lake and Namjoon is fishing, but his hook gets caught on Jin's swim shorts. Then it goes out of hand from there.
InNamjoonâs defense, it wasnât his idea.
But Hoseok had buggedhim like a relentless tic for a good hour, saying something about how there are many more fishes in the sea, yougotta get over this Joon-ah before heâd finally relented.
And maybe it seemedlike a good idea, at least at the time. After all, the sky was beautiful. Itwas a cloudy day. Puffs (âBunches,â Yoongiâs reluctant spoilsportmouth had huffed) of white adorned the azure that was the sky overhead, and thesea actually looked and smelt clean for once. Maybe this was a good idea.
âHow beautifulthe sky is,â Namjoon smiled wistfully as he muttered to no one inparticular. âSo many clouds. And none of them are floating alone, amongstthe fray.â
Hoseok, who was at themoment attempting with much effort to hook a hapless worm to his rod, sighedlongsufferingly. Placed a hand (thankfully, it was his left - his right had theworm) on Namjoonâs shoulder. âJoon-ah. We came here to get over yourrejection, not to aggravate it,â
âExactly,âmumbled Yoongi beside him. âNot like weâre really here for the fish, eh?They really arenât anything to look at, in these frickinâ polluted Seoulwaters. I say we hurry up and get over your failed confession and head homebefore we all turn into roasted mackerel ourselves instead of having that shitfor lunch,â
(Across Namjoon,Hoseok whispered something fierce to Yoongi about how âthe fish may benothing to look at but the real fish, aka the people might be and thatâs the whole point ofbringing our poor heartbroken little Namjoonie here, hyungnim.â)Â
But Namjoon was nolonger listening. His rod - it was reacting. It was quaking in great fits andstarts, Â and uncontrollably at that. It was strange - Namjoon had neverbeen quite the fisherman. Heâd always been abysmal at it, and now -
âI think Iâvejust hooked a big one,â Namjoonâs jaw dropped slightly as he turned toHoseok, turning in the rod reel feverishly as he did. âYah, Jung Hoseok,look at this -â
But when Hoseok lookedup, Namjoonâs rod has completely ceased to shake. Instead, there was a piece ofsomething droopy and wet attached to the hook on the sandy floor that lookedsuspiciously like a pair of swim shorts, in which wereâŚa pair of legs.
And when Namjoonlooked up, all he could see was the singularly most stunningly beautiful manheâd ever laid eyes on, standing stark naked in front of him. (He was alsoevidently less-than-pleased, pursing his lips and glaring at Namjoon in a bossycross-armed fashion - but really, all Namjoon could see were, well, firstly hisarms and then of course, whateverâs below. Oh my god, went Namjoonâs brain as his eyes traversed the entire sight. Itwas truly a work of art.)
âI think youâvejust hooked a big one,â went a wide-eyed Hoseok beside him.
Bonus:
(Beside the two ofthem, Yoongi had become motionless as he sat still in his seat - but he was notasleep. Instead, he was awake, in fact more so than heâd ever been, staring atsomeone in the middle distance who happened to be screaming something along thelines of Jin-hyung are you okay Tae says he has ointment for shark bites inhis bag as he ran towards them - a tanned, muscular and enigmaticallybaby-faced man who might just happen to be the love of his life - and maybe,there really was something to look at, after all.)
is this really just a one day sale (because i think i want you every day)
yoonmin. 2k. fluff. part-time job au. | crossposted on ao3!
Park Jimin thinks he's landed a job in a departmental store, but it turns out that he is forced against his will by his boss to stand awkwardly beside an escalator and hand out flyers advertising the store's one day sale for eight hours on end.
Just when he thinks things won't be getting any worse, the slacker whose job is simply to lounge at the wine counter keeps coming to make sarcastic remarks at him.
Park Jimin was really beginning to hate this job.
Apparently he'd been doped by his boss on the pretext that this temporary sales assistant job offer entailed "simple tasks such as restocking the shelves and attending to customers".
But even more apparently, Park Jimin was a total idiot who was also blind, and did not see the words "such as" Â printed in fine 8 size font in the above disclaimer.
To be fair to his employer, he hadn't exactly been doped - his job, at this point in time, was, indeed, simple.
In fact, quite a bit too simple, especially when all Jimin had to do was hand out flyers at the escalator leading to the supermarket while saying "One day super sale!" as cheerily as he can, over and over. For eight hours.
Eight. Whole. Hours. (Without a single break.)
Maybe it would actually have been fine had it been four hours instead; this flyer distribution job, while not exactly what he signed up for, was actually quite nice - some kind passersby even smiled back and said thank you when he passed them the slips of paper.
However, even sans the unpleasant passersby who either glared him down or ignored him completely (and in Seoul, this proportion was rather huge, being a bustling and stressed city), this job wasn't exactly the best deal for âŠ5000 per hour, because it not only required him to awkwardly stand at the same spot for eight hours, but also required him to say the same thing over and over without either a water break or a toilet break, and after three hours, Jimin was beginning to feel like a slightly overused tape recorder.
Well, he had no one to blame but himself, right? He'd been stupid enough to get himself scammed on his first attempt of landing a job on this shifty app called SeoulJobs.
Worse still, right opposite him, fifty meters away, was this wine counter, tended to by some guy who couldn't be more than two years older than him. That guy was evidently having it good, having to only talk to the very occasional customer, no one had time to stop by for a glass of red wine except tourists, to be honest. Heck, the guy even got to sample some wines on the job himself. Had the guy been some random guy instead of some guy whose life was much easier than Jimin's, he might even have found him attractive, good fashion sense, burgundy red hair and pale face and sharp features and all, but at this point in time Jimin was way too tired to care. Why couldn't he have been more discerning in job selection?
Jimin glanced at his wristwatch, and the way each second ticked painstakingly slowly; it was 4.35pm. Jimin facepalmed longsufferingly. It had been 4.30pm two hours ago. Or at least, what felt like two hours ago. This was the worst part of lunch hour withdrawal.
Except the lunch hour withdrawal quickly ended as soon as it started, because soon enough, it was dinner hour, and the torrent of passersby had Jimin scrambling to straighten his stack of flyers as he gave them out speedily, feeling a bit like a conveyor belt dishing out both paper and choked repetitions of "one day super sale!!"
Worst still, hungry shoppers weren't exactly the happiest of shoppers, with some people glaring at Jimin and one ahjumma even throwing the piece of flyer paper back into Jimin's face, growling something along the lines of "I said I don't want that super sale bullshit".
Well, Jimin couldn't exactly retaliate without risking getting his pay deducted, could he?
Or maybe he could, at least when his tormentor was out of earshot and eyeshot.
"Bloody fucker," Jimin, usually quite the clean-mouthed and good-natured boy, mouthed as he brandished his free middle finger at the ahjumma who insulted him earlier. On any other day he'd have shouted already, but he'd already done this for six hours and no way was he letting his hard-earned bread and butter meet the drain lest anyone saw or heard him do this.
Luckily, his work went on without a hitch, and Jimin sighed in relief as he thought that he'd gotten off scot-free even though he'd made a dramatic show of not only mouthing the vulgarities but also raising his finger above his head while sticking his tongue out at the rude bitch.
Except maybe he hadn't gotten off scot-free after all, because -
"I saw what you did there," came a voice at his shoulder.
"Jesus fuckin-" Jimin jumped as he turned around to accost his new shoulder companion. "You scared me," Jimin clutched his stomach as he keeled over, slightly relieved to find it wasn't the woman who "saw what he did there". However, he was indeed slightly surprised to find that it was the wine guy from the wine bar opposite him. Shit, what if Wine Guy had a strong sense of justice and reported him to his boss?
"Please don't report me to my boss," Jimin pleaded. Wine Guy only smirked in response.
"I also saw the face you made at the person. It was hilarious," Wine Guy chuckled. "You and your stupid face."
"Hey!" Jimin fumed, blushing furiously. Even if Wine Guy had a boring job, lounging there all day, he didn't have to rub it in his face, did he?
Jimin was going to open his mouth to say something rude, but the guy simply turned tail back towards his spot at the wine bar. "Looks like another dinner crowd is here," came the nonchalant reminder towards Jimin, and Jimin only scowled harder.
But the next time Jimin looked at his watch, it was already 6pm, and some part of Jimin's ego-bruised soul actually thanked Wine Guy for somehow making time pass slightly faster. It might have been rude, but it made his job slightly more of a breeze.
"Bet you probably want some of this wine to drown your sorrows in now, don't you," came a voice in Jimin's ear again, and despite having been once bitten Jimin wasn't twice shy, because he startled anyway. When he turned around Wine Guy was there, as expected, smirk smugly plastered on his pale face. Wine Guy slurped on his plastic sampling wine cup, and Jimin felt the rising compulsion to punch him.
"I wouldn't want your stinky wine even if it were free," Jimin mumbled less-than-eloquently and cursed himself inwardly for the weak comeback. Wine Guy sniggered.
"I don't think you're legal enough to drink it anyway," Wine Guy jeered. "A waste, really, cuz this Moscato is the real deal."
"I am legal! I'll have you know that I'm already twenty," Jimin retorted. This Wine Asshole was really asking for it.
"Well, twenty or not, the group of people coming towards you probably exceeds twenty," said a retreating Wine Guy as he left his spot beside Jimin to make space for the incoming passersby on the escalator.
But when Jimin looked down at his watch when the passersby passed, he saw not only that it was already 6.30pm, but also a small wine cup, half-full with a rose-colored liquid, sitting on the floor at the side of his left foot.
Maybe Wine Guy wasn't so bad after all, huh.
"Really the real deal, eh?" came the low, drawly voice at Jimin's shoulder, and Jimin thanked the heavens silently that he'd been mentally prepared enough to prevent himself from jumping and spilling over the wine cup he was secretly drinking from as he hoped that his boss wasn't near enough to spy on him at the moment. "You know, you'd better not have been lying about being twenty; I don't want to be convicted."
"I really am twenty," Jimin looked straight in Wine Guy's eyes as he responded, and for some reason the direct eye contact made his heart jump a little. He looked away elsewhere, eyes flickering to the guy's nametag for the first time in hours. Min Yoongi, the nametag said. "How about you, then? How old are you?"
"Older than you is all you need to know, because I'm older than you and you should be calling me hyung and using formal language, shitty brat." Yoongi smirked, pretend-pushing Jimin's head as he ruffled his hair a little. Jimin stuck his tongue out at the dude; perhaps other than the foul mouth this guy wasn't half bad at all.
Just then, the leaving dinner crowd started approaching the escalator, leaving Jimin scrambling for the stack of flyers and chasing Yoongi away back to his wine counter, but not without the latter leaving a mini cup of red wine for Jimin on the floor again.
---
Somehow, the remaining three hours of Jimin's job passed by in a flash, with Yoongi(-hyung, as Yoongi would demand) dropping by for friendly banter whenever the crowds thinned, and before Jimin knew it, it was already 8.25pm; five minutes before his job ended.
Strangely enough, Jimin wasn't quite the happiest about his day job ending; while the words "two day super sale" might have been no better on the ears than "one day super sale", if it meant that he got to chat with Yoongi-hyung during work, then maybe (just maybe) it could be almost bearable to actually do this for eight hours every day. Maybe even 24 hours.
Except fate didn't really have it easy for Jimin, because school was restarting the very next day and even if he'd wanted to stay on in this job, it wasn't like he could afford eight hours off school everyday to hand out flyers for some dumb store.
"Look who's not getting off work yet," came a more-than-familiar voice at Jimin's shoulder, and it could have been Jimin's worn-out brain, or it could have been the repeated wine sampling sessions that got Jimin slightly inebriated, but somehow at this point in time Jimin was finding this low, gruff voice a welcome comfort, the slight roughness, friction and all. It gave good purchase, Jimin thought.
"Yeah," Jimin tried his best to hide the disappointment in his voice, and it seemed that he was, apparently, too sad to even come up with a comeback, and most ironic was the fact that this sadness stemmed not from the fact that his work wasn't about to end, but rather, than the other way round. "You're done for the day?"
"Yup, my boss isn't a slave driver unlike yours," came the rough, slightly cocky response, but Yoongi's voice somehow made Jimin feel a little warm inside, somewhat like sandpaper and matches. "I'll be meeting my bed real soon," Yoongi stretched, cracking his neck a little.
"I see," Jimin said sadly, though he reasoned with himself that this strange sense of loss and sorrow was for no good reason.
"Sucks to be you," Yoongi taunted, tongue clicking teasingly as he shook his head in mock sympathy, but it was evident by now that this hyung was only being playful and that there was no bite in his words like how there had never been in the first place. "Well, I'll get going now, but here's my parting gift to you."
Jimin looked at the retreating back of his newly-made hyung before he looked down at the plastic wine glass in his hands; in the wine glass there was no alcohol, but rather, a piece of notepaper:
I was kidding about the thing I said about your "stupid face". What I actually meant was "cute face".
Especially when you stuck out your tongue while pointing your middle finger at the awful bitch at the same time. (That was fantastic. You have my respect.)
I know this "one day super sale!!!" is over, but if you're willing, then I'd be willing to pay the full price to see you every day.
+82 12 3456 7890
Call me. I'll give you free wine every day if you go out with me. (Your red face is even cuter.)
-Yoongi-hyung (don't drop the honorifics, brat! though I'd actually prefer 'jagiya' over 'hyung' any day)
Jeon Jeongguk is a top-notch assassin, hired to kill this guy one Saturday night in Hongdae, but it turns out that this guy is not only a strongass assassin himself, but also gunning after Jeongguk's dear life.
The worst part, though, is that he's also incredibly hot.
("I've been hired to assassinate you, but it turns out you've also been hired to assassinate me...so now what?" AU)
taekook. 1.4k. assassin au. tbh i donât even know what genre this is but...itâs such a weird fic that iâm going to tag it as crack. originally a kind of gift/request for @jinmom but imma be real you deserve better, iâm just gonna post it here because this blog has been dead for a while (sorry!)
Jeon Jeongguk scanned the Hongdae weekend crowd that had collected like a flurry of fallen leaves at his feet. It was long routine for him, really, sieving through the torrent of humans passing past him to see who categorizes under ally, stranger and enemy, though under the lurid illumination of neon signboards and traffic lights there really wasn't any salient difference at first glance; it was just bright, and glaring. Accusing. (Probably berating Jeongguk for taking his clandestine, underground affairs above ground.)
Jeon Jeongguk scanned the weekend crowd that had collected in Hongdae like a flurry of fallen leaves at his feet. It was routine for him by now, really, and while the lights may have been bright, glaring and accusing, it wasn't like he cared anyway. A man's gotta live when he can, as Hoseok-hyung once put it, and this was his livelihood.
And at the turn of the corner two traffic lights down, Jeon Jeongguk's livelihood for the night seemed to finally have made an appearance. At long last.
If he weren't so tall then it may have taken Jeongguk one more traffic light before he'd actually been able to see him, but small mercies...or not. It wasn't a thing that Jeongguk readily admitted to people, but maybe with the exception of Namjoon-hyung, he'd hated when people were taller than him. With a vengeance. Call it a metaphor, but it felt like he was being crushed, and no way was that competitive streak in the deep of his gut going to let him live that down.
But what was even worse was that his target for the night was beautiful, and irritatingly so. (How dare he.) He'd had the gall to not only have large eyes embellished by long eyelashes, but tanned, glowing skin akin to that of that one Chinese celebrity who was hitting the papers often recently (the one who called herself a ridiculous name like Angelababy, or something like that), and in that aspect Jeongguk lost to him in every sense of the word. How did tanned and glowing even manage to co-exist on the same glorious face? Jeongguk wasn't remotely a model or and ulzzang who lived off his looks (what a joke, considering his real profession) but still, it brought a sense of satisfaction for Jeon Jeongguk to deliver bedazzling blows of death with glistening perfection and gusto, and tonight...well, it just didn't seem to be the night for Jeongguk to shine. (Bummer.)
But above all what scared Jeon Jeongguk most was how he felt the adrenaline rush through his veins, and not just because he was pumped up and raring to go in the game of survival, but also because his opponent was hauntingly beautiful, and irritatingly so.
And so Jeon Jeongguk felt his heart shift, just a little. Felt the stainless steel that was his heart soften, just a little. (How dare he.)
Except in these few moments of repeated consideration not only had Jeon Jeongguk's thick and thriving eyebrows managed to furrow deep into the creases, he'd also managed to somehow lose sight of him in the process.
Fuck.
"Hey," Jeongguk choked out as he felt someone pull his neck into a deadhook, a knife-sharp sensation of cold metal at the divot where his shoulder and neck parted ways. "Let's talk this over," dripped a deep, honey-sweet voice at his ear. Fuck. Fuck. He'd let his guard down. He'd let his guard down, and now he was not only on the verge of losing glamorousness, but also on the verge of losing his job...which meant imminent death, even if this person's (terrifyingly strong, he might add) deadhook didn't beat Namjoon-hyung to killing him for thwarting the mission. There was a long arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him tight into the front torso of whoever was behind him and probably about to murder him, backed up against a wall for better purchase, and under very different circumstances this may well have been a back hug instead of a eminent death. Despite everything Jeongguk found himself, of all things, leaning into the stranger's bodily heat, the back of his neck meeting the person's collarbones, and by the touch of it, he must have been male, and a very well-formed at that. (Goddamnit, went Jeongguk's brain, because here he was, in a precarious situation and yet still engaging in a love-hate relationship with...some stranger's fucking collarbones.)
"Let's talk this over," Jeongguk tried again when the stranger made no response, bringing his voice low and stable for diplomatic effect, and Jeongguk would have come across as extremely composed if not for the fact that he was also slightly breathless, and for more reasons than one. Jeongguk turned his head and tilted it slightly upwards (god damn the slight height difference) to accost the face of his unprecedented potential murderer, and amidst thoughts of fuck he's so close and fuck his eyes and his nose and his fucking lips and fuck his lips are so close to my philtrum, Jeongguk's brain found the awareness to realise that whoever was threatening his life at this point in time was, ironically, the person he was supposed to kill, and if he'd thought he was good-looking from afar, then Jeongguk's never seen anything hotter in his life when the distance between them narrowed down to all of three inches. (Jeongguk was wrong; Angelababy had nothing on this one.)
"Whoa, you're like real good-looking," was all the stranger said when their eyes met, his voice dripping low and honey-like all at once as he grinned, all teeth and glistening smile, and it was so bright, Jeongguk swore he could have incinerated there and then. "Even hotter close up. Such a waste to just kill you off, eh?"
("I'm good-looking? " questioned Jeongguk's brain eloquently, approximately twenty-five seconds after his opponent had started staring him down in a...rather compromising position in a back alley on the underside of Hongdae. "Here I am, shaking in my knees for the wrong reasons and I'm the good-looking one?")
"You're here to kill me?" Jeongguk choked out eloquently, though Jeongguk really knew that he'd might already have died, perhaps two minutes ago. (Fucking lips, went Jeongguk's brain, and hell as if his dick didn't think the same thing either, said the mini twitch in his leather jeans.)
"Yeah," came the honey-like response escaping from the enemy's lips, from which warm breaths collided with Jeongguk's own lips as they formed a quickly dissipating mist with the cold night air. "At least, I was. But," He paused, giving a cursory once-over of Jeongguk's face, eyes flickering from Jeongguk's nose to his lips to his eyes before he continued speaking, impaling Jeongguk slightly with his stare as he did. "I think I might have a better deal for us both."
Jeongguk's stomach (a mess by now, really) twisted into further knots as a mysterious sensation swam in the deep of his gut, a hotpot of adrenaline, fear, envy, and...something else, and whatever this stranger was doing to him with his eyes was definitely heightening this mysterious sensation. Jeongguk's knees were going soft before he caught himself.
"What's the deal," Jeongguk asked, though it was more like a laboured breath than it was a question. As he struggled to look into the stranger's face without passing out, it became clear to him that he was definitely dying tonight, but...maybe it wasn't such a bad option after all. (Perhaps he'd even die without regrets, if his final executioner got to be...this one.)
"What do you say we ignore our bosses' orders and take this slow," came the man's business proposal, and something about his voice gave Jeongguk the impetus to accept the offer straight-up. "No knives, or any other weapons." He licked his lips and hell as if Jeongguk's pupils didn't follow every trace of his tongue, gulping slightly as he did. "Just the two of us, unarmed combat, in an enclosed space." The stranger tilted his head backwards in a swift, subtle move as he beckoned to the row of buildings on their left, towards neon lights luridly glaring as they hung from motels built for purposes other than lodging.
"Yeah," Jeongguk found himself saying, mouth gaining brain and volition of its own, just like certain parts of his body had already done. "Sounds good."
(Though good was, really, an understatement, because today was definitely the day that he'd die, and as Jeon Jeongguk followed the beckon of his final executioner, he knew he was fucked, in ways more than one.)
(i'm literally crying at the sheer amount of jikook on your blog YOU ARE SUCH A SAINT) i love ur writing i'm ur biggest fan ok don't listen to anyone else who says they like ur writing more than i like it. also, i request a three-sentence fic of yoonmin and "is that a lace panty"
THANKS SO MUCH (Iâm not only your mutual biggest fan but also the biggest fan of how youâre my biggest fan) and also, thanks for the request oh my god I havenât done a three-sentence fic in my life before this (and I never knew it could be this interesting) and I hope you like it omf
 âIs that a lace pantyâ three sentence fic + Youâre a gardener with a nice ass that i canât stop staring at and one day you caught me looking at you bent over and fuck thatâs embarrassing but then suddenly you started wearing tighter pants dear holy lord AU (because I happened to chance upon this prompt and it seemed to fit)
The firsttime Yoongi stares, heâs in a pair of gawdy loose-fit bell-bottom gardenerjeans, and the butt is mesmerizing no less - but he catches him staring, andYoongi wishes he could shrivel and sink into that one hole in front of him fromwhich a wilting tree had recently been uprooted by the latter.
The secondtime Yoongi stares, heâs in a white long-sleeved dress shirt and (god forbid)dark red skinny jeans and (god forbid)suspenders and Yoongi just kinda wishes (just kinda really really wishes) he isnât just someone he hired to do athree-day job in his rotting mini garden.
The thirdtime Yoongi stares, heâs in fucking blackleather jeans and fuck is thateyeliner and god if that fork heâsholding does not look like a goddamn trident and -
â- isthat a lace panty,â Yoongi barely manages to choke out.
Jikook/vmin onehot please.Vmin is bff.Jikook had secret crush on each other.V think Jungkook will snatch his bff away.Jimin has to do something about it.V doesn't have any love feeling to Jimin but more like a protective father towards his daughter.
âHyung,â
âNo.â
âHyung- â
âNo.â
âKim Taehyung,â Park Jimin moaned, burying his head into Kim Taehyungâs shoulder. âYou arenât even my real hyung, why the hell am I even beseeching you?â
âIâm not your hyung,â came Kim Taehyungâs sagely response. âIâm your father.â
âStop with the Star Wars memes. Itâs not funny.â
âThis is not funny. What if he spikes your drink? What if he abducts you? What if he eats you alive?â
âGoddamnit, Kim Taehyung, Jeongguk isnât a cannibal. Heâs the cutest sweetest cinnamon roll on earth,â Jimin cooed, tone apparently changing drastically as he reached the end of the sentence where his topic apparently shifted to something very saccharine in his eyes.
âHe is not a fucking cinnamon roll.â Taehyung was so angry, he could almost feel mist rising from his nostrils; he never swore, no matter how angry he was, and here he was, cursing like a goddamn sailor. (He was so angry. How dare he?) âDid you even see the way he freaking glared at me when I picked you up to come back to the dorm yesterday?â
âI donât think you noticed, but I glared at you, too.â
âHeâs satan. In bunny form.â
âPlease, Kim Taehyung. Iâm going to be late if I donât leave in,â Jimin looked down at his watch, momentarily straightening his fringe in the slight reflection the watch produced as he left the rest of his sentence (as well as Kim Taehyung) waiting. âTwo minutes.â
âSatan, Park Jimin. Satan.â
Jimin grabbed the perfume puffer on the table (apparently borrowed from Jin-hyung one time and never returned) and with a few pumps, embellished his neck, wrist (and also pits, for good measure) with the glaze of good-smelling pheromones the cologne bottle fondly called True Love. âYouâre not my mom.â Jimin stuck a tongue out at Taehyung, who pouted in return.
âIâm your dad.â
âStop. I have to go.â
âYouâll turn into a pumpkin if you donât come back before 12 midnight.â
âYouâre getting the story wrong, Kim Taehyung. âsides, Iâm already a pumpkin.â Jimin bopped his own head twice, having his bright orange hair jubilantly bounce a little.
âIâm going to call the police if youâre not back before 12 midnight.â
âNo,â Jimin moaned, lifting his arm (sleeveless and showy and all) to facepalm himself. âYou are not. Okay, heâs downstairs now. Bye! Iâll bring him home sometime,â
âDonât you dare bring him home tonight. Come back by midnight!â
But Jimin was already out of the door, sprinting and bounding like a Disney princess.
âSee, I told you Iâll be safe in his hands, right?â Jimin chirped a little too happily, shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he did.
âYouâd better not be in his hands just yet, if thatâs what you mean.â Taehyung was still sulking after a good whole week of Park Jimin officially going out with Jeon Jeongguk, but at least the rage in the pit of his belly had dissipated. Somewhat.
âBut heâs good to you, hyung. He even bought you lamb kebabs when he came over to see you just now.â Jimin beckoned to the plate of meat on the table (even Kim Taehyung, picky eaters of all picky eaters, had to admit that it was well done). âHe even bowed to you, Kim Taehyung, and youâre just two years older.â
ââŚfine. He passes. But you still have to come home before midnight every day.â
âOh my god, who are you, my mom? Shut up,â Jimin scolded, but it was without bite as he nuzzled his fluffy orange hair into Taehyungâs neck. âDonât worry, youâll forever be my bff, even if you arenât my bf. And bff has one extra f in it, so itâs better, right?â
There was no response from Kim Taehyung except a contented hum. Jimin giggled; if his best friend wasnât the easiest person to please on earth then he didnât know who was.
âYouâre so easy to please,â Jimin teased. âBut thanks, Kim Taehyung. You know I love you most.â
âIâm going to break his legs if he makes you cry.â
originally for a tumblr request, but reposted because itâs now posted on ao3 after being painstakingly edited by the best @jungtaehâ | crossposted here on ao3!
jikook. 5k. wrong number au. fluff.
Jimin somehow sends a text to the wrong number, and they somehow hold a conversation that lasts, well, a little more than a day. (Maybe a little more than a little more than a day.)
But because sometimes fate isn't a bitch, he finds that the person with the wrong number may not be the wrong person, after all.
//
Unknown number [14:01, 27 Nov]
hey makdoongie
what do you want for christmas?
that day, you were saying headphones?
Jeongguk stares down at his phone, slightly flummoxed. Did Namjoon-hyung change his number without telling him again?
Well, not that itâs never happened before. It's the Kim Namjoon, after all.
[14:05]
Yeah, I was thinking headphones
But itâs okay, you donât have to get me anything
Werenât you short on cash just the other day?
Maybe lamb skewers would be a good alternative, and you could simply get hyung to make them for me~
The school bell rings and like the good student he is, Jeongguk closes his phone with a click before placing it in his pocket for class.
â
When Jimin looks down at the two messages at his phone, three things are weird.
First of all is the fact that his friend is unusually nice (okay, to be fair he wasnât his best friend for no reason, but theyâve known each other for a good ten years now, there wasnât really any need to be nice nice, right?) He hadnât been been this polite and considerate even when theyâd just met.
Second is the fact that he hasnât actually replied to his message, and if his high school delinquent of a best friend isnât one to speed reply (read: spam) texts in class then Jimin doesnât know who is.
Third of all - since when did his high school delinquent best friend of ten years Kim Taehyung, of all people, not only stop texting in all caps, but actually bother to use proper capitalisation?
While Park Jimin isnât half as rebellious as his best friend, heâd definitely not survive a day without his phone. He does, however, make it a point not to text between lessons, so he sends a reply right before his lunch break ends.
[14:06]
nah itâs fine, just got my paycheck the other day. we should go to the mall this weekend so you can choose the brand you want
[16:12]
also are you okay? you havenât been checking your texts
â
When Jeongguk reaches home, itâs already close to midnight; high school life is intensive, even when university entrance exams are three years away.
In the process, his crusty old phone happens to have run out of battery during the torrent of lessons despite not having used it much.
Well, small mercies. At least itâs Saturday tomorrow, which means heâd at least get to take a little break, even if he has to finish up his work before doing so.
He plugs his phone into the socket before heading into the shower.
â
When he exits the bathroom and sets his towel on the table, there are ten message notifications.
Namjoon-hyungâs new number no.5 [14:06]
nah itâs fine, just got my paycheck the other day. we should go to the mall this weekend so you can choose the brand you want
Namjoon-hyungâs new number no.5 [16:12]
also are you okay? you havenât been checking your texts all day
Namjoon-hyungâs new number no.5 [17:08]
phone battery died? weird, you always bring like five portable chargers out
Namjoon-hyungâs new number no.5 [22:08]
hey, are you alive? youâve better got a good reason to be ignoring my texts all day, such as night classes.
Oh, shit. Though Namjoon-hyung rarely cared enough to be literally spamming him with texts when he didnât respond for hours on end (in fact he was usually the one more likely to go MIA for a day), if he had to text him this much then Jeongguk reckons it have been pretty urgent.
Jeongguk types a hasty reply, agreeing readily to the meetup in apologetic remorse. Plus, now that he thinks of it, itâs been a while since heâs seen his hyung.
[00:34 28 Nov]
Sorry, night class got the better of me and my phone died
Sure, letâs meet at 4pm at the usual mall tomorrow? Although itâs really fine if you donât get me anything
â
This is, in every sense of the word, weird.
Kim Taehyung is definitely not okay.
Not even looking at the weird texting style heâs taken upon himself to use, the plain fact that heâd actually attended night classes(and this is Kim Taehyung he was on about, mind you) is worrying enough.
Well, heâll just have to sit him down in a cafe and interrogate him when he sees him tomorrow.
[00:34 28 Nov]
okay then, 4pm in front of HMV records as usual!
â
It isnât particularly unusual, per se, for Kim Taehyung to be late.
Because after all, AB is his blood type and fashionable his middle name, so here Park Jimin is on a sunny Saturday, tapping his feet and looking occasionally at his watch as he stood in front of the glass door above which read a giant sign saying HMV RECORDS HONGDAE.
Except itâs already been almost half an hour and there isnât really anyone in sight save the steady torrent of Hongdae passersby, as well as a tall, svelte boy on the other side of the glass door, who seemed to have been standing there for pretty long himself.
Even Kim Taehyung would have the decency to add least send in a text (with the usual buffet spread of apologetic emojis he loved to use) had he been at least an hour late, and Jimin is beginning to feel a little jittery about this fact - could it have something to do with why he was acting all weird on text yesterday?
So Park Jimin waits no further, and presses call.
â
It isnât particularly unusual, per se, for Kim Namjoon to be late.
Because after all, heâs the Kim Namjoon - walking enigma with an IQ of 148 but potentially non-existent streetsmarts and sense of direction, and hence Jeongguk had decided to simply wait it out, not even bothering to call him lest it disrupted his attempt to figure out his way there.
Except itâs already been almost half an hour and Jeongguk is beginning to worry - what if Yoongi-hyungâs prophecy of Namjoon-hyung (all hundred-and-eighty-two centimetres of his lanky muddleheaded self) getting abducted had begun to culminate into reality?
Just then, Jeonggukâs phone begins to vibrate and when he looks down, itâs Namjoon; Jeongguk heaves a sigh of relief (but inwardly prays that it isnât a call from a concerned passerby attempting to contact an acquaintance of the tall person who has passed out along the street) -
and as if to prove Jeonggukâs fears right, the voice that comes through isnât Namjoon-hyungâs, but a high, thin and panicked one uttering something almost indecipherable.
âYa Kim Taehyung, where in the world are you? Iâve been waiting outside the HMV in Hongdae for a good thirty minutes and worried to death because you havenât even texted or called or appeared - â
And before Jeongguk can even open his mouth to utter a nonplussed what?, he looks to the right where a guy had been standing alone for just about the same amount of time as he has, waiting -
and he realises the same voice is currently going through both of his ears at the same time, one from his phone and the other from the panicked redhead a few metres from him.
Huh?
âWait,â Jeongguk mutters, half into the phone and half to himself. âYouâre not Namjoon-hyung?â
The voice on the other end of the receiver stops abruptly and the orange-haired boy turns very, very slowly to accost Jeonggukâs equally confused face.
âOh,â the boy says into the receiver, though it really sounds more like a mutter directed at himself than at the stranger across the line (and across the doorway).
Oh, indeed, goes Jeonggukâs brain as everything clicks in place.
â
âI canât believe weâd just managed to sustain a whole conversation and arrange a meetup without even realising we were talking to the wrong person the entire time,â Jimin scratches his head, grimacing a little as feelings of disbelief still shroud his mind. âAnd what luck, too, for me to have jotted down the wrong number my friend changed to the day before.â
âYeah,â is all the guy (tall and slender and also impossibly handsome, although that was besides the point) seems to be able to utter at present as he stares into the middle distance, seemingly still traumatised by the whole string of events.
âYou come here often, though? Itâs a miracle we actually managed to meet up at the same place.â
âYeah, we frequent the music stores around here quite often. You too?â The guy looks straight into Jiminâs eyes as he responds, all large black eyes and long eyelashes, and the look goes straight into Jiminâs heart.
âYeah, we hang out here once a fortnight at least.â Thereâs an awkward silence from the guy and Jimin feels the conversation dying. âWhatâs your name?â
âJeongguk,â the guy responds, and his voice is fresh, crisp and just a little afraid; Jimin can almost tell how young he is from the way he speaks. âHow about you?â
âIâm Jimin,â Jimin licks his lips a little as he thinks of a way to propel the conversation further; if their brief interaction has to cease then itâll probably be now, he thinks, but it isnât quite like Jimin to let such a mysteriously serendipitous opportunity pass him by. And after all, no one goes to Hongdae on a Saturday afternoon only to head home immediately, right? âDo you, maybe, want to drop by the cafe or something? I mean, since weâre here anyway.â After all, itâs plain fate that we met, is what Jimin wants to add, but thinks the better of it.
âSounds fine to me,â is all Jeongguk responds, nodding slightly as he shrugs a little, but Jimin cannot detect a twinge of reluctance in his soft voice, and a tiny part of Jimin hopes that just perhaps, something good would come out of today, after all.
â
âYou like black coffee?â Jimin tries, because apparently small talk is an effective conversation starter.
âYeah,â comes Jeonggukâs reply as he stirs just one packet of sugar into his beverage. âIt helps me study, so I guess itâs routine for me.â
Right, the guy is a highly studious student, isnât he? (Obviously much more studious than Kim Taehyung is, at least.) âYouâre in high school?â
âYeah, first year. How about you?â
âNo way,â Jimin just about gasps. âYouâre younger than me? Iâm a third year.â
And the most unexpected thing happens, because the boy in front of him stares unblinkingly up at him for a millisecond before he laughs, and hell as if it werenât the cutest, most refreshing laugh Jimin has ever heard.
âMust be the height that misled you,â Jeongguk mumbles into his coffee and Jimin swears he sees a smirk peeking out of that coffee cup, as sneakily hidden as the tail heâs been hiding the entire time.
âHey,â Jimin retorts as his foot flies out to land a swift (but gentle, because, well) kick to Jeonggukâs sheen. âIâm your hyung.â
Itâs good development so far, though, with Jeongguk slowly opening up to Jimin like a sun gradually dawning out of the horizon. A sense of relief settles in the pit of Jiminâs stomach as he pats himself on the back for somehow managing to seek amicable acquaintance with a random stranger heâs just met a few moments ago, even if it had been, of all things, his height that did the trick for him.
âTell me about your hyung, though. How did you even think a random number could be your hyung, of all people?â
âNamjoon-hyungâs a real muddlehead, and heâs managed to forget his own number on four occasions already, so I automatically assumed that this would be the fifth.â
Jimin nods acquiescently as he sees the deal with this Namjoon-hyung person, as absurd as it sounded. âKind of sounds a little like a reverse of the boy who cried wolf situation, huh.â Jimin pauses for a second; recent memory has retained a familiar sound that his ear had soaked up like sponge and the familiarity is unmistakable, no matter how slight. âWait. Busan?â
Jeongguk looks up from his coffee, slightly surprised look gracing his features. âYeah, I was born there. You too, hyung?â
âOf course, I can tell a Busan boy whenever I hear it, no matter how slight the accent. Iâm guessing you moved here to Seoul when you were very young, though?â
âYeah. My parents have already moved back, though, so itâs just me and my hyungs.â
âI see.â Jiminâs earl grey tea reaches its final dregs at the bottom of the cup, and Jimin sees the conversation similarly draining to a halt if he doesnât put in a further word here and now. âHey, what do you say we stop by HMV after this? Might as well, since weâre here.â
â
Itâs a little surprising, how theyâd even managed to do what theyâd set out to do in the first place, given the circumstances.
But Jeonggukâs already finished his work and frankly, staying at home was suffocating, so it isnât like heâs complaining. In fact, this outing had been pretty good so far, with at least some level of comfortable rapport being built with the guy heâd somehow managed to even start communicating with in the first place.
Itâs actually been pretty amazing, to say the least.
âBeats or Audio-Technica?â Jimin holds up two similar-looking but different pairs of headphones. Itâs surprisingly (and comforting, in the strangest way), how Jimin actually trusts him with such decisions despite having met him for just a good hour
âIâm not very sure, but all my hyungs use Audio-Technica, so maybe that?â Jeongguk tries.
âAlright then, Audio-Technica it is,â Jimin chirps, voice lilting in that high, slightly singsong manner that Jeonggukâs ears have accustomed to in the past hour.
Itâs really been pretty amazing, goes some part of Jeonggukâs brain.
â
âThanks for today, Jeongguk,â Jimin smiles, eyes lighting up in crescents, and itâs that high, singsong voice of his again. (Inwardly, in some part of Jeonggukâs chest he doesnât know about, the strings tighten at the prospect of possibly never being able to see it again; never hear it again.) âItâs been fun.â
âYeah,â is all Jeongguk manages, and for some reason unbeknownst to him, he canât help but deflate a little. âThank you for today.â
And the deflating feeling keeps rising as Jeongguk feels something heavy (his heart, maybe) fall slowly to the ground like wilted cream on a sunny day, but just as Jimin turns to leave, he stops in his tracks and turns towards Jeongguk.
âHey, mind if we continue the texts? I think Iâd really like to be your friend.â
Jeonggukâs heart jumps a little and he feels the balloon fill up again despite not exactly ascertaining why; but his mouth seems to grow a mind of their own as they move on their own volition.
âYeah, sure. Iâd like that too.â
Jiminâs face lights up again and theyâre the same crescents under a setting midday sun and the sight is strangely compelling; Jiminâs voice is only very slightly breathless as he responds with a âgreat, talk to you soon,â and the sound is strangely compelling, but most of all it goes straight to Jeonggukâs heart, and itâs never felt fuller.
That evening, Jeongguk returns home happier than heâd been when heâd exited the house earlier.
â
Jimin-hyung [20:32 28 Nov]
hello jeongguk~
hope youâve returned home safely!
and thanks again for today! i had fun.
[20:34 28 Nov]
Thanks Jimin-hyung, I did.
I had fun too. Thank you.
Goodnight!
Prof Choi [20:40 28 Nov]
Hi everyone, thereâs an extra assignment you need to do by Monday.
It has been sent to you guys by email. Please complete it and hand it in on time.
Jeongguk finds that the unexpected assignment isnât as much of a bummer as it usually would have been.
â
Jiminâs phone dings; when he looks down at the screen, the message notification makes him smile.
Seconds later, however, there is a separate message notification (five, in fact). It doesnât make him smile, though. (Not as hard, at least.)
Kim Taehyung [20:40 28 Nov]
JIMINNIE! :âD :âD :âD
SRRY IâVE BEEN MIA FOR TWO DAYS ><
BOGUM INVITED ME TO VISIT INCHEON AND SO I SKIPPED SCHOOL FOR A DAY :00
I JUST RETURNED HOME~ WELCOME MOI INTO UR OPEN ARMS ;)
SORRY JIMINNIE TT_TT
[20:43 28 Nov]
kim taehyung, you brat.
never scare me like that again, okay?
you troublemaker
Except, even Jimin had to admit that this time, Kim Taehyung hadnât created trouble for him.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
â
Jimin-hyung [15:21 15 Dec]
hey jeongguk~
iâm going back to busan tomorrow! will be visiting my grandparents for the holiday hehe
how about you? will you be intending on going back anytime soon?
[16:02 15 Dec]
Thatâs great! I hope you have fun.
I have extra lessons, so Iâll be reaching only on the 24rd.
Jimin-hyung [16:04 15 Dec]
i see!
itâs okay, you wonât miss busan because iâll be sending you pictures of the sea all the time~
youâll miss me though (unless you want pictures of me, iâll send them to you in an instant if you ask. even topless ones~)
Jeonggukâs face is red throughout all remaining forty-five minutes of his Chemistry curricular.
â
Jimin-hyung [14:23 17 Dec]
[halfnakedbeachshot.jpg]
as expected, busanâs beach is the best even if itâs baking hot under the sun ~
did the image title scare you? (if you havenât clicked on it yet, apparently itâs a lie - iâm not going to go around topless now that my abs have dissolved into a good round santa belly)
Jeongguk frowns; heâs envious, to be honest. Jimin looks happy, like he belongs to the beach.
(It isnât clear, though, if heâs more envious of Jimin, or the beach, really.)
â
Jeonggukie [14:24 17 Dec]
[life.jpg]
Mid-volleyball game, Jimin pauses and hurriedly swipes his phone screen open in anticipation of what exactly the image could entail; he chuckles a little too loudly (ignoring the way Jihyun hollers at him to stop making heart eyes at your phone and get back to the game) when he sees it, itâs a photo of a half-done calculus assignment.
[14:25 17 Dec]
^o^
Jeonggukie [14:26 17 Dec]
Stop basking in my despair, hyung.
[profchoiissoboring.jpg]
[14:27 17 Dec]
iâm impressed, jeon jeongguk
where have you learnt to become a high school delinquent?
from me, probably.
iâm proud of you, jeonggukie. my young padawan.
â
Jimin-hyung [09:11 21 Dec]
[yaycrab.jpg]
delicious saltwater crab is delicious :D
[09:12 20 Dec]
I havenât had breakfast.
Itâs the middle of English and my stomach is growling, no thanks to you.
[09:30 20 Dec]
[breakfast.jpg]
Jimin-hyung [09:35 21 Dec]
LOL even the apples are larger and redder here in busan
our hometown is the best~
hurry up and come, jeonggukie. three days!
itâs boring without you
â
Hoseok-hyung [14:24 20 Dec]
yo jiminnie! jin-hyung and i are gonna drop by busan on the 24th~
imma bring some boribab from home and hyungâs got some kimchi from back in anyang
do you want us to come over to your house :D
[14:30 20 Dec]
hey hobi-hyung! thatâll be nice, thank you ^^
why not come to my house for christmas on the 24th?
Hoseok-hyung [14:36 20 Dec]
sounds like a plan :D
oh, taehyungie wants to tag along too. weâll bring him with us
(maybe in a luggage or something)
[14:38 20 Dec]
just use a cardboard box hyung
Kim Taehyung [14:39 20 Dec]
YOU MAKE ME CRY CRY >:(
[14:40 20 Dec]
^p^
â
Jimin-hyung [23:58 22 Dec]
[meteor.wmv] guess what i wished for, jeonggukie~
stars are only visible in busan
(though wherever we are, weâre all under the same sky â)
two days left. iâll be waiting!
Jimin-hyung [00:00 23 Dec]
ONE DAY LEFT.
â
Jimin-hyung [05:10 24 Dec]
[sunrise.jpg]
today is the day.
text me when you arrive, âkay? :)
[09:40 24 Dec]
Iâve reached Busan, Jimin-hyung.
Going to head back to my parentsâ for now.
See you soon, hyung
Jimin-hyung [10:10 24 Dec]
hey jeonggukie
iâm celebrating christmas with my friends this evening
do you want to come along??
[11:00 24 Dec]
Oh - Iâm actually with my hyungs from Seoul now.
Theyâre also visiting my parents with me
UnlessâŚyou donât mind them tagging along?
Jimin-hyung [11:04 24 Dec]
oh, itâs fine!
they can come, too. my mom likes to prepare more food than is needed anyway
see you guys here later! iâll text you the address and the directions later on.
â
If Jimin were to be perfectly honest, he wasnât exactly sure if inviting Jeongguk and his hyungs over would have been a good idea.
Itâs true that heâs heard about them second-hand from Jeongguk, and good things too. But it was also true that heâd never met them, and by the same logic apparently neither had Hoseok-hyung or Jin-hyung. Even Taehyung had only heard about Jeongguk from Jimin in passing one day; none of them had even met Jeongguk (and much less his friends) and Jimin wasnât entirely sure if theyâd meld harmoniously into a circle.
Luckily, though, his fears had been unfounded, because apparently the whole group got along swimmingly - unexpectedly, in a battle of trivia quizzes, Taehyung had hit it off with Namjoon-hyung (the one Jeongguk had mistaken Jiminâs number for) and the two oldest of the pack, Seokjin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung (Jeonggukâs other hyung) had bonded amicably over their lamb skewers, even going as far as to exchange pointers and opinions on their marinade. (As for HoseokâŚwell, he naturally got along with everyone, so he hadnât been much of a worry in the first place.)
Dinner had been comforting and indulgent and here they are now, resting satisfied and fulfilled on Jiminâs couch as they catch sight of the first hints of stardom peeping and blinking in the night sky from the window.
âHey, what about we open our presents now?â Hoseok suggests. âAfter all, weâd already be back home by Boxing Day, so might as well do it now.â
âGood idea,â agrees Jimin as he bounds up to grab his gifts. âThis oneâs for you, Kim Taehyung. Watch if you even dare to call me a lousy friend after you find out what it is.â
After handing each of his hyungâs gifts (as well as a little door gift for Yoongi and Namjoon each - just jars of homemade jam from his mom), he takes a seat beside Jeongguk on the sofa. âThis oneâs for you.â
Jeongguk looks up at him, surprised, and it reminds him of the first time theyâd met and the first time Jimin had made him laugh for the first time in the cafe, when Jeongguk had glanced up at him, deer in the headlights. (The look goes straight into Jiminâs heart, as usual.)
âThereâs one for me, too?â Jeonggukâs face starts to light up with a twinge of red; or maybe it was the effect of the psychedelic Christmas lights his mother had set out earlier. Probably.
âYeah. Of course.â
âI VOLUNTEER TO OPEN MY PRESENTS FIRST!â comes a booming voice from in front of them, and Jimin doesnât even have to look up to know that itâs his best friend (the loud high school deliquent, the life of the party). His reaction, however, when he opens the gift, is worth it.
âYOUâRE THE BEST, JIMINNIE,â Taehyung just about hollers as he jumps onto Jimin and nuzzles into him. âHOW DID YOU KNOW THAT AUDIO-TECHNICA IS THE BEST BRAND?â
âGet off me, it hurts,â Jimin tries to say, but laughs anyway, because youâd have to be a real grump to not be able to smile at Kim Taehyung, really.
Meanwhile, Jimin tries to ignore the way Jeongguk deflates just a little in the whole process.
â
âYouâre not going to open your gift?â Jimin asks when he escapes the living room into the porch, where Jeongguk had somehow perched himself on the highest step at some point in time without anyone noticing.
âNah,â Jeongguk shakes his head as he looks down at Jiminâs present, still nicely wrapped as it lies snugly on Jeonggukâs lap. âI prefer not to open my gifts in front of too many people.â
âWell, itâs just you and me now, and I donât think I count as too many people to you?â Jimin asks, attempting to crack a grin (attempting to ignore the way Jeongguk is even more reticent and nervous than usual.)
Jeongguk doesnât respond to that, not a smile or a word and for a moment Jimin wonders if heâd said anything wrong. But Jeongguk whips out a small package from the pocket of his parka and hands it to Jimin, and as Jeongguk looks at him straight in the eye, itâs a look he recognises from the first time theyâd met, and Jimin swears he feels his entire heart impale with an oddly comforting warmth, and itâs a sensation he recognises from the first time theyâd met.
âThis is for me?â Jimin asks, condensation escaping his mouth as mist.
âYeah,â comes Jeonggukâs reply, more of a barely audible breath than anything else, and if anything, the sight of him (all red-cheeks, black eyes and long eyelashes) is breathtaking, to say the least. âItâs not much, but I hope you like it.â
âDo you want me to open it?â Jimin asks, heart pounding wildly in his chest.
âYeah.â
âOkay,â Jimin tries his hardest to grin, âbut only if you open yours at the same time.â
When Jimin opens up the package, itâs a photo frame; inside of the photo frame is not a photograph, but rather, a pencil drawing. Of him. (To be exact, of a recent selfie he took and sent Jeongguk by text a few days ago when heâd first arrived at the sea.)
Thereâs an envelope tucked snugly behind the photo frame, and while Jimin is dying to open it, he also is dying to talk to Jeongguk about his hidden skills, so he does the latter.
âJeongguk-â Jimin feels his breath catch in his chest, âI didnât know you could draw.â
But Jeongguk isnât really paying much attention - rather, heâs staring at the gift in his lap, shellshocked expression on his face.
âHyung,â Jeongguk breathes. âI canât believe you got me the same thing as Taehyung-hyung. I donât think I deserve this, this is worth way too much-â
âNo way, Jeon Jeongguk. I did mention that I got my paycheck recently, right? I think I forgot to mention it as well, but I also got a pay rise.â Jimin grins despite the torrent of emotions bubbling up in his own chest. âAlso, you definitely deserve it. To me, youâre as important as Taehyung is. Maybe even more. Which is why thereâs a little extra something in your gift that even Kim Taehyungâs doesnât have,â Something at the pit of Jiminâs gut pinches him to rein him in for shooting his mouth and providing way more informationt than was necessary, but his mouth had apparently grew a soul of its own and it was very much against its volition to keep quiet at this juncture. âAnd itâs not like I even made your gift yourself besides maybe the card I wrote, but heck, you drew this yourself, itâs way much more than this - â
But Jimin doesnât really get to finish his sentence, because the words that have begun tumbling out of his mouth are blocked by a pair of lips that arenât his.
Jeonggukâs lips.
âWhoa,â is what Jimin says when they break away. This cannot be happening.
âI think Iâd already said this in the card, but,â Jeongguk breathes and his cheeks are flushed a tomato pink and heâs definitely talking way, way more than usual (and itâs breathtaking, really) âI like you.â
And (because sometimes fate works in our favour, because the stars sometimes grant wishes) Jimin leans in, and the two pieces of the puzzle click in place for the second time that night.
â
âHey Jeonggukie,â Jimin tilts his head to look at the skyful of stars as they sit on the rooftop of Jiminâs house, and itâs obvious that theyâd left whether or not theyâd fall to be a matter of fate. âRemember when I asked you to guess what Iâd wished for?â
âYeah?â is Jeonggukâs reply, brief as usual, but this time his eyes (still looking straight at Jiminâs eyes, straight at Jiminâs soul) carry none of the twinges of doubt and hesitation they had before.
Rather, itâs all warmth and trust, and the combined heat of their intertwined hands cannot reinforce that fact more.
âIt came true.â
â
Jimin-hyung,
You looked happy in the photo you sent me; I think Iâd like to make you this happy as well.
I like you.
Merry Christmas.
- Jeongguk.
â
Jeongguk,
I donât know if itâs fate, but I know I like you.
