summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 6/?
a/n: lots of things going on rn, sorry for the late update
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The large, iron gates had a banner strung across the bars that read ‘HOPE WORLD JUNIOR SUMMER CAMP!’ in large, sparkly letters. Beyond the gates, Hyejung could see lush, green fields. There seemed to be a few large cabins scattered throughout the property and 50-60 kids were already walking over the small lake via the bridge. Mina was practically bouncing, her backpack making noises because of everything getting jostled around. Hyejung put a hand on Mina’s shoulder to calm her down.
They’d caught a train in the early morning and in the matter of 2 hours, had arrived in front of the camp.
Hyejung couldn’t believe that all this time, Jimin had been this close to her without her even knowing it. This was real. She was about to come face-to-face with Jimin again, the boy she’d treated like her son, the boy who had probably turned into a man. It almost brought tears to her eyes, but she tried to reign them in. She hadn’t even met him yet, it was absurd of Hyejung to get so emotional now. With a newfound resolve, Hyejung pushed open the gates and led Mina to the bridge.
Hoseok was standing there, greeting all the kids as they passed by, radiating excitement and happiness. When they approached him, Hoseok smile faltered for just a moment before it flickered back to life. He took the bags out of Hyejung’s hand and bowed.
“Welcome to camp!” Hoseok turned to Mina and shook her hand professionally, “Pleasure to meet you, little Jimin.”
“Only uncool people call me Jimin. I’m Mina now. I chose the name myself!” Mina nearly yelled. She was still bouncing and peering past Hoseok, probably trying to spot Jimin.
“Oh, then pardon me! I am many things, but uncool is not one of them. Pleasure to meet you little Mina,” Hoseok greeted again with a smile on his face. Mina murmured something about “street names” and before Hoseok could widen his eyes in shock, Hyejung spoke to him. God, she really needed to talk to Jungkook about filtering what he taught Mina, no matter how funny he thought it was.
“Thank you for this, Hoseok,” Hyejung placed a hand on his shoulder sincerely, “It means a lot to our little family… even if one third of the family doesn’t know it yet.”
Hoseok let out a laugh of disbelief, “Jungkook doesn’t know? Does he even know you’re here?”
Mina replied to that with, “When he reads my letter he will.” Hoseok burst into laughter and shook his head fondly, he glanced behind him and Hyejung noticed the large bundle of balloons that had been brought out. Someone was giving them out to the children and before Hyejung could even see the person’s face, she knew it was Jimin.
“Let’s go,” she said softly, not taking her eyes off the figure. Hoseok nodded and rolled the bags down the bridge, Mina walking faster when she recognized the person giving out the balloons.
When they reached Jimin, he was giving out his last balloon to a little boy about 5 years old. He wore a beautiful smile and was dressed in a maroon dress shirt and slacks, miles away from his usual tank top and basketball shorts. He looked clean, well put-together, Hyejung thought to herself. For some reason, this made her want to cry. She’d missed out on watching him grow up.
Mina reached Jimin first and Hyejung watched them from beside Hoseok.
Jimin looked at Mina with a sheepish grin, “I’m sorry, I think I’m out of balloons. Do you want me to go in and blow another one up for you?”
Mina couldn’t stop staring at Jimin. She didn’t respond, just kept a small smile on her face and tilted her head to the side, her eyes crinkling. Jimin didn’t seem to mind, smiling back at her just as genuinely.
“Your name is Jimin?” Mina asked him softly. Jimin looked down at his name-tag and nodded, “Yup, that’s still me.”
Mina grinned, “My name is Jimin too!”
Jimin gasped, his eyes big and twinkling with delight, “Really? That’s so cool! My parents named me Jimin because they really liked the name, isn’t that a boring old story? What about you? Why were you named Jimin?”
“My parents named me Jimin because they really liked you,” Mina giggled at Jimin’s confused expression and shook her head. “I’m just kidding, really. I don’t know why they named me Jimin. It doesn’t matter, anyways. Everyone calls me Mina now.”
Mina held out her hand and Jimin shook it, a laugh spilling from his lips. She adjusted her backpack and said a quick “see you around” before walking towards the other kids. Mid-step, she turned on her heel and waved to Hyejung, “He’s all yours!”
Hoseok couldn’t help but laugh, and he politely bowed to Hyejung before following Mina with the bags. Jimin turned to look at who Mina had spoken to and found a pair of eyes already on him.
Hyejung had been apart from Jimin for a long time, but happiness flooded through her knowing that she hadn’t forgotten how to read him. Jimin’s expressions contorted quickly and frequently. His smile dropped off his face and recognition pulled his eyebrows up. Jimin’s eyes had always been his most expressive feature, so Hyejung wasn’t surprised to see how quickly they flashed from guilt to happiness to relief. He got up from where he was sitting slowly, deliberately, and took steps towards Hyejung that kept quickening in pace until he was almost running into her arms.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered in her ear, choking back tears, “I’m so, so sorry.”
Hyejung, having trouble keeping back her own tears, kissed the side of his head and pulled him in closer. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”
And it was true. Hyejung might’ve been upset with him before but now that she was face to face with Jimin, she was just happy to be reunited with her boy again. She couldn’t stay upset at Park Jimin. She couldn’t then, and she couldn’t now. They kept a tight hold on each other for a few more minutes, as many minutes as years that had passed.
With each passing second, Hyejung felt the small hole in her heart being filled back up again.
-
Jimin sat with his legs crossed on the chair, one half of his body warming up considerably because of the fireplace. He poured Hyejung a cup of tea and handed it to her, feeling the other half of his body warming up when she smiled at him. It had been too long since he’d felt that kind of motherly affection, almost to the point where it felt foreign to him.
“I still can’t believe you just bumped into me coincidentally. This has to be fate, don’t you think?” Jimin commented with a smile on his face. Throughout the day’s various “get to know each other” activities, Jimin had refused to let Hyejung out of his sight and they’d exchanged bits and pieces of information. He’d come to know that Mina was someone Hyejung was babysitting in Seoul. She was raised by a single parent that required them to be away quite a lot. Mina had wanted to come to this camp and since her parent didn’t have time, Hyejung had offered to take her.
“You know how much I love taking care of any kid that isn’t my own,” Hyejung had teased.
“Firsthand experience,” Jimin had stated solemnly, raising a hand in the air.
They’d laughed about it, intentionally skirting around whatever memories surfaced with the mention of Hyejung’s son.
“If that’s what you want to call it Although, I think it was just a stroke of luck. Good thing I got so lucky, I missed you, Jimin,” Hyejung told him.
“I missed you too, Hyejung.” Jimin replied quietly, not wanting to think about what had caused her to miss him.
“Jimin,” Hyejung started reasonably, “I’m not going to ask you why you did it or tell you to bare you soul to me and explain exactly what happened when you left. I know you had your reasons, but why not contact me? If there was anything I could’ve done for you-”
“You couldn’t have done anything,” Jimin stated, looking into the fire. “She died, and that’s that. I feel close enough to you that I can call you my mother in some respects but… losing her wasn’t something you could’ve helped with. No one could’ve helped with that.”
Especially because it was his mother, Jimin thought to himself. Anyone else, and he would’ve been okay. He would’ve welcomed it, even. But losing his mom meant losing the only person in his family who had ever dared to love him for who he was. Jimin looked to Hyejung, who was gazing at him with knitted eyebrows and hazy eyes.
“I love you, but I think that was something I needed to go through myself.”
Hyejung nodded. “I understand. Although, I expect calls from you every few weeks now that we’ve met up again. I’m not letting you off easy anymore.”
“Yes, mother,” Jimin said, feigning exasperation when his face clearly emitted joy. He clinked his cup with Hyejung’s and took a sip of the tea.
“You know,” Jimin looked up, noticing the amusement present in Hyejung’s features, “I never thought I’d see the day when Park Jimin willingly dressed himself in a proper shirt and dress pants. I really thought you’d stick to your basketball shorts and tank tops until you were in a retirement home.”
“Oh, come on! I wasn’t that bad of a dresser!”
Hyejung raised an eyebrow, “No? I bet Jungkook wouldn’t even recognize you because of the drastic change in wardrobe.”
And Jimin’s smile freezes on his mouth, like he isn’t quite sure if he wants to let it slide off his face or keep it there for show. He can tell that Hyejung made the remark on purpose, that she’s gauging his reaction, but he doesn’t know what to do about it.
Then, he let’s his smile soften. “Back then, he’d dare me to wear something like this, knowing it was the only way to ensure I’d stay uncomfortable for the entire day.” It’s natural, talking about Jungkook. Even if he has to bite his tongue from opening the floodgates of questions he has about his former best friend. Even if his smile doesn’t sit right on his cheeks. It’s muscle memory that keeps him going, forming the other’s name without a second thought.
Jimin wants to hear one thing. He knows it’s not his place, especially not now. But he still wants to know.
“Is he… he’s good, yeah? Jungkook?” And Hyejung, still as perceptive to Jimin’s feelings as she’d always been, just smiles. Jimin feels guilty, like he was caught in the act of something unspeakable. He knows Hyejung doesn’t know about him, but he averts his eyes nonetheless.
“I think I should head to bed,” she tells him softly. Jimin snaps back into a state of alertness and nods, placing his tea on the table.
“Of course, it’s getting late. Last chance to sleep in the main cabin, are you sure you don’t want to come?”
“Staying with Mina is probably the better option. You better head to bed as well, don’t bother walking me to the tent, I’ll find it,” Jimin wants to protest, but he knows it’ll be in vain. He hugs Hyejung at the door of the cabin and watches her walk into the night, her phone’s flashlight guiding her.
He’s not going to be able to sleep for a while.
-
Hyejung walked into the tent and whispered, “You awake?”
Mina flipped around in her bed and turned on her flashlight. “Of course!”
“Okay, here’s the deal…” Hyejung spent a few minutes reviewing all her new information with Mina and once they’d gotten their cover story down pat, Hyejung asked her one last question.
“So, when are we getting your father to come down here?”
“Oh don’t worry about that, Grandma,” Mina said with a devilish grin, “He still has to come home and freak out before we call him.”
With that, they both went to bed. Mina, clearly with some large plot swirling in her head and Hyejung, with a happier heart.
-
Even before Jungkook opened the door to his house, he knew something was wrong. Mina would usually be waiting in the window to wave to him when he came home after a few days away. This time, when he stepped inside, no one was there to make a sound, much less greet him. Usually, he’d be freaking out right about now, but then his eyes landed on the piece of paper on the kitchen counter.
Naturally, Jungkook’s first thought was, Oh my god, someone’s kidnapped my family and they’re asking for ransom.
Upon seeing Mina’s handwriting, he relaxed a little. The note looked like it was written very carefully with glue and glitter (or, glitter glue). It read: Hello my wonderful father, so, I decided to go to that camp! Remember, the one you told me not to go to? Anyways, I’m here with grandma and we’re having a great time! Of course, I’m not there yet but by the time you’re reading this, I’ll be there with grandma and having a great time. If you ever need to call, the number is at the bottom and so is the address. It’s only 2 ½ weeks so I’ll see you soon! Don’t miss me too much, Daddy! Love you, Mina. P.S. Sorry for skipping the last day of school!
Jungkook nearly threw a fit right then and there. He thought back to before he left and realized there had been a reason Mina hadn’t put up a fight, because she’d been planning to go anyways. He was supposed to be upset, he knew that. As a parent, it was his responsibility to call her and yell at her over the phone. But he’d known he was being unfair even when he said no to her a few days ago, and if she was really having a good time there, it was fine. There was no point in telling her to come back now. He’d just have to spend 2 ½ weeks missing her and coming to terms with the fact that he had nothing to do outside of his life with his daughter.
He could paint, he thought to himself while taking off his socks and throwing them in the laundry hamper on the way up the stairs. Or watch a movie. Or buy a Cheesy Cheesecake and indulge in the wonders of food so unhealthy, the oil would leak from his pores. He undid his tie and sat heavily down on his bed, staring at himself in the mirror, eyelids heavy and hair greasy from not being washed.
He felt like he could walk into the middle of an ocean right about now and his bones would be enough to drag him all the way down.
Or, he thought, he could just go to sleep.
And that’s exactly what he did.
Jungkook didn’t wake up until 1 PM the next day. The trip had exhausted him and apparently, he’d lost more sleep than he’d thought. Once he’d gotten ready and eaten breakfast, he sat at the kitchen island and wondered what to do for the rest of the day. He had complete freedom and an abundance of time. Any parent would kill for the opportunity he was being given. He didn’t have to worry about anyone or anything.
He wanted to call Mina.
No Jungkook, he thought to himself pathetically, you WILL try to rediscover that life you once had.
Yeah, that didn’t pan out.
Jungkook found himself in his room, sifting through his paints and trying to locate a blank canvas. He didn’t feel particularly motivated to paint, but he thought it’d be better than nothing. While sweeping his hand under the pile of junk (read: art supplies) at the bottom of his closet, Jungkook’s hand struck against something too thick to be a canvas and too hard to be a tube of paint. He fumbled around for the edge and pulled it out from underneath the large pile, examining it to realize it was a photo album.
Taehyung loved making little collections of their memories like this, Jungkook recalled. It seemed to be old, judging by the weathered corners of the album and fading colour. He opened it up and searched for a date inside, finding that it was made a year or so after they’d gotten married.
Jungkook adjusted his position so that he was sitting cross-legged, the album sitting comfortably in his lap. He flipped through the pages and smiled at the pictures. There was one from their wedding day of Taehyung going in to feed Jungkook cake, the one right below that was of Jungkook’s face, covered with cake while Taehyung threw his head back laughing. He flipped through more pages and found a section full of Mina. There was a picture in there of Jungkook holding Mina as a newborn, nose-to-nose with a smile on his face. He had one hand wrapped around her to hold her against his chest and the other was resting firmly behind her neck. Jungkook pulled that one out of the album and smiled, placing it beside him.
Call him sentimental, but he wanted to have that picture in a frame somewhere. Or better yet, he could paint it. A few more pages of their small family passed by and then Jungkook saw a younger version of Taehyung, when they were in University. There was a picture of the two of them looking dead tired but they still had sleepy smiles on their faces as they held up their exams. Jungkook’s mother had taken that picture, when she came to visit them at the end of their first year. Moving towards the back he found older pictures and finally, spotted one of Jimin. Spotted multiple ones of Jimin.
In every single picture, Jimin and Jungkook were either looking at each other, laughing or doing something silly. Even with Taehyung in between them, there was a picture of the two of them looking down, clearly laughing because of the heart they’d made with their hands right above Taehyung’s head.
Jungkook slid his hands over the pictures and smiled, allowing himself to think about his best friend for the first time in years. One picture in particular stuck out to Jungkook. It could’ve been the last picture they’d taken together before Jimin left. It was of the two of them in Jungkook’s dorm room, probably taken by Taehyung. Jungkook had fallen asleep on Jimin’s shoulder with a textbook still open in his hands and Jimin was looking at him with a fond smile on his face. The picture right under that one was of the same scene, but instead Jimin was looking straight into the camera with an expression that was hard to decipher.
Jungkook examined the pictures, wondering if Jimin had always looked at him that way. He swiped that picture out of the book as well and threw it on top of the other one he’d taken out. He also found one of just Jimin, throwing up a peace sign at the camera with a big smile on his face. That one came out as well.
After looking through a few more pages, Jungkook closed the book and placed it back in his closet. He found a blank canvas and carried all his supplies downstairs with two of the pictures in his hand. He’d put the one of him and Jimin in his back pocket for no specific reason.
Once set up, he taped the picture of him and Mina on the easel and, with a moment of hesitation, decided to tape the picture of Jimin on the mirror in front of him. He chuckled at how stupid he was being and sat back down before his easel. He could almost hear Jimin’s voice reprimanding him for not going any faster.
“Stay still, little Park,” Jungkook said fondly, looking at the picture. “Don’t you dare cheat.”
There was, obviously, no answer. Jungkook laughed to himself in the empty room and shook his head at how stupid he was being. Using a picture of an old friend to ease his loneliness? It was bordering on pathetic.
Nevertheless, he didn’t take the picture down the entire time he was painting.
-
“Today we’ll be partnering up! As a way of kicking off the first official day of camp, everyone will come up with a dance to different parts of the same song. At the end of the day when we do the campfire, you’ll be performing for all the campers! Sound good?” Jimin smiled when he heard all the kids cheer loudly. They were gathered in front of the main cabin, where he’d given out balloons yesterday.
“Alright then, let’s get started! Partner up!”
Jimin watched as everyone ran around trying to find their friends. He’d been running this camp for years now and this program always caused the most excitement. Maybe it was that it was the first day so they were all full of energy or maybe they just enjoyed being able to perform in front of everyone for the first time, whatever it was, it always made Jimin happy. The first few days were always full of introductory games and going over rules for camp, so by the time they officially started, the kids had enough pent up energy inside to propel themselves to the moon.
Hyejung stood beside Jimin, pointing out a particularly cute stunt being pulled by a camper every now and then. Jimin would chuckle along with her, sharing stories of his own childhood when applicable. Hoseok ran between everyone, making sure no one got hurt and riling them up at the same time. Jimin was just about to call for attention when Mina ran up to him.
“I choose you.” She said simply. Jimin blinked, not sure he’d heard right.
“Pardon me?”
“I want you to be my partner!”
Hyejung gave her a look. “Mina, you know you’re supposed to pair off with one of the kids.”
“I know,” Mina pouted, “but everyone is already taken.” She turned to look at Jimin and gave him a bright smile.
“Plus! We have the same name! We’re practically the same people, pleaaasseee?” Mina looked at Jimin hopefully and he pretended to think about, tapping his finger on his chin. Finally, he squatted down to her level and held his hand out for a handshake.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, miss.” Mina yelled with glee and shook his hand so hard, Jimin thought his arm would fall off. “Alright, alright, now go stand with the others. I have an announcement to make.”
Mina ran back into the crowd and Jimin blew his whistle to call everyone to attention. He scanned the crowd to ensure everyone had gotten into partners and once he was sure, he pressed play on the boombox next to him. “This is your song! Now I need everyone to line up in front of me so that I can give you all your parts. Stand with your partners please! And don’t push, or I’ll have Mr. Smiles put you in the Not A Happy Camper zone.”
Hoseok tried looking menacing. Mina looked at him and yelled, “4/10 for effort!”, causing the crowd to burst into giggles. Jimin tried stifling his own laughter and remarked to Hyejung, “Some kid.”
Hyejung gazed fondly at Mina, “A lot like her father.”
“Meeting him would be a treat, then,” Jimin joked, turning his attention back onto the crowd. While giving out slips of papers to the pairs of kids coming up to him, he didn’t notice Hyejung looking at him with a hopeful look in her eyes. He didn’t notice at all.
Once Jimin had sorted all the parts out, he went to where Mina was standing. “Okay, partner, we’ve got the finale. Let’s show them what you’re made of, yeah?”
They spent most of the afternoon coming up with a dance to showcase Mina’s talents best, although it was tougher than Jimin had expected. It wasn’t that she didn’t have talent, it was just that her talent was too diverse. She had a good grasp of a lot of different dance styles, so Jimin had difficulty picking what to include in their dance.
“By the way,” Mina voiced while taking a water break, “It’s cool that you let us sleep in until 11. I’ve never heard of a camp that does that.”
Jimin capped his bottle and placed it beside him, nodding, “Yeah, we’ve never woken up our kids at 8 or, god forbid, 7. It just doesn’t make sense to have a bunch of cranky campers to work with. You were up early, though, do you usually not sleep in?”
“No, I get ready with my dad in the morning,” Mina said offhandedly, stretching. Before she could touch her toes, though, she sat straight up. “I mean, not every morning! Because, you know, he’s a businessman and goes on trips. But, um, when he’s home and works in Seoul, I, uh, get up early to see him off. Because I don’t see him much throughout the day.”
Mina looked semi-frantic, and Jimin was a little caught off guard. He wasn’t used to hearing her speak so rushed and in-eloquently.
“Okay,” Jimin merely replied. Then, he was up on his feet and holding a hand to help Mina up. “Back to it!”
-
“I almost slipped up!”
“Sweetheart, he probably didn’t even know it was a slip-up.”
“Still! We have to call daddy right now. Get him here as soon as possible. I can’t handle the lies!” Mina dramatically threw an arm to her forehead and made grabby hands with her other hand. Hyejung sighed in defeat and handed her the phone.
“Okay, but he’s coming here a little early, don’t you think?” Hyejung watched Mina punch in the number and hold the phone up to her ear. They were in the tents as it was already closing in on 7 PM. Dinner would be ready in half-an-hour. Hyejung motioned for her to put it on speakerphone.
Mina was about to reply but instantly morphed her face into one of despair and illness when Jungkook picked up.
“Mom! Thank god, I’ve been wanting to talk to you and Mina all day, is she there?”
Mina held the phone directly to her mouth and faked a long, throaty cough. “Daddy?” She practically whimpered in a nasally voice. Hyejung looked at her impassively.
“Mina?! Baby, what’s wrong? Are you sick? Are you running a fever? Put grandma on the phone right now! I’m coming, okay? I’m coming as soon as I can.”
Mina smiled, looking at Hyejung. Hyejung flicked her eyebrows up in approval. It really was that simple.
Jungkook, Hyejung thought while Mina continued to make despair-filled groans into the speaker, would always come running if Mina was hurt or sick or whatever else. Always.
summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 5/?
a/n: a little late, sorry! also i wont be including taekook as a pairing anymore bc they’re no longer as important
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“Finally!” Mina spun around in Jungkook’s desk chair, sliding over to the table quickly. Hyejung lifted her up and sat down in her place, putting Mina on her lap instead. They opened up the computer Hyejung had brought this morning and Mina cracked her knuckles.
“Okay, let’s find Park Jimin.”
It took a little longer than expected, but Hyejung expected as much. Throughout Jungkook’s high school years she’d heard more than enough of Park Jimin for a lifetime, and likewise for the first year of University. After Jimin left out of the blue, though, she hadn’t heard Jungkook so much as say his name.
It had been heartbreaking seeing how utterly torn up Jungkook had been about the whole ordeal. He had spent days trying to reach Jimin’s cell, hoping to hear promises of a speedy return. He’d even tried searching for Jimin online to see if he could find out where he lived but, much like her own relationship with the boy, Jimin had never really talked about home with Jungkook, leaving him with practically nothing to hint at his life.
When Jimin had first come to Busan to attend the same high school as her son, she’d just about coddled him to the point of no return. She’d never let him go hungry, encouraged him to stay over every night and gave him as much love as she possibly could. She couldn’t bring herself not to, seeing as he was all alone. His host family had done a good job of providing the basic necessities for him but Hyejung had always gone above and beyond. She’d brought warmth into Jimin’s life, and the kind of love that can only be felt from family. Jungkook often complained lightheartedly about Hyejung loving Jimin more than she loved her own son, and she understood where he was coming from.
A naturally serious and dry-humoured person such as herself made for a completely different parenting style than the one Jungkook saw her use with Jimin. But there was something about him that made her want to be more openly loving, something that told her he needed it far more than other boys his age.
Because of this, Jimin often came to Hyejung if he felt upset or homesick or if he just wanted to chat with someone who wasn’t Jungkook, for a change. He’d often tell her about how beautiful it was back home and the difference in the air and special places he’d visit to feel more at peace. If asked too many questions, he’d divert the topic. Hyejung never asked why, and she never pried any further when he very clearly didn’t want to talk about certain topics anymore. It wasn’t her place, and she knew that.
When Jimin had left so suddenly, Hyejung had felt like a little piece of her walked away with him. Although he and Jungkook had only known each other some odd 5 years, she’d loved him like a son and had cherished him as a conversationalist. She’d also noticed Jimin’s affection for Jungkook. They hadn’t gotten the chance to meet up after the boys left for University in Seoul and as soon as she’d heard he had left, she’d tried reaching him. He’d picked up his phone and had said “thank you” in a small, heartbroken voice before hanging up. She hadn’t gotten the chance to say anything, and he’d turned off his phone when she tried calling again.
The next time she called, he’d changed his number.
If there was one thing Hyejung had learned while knowing Jimin, it was to never pry. So she spared moments in her day to think of where he was occasionally, but for the most part, she went on with life. She met Taehyung and watched Jungkook fall in love. Although it always felt too familiar, like she was watching the same movie with different actors. Different, but the same story, nonetheless.
Finding Jimin after all these years seemed like a violation, if she were to be completely honest. But in her heart, she knew it would be good for Jungkook. Privately, Hyejung knew it would be good for herself too. It had silently affected her all these years, not knowing where he was, what he was doing, if he was happy. Now she had the chance to bring him back into their lives, and she was planning on following through.
Jung Hoseok was a name that was often mentioned in their conversations. Jimin had sung high praises of the boy who taught him to dance and Hyejung had learned to file the words Hope World into her mental catalogue of all things Park Jimin. A little dance studio where I learned to be free, he’d said to her.
That’s why, currently, she was scanning the screen for any mention of “hope world jung hoseok dance”.
“No, grandma, try typing dance studio. You said that’s what it was, right?” Mina peered at the screen even more intensely than Hyejung despite not really knowing what she was looking for. Hyejung sighed and backspaced her search, trying Mina’s variation.
In truth, it was frustrating. Hyejung had tried a variety of different searches already and had gone though god knows how many pages of search results. She adjusted her glasses as the results loaded.
“Let’s see…” Hyejung scrolled down and clicked a link that seemed similar to what she was searching for. Her last shred of hope sputtered weakly inside of her. Twitter finished loading and Hyejung saw a post. Mina read it out loud, “A but happy day for us all! Congratulations Jung Hoseok! We’ll miss you!”
The picture was of a small cabin-like house with mountains visible in the distance. Green shrubbery surrounded the structure and a group of people were posing happily on the steps. There was a boy with a bright smile sitting at the very front, everyone seemed to be grinning at him or clapping him on the back but he was staring straight at the lens. If Hyejung was to really squint, it even seemed like he might be looking past the lens. In his hands was a small piece of paper that had the words BIGHIT ENT. Written in bold letters with smaller writing underneath.
Hyejung was ready to move on, disappointment already festering in her stomach until she noticed two details. The first being that the boy sitting at the front was wearing a shirt that was half-hidden by his sweater but had font that peeked through. She could roughly make out an “OPE” and below it, a “RLD”. Hope World. With the confirmation that this was, in fact, the Jung Hoseok, the second detail nearly had her let out a squeak of excitement. In the window of the cabin, Hyejung could see the reflection of the person holding the phone.
Hyejung didn’t need to squint to know who it was. He had an all too familiar smile on his face.
They had just found Park Jimin.
-
Jungkook was walking slow. Like, sloth that just got woken up slow. His heart really, really wasn’t into this date but he didn’t want to be rude so he was going anyways. Technically, he should’ve been at the coffee shop by now, it was only a 20-minute walk, and Jungkook hated being late. Instead, he stopped every so often just to admire some flowers or check his phone or sit down because he was “winded”. It was almost 10, and Jungkook could see the coffee shop come into view but he didn’t want to go in until he absolutely had to.
The streets weren’t exactly busy, but there were smatterings of people walking around. Some looked like they had important places to be, some just seemed to be enjoying the beautiful weather, and some, like Jungkook, looked like they’d been forced outside. Of course, the last category was mostly full of children but, semantics.
Jungkook fished his phone out of his pocket and walked close to the side of the street so he wouldn’t block anyone by moving so slowly. He was just about to open his email when he felt an arm smack into his stomach, knocking all the wind out of him. Jungkook doubled over, about to curse out the person who’d decided to sock him on a (admittedly, not so fine) Sunday morning when he heard a rather loud voice rambling somewhere to his right.
A man was standing there, about his own height with bright red hair and matching earphones. One of the buds was hanging around his chest, the other still in his ear.
“..and I really didn’t mean to! I’m so, so sorry I just get kind of dance-y when I – you know what? Never mind. Listening to music on the streets was never a good idea to begin with and hitting random people - not to say that you’re just a random person! Well, you are, but that’s besides the point. I’m just really, really sorry. Are you okay?” Jungkook felt out of breath just listening to this person talk.
He nodded and straightened up, rubbing his stomach with a grimace on his face before he replied, “Don’t worry about it. We’re cool, really.”
“You sure? I don’t work too far away from here. Well, it’s a 15-minute walk, but that isn’t bad! I could run back and get you some ice, if you liked?” The redhead suggested. His eyes said he was concerned, but his face was too bright for Jungkook to really take him seriously. He seemed like the kind of guy you could never stay mad at for too long.
Jungkook gave the man a small smile and shook his head, “Really, I’m fine. You don’t have to go through that kind of trouble. What were you listening to anyways, to get you all riled up like that?”
The man laughed brightly and took out his other earbud, shoving the wires into his pocket. “The sound of music. I was re-enacting Julie Andrews’ iconic hill scene.”
“Well, except for the smacking someone in the stomach part, I’m sure you had it down to a tee.” Jungkook’s eyes flicked above the other man’s shoulder to make sure Jisung’s mother hadn’t gotten to the shop yet. Once he saw that he still had time, he extended his hand out towards the other man.
“Um, I’m Jeon Jungkook. I feel obligated to introduce myself after we just had a mini-conversation here,” Jungkook shook the other man’s hand, whose eyes seemed to spark in some sort of recognition for a brief moment before he blinked and the spark was gone. He introduced himself to Jungkook with a smile on his face.
Jungkook gave him a friendly smile back and tried not to shiver as an unusually cool wind blew past him. “Nice to meet you, Jung Hoseok.”
-
No location stamps. No mentions of bases. No tweets about hometowns. Sometimes, Hyejung really hated the internet.
The twitter page hadn’t helped with much other than finding Jimin’s face. Then, Mina told Hyejung to search for BigHit Ent. That’s how they’d ended up in their current situation.
“Call him! Come one!” Mina urged.
They had spent 10 minutes looking through BigHit’s website for any mention of a ‘Jung Hoseok’. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they’d found a profile page for an idol group and under the title of main choreographer, there was a picture of Hoseok. After navigating the site for his number, they’d found his work cell.
“I don’t even know if he’ll have it on him,” Hyejung muttered absentmindedly as her fingers danced above the numbers on her phone. It was more an excuse than anything. She was so close to finding Jimin, she didn’t know if she could handle failing so far in.
“You have to try! Come on, grandma. If he doesn’t pick up, we’ll just try later.” Mina grabbed the phone and punched in the number before Hyejung could even ask for her phone back.
Mina suddenly brightened and Hyejung held her breath as her granddaughter chirped a cheery, “Hello, Mr. Jung!”
-
Not but a second after Jeon Jungkook had exchanged pleasantries with Hoseok, a phone began to ring. Hoseok, not realizing it was his phone, just stared at Jungkook dumbly before he came to his senses and frantically shoved his hand into his pocket to reach for the device.
“Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” Hoseok apologized with a sheepish look on his face. He didn’t want to ditch this fellow right after he practically punched him in the gut, but duty called. On a pretty shitty phone, but it called, nonetheless.
It’s cool,” Jungkook said easily, his eyes focusing onto a point beyond Hoseok’s shoulder. “I’ve got to run anyways.”
He flashed Hoseok a quick smile and gave him a little wave before walking away. Hoseok sat down on a bench and watched Jungkook approach a coffee shop as he flipped open his phone (yeah, that shitty) and answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Hello Mr. Jung!” A bright voice greeted him back. Hoseok nearly let out a laugh, the person on the other end sounded like a child. He didn’t want to be rude, people sounded different sometimes, but it was funny imagining someone with a voice like that calling him for something work-related.
Hoseok thought back to a phone-call he’d had with a supervisor once who he’d continuously referred to as ‘Ma’am’ until, towards the end of the call, he’d heard someone in the distance refer to them as ‘Sir’. He winced, he didn’t want a repeat of that episode.
“Hello,” Hoseok felt obligated to repeat, “Anything new for me?”
He was 90% sure this wasn’t a staff member but just in case, Hoseok prompted the caller in generic work-related-business fashion.
“Well, no. Did you want a fun fact? Chemistry is a branch – no, apparently that’s misleading – a part of Science you learn in high school. What? He’s the one who asked for something new-,“ there was some sort of disturbance on the phone and suddenly, someone else was speaking to him.
“I apologize for that. That was my granddaughter,” this voice sounded a lot more mature. Hoseok stifled a fond laugh from spilling out of his mouth. A fun fact from the granddaughter of a lady who had probably dialled the wrong number, that was definitely new.
“That’s more than okay, although I believe you’ve reached the wrong number-”
“No! We haven’t. Please, don’t hang up. Do you have some time? I’ve got something to discuss with you. My name is Jeon Hyejung, and I used to know Park Jimin.” Hoseok’s smile fell off his face. He wondered if he’d heard her wrong. Once he’d decided that he definitely hadn’t, he spoke.
“I have time. Please, tell me everything.”
-
An hour or so later, Hoseok was back in BigHit, sitting in the practice room with his phone held up to his ear. He stared at his reflection in the mirror with his back pressed firmly against the wall. He’d never felt so out of his element in a place he frequented more than his own home.
“Ma’am, I just don’t know if I can. Jimin wasn’t fine when he came back home. To be frank, he never really learned how to be fine. Things just got worse when his mother passed away. Eventually, after a year or so, he got better. Not quite the same, but better. I don’t want to ruin this for him.”
“Hoseok, Park Jimin was many things to me but first and foremost, he was family. I would never attempt to approach him and pry my way back into his life if I thought it would hurt him.”
Hoseok threw his head back against the padded wall and searched the ceiling for a reasonable answer. When he couldn’t find one, he pursed his lips in defeat and mentally apologized to Jimin.
“Okay, I’ll tell you where to find him. If there’s a chance that Jimin will be happy again, like you said, I think you should go for it. He deserves that. Just promise me you’ll make sure he won’t have any reason to break again. I’ve handled that once already, and I don’t know if either of us can survive it again.”
“Of course. Thank you so much, I really appreciate this.”
Hoseok thought back to his meeting with Jeon Jungkook this morning and wondered if it was possible that was the Jungkook. Of course he’d been a little taken aback when he’d heard the name, but with only Jimin’s endless gushing over the phone about Jungkook to go off of, Hoseok couldn’t be too sure. Jimin never had the time to show him a picture, not that he would’ve anyways. If he’d done that, it would’ve seemed too much like Jimin had a crush on Jungkook, and of course Jimin couldn’t have admitted that.
Seoul was a big place, and there were a lot of Jeon Jungkooks in the world. But something was nagging at Hoseok, telling him that he’d definitely met Jimin’s Jungkook.
“Summer camp. Jimin runs a summer camp for kids who like to dance. It’s in Daegu, a little remote area surrounded by nature. Only a couple kilometres from his house. I’ll be there, too. I’ll find the exact address and send it to you along with some other details.”
“You have a big heart, Hoseok. Thank you.”
“When it comes to Jimin, I think everyone’s heart learns to grow a few sizes bigger. I’ll be in touch. Goodbye. Bye little Jimin!”
“Bye now,” then, faintly, “bye-bye!”
Hoseok cut the call and rubbed his eyes. He’d stayed up all night to finish a new choreo and hadn’t even slept before deciding to go for a walk and get some fresh air. He thought about what he’s just done and after feeling guilty for a minute or so, Hoseok dialed Jimin’s number to ask about the camp. He held the phone up to his ear, waiting. With every passing ring, Hoseok felt a little more uncertain about giving out Jimin’s whereabouts to the people he’d been avoiding for the last 10 years.
He’d just invited Jeon Jungkook right back into Jimin’s life, and he was hoping it wouldn’t be a mistake.
-
Jisung’s mother, Yina, was far more energetic than Jungkook remembered her to be. Usually, their conversations would consist of polite greetings and quick stories about their kids before they parted ways. These exchanges usually happened at the doorstep of either his or Yina’s house since both parents trusted the other enough to watch over their children during playdates or such. Jungkook hated playdates. Not only was it a stupid word, but it was yet another day where Mina would leave him on his own.
It was embarrassing to admit but, Jungkook didn’t have much of a social life. His company consisted of Mina and his mother, no one else. He liked it that way.
That’s why now, confronted with Yina – bright, energetic Yina – Jungkook felt a little out of place. He felt awkward trying to banter with her and didn’t know how to keep the conversation going. It was too unnatural, too non-flirtatious to be called a date.
Jungkook anxiously picked at the napkins in front of him, waiting with a polite smile until Yina finished her story about saying something wildly inappropriate in front of her boss when she was young to tell her what he needed to. When she’d come to a stop, gently laughing at herself, Jungkook cleared his throat.
“Yina, you’re a really great person, but I don’t think I can do this.” Jungkook wanted to sink underneath the table and hide there for the next 24 hours when he saw Yina’s expression dim.
“I’m really sorry. You’re wonderful and I thought it was sweet of the kids to do this for us but I – I’m not ready for this. A new relationship. It’s just not what I need or want right now.”
The coffee shop was buzzing with a comfortable warmth, but Jungkook felt his skin prickle with heat. He felt the blood rush up his neck, embarrassment, discomfort and guilt all manifesting to colour his skin red. His throat was dry and he reached for his iced coffee, taking a long sip to delay the possibility of further conversation. God, he felt like he was 15 all over again.
“Of course, I understand,” Yina smiled in a surprisingly understanding manner. Jungkook wanted to him himself over the head for being such an idiot. He tried to voice how he knew it was strange, still not being ready after so many years, but his brain didn’t want him to. He didn’t want to further exploit that excuse because in his heart, he knew it wasn’t as true as he tried to make it out to be.
Taehyung was gone, he understood this very well. Jungkook had spent a lot of time getting over Taehyung’s death, but he’d gone through it. He wasn’t as heavily attached to the memory of Taehyung as before, not so much that it was holding him back from dating.
The simple truth was this, Jeon Jungkook didn’t want to fall in love again.
“I appreciated you coming anyways,” Yina told him kindly. “I’m still your friend, Jungkook. If you need to talk about it, I know how it is.”
Jungkook nodded as Yina briefly put her hand over his and then got up, exiting the shop. Jungkook sighed, a mixture of disappointment and relief. He watched Yina turn right and disappear behind a convenience store. Jungkook finished the rest of his drink and mopped the ring of water left under the cup with his napkin, throwing everything out in a trash can as he walked out of the shop and into the sun. Jungkook took a deep breath and turned left to head home.
Since Jungkook hadn’t checked his emails earlier, he decided to look through them on his way home. Just as he crossed the park, he noticed he had an email from work. Upon opening it, Jungkook groaned.
“Shit,” he breathed, eyes refocusing on the words to read them again impatiently.
A trip abroad on such short notice was going to be hell, not to mention he’d been absent enough from home this past month. He’d had to rely too heavily on his mother and Jungkook hated feeling incapable of taking care of his own daughter. The trip was 1 night, 2 days – a pitch the firm had been working on for a long time. He’d played an important role in the design but Jungkook hadn’t expected to be present during the actual meeting. He wasn’t even head architect!
Jungkook wanted to spend time with Mina. School would officially finish tomorrow for her and he just wanted to pick her up and celebrate, was that too much to ask? For the most part, Jungkook’s job didn’t get too demanding. It was just this last month that they’d really had to hustle and refine the pitch until it was polished. He’d been coming home much, much later than usual because of all the work he was responsible for.
Jungkook ran his fingers through his hair and then rested his palm on his forehead, coming to a stop. He closed his eyes and tried bringing himself back into the present. Okay, first things first. He would request to be taken off the presentation team and hope that his hard work would finally earn him some time off. He’d been hearing rumours around the firm anyways that everyone who had worked on the project would be getting both summer months off instead of just the one.
As he turned into his street, Jungkook dialled his boss’ number (saved respectfully as Mr. Monkey, all credits to Mina) and waited for him to pick up. He rehearsed what he would say in his mind so that he wouldn’t mess up.
“Im Sungmin.”
“Sir, hello! It’s Jeon Jungkook speaking.”
“Ah, yes! Our prized architect! Packing for the trip, I hope?”
“Well, that’s what I’d like to talk to you about,” Jungkook ventured cautiously. “Is it possible for me to be taken off the presentation team?”
“Why would you want that, my boy? You’ve worked hard for this, you should be at the front lines, don’t you think?” Jungkook tried not to groan into the speaker.
“Unfortunately, I have some prior commitments. I really don’t mind being pulled off the team. In fact, I’d prefer it that way.” Jungkook hung onto his last shred of professionalism despite his brain telling him to win sympathy points by talking about his daughter.
His boss cleared his throat and the other line and spoke, “Very well, if that’s what you’d like. If you miss out on the presentation, there will be some drawbacks. I’m sure you’ve heard about the extended month of vacation the firm was going to offer to everyone on this project. Despite not being officially released, word travels fast. Unfortunately, the offer only extends to those on the presentation team. If you’re okay with missing that, my boy, then by all means I will take you off the team.”
Jungkook came to a halt. He had never so badly wanted to revert back to his 5-year-old self just so that it would be socially acceptable for him to scream “BUT THAT’S UNFAIR!” into the phone. So many people he knew had slaved over this project for the last month, and now only a small group of 5 would reap the benefits? There had been at least 20 active employees on this project, and for a firm of about 50, that was saying a lot. He drew in a breath and knew that not going on the trip would be a bad move. Jungkook needed that extra month too badly to refuse.
“No, sir,” Jungkook practically sighed into the phone, “I’ll work around my commitments and come. Thank you for your time.”
“Perfect! I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” And just like that, the call was cut. Jungkook stared at his phone screen in defeat and held back from throwing it to the ground. He didn’t know why but he felt like crying. Jungkook squared his shoulders and faced straight ahead, trying to get himself together. When he thought he was ready to face his family, he resumed walking.
Mina and Hyejung were sitting on the front steps when Jungkook reached home. He walked up the driveway, throwing them curious looks. Mina jumped up and slipped her hand into Jungkook’s, pulling him into the house before he could inquire about their time together.
“Daddy, you know that I love you, right?” Mina crooned, glancing quickly at Hyejung before returning her attention to Jungkook. Jungkook looked back to his mother and was greeted with indifference. He wrinkled his nose.
“There’s that familiar smell of emotional blackmail again, or is it extortion?” Jungkook raised an eyebrow at Mina. He wasn’t sure what she wanted but he was 99% sure he wouldn’t like it. Call it Father’s Intuition, if you will.
“No comment,” his mother voiced as she walked past him and into the living room. Mina led Jungkook there as well and waited until everyone was seated before she began.
“You’re a great dad,” Mina sounded like she was a trained mediator. “And I know that you won’t let me down when I ask you to prove how great you are once again by letting me go on a… trip!”
Jungkook was completely lost. A trip? Did Mina want to travel somewhere? She’d never brought this up before. He could probably scrape together some money to take a trip but something told him this wouldn’t necessarily be a family thing.
“I want to go to a summer camp! In Daegu!”
Father’s Intuition. Both a blessing, and a curse.
“Where did you even hear about this?” Jungkook questioned, leaning forward on his knees to look straight at Mina. He wondered if he was really going to have to choose between being the bad guy and keeping Mina home for selfish reasons or being the absolute angel of a father and letting Mina be that far from him for 2 entire months.
“Just from my friends,” Mina’s face split into a wide smile, “It’s a dance camp! Isn’t that just perfect! And I’ve never been out of Seoul before! Can I please, please, please, please go?”
Jungkook didn’t know what to do. On one hand, he was going to have to be out of town for a while so it wouldn’t seem fair if he said no to her, regardless of whether or not he had good reasons to go. On the other hand, he really wanted to spend his vacation with his daughter, the way they’d always spent it.
Maybe he was too caught up on the idea of tradition but ever since Mina was little, they’d spent summer in Seoul. They’d go to amusement parks and the beach and it would always be on the same day every year. Jungkook even bought Mina a special Cheesy Cheesecake on the last day of every summer vacation so that she could eat it all by herself and celebrate a new school year. He didn’t want to part with that so soon.
Jungkook flicked his eyes to his mother, “You’ve been awfully silent. Thoughts?”
Hyejung stuck her hands in the air, “Hey, don’t look at me. This is between you two.”
Jungkook sighed and then looked at Mina, bracing himself for the argument that was about to come.
“I don’t think it would be a good idea for you to go,” Jungkook said slowly, already regretting the words as soon as they had come out of his mouth. Hyejung shared a look he didn’t quite understand with Mina.
“Fine.” Mina’s voice was somber. She didn’t look up from her lap. “I won’t ask again.”
That was it? Jungkook didn’t want to jinx it or anything, but wasn’t there going to be a fight? Mina always made sure she understood why she wasn’t allowed to do certain things and if she thought Jungkook was being unreasonable, she would tell him. This time, she didn’t even try asking him why.
“Okay?” Jungkook couldn’t help but phrase it as a question. “It’s settled then.”
He got off the couch and right before he left the room, he remembered he still had to tell his family about the trip. That’s what he’d forgotten. Mina surely wouldn’t back down once he’d announced that.
“Oh, yeah, I… need to go away for work. It just happened and I can’t help it, it’s the only way I’ll be guaranteed a 2-month vacation. I’ll only be gone for 2 days. Mom, can you take care of Mina?”
Jungkook braced himself for an argument to erupt out of his daughter but she didn’t say anything, just snuggled up next to his mother as Hyejung nodded in affirmation.
If one looked up the definition of guilty in the dictionary right about now, they’d find Jungkook’s picture under it. He felt awful about refusing Mina, but he didn’t want to say yes. He couldn’t bring himself to say yes. He nodded and headed to his room to start packing.
-
Mina sat on her bed and surveyed the bag she’d already packed, after ensuring once more that there was nothing missing, she slid it under her bed and set her alarm clock to 12:00 AM. Hyejung entered the room with her phone to her ear, murmuring a “thank you” before cutting the call.
“Alright, sweetheart. It’s set. Hoseok told Jimin about one more camper and got you registered last minute. Did you pack already?” Hyejung bent at the waist to peer under the bed when Mina pointed there. She nodded affirmatively. “Looks good.”
“Grandma, he’s not going to get really mad, is he?” Mina asked hesitantly. Her lips jutted out. “I don’t want him to hate me.”
Hyejung shook her head ‘no’ and sat down beside Mina, combing her hair with her fingers. “Oh please, he could never hate you. You know, when you were young, maybe 6 or 7 months old, your daddy was watching soccer and he got so excited at one point that he started yelling excitedly. Now, you were this tiny thing that got startled very easily, so of course, you started crying. Your father immediately turned off the TV and held you for hours – and I mean hours. He was crying along with you and apologizing because he absolutely hated being the reason you were upset. I think I finally understood then that he was definitely ready to be a father.
“He could never in a million years hate you, Mina. That’s just not how love works,” Hyejung tickled Mina and after her giggling fit passed, decided to ask her one last thing.
“Now, we’re sneaking out and that’s settled but, how are you going to get Jungkook there?”
At this, Mina grinned wickedly, “Remember that time he was away and I got really sick?”
Hyejung smiled in realization and tweaked Mina’s nose, “You’re a schemer through and through.”
With that, they got ready for bed and Mina fell asleep watching the seconds pass on her clock.
-
The next morning, Jungkook woke up to no Mina. It wasn’t particularly surprising, he’d gotten up earlier than usual to catch the train and Mina wasn’t used to that. So he quickly got ready and scrawled a note about how he’d miss her and would be back soon so they could have tons of fun together. Somehow, in his haste to leave, Jungkook completely missed the other piece of paper scrawled with writing lying on the kitchen counter.
pairing: jungkook x jimin
jungkook x taehyung (subplot)
summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 4/?
+
“Mina!” Jungkook sang as he closed the front door, “I’m home and I’m ready to party!”
Jungkook felt terrible about leaving Mina alone for so long, not to mention extremely anxious, so he planned to spend as much time as possible with Mina for the rest of her birthday. Hopefully, she’d be up for Cheesy Cheesecakes today.
“Daddy!” Mina exclaimed from the living room, she came running to the door and Jungkook crouched down to receive her hug. “I missed you!”
Jungkook kissed the top of Mina’s head and murmured a quiet “I missed you too” into her hair. He took a look at her watery eyes and gave her a soft smile.
“Did you read the letter?” Mina nodded and her eyes glinted in a fashion Jungkook had never seen before. Without saying anything, she reached for his hand and tugged his fist open.
“This is so pretty,” Mina said absentmindedly while stroking the silver ring on Jungkook’s finger. He’d taken to wearing the wedding ring around a chain on his neck now so that it was closer to his heart, but he’d never quite found it in himself to take off that particular ring.
Suddenly, Mina’s gaze sharpened and she looked up from Jungkook’s hand and into his eyes, “Is this your engagement ring?”
Jungkook tried not to frown, Mina had never asked about his ring before. He thought back to the letter and wondered exactly what Taehyung had told her. “No, sweetheart, it’s from an old friend of mine.”
“Really? Who? You don’t really have any friends here,” Mina cocked her head to the side inquisitively and Jungkook couldn’t help but think that she was asking a question she already knew the answer to. He stood up and slipped off his shoes, taking long steps towards the stairs with Mina patiently walking beside him.
“What did your Daddy tell you?” Jungkook asked suspiciously, tickling Mina’s side. She swatted him away while giggling.
“You know I’m not going to tell you! Come on, talk to me Daddy! You weren’t here all day,” Mina tugged on Jungkook’s arm as they climbed up the stairs. Jungkook scoffed, wondering if Mina had been taking online guilt-tripping classes lately.
“Fine, he was just a friend from somewhere else. We knew each other when were in high school… and in University.” Jungkook came to a stop at the top of the stairs and looked at his fingers, he twisted the ring a couple of times and then caught himself, letting his hand fall back down. He wasn’t ready to talk to this Jimin about that Jimin. Not yet, anyways.
When they arrived in his bedroom, Mina started tugging on his hand again, “Then where was he from? And you can’t not tell me, it’s my birthday!”
“Well,” Jungkook picked Mina up and put her on the chair next to his mirror, “that’s the thing. I don’t know. Let’s leave it at that, okay?” Jungkook quickly changed out of his clothes and ran a hand through his hair to let it run wild again. God, he hated styling it for work. He always looked so old.
“Now, as I recall, I still owe someone a trip to Cheesy Cheesecakes!” Jungkook smiled slyly and picked Mina up, feigning a groan as he did. “You’re getting too tall to carry, Min-ah.”
“Maybe you’re just out of shape,” Mina shot back, sticking out her tongue. “Daddy, we’ll go to Cheesy Cheesecakes later tonight. Right now, I want to dance!”
Jungkook held Mina with one arm and pulled out his phone to check the time with the other. It was only 12:30. Once they’d reached the bottom of the stairs, Jungkook put her down and bowed, “As you wish m’lady. Go down, I’ll be there soon. I’ve just got to call Grandma, okay?”
He picked up the phone and dialed, holding it to his ear as he watched Mina open the door to the basement and skip down the stairs.
9 years old, huh? Maybe he was getting old.
-
Mina was already prancing and spinning around when Jungkook ended his call and joined her in their at-home studio. When Mina had first started dancing, Jungkook had decided to create a space for her where she could practice. The basement was perfect, seeing as no one used it. He’d had the flooring done and had placed a large glass mirror on one wall. The installation had cost him most of his good-quality paints, some luxury brand clothes he’d gotten as gifts back in University and about one third of his gold jewelry but seeing Mina’s face light up at the sight of her very own practice studio was priceless.
He remembered the day after everything had been installed. Jungkook had whipped out his cheap acrylics and with Mina’s help, had decorated the walls with random doodles and words. It felt less empty to have pieces of themselves on the walls.
Mina was bopping along to the music without a care in the world. No matter how many times he saw her, Mina never failed to impress him with how talented she was despite her young age. She moved with the grace of a seasoned professional and knew so many different styles of dance that it was getting hard for Jungkook to keep track of them all.
Jungkook hadn’t been crazy about dance himself until University. Until Jimin. Jimin had taught him how to move with the music instead of to the music, he’d realized how relaxing it was. How good it felt to be caught up in a routine. When Mina had showed some interest in dance, Jungkook had enrolled her into ballet classes. Somehow, she mastered the basics and went on to learn some more advanced stuff in just under a year. After that, he put her in any class she wanted. She’d done jazz, quickstep, ballroom, lyrical, and so many more. Currently, she was enrolled in hip-hop, which she was picking up just as fast as she’d picked up the other styles.
Mina never took off her tutu from ballet, though. She always wore it in every class she attended despite getting reprimanded several times for arriving in inappropriate attire. She wore it over sweatpants and shorts and tights and jeans, in fact, she was wearing it right now.
Jungkook crept behind her and picked her up swiftly, swinging her from side to side and making her laugh uncontrollably. She fought her way to the ground and began striking poses to the beat that had Jungkook throwing back his head to laugh at. The music was loud, almost overpowering. Mina had set it to the highest possible volume, but it had never bothered the two of them.
They danced together for so long that eventually, Jungkook had to turn the music down and force Mina to take a break. He rolled her a bottle of water from the mini-fridge and got on for himself. They sat down with their backs to the mirror and Jungkook rolled the bottle up and down his legs, eyes closing in satisfaction at the DIY massage. Mina tapped on Jungkook’s knee and he opened his eyes, looking at her.
“Let’s play a game!”
“Are you serious?” Jungkook laughed. He poured a tiny amount of cold water into his hand and gently rubbed Mina’s face with it, wiping her sweat clean. She dried her face with her sleeve and nodded.
“Yeah! But, like, a low-energy one because you’re old and tired,” Mina shrugged her shoulders when Jungkook, offended, put a hand to his chest. “I only tell the truth.”
Jungkook pressed his water bottle to his neck one last time and then placed it beside him, “Alright, what do you want to play with this old and tired man?”
“A word game! We learned it at school. So basically, I say something and you have to say the first thing that pops into your mind when you hear it, okay?”
Jungkook, confused (but not that confused, because he never really understood kids’ games anyways), nodded, “Okay, shoot.”
“Dance!”
“Tired.”
“Cake!”
“Cheese.”
“Mina!”
“Love.”
Mina poked Jungkook’s belly, “Don’t be a sap. Um, art!”
“Feeling.”
“Jimin!”
“Park.” Jungkook paused, turning to look at Mina.
“Park Jimin? Who’s that?” Mina asked innocently. Jungkook groaned internally and reprimanded himself for being so stupid. “Daddy?”
“It’s… that’s not what I meant, um. I meant park as in a playground? Because your name is Jimin, right? And you always go to the park-”
“Not that often.”
“Well, yeah, but you do go so-”
“The best grandma in the entire world has arrived, my babies,” a voice called from the stairs. They both turned to look at Hyejung coming down the stairs with a box in her hand. “Happy birthday, Mina!”
Jungkook thanked the gods for his mother and her impeccable timing. Mina ran to Hyejung and gasped when she saw the box.
“A Cheesy Cheesecake?!” She shrieked in delight and threw her arms around Hyejung. Jungkook smiled at her in greeting and was met with a raised eyebrow. Clearly, she’d heard some of their conversation. Jungkook shook his head and waved a hand dismissively, getting up from his position. Mina seemed to be telling Hyejung something and when they pulled apart, Hyejung had a sly look on her face.
She beckoned Jungkook over, took a sniff of his shirt and instantly recoiled.
“It’s like you’re a pre-teen all over again, do you even put on deodorant?” Hyejung asked, handing him the cake box.
“Of course I do! We’ve been dancing for 2 hours, mom, what did you expect?” Jungkook huffed, leading the two of them upstairs.
“I expected you to have bathed before I arrived so as not to hinder my sensory experience in your household. Did you know associating bad smells with certain places make you not want to go there anymore?” Hyejung gestured to Mina to go to the kitchen and then turned back to Jungkook, “Go take a shower.”
Jungkook nearly laughed in disbelief, “You’re kidding, right? Where are you pulling these facts from? I demand to see proof – mom! Stop walking away!”
“If I see you before it’s been a full hour, I’m sending you back,” Hyejung called over her shoulder. She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Jungkook to trudge up the stairs.
“That’s a waste of water,” he muttered uselessly, but headed to his room to grab a towel and some clothes nonetheless.
-
“The curious case of Park Jimin is what I call it,” Mina declared, shoving another piece of Cheesecake in her mouth. She was sitting on top of the island, her feet on the stool and the cake on her lap. She couldn’t believe her Daddy refused to talk about Park Jimin so intently, all her efforts were going down the drain! Mina looked at her Grandma, who seemed to still be processing the information she’d just been bombarded with.
“We need to find him, grandma. Do you think we can?” Mina felt helpless. How was she supposed to find a man who didn’t want to be found? She violently put another piece of cake into her mouth.
“Mina, slow down,” Hyejung warned with wary eyes, “And I’m not sure. It’s been many years since I last spoke to him and he was never clear about his past. I can only think of one way to try, but it’s a longshot.”
She thought for a minute with her eyes closed and then opened them back up, looking straight at Mina, “Alright, we need to find a way to get your daddy to leave. Can you do that?”
Mina’s fingers tingled with excitement and she straightened up, a chaotic grin planting itself on her face. “Oh yeah, don’t worry about that.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow.”
Mina scanned the counter for the phone and grabbed it from its position, placing her cake to the side. She had a call to make.
Jungkook couldn’t stop thinking about Park Jimin.
Losing a best friend was painful enough on its own but thinking that you were over it and then being reminded of said best friend only to find that you were not, in fact, over it was a different kind of painful.
Jungkook towel-dried his wet hair and looked at himself in the mirror. He had noticeable dark circles under his eyes and a few wrinkles were visible near the corners of his mouth. Although his skin still looked young, he couldn’t help but think it was a trick. One of those “look too closely and you’ll see what’s really underneath the exterior” illusions. Jungkook felt tired. Period. He’d been so caught up at the office lately and keeping up with the energy of a 9-year-old was no easy feat. It was Mina’s birthday today, though, and Jungkook wanted to be there for her. Especially because of his absence in the morning.
Jungkook briefly let himself wonder where Jimin was right now. Whether or not he had a family of his own, if he was worried about getting old and examining the lines on his face, if he thought about Jungkook from time to time. Before his mind could take him any further, Jungkook snapped out of it. His daughter would have his undivided attention today, not anybody else. He hung his towel to dry and slipped out of the bathroom.
As soon as Jungkook reached downstairs, he groaned. “Mom! You’re not supposed to let her have dessert before dinner! You know she gets too full and doesn’t eat her dinner and then it takes forever to get her to sleep because she’s too high on sugar.”
Hyejung checked her watch and nodded in approval, “One hour and two minutes. Good job.”
“Mother,” Jungkook said reproachfully. Hyejung just shrugged.
“I tried to stop her.”
“No you didn’t!” Mina exclaimed, scandalized. Jungkook tugged the box out of her hands only to find there was only one piece left about an inch wide. He sighed and silently accepted his future of having to a wrestle a slightly crazed Mina into bed.
After discussing why Hyejung had brought the cake (“I picked it up on my way here because I love my granddaughter.”) and why she’d allowed Mina to eat all of it (“It’s her birthday, of course I’m letting her eat it all. You not getting any is an added bonus.”), Jungkook flicked Mina on the forehead and sat down on a stool next to his mother.
“You know,” Hyejung started in a tone Jungkook hadn’t heard a lot of since high school, “Mina’s 9 now.”
Jungkook, knowing what was about to come next, replied, “Contrary to popular belief, I do know how to count.”
Hyejung twisted Jungkook’s earlobe without looking at him and continued speaking, ignoring his cries of pain, “Maybe it’s time you get out there again. Start dating.”
Jungkook rubbed his poor ear and looked to Mina for sympathy, she snorted and made a move towards the cake again. Traitor.
“Mom, you know I don’t want that.”
“I think you do.”
“You can’t possibly know what goes on in my head-”
“When your father left us, I started dating someone else within a week.”
Jungkook held back from rolling his eyes, “Okay, first of all, you got divorced. Do I have to bring up why you got divorced in front of my daughter for you to come to your senses?” Jungkook’s father had left his mother because his mother, as it turned out, had “fallen in love” with another man. Jungkook’s father found out and a week after he left them, Hyejung started dating the other man. A week after that, they broke up. So sue Jungkook for not taking relationship advice from his mother seriously.
He’d never blamed his mom for driving his father away, though. He’d always been a major dick.
Hyejung cleared her throat, “I would like if you refrained from doing so.” Jungkook raised his eyebrow in a that’s-what-I-thought kind of way.
“You’ve got a date tomorrow.” Jungkook whipped his head up to look at Mina. She licked her fork clean, placed it in the box and slid across the island to sit right in front of Jungkook. Her expression was nonchalant, bored, even.
“How… what?” Jungkook asked, dumbfounded. He was too afraid to address how Mina even knew what a date was. “Since when do you set me up on dates?”
Mina grinned devilishly and ruffled Jungkook’s hair like he was some sort of puppy, “Since Jisung from school told me that his mom thought you were really cute!”
Jungkook felt like the 9-year-old instead of Mina, being talked to like this. He tugged Mina’s hand away from his hair and looked at her, squinting suspiciously.
“Did Jisung ask you out or something?”
“Daddy! Not the point! Also, ew! The point is that you’re going on a date with his mom tomorrow, deal?” Jungkook didn’t know what to do. In the span of a minute or so, he’d learned that not only did Mina know what a date was but, she’d started playing cupid for him. Maybe it wasn’t that hard to believe, considering what he, himself, had known when he was her age. The school field was more educational than any teacher at that age.
Maybe he should talk to her teacher about the students in her class…
Jungkook sighed. Or maybe, that was his crazy parent brain talking. Exposure from the outside world was always good, he knew that, he just didn’t want Mina learning anything that was inaccurate, inappropriate or inconsiderate. Ah yes, the three ‘in’s.
It’s not that Jungkook was uncomfortable with the idea that Mina was growing up, he just… didn’t want it to happen. He wanted Mina to be his kid forever. She never asked about her real parents, was never impolite and always came to him to talk about things she couldn’t talk to anybody else about. Jungkook would obviously tell Mina about her parents if she wanted that, and he’d respect her privacy and need for space when the time came, but he didn’t want her to grow apart from him.
Maybe it was selfish, but he thought he could afford to be a little selfish when it came to his daughter.
“So, you set me up. On a date. Tomorrow.”
“Yup. I called Jisung and you and his mom are supposed to meet at that coffee place near the school tomorrow at 10 in the morning. So get some sleep! Big day tomorrow!” Mina’s eyes sparkled with something more than excitement.
Jungkook felt a little blindsided and could only murmur something about “…birthday… stay up… party… only 4 o’clock…” as Hyejung pushed him away, telling him to go to bed.
“I’ll get her ready for bed when it’s time. And I’ll lock up before I go,” Hyejung assured him.
Jungkook shook his head, wondering if this was some alternate universe, but obliged and went to brush his teeth nonetheless.
He couldn’t do this. He just couldn’t. Starting out with someone new like this after all these years, it just didn’t feel right. He didn’t know how to protest, though. He didn’t have anything to do tomorrow and saying that he wanted to spend the day with his daughter would earn him a tiny fist in his arm and a bruised ego after being called different variations of “lame”. He felt nowhere near ready, but he couldn’t let Mina down.
As soon as Jungkook had finished brushing his teeth, he practically threw his bedroom door wide open and melted underneath his sheets. Exhaustion took over in a matter of seconds, pulling at his eyelids in a way he’d been restraining them from doing for the past month. Sleep took him before he knew it.
-
“So, that was the plan?”
“Yeah! Now you have to tell me your plan.”
Hyejung nodded and pulled Mina into her side, sinking into the couch to get more comfortable.
“Okay, sweetheart, here’s the deal…”
-
The next morning, Mina and Hyejung were bent on herding Jungkook out of the house as quick as they could.
“Mother, at least let me put my socks on!” Jungkook was struggling to sit on the edge of his bed as Mina pushed him from behind and Hyejung nagged him about being late from in front of him. His voice was reaching an indignant squeak.
Hyejung had arrived at exactly 8:30 AM and had proceeded knock for 2 minutes straight on Jungkook’s door to wake him up. He’d opened his door with murder evident in his bleary eyes and had been promptly tossed into the bathroom, a towel and some clothes thrown in right after him. Then, for the final touch, Mina had popped up from nowhere and had given him a little wave before closing the door and yelling at him to put on some cologne.
They were insane, Jungkook decided as he finally pulled his left sock on and speed-walked out the room. Certifiably insane.
“Come on, daddy! You can’t let Jisung down! Or his dad. His dad is probably more important not to let down, okay let’s go!” Mina shoved Jungkook out the door as soon as he’d put his shoes on and Jungkook looked at her and his mother standing in the doorway.
“You really want me gone that fast?” Jungkook asked, trying not to wince at the faint ringing of truth in his voice.
Hyejung’s eyes crinkled in amusement, but her lips remained flat. She waved her hands airily, “Nonsense, we just want you to have fun.”
“Good luck!” Mina yelled happily, then she promptly shut the door. Jungkook felt like he was going to throw up. He hadn’t been on a date since Taehyung passed. That was… a lot of time. Yet it didn’t feel like enough. He squared his shoulders, re-tucked his shirt into his jeans and began walking to the coffee shop. Just a few hours, he’d get through this. For Mina.
i’ve decided to make a mobile masterlist instead of just linking all my works ksldjf i don’t have much right now, but i’ll keep adding things on as i post more!
JIKOOK
🕊 just you and me ; oneshot/completed
🕊 little things ; oneshot/completed
🕊 these spaces, our space ; multichap/ongoing
🕊 chapter 1
🕊 chapter 2
🕊 seasons of love ; oneshot/completed
🕊 miraculous, the luckiest! (but not up to the test, like at all) ; oneshot/completed
🕊 i dare you (to never let me go) ; multichap/ongoing
🕊 chapter 1
🕊 chapter 2
🕊 chapter 3
TAEKOOK
🕊 mind reader ; oneshot/completed
YOONSEOK
🕊 you monster ; oneshot/completed
🕊 moonlovers ; oneshot/completed
DRABBLES
🕊 (forever) we are young ; oneshot/completed - namjoon focus.
pairing: jungkook x jimin
jungkook x taehyung (subplot)
summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 3/?
a/n: forgot to post this here but posted it on ao3... am i boo boo the fool? yes.
+
Mina was up. According to her alarm clock, it was 8:59 AM. She could’ve just immediately gone downstairs to find the present she knew would be waiting for her, but she liked hearing-
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR mina! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!”
-that.
Mina could’ve screamed for hours on end about how excited she was (she was 9 years old!), but she just raced out of bed and down the stairs to find the letter. Mina saw a gift from her Daddy in the living room but decided to leave that for later. Next to it, there was an envelope with a sticky note on it. It read: Mina, I’M SO SORRY!!! I was called in to work for a few hours. Grandma won’t be able to make it but I trust that as a fresh 9-year-old, you’ll be able to take care of yourself. Be good. Brush your teeth. Keep the doors locked. Don’t pick up the phone if it isn’t me. I put your cereal on the kitchen counter. Love you, I’ll try to be back fast!
Mina couldn’t even bring herself to be upset, he’d be back soon enough. Until then, she had the company of her other Daddy. Mina snuggled up on the couch and opened up the envelope carefully like she did every year, taking out the loose sheets of paper with immaculate handwriting on them. She was already buzzing with excitement when she began reading.
Dear Jimin,
IT’S YOUR 9TH BIRTHDAY! WAY TO GO GIRL! I don’t know how you’ve made it so far with only Jungkook to take care of you, but good job! I know he’s a handful, but be patient with him, yeah?
Mina laughed at this.
Today you turn 9. Another year older and hopefully wiser. I know what you’re expecting, the usual stuff about being amazing and learning new things and me telling you stories about me and your other father, but this birthday is a little more exciting. This year I’m going to tell you about Jimin (not you, although I’d love to talk about you). If I know Jungkook, and trust me, I do, then he hasn’t found Jimin like I told him to. You probably don’t even know who he is.
He was right about that.
Get comfortable, honey. I’m about to tell you the story of Jungkook and Jimin (featuring yours truly).
“Jimin, stop moving!”
Jungkook poked his head out from behind the canvas and aggressively waved a paintbrush in the air. “That’s cheating and you know it.”
Jimin rolled his eyes at Jungkook through the mirror, “Technically, it isn’t because it’s already been 2 hours. 2 hours and 1 minute, to be precise.”
The boys were in the dance studio, Jimin posed delicately in front of the mirror with his back turned to Jungkook, who was set up with an easel to paint the other boy.
“Besides,” Jimin practically whined, “I’m tired. When you said you had a dare for me, this is not what I had in mind.”
Jungkook restrained himself from throwing his paintbrush at Jimin when he turned around, no longer holding his pose. A cry of rage nearly left his body. Jungkook was too good to this Park Jimin kid.
“Jimin! Fine, go ahead, cheat. See if I care. I always knew you were a bad sport.” Jungkook gave the other a sarcastic smile and started packing up his paints.
“I just told you that I didn’t cheat! Check your phone, you absolute buffoon. We started at 2, it’s 4:01 now,” Jimin exclaimed, offended that he had to defend himself like this. He snatched his unopened duffel bag off the floor and crossed the room to Jungkook. The painting was beautiful, as always, showcasing Jimin’s form gracefully. Light glinted off the rings on his fingers and his hair looked like it was made of feathers, but Jimin couldn’t care less. He’d just been called a cheater. Again.
“You always do this,” Jimin continued, sitting on Jungkook’s stool as soon as the other got up. Jungkook placed the painting lightly on the floor and began folding his easel. “I always do the dare exactly right, and you always end up salty because I didn’t fail, consequently calling me a cheater because of some inferiority complex bullshit.”
Jungkook stopped his movements and turned to face Jimin, arms crossed and the vague thought of murder on his mind, “I do not get salty. And what are, some sort of junior psychologist? Fuck off. You’re just a sore loser who can’t ever complete his dares properly.”
He fished his phone out of his pocket and thrust it in Jimin’s face. The clock read 3:59. Jimin didn’t back down, showing Jungkook his own phone that read 4:01.
They both glared at each other and before Jungkook could come up with something rude to say, Jimin shoved his phone back into his pocked and turned to leave. He raised his hand in a half-wave with his back turned, “Whatever, Jungkook. See you later.”
As soon as the door closed, Jungkook began muttering to himself, eyebrows furrowed, “God, who does he think he is? It’s not my fault his phone is set to the wrong time. And would it have killed him to pose for a few more minutes? He knows this assignment is due in, like, 2 days.”
When everything was packed up, Jungkook slid down onto the floor. His neck was killing him from being ducked over the stupid painting for 2 hours – no, 1 hour and 59 minutes. The room was air-conditioned but his face still felt warm from frustration. He stared at the ceiling. God, he really did like this room.
It was so much nicer than the art studio, all blank walls and no personality. This room was charged with energy, even without people inside. The floors were bright yellow and the walls were covered with signatures of past students. It was where Jimin had taught him how to dance. Where Jimin had probably also wanted to dance today because of his upcoming showcase, but never got the chance because Jungkook needed someone to pose for him and he knew Jimin didn’t back down from a dare.
Jungkook groaned, rolling over onto his stomach and throwing a contained tantrum because he knew he’d been slightly unfair. Okay, so maybe he’d been a little less understanding than he could’ve been. A lot less. And maybe Jimin had been just the teensiest bit right about Jungkook being salty. Maybe. He took in a deep breath and sat up, slowly gathering his materials.
When Jungkook opened the door, staining the knob with red paint in the process, he was surprised to find Jimin leaning against the wall outside with his eyes closed. His lips quirked up into a smile and he opened his eyes, looking to Jungkook. Jungkook couldn’t help it, he smiled back.
“Sorry?” Jungkook attempted. Jimin laughed and shook his head.
“Time is a construct anyways, and so are apologies. But I’m sorry too. You can finish up tomorrow, I’ll be there.”
Jungkook rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Thanks, and after that you can practice for your showcase. I’ll critique.”
Jimin plucked his duffel bag off the floor and began walking down the hallway with Jungkook by his side, “Yeah? And what makes you think you’re capable of doing that?”
“Well,” Jungkook started cheekily, “I recall my dance teacher as being quite the klutz sometimes, it became second nature to point out his mistakes.”
“Brat.”
“Your brat.”
“Nope, just a brat.”
And that was them, Jimin and Jungkook. They’d known each other all through high school and now they were learning to navigate how to be freshman all over again. Sure they fought. A lot, actually. But in the end, they’d always come back to each other. Because they were best friends and for best friends, it was hard to be with each other sometimes, sure, but it was harder to be without each other.
“This is unnatural! It shouldn’t exist! I’m going to fail and get kicked out of this stupid school and never be able to design stupid buildings and make stupid money for the rest of my stupid life!”
“Extensive vocabulary, little Jeon.”
“Shut your stupid trap, little Park.”
They were in Jungkook’s dorm room. Jimin was lying on the bed, reading some book about healthy eating. He sighed and placed a bookmark in the crease before setting the novel aside and sitting up. He stared at Jungkook, whose head was resting on the desk. Jungkook lifted his head just enough to make puppy-dog eyes at Jimin.
“Help me?” Jungkook tried sounding pitiful, which wasn’t hard considering his current status of Dumbest Person Alive. “I don’t understand this shit at all, and I sure as hell can’t fail.”
“Yes you can. This class is an elective, remember? Your perfectionist ass probably doesn’t like hearing this, but you could fail this class and it literally would not affect your life-long goal of becoming an architect. Your GPA? Sure. But how much is one class really going to matter?” Jimin’s logic was flawless, except for the fact that Jungkook’s perfectionist ass truly didn’t like hearing any of it and therefore did not process any of it. His life was a stack of Jenga blocks and God was a drunk freshman at his first frat party desperately wanting to prove his worth by winning a game his loose limbs were just not made for.
“Also, taking Chemistry this year just because you were good at it in high school was a stupid decision. Just throwing that out there.”
“You suck, go back to reading about the different kind of leaves you can put down your throat,” Jungkook huffed. He slammed his textbook shut and stared out the window dramatically. “I’ll just fail and damage my perfect GPA, which, by the way, is the pride of my family. Stop laughing, I’m serious!”
Jimin finally got up from the bed and sprawled himself over Jungkook’s lap, turning his face away from the window. Jungkook pouted. “We’ll find you a tutor, okay? Let’s go get some food right now, it’s late. I’m a performance arts kid, Chemistry makes me want to physically throw up.”
“Technically you’re a health and nutrition kid,” Jungkook muttered, but he complied nonetheless, and soon they were down in the cafeteria.
It was close to 8, which meant prime time for kids who lived on campus. There was a flock of people crowding around the cakes, which immediately put Jungkook in an even worse mood than he was in before.
“They’re going to get all the cheesecake cups before we get there,” he groaned, “why is life so unfair?”
Jimin smacked him on the back of his head and told him to “sit the fuck down drama queen” so that he could get them food. Jungkook obeyed and pulled out his phone, deleting some pictures from his phone and moving others around to keep everything organized. He was considering joining Jimin in the line and even scanned the crowd of people to spot where the elder was when he noticed what was happening.
Jimin was standing uncomfortably in front of this dude who looked like the type of person to duct-tape knives to their chest for “self-defence”. He was standing incredibly close to Jimin, practically breathing down his neck and although Jungkook couldn’t heart anything from so far, he could see the guy mouthing words into Jimin’s ear that were clearly making him uncomfortable. Jimin shifted every so often and didn’t once look behind him. Jungkook’s eyes narrowed in annoyance as he got up, getting closer to the line.
Park Jimin was usually so outspoken and didn’t hesitate to defend himself when Jungkook accused him of something but throw him into a situation where an actual confrontation was needed, and suddenly all his bravado left him. Jungkook almost rolled his eyes.
Jungkook walked straight up to Jimin and not-so-accidentally shoved the guy leaning into him as he went in to peck his cheek. Jimin turned to look at Jungkook, ears tinting pink as he opened his mouth to say something. But before he could, Jungkook whined in a sickeningly cute voice, “Baby! What’s taking so long? I’m hungry!”
“Uh.”
Park Jimin everybody, a man of many words.
“Dude, don’t you have something to say?” The discount serial killer behind them said through gritted teeth, his eyes on Jungkook.
“Oh! I’m sorry! Did I bump into you? I guess I get too excited when I’m with my boyfriend. Sorry about that.” Jungkook ignored Jimin pinching his stomach and merely slid his arm around his waist. “It won’t happen again.”
“I didn’t need you to come save me like some knock-off knight in shining armour, idiot,” Jimin muttered lowly, struggling to move out of Jungkook’s grip.
Jungkook grinned, planting another wet kiss on Jimin’s jaw, “Relax, baby, it’s the least I could do for my honey bear.”
“One more word and I’m not sweet-talking Ms. Chan into giving you an extra cheesecake cup.” Jimin warned, at which Jungkook immediately shut up. Although his hand stayed on Jimin’s waist, it didn’t have to, but Jungkook liked having it there. He certainly didn’t want Freddy Krueger back there to try something else. Yeah, that was it. A gesture of consideration.
After they’d gotten their food and settled down at a table, Jungkook gave Jimin a sly smile. “You’re such a charmer, Park Jimin. I don’t know how you get Ms. Chan to give you extras every single time.”
He grabbed the first of his two cheesecake cups and began devouring it, not even sparing a glance at his actual dinner. Jimin looked at him distastefully and wrinkled his nose, “I think she likes that I have actual manners and can behave decently in the caf, unlike someone I know.”
“Wha you mee?” Jungkook choked out from his mouthful of cake, he quickly swallowed the rest and wiped his mouth free of crumbs. “You know, as flirtatious as you can be, you don’t handle intimacy very well.”
Jimin’s hand stopped in mid-air, bell peppers falling from his fork to the plate with a satisfying plop. “What.”
Jungkook grinned, “Earlier, your ears turned red! It was the most entertained I’ve been in 19 years, to tell you the truth. What was up with that? Wait, don’t tell me… do I make you… nervous?”
Jimin stabbed his vegetables a little too hard on the plate and looked up with an obviously fake smile, “Shut up if you know what’s good for you, Jeon Jungkook.” Jungkook didn’t back down, opting to lean in close across the table until Jimin looked up, only to find that the two of them were nose to nose.
“Oh look, a fly.”
“No fly here,” Jungkook said in a matter-of-fact tone, thankfully without food in mouth. His innocent expression slowly transformed into a smirk. “Just a well-mannered boy who definitely does not make you nervous acting decently in the caf.”
Before Jimin could call Jungkook out on his bullshit, there was cake on his face and he couldn’t see. He could hear Jungkook cackling, his evil laughter only increased when Jimin tried to blindly swat at him.
“Oh, Jeon Jungkook,” Jimin said in a murderous tone while wiping cake off his face, “the dead man you are today.”
In the blink of an eye, both boys were up and running. Jungkook screamed in delight while being chased by a ravenous Jimin. Ms. Chan stared at them with a surprisingly fond look in her eyes (probably because of Jimin, the old charmer) and then nearly yelped when she realized Jungkook was running towards her.
Jungkook jumped over the counter and hid behind Ms. Chan.
“You wouldn’t go through such a beautiful lady, would you?” Jungkook taunted as Jimin also slid over the counter. “Especially not when her hair is looking so voluminous!” Jimin made a wild swipe for Jungkook but he moved out of the way.
Jungkook stepped towards the left and in the split second that Jimin lunged to that side, Jungkook slipped past Ms. Chan on her right, gave her a wink, and sprinted out of the caf and towards the field. Just when he thought he’d successfully evaded the wrath of Jimin, Jungkook felt a hand on his shirt and he was yanked back and knocked to the ground. Thank god for soft grass. Jimin sat on top of him, a triumphant smile on his face.
“Guess who?” He practically sand. Now, what happened next was purely evolutionary instinct. Jungkook was the prey, and Jimin was the predator. Also, Jungkook used to be on his high school wrestling team so it might’ve had something to do with that. In a span of seconds, Jungkook utilised his rush of adrenaline to take Jimin down and straddle him, switching their previous positions. Sometimes, he forgot that Jimin was physically smaller than him. It was moments like these where he just really, really enjoyed that fact.
“I swear to god, the minute you let me go-”
“Who says I’m letting you go?” Jungkook pulled out his phone and carelessly pretended to entertain himself with it, “I have a couple phone calls to make anyways, care to listen in?”
Jimin, clearly defeated, stopped resisting and just let Jungkook sit on him. He stared at the stars and exhaled deeply, rolling his eyes when Jungkook leaned over his face to block his view. “Jesus, Jungkook. No one’s ever going to be able to date you for longer than 2 minutes. You’re the worst.”
“Oh, definitely,” Jungkook waved off. He pocketed his phone and leaned in even closer to Jimin, fingers grazing his cheek where there was some cake left. “And I don’t need someone, anyways. I have you, don’t I?” He popped the cake into his mouth.
Jimin cleared his throat, eyes lingering on Jungkook’s finger, “Excuse me?”
Jungkook put his ears right next to Jimin’s ear and whispered, “I’ll just marry you, babe.”
Jungkook sniggered when Jimin hastily pushed his torso back up, his face turning a cute little shade of red. “No thank you,” Jimin choked out, sounding embarrassed. He sighed in relief when Jungkook finally got off him.
They sat criss-crossed, facing each other under the harsh field lights. Jungkook smiled and then shook his head, “In all seriousness, I love you. You know that, right? Having you with me has kept me sane this year.” He knew it was cheesy, but Jungkook felt the need to thank the older boy for putting up with his stupid ass.
Jimin punched him on the shoulder, looking anywhere but at Jungkook’s face. “Yeah, yeah. I love you too.” Before Jimin could withdraw his hand, though, Jungkook caught his wrist and held it gently between his own fingers. Without warning, he planted a soft kiss on Jimin’s forehead. When he pulled back, there was cake on his lips and Jimin, although caught off guard, silently wiped it off with his thumb.
“Well, this is awkward,” a voice boomed out from behind them. A boy stood there, about their age. His features were a little hard to distinguish because the lights didn’t quite reach him. “I didn’t expect to be hearing love confession on my walk to the caf, but by all means, continue. Don’t let me interrupt you!”
Jungkook and Jimin stared at the boy, and then back at themselves. All at once, they sprang up and took a few steps away from each other. Jimin was the first to speak.
“It’s not like that, trust me. We’re not… we would never… uh… hey, I know you!” Jimin exclaimed as the boy stepped out from the shadows. “You’re Taehyung!” You’re the one who gave me flowers at my last showcase! You wouldn’t have believed it, Jungkook. He just came up to me and said ‘hey, you deserved flowers for that; and then he ran out of the room. I thought I was hallucinating, but then he shows up out of breath with this grin on his face as he presents me with a huge bouquet of flowers with the tag still on them and-”
Jimin turned to look at Jungkook but he was staring at Taehyung, his face gone slack. He glanced at Jimin long enough to convey the get-me-out-of-here-before-I-say-something-stupid way look and Jimin, looking beyond confused, simply turned to Taehyung, gave an awkward little wave goodbye and then pulled Jungkook away and into the building.
The whole time going back to the dorm, Jungkook didn’t say a word as Jimin complained about “bad impressions” and “making new friends”. As soon as they stepped into the room, though, Jungkook snapped out of his trance and started hitting his head against the closet door. Jimin, not entirely unhappy with the situation, just sat down on Jungkook’s bed and watched him repeat the action a few times before he stopped, his head rested against the door.
“Okay, crackhead, care to finally explain?”
“I’m in love.”
Jimin gaped at him. In all the years he’d known Jeon Jungkook, he’d never proclaimed his love for someone else. He’d had crushes, even on Jimin, but he’d never blatantly said that he was “in love”. It wasn’t like Jungkook, who’d told Jimin time and time again that there was no way he’d ever get into a serious relationship in high school because he still had no fucking clue what that entailed or what this whole love business was about. Jungkook was a feeler, but a calculated feeler.
“Kim fucking Taehyung. He’s in my Chemistry class and ever since I saw him on my first day, I’ve just been head over heels,” Jungkook groaned, removing himself from the closet and collapsing onto the bed, his head lying in Jimin’s lap. “I only ever see him in class and I’ve never once had the nerve to talk to him. So seeing him outside of class was… jarring, to say the least.”
“Kim Taehyung,” Jimin murmured, not fully listening to Jungkook, who continues talking about Taehyung in a dreamy voice as Jimin stares straight ahead.
And even though Jimin should’ve laughed or teased Jungkook about love at first sight, even though Jimin should’ve complained about not being told about this earlier, he didn’t. Instead, his head hung low so that he was looking at Jungkook’s head in his lap, his eyes lighting up as he talks about Taehyung, and something inside of him cracked.
And Jimin had no idea why.
“So when were you planning on telling me?” Jimin asked through a mouthful of toothpaste. Jungkook gave him a pointed look in the mirror and pulled his own toothbrush out to twirl it next to his head, the universe symbol for ‘you’re fucking psychotic’. He spit into the sink.
“You would’ve gone all crazy. Remember when that girl asked me to Prom in junior year and you interrogated her to the point where she backed off and told me she didn’t want to go with me anymore? I didn’t want that Jimin to appear.”
“Okay, fair.”
Jimin finished brushing his teeth and watched Jungkook neatly pack up his toiletries. He made a move to leave but stopped when Jungkook pulled out a bottle of perfume tentatively.
“No.”
Jungkook looked offended, “What? I can’t smell nice?” But he averted his eyes.
Jimin rolled his eyes, “I can’t believe you’re this whipped already.”
It was a known fact on their floor that Jeon Jungkook was sensitive to smells. If you were inviting him over, your room must be a scent-free zone unless you wanted him to go home with a nasty migraine. Jungkook never used perfume, usually opting for lotion instead. Jimin knew this, the whole world knew this.
But here he was, dabbing perfume onto his wrists and gently rubbing his neck. Jungkook crinkled his nose and shoved the bottle back into his bag. Jimin scoffed.
“You’re willing to be confined to bedrest and nausea because of… because of what exactly? Kim Taehyung?” Maybe it sounded a little catty, but Jimin felt the need to bring his best friend to his senses.
A dreamy sigh escaped Jungkook’s lips and it was like watching a cartoon character’s eyes literally glaze over, “Because of love, little Park.”
Before Jimin could retort, someone stepped out of the shower from behind them and Jimin instinctively looked over his shoulder. When he saw who it was, he immediately cursed and kept his head down. Jungkook looked at him strangely and flicked his forehead.
“Hey, let’s go. Jimin?” Jimin almost threw a fit, if only Jungkook would learn to read social cues.
“Jimin?” A deep voice called from behind them. Jungkook turned around and his eyebrows immediately narrowed. He grabbed Jimin’s elbow and was ready to storm out of there but Jimin didn’t move. Jungkook watched in disbelief as Jimin put on a reluctant smile and turned, staring straight at his ex.
“Namjoon. Hi!”
Namjoon stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist, skin still glistening with moisture. Jungkook had to admit he looked good, even if his fogged up glasses ruined the effect. Didn’t make him any less of a dick though. Jungkook’s scowl didn’t drop off his face once as he watched the two of them converse for a few minutes. In fact, it only seemed to deepen when Jimin laughed at something Namjoon said. Jungkook was 99% sure he’d have permanent wrinkles around his mouth when Namjoon leaned in to give Jimin a hug and said bye.
Jimin joined Jungkook looking slightly dazed but jumped when Jungkook snapped at him, “Don’t go fucking soft on me, Park Jimin. I forbid you from falling for his charm again.”
“Shut up, I won’t. He was just being friendly.”
“He was just being friendly,” Jungkook imitated in his most annoying, high-pitched Jimin voice. This earned him a (well-deserved) pinch to his side.
Kim Namjoon had been an unfortunate part of Jimin’s life when they’d first started University. A smart, older student who, unbeknownst to Jimin and Jungkook, had quite the reputation for being a grade A asshole. Unfortunately, he was also incredibly charming. What did this lead to? A one-sided relationship in which Jimin got pulled back in every time he was about to leave because Namjoon carefully planned out when to showcase his boyfriendability. Jungkook, of course, called bullshit and finally got Jimin out of what had to be the worst relationship of his life and dealt with the aftermath as Jimin cried about how stupid he’d been (and occasionally, how much he missed Namjoon, for whatever reason).
They remained friendly, much to Jungkook’s chagrin. Jimin wasn’t entirely comfortable with him yet, but he could handle a casual conversation. Or at least, that’s what he told himself.
Jungkook, on the other hand, had perfected his bullshit detector.
“If he even tries talking to you again, I swear to god,” Jungkook muttered, annoyed. He grabbed his backpack from his room and threw it to Jimin, who was standing in the doorway.
“You’ll do what, Jungkook?” Jimin’s eyes shrank in amusement. Jungkook finally found his keys from deep within the folds of his blanket and he quickly reached the door to lock up.
“Anything. I’ll do anything to make sure he doesn’t,” Jungkook said firmly, grabbing his backpack from Jimin and putting his keys inside. Jimin just laughed and waved his words off, beginning to walk down the hall.
“I’m serious, Jimin. I don’t want him near you. Hey!” Jungkook grabbed Jimin’s wrist and pulled him back to him. Jimin, not expecting the sudden jerk, nearly tripped over his own feet but Jungkook held him up by the shoulders.
“Jesus, Jeon, give a guy a warning next time,” Jimin rolled his shoulders to get rid of Jungkook’s hands and then looked at him right in the eyes, “I’m not going back to him. Understand? Contrary to what you may believe, I actually do have some self-respect. Sure, I have leftover feelings but that’s all they are – leftovers. Echoes of what I actually felt. So calm down and let’s go to class.”
Guilt appeared in Jungkook’s eyes but Jimin stopped him from saying anything, “It’s okay. Let’s just go.”
He nodded and they walked down the hall together.
Jungkook wandered to the field after class to wait for Jimin. As he sat down, he scanned the crowds for the familiar tank top and basketball shorts combination but didn’t find it. He was considering calling Jimin just to be annoying but his phone rang before he could go through with it.
The universe was always stopping Jungkook from being a brat, it was actually kind of rude if he thought about it.
Jungkook picked up when he saw it was his mother, a smile immediately spreading across his face, “Mom! I thought you’d forgotten about me-”
“Why hasn’t Jimin called me? It’s been a month!”
“Yeah, missed you too,” Jungkook leaned back to lay his head on the ground but was met with a pair of legs instead. Jimin was sitting cross-legged behind him, and Jungkook grinned at him from his lap. “He’s here now, why don’t you nag him yourself.” He put the phone on speaker and placed it on his stomach.
“Park Jimin? Is there a reason I haven’t heard from you in a month? Or are you too old to talk to me now?”
Jimin winced at the harsh tone and put a hand over Jungkook’s mouth when he started giggling. “Hyejung, it’s not like that. You know it’s harder for me to find the time right now and-”
“Mm. I thought you’d be the type to make the time, not find it. Guess I was wrong.”
“You know, I see where you get your pettiness from,” Jimin said drily to Jungkook. Then, picking up the phone, he said, “Hyejung, I swear I’ll come to visit soon. For now, though, we’ve really got to study, okay?”
“Fine, fine. I’ll grant you leniency just this once. Pick up your phone next time, okay?”
“I was in class!” Jimin exclaimed defensively.
Jungkook clucked his tongue in disappointment, “You know that doesn’t matter to her.”
“Whatever you say,” Hyejung said apathetically, “I’ll leave you to it, then. Is Jungkook still there?”
“Yes, I am. Thanks for noticing, oh dear mother of mine,” Jungkook plucked the phone out of Jimin’s hand and turned it off speakerphone, holding it to his ear. He said a few more okays and alrights until finally, the call ended.
“She calls me more than my own mom,” Jimin shook his head in disbelief. Jungkook grabbed his Chemistry textbook and handed it to Jimin, who opened it up and rested it on Jungkook’s chest.
“Well, if I knew your mom, she’d call me more than my mom. We were clearly switched at birth. And don’t put the book here, I can’t look at the material if I’m trying to study. Oh, that reminds me actually, what are we planning for the summer? Are we finally visiting yours?”
“Are you actually going to study?”
“Uh, probably not.”
“Idiot.
Jimin closed the book and placed it on the grass beside him, leaning back on his wrists. The sun was pleasantly warm. Jungkook tilted his head back in Jimin’s lap and pinched the skin on his neck. “Hey, answer me. Are we going to your place? You’ve never even told me where exactly you lived before coming to Busan. I don’t even know the names of your parents! Wouldn’t it be nice to, I don’t know, spend some time there?”
Jimin sighed and looked down at Jungkook, tweaking his nose gently before saying, “I’m sorry, Jungkook. Can I just come back to yours this summer?”
“Of course, but Jimin…” Jungkook suddenly sat up and turned to face Jimin. He seemed to struggle to find the words and then finally decided on, “Just, I’m here. You know, to talk or whatever. You didn’t tell me then, and you aren’t telling me now, and that’s okay. I just don’t want you to carry whatever this is around forever. Okay?”
Jimin smiled and ruffled Jungkook’s hair, “Okay, little Jeon. Now really, you have an exam in less than 30 minutes, shouldn’t you study?”
“Shit, yeah. You know what, I’m going to study outside of the class. Maybe I’ll find people in my class to study with. To be clear, people is Kim Taehyung,” Jungkook shoved his textbook into his bag and blew a kiss to Jimin as he got up.
“Love you, babe! Wish me luck!” Jimin groaned in embarrassment but wished him luck anyways, waving reluctantly.
From the outside, it looked like something more. But Jimin knew they were just friends. Just friends.
It had been 30 minutes since his class ended and 20 minutes since Jimin first received his text, and Jungkook still wasn’t here. Jimin was waiting in the dance studio, scrolling through Instagram without really paying attention to what posts he was liking. Jungkook had told Jimin to meet him there, saying he’d come after “talking to Taehyung about a thing”. Their conversation had gone as follows:
5:40 p.m
>bitch meet me at the practice room we gon get shit DONe
5:41 p.m
istg shit better not just mean ur shit<
i actually need to practice dont further convince me that ur brain is the size of ur dick (re: small)<
5:41 p.m
>first of all. im an angel ofc im helping u with ur shit ? ?
>second of all if u wanted to compare my brain to smth small and Really offend me u shoudve just used urself
5:41 p.m
hahahahhahahaahaha! die.<
5:42 p.m
>also i have a juicy story about a certain Kim bring ur small ass ears so u can enjoy listenin.
>on second thought i might have to bring a megaphone so the sound can travel thru ur puny ear canals : ))
5:42 p.m
im sorry didn’t i Just tell u to die<
5:50 p.m
i have a high maintenance ass it cant sit on anything that isn’t plush for this long<
5:52 p.m
>u kno what they say sit down be humble
>srry tho got caught up with tae, ill be there soon
It was now 6 PM.
Jimin didn’t mind Taehyung, really didn’t. The dude seemed nice enough. Jimin just felt this tug in his stomach when Taehyung was apparently enough to make Jungkook completely forget about him. Okay, not forget about him, but that’s what it felt like.
He decided to get changed and start practicing, not knowing when Jungkook would decide to show up. Just as he switched out his normal tank top for a workout tank top, Jungkook burst into the studio, a grin on his face and his easel under his arm.
“You won’t believe how fucking slick I am,” was the first thing he said. Jimin gave him a small smile and plugged his phone into the speakers. He put on a short violin piece he could warm up to. Was he acting petty? Yes. Did he have a good reason? Not really. Was he going to keep acting petty anyways? Absolutely.
“Well, aren’t you going to ask why?” Jungkook’s words were bursting out of him with barely contained energy. He swiftly set up his easel and squeezed out the necessary paints onto his palette.
Jimin stayed focused on the way his leg slid across the floor a little too lazily. It looked sloppy, but Jimin could fix that with time. As he was about to reach the climax of the composition, it abruptly switched to the song he was using for his showcase.
Jimin groaned, “Jungkook! Just let me warm up and then I’ll humour you about Prince Charming.” He watched through the mirror as Jungkook put Jimin’s phone back down and practically skipped over to him. Jungkook smiled when Jimin sighed in defeat and placed his hands on Jungkook’s hips from behind.
“How do you even know the choreo?” Jimin asked suspiciously when Jungkook began moving to the beats. Jimin’s fingers moved up and down Jungkook’s body, tapping rhythmically and eventually landing on Jungkook’s hands.
“I only know some, not all of it. I pay attention when you dance, obviously,” Jungkook pulled Jimin flush against his body by placing his hand on the small of Jimin’s back, he let him lean back and then let go, somehow managing to grab his hands before he fell to the ground. Jimin slid through Jungkook’s legs and stood up, looking at him in disbelief.
“That move was too dangerous for anyone but my partner to do, you moron! What if I got hurt?”
“Calm down, Jimin. I went to your partner and asked for pointers the other day because I knew I’d be practicing with you and I wanted to do it right. That’s why I know the choreo so well, okay? Jesus, stop exposing my ass,” Jimin slapped Jungkook on the arm and turned off the music, ignoring the younger’s cries of pain.
He stood there with his arms crossed and Jungkook stared at him, “What? What did I do this time?”
“Jeon Jungkook, you learned not only my part of the dance but my partner’s part. I don’t even know when you did this! That’s a lot of time spent doing something that’s completely irrelevant for you, you could’ve used that time to, oh I don’t know, study for your exams!” Jimin didn’t know why he was so angry, he just was. Jungkook sputtered for words and in a split second, his face took on more annoyance than confusion.
“Why are you getting so mad? I was trying to help, Jimin!” Jungkook took a step towards Jimin but Jimin held out his hands.
“I don’t want you to help me that much! You… you have no right to!”
“What?”
“You have no right,” Jimin said, his voice tight, “You’re nothing more than a friend, Jungkook. That’s it. You’re not my boyfriend or something that you’d feel the need to go out of your way like this just to help me out. I’m not that important. God, just… just focus on your life and I’ll focus on mine. You’re messing everything up!”
Somewhere along the way, Jimin had started crying. He didn’t want to be this way. It wasn’t fair to either of them, but he didn’t know how to stop. Everything he’d said was true on some level, but who was Jimin really mad at? Because it certainly wasn’t Jungkook.
Despite how hurt Jungkook appeared, he still managed to say in a calm voice, “Jimin, if something’s wrong, we’ll work it out together. Just tell me.”
That was it. That was the moment. Jimin liked Jungkook. A lot. Too much.
“Don’t do that! Oh my god, Jungkook! You’re hurt! I hurt you, why aren’t you yelling at me? Please, just…” Jimin dragged the heel of his palm along his face, choking on his words. Without thinking, he grabbed his phone and bag and moved past Jungkook, out of the studio, not turning to look once despite the younger’s pleas.
Jimin had fucked up, and he couldn’t deal with what that meant right now. When he got back to his dorm, his phone beeped with a notification. Jimin chucked his shoes off and jumped into bed, pulling his phone out of his pocket to check it.
jungkookie
>i asked him to be my chem tutor. that’s what i was gonna tell u. talk to me when ure ready.
Jimin felt like he was going to start crying again. He buried his head in his pillow for a moment and then collected himself, scrolling through his contacts to find someone in particular.
“So yeah, that’s what it is.”
“Min, you can’t be serious.”
“Shut up, Hoseok. It’s not that far-fetched. I don’t think.”
“Yes it is! I mean, the whole you being in love with him-”
“Love is a strong word.”
“-thing is not far-fetched. But the fact that it took you so long to figure it out? I spent all of your stupid high school years listening to you talk about this dude every Monday afternoon and every time I even suggested you might have a crush on him, you shut me down. And now you figure it out?”
“First of all, it’s not my fault that half your dance ‘lessons’ were just us talking. You never let me respond to your ‘how was your day’ with ‘good’, you always wanted to hear everything. So if anything, it’s your fault for being nosy.”
“An unwarranted attack on my teaching style, but okay.”
“Also, I didn’t like him in high school! I really don’t think I did. Something’s changed now. God, I fucked up bad.”
“Yeah, of course something’s changed. Someone’s moving in on your man. And Jimin, stop sniffling, you’re not a moody teenager anymore.”
“I’m upset! And, he’s not my man! In fact, he isn’t even my boy. He’s just. Jungkook.”
“You infuriate me, Min.”
“Really? I think I’m kind of cute.”
“I will hang up right now, find a way to physically reach through phone screens, call you back, and strangle you.”
“Seriously, though. Hoseok. Please. Tell me what to do about this.”
“Jimin, just do what you should’ve done in the first place, tell him how you feel. Any other option over complicates things and before you know it, you guys will be in your 30s and won’t have spoken to each other in years because you were too afraid to admit your feelings but you also couldn’t stand to see him with someone else so you just ran away.”
“Oddly specific.”
“What can I say, I’m an excellent foreshadower.”
“I’m going to take my time. I don’t want to mess up anything between him and Taehyung right now.”
“ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Right now would be IDEAL to tell him so that you can get it over with before he gets serious with Taehyung.”
“I… you’re right. Sure, yeah, I can do that. Thanks, Hoseok. I’ll call you when I plan on visiting.”
“Of course, Min. I’ll be waiting, as usual. Bye.”
“Bye.”
Jungkook knocked on Jimin’s door, trying not to be too loud. It was the middle of the night, approaching 1:15 AM now. Jimin hadn’t answered any of his texts of calls, and he was beginning to worry. Jimin’s words from earlier hadn’t stopped bouncing around his head. He heard the sound of footsteps coming from inside and instantly stood a little taller. As soon as the door opened, Jungkook lunged to hug Jimin, who nearly toppled over wish so much extra weight on him.
“What the fuck, Jimin,” Jungkook said in Jimin’s ear. His words implied that he was angry but his tone was soft, relieved. “I thought you’d finally drowned yourself in beer of something.”
Jimin pushed Jungkook away and upon seeing his face, Jungkook froze. Jimin’s eyes were bloodshot, his cheeks had chalky streaks running down them and his nose was rubbed raw. His hair was tousled every which way, as if he’d been pulling it over and over again for hours. Which he could’ve been doing, for all Jungkook knew. He looked over Jimin’s shoulders and noticed the bottle of wine situated on the desk.
“Guess I wasn’t far from the truth,” Jungkook said softly. He looked into Jimin’s eyes, “Tell me how to help you.” Jimin sniffed and shook his head, eyes glazed over but a crease forming in between his eyebrows. He stepped away from Jungkook and curled up on his bed. Jungkook drew in a long breath and then moved to shut the door, silently thanking the gods Jimin’s roommate never came back to the dorms before 3 in the morning. He lay down on the mattress beside Jimin and grabbed a hold of his face.
“Tell me. Please, Jimin,” Jungkook’s voice cracked, pained from having to see his best friend like this. In all the years he’d known Jimin, he’d never looked so utterly heartbroken.
“No one. Jungkook, no one’s ever going to – to love me. Isn’t that fucking pathetic? Not you, nuh-not my family, no one.” And Jungkook had definitely heard this before, but never so intensely, never full of such conviction. Still, he felt himself breathe a little easier knowing that nothing absolutely awful had happened to Jimin.
“Jimin, you know that’s not true. You have so many amazing qualities.”
“I’m not a fuck. Fucking scholar luh-like Taehyung,” Jimin said in a small, broken voice. He looked so hurt, so fragile. He looked the way you can only look after being emotionally drained to the bone. “I don’t have nice eyes, or a deep – deep voice.”
Jungkook’s eyes narrowed, when had Taehyung come into the picture? “Jimin, being academically gifted isn’t exactly number one on the ‘qualities I want my boyfriend to have’ list that most people have. You’re absolutely gorgeous, radiant, even. You’ve got these soft eyes, and a cute nose, and full lips. Your voice is light and dreamy and perfect for you because you’ve always been fairy-like. And you’re one hell of a dancer! God, when I see you move on stage it’s like I can see you completely change the atmosphere. You leave a trail of emotion behind you that touches the hearts of everyone in the room. You give the best pep-talks in the world and you have the purest, biggest heart out of anyone I know. You are capable of giving so much love, it only makes sense that you’re constantly inviting it back in. You could get literally anyone in the world.”
Jimin’s eyes sharpened for a fraction of a moment and he stared right at Jungkook. “Anyone?” he whispered.
“Anyone,” Jungkook confirmed. He pulled Jimin into his chest. “Now, go to sleep.”
Jimin mumbled something into his chest and in a few minutes, was fast asleep. Jungkook sighed into the dark and hugged Jimin a little bit closer, a little bit tighter.
“Wake up, Jimin. It’s time for class. Well, your class, not mine.”
“Hnghh. Bwekhfusht.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, but I can’t today. Seriously, get up. Jimin. Jimin? Park, I dare you to get the fuck up.”
“Urngh muh hehhd.”
“Yeah I left some Advil for that. Listen, if you don’t get up, you’re admitting to being a cheater. Ah, there you go! Just don’t lie back down.”
“UNGHH.”
“Fine, I’m leaving… call me if you need me?”
“Shaddupp.”
“Cool, bye.”
Around 5 PM that day, Jimin finally stopped thinking about all the bad things that could happen if he told Jungkook that he had a little thing for him and decided to just do it. The night before had been a complete disaster. Actually, the whole day had been pretty shitty. Jungkook didn’t deserve that, but in the end, he stayed with Jimin. Jungkook stayed with Jimin.
He needed to tell Jungkook how he felt before Taehyung turned into something more than a crush. Jimin wasn’t sure what brought on this sudden burst of confidence and adrenaline but he knew it wouldn’t last for long so he needed to act while it fueled him.
He grabbed his shoes and raced out of the dorm, intent on telling Jungkook everything.
Drinking to the point of wanting to cry for a week straight had not been Jimin’s intention when he’d pulled out the wine last night. He’d just wanted to relax and empty his mind of any confusing thoughts. Before he knew it, old insecurities began creeping back and he couldn’t take it, he broke down. Jimin often wondered why people said they “drink to forget”. Whenever he drank, he just seemed to revisit the worst memories among the ones he’d naturally forgotten. What a scam.
Jimin was half-way across the field, being poured on by the rain to the point where he couldn’t keep his eyes open, when he literally ran into a familiar body. Jimin fell to the ground and looked across at Jungkook, who was rubbing his head with a grin on his face. He got up, laughing, and extended a hand to Jimin. A shot of energy flowed through his body as Jimin was pulled to his feet, he smiled through the rain and rubbed the part of Jungkook’s head he’d knocked against. Jimin opened his mouth to say something but before he could, Jungkook spoke.
“I love you.”
Jimin stared at him, not quite believing what he’d just heard. It was like all the noise from the downpour had been cut, like the only sounds that mattered were his beating heart and Jungkook’s words. Despite his brain not entirely comprehending the words, a smile began to stretch across his face.
“I love you so much and I know it’s kind of out of the blue, but I just had to tell you. I don’t think being friends is going to work anymore.” Jungkook had an insanely wide grin on his face.
Jimin couldn’t contain how happy he was a laugh bubbled out of him, loud and free. It was oddly appropriate, the confession happening on the field. They’d been here just two nights ago, saying their ‘I love you’s for a completely different reason. Jimin was so caught up in the moment he didn’t feel his hand running through his wet hair, didn’t hear himself clearly until he’d said-
“I love you too.” There. It was as simple as that. And now Jimin was downright giddy.
Jungkook threw his head back as he laughed and then grabbed Jimin’s face in his hands, eyes shining, “Do you think he’ll say that? When I tell him?”
Just as fast as the giddiness came, it disappeared. Jimin’s smile started to fall, the rain was making his vision blurry.
“Who,” Jimin asked, but he knew.
“Taehyung, silly. Who else? Okay, let’s start again. You’re Taehyung and I’m me…”
Jungkook’s words faded into the distance. The downpour that had gone silent suddenly thundered in his ears and Jimin couldn’t hear his own heartbeat but he could feel it. He could feel it slow down and speed up and he wished that eventually, it would stop altogether. Hope was a dangerous thing, Jimin felt like an idiot for inviting it into his life with open arms. He should’ve known better.
“..okay? Oh my god, I can’t believe I’m actually about to fucking tell him this!” Jungkook pulled Jimin into a hug, completely enveloping him.
In that moment, Jimin hugged back. He held onto Jungkook as tight as he could and when they pulled apart, Jimin thought about how lucky it was that it had started to rain.
How lucky it was that Jungkook wouldn’t be able to tell tears apart from raindrops.
Jungkook and Taehyung had hung out all morning under the pretense of studying for Chemistry. Jungkook had come back to his dorm incredibly happy, knowing that whatever it was he had with Taehyung was special. He was pretty sure he was in love. He’d decided to go tell him not 1 hour after they’d gone back to their respective buildings. Jungkook had ran into Jimin and then headed to Taehyung’s place. Jungkook had told Taehyung he loved him. Taehyung had kissed him on the spot.
Jimin knew because Jungkook hadn’t stopped talking about it for an hour.
Now it was Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook. Although, Jimin felt like a third wheel too often so he spent a lot of time in the studio. Jungkook never finished the painting of Jimin, he ended up doing one of Taehyung instead, who remained as charming as ever and became Jimin’s friend despite Jimin not wanting him to. It was hard to dislike Taehyung in any setting, really. The couple came to Jimin’s showcase before final exams started and brought him flowers.
“Just like old times, huh,” Jimin had joked to Taehyung, not much energy in his voice despite feeling like he was on cloud nine, like he usually did after a performance.
Taehyung had smiled with an emotion indistinguishable to Jimin, “Yeah, better times. When I didn’t know Jungkook.”
Jungkook had playfully argued with him about this statement but, for some reason, Jimin had sensed the words had been directed at him more than Jungkook. He’d felt as if Taehyung had looked right into his head and pulled out his ugliest thoughts to display in front of the world. But there was empathy behind the words, and in a twisted sort of way, Jimin had felt like Taehyung understood him better than Jungkook.
Jimin and Jungkook no longer hung out together as much, which was a given. Jimin had to learn to find new friends. He met Yoongi, an aspiring pianist, and spent any time he wasn’t with Jungkook and Taehyung with him. They were from the same town and Jimin had been mortified to hear that Yoongi knew about his family, but it was easy for them to be together. Things seemed to be getting better for Jimin, except they weren’t, obviously.
There was no overnight remedy for heartbreak, or even a one-month remedy. Jimin knew from experience.
On one particularly average day, Jimin got a call that destroyed any thoughts of his own pathetic heartbreak.
Within an hour, he had packed up his things and headed to the train station.
Jungkook and Taehyung scoured the windows for any sign of Jimin. A group of people began boarding the train right in front of Jungkook and he had to use all his patience not to yell at all of them to move it, already!
“Baby,” Taehyung called, “I’ll look down there, you keep looking up ahead, okay?”
Jungkook nodded hastily and moved up the platform. Jimin’s roommate had called him half-an-hour ago, asking him if he knew why Jimin was planning on going back home. According to him, all of Jimin’s stuff had been packed up and the place looked spotless except for a note left on his pillow.
God, he was going to kill Jimin.
Jimin’s face suddenly blurred past him. Jungkook stopped jogging and backtracked, staring at Jimin through the window, who looked exhausted. Jungkook climbed into the closest possible entrance, shoving past a bunch of other people and found Jimin’s booth. He sat down in front of him, trying to stay calm.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Jungkook questioned coldly.
“Home. I… my family needs me and, in all honesty, I think I need them too,” Jimin replied in a heavy voice.
“And you were going to tell me when?”
“Jungkook, I had no time, my mother-”
“God Jimin, it’s like we’re not even friends anymore!” Jungkook cried. He stood up and tugged on Jimin’s sleeve. “Come on, you’re not going anywhere. You still… you still have to finish exams! And I still need you here, you can’t just up and leave.”
Jimin pulled his arm away forcefully and looked at Jungkook. His eyebrows were drawn in frustration and his eyes shone with tears, “Jungkook. My mother’s been in an accident. I don’t care if you need me. I’m sorry. I’m going.”
Jungkook’s anger immediately left his face. His muscles relaxed and his eyes softened when he looked at Jimin.
“Jimin… I’m so sorry.” He pulled Jimin up on his feet so he could hug him.
“I want to dare you to stay, but I know you’re going to cheat,” Jungkook murmured into Jimin’s ear.
Jimin melted in Jungkook’s arms, “You’re right this time, little Jeon.”
“I’m right every time, little Park,” Jungkook leaned back from Jimin, arms still caught on his waist. “Promise me I’ll see you again? You’re going home, right? Tell me where that is.”
Jimin didn’t say anything, he twisted one of the rings off his finger and placed it gently into Jungkook’s palm before kissing him on the forehead. Jimin led Jungkook to the open entrance and with a small push, Jungkook ended up on the platform. His face twisted in confusion.
“Jimin, tell me where home is.”
“I dare you to be okay without me,” Jimin called out, fresh tears streaming down his face. The train began to move slowly. Jungkook was panicking now, he held onto one of the handrails and fell into a light jog.
“Jimin! Tell me before you leave. What if I can’t find you again? Please,” Jungkook choked on his words and lost his grip on the rail. He stumbled and tried catching up to Jimin, but the platform was about to end.
“Don’t you dare cheat, Jeon Jungkook,” Jimin called out, he couldn’t help but sob. Jungkook stood on the platform, looking like he’d had his entire world stolen from his. He could’ve told him, it would’ve been easy. But somewhere inside of him, Jimin really didn’t want to. He didn’t want Jungkook to be able to find him.
Jimin caught sight of Taehyung running to Jungkook and coming to a halt when he realized Jimin was nearly gone. Even from a distance, Jimin was still able to see that look in Taehyung’s eyes.
Only later, when Jimin was half-way home, did he realize what that look meant, what it had always meant: regret.
And that was the last time we ever saw that Jimin. Your Daddy cried a lot that day, and ever since then, he’s never taken off that silver ring. Jimin never contacted us again, and we couldn’t find him. He’d come from somewhere else to study at Jungkook’s high school and he’d stayed with a host family. Whenever Jungkook had asked Jimin about his life back home, he’d never answered any of the questions. When we decided to get married, Jungkook tried asking the University or even his high school for information about Park Jimin. But he was never able to find answers.
Getting in the way of Jimin and Jungkook’s relationship is the biggest regret of my life, and I don’t have a lot. Jungkook didn’t know Jimin liked him, and Jimin never told me or Jungkook. But I knew there was something between them, something that could’ve developed into a stronger love than your father and I had for each other.
Today, I trust you with this. Find Jimin. Give Jungkook another shot at happiness. Make him see that there’s always only been Jimin for him, and no one else – not truly.
I love you, Jimin.
Forever and always in your heart,
Taehyung.
Mina wiped away her tears as she stared at the picture paper-clipped to the last page of her Daddy and someone else who was probably Jimin. She folded the papers and pressed them back into the envelope, putting it aside so that she could breathe a little easier. She wasn’t completely sure how she was going to find this Jimin, or even get her Daddy to open up to her about him, but she did know one thing.
Her Daddy deserved a happily ever after, and she was going to be the one to give it to him.
pairing: jungkook x jimin
jungkook x taehyung (subplot)
summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 2/?
a/n: this story (along with some others) is also available on ao3 (user: we_are_bulletproof)
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5 YEARS LATER
“Daddy, it’s almost my birthday, why can’t you just give it to me now?” Mina said, exasperated. She glared at her father as he got ready for work. Jungkook finished buttoning up his shirt and tucked it in from the back.
“Sweetheart, you ask every year,” Jungkook said in his I’m-a-reasonable-parent-I-swear voice, “and I say no every year. You know the rules. No birthday, no letter.”
He fiddled with his tie one last time and gave himself a once-over before picking up his briefcase and turning around. Mina stood on his mattress, arms folded across her chest in defiance.
“You’re the worst,” Mina wrinkled her nose in distaste and let herself fall onto the bed, bouncing from the impact a couple of times before jumping onto the floor. Jungkook mentally mourned the loss of his perfectly made bed.
“Oh, most definitely,” Jungkook said, nodding sagely and exiting his room with Mina in his wake. “But… would the worst take his daughter out to Cheesy Cheesecakes a whole day before her birthday? Probably not. There go my plans for tonight, I guess.”
Mina’s slow trudge down the stairs suddenly came to a stop. Jungkook looked over his shoulder to find her pointing an accusatory finger at him, “That’s emotional blackmail.”
Jungkook blew out a breath of disbelief and fixed his cuffs nonchalantly, “So is calling me, and I quote, ‘the worst’, just so you can guilt me into giving you your letter early. Do you really think I can be bought that easily?”
Mina paused for a moment while Jungkook flicked his eyes to the clock to make sure he wasn’t running late. She slowly followed him to the kitchen and climbed up the counter to sit on it.
“Father dear,” she started, batting her eyelashes innocently, “you know I didn’t really mean that.”
Jungkook snorted while rinsing his apple and then took a bite, barely stopping himself from cursing when some of the juice squirted onto his shirt.
“Anyways,” Jungkook waved the apple around Mina for emphasis, “Since you’re not up for it, might as well take my other daughter.”
Mina’s eyebrows narrowed in suspicion, “You don’t have another daughter.” Jungkook tutted while shaking his head and took another large bite of the apple.
“Oh, but I do. Her name is Jimin and she has pretty brown eyes and she would never, ever think of opening up her birthday presents a day early.”
“My name is Jimin!”
“I thought your name was Mina?” Jungkook scratched his head, pretending to be confused and threw his apple core out. Mina hopped off the counter (almost making Jungkook scream because that’s a high drop) and sighed, loud and dramatic.
“Daddy, do we really have to go over this again? You always called me Min or Min-ah or Minnie or something that wasn’t Jimin so I told you to just call me Mina, which is a prettier name than Jimin anyways!”
Jungkook’s eyes softened and he smiled, “Okay, okay, I get it. I’ll take you after I get home, deal?”
Mina grinned triumphantly and she practically pushed Jungkook out the door, “Deal! Hurry up and go to work so that you can come home!”
“Alright. Hey, SLUG K!” Jungkook barely managed to remind Mina before she shut the door. He heard a muffled “SLUG K!” from inside and, once he’d heard Mina turn the lock, Jungkook left.
This whole single parent thing, it wasn’t easy. Especially when he had to leave Mina alone at home. Granted, it was usually only for a few minutes before his Mom arrived and took care of her until she left to go to school, but still, a guy worried. SLUG K had originated from Stay Locked Until Grandma Knocks, just a way for to remind Mina to stay safe.
Sometimes, he wished Mina would just stay in bed like a normal kid until she was woken up to get ready for school, but then his mornings wouldn’t be so entertaining. Besides, she’d told him that she liked watching him get ready and pretending to be his assistant. He’d had a good laugh at that.
“Assistant?” He’d told her, “Please, you’re going to be the Boss.”
It seemed like just yesterday Mina was crawling on the floor towards him, and now here she was, dancer extraordinaire in the 3rd grade, already making him so proud at such a young age and – no, he was not going to cry on the bus.
“…so I told you to just call me Mina, which is a prettier name than Jimin anyways!”
It had been Jungkook’s fault, the changing of names. After Taehyung passed, Jungkook couldn’t stop hearing his last request over and over again, constantly. He found it harder and harder to say his daughter’s name, and eventually when Mina was 6 years old, she’d asked him to just stop calling her that altogether (not that he did often).
There hadn’t been a legal name change involved though, so Jungkook had grown accustomed to the many “your daughter calls herself something completely different than her legal name, is this normal and do we need to fix it” phone calls from her teachers. Those were always fun to answer. Yeah, because Jungkook just loved to be subtly told he wasn’t being a responsible parent.
Jungkook got off at his stop and straightened his tie, clearing his head of any thoughts. Today, he’d have to be especially focused if he wanted to make it back in time to treat his daughter.
God, the joys of being an architect.
-
Mina sat on the swings and lazily kicked herself back and forth a couple of times before coming to a slow swing. Her Grandma, Hyejung, was sitting on a nearby park bench, looking up from her book every so often to ensure that Mina was alive and well. She watched as Mina waved to get her attention and nodded when her granddaughter pointed to one of the nearby structures and started walking there. It was a cute little thing, a small picnic table perfect for kids Mina’s age sheltered by a blue roof. There weren’t any walls, just 4 poles to keep it upright so Hyejung had no trouble looking in.
Hyejung checked her phone for any texts from Jungkook and sighed when the saw the time. He was an hour late. Sometimes, she wondered if he needed to have the image of a clock imprinted onto his retina. He always ran late for the most important events. Hyejung put her phone down beside her and had just started chapter 4 of her book when she heard footsteps fast approaching. She snapped her book shut and swiveled her head towards the noise, rolling her eyes when she saw it was Jungkook. The boy was running towards her at full speed with what seemed to be a bouquet of roses and a box of some kind. She shook her head in disbelief and stood up, waiting until Jungkook had reached her.
“Is… she… upset?” Jungkook asked between breaths, doubled over and breathing heavy. Hyejung slapped her son’s back, making him jump upright. “Mom!”
“What do you think? Of course she’s upset. Go to her. Now.” Hyejung sat back down on the bench and observed Jungkook approach Mina cautiously, she let out a chuckle despite herself. Some things never changed.
Mina was practically boring holes into the table with her intense gaze. Jungkook felt a chill run down his spine but he cleared the throat and put on a brave face, nonetheless. He started with the box of chocolates, rattling it in front of Mina’s nose only for her to turn her head the other way. Jungkook coughed uncomfortably and placed the box on the table, bringing out his bouquet of roses instead. Mina took one look and scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Jungkook sighed heavily and threw the bouquet onto the table as well. He maneuvered himself into the little structure and tucked his long legs into the picnic table somehow.
“So, I was a little late-”
“A little?!”
“Okay, I was an hour late,” Jungkook admitted sheepishly, “But only because I couldn’t leave!” Mr. Monkey didn’t let me go and when he did, I stopped to pick up all these gifts-”
“None of which I vibed with, by the way.”
Jungkook stifled a laugh despite himself. Teaching his daughter what “vibe” meant had been the only good parenting choice he’d ever made. He quickly composed his expression when Mina stared at him accusingly.
“Okay but hear me out. I got you something really special!” Jungkook fished for something inside of his blazer and pulled out a black snapback with MINA printed on top in bright, neon yellow letters. “You vibe with this, right?”
Mina tried staying grumpy, but Jungkook could tell from the shine in her eyes that she was about to burst from excitement. He slowly waved the snapback in front of her face, chanting her name until she finally broke out into a smile and grabbed it, shoving it onto her head.
“You’re forgiven! Mr. Monkey should get fired!” Jungkook grinned and pulled the snapback down over Mina’s eyes, delighted to find that it fit perfectly.
Mr. Monkey was Jungkook’s boss. Or, the unfortunate name Mina had given him when Jungkook had brought her in to his firm once for take-your-kid-to-work day. She’d heard him singing as they passed by his office and had asked with her innocent 6-year-old face if monkeys were allowed to be kept inside the building. Jungkook had pulled Mina away as quickly as possible, trying not to collapse from holding in his laughter.
Mina was rambling about how she couldn’t believe Jungkook had gotten her the hat and how she’d been asking for ages and I can finally twin with my friends in hip-hop class! until Jungkook interrupted her with a laugh.
“Alright, alright, not that I heard a thank you or anything-” this prompted Mina to lean over and peck Jungkook’s cheek in thanks, “-but you’re welcome. Now get up, little Jeon. Cheesy Cheesecakes awaits!”
Jungkook somehow got out of the picnic table without losing any limbs and was busy dusting himself off when he heard a soft, “Little Jeon-Kim” from behind him. Jungkook did a mental face-palm and chastised himself for being so stupid. He squatted down to look at Mina, who was still sitting on the bench, a lot more somber than before.
“Of course, baby,” Jungkook said softly, pulling her closer to him to give her a kiss on her forehead. “How could I ever forget? You’re just as much Kim as you are Jeon.” He stood up and took Mina’s hand in his own.
“Come on, Grandma’s waiting.”
Jungkook felt awful, to say the least. It was one day before her birthday, one day before the letter. Of course she’d be feeling a little more sentimental, of course she didn’t want to hear her dad practically claim that, for a moment, he’d forgotten about his husband. Stupid, stupid, Jungkook. It had just slipped out, but that didn’t excuse the reaction it had incited.
Feels strange to get used to being without you, Taehyung, he thought, who would’ve thought I was capable of that?
Mina seemed to have lost some of the spring in her step and when they reached Hyejung, she surprised him by saying, “Let’s go home. I don’t feel like going to Cheesy Cheesecakes.”
Something withered even further inside of Jungkook. Hyejung frowned, “Mina, you’ve been looking forward to this all day.”
“Mom, it’s fine. We’ll go tomorrow, okay?” Jungkook swiped at her nose affectionately and relaxed when she giggled. Hyejung nodded and relieved Jungkook of the chocolate and flowers.
“I’ll just assume my lovely son has not completely forgotten me and decided to buy me these out of the blue,” Hyejung looked pointedly at Jungkook, to which he just shrugged and replied, “Hey, whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Jungkook stepped out of the way when his mother tried swatting him with the flowers, an impish grin on his face.
“You’re lucky you’re cute, Jeon Jungkook,” Hyejung warned, looking extremely non-threatening with her glasses slipping down her nose.
“No, he’s lucky I’m cute,” Mina chimed in happily, shrieking when Jungkook went in to tickle her. Hyejung smiled and bid them both goodbye, promising to be at their place early tomorrow for Mina’s birthday. Jungkook waited until she was out of his line of sight to lift Mina up onto the bench and offer his back to her.
“Daddy’s Back, now open for service,” Jungkook stated professionally. Mina hopped on and pinched Jungkook’s cheeks with her fingers. “As always, navigation will be operated by the pulling of the cheek. Keep your arms and legs on the ride at all times and enjoy!”
Mina yelled with glee as Jungkook started jogging towards their house which, fortunately for Jungkook’s legs, wasn’t too far.
-
“Okay, teeth?”
Mina clicked her teeth together as she showed Jungkook.
“A little small, but clean,” Jungkook said, poking Mina in the belly. She poked him back and handed him her toothbrush, sitting on the toilet lid while staring at her feet.
“Daddy, I want to paint my nails. Can I practice on you first so that I can do it on myself later?” Mina wriggled her toes, looking at them as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Jungkook propped Mina’s toothbrush in its holder and wiped the counter carefully so that no water remained.
“Sure,” he replied, tapping her head to signal he was about to turn the lights off. She walked out of the washroom and leaned against the wall. “Although, if you want, I can just paint them for you.”
Mina slipped her hand into Jungkook’s as he closed the door and headed to her room, “You know how to paint nails? But you’re a boy!”
“So I can’t have nice nails?” Jungkook put a hand to his chest dramatically, “I’m truly hurt, Ms. Mina.”
The pair of them entered Mina’s room and Jungkook immediately sank into the large beanbag chair, flipping the desk lamp on as Mina climbed into his lap. It was routine at this point, reading to her every night before bed. But tonight, she stopped Jungkook before he could reach for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe and just lay her head on his chest instead. Before Jungkook could ask if she wanted to read something else (like Naruto, which he’d been wanting to re-read for a while now), she spoke.
“Was it because of Daddy?” Mina asked, voice still exuding energy. Jungkook stroked her hair, thinking back to another time. Another Jimin. No, it hadn’t been Taehyung who taught him how to paint his nails.
“A friend taught me, a long time ago. Your Daddy refused to let me paint his nails, something about having to work in a lab and blah blah blah.”
Mina looked up at Jungkook and rolled her eyes, “You always talk about him as if he was the worst.”
“Oh, he definitely was,” Jungkook stated factually, “hair too soft, eyes too kind, brain too hard-wired for logic, heart too big, He didn’t want any tattoos or piercings, and he could never figure out the meanings behind my paintings. He was definitely the worst. I mean, can you believe I married a Chemistry professor?”
“What’s a Keh-miss-tree? It doesn’t make any sense for it to be a type of tree… is it a school thing?”
Jungkook held Mina’s head as he let out a soft light so as not to jostle it. “You’re right, it’s not a tree, sweetheart. C-h-e-m-i-s-t-r-y. It’s a branch – no, that’s misleading – a part of Science that you’ll learn more about in High School. In fact, Tae tutored me quite often in Chemistry during my first year of University. He was just 2 years older than me but he was nearly done his Master’s degree. This is going to make me look so inferior but, when we graduated from University, Taehyung had his PhD and I only had my Bachelor’s. He was a smart kid. Like I said, the worst.”
“I like it when you talk about him,” Mina said in a small voice. Her breathing was growing steadier and Jungkook could see that she’d closed her eyes. “Sometimes I miss him even though I only have some fuzzy memories of him. He was the one who picked me, right? When I was adopted?” Jungkook hummed in affirmation.
“He’d love to see me now,” Mina mumbled into Jungkook’s shirt.
Oh, he would. Mina had grown into such a wonderful little girl. He was only 29, and yet he had so much to be thankful for already. Occasionally, he’d curse the universe for taking away one of the biggest sources of happiness in his life, but he knew that he’d lucked out in the end. It was hard watching Mina take so many firsts without Taehyung around to celebrate with. Mina’s first steps had been witnessed by Taehyung, but not her first dance performance, or the first time she won an award at school, or the first time she brought home a Father’s Day card.
But Jungkook had been there, and for Mina, thankfully, it was enough.
Jungkook carefully reached for a blanket and threw it over the two of them, not confident enough to put Mina in bed without waking her up.
His mom called him sometimes, telling him how Mina would benefit from a second parent. Maybe a woman, this time. How their family could feel a lot more whole that way. But it was all half-hearted, because Hyejung knew Jungkook could never want that. Not a completely new relationship, not now. Besides, he’d always told her, Mina did have the presence of Taehyung in her life, in a way that even Jungkook didn’t.
pairing: jungkook x jimin
jungkook x taehyung (subplot)
summary: and after all that had passed, jungkook would always be pulled back to jimin. he didn’t know why, maybe it was fate (or maybe it was his 9-year-old daughter).
chapter: 1/?
a/n: concept is frm a bollywood movie bc my brown ass is Like That. this’ll be a multific (and no, i won’t leave yall hanging like i did with tsos). look forward to updates every tuesday!)
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Jungkook stared at the sky, it was a pale blue. No clouds were pulled across the wide expanse.
(“Jungkookie, what do you suppose happens after you die?” Taehyung’s head is in the younger’s lap. They’re winding down on their second-hand futon and Jungkook is very clearly trying to finish up some paperwork. But he indulges the other anyways, putting aside his papers to look at Taehyung.
“Not sure, Tae. But please, do tell,” Jungkook says, knowing full-well that Taehyung would’ve shared his theory regardless of whether or not Jungkook had prompted him to do so.
“Well,” Taehyung starts with glittering eyes, “I think the very essence of who you are gets poured into the sky. Just slathered all over that sucker. When you look at the sky after someone is gone, it serves as a memory, you know? Something you can look at on such a terrible day to feel good again.”
Jungkook gazes at Taehyung with a smile that hints at emotions unable to be contained in a single 4 letter word and says softly, “I hope I never have to find out.”)
It wasn’t a particularly beautiful day. Clear, yes. Pleasing to the eye, yes. Jungkook didn’t feel the need to take a picture of the sky and have it framed, but he wanted to keep looking at it for a long time. In this moment, right now, Jungkook never wanted to look away.
When Jungkook’s eyes trailed the coffin being lowered into the grave, there was no sky above him. There were no colours, no wisps of clouds, no burning stars waiting for the night sky. There was only Taehyung.
(“There’s only you for me, I love you,” Jungkook says grandly, like he always does.
Taehyung smiles that bittersweet smile of his. The one that only appears in these types of situations, reserved for an affectionate Jungkook.
“That’s what you think,” Taehyung replies like he always does.)
The dirt got thrown into the hole, shovel by shovel. Jungkook took a step back, trying to ground himself. He didn’t want to say goodbye. He wasn’t ready. Not now, not again, not ever.
(Jungkook is staring at the doctor with heartbreak so frantic and forceful that he has to take a seat to calm himself. He’s rubbing his fingers over the rough texture of the chair and for some reason, he can’t seem to take his eyes off the family photo on the doctor’s desk.
“Mr. Jeon? I’m truly sorry.” The doctor averts her eyes in respect and Jungkook doesn’t know what to do.
I don’t want your apologies, he thinks, I just want him.
Later, when he sees Taehyung sitting in the hospital bed, he forgets how determined he’d been in the doctor’s office earlier to not cry and dissolves into tears.
“Oh baby, I know,” Taehyung says in such a steady voice that Jungkook wonders between hiccups if he understands the words ‘Terminal Cancer’ in the same way that he does.)
A little arm wrapped around his leg. Jungkook looked down, tearing his blurry gaze away from the coffin. He fought the tears back and composed his expression, smoothing it into an easy smile.
“Hey, baby,” Jungkook said quietly. He picked up his daughter and kissed her forehead. Despite what he’d said to his mother earlier, it seemed she’d still decided to be present at the burial. He looked behind him, one hand fiddling with his daughter’s hair.
“Learn to listen, will you?” Jungkook murmured half-heartedly. Hyejung gave him a look that only a mother could manage, sympathy with a hint of stern.
“You wouldn’t have managed alone.”
Jungkook didn’t respond, knowing she was right. He merely turned around and faced the grave that was nearly filled to the top now. He tucked his daughter’s head into his neck and squeezed his eyes shut, resting his head on her shoulder for comfort. Jungkook had done a lot of things he didn’t think he’d ever have to do these past few months, watching the last shovel of dirt be thrown onto his dead husband’s grave would’ve been the last straw that broke the camel’s back. He didn’t have the strength to handle that.
(“Maybe adoption was a bad idea,” Taehyung laughs weakly. His cheeks are clinging to his bones and there’s barely any light left in his eyes. Jungkook clutches Taehyung’s hands in his own and kisses them, looking to the nurse for a sign. She shakes her head and looks down.
“Of course not, baby,” Jungkook barely chokes out. His throat is scratchy from months of screaming into his pillow. “She’s the best thing that’s happened for us, and you know that. These last 4 years have been… the best – the best years of my life.” Jungkook can tell Taehyung isn’t fully there anymore, and he’s trying so hard not to yell at him to just stay.
Taehyung’s eyelids flutter with effort to keep them open and he lets out a few words in a breath too soft to feel on Jungkook’s skin, “Her name, Jungkook. Find him, please.” There is desperation there, so much.
Jungkook can’t help it, he’s sobbing now. He climbs into bed beside Taehyung and looks into his eyes, although he doesn’t know if Taehyung is seeing him. “There’s only you for me, I love you.”
And he hopes and prays for the most selfish of reasons that he’ll hear something different this time, this one, last time. Instead, he hears the beep of a monitor. Instead, he hears footsteps approaching the bed and saying something about “time of death”. Instead, Jungkook falls apart with such ferocity that it takes half an hour for the nurse to let go of Taehyung’s body.
And that day, forever as Jungkook knows it, dies.)
It was over, and yet the sun was still shining. Jungkook opened his eyes and let out a deep breath, thanking the woman who shoveled the dirt before gently placing his daughter on the ground. Her eyes glimmered in the sunlight, although she had a pout on her lips.
“Daddy, up!”
Jungkook smiled at her, this 4-year-old bundle of joy, and he took her hand in his. His mother gave him a tight hug and rested her hands on either side of his face. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
“It’s time to say goodbye,” Hyejung stated plainly. She seemed to be on the verge of tears herself, but she maintained a stoic face. Jungkook nodded and bent down next to his daughter, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
miraculous, the luckiest! (but not up to the test, like at all)
pairing: jungkook x jimin
summary: in which they’re both superheroes (ladybug and cat noir, to be exact)
a/n: in the show, ladybug has the power to call on a lucky charm to conjure an object and cat noir has cataclysm which enables him to destroy anything he touches with one hand. they’re both powers used towards the end of a fight. the fight is against civilians who have been “akumatized” (their negative emotions have drawn butterflies called akumas towards them and they turn into supervillains). ladybug also has this yo-yo that helps her swing from place to place like spiderman. cat noir has a metal baton that extends. to defeat the villain, the pair must destroy the akumatized object and purify the akuma.
+
God, it was embarrassing enough having to wear a bright red spandex leotard with black spots while trying to save Seoul from complete and utter destruction, but now that Jimin has a fucking hard-on it seems that it’s not going to take long until his face blends into his outfit.
Who even makes a super-suit out of spandex? Jimin doesn’t know, but he wants to find them and be his own hero for once by wrapping his fingers around their neck.
A huge crowd of people have gathered below his feet, and although he has more pressing matters he should probably request divinely assistance for, he prays that they don’t notice his boner first. Oh, and that they don’t find a way to film it. You can never be too safe with advanced zoom-in technology, Jimin had discovered after someone had snapped a picture of his leotard bunched between his ass-cheeks. He’d been swinging through the city and someone had still managed to capture that in high definition.
Voyeurism knew no bounds, or distances, Jimin had concluded. It’s safe to say that he’s never forgotten to wear underwear (before transforming) again.
He’s a couple stories up, and the wind is strong, but he can still hear the muffled laughter from beside him. He turns to his partner (but not too much – his boner is still very prominent, thanks god!) and narrows his eyes behind his mask.
“Do we have a problem?”
His partner’s eyes emit a greenish glow, and Jimin can clearly tell that they’re crinkled up behind the mask. He clasps a hand over his mouth, trying to stop his giggles, and the bell around his neck tinkles in the process.
“Cat got your tongue?” Jimin spits out, keeping from body-slamming into his partner because he is a prestigious superhero who is a role model to many young children, a lot of which are watching him from way down below as of this very moment.
Violence is not the answer, Jimin inhales deeply and then refines his thought, at least not in public.
The villain they’re facing today – some sort of weird pigeon-man, don’t ask, he’s got a big enough headache as it is – is slowly regaining consciousness. Unfortunately, Jimin’s co-hero (more of a sidekick, really) doesn’t want to let this issue go.
“Who? Me? Never! Although, it’s pretty hard being in the presence of such a monster,” Cat Noir says cheekily from beside him. Jimin is about to reassure him because his heart is just that kind when Cat Noir continues, “Oh, and the pigeon dude is pretty bad too.”
His cat-eyes flick down to Jimin’s No-No Spot and then back up, he grins. Jimin is about to demonstrate what all those kids he’s a role model to should not do when tempted by a bully when he hears the villain groan. He rolls his shoulders and shakes everything off, getting ready to fight. He’s got to stay focused on the mission at hand. It’s fine, he’s fine. It’s completely natural. He shouldn’t be ashamed.
“Although, it’s kind of small, this monster. Almost cute.”
He shouldn’t be ashamed. He should be enraged. Jimin runs a hand through his blond hair and takes in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He turns to his partner and shoots him a sickly sweet smile.
“Careful, kitty. This monster can cause a lot more damage than you can handle. Not that you’ll ever find out,” and with that, Jimin leaves an indignant Cat Noir behind, using his yo-yo to swing over to the villain. Of course, Cat Noir is right beside him within a minute. They’re partners, after all.
“Okay, Mr. Choi, it’s time to stop now. Give me that whistle and resist Hawkmoth, you know it’s for the best.” Jimin taps Cat Noir’s hand and he slowly starts inching sideways while Jimin holds out his palm. It seems that their villain is still recovering, as he blinks his eyes continuously and doesn’t notice Cat Noir.
“No! Your miraculous! I can’t disappoint him. Hand your earrings over, Ladybug. You know it’s for the best.” Pigeon-dude is fairly well-spoken for someone who just got knocked unconscious from being dropped from 20 feet above the building. Jimin really wishes he hadn’t used his own words against him. Or called him Ladybug when he’d specifically asked everyone to call him Misterbug. Stupid Hawkmoth and his stupid commands.
“I hate this part, but it gives me some sort of sadistic pleasure,” Jimin withdraws his hand and grabs his yo-yo instead, “Cat Noir! Now!”
As soon as the words leave Jimin’s mouth, Cat Noir is in action. He’s a blur of black leather and since he’s been inching towards Mr. Choi, it doesn’t take long to get behind the man. Cat Noir takes the whistle from around Mr. Choi’s neck and, bless his soul, puts it on the end of his metal baton before extending it over to Jimin. The gesture is almost enough to make Jimin forget about the comments he made earlier about his dick (which is slowly retreating back towards Jimin’s body, thank god). Almost.
“And here I was thinking you’d just throw it to me. I guess you do have some brain cells rolling around in the kitty litter in your head,” Jimin smirks and throws the whistle to the ground, stepping on it to crack the plastic.
“In this wind? Please, I’m more than just a pretty kitty.” Jimin laughs despite himself and drags his finger down his yo-yo, opening it to capture the Akuma that escapes from the broken whistle. He quickly seals it inside and opens it back up, finding the once dark purple butterfly now transformed into white.
Jimin watches the butterfly fly away and grabs the Lucky Charm he’d called on earlier, a bag of bird seed – again, don’t ask, it’s getting late and Jimin really doesn’t have the patience to explain anything anymore – and throws it into the air. Immediately, red wisps of sparkling images of ladybugs fill the sky. They zoom through all the destruction their fight had left behind and restore everything back to its original state. Mr. Choi loses his costume and looks dazed. Jimin doesn’t have the energy to bring the victim back to his home, so he turns to Cat Noir (proudly, now, because he’s boner-free).
“Think you can take care of this for me, Cat?” Cat Noir nods and grins at Jimin, his cat ears being blown along with his hair back and forth because of the wind.
“Until next time, bugaboo,” Jimin makes a face at this and recoils, very much hating what just came out of his partner’s mouth. Cat Noir, unfazed, doesn’t let the grin drop from his face as he helps Mr. Choi up.
“Alright,” Jimin manages, already feeling the fatigue taking a toll on him, “Bug out.” Jimin steps onto the ledge of the building and throws his yo-yo into the city, feeling it cling onto something before he lets himself fall over the edge. Once he’s got enough momentum, he releases the yo-yo and lets it catch onto another building. His arms protest, searing with pain, but he doesn’t have a choice. Walking would be impractical and way too chaotic (and he’s a broke college student, remember?). Not only are his arms killing him, but Jimin feels like he’s been socked in the stomach. With every strained use of his upper torso, Jimin has to take 10 deep breaths. Jimin hears the cheers from below as he swings through the city but the smile on his face barely stretches to his eyes.
Jimin is tired and, apparently, horny, so you can understand why defeating the latest villain in what was a line of 5 akumatized victims in 3 days has him completely drained. God, either he needs to get laid or eat more vitamin gummies. Maybe get laid while eating vitamin gummies. Does Jimin have a food kink? No. Probably not. Unless…?
Letting his thoughts wander, Jimin swings through Seoul until he finds a hidden corner to transform back into himself. As soon as he utters the words ‘spots off’, his supersuit (because leotard is just such a horrible word) develops holes in it before it disappears entirely. Where to? Jimin doesn’t know.
Now you might be wondering, why is Jimin so fucking clueless? Listen, he’s not in it for the knowledge. He just wants to kick ass, get validation from complete strangers and maybe find a way to channel his anger in a healthy manner along the way. And if he had to say it, yes, he’s in it for the free anonymous friend as well. Cat Noir may be a major pain in the ass, but he’s a good partner and friend. For instance, him taking the victim back because Jimin was too exhausted to do it himself.
More than that, Cat Noir knows how to read Jimin effortlessly. They’d talked about the whole gig when they’d first gotten their powers. Jimin had found a pair of earrings sitting neatly on top of his desk and Cat had found a ring. Once they’d put the items on (because from the little Jimin knows about his friend, he is also a broke college student and wouldn’t dare pass up the opportunity to obtain free things), they’d both felt this sense that a part of them had been opened up to someone else.
Along with a ton of other information that entered their brains so fast and hard that Jimin had gotten a migraine that lasted for a week and Cat Noir hadn’t been able to stop throwing up every hour for 3 days, of course. Because life is pain, but superhero life is, like, Pain pain.
It didn’t take long before the world’s first supervillain had unleashed his minion on Seoul and the world’s first superheroes had to step up to the batting cage. Jimin had been scared shitless, rightfully so, and although Cat Noir boasts about never having any hesitation, Jimin knows he’d been pretty lost as well. As soon as they’d started fighting, though, it was like nothing else mattered. They clicked instantly, knowing exactly what the other wanted to do and why they wanted to do it without either having to exchange words.
Not mind reading, but something else. Something that allowed for a constant stream of rightness between them and intuition so strong that often, when Jimin moved to do something, Cat Noir would already be waiting with assistance. It was nice, except for when Cat decided to make bad jokes and flirt with Jimin in a way that made him want to cry and laugh at the same time. His partner is a dumbass with a good heart, and it’s absolutely infuriating (okay, fine, it’s endearing). In another world, Jimin can see how he would even fall for those antics.
Jimin walks into his apartment building and takes the elevator up. Sometimes, he feels bad about leaving Cat Noir hanging so many times. They’re good friends, but Jimin knows that’s all they’ll ever be. Because his heart belongs to someone else, whether that someone knows it or not. The elevator comes to a stop and Jimin steps out, reaching for his keys. Cat Noir seems too genuine about his feelings towards Jimin sometimes, and yes, he uses his own name because he knows that Cat Noir would love him with or without the mask. It was Jimin who had decided not to reveal each other’s secret identities, while Cat Noir had begged him to reconsider.
It’s unfair to Cat, but Jimin’s not leading him on, and he can’t blame himself for letting someone else capture his heart. Jimin sticks the key in the lock and turns it, wondering if his roommate will be inside. A large thump and something that sounds like a bell tinkling confirms that he’s home as Jimin opens the door. Before he can step into their living room, he hears a voice.
“Jimin! Don’t come in! I’m, uh, naked! Give me a minute to get dressed, yeah?” Jungkook calls out from the living room. Jimin, despite himself, blushes and calls, “Sure. Um, take your mime! Shit, I meant time! Haha... okay.”
Ladies and gentlemen, the Miraculous Ladybug (unfortunately, Misterbug just isn’t catching on) in all his bumbling glory.
Jeon Jungkook, the only man alive that can make Jimin, a literal superhero, shy and would probably make Cat Noir, the pettiest person alive, extremely jealous.
Jimin is technically supposed to be morally superior as a superhero, but you’d have to be inhuman to not want to sneak a peek at Jeon Jungkook putting on clothes. He was built to be stared at for hours on end, if Jimin were to be honest, and who was he to deny god’s intention? Just as he is about to stick his head around the corner, he hears Jungkook’s voice telling him that it’s “all clear”.
Great.
Jimin steps into the living room and is greeted with an (unfortunately) fully clothed Jeon Jungkook. He grins at Jimin while walking to the kitchen and Jimin honest to god nearly pees himself from how fucking attractive he is. Weak-kneed and the vague thought of buying adult diapers on his mind, Jimin slips into his room and sheds his clothes, taking a look at himself in the mirror. There are bruises running up his ribs (probably from when his graceful partner had extended his baton without realizing it was pointed right at Jimin`s midsection) and more scattered across his legs. His suit was pretty good at deflecting anything that could potentially give him cuts and scrapes but this time around, he`s got a couple of scratches on his arms.
Jimin, surprisingly, is a pacifist. He really is. Violence should never be the primary solution, but as a superhero, more times than not, he`s had to abandon this philosophy. Sometimes, he wonders why – because seriously, he’s still not cut out for this shit – but he knows that if he’s had to abandon his philosophy, he might as well stick to his morality. That is, to save people from harm (seeing people naked not inclusive). It’s days like these when he’s burned out and aching from a particularly difficult fight that he wonders what it would be like to give it all up.
Jimin opens a drawer and takes a handful of pain relief patches, sticking them carefully onto his body one by one. It’s not like he gets any bonuses. If anything, it just makes life harder. Classes take three times the effort to attend, relationships take half of his week’s worth of energy to maintain and crushes are basically out of the question. To get into a relationship meant to endanger a loved one or, possibly, leave them grieving if worst came to worst. So why didn’t he take off his camouflaged earrings and leave them on someone else’s pillowcase or dressing table or pant pocket?
Jimin will tell you why. Because being a moron runs through his bloodstream. Because his brain cell bank balance is in the negatives. Because at the end of the day, if he were to give up this life, Jimin knows that he’d regret it.
Being a superhero is tough, Jimin’s not going to sugar coat it, but not being a superhero after having been one would tear him apart. He has a need to help people in bigger ways than his 8-year program in clinical psychology (yeah, his brain cell bank balance isn’t the only one in the negatives right now) will.
A knock at his door alerts Jimin, and he quickly pats down the patches all over his body and pulls on his clothes. He opens his door and tries not to drop dead from how cute his roommate looks. Jungkook is standing there with a sheepish smile, a tube of muscle-pain relief cream in his hands.
“How bad?” Jimin squeaks out (shut up, he knows he’s pathetic), letting Jungkook into his room. Jungkook winces as he sits on Jimin’s bed, already tugging off his shirt. Maybe it’s some sort of syndrome that he should get checked out but suddenly, Jimin’s mouth is a lot more dry.
“A little worse than usual, you know how it is,” Jimin feels concern washing over him as soon as Jungkook’s shirt is off completely, all traces of his hypothetical medical condition have left. Jungkook’s back is littered with purple and blue bruises. The streetlights from outside his window cast a yellowish hue on Jungkook’s skin and it makes the mark look that much more sickly.
“Jungkook,” Jimin breathes, “is your coach insane?”
About two months ago, right when Jimin had received his earrings and became Ladybug, Jungkook had joined a boxing club. Jimin hadn’t even heard of this kind of torture disguised as an extracurricular activity before, but he got to know it soon enough. Jungkook started coming home looking really beat up, and when Jimin said this, he meant really beat up. Sometimes, he’d have bruises and cuts to the degree that Jimin would – and Jimin was a goddamn superhero. One night, Jungkook had come to him and asked if he’d rub some of the muscle-pain relief cream on his back and when Jimin had learned just how much it helped with the tension, he started doing it every night. It was routine at this point.
“Maybe,” Jungkook lets out a laugh that quickly turns into a hiss when Jimin’s finger makes contact with one of the darker bruises, “he’s just really passionate about turning us into full-fledged fighters.”
“Still, you need to tell him to chill or something. You’re too perfect – I mean too pretty – shit, okay, no, what I’m trying to say is that you don’t deserve this. Every night, it’s like you’ve come out of a fight with an akumatized person or something.” Jimin feels Jungkook tense under his fingers and he panics, taking back his words at once. “I mean, of course, I know you love that club. You’re free to do whatever you want! I mean, obviously. Plus, you’re good at everything so… yeah… ha…”
A mental face-palm isn’t enough anymore, Jimin physically smacks his face with his hand. Of course, right after that he starts screaming because he had the fucking cream on his hands and it’s in his eyes and fuck it burns it burns it BURNS.
Jungkook has to help him wash it all out of his face. Jimin doesn’t think he’s ever been so ready to die.
God, he pleads silently as he’s trudging back to his room with a squeaky-clean face, if you have any mercy, please wipe the events of today from Jeon Jungkook’s mind. If you turn out to be merciless, please note that I will be going to hell and becoming best friends with Satan himself so that together, we can make your life in heaven a non-living hell. Amen.
One day, the big guy upstairs is going to get tired of Jimin’s bullshit. How does Jimin know this?
Because he’s been tired of his own bullshit for the past 19 years.
-
Jungkook watches as Ladybug throws his lucky charm into the air and tells the voice in his head to shut up when it starts telling him that he would be useless without his partner.
It’s true, but it doesn’t mean Jungkook has to take it.
“Think you can take care of this for me, Cat?” Jungkook perks up at this, nodding with a grin on his face.
“Until next time, bugaboo,” He calls in a saccharine voice, making Ladybug’s face go sour. Jungkook knows he doesn’t mean it, though, he could never hate his beloved Cat Noir. Well, that’s what he tells himself. Jungkook helps Mr. Choi up and adjusts his footing so that he’s able to carry all of the other man’s weight.
“Alright,” Ladybug says with a tired smile , “Bug out.”
He’s fallen over the ledge before Jungkook can respond, and he has to stop himself from calling out his name. It’s not like Jungkook is in love with Ladybug or anything (DEFINITELY NOT) but he cherishes his time with the other, wanting to milk every moment for what it’s worth. Ladybug is purr-fect (Jungkook is clever, he knows) in every way possible and Jungkook just wants to bask in his glory like a cat in sunlight.
Alas, Ladybug doesn’t seem to reciprocate his feelings. Jungkook throws a mental hand to his forehead in distraught and acts out a quick 7-second drama in his head before addressing Mr. Choi.
“Let’s get you back home.” In an instant, they’re soaring across the sky on the baton while Jungkook most definitely is not ranting about his feelings to this literal stranger they just fought. Nope, definitely not.
-
The window is wide open and Jungkook berates himself for leaving it open this morning. Not that he’d have much trouble taking down any intruders, he’s rather claw-lified that way (Qualified? Claw-lified? Get it?). Still, he doesn’t live there alone. If Jimin were to come home and be put into danger because of an intruder, Jungkook wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.
He slips into the window stealthily and then, of course, fall flat on his face when he hears the front-door unlocking.
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit-
“Jimin! Don’t come in! I’m, uh, naked! Give me a minute to get dressed, yeah?” Jungkook cries in desperation. He hears the footsteps cease and Jimin’s words ring out clear in the apartment.
“Sure. Um, take your mime! Shit, I meant time! Haha.. okay.”
Jungkook smiles and thanks the gods above for giving him such a kind roommate.
“Claws in,” Jungkook mutters under his breath, letting his suit slowly tear and stretch before it disappears completely. His ring loses its black colour and the neon green pawprint. Jungkook, out of habit (although he knows he’s never going to find anything), pats his hair and makes sure his cat ears didn’t accidentally stay on his head or something. Hey, freak accidents were a thing and you could never be too careful.
Especially if you were a superhero.
“All clear,” Jungkook says, heading to the kitchen. Unfortunately, his suit is not equipped to carry a water bottle. Jungkook blames the lack of hydration for the acne that has started popping up on his jaw but honestly, he’s probably just really stressed out. An enormous mental toll came with this whole superhero gig. unfortunately.
Jungkook was disappointed, but not surprised.
After a quick drink of water, Jungkook heads to his room to evaluate the damage but can’t even manage to turn his torso to take a look at his back. His sides are so sore that Jungkook wonders how he’s going to sleep tonight. His back was out of the options entirely, so were his sides, and his stomach wasn’t looking too good either.
Jungkook winces as he bends over to grab his tube of muscle-pain relief cream from the bottom drawer of his nightstand, but it’s not just from the pain. If his stomach was hurting this bad, he wonders how bad Ladybug is feeling. He’d been stupid and had managed to extend his baton right into his partner’s ribcage.
Which was just great, you know? Really did a lot for his non-existent love life.
Jungkook walks to Jimin’s room and pauses at the door. He hopes that Ladybug is alright, he doesn’t know how he’s going to make it up to him, but he has to. He just has to. Without really thinking about it, Jungkook raises a fist and knocks on Jimin’s door. He hears a bit of rustling inside and in a matter of seconds the door is open and Jimin is facing him.
“How bad?” Jimin asks in a high voice. Jungkook can’t help but feel relief and gratitude flood through him as he sits on Jimin’s bed (that, on the other hand, only floods him with pain). Park Jimin has only known Jungkook for 2 months or so, but he’s been so accommodating and is probably one of the only friends he has. When Jungkook had left his hometown, he’d most feared the possibility of not making friend, but Jimin dispersed his worries almost right away. The boy is too kind for his own good and fills Jungkook with pride to be able to call him his friend.
“A little worse than usual, you know how it is.”
Jungkook pulls his shirt off in a swift motion and clenches his teeth when his pain shoots through his shoulders. It’s never been this bad and he knows that Jimin is concerned when he says, “Jungkook, is your coach insane?”
He tries to laugh it off but can’t help but suck in a breath through his teeth when Jimin’s finger makes contact with his back. “Maybe, he’s just really passionate about turning us into full-fledged fighters.”
Jungkook doesn’t believe himself, and he’s the one making up the stupid lie. But Jimin has been buying it for 2 months, so he can’t be as bad of a liar as he thinks he is. A lot of the times, Jungkook contemplated telling Jimin. His roommate is too sweet to be duped like this, plus he’d really like having someone to talk to about superhero stuff (okay, yes, and his crush on Ladybug, are we happy now?).
But Jungkook would never risk his friend’s like that. Never.
“Still, you need to tell him to chill or something. You’re too perfect – I mean too pretty – shit, okay, no, what I’m trying to say is that you don’t deserve this. Every night, it’s like you’ve come out of a fight with an akumatized person or something.”
It’s times like these when Jungkook finds it especially hard to keep his identity a secret. He involuntarily tenses, Jimin’s breath making goosebumps rise on the back of his neck. In the mirror, Jungkook catches sight of Jimin’s face and observes how it goes from concern to flustered to panicked and he has to stop from laughing. In a different reality, and Jungkook will freely admit this, he could see himself with Jimin. Jungkook could picture himself falling in love with this literal angel, but in this reality, they’re just really good friends – and Jungkook is really happy about that (especially since he already has Ladybug).
“I mean, of course, I know you love that club. You’re free to do whatever you want! I mean, obviously. Plus, you’re good at everything so… yeah… ha…”
Jungkook is about to assure Jimin that he didn’t say anything wrong when he sees the boy cover his face with his hand in the mirror. Jungkook turns around immediately, wide-eyed, and grimaces when Jimin starts screaming and using an extensive vocabulary Jungkook wasn’t aware he had.
Jungkook ends up helping Jimin wash it all out. He offers running out and buying an icepack but Jimin refuses, profusely red in the face and mumbling something about god as he stalks off to his room.
Later on, as he’s moving his body over and over again to find a comfortable position to sleep, Jungkook pictures a certain superhero in red and becomes pliant, coming to a stop on his bed. A smile spreads across his face.
“It’s all worth it if it’s for you,” Jungkook whispers through his smile. He falls asleep that way, moonlight streaming in to coat his skin and make his smile shine brilliantly.
-
“Cat, I don’t think we’re qualified to be superheroes.”
“Unsurprisingly, I completely agree my, purr-ince.”
“I can’t believe she managed to actually trap us.”
Ladybug and Cat Noir are sitting back to back, their hands joined at the wrists by a rope made of indestructible fibers. Ladybug had tried calling on his lucky charm earlier but it had skittered far away from him, leaving him unable to reach it while he was still tied to Cat Noir (whose Cataclysm had also failed him, they decided that indestructible really did mean indestructible).
“Well, I don’t see how we’re getting out of this one. Unless, you’ve got a plan, bugaboo?” Ladybug laughs and doesn’t bother hiding it.
“Nope, but we’re going to have to put our heads together and really think. I’ve got someone I want to be able to get back to.” Cat Noir pushes his head back against Ladybug’s and smiles, ignoring the hundreds of questions his partner’s words incite.
a really bad drabble that i decided to base off of real events. for the sake of the story, let’s pretend they filmed the run ep. right after muster in seoul. it’s stupid, but go with it.
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Jungkook is giddy with happiness and he feels likes all his blood has been replaced with liquid adrenaline. Even though it’s the last day of Muster, he can’t quite bring himself to be upset. It doesn’t feel bittersweet either. No, he’s just insanely happy for some reason. Maybe it’s something about being back in Korea, or feeling the full impact of everything BTS has done in the past 6 years, or just him getting 10 hours of sleep last night – whatever it is, Jungkook is glad it’s making him feel this way. Right now, Jungkook feels like he could create galaxies and bottle universes.
It’s busy. They’re all getting their makeup re-touched and changing wardrobe and fixing mics and fumbling with new accessories all while keeping an ear out for their cue to get on stage for Boy With Luv. Jungkook has this smile on his face that screams contentment and he tries to stay still while the stylist fiddles with his wet hair. Someone else is standing behind him, blow-drying. Jungkook is, at the moment, contained energy and he’s just waiting to let it fly once he’s out on stage. He buttons up his shirt as quickly as possible and when the stylists are finally done with his hair, Jungkook darts away to grab some accessories.
Jimin is holding his right hand away from him and examining the rings on his fingers when Jungkook comes up behind him and yells “Park Jimin!” right in his ear. Jimin jumps and turns his scandalized expression onto Jungkook.
“First of all, ow, and secondly, what has gotten into you?” Jimin asks, absentmindedly slipping the rings off his fingers and letting them drop into the jewellery box. The box is situated on the table beside him and Jungkook glances at Jimin’s pretty fingers dipping into it once again to find the perfect ring.
Jungkook grins and grabs a hold of Jimin’s hips, twirling him around so that he has his lower back pressed against the table. “I’m just really, really happy, hyung!” Jimin is trying hard to look annoyed but a smile keeps tugging at his lips.
“You need to calm down before you get too excited on stage and end up breaking your leg or something,” Jimin remarks with a fond look in his eyes. He gently pulls Jungkook’s hands away from his hips and tries not to think about how his heart immediately speeds up when Jungkook’s fingers catch on the waistband of his jeans.
Jungkook is practically bouncing now, he pulls his fingers forward and in doing so, brings Jimin flush against him. Jimin looks over Jungkook’s shoulder and notices nearly every member very obviously looking away from them. Yoongi, on the other hand, is staring outright and rolling his eyes. When Jimin looks at him, Yoongi just gives him a smirk and turns back to adjusting his mic under his shirt. Jimin wants to kill him.
“Jungkook,” Jimin says so lowly that only Jungkook can hear, “I’ve gotta pick out some rings and find my hat. Come on, let me go.” Jimin feels Jungkook shake his head and tighten his grip, a breathy laugh reaches his ear.
Now, they’re running a little bit late. Staff members are beginning to drop by and give them the 3-minute warning, so when Jimin makes his next move, it’s purely out of desperation (and okay, fine, maybe he also just really wanted an excuse to do this). Before Jungkook can hold him there any longer, Jimin tilts his head forward and tugs on Jungkook’s earlobe with his teeth.
Jungkook, who hasn’t stopped moving since the day began, goes completely still and his arms go slack. Jimin takes the moment to detach himself from the other and as he desperately wills the blood to stop rising to his cheeks, he fumbles out an awkward “I told you to let me go” before speed-walking into another direction. Any other direction. As long as he can get away from Jungkook.
Jungkook watches Jimin bolt away from him and he turns to confirm with the members that he hadn’t just imagined that moment happening. Yoongi has an eyebrow raised, clearly impressed. Taehyung is struggling to put his phone (that was pointed at Jungkook) away before Jungkook catches him and Namjoon is shaking his head and smiling at Seokjin, who seems to also sport a knowing smile. Hoseok has the decency to pretend he wasn’t looking but when he comes to pick out his rings, he grins at Jungkook and says, “Finally!”.
The atmosphere has gone from busy to a relaxed sort of buzz. Everyone is ready to go out on stage and the only thing filling the room now is their anticipation to perform. Jungkook, surprisingly, has gone into some sort of shutdown. He touches his earlobe with the tips of his fingers and a wide smile suddenly splits across his face. So he hadn’t been delusional and he did have a shot. He has to find Jimin. Now.
After looking all over the prep rooms and not being able to locate, Jungkook heads to the restrooms and sure enough, Jimin is standing in front of the sink and shaking his hands free of water. Jungkook hears mutterings of “…stupid…embarrassing…” and closes the door behind him as softly as he can. It’s not enough, apparently, because Jimin whips his head around and his face instantly colours.
“Listen,” he starts in what is supposed to sound like a nonchalant voice, “Sorry about earlier. I don’t know what came over me. Just forget it, okay?”
Jungkook wonders how Jimin can stand being so adorable 24 hours a day. 7 days a week. Year round. Every year. Didn’t it get tiring? Jimin is standing with his arms crossed over his chest now and he stumbles back into a wall when Jungkook approaches the sinks so that he doesn’t end up doing anything stupid again out of sheer proximity.
Jungkook turns on the tap and begins washing his hands, he looks at Jimin through the mirror and raises a teasing eyebrow at him, “And if I don’t want to forget it?”
It’s like Jungkook can see the embarrassment leave Jimin’s body. He looks like he just got hit with a frying pan, of course, but overall his posture is much more relaxed. Jimin clears his throat, trying to be casual.
“Well, that’s up to you. Just don’t expect me to always escape that way when you hug me,” Jimin’s eyes are lighting up and Jungkook doesn’t think he’s seen anything more enticing in his entire life. Some of his previous energy floods back into his body and he turns off the tap roughly, wipes his hands carelessly on his jeans and gets dangerously close to Jimin, holding him lightly by the waist.
“Tell me I didn’t waste literal years by never telling you that I liked you. Tell me that what I thought were mixed signals were really just that and that I’m not a dumbass for holding out for so long. Tell me you don’t like me that way, and that me wanting to get together with you is just some really, crazy fantasy,” Jungkook is looking right into Jimin’s eyes with his teeth biting his smile back. He knows what he’s going to hear, and he thinks he’s falling in love all over again.
“I can’t,” Jimin finally says with a teasing smile on his face. His hands go up to cup Jungkook’s face and just as he leans in, someone knocks on the door.
“1 minute! Let’s go, guys!” A muffled staff voice says from outside.
Jungkook ignores the command and goes in for a kiss anyways but Jimin pulls out of his grasp and leaves Jungkook leaning into air.
“I hate concerts,” he mumbles while glaring at the wall, then turns his head to Jimin.
“No you don’t, you big baby,” Jimin laughs and grabs Jungkook’s hand, pulling him out of the restroom. “We have time. That can wait.”
And they get on stage and put on a show for everybody in the audience. The members see a slight shift, but don’t comment on it. Even when Jimin jokingly punches Jungkook in the arm during Boy With Luv and Jungkook can’t help but let a smitten grin be painted onto his face. Even when, during their ending bows, Jungkook pulls Jimin up from the floor and nearly forgets where they are and plants one on him right then and there.
Even when, later that night, they see Jungkook sneak into Jimin’s room and hear giggles, kisses and voices heavy with sleep reluctantly saying three words they’ve all said to each other. But not like this, never like this.
No, the members don’t mention it. Until, of course, they’re filming for Run BTS and Seokjin just can’t handle the two and their nauseating cuteness.
“Are you two together, or something?” Seokjin asks incredulously. Knowingly. The rest crack up but Jimin and Jungkook can’t stop grinning at each other and Jimin steps away only to look back at Jungkook.
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