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Serendipity

Summary:

New city, new campus, new people, it all proved a little too much for Jimin. The last thing he expected was to find comfort in a stranger's kind words.
Jimin didn't have much hope of college being any different than high school. The last thing he expected was to be meet 4 individuals who made life a little more colorful.

Maybe it's the providence of the universe that they met.

Notes:

Hellooo~~~
This is the second story in the series. You don't have to read the first story to understand this one but some parts do overlap. You've been warned.
Also i'd really appreciate it if you read the first story as well. I wanted to do cute college au with shy yoonmin and this fic was born. I don't what I'm doing but please bear with me.

 
Timeline

Magic Shop - Present Time
Serendipity - 10 years ago/ College Days

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: The Start of Something New

Chapter Text

Tiny breaths. Tiny short breaths. Everything’s going to be alright. You can do this. You can do this. Tiny breaths. In and out.

Jimin repeated the mantra over and over again in his head. He’d been giving himself the brief pep talk ever since he got off the train from Busan, ever since his parents left to go back home, ever since he left his dorm room and made his way towards the first class for his first day of college.

It had taken a lot of effort and time to convince his parents to let him attend the art school in Seoul. Hell, it had taken a lot to convince himself. He wasn’t sure he could do this, he still isn’t. But here he is anyway. In Seoul. Alone and about to enter a classroom where he doesn’t know anyone. This is not doing his anxiety any favors.

Tiny breaths. Everyone told him to take deep breaths but Jimin found the opposite to be more calming. More grounding.

He stepped inside the classroom and was immediately hit by a wave of chattering and music blasting through the speakers. He could see people already standing in groups, talking, laughing. Paying no mind to the new guy at the entrance. He scanned the room, searching for, nothing. He realized again, he had no one here to talk to. The thought hadn’t managed to set in until now, standing at the door all alone. That’s enough to make him breathe a little faster. What was he thinking coming to a liberal arts school of all places? And taking up performing arts? He couldn’t even talk to stranger all that well how was he planning on performing in front of them?

Just these toxic thoughts were enough to fuel his anxiety. He didn’t go in. instead he walked right out and slumped against the wall around the corner.  He fell to the floor, knees pressed against his chest and forehead against his knees.

He didn’t know how long he stayed that way. Just focusing on breathing in and out which took a lot of effort. Silent tears rolled down his cheeks at the prospect of being alone in a strange city.

He probably missed his class but couldn’t seem to bring himself to care. Such was his anxiety, ruling above and over everything else, even his love for dancing.

“Hey you ok?” somebody spoke close by him but Jimin payed the voice no mind. Continuing with his quiet sniffles. It wasn’t meant for him anyway.

“Hey kid.” The voice grew a little louder and a little closer to him this time. But Jimin still didn’t look up, couldn’t bring himself to.

“Hey.”

A hand on his shoulder. It felt warm, really warm compared to the chill seeping into his back from where he was pressed against the wall.

“Are you ok? You’ve been like that ever since I got here?” the voice spoke. He noticed how gravely it sounded with a touch of warmth to it.

Maybe it was the warmth that prompted Jimin to speak, “Not really. A little nervous about school.”

He flinched at how breathless his voice came out. 

“Is this your first day here?” the guy asked. His hand already off of Jimin’s shoulder but he still sounded quite close.

“Yeah,” Jimin replied meekly, still refusing to raise his head from his knees.

The guy didn’t say anything. Jimin almost raised his head to see if he was still there. Almost. But he heard the guy clear his throat.

“Listen I don’t know what your deal is exactly. But I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess you’re going through a mild panic attack. And you probably don’t want some stranger on a dimly lit corridor try to make conversations with you. But I’m going to tell you this anyway because I’m here and you’re here and I’ve been where you are right now. Something my eomma always tells me when I find it hard to breath. Anxiety is a bitch, but it’s not dangerous. No matter how much you may feel like it is at the time. I know this all seems hard right now, and as cliché and as overused as it is, everything does get better. You just have to remember to breathe in and breathe out. Everything else will follow eventually. Whatever looks so daunting to you right now won’t be so forever if you just dare take a step forward, ok. ”

Maybe it was the voice, warm and gruff and deep. Mixing so well together. Or maybe was the sincerity in the way he spoke. Whatever it was, it worked and Jimin found himself breathing a little easier.

“Your eomma used the word bitch?” Jimin asked with a sniffle.

The guy huffed, a sound meant to convey his amusement Jimin guessed, “Nah I just modified it a little.”

“Well thank you, for bothering to ask. And thank you for trying to make me feel a little better. Not many people do.” Jimin spoke while raising his head slightly. But his vision didn’t pick up any further than the floor in front of him. He could see form fitting black jeans and black converse close to his white ones.

“No worries. And I hope you have an easier time here. You can have my Americano, consider this a welcome gift from your sunbae. Welcome to uni kid. It sucks most of the time but find the right people and it’ll be worth your time.”

With a ruffle to Jimin’s hair the guy stood up to leave. Jimin finally looked up, wanting to at least catch the guys face so he could pay back for the coffee later. But he was too late. The guy already has his back to Jimin. All Jimin could make out is broad shoulders and mint green hair. He stared at the retreating back walking towards Jimin’s classroom.

He watched him walk to the door and just stand there. Waiting for someone. A guy came out of the class and latched onto him before Jimin could blink. All bright smile and glowing face. The two of them walked in the opposite direction to Jimin, the glowing one still wrapping his hands around the waist of the other. Jimin’s eyes followed that mint hair until he lost him in the crowd.

He looked at the coffee cup at his side. Smiled and took a sip. Bitter. Jimin made a face but drank it all anyway. Because it was warm and somehow in a span of a minute he had begun to associate all warm things to mint haired strangers with wise words. Words that could make him breathe a little easier. Jimin smiled into the cup and walked to his next class a little bolder. Filing the mint haired boy’s words into a compartment safe in his mind, to reach out whenever he needed them.

 

~~~

 

As compared to that first day, the rest of his days went by a lot easier. Apparently talking to new people wasn’t as hard as Jimin made himself believe it was. And dance class was just as he’d thought it would be. He was finally doing what he’d always wanted to do, what he was born to do. Jimin was happy, as happy as he could be. He had managed to talk to almost everyone in the dance class except for the mint haired guy’s friend. He found out his name was Hoseok and he was the star pupil of the class. Hoseok was always surrounded by people when they weren’t dancing, always engaged in conversation with someone. Jimin never found an opportunity to approach him.

Even though he talked to everyone, he wouldn’t go so far as to call them friends.

The closest thing he had to a friend was Lee Taemin. They’d met in dance class and had a couple other classes together. The older had seen Jimin dance once and had immediately proclaimed he had fallen in love with Jimin’s dancing. He’d told him if given the right training Jimin could someday become a great dancer. Jimin had blushed furiously and Taemin had cooed at him until his blush went away. Teamin was pretty much latched onto him after that, not that Jimin minded. He liked having Taemin as a friend.

In the span of a week they had developed an easy friendship. Not the kind where they were comfortable with telling each other secrets but the kind where they could go out for a drink or two and complain about the atrocity that were lectures. That was more than what Jimin had in high school and he was ok with that. Sure, Taemin was loud and outspoken and a little outrageous with his ideas but it was exactly what Jimin needed to step out of his comfort zone.

He finally got a chance to see the mint haired guy’s face a week later. Jimin was early for class, he was the only one inside. He decided he might as well start his warm up before everyone got here. And so, he walked over to the bars and hooked a leg over them, bending his body forward. He switched legs and repeated the steps a couple of times. That is how Jung Hoseok found him, leg stretched and ass out.

“Oh, I didn’t know someone was here already. You’re Jimin right?”

Jimin turned around at the voice and nearly splits his leg trying to stand up straight. Because standing there, leaning against the doorframe was none other than mint haired guy with arms crossed in front of him and his eyes cast downward towards…wait was he staring at Jimin’s ass?

The guy looked up and met Jimin’s eye and his heart skipped a beat. Well not literally but the hammering in his chest sure feels like skipping. Light brown irises stared at him from behind scant lashes and small almost feline eyes that fit perfectly on his small round face. He had thick, low set eyebrows, arched slightly at the end almost making him look arrogant but the softness in his eyes balanced them perfectly. Jimin didn’t look away, couldn’t look away. Until Hoseok cleared his throat and the mint haired guy spoke.

“I’m leaving. Text me later if you want to grab something to eat.”

“Alright hyung. Tell Jin hyung hi from me.”

With one last glance at Jimin mint haired guy walked away and Jimin yet again found himself staring at that back until he couldn’t see it anymore.

“You’re Jimin, right?”

Jimin realized he never replied to Hoseok’s question earlier.

“Yes.  And you’re Hoseok sunbaenim. Nice to meet you sunbaemin,” Jimin bowed.

“Aish. No need to be so formal. I’m not much older than you. You can call me hyung. Taemin told me you’re a good dancer. Want to try a few moves with me?”

Hoseok was the star pupil of the class. Jimin was elated at the offer and immediately agreed to the offer. His face lit up with a smile at the prospect of dancing with Hoseok, mint haired guy forgotten for the moment.

Despite having heard a lot about Hoseok’s dancing, he had yet to see it live. And to say Jimin was star stuck would be an understatement.

Hoseok danced as if his body was made for it. His moves were lithe and clean, every step was controlled. Every move was pronounced. He didn’t miss a single beat. Jimin was an amateur compared to Hoseok. He hardly believed Hoseok when he told him Taemin was right about Jimin being a good dancer all along.

He’s probably saying that to be nice, Jimin thought.

Hoseok proved to be an equally good teacher and offered to help out Jimin if he managed to come in early every class. It became a sort of routine after that. Early morning dance routine with Hoseok hyung before anyone came to class. He learned a lot about Hoseok in between their session. Hoseok had a bright personality, the kind that somehow rubbed off on you when you were with him. It was easy to talk to him, as easy as it was Taemin. And Jimin always looked forward to their dance session. But his friend never visited after that time he saw his face. Jimin wanted to see him again, wanted to thank him for the day but he had no idea who he was. And he almost never saw him around campus once he stopped coming to drop off Hoseok. Not that Jimin was looking for him or anything. On the rare times he did see the guy, he was always either with Hoseok hyung or a tall handsome guy.

A month in and Jimin, with some help from Taemin, found himself working at the on-campus coffee shop. All the departments had new students by now and the seniors had scheduled a campus wide mixer. For some reason Taemin insisted Jimin do something new, read: dye his hair, for the mixer. He’d been very persistent in his pursuit for the matter ever since they announced the dates. Something about coloring his hair a bold new color to give himself the courage to meet new people. Jimin didn’t exactly understand how that made sense but eventually gave in to his hyung anyway.

“I agreed to do this for you but I am not letting you choose the color.”

“Come on Jimin. Just this once. You can choose my color for me too.”

“Absolutely not. I don’t trust you to not turn me into a traffic light.”

“And I don’t trust you to not choose something boring. Like honey blonde. Or burgundy,” Taemin gasped, “God Jimin did you really come all the way here to change your hair color to burgundy? Are you seriously going to waste all that money on burgundy?”

Jimin rolled his eyes at his theatrics but he did make a good point.

“Fine you can choose my hair color but please don’t make it too wild. keep in mind I’m choosing your color for you the next time.”

“Trust hyung on this. You will be the prettiest bird at the mixer.”

With that proclamation Taemin went away to look for the stylist and Jimin immediately regretted his decision.

After hours of hair pulling and pungent fumes surrounding his head, Jimin finally wheeled around in his chair to look at himself in the mirror.

“Hyung!!!! You promised it wouldn’t be something too weird.”

Jimin immediately turned around to fix a glare at Taemin.

“What are you talking about. You look beautiful.” 

“Pink! You colored my hair pink! I look like a cotton candy!”

Taemin walked to him and turned him around so they were both facing the mirror.

“Will you look at yourself. Not just your hair color. Look at all of you Minnie. You look wonderful. Like a pretty bird.”

Jimin did as he was told and took in all of him. Not just the color. He saw how his now pink hair framed his cheeks making them look softer, how it brought out the glow in his eyes. And he had to admit he looked good. It wasn’t something Jimin admitted all that often, even to himself. But that didn’t mean he was letting Taemin know that. Call him petty.

“I doubt there’s a pink bird in existence.”

“You’d be surprised. I had a pretty bird in mind when I thought of this.”

“You’ve been planning this?”

“Ever since I saw your mochi cheeks. Now let’s go show off your new hair to everyone in the shopping district.”

They spent the rest of the day buying new clothes and gorging on street food.

He was excited to go to the mixer when the day arrived. Some of Taemin’s enthusiasm had rubbed off on him. Hoseok called ahead to tell him he was coming with his friends and they’d meet at the party. A small part of him hoped the mint haired guy would be among his friends so Jimin could finally talk to him and thank him properly. With a cup of coffee. He didn’t know why it became so important for Jimin to repay the guy with a cup of coffee for that day. He didn’t know when he’d started drinking Americanos whenever he was having a bad day. He didn’t understand any of this. He didn’t understand the strange feeling that bloomed deep in his chest whenever he thought of Americanos and mint hairs.

His musing was interrupted by the Haikyuu theme song playing on his phone. His screen showed Chanyeol’s name, a guy who worked with him at the coffee shop.

“Hello,”

“Jimin? It’s me Chanyeol? I hate to do this to you on your day off, especially since you have an early shift tomorrow but are you free tonight? Please be free.”

“Oh, hi hyung? Not really. But why?”

“I made this reservation a month ago for that new sushi place Baekhyun wanted to go to and it’s tonight. I tried asking them to change but they say they can’t. I had this fancy dinner planned where I’d finally ask him to make things official. But I guess I’ll just ask him over coffee during my shift now.”

Chanyeol heaved a long sigh which Jimin knew was more for Jimin’s benefit than anything.

“You’re trying to convince me to take the shift by using your pining for Baekhyun as bait, aren’t you?”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe. But what do I get in return.” 

“One free shift exchange. Anytime you want.”

“Anytime?”

“Yes. If this work tonight I’m willing to leave in the middle of sex to cover your shift if you ask for it. That’s how much I’ll own you Minnie.’”

“Ew hyung you don’t have to go into details. I’ll do it.”

Chanyeol thanked him profusely before hanging up and Jimin immediately called up Taemin to tell him.

“Oh, you too?”

“What do you mean you too?”

“Baekhyun called me up a few minutes ago and told me the same story.”

“Did we just get played or are they both planning on asking the other tonight?”

“I think it’s the latter. It’s been a year it’s about time they made things official. Looks like we’re both working tonight. Shame, really. I was really looking forward to showing you off.”

“See you hyung. I was looking forward to going to. Maybe next year.”

“Yeah.”

Jimin hung up and gazed longingly at the outfit he’d picked out for tonight. He didn’t mind missing the party but minded not seeing mint haired guy. He honestly thought today would be the day he would finally learn his name. Apparently not

 

~~~

 

“Jimin where are you?”

Because Hoseok was glued tightly to his side as always, Yoongi could vaguely hear a voice on the other end of the line. But couldn’t make out what he was saying.

“Really? That sucks. I was really looking forward to you meeting my friends.”

Some mumbling on the other line.

“Yeah I’ll drop by the coffee shop sometime.”

Hoseok put away his phone and looked at Yoongi.

“I guess Jimin’s not coming. So, it’s just the three of us tonight. Where’s Jin hyung anyway? He disappeared as soon as we got here”

Hoseok craned his neck to search for Jin. Yoongi followed suit, more so because he had nothing else to do rather than his need to find Jin. People everywhere, loud and flashy and some already too drunk to be standing. Yoongi sighed and thought this Jimin kid was lucky to miss the party.

“I think he said something about a cute freshman by the drink stand.”

Yoongi remembered Jin mumbling that before he had left them.

“Oh, this should be fun. Let’s go tease him a little.”

“Leave him alone Hobi. Let the man ogle some freshman in peace.”

“Hyung do you think he’d have left us alone if it was us in his place.”

Hoseok was right though, Jin never missed a chance to tease the two. He had been relentless in high school whenever they got flowers for valentines. It hadn’t mattered that he himself got twice the amount.

“Fine go ahead but I’m going home. It’s too loud in here.”

“Hyung we’re a team. I can’t take on Jin hyung alone.” 

Hoseok tried to pull him along but Yoongi shook him off.

“Hobi-ah I only came here to meet your dongsaeng because you insisted. Since he’s not here I’m leaving. You know I’m not a fan of parties.”

Hoseok agreed after much whining and Yoongi left for his dorm. Silently thanking this Jimin person for not showing up.

 

~~~

 

Min Yoongi. Min Yoongi. Min Yoongi. Min Yoongi. Min Yoongi.

Jimin repeated the name over and over again in his head. He knew his name now. The guy at the coffee shop, Jin hyung, he’d insisted Jimin call him hyung, had been very helpful and nice. He hoped he got to talk to him again.

Tonight had not gone according to plan. He hadn’t planned on working tonight or for Yoongi’s friend to show up at his work. But one thing did go according to plan. He’d learned his name.

Min Yoongi, Jimin’s mint haired guy. Min Yoongi, Hoseok hyung’s friend. Min Yoongi, Jin hyung’s roommate.

The smile on his lips didn’t disappear all the way back to his dorm.

 

~~~

 

Jimin was back at the coffee shop the next morning. Relishing in his routine of greeting the customers and getting their order. Unlike most employee, Jimin liked working at the coffee shop. It made it easier for him to talk to people. Now whenever he had to approach someone new he created a little scenario in his head where they were just a cashier and the customer. He knew it probably sounded a little weird to most people but it helped his anxiety.

He was halfway done with his shift when two familiar faces popped in.

“Jin hyung!”

 Jimin yelled out, excited to see him again so soon.

“Hi Jiminie.”

Jimin still had his arm raised in a wave when Jin reached behind him to pull a very          sleepy Min Yoongi at his side. Jimin could feel his cheeks heating up and cautiously took a step back, as if Min Yoongi in such proximity was physically too much for him to handle. Yoongi hadn’t noticed him yet. Jimin wondered how fast he could turn around and walk away before Yoongi raised his head and looked at him. He wasn’t sure he could handle coming face to face with him yet. Which confused because wasn’t he hoping to come face to face with the older one more time? So why did he feel like running away?

As if he knew what was going on in Jimin’s head Jin asked Jimin to take their order before Jimin could make his great escape.

Thankfully Yoongi was still staring at the floor, still a little sleepy. Unaware of the turmoil going on in Jimin’s head and heart 

“Yoongi. What do you want?”

“You know my order hyung. The same as always. Why did you even bring me along?”

“Are you sure you want the same old Americano? Don’t you want to try something new? Look up. Look at the menu. Oh, Jimin you tell him. Is there anything new he can try?”

Jimin looked at Jin with startled eyes and lips pulled in an o.

“Yeah Jimin-ssi. Tell us. Maybe I’ll try something new too.”

Jin’s date from last night looked at Jimin, asking with a dimpled smile.

“I…I don’t…ah…IthinkAmericanoisgoodtoo.”

Jimin had never spoken so quickly in his life. Just then Yoongi raised his head and their eyes met. For the second time, he stared into those warm brown eyes and it was glorious. Jimin could write poetries about the depth in those eyes., about the butterflies somersaulting in his stomach, about the hammering in his chest. About Min Yoongi and his uncanny ability to get Jimin tongue tied with just one look. Jin clearing his throat brought Jimin out of his trance and he quickly looked away from those eyes.

“I guess the usual for you then, Yoongi”

“Yeah”, Yoongi muttered. Jimin could still feel his eyes on him.

“That’ll be all Jimin-ssi”

“O-Ok”

Jimin took the opportunity and walked away from the register as fast as humanly possible without making it look like he was running. He didn’t turn back once to look at Yoongi but he thought he felt a stare never wavering on his back. Walking into the staff room he practically ran to find Taemin washing the cups.

“Hyung!”

“Hey Min.”

“Hyung you have to switch with me today. I’ll wash the cups and you can man the counter.”

“Why?” Taemin asked skeptically.

Jimin had yet to tell Taemin about his crush on Yoongi and he didn’t think now was the time to broach the topic.

“Just…please hyung. I’ll explain everything later.”

“Jimin is someone bothering you? Just point me at their direction and I’ll break their fingers,” Jimin knew he was joking but the concern in his voice was real. He appreciated that a lot.

“No. it’s nothing like that. I just don’t feel like dealing with the customers. I’ll tell you everything later, promise.”

“Alright. Come over after class and we’ll talk.”

“Yeah. Thanks, hyung.”

Jimin didn’t see Taemin again for the rest of the day until much later in the afternoon. As promised Taemin came over to Jimin’s dorm after class. Jimin still hadn’t been assigned a roommate yet so they had the room to themselves.

“Before I forget, here, some guy left his number for you at the coffee shop.”

Taemin handed him the piece of paper as soon as he entered the room. Confused as to who would want to give Jimin their number, he looked at the piece of paper.

‘here’s my number min. Text me and tell me all about your love for Yoongi and ill send you his cute selcas -  Jin hyung’

Jimin laughed out loud at the weird message but nonetheless folded the paper and put in his pocket.

Taemin raised his eyebrows at him, “You know the guy?”

“I guess. I met him last night actually.”

Taemin made himself comfortable in Jimin’s bed and motioned for the younger to join him.

“What’s going on Min? Your out of character shift change this morning and now this guy. This Korean Adonis on campus I had no idea about. How do you know someone I don’t? I thought you told me everything.”

“Awww hyung are you jealous?” Jimin sat down beside Taemin and proceeded to poke at him until Taemin pushed him away.

“No honey I’m worried. Is he bothering you? Are you in trouble? Do I need to beat him up Min?”

Jimin laughed. The thought of Taemin beating anyone up was hard to imagine.

“What? What’s so funny? Are you doubting my words? I’ll have you know I took judo classes when I was little?”

“Really?” he reigned in his laughter to stare at Taemin incredulously.

“Well no. I may have walked into one or two judo classes by mistake. It was in the same building as my dance class. Anyway, that’s beside the point. Tell me what’s wrong?”

“Don’t worry hyung. It’s nothing serious. You don’t have to beat anyone up. Jin hyung is really nice actually. He’s just trying to help me out. I- I- ahhh this is really embarrassing to say…” Jimin buried his face in his hands and squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel the blush beginning to color his cheeks, could feel the warmth.

“Jiminie, are you blushing?”

He tried to pull away Jimin’s hand from his face but Jimin wouldn’t budge. He finally looked up at Taemin.

“I don’t know what’s going on hyung. I don’t understand why I’m acting this way.”

Then Jimin told him everything. From the day he met Yoongi, to the day in dance class and the coffee shop today. Jimin also told Taemin about Jin hyung and how they met.

“I really want to talk to him one more time and thank him properly. But every time I see him I get tongue tied and shy. And you know how it’s not always easy for me to talk to strangers. But with him a whole new level of awkwardness hyung. I don’t know why I’m acting this way. All I want to do is offer the guy a cup of coffee and thank him for helping me but I can’t even look at him without getting flustered.”

Taemin listened to Jimin’s story while munching on the chips he’d managed to find on Jimin’s nightstand, getting crumbs everywhere in the process. He dusted his hand and sat up straight.

“Min do you think, and this is just my observation here but do you think, maybe you kinda, sorta have a crush on this Yoongi?”

“What! No! I barely know him hyung. I can’t be crushing on him, can I?” Jimin asked, unsure of his own feelings.

Taemin shrugged, “You don’t need to know someone to crush on them, Min. Crushes work in weird ways. You’d be surprised if you knew the number of time I’ve crushed on random strangers for the simplest things.”

Jimin grabbed a chip and started nibbling on it, “I don’t know, hyung. I’ve never had crushes before.”

“You’ve what!”

“Never had a crush.”

“Yeah, Min I heard you the first time. I’m just surprised is all. Don’t mind, don’t mind. It’s never too late to start.”

“Hyung, did you just use a Haikyuu reference,” Jimin smiled wide mouthed, the chip halfway in his mouth.

“Yes,” he waved Jimin off, “But don’t get excited over that for now. We have more important things to discuss. Like what you’re gonna text this Jin guy to get the ball rolling on our plan to get you and Yoongi together.” 

“Whoa! Hyung. You’re way ahead of me here. I don’t want anything rolling. I’m not sure about texting Jin hyung either.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. I just…I’m not even sure this is a crush. And even if it is, who’s to say he’ll like me back.”

“Of course, he’ll like you, Min. You have a great personality and a handsome face to match. He’d be lucky to have you.”

“Sounds fake but ok,” Jimin laughed a laugh that sounded a little self-deprecating to his own ears.

“Min…”

“Hyung, stop. I really don’t want to overthink this right now. I just need to thank him and I’m sure I’ll forget all about him.”

“If you say so,” Taemin side-eyed him but refrained from commenting any further.

They sat in silence for a while, both fiddling with their phone.

“Do you want to re-watch haikyuu,” Jimin sidled up to Taemin, not liking the still silence between the two of them.

“Again?”

Jimin nodded, giving Taemin his best puppy dog eyes.

“Ahhh fine. You know I can’t say no to that face. But let’s just watch the third season, I have an early class tomorrow.

Jimin clapped his hands and jumped off the bed to get his laptop from his backpack. He pocketed Jin’s note, Min Yoongi and Jimin’s conflicting feeling’s forgotten for now.

Chapter 2: Slowly And All At Once

Summary:

Yoongi clearing his throat brought Jimin’s attention back to the boy in front of him. He realized Yoongi had been doing that a lot ever since he sat down. Concerned he asked the elder, “Do you have a cold, Yoongi-ssi?”

Yoongi looked puzzled at the question and shook his head no as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, it’s just that you’ve been clearing your throat a lot.”

Yoongi’s otherwise milky white skin colored a peachy hue around his neck and the apple’s of his cheeks. Jimin didn’t know the reason for the sudden blush, maybe it was because of the warm coffee, but the color suited him.

Chapter Text

Jimin woke up to the sound of his phone ringing from where it was lying beside his pillow. With a groan, he rolled to face away from his phone, burying his face in his comforter; as if that would magically make his phone stop ringing. It didn’t. It rang and rang and rang until Jimin finally had enough. He couldn’t, for the love of god, guess who could be calling him at 9 in morning; today of all days. Taemin normally didn’t get up until 12 in the weekends. He pushed himself up halfway and twisted around with the intention of muting the call. But one look at the name flashing in his screen had him sit straighter in his bed as he answered the call with haste.

“Eomma! Hi!”

“Jimin, you’re still sleeping. Good morning, sweetheart.”

Hearing his mother’s voice pulled a soft smile on his lips. He’d missed her gentle voice spoken in breathy notes. Her voice was always his favorite, especially when he got to hear it first thing in the morning.

“Morning, how’ve you been eomma? What about appa and Jihoon? He’s not being a brat is he?”

“We’re all fine, honey. Jihoon is always a brat, you know that. But don’t worry, you’re eomma knows how to deal with him. Tell me how’ve you been, baby? How’s school? Did you make any new friends?”

Jimin didn’t miss the worry seeping into her last question. That had always been her biggest fear, that he’d be alone, like things would be the same as high school. Despite Jimin telling her time and again he didn’t mind not having a lot of friends, she worried. She wholeheartedly believed there was comfort in numbers, the more the better. Jimin had tried to make her understand that that wasn’t the case, at least not to, time and again. That might be the only topic where they didn’t see eye to eye.

Jimin hadn’t had time to properly talk to her ever since he got here, what with him getting used to his new schedule and work. That didn’t mean he didn’t call her, he did, almost regularly but those calls were always short, skimming over the surface and forgoing all the details. He felt a little guilty; after all she’d been his only confidant back home. So, he told her. Everything, from start to finish. He told her about Taemin and the rest of the guys he’d met. He told her about his classes and she told him he sounded much happier. And, finally he told her about Min Yoongi; he didn’t tell her about his conflicting feeling, no, not that. He told her about the first time they’d met.

“Sounds like a good kid, you should thank him properly someday when you have chance. People like him are rare in this day and age, people who’re willing to comfort a stranger. Most just turn a blind eye to things, until and unless something tragic happens. And, I’m glad you’ve found a good friend in Taemin and a mentor in Hoseok. But honey it doesn’t hurt to branch out, right? You should text this Seokjin guy too.”

He’d mentioned Seokjin giving him his number but he hadn’t mentioned why.

“Hmm. I’ll think about it.”

With that she let go of the topic. Another thing he loved about her, she knew when to push for something and when to let go. She quickly changed the topic to some interesting neighborhood gossip she’d heard at the store this morning. Jimin laughed throughout as she told him about a catfight that broke out over spilled milk. They talked for about half an hour until she insisted Jimin go get some breakfast.

Jimin had a feeling today would be a good day.

 Hyung, u up?

He sent a quick text to Taemin before getting up for a quick shower. Taemin still hadn’t replied by the time he got back. He wanted to go out and get some proper breakfast, guess he’d be going alone. Right before he left, he retrieved the piece of paper with Jin’s number on it and quickly added the number to his contacts before throwing away the slip of paper.

The walk to the coffee shop was quick, he practically jogged there. Jimin loved the way the air felt lighter in the morning, free from all the smog and dust. Especially in summer, the gentle breeze cool and refreshing unlike the hazy summer heat in the afternoon. He didn’t have work today, but he liked coming here on weekends. The food was good and he got employee discount, plus he knew almost everyone working here so he didn’t have to worry about talking to a stranger to give his order. Whenever he went somewhere new, he always worried he was taking too much time to order and annoying the employee taking his order, or that he might be a nuisance to the people standing behind him by taking too much time. So, he ended up ordering the first thing he saw which wasn’t always something good.

Baekhyun was at the front today, Jimin smiled at the older as soon as they made eye contact.

“Good Morning, Jiminie.”

“Morning, you sound happy. Something good happen?” Jimin walked up to the counter, feigning innocence; as if he wasn’t the one who changed shift’s with Chanyeol so he could propose.

He didn’t miss the blush that appeared briefly on Baekhyun’s cheeks, “Kinda. Chanyeol asked me out and we’re going on our second date today.”

“That’s great, hyung. I hope you’ll have fun.”

Baekhyun smiled and nodded at him, “We will.”

They made small talk for a while before Bekhyun asked for his order and Jimin found an empty seat to wait for his order. Weekend mornings were always busy, and today was no exception. Almost all the seats were packed; Jimin got the last remaining empty seat.

He took out his phone and aimlessly browed through twitter while he waited for his order, refreshing his feed time and again for something to do.

“Jiminie,” Baekhyun calling him from the register had him look up at the elder.

“Yeah,”

“Do you mind sharing the seat with him? All the other seats are taken,” Baekhyun motioned to the guy standing in front of him; he had his back to Jimin.

“Oh, it’s ok he can have the seat. I’ll just eat in the staff area,” Jimin stood up to leave but Baekhyun motioned for him to sit back down.

“No, sit. You’re not working today, you’re a paying customer. Excuse me, you don’t mind sharing a seat until a table clears up, do you?”

The guy shook his head and turned around to look at Jimin. Feline eyes looked at him, who would’ve thought he’d see Min Yoongi today of all days. Jimin froze and stared, he was in an awkward position; half sitting half standing. Just as quickly he started bowing repeatedly to the elder. When he raised his head again, Yoongi was already walking towards him and looking curiously at him as he bowed. Jimin quickly stood erect and motioned for Yoongi to take the seat in front of him. He could feel a weird sensation unfurling in his stomach. Yoongi nodded at him in acknowledgement and took his seat.

The two of them sat in silence; Jimin could feel his heart hammering against his chest. If it weren’t for the chattering of people around him he was sure Yoongi could hear his heart beating. That’s how loud it felt to his own ears. He didn’t dare raise his head and look at Yoongi, but he wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. But, instead he had his eyes fixed to his phone, staring at it but not registering anything on it.

Yoongi cleared his throat a couple of time, “You’re Jin hyung’s friend, right?”

Jimin looked up to stare at him; his eyes wide open in surprise. Yoongi remembered him.

“You remember,” Jimin repeated his own thoughts dumbly.

“It was just yesterday,” he scratched the back of his neck, “I’m Min Yoongi,” he continued, bringing his hand back down on the table.

“Park Jimin.”

“So, how do you know Jin hyung?”

“I don’t, not really. I met him once and I’m not the best at talking to strangers. But, somehow it was easy to talk to him.”

Yoongi gave him a barely there smile, “That’s Jin hyung for you. He has this way about him to get people to talk. He’s our ice breaker in any and all situations.”

Jimin nodded, he understood what Yoongi meant. There was just something so comforting about Jin’s presence, even to a virtual stranger like Jimin, Jin had felt approachable.

They morphed into silence, both of them staring out the window to observe the now growing traffic. Jimin didn’t feel comfortable with silence; he had this compulsive need to fill every silence with conversations no matter how small. He wanted to initiate a conversation somehow but he didn’t know how. What did he even say to the guy he was possibly crushing on. Did he talk about the weather? The news? Could he ask Yoongi about his day when it had barely even started? He opened his mouth and closed it, words stuck in his throat. He looked at Yoongi. Looked at him properly for once instead of averting his eye quickly as soon as he laid his eyes on the elder. His mint hair had started to fade to a light grey at the roots. He was looking out the window, so Jimin could only see a side of his face. He had a small face with sharp jaw line and rounded chin. His thin lips were naturally a soft pink. Jimin saw a few piercings adorning the elder’s ear, he wondered if the same pair of piercings was in the other ear. Jimin looks at him until he was interrupted by Seoha, a good work friend of his, arriving with their order. Caramel macchiato and pancakes for Jimin. Americano and eggs on toast for Yoongi. He hadn’t had a proper Korean breakfast since he got her, he missed his mother’s cooking.

The Americano brought back memories; he wondered if Yoongi remembered the boy he’d met in the corridor. Well even if he didn’t, Jimin did and he planned to thank the older for that day. Now would be a good time for Jimin to broach the topic. He could thank him and offer to pay for the breakfast that had just arrived and they’d each go their separate ways once outside the café. He wouldn’t have to think of Yoongi anymore after that, he wouldn’t have any reason to; which also meant he wouldn’t have to think about whether he did or didn’t have a crush on the elder. He could end it all this morning. Instead of feeling relieved, the thought left a bitter taste in Jimin’s mouth. He slurped the caramel macchiato as if it could chase away the unsavory feeling settling in his stomach at the thought of having no reason to interact with Yoongi anymore after this day.

Yoongi clearing his throat brought Jimin’s attention back to the boy in front of him. He realized Yoongi had been doing that a lot ever since he sat down. Concerned he asked the elder, “Do you have a cold, Yoongi-ssi?”

Yoongi looked puzzled at the question and shook his head no as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Oh, it’s just that you’ve been clearing your throat a lot.”

Yoongi’s otherwise milky white skin colored a peachy hue around his neck and the apple’s of his cheeks. Jimin didn’t know the reason for the sudden blush, maybe it was because of the warm coffee, but the color suited him.

“I’m fine, Jimin. Thanks for asking. And you can call me Yoongi, no need for such formalities,” Yoongi spoke softly.

Jimin turned his head down to hide the delicate smile stretching his lip. Jimin had never though much of names. He didn’t love his name but he didn’t have anything against it either. He just didn’t care about names all that much, it was just something given to him at birth. But, hearing Yoongi say his name in his deep gravelly voice in soft tones made him feel like his name just might be his favorite word. Yoongi saying his name did wonders for the butterflies that had been slowly festering in Jimin’s stomach ever since he saw Yoongi at the counter.

“Yoongi,” Jimin repeated.

“Yeah,” Yoongi replied.

They ate their breakfast while making the usual kind of small talk. Much to Jimin’s surprise, conversation with Yoongi flowed freely and with ease. The elder spoke in short sentences and long pause in between words. Jimin found himself hanging on to every word that came out of his mouth. In a span of minutes, he felt comfortable with the elder, unlike he’d ever felt before. From the very first time they’d met, Yoongi had felt warm and comfortable to Jimin. Jimin was glad to find out it wasn’t a ‘in the moment’ kind of thing.

They talked about college – Yoongi told him all the gossips he needed to know, apparently his roommate was the biggest gossip in college and always relayed everything he heard to Yoongi. They talked about their hometown – Yoongi was originally from Daegu and a firm believer that it was the best city in South Korea. Jimin disagreed. Busan was better; his statement was met with a dramatic scoff and eye roll from Yoongi. They continued this, dare he say, banter? Because it felt like one to Jimin, even thought he’d never bantered with anyone. Whatever it was, he was enjoying it very much.

“I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?”

For a moment Jimin thought he was referring to their first meeting in the corridor, which would’ve been strange because they hadn’t seen each other’s faces back then.

“In the dance class,” Yoongi added when Jimin failed to reply.

“Oh! Yea! You came with Hosoek hyung,” Jimin clapped his hand once, memory of the first time he’d seen Yoongi’s face coming back.

“Yep, I didn’t realize right away yesterday morning because of your hair color. It was black back then, right. But I thought you looked familiar for some reason. I only realized it just now after looking at you for longer…not that I was staring at you or anything,” Yoongi added after a beat, running a hand through his hair.

“I didn’t think you’d remember that. I hardly made an impression.”

“Oh, I remember,” Yoongi smiled at him, it sent shivers down Jimin’s spine and the butterflies went haywire. Jimin wondered what he meant by that statement but wasn’t brave enough to ask, “So, you’re a dancer?”

“Not yet. But I plan to be, someday. I want to be a performer. Maybe even join a travelling group. I’ve always wanted to travel the world and being able to travel while doing something I love sounds wonderful,” Jimin sounded dreamy, even to himself, “What about you?”

“Music. That’s what I’m here for. I’ve been making music since I was 14. Performing isn’t really my thing. I do better work in the background. Writing, producing, mixing, that sort of thing. I’ll settle for people performing my songs. I want to have my own recording label someday. Which, I know sounds too ambitious for a grad student, as people like to keep reminding me.”

“No, it’s good that you’re ambitious. I’ve realized it takes a lot of effort and character to decide to do something in your life and even more to have the courage to pursue your decision.”

“Exactly. Usually when I tell people about my plans, they just laugh and tell me to pass uni first, as if that’s all that matters. I’m not going to be a producer because I passed music school. No, I passed music school because I want to be a producer. Does that make sense?

Jimin nodded vigorously, his fluffy hair bobbing up and down on his head, “Yeah, it makes perfect sense to me, Yoongi. It’s a horrible thing to tell someone they’re being too ambitious. There’s no such thing as too ambitious!”

Jimin had a habit of using his hand while talking when he was into the conversation. He hadn’t realized he’d started doing it now too. Not until Yoongi looked at his hands and smiled. 

“Mmhmm. I’m glad you understand. But I think our conversation is getting a little too heated for breakfast, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Jimin smiled sheepishly.

“Well, it’s a good thing though. We can use the heat to warm our breakfast; I think it’s started to get cold.”

Jimin hated himself for laughing at that horrible attempt at a joke, but laugh he did, with his entire body, “That was really bad, Yoongi.”

“But it made you laugh, didn’t it?”

“I laugh at all my dad’s jokes. Believe me it’s not a hard feat to achieve.”

“Whatever, I’ll stick to my previous statement; at least I made you laugh.”

Jimin shook his head and started eating. The breakfast really was starting to turn cold.

They were back to eating in silence.

Now is a really good time to bring up that day, Jimin. Just do it. Offer to pay for his breakfast to thank him. And you’ll never have to worry about Min Yoongi ever again. Do it! Now!

Jimin squared up his shoulder, took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak only to be interrupted by Yoongi.

“So, how are you...oh, you were about to say something,” Yoongi paused as he looked at Jimin, his fork perched halfway between the plate and his mouth.

“No, no. I was just-I was just about to eat, yeah. Go ahead with whatever you were saying,” Jimin shoved a piece of pancake to show Yoongi that he really was about to eat. But, unfortunately he’d miscalculated how big the piece was; it barely fit in his mouth. His cheeks bulged out, turning his eyes into small crescent slits as he chewed with his mouth covered by his hand.

“You good? That was a really big piece, there.”

Yeah, no kidding. Jimin gave a thumbs up to Yoongi with his free hand. Since he was in no condition to talk, he made a vague gesture with his hand for Yoongi to continue with what he was saying. Thankfully Yoongi understood what he was trying to say.

“I was about to ask how’s college so far? Jin mentioned you’re a first year. But, please take your time with the pancake before answering. I wouldn’t want you to choke.”

Jimin chewed his food as quickly as he could, eager to answer Yoongi.

“So far it has been fun. The classes are everything I’d wished they would be. I get to dance anytime I want, anyway I want. People are kind once I muster up the courage to talk to them. Although I could do without some theory classes but I’m not complaining. It was kinda hard to adjust at first but I had something that made things a little easier,” Jimin smiled into his cup, averting Yoongi’s gaze.

“Something?”

“Yeah, some words, actually. Just some things someone said to me that helped me through some stuff,” Jimin couldn’t stop the smile forming on his lips as he spoke.

Jimin still had his face turned to his cup so he couldn’t see Yoongi’s face, but there was something off about Yoongi’s voice when he spoke next.

“That someone must be a lucky person to be able to make you smile like that.”

“I don’t know about that, yet.”

Jimin looked back up, smile still intact and locked eyes with Yoongi. The sun streaming in front the window on their side lightened the brown in Yoongi’s eyes, his nose casting soft shadows on his pale cheek. Yoongi in dim sunlight streaming in from the side was soft shadows and gentle features, his sharp edges hidden beneath the shadow. Jimin didn’t drop his gaze, not this time, he felt like he’d realized something, found something in Yoongi’s eyes. But, couldn’t for the life of him fathom what. Yoongi didn’t look away either, but unlike Jimin his eyes weren’t fixed on Jimin’s eyes. His eyes roamed all over Jimin’s face, taking in every detail. It made Jimin squirm but he couldn’t look away. Wouldn’t look away.

“Jimin,” Seoha shook him as she called out his name. Jimin slowly blinked, as if slowly coming back to reality with every blink. He looked up at Seoha, who was givng him a knowing smile as she shook him.

“Huh?”

“Finally! I’ve called the both of you about five times already,” She looked at Yoongi, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience so far, Sir. A table is available now, if you would like to move,” in a much quieter voice only Jimin could hear she added, “But it sure doesn’t look like either of you were inconvenienced.”

Jimin pulled the sides of her apron, to shush her. He could feel his cheeks warming, he quickly placed both his hands on his cheeks before either of the two noticed.

“That’s alright. I’m almost done here and the company isn’t so bad. Unless of course Jimin would like me to move,” Yoongi gestured and looked at Jimin.

“Would you like him to move, Jimin?” Seoha asked in an uncharacteristically singsong voice.

“No, we’re good. Thanks Seoha,” he smiled up at her, channeling all his anger into his eyes as he looked at her, his angry eyes as he like to call it, comprised of squinted eyes drawn together in such a way that it formed creases on his forehead. Seoha just chuckled at him as she walked away. Dammit, why did no one ever respect his angry eyes?

“So, I’m good company?” Jimin asked cheekily as soon as Seoha was out of hearing range. If you were to ask him where the confidence came from, or even where he learned how to sound just the right balance of flirty and shy, he wouldn’t know. He wasn’t even sure he was actually asking the question or just imagining him doing it, placing himself in a scene from one of those countless dramas and animes he’d watched.

Yoongi dusted his hand, ridding them of nonexistent dust and placed his right index finger on his left one, as if he was beginning to count on his fingers.

“Let’s see. First, you have good taste in coffee. I might be drinking Americano right now but I only drink this to keep me awake. Personally, I like sweet coffee too,” now he placed his right index finger on his left middle finger, “Second, you talk just enough to keep a conversation going but don’t feel the need to prattle on mindlessly. I appreciate that, not much of a talker myself,” another finger, “Third, you have a nice voice,” was that the start of a blush forming on Yoongi’s cheek or was Jimin imagining things? “And lastly, you’re not all that hard on the eye. I like you hair,” definitely blushing.

Jimin’s lips stretched out in a wide smile that lifted his entire face, his cheeks bulged just beneath his eyes, pushing them up to form narrow crescents, his nose crinkled, the blush on his cheeks extending to the tips of his nose. He rubbed his nose to hide his smile.

“You could’ve just replied with a yes or no, you know,” Jimin mumbled, “Thank you. You’re good company too, although I can’t come up with a list like you. I liked talking to you and I’m glad I didn’t eat alone today. ”

“Me too. So, does this make us breakfast buddies?”

Jimin giggled, throwing his head back as he did, “Mmhmm.”

Yoongi raised his cup and tipped it towards Jimin, motioning for the younger to do the same. Jimin continued to giggle but not as heartily as before, now it came in short breathy bursts. He raise his cup and clinked it against the older’s.

“To breakfast buddies.”

“To breakfast buddies,” Jimin mimicked Yoongi.

Yoongi smiled so wide, it placed his gums in full display. Jimin swore he’d never seen anything more adorable. They finished the remnants of their breakfast and walked out together after clearing their individual checks. They were going in opposite direction so they parted ways at the door with awkward goodbyes and hugs that changed into just a handshake when both decided against it halfway. Jimin walked away first, only to turn back around after just a few steps to find Yoongi still in the same spot looking after him. Jimin waved at him and Yoongi waved back before turning around sheepishly to walk away.

Jimin never brought up their first meeting so he never got to know whether Yoongi remembered or not. But he did find out one other thing, he definitely had a crush on Min Yoongi.  He repeated the morning’s event over and over again in his head, analyzing and re-analyzing every moment. He phone beeped notifying him of an incoming message.

 

Tae hyung :

Minnie!!!Just got up!!!

I’m starving. Want to eat with me?

 

Me:

Just had some food

But I’ll keep u company if u want

 

Tae hyung:

You ate without me!!

You ate alone?

 

Me:

Not really

 

Tae hyung:

Oh, say hi to Hoseok hyung for me

 

Me:

It wasn’t him

 

It was his friend

Min Yoongi

 

Jimin phone started playing the Haikyuu theme song, his screen showed an incoming call from Taemin.

“Did you go on a date already?” Taemin asked without as much as a greeting.

Jimin rolled his eyes, “It wasn’t a date, hyung. It’s-it’s a long story.”

“Come over with some doughnuts and coffee. I want to hear everything, word for word.”

“Hey, why do I have to bring the doughnuts?”

“Because, Min. Your hyung has a terrible hangover and you’re younger than me which means I can boss you around. Now come over with some doughnuts while I go puke.”

“Gross,” Jimin ended the call and turned back around to the coffee shop.

“Hyung!” Jimin called out as he stepped into Taemin’s dorm, as was the norm, his room was in complete and utter disarray. Clothes covering almost every furniture in the room, wrappers thrown haphazardly with an overflowing bin in one corner of the room. Pens and papers littered the table around Taemin’s laptop. Jimin scrunched his nose and picked the clothes on the chair, only to throw it on Taemin’s floor to make himself some room to sit. It was a good thing Taemin didn’t share his room with anyone. 

“Hyungie!” Jimin called out again.

“Will you stop shouting? I’m not deaf, Min,” a haggered looking Taemin stepped out of the bathroom, staring daggers at Jimin as he flopped down on his bed.

“SORRY HYUNG!” Jimin shouted, just to get on the elder’s nerve.

Taemin threw a pillow at Jimin in retaliation and quickly snatched the coffee and doughnuts from Jimin’s hand

“Ahh , I’m finally alive,” Taemin proclaimed as he took a sip of the black coffee, no sugar – his go to hangover cure, “So, tell me. Tell me about your little adventure this morning. Was it, dare I say, a post one night stand breakfast?”

Jimin rolled his eyes, “Why do you always jump to such wild conclusions? It’s almost like you don’t know me at all hyung? A one night stand? Me?”

“You’re right, what was I thinking. You’re a prude. Ok go on, tell me your story.”

“I’m not a prude! I’m just mindful of who I sleep with.”

Taemin nodded his head with his eyes closed; Jimin figured that was the end of this conversation. So, he proceeded to tell Taemin about this morning. Giggling into his hands when he relayed the various jokes Yoongi had tried to make. By the end of his story he saw Taemin sport a wide grin, much like the one gracing Jimin’s lips.

“You sound happy when you talk about him. You’re so cute,” Taemin cooed at him and bent forward to pinch his cheeks.

“Hyung, stop! There’s one more thing.”

“Hmm.”

“I think I-maybe I- I kinda, sorta, might’ve a crush on Min Yoongi,” the blush was back on Jimin’s cheeks and it came with friends, that colored Jimin’s entire face. He bit his lip to contain the smile threatening to break out on his lips.

“I knew it!!” Taemin squealed, “Look at you blushing, Minnie!”

With Taemin prompting, Jimin spend a couple of minutes gushing over Min Yoongi.

“So, when are you meeting again?”

Jimin face fell as he remembered he had no means to contact Yoongi again, not that he’d ever muster up the courage to, “I don’t know. He didn’t ask for my number or anything,” Jimin pouted.

“So? Why didn’t you?”

“Hyunggg! I’m shy ok, it was a wonder I could even talk to him properly. Besides, he probably doesn’t want to meet me again, he would’ve said something if he did, wouldn’t he? Why would he even want to meet me? I barely said anything interesting; all I did was laugh at the things he said. I’m sure he has more interesting people vying for his attention. He seems like a nice guy, he’d probably give me his number if I had asked but I didn’t want him to give it to me just because he couldn’t say no, you know? ”

“Minnie, stop doing that. Stop thinking so little of yourself. You did this last night too; I should’ve said something then. I haven’t known you for long but long enough to know you’re a good person, Minnie, inside and out. You’re kind, considerate and mindful of the people around you. You have a good heart and a kind soul. Take care of it, be proud of it. And baby you’re also hot, like burn you with a look hot that you insist on hiding behind downturned head and your piles and piles of books. Anyone would be lucky to have you. Of course, it’s an entirely different matter if things don’t work after you start talking, but don’t give up before even trying.”

Jimin felt the tears pooling in his eyes, not enough to spill over but enough to make his eyes glisten. Nobody had said these words to Jimin, words he desperately neeed to hear. He didn’t believe all of them but it was nice to hear nevertheless. He engulfed Taemin in a quick hug, “Thank you, hyung.”

“Don’t thank me, Minnie. I’m just stating the obvious.”

Again, Jimin didn’t believe Taemin. Not entirely. Nevertheless, he nodded and smiled at him.

“So, will you ask for his number?”

“No.”

“Jimin!”

“I won’t ask him. But I can always talk to Jin hyung or Hoseok hyung to give him a message, right?”

Jimin offered to appease Taemin. He wasn’t lying about talking to Jin hyung, he was planning to do that tonight, but he wasn’t about to bring up the topic of Yoongi hyung. Taemin didn’t need to know that, what he didn’t know would never hurt him.

“Look at my Min all grown up. Making plans to get his guy all on his own. I’m so proud of you,” Taemin crooned.

“I’m not a child, hyung. Stop being weird.”

“Stop pretending you don’t like it when I act weird,” Taemin flopped on his back, lying over his covers, “But seriously, Min, I hope things work out for you with this guy. I haven’t seen you talk this excitedly about anything besides dancing.”

“I hope so too hyung. I haven’t been this giddy over anything, ever since I performed for the first time at 15.”

And Jimin meant it. He wanted this to work out, if only because he wanted to know more about Yoongi. Wanted to know about his ticks, his likes and dislikes. He wanted to hear more of Yoongi’s terrible jokes, wanted to laugh with him, wanted to hear him talk about his passion. Jimin had never given much thought to relationships, he was ok with never having gone on a single date – not that there were many offers back home. He never felt like he needed to have a boyfriend, had never felt lonely without one. In fact, he’d thought he was better off without one – he’d seen far too many love stories crash and burn for his liking.  But as he thought of Yoongi with his gummy smiles, Yoongi with his gravelly voice speaking in soft tones he reckoned getting to see that smile, hear that voice every day for the rest of his life wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

He smiled to himself as he daydreamed about the boy he’d met only a while ago, he was brought back to reality by Taemin’s snore. He chuckled at the way Taemin was sprawled on his bed, mouth hanging open as he snored. Sleeping all day on a Saturday sounded like a good idea to Jimin. He gently pushed Taemin to the side to make some room for Jimin to lie down on. He pulled the cover over both of them and snuggled up to Taemin and closed his eyes, hoping sleep pulled him under quickly to show him dreams of Min Yoongi and his gummy smile.

Chapter 3: That's What Friends Are For

Summary:

"It has been scientifically proven that guys tend to lower their voice when they talk to someone they find attractive,” Taemin said matter of factly.

Jimin stared at him for a while, unsure of how serious he was, considering it was Taemin - the elder probably believed what he said wholehearted, “You’ve been watching Cosmo’s snapchat stories, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t make the fact any less true,” Taemin insisted.

“Ok, I believe you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I don’t.”

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

In spite of the tentative promise he’d made to Taemin, Jimin didn’t text Jin. He wanted to talk to the elder again, for he seemed like a really nice guy and one more friend wouldn’t hurt, right. But when the time came to actually compose a text and contact the elder, Jimin chickened out. He reasoned Jin probably didn’t want to be bothered by some stranger texting him, the fact that Jin was the one who gave Jimin his numbers evading his mind in his indecision. Thankfully, Taemin didn’t bring up the topic again. Although that was mainly because he was too busy arranging his first showcase for the year. Jimin couldn’t participate because it was only his first year but Taemin had already made him promise he’d be there to cheer Taemin on the day of the showcase. As if Jimin would miss watching his hyung dance for anything else.

It had already been a week since he’d seen Yoongi and not for lack of trying. He went in early everyday to practice with Hoseok in hopes that Yoongi would tag along and stayed behind with Hoseok until everyone left, hoping Yoongi would come to pick Hoseok to their next class. But no such luck. Yoongi never showed up. Unsurprisingly, he never ran across Yoongi on campus, no matter how much he paid attention to every male student passing by him, hoping one of them would be Yoongi. He tried searching for him online but came out with nothing. And by searching he meant stalking Hoseok hyung’s profile to see if he could find Yoongi in any of the posts. It was entirely Taemin’s idea; Jimin drew the line when Taemin suggested he check Jin’s profile too since Hoseok’s didn’t have anything on it. He’d even gone to the coffee shop this morning for breakfast but Yoongi didn’t show up, however he did find Taemin following him not so discreetly. In the end, he ended up eating with Taemin and sulking about not getting to see Yoongi and Taemin attempted to comfort him.

Through all this, Yoongi was constantly on his mind.

He wanted to see the elder again, wanted to talk to him again. He’d imagine their little breakfast scene over and over again and think of all the things he would do differently. In his imagination he was bolder; he talked a little bit more; he made Yoongi laugh just as Yoongi had made him laugh and most of all at the end of their little da-whatever it was- Jimin asked for Yoongi’s number. Then he’d sigh and laugh at his own rampant imagination, as if he’d ever be able to do those things in real life.

He’d accompanied Taemin to practice today since he didn’t have any plans and no assignments to catch up on. He was currently watching Taemin and Hoseok practice their routine. Both ace dancers of the department, they’d decided to team up for the showcase. Jimin loved watching them dance, they conveyed so much emotion in their moves and executed them so effortless, it was mesmerizing to watch. Jimin could only hope to be as good as them someday. Just as the music stopped his phone beeped alerting him of a new message.

Apparently he was getting a new roommate. Jimin heaved a fairly long sigh.

“What’s up?” Taemin asked, their gaze locking in the mirrored wall in front of them – the mirror spanned the entirety of the room which Jimin always found a little Disney-esqe.

“I got a mail from the administration’s office. They assigned another student to my room,” Jimin frowned, causing his lips to pucker up.

“What’s the pout for, Jiminie,” Hosoek sat beside him as he drank from the bottle he’d just retrieved from his bag

“He’s getting a new roommate,” Taemin plopped down to a squat and asked for Hosoek to pass the bottle.

“Why don’t you ever bring your own,” Hosoek complained as he passed him the bottle, “What’s wrong with getting a new roommate?”

“Why would I bother getting my own bottle when I know I’ll drink from yours either way,” Taemin winked and Hosoek pretended to gag, “And what’s wrong is Jimin is a shy little cinnamon roll who doesn’t usually like talking to strangers. Let alone living with one.”    

If it were anyone else, Jimin would have protested at Taemin giving away something about Jimin so willing. But it was Hoseok, in all their practice sessions he’d managed to get fairly close to the elder. Hoseok was hands down the kindest person he’d ever met. He had such a vibrant and bright personality that somehow rubbed off on you if you stayed around him long enough. He made everything brighter and cheerful.

“Oh, then why didn’t you ask for a single?” Hosoek turned to Jimin directing his question at him.

“I promised myself I’d try to make an effort to come out of my comfort zone a little once I got here. I thought sharing a living space with someone might be a good start. And besides, it’s not as bad as it used to be before. Working in the coffee shop helped a lot and Taemin hyung helped a lot,” he gestured at Taemin who smiled at him encouragingly, “But it’s scary nonetheless. What if we don’t get along, won’t that make it difficult for us to live together?”

“I don’t get along with my roommate at all,” Hosoek supplied unhelpfully.

“Not helping, Seok,” Taemin gave him a look.    

“Let me finish what I’m saying,” Hoseok squinted at Taemin and turned back to Jimin to give him a beaming smile, “Me and my roommate don’t get along, normally. Different major, different interest, different circle, you know that sort of thing But when it comes to living arrangements we manage to keep our differences aside and get along enough to share the same room. So, you don’t necessary have to get along all that much to live together. If you can be civil and respect each other’s boundaries, that’s more than enough. And, this is just for a year, you know. You can choose your own roommate next year. But I doubt anyone would have any problem getting along with you, Jiminie. You’re surprisingly easy to be friends with,” Hosoek nudged him playfully.

“Don’t worry, Min. I’m sure they’ll be cool. If not you can always come live in my room. I don’t mind sharing my single if it’s you.”

“No thanks, hyung. I’ll befriend my roommate first before coming to live in that pigsty of yours,” Jimin stuck his tongue out teasingly. Hoseok laughed as Taemin jumped on Jimin to tackle him. For some reason, Hosoek decided it would be a good idea to jump on both of them. At the end of their little tussle, they were all lying on the floor, breathing heavily and laughing till their stomach hurt.

 

His new roommate moved in the following Tuesday, apparently they didn’t have any classes on that day. That morning, Jimin woke up an hour before he usually did to clean the room one last time. The fact that he’d already cleaned the room yesterday didn’t matter to Jimin. He didn’t leave for class until he was absolutely sure the room was spotless clean.

When Jimin came back from his last class that afternoon, he found his previously spotless room in complete disarray. He almost backtracked thinking he’d somehow come to Taemin’s instead of his. But of course, Taemin didn’t have a second bed in his room, a bed where two people well currently making out. Jimin froze in shock, what was he supposed to do? Was it ok to interrupt them? From the way they were going Jimin doubted they’d take kindly to being interrupted.

One of them moaning made Jimin’s decision a lot easier. He stepped back hastily to leave and ended up bumping against the door knob quiet painfully.

“Ow,” he rubbed the place where the knob connected with his back. The couple on the bed broke apart to look at the Jimin, both breathing heavily.

“Ah, fuck,” in his haste to get up the one beneath the other pushed the other off him, literally. The guy at the top was caught off-guard by his partner’s sudden move and ended up falling to the floor landing on his ass.

“Kim Namjoon!!”

Jimin knew that voice.

“Shit, baby. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to,”

Jimin knew both these voices.

“Jin hyung!!”

The guys stopped just as Namjoon was helping Jin off the floor. On hearing Jimin’s call Namjoon let go of Jin’s hand causing Jin to fall on his ass, again.

“Kim fucking Namjoon!!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. The guy scared me when he suddenly called out your name ok!”

Jimin watched, amused as Namjoon helped Jin up for the second time. Jin glared at Namjoon but didn’t let go of his hand even after he was standing.

“Hi, Jiminie. Haven’t seen you in a while,” Jin smiled at him. His plump pink lips stretched up to scrunch his eyes.

“Oh, it’s you. The coffee shop guy,” Namjoon let go of Jin’s hand only to slide a hand around the older’s waist and pull him closer. Jin went willingly, as if they’d practiced this same move a hundred times already.

“Hello,” Jimin bowed, wondering who among the two his new roommate was.

“So, I guess you’re my new roommate,” it was Namjoon who spoke.

Jimin looked up to see Namjoon giving him a dimpled smile; he smiled back, “Yeah. I’m Park Jimin.” Jimin introduced himself, uneccesarily considered they both knew his name already.

“Kim Namjoon. This is my um my,” Namjoon paused and looked at Seokjin expectantly as if waiting for the elder to continue his sentence. Seokjin smiled a saccharine smile and continued, “Friend for now because Namjoon won’t ask the right question.”

Namjoon blushed and looked away from Jin, all the while holding him close to his side. Jimin had an inkling of what was going on, it was cute the way Namjoon responded to Seokjin’s teasing.

“Sorry about the mess, Jimin. I was going to put everything in its place before Jin offered to ‘help’,” Namjoon air quoted the last word with his free hand.

“Don’t act like you didn’t like it Joonie,”

“Never said I didn’t like it,” Namjoon teased, making Seokjin blush for a change.

Jimin giggled, finding their flirting extremely cute, “That’s ok, hyung. I can help you guy if you want.”

“No that’s ok. You don’t have to, really. And I think we’re the same age so you can drop the honorifics.”

“Ah, I don’t think so. I got in a year early so everyone here is older than me,” Jimin scratched the back of his head. The only other person who knew about Jimin’s early entrance was Taemin. He didn’t normally like volunteering the information unless he absolutely had to. He felt like they’d look at him differently for it. But he didn’t mind saying it now, maybe because Jin was still smiling at him.

“Oh, explains why you look so cute. You’re still a baby,” Jin cooed at Jimin teasingly.

“Either way, I think we can drop the honorifics. Jin hyung stop being a nuisance and help me clean,” Namjoon let go of Jin and turned around to start with the cleaning.

Despite both their protest, Jimin helped Namjoon and Jin. Together the three of them had the place sorted within an hour. Jin offered to order dinner for the two, a sort of house warming gift for them according to him, even though Jimin had already been here a while. Jimin insisted on paying for his own food but one look from Jin had him quietly put back his wallet.

Over dinner they had the usual getting to know each other conversations. Jimin found himself enjoying both their company. He mostly listened to the two of them talk and bicker with each other and only spoke when they asked him a direct question. Jimin found Namjoon had a habit of jumping from topic to topic without realizing he was doing it. He’d always stop mid sentence and apologize sheepishly when he finally figured what he was doing. Jimin found it endearing but what he found even more endearing was the way Jin reacted to it. He didn’t interrupt the younger when he went off topic and didn’t say it was ok when he apologized. Instead it seemed Jin made sure to make note of everything Namjoon spoke of and later asked the younger to explain more on the topic. Namjoon visibly preened when Seokjin showed genuine interest in what he was saying. By the end of the dinner, Jimin was convinced they were a little bit in love with each other.

Seeing the two of them interact was a bittersweet experience. His heart warmed at the way they obviously adored one another. But at the same time try as he might he couldn’t help himself from putting him and Yoongi in their position. This only served to remind him that would possibly never happen.

Throughout dinner Jimin waited for Jin to bring up Yoongi, his roommate. He was hoping Jin would bring up Yoongi. But he never did. He also didn’t say anything about Jimin never contacting him, which was a relief. Jimin didn’t want to tell them he was too shy to even say ‘hey’.

Jin left after dinner. Namjoon and Jimin talked for hours after Jin left. Jimin liked Namjoon’s ideas, he liked the way the elder saw the world. To him everything was science, everything was matter. Everything seemed so simple when Namjoon explained it. Jimin liked that.

Jimin slept easy that night, knowing he would have absolutely no trouble getting along with his new roommate.



“Chim, you coming tonight?” Namjoon asked him as soon as he entered their room.

Jimin looked up from his laptop screen to stare at Namjoon, “Tonight?”

“We’re going to that new barbecue place. You know to celebrate Hosoek and Taemin winning.”

The showcase! How could he forget that? That’s all Taemin had been talking about for the past few days. Somehow everyone had unanimously decided Hosoek and Taemin would win even before the showcase had started. Everyone was aiming for second place now.

“Oh, right. Don’t tell Tae hyung I forgot the showcase. And yeah I’m coming. Hosoek hyung will drag me there if I don’t,” Jimin chuckled.

“Cool. I’m going to grab a quick shower before I leave. Jin needs help with some shopping for his roommate. Yoongi hyung still isn’t back from Daegu.”

At the mention of Yoongi’s name, butterflies sprang up in Jimin’s stomach, “Y-Yoongi?”

“You know the guy who was with us that time we met in the coffee shop. Small, grumpy, cat like, remember?” Namjoon took off his shirt and threw it on the floor. Jimin laughed at Namjoon’s strange description. Although he didn’t agree with what he said. The last time they met, Yoongi had been anything but grumpy.

“I remember,” he replied, smiling softly to himself as he remembered the last time they’d met.

“He’s Jinnie’s roommate. He’s been in Daegu for the past two weeks. He was supposed to come back yesterday for Hoseok’s showcase but some last minute work came up.”

“Oh,” that’s why he hadn’t seen Yoongi for so long, “Will he be there tonight?” Jimin tried to be as subtle as possible, trying his best to hide his nervous excitement at the prospect of seeing Yoongi again. Thankfully, Namjoon didn’t catch on, which wasn’t a surprise really; Namjoon wasn’t the best at figuring people’s emotions.

He shrugged as he walked to the bathroom, “Maybe. But I don’t think so. The last we talked he still had a lot to do.”

Jimin felt his stomach drop at those words. He would get to see Yoongi’s apartment but Yoongi wouldn’t be there. He visibly deflated at that thought. Almost, he almost had a chance to see Yoongi again. Almost.

As predicted, Taemin and Hoseok won the first place. Jin and Jimin screamed so loud when the winner was announced everyone turned around to look at them. Realizing the attention on him, Jimin quickly sobered up and hid behind Namjoon but Jin didn’t let up until Namjoon put a hand on his mouth to get him to stop.

“Jin! Did you just lick my hand?” Namjoon groaned and took his hand off of Jin’s mouth. Unbothered Jin continued to shout his congratulation to Taemin and Hoseok on the stage. Namjoon just sighed and gave up on trying to make him stop, Jimin stayed behind Namjoon all the while giggling at Jin’s antics.

As soon as they were off the stage the three of them ran backstage to congratulate the winners. Jimin hugged Taemin as soon as he saw him, “Congratulation, hyung. You were so good up there.”

“Thanks, Min.”

“Where’s my hug, Jiminie?”

Hoseok was standing behind Taemin, with a smile on his lips and a trophy on his hand. Jimin quickly let go of Taemin to give Hoseok a hug, “Congratulations, hyung.”

Namjoon and Jin soon followed, with their own slew of congratulations.

“Yoongi didn’t make it?” Hosoek asked Jin. Jimin felt his ears perk up at the mention of Yoongi’s name. Taemin nudged him at his side; Jimin pretended not to notice.

“No, he didn’t get an earlier ticket. He’ll be here pretty late tonight.”

How late? Jimin asked, although he didn’t know who he was asking.

“Let’s go. I’ve told him where we’re going, he’ll come by if he gets here early,” Namjoon patted Hoseok on the back and led him out the door, the rest of them following.

“I hope for your sake, he arrives early Min,” Taemin spoke so quietly only Jimin could hear it.

I hope so too, Jimin thought.



It was Hoseok who’d suggested the five of them go out together. Everyone here knew each other one way or the other, even though some, like Namjoon, Jin and Taemin had never spoken before. Hoseok thought it would be a good idea for all of them to go out together as a group. For someone who just met today, Jin and Taemin went along exceptionally well. In a way, Jimin had seen this coming; the two of them shared the same chaotic energy. Maybe that was one of the reason he’d felt so comfortable with Jin so quickly, he was a lot similar to Taemin. Both Taemin and Jin were chaotic and an absolute mess at worst but they were also kind and soft spoken when needed. They didn’t act their age most of the time. But when needed they were always there for you like a responsible older brother. Unfortunately, today there was no trace of their latter self.

Jin was currently attempting to eat as many lettuce wrap as he could in the span of a minute, Jimin had to pay close attention a couple of time to see whether he was even chewing the whole thing or not, given the speed he was going at. Hoseok was the time keeper. Taemin was the mastermind behind the whole debacle and the one making the lettuce wraps for Jin. Jimin and Namjoon were the unwilling audience.

“So, how many did I eat?” Jin asked leaning back against his chair and rubbing his belly.

“Yeah, what’s the score?” Hoseok looked to Taemin.

Taemin blinked at the two of them and looked at Jin, “I thought you were keeping the score.”

“YAH! I was busy eating, I told you guys to count,” Jin protested.

“I was busy looking at the stopwatch. I didn’t even watch you eat,” Hosoek defended himself.

“I was kinda focused on making you the wrap,” Taemin shrugged.

They continued to bicker, each giving reasons as to why they clearly couldn’t be expected to keep the score. Jimin and Namjoon looked and each other and shared their annoyance.

“Do you think they’d notice if we just leave?” Namjoon pretended to whisper to Jimin, in a voice clearly loud enough to be heard by everyone on the table.

“I don’t think so. Let’s just leave quietly before they start something new,” Jimin whispered back.

“Both of you sit down where you are. Nobody is leaving until we’ve figured out how many lettuce wrap did I have. So, Taemin as I was saying…”

Jin continued to rattle on but frankly Jimin didn’t pay any attention to what the elder was saying. His interest was somewhere else now. He could feel his heart hammering against his chest, could feel nervousness and something he couldn’t exactly name unfurling in his stomach, he had a sudden urge to pinch himself to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep during Jin’s ranting. Because standing there at the door was Min Yoongi. Standing under the fairy lights that hung over the entrance, dressed in all black contrasted well with his plain white t-shirt, he looked nothing sort of mysterious and wonderful. Something Jimin would dream up.

But he wasn't a dream, because if he was Hoseok wouldn’t be able to spot him soon after Jimin did. If he was a dream Hoseok wouldn’t be able to run over and hug him. If he was a dream Hoseok wouldn’t be able to pull him along to where everyone was sitting. If he was a dream Min Yoongi wouldn’t be able to look at Jimin and stand still in shock as his eyes landed on the younger. Eyes just as wide open as Jimin’s. Jimin wanted to smile at him, he wanted to greet him, but all he was capable of was doing was stare at the older with a strange mixture of elation and uncertainty in his heart.

“Come on, hyung. Sit,” Hoseok pulled Yoongi beside him and he ended up taking the seat directly in front of Jimin. Yoongi looked someone coming out of a trance as he sat down. Suddenly coming to action, he greeted everyone before bringing his attention back to Jimin.

A slow sideways smile pulled on his lips, “Hi Jimin.”

Jimin blinked a couple of times before answering his smile with a shy one of his own, “Hey.”

“It’s nice to see you again.”

“You t-“

“Again?” Hoseok interrupted him before Jimin could reply.

“Yeah, remember the coffee shop guy,” Jin replied as he looked at Jimin and Yoongi who were still staring at each other.

“Oh,” Jimin couldn’t be sure but he thought he heard a hint of teasing in Hoseok’s voice, “So, you’re the guy whose smile is like s- ow! What the fuck hyung? Why’d you kick me?”

“Sorry, my leg slipped,” Yoongi turned to Hoseok as he apologized, looking anything but apologetic.

“Slipped, my ass,” Hoseok grumbled as he bent down to probably rub the spot Yoongi had just hit.

“The guy whose smile is like? Come on, finish your sentence Hobi. Don’t leave us hanging,” Taemin spoke up from beside Jimin.

“Yeah, Seok. Go on,” Jin shared a look with Taemin and leaned forward to look at Hosoek. The three of them shared a look among themselves. Jimin had a bad feeling about this.

“Yoongi hyung, why don’t you finish the sentence for me. My leg hurts too much for me to talk,” Jimin didn’t miss the sly smile on Hosoek’s lips as he looked at both Jimin and Yoongi. For his part, it seemed Yoongi was looking anywhere but at Jimin as the trio directed all their attention on him. Jimin waited for him to speak; frankly he wanted to hear the end of that sentence to.

“It was nothing,” Yoongi mumbled as he looked around, “Where’s the waiter? I’m starving.”

Nobody bought his feeble attempt at changing the conversation, “I’ve already ordered something for you as soon as I got your text. You can continue what you were saying, hyung,” Namjoon supplied from beside Jin with a dimpled smile on his face, that looked anything but innocent.

“Come on, Yoongi. We’re all waiting. I’m sure Jimin wants to hear what you have to say as well. Don’t you Jimin?” Jin asked Jimin, a glint of mischief in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Jimin replied, running a hand gently through his hair, “But only if you don’t mind sharing,” he quickly added. Yoongi looked at Jimin for a while; he couldn’t make out the strange look on the elder’s face.

“I don’t mind telling you,” Yoongi finally replied after a while, “I told him you have a really sweet smile.”

Jimin felt his cheeks warming up at Yoongi’s words, he was thankful for the somewhat dim light in the restaurant. Hopefully, it was enough to hide his blush. He chewed on his bottom lips to contain his smile.

“Those weren’t the exact words but I guess I’ll let you have this one. At least you tried,” Hosoek patted Yoongi on the back placating. Jimin didn’t miss the glare Yoongi directed at Hosoek.

“Hear that Jiminie. Yoongi thinks you have a nice smile,” Jin teased.

“Thank you, Yoongi,” he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Yoongi shyly to find the older smiling at him.

“Yoongi? Interesting. Hyung, when do I get to call you Yoongi?” Hoseok questioned.

“Once you learn how to not be a brat,” Yoongi countered as soon as Hosoek had spoken.

“Hey, Yoongi and I are the same age. Why don’t you ever call me hyung, Hobi,” Taemin whined, leaning forward and supporting his chin on his hands as he looked at Hoseok.

“Because you’re a brat,” Hoseok deadpanned.

“Come on, just once. ‘Taemin hyung’, say it,” Taemin grinned at Hosoek.

“No thank you.”

Taemin and Hosoek continued to bicker for a while. Taemin an unstoppable force and Hoseok an immovable object, this could only end some thing wierd. As suggested by Jin, Hoseok would use honorifics with Taemin for a month if the older scored more than the younger in their first internal assessment. Both agreed in a heartbeat. Despite Taemin’s constant flirting and Hosoek’s continued disgust at said flirting, it was apparent to Jimin the two respected each other as dancer and considered each other good friends. There bubbly personality an equal match for one another.

The rest of the night passed by quickly in between conversations that oscillated from trivial things to more serious topics, everyone making their own observations. They were quick to make fun of one another and laugh at the other’s expense but their teasing didn’t feel menacing. Unlike some people he knew back home. Jimin had never had a circle of friends, per se. He had a few friends who talked to him but when it came to making plans and going out; Jimin had always been left behind. Never fitting in any of the group. He hadn’t minded back then. But maybe that was because back then, he’d never known what he had been missing. Sitting here surrounded by the 5 boys currently listening to Namjoon explain about the difference between haikus and poems, Jimin finally understood what it meant to belong. He finally understood how it felt to be included, and he didn’t ever want to let go of this feeling ever again.

And then there was Yoongi. Yoongi evoked a different kind of feeling. Something so different from the way he felt for the rest of the boys but something equally beautiful. Throughout the night he kept stealing glances at Yoongi, their eyes locking a couple of times. Every time it did, Jimin turned away quickly, to hide the smile that bloomed on his lips. He missed the identical smile that appeared on Yoongi’s lips as he watched the younger try and fail to contain his smile. However, Jimin didn’t miss the way Yoongi’s voice took on a different tone every time he addressed Jimin directly. It became deeper yet a little softer when he spoke to Jimin. Apparently Jimin wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“So, Yoongi definitely likes you back,” Taemin spoke as they went to the restroom.

“What? No way. Why? Did he say something? Did Hosoek hyung?”

“Calm down, Min. Nobody told me anything. It’s just something I saw.”

“You saw that Yoongi liked me,” Jimin asked me incredulously.

Taemin nodded quiet confidently as their gaze locked in the mirror, “Yeah, didn’t you notice his voice?”

“What about his voice?”

“You need me to spell out everything for you, don’t you?” Taemin sounded exasperated, “The way he spoke to you Jimin. Didn’t you notice the way his voice changed, it got a lot deeper.”

“I did but that hardly means anything, hyung,” Jimin shook his head, mad at Taemin for getting his hopes up over nothing.

"It has been scientifically proven that guys tend to lower their voice when they talk to someone they find attractive,” Taemin said matter of factly.

Jimin stared at him for a while, unsure of how serious he was, considering it was Taemin - the elder probably believed what he said wholehearted, “You’ve been watching Cosmo’s snapchat stories, haven’t you?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t make the fact any less true,” Taemin insisted.

“Ok, I believe you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yeah, I don’t.”

“This is the last time I’m trying to help, Park Jimin,” Taemin walked out of the restroom before him, walking a few paces ahead.

“Hyung, don’t be mad. Ok, I believe you,” he followed quickly. Making cute faces at Taemin as soon as he caught up with the older.

“Oh, Yoongi. Where’s everyone else?” At the mention of Yoongi’s name Jimin abruptly stopped with his cute faces.

“They’re waiting for us outside. Jin hyung settled the bill for everyone.”

“What? He didn’t have to do that,” Jimin protested.

“Don’t worry; he always does this at the start of the semester. He works during the break and treats us to free dinner with the money left.”

“That’s nice of him.”

Yoongi nodded his agreement but made no attempt to leave, still standing at their table. There was a pregnant pause only broken when Taemin cleared his throat, “Sooo, should we leave?” he gestured towards the door.

“Ah actually, would you mind going ahead of us. I need to talk to Jimin about something,” Yoongi asked. The butterflies in Jimin’s stomach were back with a vengeance. Why? Why did Yoongi want to talk to him alone? Did they have to? Jimin felt like he’d been flustered enough to last an entire week.

Taemin looked at Jimin, “Is it ok, Min?”

Jimin wasn’t sure. He wanted to hear what Yoongi had to say but at the same time his nerves were all over the place tonight. He looked at Yoongi who looked a little nervous himself.

“Yeah, go on ahead,” he made his decision.

“Ok then. Have fun you two,” with a wink Taemin left the two of them alone.

None of them spoke for a while. Both of them unsure of what came next.

“Ah, this is embarrassing,” Yoongi said bashfully as he scratched the back of his neck.

“What is?” Jimin tilted his head and looked at him.

“I had this whole speech planned, you know. But I can’t remember anything now that you’re standing in front of me. The light,” he gestured overhead, “It’s making you glow, making it hard for me to focus on anything else.”

Yoongi knew all the right words to make his heart flutter.

“Tell me the short version then. I don’t need long speeches.”

Yoongi nodded, slipped both his hands on the pocket of his jeans then taking them out. He then proceeded to stare at his shoes and breathed deep. Why was he so nervous?

“Yoongi, is everything ok?”

“Yeah, no everything’s good. Just give me a sec, yeah.”

Jimin waited with bated breath as Yoongi composed himself. Finally, after what seemed like forever Yoongi looked up, a nervous smile playing on his lips.

“Park Jimin, I was wondering if you’d maybe like to grab another breakfast with me sometime.”

It took a while for Jimin to figure out if he’d imagined Yoongi saying those words or if the older had actually spoken them. It took another while to wonder if the older was asking him out or just asking him to grab some breakfast as friends. Considering Yoongi's nervousness, he concluded he was probably asking Jimin out on a date.

Jimin thought he’d be elated, he’d been dreaming of this. But when dreams and reality collide, dreams shatter under the weight of reality. That thought was nerve wracking. He wasn’t sure whether to run or to hug Yoongi. He was happy; of course he was happy but at the same time scared of taking an actual step. What if Yoongi didn’t turn out like he’d imagined him to be once they got to know one another? He didn’t want to let go of this image he had of Yoongi. It took him a while to answer, the longer he waited the more he watched Yoongi’s smile slowly drop.

“Jimin? Ah, maybe I should’ve gone with the speech,” Yoongi chuckled, “its ok to say no, you know. There’s no pressure. Although, I hope we can still be friends even if you say no.”

What’s wrong with you Park Jimin. Stop over thinking everything and take a chance, a voice that sounder eerily like Taemin’s rang in Jimin’s mind.

“YES! I would love to go out for breakfast with you.”

Yoongi visibly sighed with relief, and Jimin found himself relaxing with him. The wide gummy smile was back on Yoongi’s face and one look at that smile and everything he felt for the elder came rushing in his heart, washing away all the doubts that had surfaced a few moments ago. He beamed at the older, finally hit with the full force of what had just transpired, happiness seeping into every cell of his being.

“Thank you for agreeing. You had me scared there for a minute.”

They exchanged numbers, Jimin held out his phone with shaky hands for Yoongi to type in his number. They walked out of the restaurant in silence, both lost in their own version of happiness.

The rest of them were waiting for them outside, “What took you guys so long. We need to run, the curfew will start soon. The new RA in my building is too serious about this stuff. Come on,” Hosoek called back as he started to run. Everything happened too fast after that for Jimin to make sense of anything.

Hosoek ran ahead closely followed by Taemin. Namjoon held Jin’s hand and pulled him along. Yoongi ran too but turned back to find Jimin still standing still. He never had a reason to go out late, so he didn’t realize the dorms had curfew. He thought they were joking about the running.

Yoongi ran back to him and grabbed his hand, “Let’s go.”

“I thought Hosoek hyung was joking. Are we actually running all the way to our dorm?”

“We have to, if you don’t plan on sleeping on a bench tonight. It’s only a few blocks away, we’ll make it.”

Jimin ran behind Yoongi. Their hands held tightly together, his eyes never left Yoongi’s back. Every once in a while, Yoongi would turn around to give him a beaming smile. When that happened, Jimin always stumbled a few steps making Yoongi chuckled. Ahead of him he could hear Hoseok and Taemin shouting incoherently as they ran. Apparently, they’d started an impromptu game of ‘it’ just between the two of them.

As he ran under Yoongi’s guidance, he felt safe in looking at the sky instead of focusing on where he was going. After all, Yoongi was there to lead him back. Finally, for the first time since he left home, Jimin could see a few stars shining in the Seoul night sky.

Notes:

Not much fluff in this chapter, but don't worry I've got plenty of it for the next chapter. So much fluff, it'll give you cavities :D

Chapter 4: The First of Many

Summary:

The first times were always the hardest. Nobody could attest to that better than Park Jimin. The first day of school, the first time he flew, the first stage performance, the first day of college. Jimin’s mind had always been exceptionally adept at imagining the worst-case scenarios, so first times were filled with nothing but dread and anxiety. No matter the outcome, the beginning had always been hard to get through. And, today was no different.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The first times were always the hardest. Nobody could attest to that better than Park Jimin. The first day of school, the first time he flew, the first stage performance, the first day of college. Jimin’s mind had always been exceptionally adept at imagining the worst-case scenarios, so first times were filled with nothing but dread and anxiety. No matter the outcome, the beginning had always been hard to get through. And, today was no different.

It was today, his first date with Yoongi. In about two hours to be precise. Jimin had been checking the clock every few minutes, not sure if he wanted the hands on the clock to speed up or slow down. He had a fitful night’s sleep – tossing and turning throughout the night worried about the date. He’d finally given up on sleep when the first rays of dawn streamed in through the window. He lay there worrying about what to wear, worrying about not having anything to say, worrying that he might do something wrong and so many other ways today could go horribly wrong. While he worried his life away – Namjoon snored from the next bed, oblivious to Jimin’s turmoil. Jimin had half a mind to wake him up, but then thought better of it when he remembered he’d got in pretty late last night after his date with Jin. He thought of texting Taemin but remembered he always had his phone on silent while he slept. So, all he had for now was himself and his ever-growing list of things that could go wrong. But for all his worries, Jimin had been eagerly waiting for this day.

It had taken a while for them to set a date. Yoongi had been busy catching up on all the assignments he’d missed on his leave and Jimin had been busy with his own classes. So, neither of them had a chance to meet up for their breakfast date, reminiscing their accidental breakfast. In spite of their busy schedule they’d managed to text each other every day. Some days the conversations were brief, some days they talked for hours.

Yoongi had texted him the very next night after the showcase.

 

Yoongi 😊

Hey

Its me 👋

Hey yoongi 😀

Yoongi 😊

How was ur day?

It was good

Urs?

Yoongi 😊

tiring 😞

been running around catching up on everything I missed the last 2 wee ks

oh tht sucks

don’t work too hard, Yoongi!!

fighting

Yoongi 😊

Sure sure

Soo jimin

Sooo yoongi 😶

Yoongi 😊

😒😒

😇😇😇😇

Yoongi 😊

😦😦

😋😋

Yoongi 😊

Fine u win par k jimin

👏👍

didn’t realize this was a competition

Yoongi 😊

Yeah right

So anyway

I was glad I ran into you last night

Yeah?

Yoongi 😊

Mmhmm 😁

me too

I was glad I got to tal k to you again

Yoongi 😊

So, tell me jimin

Tell you what?

Yoongi 😊

Tell me ur ideas of fun

My idea of fun

Um I don’t thin k I do anything fun, really

Like I don’t go out a lot

I spend most of my time by myself, watching animes, dramas, reading stories

Yoongi 😊

See I don’t agree with you

U don’t have to go out to have fun

Enjoying ur own company is better than being surrounded by people u barely tal k to

Don’t u thin k? 😁

 

Just like that, Jimin was reminded of the first time he’d met Yoongi. He was reminded of Yoongi with his wise words, the Yoongi that told Jimin things no one ever did, things he needed to hear. They’d texted for hours that night, sharing little things about each other. Things that didn’t mean much on their own, but piece by piece they all came together to paint a bigger picture. Yoongi wasn’t what he’d expected him to be but he was so much better. Jimin had been pleasantly surprised to see this playful side of Yoongi, with his abundance of emojis and spontaneous jokes that weren’t always funny.

Having said that, Jimin hadn’t had the easiest time when he’d first texted Yoongi. When the notification had popped up, his body had run cold. From trepidation or something else, he didn’t know. His hands had been shaking, anxiety slowly taking over. For every text Yoongi sent, Jimin had sent five more to Taemin panicking about said text. He’d typed and re typed every sentence over and over again each time, waiting with worried eyes and shaky hands for Yoongi’s reply. But as things go, and as Yoongi himself had said, that fateful day, things did get better.

Over the next few days, it got easier to text Yoongi. His hands stopped shaking and he stopped freezing every time he saw Yoongi’s name flash on his screen. A beaming smile replaced his worrying lips and crescent eyes replaced his nervous frown. Jimin began to enjoy their endless banter that started and ended without any point. He learned more about Yoongi each day, and with every new tidbit of information his affection grew as well.

They always made time to text each other at least once a day, even if they could talk only for a few minutes. Their imminent date had somehow slipped Jimin’s mind until Yoongi brought it up last night.

 

Yoongi 😊

Got any plans for the wee kend?

Jin hyung wants to go shopping on Sunday

Yoongi 😊

So youre free tomorrow?

Yes

Yoongi 😊

Great

Do u want to go on a date with me?

😌

 

Jimin had spent a long time staring at that line. He’d kept staring as Yoongi’s speech bubble kept appearing and disappearing several times.

 

Jimin? 😶

YES

Hi im here

Sorry I was panic king over your text doing something

I would love to go out with you 😀

Yoongi 😊

Great!!!

See u tmrw

Br kfst at the same café as last time

Is 9 ok?

9 is perfection good

Yoongi 😊

See you then

Oh and Jimin, one more thing

Yeah?

Yoongi 😊

U’ve got to stop disappearing every time I text u something ris ky

I have a weak heart park jimin!

😵😵😵

 

That had been last night. Now, it was 7 45 and with every second his hesitation grew. He felt like he was out of his depth here, reaching for something he couldn’t handle. He read all their past conversations; in an effort to ease his mind. It helped to some extent. In all their messages Yoongi had always been kind and thoughtful. He wondered if it was possible to continue talking to Yoongi only through text. Probably not.

A knock on the door brought Jimin out of his reverie. He got up to open the door, wondering who it could be.

“Hyung, what are you doing here?” Jimin was surprised to see Taemin leaning against the doorframe.

“I’m here to help you with the date. Why else would I wake up so early,” Taemin pushed past Jimin, “Yah, Kim Namjoon,” he poked Namjoon’s arm before sitting down on Jimin’s bed.

“Let him sleep. And you didn’t have to come. I know how you hate early morning,” Jimin sat beside Taemin, rubbing the back of his head. He was glad Taemin was here but at the same time he didn’t want to inconvenience him.

“And I know how you like to overthink and make yourself worry,” he patted Jimin on the back. Jimin smiled a bashful smile, grateful for the older.

“Now tell your hyung all your worries, Minnie.”

Jimin heaved a large sigh, “I can’t do it hyung. I don’t think I can go. What if I do something wrong? What if he doesn’t like me anymore after this? What do I even talk about. I’ve never done this before and I like him so much already, I’m scared I’ll end up ruining what we have. Hyung, I don’t even know what to wear!”

“Ok, Min. Cam down. Breathe. We’ll take this one step at a time, yeah?” Taemin placed both his hands of Jimin’s cheeks and guided his face so that the two were facing each other. Jimin saw Taemin’s comforting smile through his glistening eyes and nodded.

“Ok,” he whispered.

“First, let’s get you something to wear,” he stood up to look through Jimin’s closet, “You’re just going out for breakfast, so nothing flashy.”

He shuffled through almost all of Jimin’s clothes and picked a couple of outfit for the day. He suggested Jimin have the final say, considering he’d be the one wearing it. Jimin went with striped red tee and black skinny jeans. His mother had always said red brought out the color in his cheeks.

“Ok, that’s done. Do you feel a little better now?”

“A little,” he didn’t have to worry about looking like a wreck at least, even if he felt like one.

“What are you guys doing?” Namjoon’s sleep heavy voice spoke from behind Jimin. Jimin turned around to see him sitting half up on his bed, looking at Taemin and Jimin with sleep laden yes.

“Oh, Joonie. Did we wake you? Sorry,” Jimin quickly apologized.

“We’re preparing for Jimin’s date.”

“Hyung finally asked you out huh,” Namjoon got up and stretched.

“What do you mean finally?” Taemin asked.

“Jin hyung said he’s been complaining about not having enough time to take you out on a date for days now. Oh shit, I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” Namjoon ran a hand through his hair and scratched his head, “This doesn’t leave the room, ok.”

Taemin pretended to lock his lips and throw away the key and looked a Jimin, “You hear that, Min. Yoongi’s been thinking about this for days. He’s been texting you every day since that night. I have a feeling, he’s just as eager for the date as you are. You have nothing to worry about, there’s nothing you could do today that would ruin your chances with him.”

“Wait, Chim you’re worried about that?” Namjoon chuckled incredulously, “Relax. Trust me when I say there’s very little chances of that happening.”

“Oh, look at that. Suddenly I’m all relaxed. Thanks, Joonie,” Jimin snapped. He couldn’t help it. But he immediately apologized for snapping at Namjoon, it wasn’t his fault that Jimin was an anxious mess of a person.

“Don’t worry about it, Chim. I get where you’re coming from. But trust me, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to impressing Yoongi hyung.”

“Oooo do you know something?” Taemin sidled up to Namjoon on his bed, fluttering his eyelashes unnecessarily.

“Stop. I’ve already said enough. Taemin hyung stop pushing against me. You’ll have to go on the date and find out on your own, Chim,” Namjoon shrugged, pushing Taemin away from him.

What did Namjoon mean? Had Jin hyung told him something? Had Yoongi? The way Namjoon had said it, it had sounded like it was something good. What could it be?

“Jimin, you should start getting dressed now. It’s 8 30.”

In his haste to get ready for the date – and his fight against Taemin hyung and his make-up brushes, Jimin momentarily forgot his worry. Talking to Taemin and Namjoon had reassured him to some extent. Now, instead of worrying about all the things that could go wrong, Jimin thought of all the reasons he’d agreed to do this in the first place.

 

Yoongi 😊

Change of plans

I’ll be outside your dorm in 5 minutes

 

Jimin stared at the message. Heartbeat escalating quickly. Taemin read the text over his shoulder and snatched his phone away.

 

“Hyung!”

 

“You were taking too long to respond,” he gave the phone back after typing something.

 

Cant wait to see you 😬

 

Ok, that wasn’t so bad. He sent the message as it was. He decided to wait downstairs for Yoongi to get here.

“All the best, Min. Get a kiss for me.”

“Have fun, Chim.”

Jimin stood on the flight of stairs leading to his dorm’s double doors to wait for Yoongi. There weren’t many students around, most of them no doubt still nursing a hangover from Friday night. He could hear a few cars honking in the distance, and if he craned his ears enough he swore he could hear birds chirping. It was a clear day, the sun shone brightly and a gentle breeze blew a few strands of his hair. He looked around, waiting for Yoongi to show up, checking his phone for the time repeatedly.

At exactly 9, a car rolled in and stopped in front of Jimin. It had tinted windows so he couldn’t see who was behind the wheels. He moved to the side, and continued craning his neck to look for Yoongi.

The car door opened, the noise brought Jimin’s attention to the driver’s side. He was pleasantly surprised to see Yoongi step out of the car. For some reason, it always slipped his mind that Yoongi was incredibly good looking, every time he saw the elder he couldn’t keep himself from gaping. He had on an all-black ensemble -  black shirt and black jeans, that contrasted incredibly well with his fair skin. Looking at Yoongi, Jimin was reminded once again of how out of his league the elder was. He looked a little intimidating at first but one look at his smiling face and Jimin felt himself slowly relaxing under Yoongi’s gaze.

“Morning.”

“Morning, Yoongi.”

Yoongi walked around the car and Jimin walked down the stairs, a beaming smile on both their lips. They met halfway, just outside the passenger side door. Yoongi pocketed both his hands before speaking.

“You look good, Jimin.”

Jimin didn’t miss the way Yoongi ran his gaze to check out Jimin. It made him shiver, in the best kind of way.

“Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”

For a while, both of them stood there awkwardly. Unsure of what to do next. After a beat of silence both opened their mouth together to say something and burst out laughing when their eyes met.

“You first,” Yoongi offered.

“I was about to ask you why you changed our plans.”

Yoongi smirked at Jimin, “That’s a secret. I hope you’ll like it. Speaking of, let’s get going, it’s an hour drive to where we’re going.”

Yoongi opened the door for him, a gesture Jimin found incredibly sweet.

“Don’t forget the seat belt,” Yoongi reminded him as he slipped into the driver’s seat.

“Where are we going?” Jimin asked once they were out on the main road.

“You’ll see when we get there. Just sit and enjoy the drive for now. Here, play something,” Yoongi offered his phone which was already connected to the AUX cord. Scrolling through his list of songs, Jimin realized the two of them had a somewhat similar taste in music. Mostly indie pop and rock, a few old timers. Yoongi had a few hip hop bands that Jimin didn’t listen to. He settled on When It Snows by 1415, a duo he’d recently found. He was surprised to see Yoongi listened to them as well.

“Nice song,” Yoongi gave him a side smile that had Jimin blushing for no apparent reason.

Jimin looked out the window as they breezed past tall buildings and other drivers out on the road. Every now and then he would steal glances at Yoongi. Yoongi looked at ease behind the wheels. He had both his hands on the steering wheel most of the time, every now and then he’d tighten his grip on the wheel making his veins pop out in the most wonderful way. Jimin would stare unabashedly, and quickly look away when he realized what he was doing. If he thought Yoongi was attractive before, then Yoongi driving was infinitely more attractive.

“I didn’t know you could drive,” Jimin mused, still looking out the window.

“I learned when I was 19. Things weren’t so good at home financially back then. My friend had a family business and he asked his father to let me work in deliveries. Had to learn for that.”

“Oh,” Jimin intoned.

“Don’t sound so sad. It’s all in the past now. I don’t have to work anymore and my family is stable,” Yoongi nodded.

Jimin smiled, feeling better, “That’s good to hear, Yoongi.”

The rest of the drive went by far quicker than Jimin had expected. In between casual conversations and silence filled with music, Jimin hadn’t realized the one hour drive was already coming to an end. He realized how silly all his worries from this morning was. Yoongi was as easy to talk in person as he was in text. Not once did he make Jimin feel like he had to be careful with what he said. Of course, there was the usual awkwardness that comes with first dates, the stolen glances, the shared shy smiled, a lull in the conversation every now and then as they both came up with something interesting to say. But none of it made Jimin feel anxious, he was smiling and blushing throughout the drive.

If Yoongi was to say this drive was all he had planned for the date, Jimin wouldn’t mind. An hour drive back to the dorms, with Yoongi sounded pretty good to Jimin. But of course, Yoongi didn’t say that. He drove to what looked like a parking lot.

“We’re here,” Yoongi was out the car and running around to open the door for Jimin before Jimin had unfastened his seat belt. He drummed his fingers against the door as he waited for Jimin to get out. He seemed really excited, Jimin was surprised to see this cute side of Yoongi. This was ridiculous, how could one person be both so gorgeous and cute.

“I have a few stuff in the back. Wait here.”

Yoongi came back with a rather sizable picnic basket and a picnic rug.

“Yoongi wha-“

“I promised you breakfast, didn’t I?” Yoongi smiled sheepishly.

“We’re going on a picnic,” Jimin giggled. He offered to carry the basket but Yoongi was quite adamant in his refusal, so he settled for carrying the picnic rug instead.

“Is that- is that weird?” Yoongi sounded unsure, fidgeting where he stood.

“No,” Jimin was quick to reassure Yoongi, “It’s not weird. I like it.”

Yoongi smiled his gummy smile making Jimin’s heart pitter patter against his ribs.

“Let’s go. We need to walk for a few minutes to get to the park. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not.”

The finally arrived at the park after what seemed like fifteen minutes of walking. ‘Seoul Dream Forest’ the board out front said. Jimin eyes widened, he’d been meaning to come here ever since he came to Seoul. Yoongi noticed the surprised look on Jimin’s face and chuckled.

“I take it you like the place.”

“Yoongi I love it!! I’ve wanted to come here for so long!” Jimin turned to Yoongi excitedly.

“Cute,” Yoongi mumbled.

“What,” it’s not that Jimin didn’t hear what he said. The ‘what’ was out of disbelief than anything else.

“I said you’re cute,” Yoongi coughed, “Lets’ go inside,” Yoongi briskly walked away from Jimin who was stunned where he stood, blushing furiously at Yoongi’s remark. It took a few seconds for him to finally run after Yoongi and inside the gates of Seoul Dream Forest.

They walked around for a while, before finding a place to lay down their rug. It was a secluded area, a canopy of trees provided shade from the sun but a few errant rays still managed to shine through, keeping the place warm enough but not too hot. Jimin and Yoongi sat close together, but not close enough if anyone asked Jimin. Yoongi began to unearth the content of the picnic basket and Jimin stared in wonder as he spread everything in front of the two of them. Pancakes, cupcakes, sausages, omelets and a few side dishes light enough for breakfast.

“Yoongi, are you planning to feed everyone here?”

Yoongi stopped midway in the process of opening the thermos, “Is this too much?”

“A little,” Jimin scrunched his nose, trying to contain his smile.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I brought a little bit of everything,” he retrieved two plastic cups and poured the content of the thermos into the cups.

“Thank you. I like everything here but I don’t think I can eat it all.”

“Don’t worry about that. We’ll take back the leftovers and eat them later. We’re college students Jimin, leftovers are our holy grail.”

Jimin giggled at Yoongi’s apt analogy. He took the plastic cup Yoongi offered and took a sip. He instinctively made a face at the bitter coffee and Yoongi noticed.

“I’m sorry. Americano is all I could bring in the thermos.”

Jimin smiled, Americano’s and Yoongi had a special place in his heart, “That’s ok. I like Americano.”

“Oh right, you mentioned that the first time we met,” at Jimin’s blank expression Yoongi added, “At the coffee shop.”

That wasn’t the first time we met, Jimin thought but didn’t say anything instead he asked, “You remember that?”

“Of course, Jimin. How could I forget. I’d never seen pink hair before you.”

Jimin groaned, “I didn’t choose this ok. It was Taemin hyung, he made me do it.”

Yoongi didn’t say anything for a while, after a while of staring he smiled, “Then I guess I have to thank Taemin one of these days. I’ve never thought much of the color pink but on you it looks magical.”

There he went again, making Jimin blush. He looked away shyly, biting his lips to contain his bashful smile. The action didn’t go unnoticed by Yoongi, who smiled a gummy smile of his own before placing some food on Jimin’s paper plates.

“Let’s eat before the food gets cold. We can talk more later.”

They ate in silence, as Jimin had predicted the food was too much for just the two of them to finish. They re - packed everything else, excepting the thermos. They sipped on their paper cup full of Americano - at some point Yoongi had started to play some music on his phone – listening to the music and the birds chirping overhead.

“Oh, right. Did you finish all your assignment?”

“Ah, not really. There’s still a few left but I’ll do it after I go back tonight. And probably the entire day tomorrow. The assignment load makes me almost wish I hadn’t gone to Daegu.”

“Why did you go?”

Yoongi scratched the back of his neck before answering, “I don’t know if you’ve heard but I work at a local recording label there as a freelancer. I work from here most of the time but every now and then I have to go in for some paperwork. It’s a hassle but I get to do what I like.”

“That’s impressive, Yoongi.  You’re a full-time student and already working in record labels.”

“I wonder if you’d still think I’m impressive if I told you I barely pass most of my classes,” Yoongi side eyed Jimin, waiting for his reaction.

“Even then,” Jimin turned to Yoongi, “Even after hearing that I still think it’s impressive. I don’t know much about the music industry but I don’t think it’s easy for you to juggle classes and produce at the same time.”

“It’s a bitch and then some.”

“See,” Jimin gestured with both his hands to show he’d made his point, “Besides, I don’t think grades are as important as everyone make them out to be. What’s more important is what you learn in college, not how much you score. Passing is more than enough. And you’re already working in the field you’re studying for, so I’d take a guess and say you’re a pretty good student, Yoongi.”

“You’re really something, Park Jimin,” Yoongi shook his head, a faint smile on his lips.

“A good something?”

“The best,” Yoongi grinned and Jimin beamed back.

They morphed into a comfortable silence after that. Both aware of the fact that something had changed in their dynamics. Jimin had never imagined he’d be this comfortable in Yoongi’s presence. He’d always heard such horror stories of awkward first dates but he was surprised to find none of that awkwardness between the two of them. Talking to Yoongi was as easy as talking to his friends. The talked some more about each other, exchanging questions back and forth. Yoongi, Jimin found out, played basketball, liked reading as much as Jimin did – they’d had a wonderful time talking about the books they’d read, both of them had read most of the same books. Jimin liked hearing Yoongi interpret the books he’d read, the older had a unique take to thing, a new perspective he’d never thought of when he’d read the book himself. As far as first date conversations go, Jimin reckoned this was pretty good.

 

Around noon, Yoongi suggested they walk around the park. The park was just as Jimin imagined it would be. Like something out of a Disney movies, he hadn’t seen this much green since he’d visited his grandparents in the countryside. He had his head turned to the sky, watching the tall trees surrounding them, as result he didn’t see the tree branch protruding from the ground. He stumbled and fell down on his knees before he could regain his balance.

“Jimin!” Yoongi crouched down to help him up. He went so far as too brush off the dirt on Jimin’s pants. Jimin had to step away from him to make him stop.

“Stop. You’ll get dirt on your hands.”

“I don’t mind. Does it hurt,” Yoongi took Jimin’s hands on his own and looked at the scrapes on Jimin’s palm worryingly. He wanted to pull away in embarrassment but Yoongi had a tight grip on his hand and it felt nice so he let it be. He scrapes stung a little, but nothing Jimin couldn’t handle.

“It’s fine. I’ve had cuts far worse than this,” Jimin joked. Yoongi didn’t look amused.

“You should watch where you’re going, Sunshine,” Yoongi’s eyes widened as soon as the words left his mouth. He quickly let go of Jimin’s hand and turned away from Jimin. Jimin’s breath caught in his throat as he took a sharp inhale.

“Jimin. I meant to say Jimin. Watch where you’re going, Jimin,” Yoongi rambled gruffly still refusing to turn to Jimin.

“I liked sunshine,” Jimin mumbled to Yoongi’s back as Yoongi walked away from him. Jimin didn’t think the elder had heard him. After taking a few steps, Yoongi slipped his hand in Jimin’s without a word and wrapped his fingers around Jimin’s palm. Jimin stopped walking and stared in disbelief, first at Yoongi then at their joined hands and again back at Yoongi. Yoongi tugged their hands to get him to start walking again.

“Now you can look to the sky as much as you want and I’ll make sure you won’t fall,” Yoongi brought up both their hands as if to show Jimin, “This is for your own safety,” he mumbled shyly.

Oh, Yoongi was smooth, Jimin thought and beamed at the older, “Thanks for keeping me safe.”

 

Jimin learned more about Yoongi in the next few hours, he learned that Yoongi tended to sidestep his gait a little when he slowed down, he learned that Yoongi had really soft hands, he learned that Yoongi’s smile was nothing compared to the sound of his laughter; he could listen to Yoongi’s raspy laugh forever. Jimin also learned the older had a penchant for taking pictures. He took pictures with his phone throughout their walk, grumbling about forgetting to bring his camera. Jimin was more than aware of a couple of times, Yoongi took a picture of him – trying to be secretive about it. But Jimin was too shy to pose for the camera and too awkward to tell Yoongi to not take the picture, so he pretended he didn’t notice the camera clicking. Much to Jimin’s delight, Yoongi never forgot to slip his hand back in Jimin’s after he was done taking the pictures. But much to Jimin’s disappointment, Yoongi didn’t call him sunshine again.

 

"-and Hobi had this huge ugly bird drawn on his stomach," Yoongi shuddered at the memory and Jimin laughed, throwing his head back.

"Did you rub it off?"

"No, Jin hyung had drawn it on with permanent marker. He walked around with it until it faded away."

"At least it wasn't somewhere you could see."

"Yeah that was lucky. But then again, all his hook ups ran away as soon as they saw the bird. So, I guess not all that lucky."

They both laughed as they imagined poor Hobi running after his date for the night, as they ran away from him. 

 

"- it was entirely Jihoon's fault."

"It was your brother's fault that you broke his game boy?" Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! He shouldn't have left it on my bed, where I sleep."

"Or, you know you could have seen the game boy and removed it before you sat on it."

"I need glasses, Yoongi. You can't expect me to see things when I don't have them on!"

"Ok, ok," Yoongi raised his hands in defeat, "It was Jihoon's fault."

"I'm glad we agree."

 

 

“Yoongi?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you like living in Seoul?” Jimin asked during a lull in their conversation. They were both sitting on a park bench, basking under the warm glow of sunlight. Yoongi had his face turned to the sun, eyes closed. He turned to look at Jimin when he asked the question.

“I guess. But, I haven’t thought about it much you know. To me, Seoul is just somewhere I’m passing through for the sake of my future. No matter how long I stay here, Seoul will always be a temporary city for me. I’d like to go back to Daegu someday. So, I haven’t really thought about Seoul much.”

“But won’t that be sad? Living in Seoul for years even though you don’t like the place?”

“I never said I didn’t like the place, not exactly. And besides it’s not where I am but who I’m with that matters. I’d be happy in any city in the world, as long as I had my people with me,” Yoongi smiled serenely, voicing his feelings, “What about you? Do you like Seoul?”

“It’s the same for me, I think,” Jimin gulped, preparing himself for what he was about to say next, he felt like this was a right time as any to talk about this, “Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of friends. I was kind of in the middle of the spectrum you know, not popular enough to have a lot of friends but not unpopular enough that people wouldn’t notice me. I just drifted along, going with the flow. I grew up in a small town, so the school I went to wasn’t very open about homosexuality which was probably one of the reasons I kept my distance from everyone. I was lucky to have family as understanding as mine, my teenage years would have been pretty terrible without them. I chose Seoul because I wanted to go somewhere I didn’t have to hide who I was, I didn’t give much thought to the city itself. I never thought about happiness much before, or thought it went hand in hand with companionship. But after coming here and meeting everyone, Teamin hyung, Hoseok hyung, Jin hyung, Joonie. And you. I think I’d be happy in any city as long as I had someone there.”

Yoongi listened to Jimin in silence. After he was done, the older entwined their fingers, “I’m glad you found them here. And me too.”

“And you,” Jimin smiled looking at their joined hands.

It was good. It really was.

 

They walked around for a bit, before going back to where they’d left their picnic rug. Jin called as soon as they’d sat down.

“Hyung,” Yoongi greeted on the phone. Jimin couldn’t hear what Jin was saying, so he listened to the one-sided conversation.

“Right now?” “Oh, ok. We’ll come back.” “No, hyung. I don’t mind. I should thank him in person when I get there.” “Yeah, see you in like an hour. Max.”

“Something wrong?” Jimin asked as soon as Yoongi got off the phone.

“No. Well, yes. We need to head back right now. Jin hyung’s brother needs his car back. He’s waiting in our room.”

“Oh,” Jimin couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice. He’d spent almost the entire day with Yoongi, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

“No, Sunshine. Don’t look so sad. We’ll come back some other day. I’ll get mad at Jin hyung for calling us back if you pout like that. And I really shouldn’t be mad at him considering he was generous enough to ask his hyung to let me burrow the car.”

Jimin sobered up as soon as he heard Yoongi call him sunshine again, “Yeah. Ok. Let’s come back to watch the stars at night,” Jimin smiled wide, happy at the thought.

“Whenever you want.”

They walked back to where they’d parked hand in hand. By now Jimin was used to Yoongi’s palm against his, he didn’t even think of pulling away anymore. As soon as he saw the car, Jimin let go of Yoongi’s hand and ran to the driver’s side door. Yoongi looked perplexed as Jimin opened the door and looked at Yoongi expectantly.

“What? You wanna drive?” Yoongi asked.

“No, Yoongi!” Jimin rolled his eyes, “I’m opening the door for you, silly. Like you did for me this morning. Now come on. Hurry. You shouldn’t keep Jin hyung’s brother waiting for too long.”

Jimin relished the shocked look on Yoongi’s face. This was the first time Jimin had seen the rosy hue coloring Yoongi’s cheek. He smiled wide, turning his eyes into crescents as he watched Yoongi slowly walk to him. Jimin had too push the older into the car, who still seemed a little out of it. He even took the basket from Yoongi’s hand without nay protest from Yoongi. He put the basket on the back seat before getting into the car himself.

“Don’t forget the seat belt, Yoongi.”

“Huh. Oh, yeah. Seatbelt.”

 

The drive back was relatively quieter and subdued than this morning. They didn’t have anything left to say, not right now anyway, in contrast to their endless stream of conversation the entire day. Jimin was content in Yoongi’s presence, repeating the day’s events in his head. Everything about today had been perfect, it was everything Jimin had dreamt a first date would be like and then some. 

Jimin’s dorm came into view far quicker than he’d like. The thought of ending the date didn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t done spending time with Yoongi. He didn’t move for a while even after Yoongi had stopped in front of the stairs leading up to his dorm.

“I had a great time today, Yoongi.”

“Me too.”

“I – in case you hadn’t figured it out all ready, I’ve never done this before. You know the whole date thing. Thank you for making it so easy for me,” Jimin blushed and looked at his hands fidgeting on his lap.

“I’m surprised to hear that, you know. I hadn’t thought you’d be single when I first saw you.”

Jimin couldn’t help laughing at that, “That’s sweet of you to say, Yoongi. Even if it is a line everyone uses.”

“It’s not a line. I meant what I said,” Yoongi sounded completely serious, “I hate that you don’t believe me, that you don’t see just how incredible you are. But that’s all right, I guess. We’ll work on that together, you and I.”

Jimin’s laughter died down in his throat, he looked at Yoongi with something akin to wonder in his eyes. Yoongi just kept getting better and better, didn’t he?

“I’m really glad you were my first date, Yoongi.”

“I hope I did enough to meet your expectation, Sunshine.”

“More than.”

If anyone asked Jimin why he did what he did next, he wouldn’t have the answer. When he thought about this moment sometime later, he himself wouldn’t know why he’d done it. Maybe it was an ‘in the moment’ kind of thing.

He leaned in and placed a kiss on an unsuspecting Yoongi’s cheek before getting out of the car. He didn’t stick around to see Yoongi’s reaction. If he had, he’d have seen Yoongi watch after him in shock and awe and a thousand other emotions reflecting in his eyes - emotions he didn’t know how to name – as he ran up the stairs.

Jimin ran without a backward glance, blushing furiously all the way to his room. Thankfully Namjoon wasn’t around to hear him scream into his pillow as soon as he sat down on his bed. After screaming his embarrassment away, he dialed Taemin’s number.

“Hyung! Are you free? Please tell me you’re free. Because I need to see you like right now. I feel like I might combust if I don’t get everything out right this instant.”

“Whoa, Min. Slow down. I’m with Hoseok. I’ll come over right now, think you can hold on till then?”

“Yeah, ok.”

“I take it you had a good date?”

“Just hurry,” he hung up on Taemin before letting out another squeal for good measures.

Notes:

I may or may not have listened to Scenery on repeat as i finished this story.
I really would have been done with this chapter a lot sooner if i hadn't distracted myself with new WIP's
This chapter took more effort than I'd thought, hope it had enough fluff for you as promised.
Tell me what you think!!

Chapter 5: It's Not Easy(But It's Worth It)

Summary:

“Yoongi, do you ever feel like the songs you write aren’t good enough?”

“Constantly,” Yoongi replied gravely.

“So, what do you do?”

“Go ahead with the song anyway.”

Notes:

Ok, First off I had to increase the chapter count because this chapter ended up being longer than I estimated. So had to break it into two. The last chapter will be an epilogue, which might or might not happen. For now, it definitely will but we'll see...
Second this chapter will skip three years from the last. Yoongi and Jimin are in a established relationship since their first date. I'm sorry I skipped all the in between parts, I had to. Trust me. It's for the greater good. Don't hate me uwu
ThirdI really wanted to write some relationship issues, just to have that big fight, you know. But these two just don't want to fight. I may write the story, but i dont control what they do. So, here you have a whipped yoonmin who're just too good at this relationship stuff.

Chapter Text

Jimin stood in the center of the practice room, unsteady on his feet. He was surrounding by mirrored walls on all sides with no way out. Somewhere during his routine, the door that had been behind his back had just disappeared into thin air. Nevertheless, he’d continued on with his choreo, twisting and turning and making all the right moves until the music stopped. He danced until he couldn’t dance anymore. He stood on unsteady feet, staring at his own reflection with only one thought in his mind. He wasn’t ready. He’d been chosen for a solo performance for the year end showcase and he wasn’t ready. He’d tried his best, practiced every day until he felt like he could barely walk, but it wasn’t enough. He wasn’t enough. The thought choked him, threatened to drown him. He needed to get out of this room. Right now. But there was no way out. 

He ran to the nearest wall, rammed his hand against the glass. Hoping someone outside would hear him, hoping the glass would just crack under the pressure. But nothing happened, instead he had a dull ache in his hand to accompany his constantly aching feet.  

“Is anyone there?” he called out as he continued beating against the window. 

“Hello?” 

Silence. The only sound being the choked shout coming from Jimin himself. 

“Please, somebody let me out of here,” he cried out in desperation, kicking the glass furiously. 

Nothing happened for a while. Nothing but heavy silence and dread. Then the glass wall moved, but it didn’t move to create an opening for Jimin. No, it started to move towards him. Rapidly.  

Utterly terrified, Jimin took hurried steps backward only to bump against a wall soon. Too soon. A quick turn around the room told Jimin something that made his blood run cold, the walls were closing in on him. Confining him rapidly. Claustrophobia set in as soon as he realized what was happening.  

His mouth ran dry and a strange tightness arose in his chest. Making it hard for him to breath. He clutched his chest and clawed at his neck to try and breathe. Just one breath. Try as he might, he could feel the air run out from his lungs, just as the walls ran towards him. 

When he thought he had no choice but to get lost in this abyss he heard something. A faint voice calling out his name. 

“Jimin,” the voice grew louder with each repetition. Jimin gave up on trying to breathe, he didn’t think he could anymore, instead he decided to focus on that voice. If this was the end then he’d rather go away in serenity - listening to the voice calling his name, instead of panicking. He closed his eyes and stood still, focusing on the voice – was it getting easier to breathe? Before he could answer that questions, he heard the voice loud and clear now. 

“Jimin!” he heard the glass cracking even before he opened his eye. A small crack spreading rapidly until the glass walls crumbled down with a deafening crack. 

In real life, Park Jimin woke up gasping and clutching the material of his sheet, the memory of the glass room still fresh in his mind. He sat up straight, clutching his chest, finally breathing. Arms wrapped around him holding him tight, guiding his head against a chest and keeping him there. He smelled of citrus and marine accord, Yoongi. The voice that had called out to him in his dream. 

“You’re ok. You’re ok. I’ve got you. You’re ok. It was just a dream, Sunshine. I’m here,” Yoongi repeated over and over again, clutching Jimin tightly to his chest. Jimin pulled back because it was getting a little hard to breath with his mouth pressed against Yoongi’s chest. He looked up to see Yoongi looking at him with worried brows. 

“I’m ok,” Jimin reassured him, placing his hand on Yoongi’s cheek. But he himself was anything but reassured, still reeling from the strange dream 

“Fuck, baby. You were whimpering and sobbing in your sleep, I tried to wake you up several times. Are you sure you’re ok?” Yoongi took Jimin’s face in between his steady hands and looked at Jimin with so much concern and love in his eyes, Jimin cracked. 

“I’m not ok. Yooni it was horrible,” he shuddered at the memory and crashed against Yoongi’s chest, burying his face there. Yoongi was quick to wrap his arms around him. 

“Tell me Sunshine.” 

And Jimin did, he told him every little detail about the dream. Yoongi held him through the entire ordeal. After he was done, he felt a lot better. Yoongi’s presence and his listening ears giving him instant relief and comfort. Yoongi guided him to lay back down on the bed. His head burrowed in Yoongi’s neck – inhaling the older’s comforting scent. His arms around Yoongi’s waist and Yoongi’s around Jimin, one arm playing with his hair – a gesture Yoongi knew comforted Jimin.  

“Jimin?” Yoongi asked softly. 

“Hmm.” 

“Is everything ok at practice?” 

Jimin didn’t reply. He knew Yoongi would figure out the reason for the dream without Jimin having to tell him. 

“Yeah,” Jimin lied. 

“Sunshine, don’t lie to me,” Yoongi said sternly and rested his hands on Jimin’s head. 

“I’m not,” Jimin insisted, nudging his head gently against Yoongi’s hand, signaling the elder to continue caressing his hair. 

“I’ve seen you practice until you were exhausted. I’ve seen you faint on the day of the showcase because your nerves got the best of you (my heart stopped beating when you hit the floor in front of my eyes). I’ve watched you beat yourself up over your choreography, even though you’re the best dancer I know – next to Hoseok. I’ve seen you Park Jimin, I’ve been with you through it all for the past three years. So, tell me again, is everything ok at practice?” 

“No,” Jimin finally whispered.  

No, everything was not ok. No matter how hard he tried, he kept screwing up. He kept missing the beat, kept missing the steps, kept forgetting the moves. He kept falling down, and he did get up each time and started all over again. But there was only so many times he could get back up before breaking down completely. 

He’d been elated when he had been given the solo performance. He couldn’t believe it at first when the teacher called out his name - even though everyone kept saying he was the obvious choice after Hoseok graduated. He couldn’t believe it, but when he finally believed, he couldn’t stop smiling. The dread and uncertainty came much later. Much, much later. As the date of the showcase approached, he began doubting his every move, began messing up the easiest choreographies. He had half a mind to give up and ask the professor to choose someone else, the only thing keeping him from doing just that was the fact that he’d worked night and day for this day. 

He'd worked night and day for the past three years, until his feet blistered, until every muscle in his body ached. And he still wasn’t good enough.  

“I’m scared, Yoongi. So, so scared of messing up,” he closed his eyes shut, feeling the tears wet his lashes 

“Sunshine, that’s normal. It’s a huge opportunity for you. There will be scouts from companies and dancing troupes all waiting to see you. It’s a given that you’d be scared. 

“Yoonie, you’re not helping,” Jimin sniffed, hitting Yoongi’s back gently with his fist.  

“I’m not done. It’s a huge opportunity, an opportunity to represent the dance department of one of the best liberal arts college in Seoul,” Yoongi nudged him so he was looking up and Yoongi, his chin resting against the elder’s chest, “You’re representing your instructors who chose you to represent them, Jimin. They’ve taught you for the past three years, they’ve seen you dance, evaluated your moves. And, they chose you because they know you can do this. They know you can make them proud. Everyone knows how good you are, Jimin. Hell, every time I watch you dance, I can’t take my eyes off of you. It’s a shame faeries don’t exist, if they did, I’d imagine you to be one of them when you dance, ethereal and graceful as fuck. So, it’s ok to be scared but don’t you dare doubt yourself.” 

Jimin listened to Yoongi in quite wonder. When Yoongi got like this, speaking with such seriousness and sincerity, he could feel the force of the elder’s feelings for him. It humbled him, made him love Yoongi even more. More often than not, Jimin wished he could see himself the way Yoongi saw him, but he saw a glimpse of it every now and then, like right now. And he was almost inclined to believe him. Almost but not quite yet, he’d have to work on the rest himself.  

“Thank you,” Jimin swallowed thickly before pressing a kiss on Yoongi’s lips. 

“Do you feel a better now?” 

“A little.” 

“Still worried.” 

“A little,” Jimin repeated with a small smile on his lips. 

“I know just how to distract you. Come here Sunshine.” 

He pulled Jimin over him, running his hands all over Jimin’s back under his shirt. Jimin leaned in for a kiss, deepening instantly as soon as their lips touched. Yoongi really did know how to distract him. He didn’t think of anything but Yoongi’s body moving against him rhythmically for the rest of the night until slumber pulled him under. 

Jimin woke up the next morning feeling a lot lighter than he did last night, with a dull ache between his legs and bruises marring his inner thigh. He sat on the bed and stretched, simultaneously looking for a sign of Yoongi. A note on the dresser caught his eye.  

Had to go to work early. Didn’t want to wake u. call u later. Have a good day!  

Jimin pocketed the note for safe keeping - he had a small wood box full of notes written by the other back at his dorm. Even though Yoongi had a place of his own, and even though he spent practically most of the nights (and some days) at Yoongi’s rather than at his dorm – they were waiting for Jimin’s graduation to move in together. A condition set by Jimin’s parents which the two had happily accepted considering how accepting they’d been of Yoongi.  

He took a quick shower and put on his pants and Yoongi’s sweatshirt. He still had time to grab breakfast before he had to go to class. He went to the kitchen space, deciding to make something light but instead found pancakes and eggs on the tabletop with another note from Yoongi. 

I know u haven’t been ea ting well. I woke up early to make this for you. You better finish everything!  

He smiled at the note, he could almost see Yoongi frowning as he wrote about Jimin not eating enough. Pocketing the note, he took the breakfast to the sofa in the living room area.  

Yoongi’s place wasn’t all that big. A one-bedroom apartment with enough area for the necessities and nothing more. It wasn’t big, but it was cozy. It was theirs. They had a mismatched assortment of furniture – whatever secondhand piece Yoongi could afford. A few decorations, books and mostly Yoongi’s recording equipment. The walls were lined by pictures they’d collected over the years. Pictures of them, their family, their friends. It was small but it was well lived in – traces of both of them scattered all around the apartment. Like Yoongi’s loose sheets of music thrown haphazardly on the coffee table. Like Jimin’s notebooks and a few textbooks on the sturdy table in the bedroom. Like their toiletries sitting side by side in the bathroom. Like few rolled up papers balls few feet short of the dustbin which might belong to either of the two. There were traces of Jimin and Yoongi everywhere. 

He took out his phone and sent a quick text to Yoongi before leaving. 

 

Me

I hope u kissed me before u left  

 Yoongi’s reply came quickly. 

 

Yoonie 😍

What do you think?  

Of course I did 😘    

 Me

Not working right now?  

Yoonie 😍 

I am   

I can multitask  

Me 

Im  leaving for class  

Talk later  

 Yoonie 😍

Have a good day sunshine  

Don’t overwork 💖  

Me

U too Yoonie  

See u later 💜💛💚💙🖤💗  

 Yoonie 😍

Love u  

 Me

Love u  too  

 

Jimin pocketed the phone and locked the apartment door, smiling wide all the way to the bus stop. He couldn’t help it, he had the same reaction every time Yoongi told him he loved him. Exhilarating joy washing over him in waves. No matter how many times he heard it, he’d never tire of hearing it. He could hear it over and over again for the rest of his life and still feel the same way as he did now. 

The words hadn’t come so easy to the both of them at first. For the longest time, they’d kept from saying those exact words - ‘i love you’ - in fear of not being reciprocated by the other. Instead they’d showed each other their love in the little things they did, like how they couldn’t keep their hands off each other, like how they’d find each there in a heartbeat even in a crowd, like how they made sure to pay attention to every little detail, like how it had been normal for them to think of the other’s happiness before they thought of their own. These little things and so many others had been their way of expressing love without actually saying it.  

When Jimin had finally mustered up the courage to tell Yoongi, Yoongi had replied with a simple phrase - ‘I know’, and Jimin had smiled a wide smile and replied, ‘You know’, these two phrases had since become quintessentially theirs. 

Of course, it hadn’t been easy, no relationships were. They had their fair share of ups and downs. Three years was a long time, it was a given they’d have some differences, it was a given that the things they found endearing about each other would over time seem a tad unpleasant. It was a given their relationship would change. After all, change is an integral part of growing up. Both of them had known that, and both of them had the sense to adapt to their ever-changing relationship. They’d had their fair share of fights, some blowing up without any credibility just because of a few wrong words. Some fizzled out in the absence of a strong argument on both their parts.  

But they had an agreement, not matter how bad the fight was, they’d always find a way back to each other at night. They wouldn’t carry the hurt of that day onto the next. So, far they’d been able to stick to the agreement. 

So, yes, three years of relationship hadn’t been easy but it had been absolutely worth it.  

Sometimes, Jimin couldn’t help but get scared, scared that Yoongi was too good to be true. That someday he’d lose it all and be left alone in the dark. But that didn’t stop him from loving Yoongi any less, he would love Yoongi even through all the fears and doubts. He would love Yoongi until he ached, of that he was sure.  

 

 

“Jimin!” 

Jimin turned around to the guy calling out his name and immediately started running towards him when he saw who it was, “Jin hyung!” 

He crashed into Jin’s embrace, holding on tight. He’d missed him. 

“Hyung, when did you get back from the states? Why didn’t you say anything? Why didn’t you text me, I would’ve picked you up at the airport!” Jimin spoke in a single breath. 

“Calm down, Minnie. I go there just this morning. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you. Were you surprised?” 

“Ah hyung I've missed you so much,” Jimin engulfed Jin in a tight hug. 

“Missed you too, Minnie.” 

“Does Joonie know?” 

Jin shook his head no. 

Jimin eyes crinkled in amusement, “Oh, I wanna be around when he shows up.” 

“He’ll be here soon. I’d asked him to send me his schedule weeks ago to prepare,” Jin winked at him conspirationally making him laugh. They talked for a while, catching up on some little things. 

“When will you be done with your masters,” Jimin pouted at the elder who opted to ruffle his hair without giving him a reply.  

Jin had left to do his masters overseas, as if graduating before the rest of them hadn’t been enough for the elder. He had to go even further away from the group. His farewell had been filled with tears and vague reassurances that 3 years would pass in a blink of an eye. Of course, that wasn’t the case, everyone was eagerly counting down the days till their eldest came back. But nobody was more impatient than Namjoon, which was understandable. When Jin had left, Namjoon had holed up in his room for an entire week until all of them intervened to find he’d been crying and cocooned on his bed the entire time – only getting up for the necessities. The first few months of separation had been brutal for the both of them, but they’d somehow made it work this far. 

“Should be here any minute now,” Jin bit his lip and stretched to stare at the entrance. 

“Nervous?” Jimin asked. 

“What if I look ugly now and Namjoon doesn’t even recognize me anymore, Jimin?” Jin whined. 

“Hyung, don’t insult the rest of us by calling yourself ugly. And besides, I’m pretty sure Namjoon can recognize you even by the sound of your breathing,” Jimin rolled his eyes and chuckled. 

“True, I’m still handsome. And you’re still cute, Minnie. If I’m a 10 then you’re a close 9.5.” 

“I’m honoured. Truly.” 

“Y- 

Whatever Jin was about to say was cut off short, Jimin followed Jin’s line of sight to find Namjoon at the entrance talking to his classmates.  

“Jo-,” Jin clamped his mouth shut before Jimin could call Namjoon. 

“Hunhn?” Jimin looked at him questioningly and shook his head to get Jin’s hand of his mouth 

Jin was wide eyed and placing a finger on his lips, “No, don’t call him. You know what, this was a mistake, I should just go back and tell him I’m here and meet him properly. I’m not ready to see him yet. I can-,” 

Jimin licked his hands. 

“Jimin! What the fuck!” Jin shouted but at least he let go of Jimin’s mouth. 

“Jin.” 

Jin froze at the sound of Namjoon calling his name. Jimin watched form the sidelines as Namjoon practically ran to hold Jin in his arms. He buried his face in Jin’s neck and from the way his shoulder was shaking, Jimin guessed he was probably crying. Jimin left the two of them after sending a quick text to Jin, telling him he’d call him later. He could catch up with Jin hyung later, for now they needed to be with each other. Since he was already on his phone, he thought he might as well talk to Yoongi on his way to class. 

 

 

Me 

Yoonie 👀  

Yoonie 😍

Yes  

Me

Can I call u?🤗  

Yoonie 😍

Not now  baby  

Working on something😓😓  

Me

Oh  

Yoonie 😍

Ill  show it to you as soon as  im  done?  

Me

Ok😁😁  

Did u eat?  

Dont  forget to eat!!!  

 

Yoonie 😍

Will in a bit  

Did u 😶  

Where r u?  

Me

On my way to practice😓😓  

Had a proper lunch  

dw 😙  

 

He thought of telling Yoongi about Jin hyung but decided against it. Jin hyung would probably want to surprise Yoongi too (his roommate who he texted constantly to complain about his new roommate in the states, who is not at all like Yoongi).  

 

Yoonie 😍

Don’t practice too hard  

See u at home sunshine 💜  

Me

Don’t be late! 👊👊  

Yoonie 😍

U rfist is too tiny to be threatening  

Kekekeke 😛  

Me

Im  done talking to u  

Bye  

Yoonie 😍

😘  

Me

😤  

😗  

 

 

 

“Ok, I think that’s enough for today.” 

The music stopped just as Jimin was about to take a leap, he fell back to the ground quite ungracefully and looked to the stereo and his professor standing beside it with a strange look on his face. 

“Seongsangnim?” 

“Jimin, let’s stop for now and try again tomorrow ok.” 

“But, seongsangnim, we barely have 14 days left for the showcase. I need all the practice I can fit in.” 

“It’s no use practicing if you’re not making any progress, Jimin,” the professor replied sharply. 

Jimin took a sharp inhale at those words and hung his head, thoroughly berated. 

“Look,” the professor began softly, “You know all the routine by now. All we have to do is work out a few kinks. But I've noticed you’ve been too rigid for the past few days, you’re thinking too much. You don’t dance by thinking about it Jimin, you have to feel it. Take a break for a few days, work out whatever’s bothering you and I know you’ll be fine. Just take a break ok. You have enough time,” he patted Jimin on the back placatingly and held Jimin’s shoulder until he raised his head. 

“Ok?” he asked, meeting Jimin’s eye. 

“Ok,” Jimin replied meekly. 

“You’re a good dancer, Jimin. Don’t doubt that. We chose you for a reason, don’t let fear overshadow talent.” 

The professor had said the same thing Yoongi had said last night. That he was a good dancer. They believed in him, so why was it so hard for Jimin to believe in himself? 

He didn’t go to Yoongi’s that night; he needed some time to think. He told the older he couldn’t make it because he had too many assignments due. Namjoon would probably be at Jin’s tonight, so he had the dorm to himself.  

He went to his room with trudging footsteps and a heavy heart. For the longest time, he sat on the bed and stared at the wall. A million thoughts running through his head. He wasn’t the most social, not the smartest, not the handsomest, not the best conversationalist, he was just average. And he was ok with being average. He was ok with being ‘one of the guys’ when it came to everything else. But not dancing, he wasn’t ok with being average with dancing. He wanted to excel in it, wanted to be the best. Dancing had been his only solace. When he felt like he had no control over anything, dancing helped him regain that sense of control. But no matter how hard he tried, there would always be something missing, he would always be a few steps short of perfection.  

He didn’t use to feel so inadequate back home. Growing up in a small port town in Busan, there weren’t many professional dancers around. Jimin had been one of the best dancers in his small community. He’d felt adequate back then, he’d felt like he was a good dancer. But seeing everyone on the dance department dance just as well as him – some even bitter, and realizing he wasn’t all that special was a bitter pill to swallow for him.  Somewhere in between his transition from Park Jimin – the best dancer in his high school to Park Jimin just a regular dance student in Seoul (among 100 others) he’d convinced himself he wasn’t good enough. The human mind was biased – it held on to negative thoughts in a vicelike grip and refused to even acknowledge the positive.  

He didn’t want to feel this way, he wanted to believe in himself like how everyone else believed in him. He didn’t want to end up like those people who gave up on dancing because they were too self-critical of themselves. He wanted to be enough. But he didn’t know how. 

How did he convince himself he was good when all he saw in the mirror were his mistakes? How did believe in himself when his mind was hell bent on focusing on all the negatives?  

Tears streamed down his face, big ugly tears that were the summation of everything Jimin had been feeling. He clutched his pillow to his chest and cried into it, even though no one was around to hear his sobs. It sounded heart wrenching, even to himself.  

He just wanted to believe in himself. Why was it so hard? When people repeated the mantra ‘believe in yourself’, why didn’t they ever add the phrase, ‘if you can’? Why did they make it sound like it was so easy? Why didn’t they ever tell him how? 

He was vaguely aware of his phone ringing in the background, somewhere buried deep under his practice clothes, his phone chimed continuously. But Jimin couldn’t bring himself to retrieve it, he just wanted to cry all his frustration away. He was tired. So, so tired. The tears were still streaming down his face when he fell asleep. 

 

 

Sometime during the night, Jimin jostled awake. An arm was wrapped around his waist and Yoongi’s face buried in his shoulder. He turned in Yoongi’s embrace to find the elder blearily opening his eyes. 

“Yoongi, what are you doing here?” he whispered once he was certain Yoongi was fully awake. He winced at how hoarse his voice sounder from all the crying, his throat felt scratchy, his eyes stung and he had a splitting headache as the cherry on top. 

“You didn’t pick up your phone,” Yoongi replied groggily. 

“I had it on silent...because I didn’t want to be disturbed,” Jimin lied, avoiding Yoongi’s eyes. 

Yoongi’s hand tightened around Jimin, “I called to ask if you needed your books for the assignment but you didn’t pick up your phone. Taemin called and told me you didn’t pick his call either. You always pick up his call, even when you’re busy because he’s doesn’t have the to call regularly. I got worried and came here to check up on you to find you curled up into a ball. You’d been crying. Why have you been crying, Sunshine?”  

The last sentence was barely a whisper. 

“Yoongi, do you ever feel like the songs you write aren’t good enough?” 

“Constantly,” Yoongi replied gravely. 

“So, what do you do?” 

“Go ahead with the song anyway.” 

Jimin blinked at Yoongi without saying anything, prompting the older to explain wordlessly.  

“Doubting yourself and second guessing everything is part and parcel with being an artist,” Yoongi continued, “Hell, as far as I see it, it’s part and parcel with life in general. At some point in their life. Everyone doubts their self-worth, at least once. I used to be the same. Used to doubt my every move, relentlessly compared myself to others, and painted myself in the worst light possible for myself. It felt like I was in a dark hole of self-deprecation and I couldn’t get out,” Yoongi went quiet, lost in his own memories. 

“So, how did you stop the feeling?” Jimin asked. 

“I didn’t. I still feel that way although not to the same intensity. The change started with a simple phrase eomma told me in passing, ‘don’t believe everything you think’. She meant it as a joke back then (although I can’t remember the joke), but that one single line struck a chord in me. I started questioning every negative thought bringing me down, I asked myself if the words on paper were really worthless or if I just lying to myself. I started believing in people when they told me I was good, I got better at taking compliments. It wasn’t easy, but over time I started believing in myself. I stopped comparing myself to other people and learned to be my own person. One thing I've learned is, it takes time, Jimin. Time and a fuckton of patience to believe in yourself. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.” 

“I still have days where I can’t write a single phrase, days when I feel like giving up completely. On those days I keep telling myself it’ll be better tomorrow, and it really does. I know how you are, Sunshine. You’re a perfectionist and that’s one of the main reasons you have such a hard time. You strive for perfection but what you need to realize is that you being here and working towards achieving your dream one day at a time is an achievement in on itself. You’re here and doing something you love, that’s all that matters.” 

“It all sounds so simple, so easy when you put it like that. I’m here and that’s all that matter. I want to believe you when you say that, I really do. But it’s so hard to convince myself, Yoongi.” 

“I know, Sunshine. I know. And I wish I could help, in any way. But I can’t make you believe, I can say all the right words but it still wouldn’t be enough. It’s something you have to do on your own. But know that I’m always here to keep telling you these words over and over again until you convince yourself.” 

“I’m so tired of feeling this way, Yoonie,” Jimin sobbed, burying his face in Yoongi’s chest. 

“You’re enough, Jimin. Just remember that. Believe in me when I say you’re enough. You believe me, don’t you?” 

Yoongi brought Jimin’s head up to face him, Jimin nodded under Yoongi’s soft gaze. 

“You’re enough. Remember these words,” Yoongi repeated vehemently. 

Yoongi kissed him, soft and slow. He kissed him reverently, taking his time, packing all his love and care into that one kiss. Tears streamed down Jimin’s face, tears of love, of happiness, of relief that he had Yoongi by his side.  

“Why didn’t you tell me all this before?” Jimin asked once they’d pulled apart to catch their breath. 

“There’s a right time for everything. The words wouldn’t have held the same meaning if I'd told you over dinner, would it?” Yoongi smiled playfully at Jimin. 

He was right, of course. He was mostly always right. 

It might be hard, but it wasn’t impossible. He’d spent the past three years thinking he wasn’t good enough, thinking he wasn’t anything special. He had less than 2 weeks to change that. Which might not be possible but he was determined to try his best. Like Yoongi had said, believing in yourself isn’t easy but Jimin was hell bent on trying. He was done wallowing in self-pity and feeling inadequate.  

The thought came to him because of Yoongi. He’d felt an immense sense of pride when Yoongi had told him about his struggles, he’d admired Yoongi’s strength and perseverance. He wanted Yoongi to feel proud of him too. More than that he wanted himself to be proud of himself. 

“You amaze me every day, you know that?” he told Yoongi. 

“The feeling’s mutual, Sunshine,” he kissed Jimin’s forehead and pressed him close to himself.  

He doubted that was true, not yet anyway. But Jimin wanted to try and make it so that the next time Yoongi told him those exact same words, he’d believe him wholeheartedly. 

It wasn’t going to be easy, but it sure as hell would be worth it.  

"Where's Namjoon?" Yoongi asked sometime later, breaking their companionable silence.

"With Jin hyung," Jimin replied off handedly then immediately realized what he'd just given away. He could feel another round of tears threatening to break free upon realizing the fact that he'd just ruined Jin's surprise. Don't ask him why, it was just one of those emotional nights. Everyone has those, right?

"It's ok. Don't look so horrified. I already knew, he called me before he boarded."

"And you didn't tell me?" Jimin felt betrayed.

"Doesn't matter now, baby. He's here, you've met him. Let's just go to sleep. I have to leave before your RA wakes up tomorrow."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jimin insisted.

Yoongi heaved a laborious sigh, "He really wanted to surprise Joon. Would you haven been able to keep it from him if I'd told you?"

"Good night, Yoonie," Jimin replied in a singsong voice, he didn't need to dignify Yoongi's question with an answer.

"Good night, Sunshine," Yoongi chuckled faintly before moving forward to kiss him.

Jimin pulled back seconds before their lips touched, "Wait, how'd you get past the RA this late anyway?"

"Good. Night. Jimin." Yoongi kissed him, drowning out his question. Not like Jimin cared how his boyfriend bribed the RA anyway, as long as he had Yoongi with him everything was fair and right.

Chapter 6: From Now Until Forever

Summary:

“Yoonie wrote a song for me,” he sobbed.

“Was it bad?”

“No!” Jimin gasped, scandalized that Namjoon would even suggest such a thing.

“Then why are you crying?”

“Because it’s good,” Jimin sobbed harder.

Notes:

Welcome to another chapter of my characters butchering my outline. Enjoy

 

A huge thanks to Chaotic_hamlet for editing this chapter for me 💜.

 

If you're binge reading this then look away

 

Timeline
Magic Shop : Present time
Serendipity : 10 years ago/ College days

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

When his professor suggested that he take a break from practice over the weekend to clear his mind, Jimin  didn't protest. He needed some reprieve from the constant uncertainty plaguing his mind. He spent Saturday lazing around with Yoongi in his apartment. They started the day with a simple breakfast in bed, courtesy of Yoongi. They spent most of the day in bed, in each other’s arms, only getting up to do some much-needed cleaning. It was just a regular Saturday with nothing to do and nowhere to be. Sunday was much the same, the only difference being they went out during the day to meet Jin and Namjoon at Jin's brother's restaurant. The four of them talked for hours. There might have been some tears involved, reminiscing the days they were all together in  one place. They parted ways after making plans to surprise Taemin and Hoseok by visiting them in whatever city their travelling dance troupe happened to be in after Jimin’s showcase. Even though Jimin talked to Taemin on the phone almost regularly, he still missed him terribly.

For the entire weekend, not once did he worry about the showcase. He made it a point not to; whenever a worrying thought popped up in his mind, he’d distract himself from it. But, it was Monday now, which meant he was back in the practice room, alone and facing his own reflection in the mirror. He looked at himself,  and continued looking until the edges started to blur. Then he started to move.

The song Jimin had chosen for the showcase wasn’t anything special, just some up and coming R&B he’d heard in passing. He didn’t pay attention to the lyrics as much as he did to the beat he had to catch. Jimin danced to the beat of the song, popping and locking in all the right places. Not once did he take his eyes off of himself in the mirror. When the song ended, he was sat down on the floor with his head in between his knees, panting for air.

“That was much better than Friday, Jimin,” his professor stepped up to him, handing him a bottle of water. He took the water gratefully and took a small sip, “You’re not as rigid. Still need to practice some more but looks like taking a break helped, eh?”

“I guess so,” Jimin shrugged. He still had doubts, he was still anxious but it wasn’t as bad as it had been that Friday night. He still had a small voice at the back of his mind telling him he wasn’t dancing well enough throughout the routine, but it was easier to ignore now that he wasn't mentally exhausted. Before,  he would’ve listened to that voice until it took over his entire being. Not today, today he ignored that voice as much as he could. Hearing his professor tell him he was getting better had helped reassure him as well.

“Let’s just practice for a couple more times for today,” the professor suggested. Jimin nodded his consent and immediately got up, ready to dance again.

 

“Where are you?” Yoongi asked him as soon as he’d picked up his call.

“Just got out of practice. Going back to the dorm today, Namjoon needs some help with his project,” Jimin answered locking his locker after he’d taken out his bag.

“Oh, do you have to leave right away?”

Jimin checked the time, there was still some time left before Namjoon’s class ended, “No, I have some time. Why? Wanna meet me?” Jimin teased.

“Yeah,” Yoongi answered sincerely.

Jimin beamed, “Where are you? I’ll come there.”

“No, I’ll come to you. Wait for me, I have something to show you.”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there,” Yoongi answered.

“Yoonie, you know I don’t like surprises,” Jimin whined and leaned against the locker, pouting.

“I think you’ll like this,” after a pause Yoongi added, “I hope you’ll like it, Sunshine.”

“Yoonie-”

“I’m leaving now. Wait for me.”

“Fine. I’ll be on the bench by the gate.”

“K. See you then.”

“See you.”

Jimin changed out of his practice clothes and went outside to wait for Yoongi on the bench. He took out a book he’d been reading and continued where he’d left while he waited for Yoongi. He was so engrossed in the story that he didn’t even notice Yoongi arriving until the older ruffled his hair.

“Yoonie,” Jimin beamed up at Yoongi who bent down to kiss him, “Did you come from the studio?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi sat beside him on the bench, Jimin leaned against him, linking their arms together.

“How was your day?” he asked after placing a soft kiss on Yoongi’s cheek.

“It was...frustrating,” Yoongi ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, smiling softly he continued, “In a good way.”

“Did you write a new song?” Jimin asked knowingly, he knew that satisfied smile of Yoongi’s all too well.

“I did.”

“Looks like it turned out really well,” Jimin smiled at him, playing with the hair on Yoongi’s nape.

“I think so. But I won’t know for sure until you tell me.”

Yoongi turned away from Jimin to rummage through his backpack until he found what he was looking for. It was a small pen drive, which he placed in Jimin’s hand without a word.

“Yoonie, what is this?” Jimin asked turning the drive in his palm.

“The new song’s in there. It’s for you. I wrote it for you,” Yoongi looked at Jimin from between his lashes, waiting for Jimin’s response.

“Yoonie,” Jimin stared at the pen drive in his hand dumbfounded and a little overwhelmed.

“I know how you’ve been struggling with the choreo. It hurts to see you beat yourself up. I wanted to help in any way. And I know how you choreograph your routine on the beat rather than the lyrics. So, I sort of deconstructed the song you’d been working on to figure out the beat. And made this one to sound the same. You can, uh, you can dance to this with the same routine if you want. I thought it might make it easier for you to dance if you-,”

Jimin wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss before he could finish his sentence. He didn’t know how long they sat there kissing each other, he whispered ‘thank you’s and ‘i love you’s against Yoongi’s lips every now and then.

“So, I take it you like the gift?” Yoongi asked once they’d pulled apart for the last time.

“Thank you, Yoonie.”

“Don’t thank me before you listen to it. I don’t know for sure if you can dance to this or not.”

“Doesn’t matter even if I can’t,” Jimin shook his head, “It’s the thought that counts. And knowing that you spend hours in your studio making a song for me because you’d been worried and wanted to help is more than enough. You don’t have to do anything for me to make me feel better, just being by my side is enough.”

“I hate watching you beat yourself up, Sunshine. I wish I could show you how amazing you are,” Yoongi said softly, caressing Jimin’s cheek.

“You do, Yoonie, you do show me. It’s just - I have a hard time believing you. But I’m working on it, starting today. Last night’s conversation helped me get some things into perspective. Thank you for that.”

Yoongi pulled him in for a hug, instead of replying.

“I should probably get going,” Jimin pulled away from him reluctantly, “Joonie’s class will be over soon. I’ll listen to the song before he gets back.”

Yoongi nodded and they both stood up, hand in hand, “I need to go back to the studio anyway. Want me to walk you to your dorm?”

“No. I’ll go on my own. Call me when you’re home, ok?”

“Ok.”

With one last kiss goodbye they both parted ways to head in the opposite direction.

Jimin opened his laptop and plugged in the pen drive as soon as he stepped foot inside his room. He didn’t even bother taking his shoes off, didn’t even bother sitting on the bed.

He sat cross legged on the floor, laptop on his lap, heart hammering in his chest, hands shaking as he prepared himself to play the song. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and hit play.

 

🎵 All this is no coincidence

Just, just, by my feeling 🎵

 

He was surprised to hear Jin hyung singing the song, he hadn’t expected the song to have lyrics. Although he should have known, Yoongi usually wrote the lyrics first before compiling the music. He smiled, thinking of Jin hyung giving  Yoongi a hard time when yoongi tried to convince him to sing the song.

 

🎵 As if we were waiting

We bloom until we ache

Maybe it’s the providence of the universe

It just had to be you 🎵

 

Tears streamed down his face when the implication of the lyrics finally set in. He’d thought the same thing over and over again for the past three years, that it had to be Yoongi. But he’d never voiced it out loud. But hearing those exact words in a song Yoongi wrote for him spoke volumes. His heart ached with happiness and relief; relief that he wasn’t the only one who felt this way, who felt so much for Yoongi. Yoongi seemed to be much the same. Silent tears streamed down his face throughout the entire song, a serene smile on his lips and memories of Yoongi and their time together flashing behind his closed eyes.

 

🎵 Let me love, let me love you

Let me love, let me love you 🎵

 

The song ended in quiet whispers and mellow tunes. He’d never loved Yoongi more than he did at this exact moment. He replayed the song as soon as the last note had ended. He played it over and over again until Namjoon came home to find Jimin a blubbering mess on the floor.

“Chim, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” alarmed, Namjoon rushed to his side and crouched down, “Is that Jin hyung singing?”

“Yeah,” Jimin replied in a teary voice, “Yoonie wrote a song for me,” he sobbed.

“Was it bad?”

“No!” Jimin gasped, scandalized that Namjoon would even suggest such a thing.

“Then why are you crying?”

“Because it’s good,” Jimin sobbed harder.

“Oook. Do you want me to call hyung for you so you can tell him that yourself?” Namjoon asked slowly, as if he was talking to a child throwing tantrums.

“Please,” Jimin nodded. He would’ve called Yoongi himself but he didn’t want to get up from the floor to get his phone, he had been rooted to the spot as soon as the song played.

“Hyung, it’s me. You free?” Jimin heard Namjoon talking on the phone, “Ok good. Jimin wants to talk,” he handed Jimin the phone cautiously.

“Yoonie, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Jimin sobbed into the phone and continued to profess his love to Yoongi and the song he wrote for him for the entire call, only stopping when Namjoon reminded him he had to help the older on his project. Jimin got off the phone reluctantly and listened to the song on repeat for the rest of the night. He had a feeling this would be the only song on his playlist for at least a week, he just hoped he didn’t cry every time he heard it.

 

“Yoonie,” Jimin called out from where he was sat on the bar stool, his assignment open in front of him on the kitchen island. Yoongi was making ramen fort them while Jimin worked.

“Hmm,” Yoongi hummed, his back turned to Jimin, adding eggs to the pot.

“You didn’t name the song,” he told the elder. The music file was titled ‘for you’, which couldn’t really be considered a proper name. As he’d predicted, Jimin had been listening to the song on repeat for the past 3 days. The very next day he’d emailed his professor asking him if it would be ok to change his song. His professor had been resistant at first, which was understandable, it was a bad move to change the song so close to d-day. But upon Jimin’s insistence and determination that he could make it work, his professor had finally given in, albeit reluctantly. Jimin had no trouble dancing to the song, the beat matching perfectly  with the song he’d been dancing to before. The perfect match was just another proof of Yoongi’s musical genius.

“I thought you could name it,” Yoongi answered, turning around to face Jimin, leaning against the countertop.

Jimin looked at Yoongi with a knowing smile on his lips, “You couldn’t come up with a name, could you?”

Yoongi groaned, “I swear that’s the hardest part.”

Jimin chuckled, his boyfriend was a predictable man.

“Maybe you can think of something,” Yoongi shrugged, “Oh and... Shit”

Yoongi stopped mid-sentence and turned around to turn off the stove.

“And what?”

Yoongi didn’t give him a reply until they were seated in the living space, a potful of steaming ramen between them on the floor.

“Would you like to sing the song?” Yoongi asked while Jimin was slurping the noodles, he promptly choked. Yoongi reached over to pat him on the back while he coughed his burning lungs out – at least that was what it felt like.

“What?” he asked as soon the burn in his throat subsided.

“Would you like to sing the song?” Yoongi repeated.

“I don’t know, Yoonie...”

“Please, Sunshine. For me. You can still use the old track for the showcase. I know you don’t like hearing yourself sing; though I don’t understand why. You have an amazing voice.”

“Yoonie...,” Jimin started to protest.

“You do. Remember how I asked you to believe me? This is one of those times where you believe me. You have an amazing voice. So, will you sing the song I wrote for you? Sing it for me? Just for me to listen to when I miss you,” Yoongi held Jimin’s hands in between his own and looked into his eyes with the warmest gaze.

“This is not fair. I can’t say no to you when you ask so nicely.”

“Then don’t say no. Say yes baby. Say yes to the song,” Yoongi smiled wide, displaying his gummy teeth. How on earth could Jimin say no to that face?

“Fine. But just for you. You can’t let anyone else hear it.”

“But...”

“Just for you,” Jimin repeated.

“Fine. Go ahead and waste your talent,” Yoongi pouted.

“Forget about talent. You’re wasting gourmet ramen, Yoonie. Eat it before it gets all soggy,” Jimin chided and pulled his hands from Yoongi’s in favor of picking his chopsticks.

“Packed noodles are hardly gourmet, Sunshine,” Yoongi scoffed. Contrary to his words, Yoongi scarfed down the noodles like it was the best thing he’d had all day.

 

Jimin had never really understood what it meant to truly connect to the music you danced to. He’d heard the phrase enough times; even thought he’d understood what it meant, but not like this, never like this. He’d never danced solely focused on the song, he’d always been too aware of his movements, the music lost to his ears somewhere in the background. But it was different with Serendipity.

Serendipity, the song Yoongi wrote for him. Jimin had chosen the name during one of his all nighters for an essay, high on caffeine and heady with love. Serendipity, the word fit perfectly to their relationship. They’d met by chance and it was chance that kept pulling them back together until they finally decided to take the reins in their own hands. Or, Yoongi decided and Jimin followed all too happily. From the darkened corridor to the brightly lit coffee shop, it was a happy chance that brought them together and love that kept them together. The song was everything they meant to each other, Serendipity a perfect name for it.

Dancing to Serendipity was like nothing he’d ever felt before. Jimin could feel the music move with him, through him, guiding him, guiding his movements. Even though he didn’t change his previous routine by much – except for a few minor tweaks – somehow it felt like a completely different dance. When he danced to Serendipity, the dance became more unrestrained, his body conveying emotions in ways he didn’t even know he could do. When he danced to Serendipity, he focused almost entirely on the happy memories the song evoked in him, his body moving on his own accord. When he didn’t pay as much attention to his moves, stopped nitpicking his every move. Jimin stopped seeing his mistakes and learned to focus on the parts he liked. When he danced to Serendipity, he was happy. He knew the reason for the change in his way of thinking:dancing to Serendipity was easy because of Yoongi. He wanted to convey his love through his dance, just as Yoongi had conveyed his through music. And if there was one thing Park Jimin could do perfectly, was showing Yoongi his love. Love was the driving force for his change.

That being said, Jimin also knew that not every song he danced to would be Serendipity and not every song would be written by Yoongi. He knew that he had to learn to form the same sort of connection with other songs in the future to truly improve. He finally learned what he’d been lacking; he never listened to the music he was moving to. He had always been too focused on making the right move to pay attention to anything else. That had been his mistake, among many others that he would discover along the way. And Jimin was determined to work on them instead of letting them bring him down.

Jimin still had days where he struggled, still had days where he felt like backing out from the solo right then and there. He doubted the toxic negativity would ever truly go away, it would always be there at the back of his mind. He knew that all of his insecurities would come rushing back someday, he couldn’t keep it locked away forever. But, he had a different view on things now. The goal was to not let them take front seat. The goal was to push through even when he felt like he couldn’t.

 

The day of the showcase arrived with mixed feelings. . On the one hand Jimin was beyond excited, on the other he was terrified of going up on stage.

He’d been in the practice room since six in the morning, practicing for one last day. The showcase was less than two hours away and Jimin had been counting down the time with anxious anticipation. By now, he could perform his routine in his sleep but he was still a little scared of giving up. Which his professor assured was entirely normal. Hell, every other performer there in the room felt the same way.

“Alright every one gather around,” the professor clapped his hands garnering everyone’s attention. Once everyone was paying attention to him continued, “Today is the day. The day you finally get to show your months of hard work. Are you ready?”

“Yes, Seongsangnim!” Everyone shouted.

“Are you excited?”

“Yes!”

“Are you nervous.”

“Yes!” the shout was louder, followed by nervous chuckling and spontaneous shouting.

“Alright, settle down. Being nervous is normal, it’s a big deal being able to perform in front of an audience. Of course, you’d be nervous. So, don’t fight your racing heart and that weird falling sensation in the pit of your stomach. Let that sensation consume you, don’t fight it and it’ll be gone before you know it. I know it sounds unbelievable but you have to trust me here kids. I’ve had my fair share of nerves back in the day. If you try to suppress it, it just gets worse. So, feel as nervous as you need but remember every one of you is prepared for today, I wouldn’t have let you in this room if I had even a smidgen of doubt that you’re unprepared. I have a reputation to uphold after all,” the professor winked and high fived a few students close by, “Practice your routine one last time and head to the dressing room. All the best. Make me proud. Make yourself proud.”

Jimin mulled over his words until he was sat in front of a mirror with a make-up brush running gently on his cheek. He closed his eyes and focused on the chilling sensation he always got when he was anxious. His hands felt cold, his heart felt heavy and his breathing a little erratic. He focused on that feeling and nothing else. It was the worst twenty seconds of his life. But something changed after that, his heart beat slowed, his breathing deepened before stabilizing completely and the contents of his stomach didn’t feel like it would regurgitate any second now. His nerves, still there, weren’t as bad as they’d been just seconds ago. He smiled at his own reflection in the mirror, guess the professor had been right.

“Park Jimin!” a voice called his name from the door.

“I’m here,” he raised his hand to signal his position.

“Flowers for you,” a guy from his department handed him a bouquet of pink orchids and lilies. There was a note attached to it.

“Thanks,” he thanked the guy before opening the note, the girl doing his make-up kindly offered to put away the flower for him.

 

Good luck, Sunshine. I know you’ll do great. I’ll be in the audience cheering you on. Find me there, I’ll be the one with the biggest smile on my face. Your number one fan, from now until forever.

 

The note wasn’t signed, it didn’t need to be. He kissed the note, ignoring the giggle coming from his make-up artist, and kept it safe in his jeans pocket. He wanted the note with him when he went on stage, for good luck.

Once all the dancers were ready, the gathered around to watch the showcase from behind the curtains. Everyone performed exceptionally well, Jimin was too mesmerized and preoccupied with cheering everyone on that he didn’t realize the showing was nearing its end.

“Jimin, you’re up next,” Chanyeol called him gesturing for him to take his position.

The nerves were back with a vengeance but he didn’t forget to breathe. He closed his eyes and took deep breathes with his eyes and fists clenched shut until the announcer called him name.

The curtains opened just as the music started playing. His voice rang soft and clear as soon as the first notes started. Jimin smiled at the crowd while he moved, remembering the night Yoongi convinced him to dance to the track he sang, instead of the one by Jin. As soon as he started dancing, he forgot all about his nerves. The bright spotlight on him and shades of light dancing on the stage gave him the illusion that he was the only one in the hall, the audience lost in the black sea. Even though he couldn’t see them, he could still hear the shouts, people calling him name, cheering him on, whistling when he landed a particularly hard turn. The music was too loud for him to make out the voices individually, but he knew that one of them belonged to Yoongi. He knew that Yoongi was out there, screaming his name, watching him dance. Yoongi was there with his friends and family who believed in him when he didn’t believe in himself. The song came to an end much sooner than Jimin would’ve liked, he wanted to continue dancing.

He took small steps back, hands behind his back as the last notes rang. Just before the curtains closed, he looked into the crowd, imagining he was somehow locking eyes with Yoongi in the darkness, and beamed while he mouthed the last line.

🎵 Let me love, let me love you. 🎵

A request. A promise. A declaration. From him to Yoongi. From now until forever.

 

Arms wrapped around him as soon as he got out of the dressing room. Yoongi’s scent surrounded him, comforted him. Yoongi buried his head in Jimin’s neck and kissed him there before facing him,

“You were amazing, Sunshine. Couldn’t take my eyes off of you,” he caressed Jimin’s cheek, peppering his face with butterfly kisses.

“Thank you,” Jimin whispered, turning his head to kiss Yoongi’s palm. He was thanking Yoong for more than just the compliment, he was thanking Yoongi for everything he’d done for him and he had a feeling Yoongi understood.

“Min! I can’t believe you just did that. Fuck, I’m so proud of my little protegé,” an arm pulled him from Yoongi’s embrace and into his own, Yoongi let go without any protest.

“Tae hyung! What are you doing here? I thought-,”

“We came here this morning,  me and Hoseok. You seriously didn’t expect us to miss our mentee’s first solo, did you?”

“Since when did guys became my mentors?” Jimin asked tearfully, he couldn’t believe they’d travelled all the way to Seoul just to see him dance.

“Aw Minnie don’t cry. You were great out there,” Taemin reassured him pulling him in tightly. He was mistaking Jimin’s tears of joy for one of disappointment.

“That’s not why I’m crying. I’m just really happy you guys came here for me,” Jimin sobbed into Taemin’s shirt.

“Min, stop that. You’re gonna make cry. Ah Yoongi, take your man away from me before he makes me cry,” Taemin let him go and Jimin was now pressed to Yoongi’s side, wiping away his tears while Yoongi chuckled softly beside him, patting his arm, “Let’s go back to the front. They wouldn’t let anyone else in except the two of us. I’m sure they’re all eagerly waiting to meet the star of today’s show,” Taemin winked before walking to the entrance leading into the seating area.

“Let’s go,” Yoongi linked their fingers together and pulled Jimin along.

They were announcing the winners just as they entered the hall. Yoongi’s hand tightened around his, “We don’t have to stay to hear the result. We can sit outside. Taemin will call you if we win,” Yoongi looked at Jimin worryingly. Jimin had a history of freaking out when it came to results, be it his exam results or a competition. But he didn’t want to run away anymore.

“No, let’s stay. I can handle this,” Jimin smiled at Yoongi, “I’m not scared of losing anymore. Remember how you told me I didn’t need to be perfect? I’m finally beginning to understand that. Perfect isn't what I want anymore. I just want to do something I love. I’m just happy I go to perform today. I’m not saying I won’t feel bad if I lose, but I'll be ok.”

“You amaze me every day, Sunshine.”

There was a time when Jimin didn’t believe those words, a time when he even refused to entertain the thought that Yoongi might have some basis to those words. Slowly but surely Jimin was beginning to realize Yoongi might be onto something after all. He wasn’t completely there yet, but it was a process he was willing to take on.

“The feeling’s mutual. I love you, Yoonie.”

“Love you too, my Calico cat,” Yoongi had a playful smile on his lips. Jimin laughed out loud at the reference and leaned into to kiss him. His penicillium, his savior, his inspiration.

Notes:

WOW. Eye-
I cannot believe I actually started a chaptered fic, and completed it! Albeit it's very short but still, kudos to me.
This story pretty much ends here. The last chapter is will be an epilogue with a huge time skip. (you've been warned)

Chapter 7: Epilogue : The Boy In The Corridor

Summary:

Yoongi and Jungkook. His family. His fortunate stroke of serendipity.

Notes:

Taehyung and Jungkook finally make an appearance!

A huge thanks to Chaotic_hamlet for beta reading so quick!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

7 Years Later

 

Jimin was dressed in a formal black coat that contrasted well with the plain white t-shirt he wore underneath, his black jeans and grey loafers. He’d outright refused to wear a proper suit when Yoongi had suggested it; it was embarrassing enough that Yoongi was wearing one. If Jimin hadn’t put his foot down, he had a feeling his husband would have managed to get a suit for Jungkook as well.

Speaking of, where the hell was Yoongi? He was supposed be here half an hour ago to pick them up. He’d cancelled all his dance classes and closed his studio just for today, Yoongi had promised he’d take a day off too. But, there was an emergency regarding a song his group was releasing this afternoon, so of course Yoongi, being the producer, had to go. Honestly Jimin hadn’t expected Yoongi to make it to the event. Thankfully, he’d texted earlier saying he was done and would come by their apartment to pick up Jimin and Jungkook. Jungkook would have been very disappointed if Yoongi hadn’t made it.

“Kookie are you dressed?” Jimin walked to Jungkook’s room. The 4 year old had insisted he was old enough to dress on his own. Jimin had indulged him and left him with a couple of outfits he’d prepared earlier.

“Appa look! I did it!” Jungkook ran out of his room and stooped in front of Jimin, grinning widely - his little bunny teeth cuter than ever.

“You did! Good job baby. You’re a big boy now,” Jimin crouched down so they were both at eye level. He cooed and pinched Jungkook’s cheeks which made him grin wider.

“Like Taetae!” Jungkook bounced on his feet.

“Kookie what did we talk about?” Jimin asked with a serious face.

Jungkook rolled his eyes and sighed laboriously, “Taetae is older. I should call him Taetae hyung. But appa I’m stronger and smarter than him,” Jungkook puffed his chest.

“He’s still your hyung. Remember what Yoonie appa always says?”

“Always respect elders.”

“So?” Jimin asked.

“Taetae hyung,” Jungkook repeated dutifully, “When will Yoonie appa come?

“He’ll be here soon. Why don’t you go bring your robe while I call him.”

Jungkook ran to his room immediately, the pitter patter of his footsteps fading away slowly. Jimin went back to his room to get his phone so he could call Yoongi. The older answered after a single ring.

“I’m right outside, Minnie,” he hung up before Jimin could say anything.

He heard the front door opening and went out to meet Yoongi in their living room.

“Yoonie, you’re… what the hell is that?”

“What...oh this. It’s a bouquet for Jungkook.”

“Why?” Jimin asked dumbfounded as he looked at the huge bouquet of brightly coloured flowers with a modest sized stuffed teddy in graduation apparel sitting at the top. The bouquet was easily as tall as Jungkook, it was pretty to look at but completely unnecessary. He just hope Yoongi didn’t insist they take the bouquet to Jungkook’s school with them.  

“What do you mean why?” Yoongi sounded quiet affronted, “Kookie is graduating, Sunshine. He needs a congratulatory bouquet.”

“Yoonie, for the last time he’s graduating from kindergarten. The only bouquet he cares about is one’s made of chocolates,” Jimin sighed.

Yoongi stepped up to Jimin to place a quick peck on his lips, “I thought of that too. But, decided against it because you probably wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“Yeah, probably. You weren’t here the last time he was high on sugar. He was worse than Taehyung. It made me want to keep him from eating candies forever,” Jimin shuddered at the memory. Jungkook was already an active kid, adding sugar to that mixture had been disastrous, “Is this why you were late?”

“Yeah had to take a detour to the flower shop I ordered this from. I’ll change quickly and we can leave,” Yoongi squeeze his arms and smiled sweetly at him before going to their bedroom. Jimin crossed his arms and looked to the bouquet standing tall at their front door. Shaking his head, he brought it inside and placed it on the glass coffee table. Yoongi really was going overboard with this graduation thing. Don’t get him wrong, Jimin was just as excited about attending their kids graduation ceremony - even if he was just graduating from kindergarten. He was all for celebrating Jungkook’s every little milestone. The whole ceremony might seem ridiculous and unnecessary mollycoddling to the adult but it was a huge deal for the kids. To a bunch of 4 year olds whose definition of the world extended no further than their parents and the people they met at kindergarten, a graduation ceremony celebrating their transition from kindergarten to first grade was a big deal. Jimin was just as excited for this day as Jungkook. Being excited and happy for the day was one thing and going overboard with it was something else.

Yoongi being the latter, had been ‘preparing’ for today since they got the invitation from Jungkook’s school a week ago. He’d insisted they throw a party at home for Jungkook, Jimin had somehow managed to convince him they’d go out for dinner with all their friends and the kids. Then he’d insisted they get tailored suits to wear to the ceremony, Jimin had managed to get himself and Jungkook out of wearing the suits but hadn’t been able to deter Yoongi himself. Yoongi had further insisted they buy Jungkook the new playstation as a graduation gift, Jimin had nipped the idea at the bud as soon as Yoongi had uttered those words. He was all for pampering Jungkook but there was a fine line between pampering and spoiling. Buying an expensive playstation for a 4 year old, who should be playing outside, obliterated that line entirely. Jimin didn’t want that, Yoongi didn’t either but he’d gone a little crazy in his excitement. It was cute how excited Yoongi was for today, just until it became downright embarrassing. Like the time he insisted he call their all family members and inform them of their sons achievement. Jimin shook his and chuckled at the memory, he remembered how betrayed Yoongi had looked when his hyung wasn’t as excited about Jungkook’s graduation as he was.

“Wahh teddy!!” Jungkook ran to Jimin and sat beside him on the couch, “Is that for me?” he blinked up at Jimin rapidly.

“Mmhm. Yoonie appa got it for you.”

“Appa’s home. Yoonie appa!” Jungkook stood up and shouted in the direction of their bedroom.

“He’s changing baby. Listen, when he comes out thank him for both the flowers and the teddy ok.”

“What flowers?” Jungkook furrowed his brows and pouted in confusion.

Jimin chuckled, he knew Jungkook wouldn’t care about the flowers as soon as he saw the teddy. He also knew Yoongi would feel bad if Jungkook didn’t notice the flowers, he’d even ordered it personally for him. Yoongi hated ordering anything online, “Those flowers. See, Yoonie appa got them especially for you. So, don’t forget to tell them they’re very pretty alright.”

“Ok,” Jungkook nodded vigorously, paying the flowers no mind, his attention entirely on the teddy in his arms, “Can I take teddy with me, appa?”

“Yeah ok,” Jimin ruffled his hair, then re-styled it again. He didn’t want his son looking unkempt when he stood up on that stage.

“Let’s go,” Yoongi came out of the room looking stunning in his black suit and beige undershirt. He looked far too good for someone attending the graduation ceremony of their 4 year old. This wasn’t fair, how did his husband managed to look like a runway model everytime he dressed up in something formal.

“Yoonie appa,” Jungkook ran to him and Yoongi picked him up effortlessly, “Min app told me to tell you, thank you for the flowers they’re very pretty,” Jungkook repeated as soon as he was secured in Yoongi’s arm. Then he looked at Jimin with the biggest smile on his face - silently telling him he’d done as Jimin had asked.

Jimin closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. Yoongi looked at Jimin with amusement dancing in his eyes. Jungkook wrapped his arms around Yoongi’s neck and rested his head on Yoongi’s shoulder, the teddy bear secure in his arm.

“You’re welcome, Kook,” he kissed the top of Jungkook’s head then turned to Jimin and mouthed ‘thank you’. Jimin smiled tentatively and walked upto the both of them. Yoongi opened his free arm for Jimin to curl into. Their lips met as soon as Jimin was secure in his arms, only pulling apart when Jungkook cried, “Let’s go! let’s go! let’s go!”

“Jungkook I told you to get your robe,” Jimin remembered.

“It’s there,” he pointed to the couch. The white graduation robe and hat were on the couch where they were previously sat. Yoongi put Jungkook down so he could get the robe and finally left for Jungkook’s school.

Jungkook bounced on his legs all the way down the elevator to the underground parking. His hands were clasped securing in Jimin and Yoongi’s as he jumped up and down, trusting his appa’s to not let him fall.

“Kook, don’t run!” Yoongi called after him in an futile attempt to stop the kid.

“Let him be. He’s just excited for today,” Jimin linked his fingers with Yoongi’s as they followed their little Jungkook.

“I’m excited too. You don’t see me running,” Yoongi pointed out at a loss for anything else to say.

“You’re a grown man, Min Yoongi,” Jimin snorted, “Besides running is the least embarrassing you could’ve done. You know between the two of us, I never would have imagined you to be the more enthusiastic one.”

“Ah honestly, me either,” Yoongi shook his head with a small smile, “But you know, it’s Jungkook. Our baby. If someone were to shoot at us I could use you as a shield to protect him.”

“Min Yoongi!” Jimin laughed while scolding him, “But I would do the same,” he added scrunching his nose teasingly at the older - who was also laughing and opening the back door for Jungkook to get in.

“Appa can I sit at the front now? I’m a big boy,” Jungkook looked up at  with big doe eyes and pouty lips. Jimin could already see Yoongi wavering - the puppy eyes worked far too well on Yoongi than Jimin.

“Not today, Kookie,” Jimin stepped forward and placed him in his carseat.

“Tomorrow?” Jungkook asked helpfully.

“You can sit at the front when you can say the table for 19,” Yoongi told him before closing the door. Jimin was waiting for Yoongi at the driver’s side, opening the door for him.

“No fair!” Jungkook cried from the back seat.

“Thanks, Sunshine,” Yoong got in the driver’s seat and Jimin ran around to get in the passenger’s side. His phone rang as Yoongi was pulling the car out of the parking lot - it was Jin hyung calling.

“Hi hyung,” he greeted the older.

“Put on your seatbelt,” Yoongi reminded him from the other seat. Jimin held the phone precariously between his ear and shoulder while he did as Yoongi said.

“Hi, Minnie. Are you on your way to the graduation?”

“Yeah. We’re on our way. Why? You coming?”

“I would if I wasn’t so busy but you know how busy the restaurant gets on the weekend,” Jin sounded tired and Jimin nodded his head in understanding.

“I know, hyungie. It’s ok, we’re meeting tonight there thought right? Or did you give our reservation to someone else too?” Jimin teased.

“I would never. One of the VIP room is all ours for our kookie’s celebration The reason  I called is,Taetae keeps whining about wanting to go to kookie’s graduation. Namjoon is at work too. So, I’m sending Tae there with one of my part timers. Could you pick him at the gate?”

“Of course. Kookie will be happy to see his Tae hyung there,” Jimin looked in the mirror and saw Jungkook’s ears perk up at the mention to Taehyung, “Just send me the part timer’s number.”

“Thanks, Minnie. See you tonight and congratulate Kookie for me. I’m making all his favourite dishes tonight.”

“Will do. Bye hyung.”

“What’s up?” Yoongi asked, making a turn at the intersection.

“Tae is coming to the school with one of Jin hyung’s part timers. We need to wait for him before we go in,” Jimin told him and Yoongi nodded his head in agreement, “Kookie, Taetae is coming to your graduation with us.”

Jungkook smiled eyes wide in amazement, “I’ll show him my new teddy!”

Jimin smiled at him and turned back around to face the road. They had a weird friendship, Taehyung and Jungkook. For all intents and purpose, Taehyung was the older between the two but it was Jungkook who ended up acting older more often than not. Jungkook had a quiet temperament in contrast to Taehyung’s impulsive nature. Because of this they argued over the smallest things, never agreed on anything when they played together, and fought tooth and nail if they stayed together for more than a few hours. But at the end of the day, Jungkook needed his Tae hyung and Taehyung needed his baby dongsaeng. No matter how hard they fought, they always had each other’s back. Jimin was glad Jungkook had someone like Taehyung by his side every since he was born.

Once inside the school parking lot, they only had to wait for Taehyung to arrive for a few minutes. Soon enough, Taehyung came bounding towards where the three of them stood by the gate, a rectangle grin lighting up his face. A harried looking guy ran behind him shouting, “Taehyung, wait for me! Your appa will kill me if you scrape your knee on my watch again.”

“Gukkie!” Taehyung squealed and threw himself onto Jungkook, who fell backwards due to the force. Yoongi reacted quickly and held the both of them up before they could fall to the ground.

“Hyung, let me go. You’re crushing teddy!” Jungkook pushed at Taehyung who let go reluctantly.

“Who’s teddy?” he blinked at Jungkook.

“Look! Yoonie appa got him for me.”

While Jungkook and Taehyung were busy initiating teddy into their friend circle, Jimin and Yoongi thanked the part timer fro bringing Taehyung. He left quickly, claiming there were a lot of customers at the restaurant. He waved the kids goodbye and bowed to the two adults before running back to the restaurant car parked across the road.

“Kids, let’s go in,” Yoongi ushered the both of them into the school gates. They walked hand in hand in front of Jimin and Yoongi who had their own hands interlaced together.

“Chim, Samcheon,” Taehyung turned around. Jimin smiled at the kid, Taehyung had adopted Namjoon’s nickname for Jimin. Jimin didn’t have the heart to tell him to stop, his heart melted a little everytime Taehyung called him Chim with that slight lisp of his.

“Yes, Tae.”

“Can I have a sleepover with Jungkook tonight? Jungkook will come to my school now and I need to tell him everything about first grade,” Taehyung said in a serious tone, playing the part of a responsible older brother. Yoongi coughed to hide his laughter and Jimin elbowed him in the ribs for laughing at how adorable Tae was.

“Of course. If you appas are ok with it then you can sleep over at our home.”

“Yay! See Gukkie. I told you they’d agree. Now we can ask Yoonie samcheon to play the piano for us all night,” Taehyung whispered to Jungkook not so quietly.

“Hey!” Yoongi protested but they were already running towards the gym where the ceremony was being held, “Ah I really shouldn’t have let you call me Yoonie in front of the kids,” Yoongi grumbled.

“I think it’s cute. I let him call me Chim, don’t I.”

“Ugh imagine him at 18 still calling us that,” Yoongi fake shuddered.

“Stop being so dramatic, Yoonie. It’s not so bad,” Jimin pulled a protesting Yoongi to the gym before they lost Taehyung and Jungkook in the crowd.

The small gym was packed with 4 and 5 year olds running around, cacophony of voices and laughter reverberating around the walls. Seeing the kids dressed in white robed and hats reminded Jimin he still had Jungkook’s robes in his hands.

“This way,” Yoongi placed his hand on Jimin’s back and guided him to where the kids were already seated. They’d somehow managed to find the perfect seat.

“Jungkook come put this on,” Jimin held out his hand for Jungkook to take and guided him to the aisle in between the chairs to help him put on his robe.

“Waah Gukkie! You look like a king!” Taehyung exclaimed. Jungkook blushed and grinned wide at the compliment. The four of them took their seats as more and more parents began to file in, Taehyung and Jungkook sat in between the Jimin and Yoongi. They had a little fight then and there to decide their seating arrangement. Taehyung wanted to sit in between both his samcheon’s and Jungkook wanted to sit between his appa’s as well. They called it a truce when Yoongi suggested the kids sit in between. All to happy with Yoongi’s suggestion, they were joining hands and chattering away instantly. Their fight all but forgotten. The program started with a short speech from the principal followed by performances from the graduating students. Jungkook was the last performer along with 5 others. They were going to sing the school song at the end before the actual graduation ceremony started. Jungkook had been practicing the school song around them so much, both Jimin and Yoongi knew the song by heart too. Even now, Jimin could hear Jungkook quietly mumbling the lyrics under his breath. He stopped mumbling to whisper something in Taehyung’s ears, who listened carefully and nodded. Taehyung then reached up to whisper something in Yoongi’s ear and Yoongi made way so the two kids could leave their seats. Jimin watched as the ran out of the hall.

“Where are they going?” he whispered at Yoongi who had apparently been assigned teddy’s temporary custody.

“Jungkook needed to use the restroom,” he placed the teddy bear in the empty sit beside him and looked back on the stage. Jimin followed suit and watched the kids performing on stage.

“Yoonie,” he leaned towards Yoongi who looked at him immediately, “Haven’t they been gone for too long?” it seemed like it had been a few minutes since the kid left.

“Yeah. They’re probably running outside. They’ll be here soon, don’t worry.”

“But Yoonie,” Jimin looked at Yoongi worryingly.

“Want me to go check?”

“Please?”

“Be right back,” Yoongi stood up to leave only to bump against Taehyung. He immediately crouched down and exchanged a few whispered words Jimin was too far to hear. Taehyung ran back outside, not before taking the teddy bear with him.

“Sunshine, let’s go to Jungkook.”

Jimin quickly stood up and followed Yoongi out of the gym without a word. They were headed towards the little garden at the back. Yoongi walked with a somber expression and hurried steps, Jimin close behind. They saw Jungkook crouched down beside a flower bed listening to Taehyung who was crouched in a much similar fashion in front of Jungkook.

“Yoonie what’s going on?” he asked coming to stand beside Yoongi who halted abruptly.

“Kookie is scared about performing today. Taehyung told me he cried in the bathroom so he brought him here.”

Jimin made a distressed sound at that and immediately stepped forward to go to Jungkook. Yoongi stopped him with a hand around his wrist, “Sunshine, wait. I know you want to comfort Jungkook. So do I. But let’s let the two of them talk for a bit and we’ll jump in, okay.”

They stood there and watched Taehyung whisper into Jungkook’s ears, the teddy bear held tightly between the two. He looked at the two of them and beckoned them forward.

“Look, Gukkie you appas are here.”

Jungkook looked up at them with snotty nose and a tear stained face but he was no longer crying, “Appa!” he started crying as soon as he saw them, “Let’s go home. I don’t want to sing.”

“Oh Kookie,” Jimin made a distressed sound and rushed to engulf Jungkook in a warm hug, “It’s ok baby. Don’t cry. Appa is here now. Don’t cry.”

Yoongi placed a hand on Jimin’s shoulder, crouching beside the two,. He had his other arm around Taehyung who was watching everything with downturned lips and distressed brows. Jimin pulled back from the embrace and looked to Yoongi to share a worried look with his husband. Yoongi looked just as disheveled as he felt. Jungkook was an introvert who liked to have his own little space. He had a hard time opening up to people, it had taken him weeks to adjust once he’d started kindergarten. He often shied away from strangers. He needed time to find his own comfort zone when confronted with a new setting. They should’ve known Jungkook wouldn’t take well to performing on stage. They should’ve tried to talk about this earlier.

‘what do we do?’ Jimin mouthed at Yoongi, at a loss for words to console their son.

‘let me talk to him,’ Yoongi mouthed back and Jimin nodded.

Yoongi pulled out a packet of tissues from his pocket and pulled Jungkook to face him. He gently wiped away his tears while repeating words of reassurances until Jungkook’s cried turned into dry sniffles. Jimin looked around for a place to sit and found a couple of benches a few flower beds away.

“Let’s sit over there and talk,” he pulled Taehyung in his arms and Yoongi did the same with Jungkook. They sat on the bench with the children on their respective laps.

“Kookie,” Yoongi spoke first, in that soft voice he had reserved for Jungkook, “Why do you want to go home?”

“I-i don’t w-want to sing.”

“Why not?” Yoongi prompted, running a hand over Jungkook’s back comfortingly.

“Gukkie is scared, samcheon,” Taehyung answered for Jungkook. He hadn’t let go of Jungkook’s hand ever since they sat down. Jungkook nodded his head at Taehyung’s declaration.

“Will you tell appa why you’re scared?” Yoongi asked gently.

Jungkook chewed on his bottom lip, burrowing into Yoongi’s chest instead of answering.

“Kookie,” Yoongi tried again but Jungkook shook his head no and curled up into Yoongi’s lap to make himself as small as possible. Yoongi looked at Jimin helplessly. Seeing Jungkook reminded Jimin of the way he used to be growing up. That thought brought an idea.

“Taetae, do you want to hear a story?” he asked Taehyung who dismissed him with a firm shake of his head.

“Not now, Chim samcheon. Gukkie is sad. I have to make him smile again.”

That brought a small smile to both Yoongi and Jimin’s lips.

“How about I tell you this story while you think of ways to make Kookie smile?” Jimin offered. Taehyung mulled it over before nodding. Jimin could see Jungkook peek at the two of them - obviously interested in hearing the story himself.

“What are gonna tell him?” Yoongi asked, unaware of what Jimin had planned.

“Trust me,” he reassured his worried husband, “Ok Taetae, listen carefully ok. This is a very important story. One I haven’t even told Yoonie samcheon.”

That seemed to get both the kids attention. Even Jungkook began unfurling himself a little in Yoongi’s lap but Jimin didn’t acknowledge him. Not yet.

“A long time ago when I came to Seoul to study, I didn’t know anyone. Everyone was a stranger to me. How do you feel when you’re surrounded by strangers?”

“I try to talk to them!” Taehyung said brightly, excited to answer a question. Well, that backfired quickly. Jimin tried again.

“What about Kookie. Do you know how he feels?”

“Gukkie doesn’t like strangers,” Taehyung frowned.

“I didn’t like strangers either. So, I was very very scared to go to class the first time. Instead of going to class, I ran away.”

“What happened then? Did you never go to class?” Taehyung asked, completely invested in the story. Even Jungkook had his full attention on Jimin now.

“Then something wonderful happened. I met Yoonie samcheon. He talked to me when I was scared and told me he used to be like me too. He told me it was ok to be scared. And he told me a lot of nice things to make me feel better. I wouldn’t have gone to class that day if it wasn’t for him,” he looked at Yoongi and smiled who was looking at Jimin with an confused expression.

“You know Tae, that’s not the only time Yoonie appa made me feel better. He makes me feel better whenever I’m scared. Even now. Do you know how Yoonie can do that?” Jimin whispered conspiratorially - loud enough so that Jungkook could hear him too.

“How?” Taehyung whispered back.

“Because he has magical powers,” Jimin declared. Both Taehyung and Jungkook gasped.

“He does?” Taehyung asked looking at Yoongi with newfound admiration.

“Mmhmm,” Jimin nodded his head solemnly, “He has the magic of words. If you’re ever scared or sad come to Yoonie samcheon, he’ll use his magical powers to make you feel better instantly.”

“Ok,” Taehyung nodded solemnly, “So, can he make Gukkie feel better?”

“Of course. But Kookie has to tell him why he’s scared first. His powers doesn’t work if Kookie won’t talk to him. Tae, let’s go drink some water. All that storytelling made me thirsty.”

“No! I wanna stay with Kookie.”

“But I don’t know where the water fountain is,” Jimin pouted. Taehyung looked pained as he looked between Jimin and Jungkook, he didn’t want to choose between the two.

“Fine, I’ll take you there. Gukkie I’ll be right back ok. Don’t cry,” he held Jimin’s hand and pulled him into the building. Jimin turned back to mouth ‘good luck’ to Yoongi before running with Taehyung. He hoped his plan worked and Jungkook was talking to Yoongi now. Between the two of them, Jimin was the more tactile one when it came to comforting Jungkook, Yoongi was better with words than physical gestures. Right now, Jungkook needed Yoongi’s words more than Jimin’s hugs. He also knew Jungkook would be more comfortable talking with less people around so he’d left with Taehyung. Now, all they had to do was wait.

Jimin also wondered what Yoongi thought of the story he’d just told. He’d somehow never got around to telling Yoongi about the first time they’d met in the hallway. He wondered if Yoongi even remembered the boy in that hallway, scared and alone until Yoongi found him.

Taehyung had insisted they go back to Jungkook as soon as Jimin was done drinking.

“Taetae, let’s go talk to Jungkook’s teacher first.”

“Why?” Taehyung whined, not pleased with the change in plans.

“Baby, we have to ask them when Jungkook is performing. What if he misses his turn?”

“But, Jungkook doesn’t want to sing. He said so himself. Don’t make him sing samcheon, he’ll cry,” Taehyung told Jimin with glistening eyes.

Jimin crouched down and wiped away a single tear that had managed to spill over, “Tae, remember how excited Kookie was about singing the school song?”

“Yeah. But he doesn’t want to do it anymore,” Taehyung whined.

“He’s only saying that because he’s scared. Have you ever been scared?”

Taehyung shook his head no, “Jin appa always gives me a paper full of his and Joon appa’s kisses. I never get scared when I have that paper with me,” Taehyung patted his pocket proudly. Jimin didn’t understand what the kid meant - he made a mental note to ask Jin later on.

“That’s great. But, honey when people get scared they don’t want to do things they really love doing and regret it later on. Kookie is just saying he doesn’t want to sing because he’s scared. Yoonie samcheon will use his magic and make him feel better. So, you and I should go and talk to his teacher so that he doesn’t miss his turn, don’t you think?”

“You’re right!” Taehyung covered his mouth with his tiny hand, as if realizing something grave, “We should go quickly, samcheon. Come on!”

Thankfully, there were still a couple performance left before Jungkook’s turn. They had time. Taehyung finally got what he wanted as they made their was to Yoongi and Jungkook. They found the two of them laughing on the bench, Jimin smiled at the sight. Taehyung joined them immediately taking his seat beside Jungkook, Jimin followed slowly, just enjoying the view.

“Everything ok?” he asked Yoongi once he was close enough.

“Min appa! You were right, Yoonie appa has magical powers.”

Jimin picked him up and held him close, “Are you feeling better now?”

Jungkook nodded against his neck.

“Do you still don’t want to sing? Because it’s ok if you don’t want to,” Jimin reassured him.

“It’s ok. I want to sing. I know all the words appa!” Jungkook grinned widely at his achievement.

“That’s because my baby is so smart,” Jimin peppered his face with kisses before putting him down, “Why don’t you go back in with Tae. I need to talk to Yoonie appa.”

“Ok. Let’s go Taetae hyung,” Jungkook pulled Taehyung with him only to stop at the door leading into the building. He let of Taehyung’s hand and ran back to Jimin.

“Appa give me a hug,” he demanded and Jimin complied. He held him tight, conveying all his love and adoration in that one hug. When he pulled apart, Jungkook was looking at Yoongie instead of Jimin.

“Yoonie appa. You were right,” he ran away before Jimin could ask any further question. Jimin turned to his husband and sat beside him.

“Right about what?” he asked.

“I told him you had magical powers too,” Yoongi shrugged nonchalantly.

“What magical powers?” Jimin snorted.

“That your hugs had the power to make anyone happy,” Yoongi bumped his shoulder against Jimin’s and smiled. Jimin threw his head back and laughed.

“Yoonie. You’re ridiculous.”

“Not as ridiculous as you. What was all that about meeting me in the hallway. You don’t even remember the first time we met, Sunshine. It was at the coffee shop. I’m hurt,” Yoongi folded his arms and glared at Jimin.

“I do remember, Yoonie. How could I forget? I wasn’t lying or making up a story. It’s true what I told the kids.”

“Sunshine, what are you talking about?” Yoongi asked incredulously.

“‘ Anxiety is a bitch, but it’s not dangerous. No matter how much you may feel like it is at the time. I know this all seems hard right now, and as cliché and as overused as it is, everything does get better. You just have to remember to breathe in and breathe out. Everything else will follow eventually. Whatever looks so daunting to you right now won’t be so forever if you just dare take a step forward, ok.’ Do you remember these words?”

“Ye-ah. Eomma used to- how do you know this? I’ve never-,” Yoongi sounded more confused than ever.

“Do you remember telling these words to a stranger you met in the corridor outside the dance class in college? I was that boy you met in the corridor” Jimin smiled fondly at his confused husband.

“I-i don’t remember,” Yoongi shook his head and closed his eyes, trying hard to remember, “Why don’t I remember meeting you,” Yoongi sounded distressed.

“It’s ok, Yoonie. It’s ok that you don’t remember. You never even saw my face back then, how could you know that was me. For you, the coffee shop was  the first time we met. I only recognized you later on because of the mint hair. You know, that has always been my favourite colour on you, maybe because of the memory associated with it. For the longest time, I thought of you as nothing but mint haired guy,” Jimin chuckled remembering his college days and his huge crush on Yoongi.

“Why-how do you still remember the exact words,” Yoongi asked in wonder, wrapping his hands around Jimin’s waist and pulling him close.

“How could I forget the words that made me fall in love with you a little,” Jimin grinned and placed a impulsive kiss on Yoongi’s lips.

“A little?” Yoongi teased.

“A teensy bit,” Jimin grinned before Yoongi pulled him in for a proper kiss.

“Let’s go. The kids are waiting for us,” Yoongi pulled him up after the kiss.

“Oh right. Do you know anything about Taehyung’s paper full of kisses?” Jimin asked on their way back. Maybe Namjoon had told him something.

“Ah yeah. Jin and Joon kiss a blank paper every morning and give it to Tae. They started doing it because remember how much Taehyung hated going to school after kindergarten because he couldn’t play like he used to in first grade. I guess the habit just stuck. I only know about this because Jin hyung had to bring Tae by the studio once because Namjoon had forgotten to kiss the paper that day,” Yoongi chuckled.

“That’s awfully cute,” Jimin giggled at the Kim’s strange ritual.

“Yeah those two are whipped when it comes to their their kid.”

“Pot, stop calling the kettle black,” Jimin teased before linking his arm with Yoongi’s as they entered the gym.

“I can’t believe you just called you own husband pot.”

“I can call you whatever I want.”

“Why is that?” Yoongi asked as they took their seat on opposite end of the kids.

“Because I love you, Yoonie,” Jimin winked from beside Jungkook.

“Can’t argue with that, Sunshine,” Yoongi smiled at him and Jimin smiled back.

“I love appa’s too!” “I love samcheon’s too!”

Taehyung and Jungkook suddenly declared grinning widely. Jungkook was back to his chipper self, bouncing excitedly waiting for his turn. He would ask Yoongi what they talked about later on. For now, he was busy making kissy faces at Jungkook and Taehyung while they pretended to be disgusted and Yoongi watched the three of them with a serene smile on his lips.

Jimin would’ve never believed them if someone had showed him his future back in high school. He would’ve never believed them if someone had told him about the wonderful people he’d meet in college.. He never would have believed them if they’d told him he’d have Yoongi and Jungkook by his side in the future.

Yoongi and Jungkook. His family. His fortunate stroke of serendipity.

Notes:

Ahhhh!!!! it's done.😌😌😌
I'm so happy yet a little sad I have to let go of this story now. Nothing has been as easy to write as Serendipity. I'm done with this story but definitely not done with this au. I have a taekook story planned and will start working on it very soon.

Notes:

I hope you liked it enough to give me some kudos and comment a few words, I'd love to read what you think. Feel free to tell me if I need to make some improvements.

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