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Seokjin paces around the kitchen, frantically scrolling through his phone to find recipes to make for dinner. He knows he’s not that good at keeping things clean and organized, but he really tried today, he just hopes that it’s not that big of a deal. He knows it’s not that big of a deal. But still, everything about tonight has to be perfect.
And that starts with dinner. The sun hasn’t gone down yet, he knows there’s still plenty of time before Jimin arrives. He knows a lot of optimistic outcomes, but he can’t seem to focus on them right now. It’s not like Jimin is a complete stranger, they’ve lived together before. It hasn’t even been that long since he graduated and moved out of the dorms, it’s only been a few months. It’s not like living together is a completely foreign experience.
Jimin isn’t even moving that far, the neighborhood isn’t that far away from school grounds. It really shouldn’t be that much of a difference.
But still… Jimin is moving in.
The doorbell rings and Seokjin bolts to the front door. He stops in front of it, taking a few deep breaths, he doesn’t want to seem too excited. He needs to control his shaking, not look too eager.
He opens the door. A thin, short woman stands on the other side, hands in the pockets of her camo pants, a loose, grey shirt tucked in, exaggerating her narrow waist. Her full, puckered lips smile after she picks her head up from looking at her black combat boots.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Seokjin replies with a small smile forming on his face, “come in, come in!” he slides out of the way, holding the door open for her to come through.
Once the door is closed and both his hands are free, he holds his arms open for her to crash into him. She wraps around him with a tight hold. Their height difference isn’t drastic, but she’s still small compared to him, especially with his broad shoulders.
They separate and Jimin walks further into the house, dragging the suitcase behind her and adjusting the bag over her shoulder. The wheels of her suitcase bounce off the short steps from the front door and into the living area, before they roll over the red tile beneath them.
“I still can’t believe you can afford this place.” she says, taking in the natural lighting from the large windows surrounding the open space, an archway separating the living room from the kitchen. There’s a fireplace made out of the same clay that the walls consist of. “I promise, I’ll find a job as soon as I can, to help pay for it.”
“Don’t stress out too much.” Seokjin says, “Work hasn’t been going so well for me either, I’m thankful that my parents are pitching in what they can.”
Jimin keeps the smile on her face, “Well, it may take a while to move all of my stuff in. I just brought my essentials with me for now.” She pats the bag hanging next to her torso, “I really missed living with you.”
“It’s only been a few months.” Seokjin says, leading her down the darker, rather narrow hallway, to the master bedroom.
Jimin sticks her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout, “So you didn’t miss me?”
Seokjin puts his arm around her, “Yeah, yeah, I missed you too.” he says.
She gasps at the bedroom, staring at the door leading to the patio in the backyard. The window on the wall adjacent to it has a nook indented into it. The bed is big enough for two people to sleep comfortably in it, and she puts her bag down on the white and red bedsheets. She falls backwards onto the bed, bouncing back up a few millimeters before laying flat.
“If you become a massive superstar, I can’t imagine getting a home that is nicer than this.” Jimin says, staring at the wood ceiling, logs evenly spaced running horizontally to her.
“I’m sure there are places nicer than this one.” Seokjin says. He lays her suitcase on the large rug underneath the bed, “I’ve got a shoot coming up over the weekend, it’s not much, but at least $800 is something, right?”
Jimin shoots back up, “$800?” she shouts, “The hell do you mean that’s ‘not much?’”
“It may be a lot for now, but the thing about this business is that it’s not very stable.” Seokjin says, “$800 isn’t going to pay for the next six months if I can’t get another job afterwards.”
Jimin frowns to the floor. “The TA-NM is looking for a new case worker.” she shares, “Chris resigned, so… I, uh… I put in an application for it.”
“Really?” Seokjin picks his head up from unzipping her suitcase, “That’s amazing!” he stands up to stand in front of her, taking hold of her hands, and then pulling her into another hug.
“Yeah…” she says, “I liked volunteering there, they know me and they trust me, I just hope that I’ve done enough to prove that I’m capable, and that they don’t think I’m too young for the job.”
“You are one of the smartest, kindest people I know,” Seokjin says with his hand on her chin, “I’m sure they see that too.”
She keeps the smile on her face, though it’s a little hollow. She stands up from the bed and opens her bag. He helps her organize and put away some of her clothes, making sure their now shared closet has enough room for both of their things. She organizes her clothes based on expression, all of her feminine clothes grouped together, her masculine clothes grouped together, her androgynous clothes grouped together, and her neutral clothes grouped together.
She moves to the master bathroom connected to the bedroom, grabbing a few small bags from her bigger bag to set up her things in there as well. As she does, he returns to the kitchen to get started on dinner.
He fantasized about this for months, living together in their own home. He would cook for her every day, drive her to class, pick her up, they’d go back home together, watch something while holding each other on the couch, and then they’d go to bed, lying next to each other. She’d fit perfectly around his arms. But now that it’s happening, all he feels is that it’s… fine. It’s not horrible, far from it, he loves that she’s moving in, but he doesn’t feel like he thinks he should. He isn’t filled with the excitement that the months leading up to today have caused him.
He sits at the long table made out of light brown wood in the dining room, separated from the kitchen by a high bar. The only sound he can hear is the sizzling of the pork on the stovetop. Though Jimin’s humming gets louder as she walks down the hall. She walks under the archway, past the kitchen, and sits next to him at the table.
“How’s, uh…” Seokjin attempts to start up a conversation, “How’s your summer break going?”
Jimin hums, “I really needed it. I didn’t have a lot of dance classes last term, but I really overhauled myself with so many social justice classes. It wasn’t hard academically, but emotionally? Not very uplifting…” she sighs, “At least they’re good for my resume.”
She leans against Seokjin’s shoulder, and he brushes her short, black hair away from her forehead. He remembers when she sent him a photo of the haircut when she first got it, complaining that something must have gotten lost in translation because it was far too short. It’s growing little-by-little every few days, the top of her head is more full than her sides, layered a little awkwardly. He has never cared about the appearance of others, but if Jimin hates her hair like this, then he does too.
“Dinner’s almost ready.” he says with a pat on her back, getting up from the chair and moving back to the kitchen to finish up.
He sets the plates down on the table after a few more minutes, sitting back down in the seat next to Jimin. The sun begins to set while they eat and talk, Jimin discussing how she needs to find something to do for her independent studies. Seokjin reminds her that she has around three months to figure it out.
With the sun down, the two of them clean up the kitchen together. They move in the flow they had back at the dorm, a skill they learned while living with each other for a year prior. Living with Jimin is going to be easy.
They change into sleep-appropriate attire, Seokjin watching Jimin lift her shirt up, showing off the NEVERMIND tattoo across her visible ribs. He looks away when he catches her staring at his bare chest, blush creeping up his cheeks and to his ears. He’s quick to put on his pajamas.
The reality sets in for him while they’re in the bathroom together, brushing their teeth at the same time. This is how he’ll be spending most of his nights in the indefinite future, side-by-side with her. They’re living together. He never thought he’d find someone he likes enough to live with, he liked the idea of it, but thinking about it becoming a reality felt far too romantic for his liking. Jimin feels different.
She rolls onto the bed, until she’s on the other side. She pats the empty space next to her. “Come to bed, baby.”
He crawls to lay next to her. The two giggle, their faces so close to each other. He can see the freckles that lightly dust her cheeks, faded but still there, and she can see how the moonlight from the large windows reflects off his dark brown lashes.
She scoots herself closer to lay against his chest, and Seokjin doesn’t mind the physical closeness. He’s just happy to have Jimin in his life like this.