Jungkook wasn't ready to see the truth in Jimin's eyes. Open your eyes. Jimin had told him, what was he going to see in the ones looking back at him? Pity? A sorrowful goodbye? The tears were escaping his closed eyelids, streaming down his cheeks and onto Jimin's hand that turned up his chin. He didn't want to see anything else, but he blinked, freeing the rest of his trapped teardrops. His heart ached as he blinked over and over, clearing his vision. 

Jimin's eyes were glistening. He had cried, sobbed. Jungkook told himself it was because Jimin was losing a friend too. They were going to lose a bond that had lasted through too many years, and all Jungkook could feel was remorse. His breath hitched and his vision was cloudy again.

"You don't have to cry." Jimin whispered. His voice was soft, slow and soothing. His thumb rubbed back and forth on Jungkook's chin, his hand damp with his friends tears. He didn't mind catching them as they fell, but he couldn't stand to see him cry. "I would never hate you, even if I couldn't return your feelings."

It was a small confession, but Jimin hoped Jungkook could find the meaning behind his words. Showing his feelings was a hard task for him to accomplish, he didn't know any of the right steps to take. He didn't know precisely how to acknowledge how deep his own feelings for Jungkook went. After hearing the mans confession torn from him in a way only Jimin could feel remorse for, they had become much clearer to him. He did love Jungkook, he loved him more than he ever thought it was possible to love another. The tears on the others face, in his eyes, made his heart cry. He wanted to wipe away the sadness from his friends heart. He wanted to show him his own love instead, he wanted Jungkook to know that he didn't have to feel any heart ache from rejection. He needed him to know that every teardrop he ever let fall past his bright red cheeks would always be caught by him.

Jungkook blinked rapidly, willing and anxious to see now. Had he heard Jimin correctly? His eyes cleared, and knowing that soon the tears would come again, he watched Jimin's face. He read the mans expression quickly, a small smile hinting on Jimin's lips and his eyes full of something he almost couldn't recognize. "What do you mean?" Jungkook spoke. His voice quiet and hoarse, almost non existent. He watched the smile grow bigger on Jimin's lips, a small laugh reaching his ears soon after. His heart thumped hard in his chest.

Jimin couldn't help but chuckle a little. He wasn't good at elaborating on his emotions, but it was apparent that he had to. Jungkook was watching him intently. The words were in his throat and he could say them, he would. After everything, Jungkook needed to hear them first, spoken in clarity. He needed to know that without a doubt, Jimin's words were what they meant. Jimin blinked. He looked away for only a second to gain a bit of composer and strength to make the biggest, the only true confession he had ever made in his entirety of living. He took a breath.

"I love you, Jungkook."

There. Jimin exhaled. He locked their gazes, his body tensing suddenly and his pulse rising as the weight of his words hit him. He felt exposed, vulnerable. It was an impact that hit him all at once with the strength of a freight train. His eyes flickered back and forth between each of Jungkook's own, searching for confirmation that his message had been received. 

Jungkook bit his lip and released it, letting both of them part. "You mean," He whispered. "Like, how I-"

He paused when Jimin smiled again and answered his question before it was even finished.

"I'm in love with you, Jungkook." Jimin corrected himself. Then he saw it, exactly what he was searching for. A shimmer appeared in Jungkook's eyes as they filled again with those pesky tears, but this time they weren't alone. They came with everything that Jimin needed to see, a smile that began to play at Jungkook's lips. 

Jimin didn't push the tears away. He took his hand from Jungkook's chin, sliding it back until it landed at the nape of the mans neck. He pulled Jungkook closer, eyes shining with adoration for the other, his friend. No. The man he loved. Jimin smiled as he leaned in and pressed his lips to Jungkook's cheek, right below his tear filled eyes. He felt them land on his lips, tasted their saltiness. He pulled away, leaning in once more to press the same kiss onto the other wet cheek. "Don't cry." Jimin whispered.

Jungkook coughed lightly and swallowed hard. His breath was uneven, but he could feel his heart filling with the same thing he had seen in Jimin's eyes before. He knew what it was now, that emotion he couldn't completely understand. It wasn't a love he'd known before Jimin, not the same as when your parents show you affection. It was called being in love, and that's what he was. "I'm in love with you, Jimin." Jungkook whispered back. He smiled again. He pulled away, wanting only to see the expression on Jimin's face. 

Jungkook slowly lifted his hands to place them on Jimin's waist. He stared into Jimin's eyes, seeing his hearts feelings mirrored back at him through them. Jungkook pulled him closer and Jimin circled his arms around his neck. He stared down at the older, but significantly shorter man before him and he chuckled at that. It was easy then, as Jungkook felt all of the love shining throughout their connected bodies, for him to place a slow kiss to Jimin's cool forehead. 

Jungkook leaned back again, eager to see Jimin's lips. He watched them, lifting his eyes to meet the others stare. He could see them shining with something else now. Lust. He grinned, ready. Ready to feel Jimin's pretty, full lips under his own. He dipped down, moving as slow and steady as his patience would allow. He didn't want to mess it up, a first kiss was something he knew was to be cherished. Their lips were less than an inch apart. Jungkook could feel Jimin's breath and he leaned in to close the gap, almost touching the pink, soft flesh of the lips he wanted to feel. 

A thunderous bang ripped them apart as the two jumped from the interruption. Jimin grabbed Jungkook's arm, his forgotten fear returning like a tsunami, hitting him with all of its power. Jungkook was pulling him close again, and they were moving away from something. It was as if he couldn't hear anything after that loud noise that had pulled him away from experiencing the best feelings he could have ever imagined. Jungkook had his arm around his waist, speaking something to him. He had another hand on Jimin's face.

"Jimin, are you listening to me?" Jungkook was frantically muttering to the blank faced man before him. "We need to leave, right now." He shook Jimin, pulling him from a sudden state of shock. The older of the two nodded, a fresh wave of tears forming in his eyes.

They clasped hands and made their way quickly to the front door, grabbing their jackets and exiting the apartment. Jungkook pulled Jimin behind him, almost running as they descended the stairs. He was walking at a speed faster than Jimin could maintain so he pulled at the taller mans hand, stopping them both. "What happened?" He all but screamed, face streaked and his breath creating clouds in the cold. 

Jungkook was breathing heavy. He shook his head. "We need to go further, I don't want to see the apartment. I can still see it." He pulled Jimin's hand again.

Jimin resisted. "No. Tell me what happened. I didn't see it. What was that noise?"

Jungkook's expression changed, it was heavy and pained. "I'll tell you, let's just get away."

They made it a little further, their pace just as quick as it had been before. Jimin struggled to keep up and pulled away from Jungkook's hand, stopping to lean over and catch his breath. "This is good enough." He huffed with his hands on his knees. "Now. Tell me what happened."

Jungkook sighed. "You didn't see anything?"

Jimin shook his head. "I was looking at you."

The younger man closed his eyes. He turned away from Jimin then and leaned his head back. It wasn't anything close to what he had seen before, what Jimin had seen in the time they had been living in the apartment. He didn't realize that whatever was living along side of them wasn't as alright as he had been trying to convince himself that it was. What had happened this time, it was a personal attack.

"The pan on the stove," Jungkook begin to retell, regretfully so. "Our dinner. Whatever 'it' is, it threw it."

Jimin scrunched his eyebrows, trying to understand and imagine what Jungkook was telling him. "It threw the pan?"

Jungkook nodded. "It threw it at us."