Everyone waited for an explanation, but the seconds passed by and Jungkook only continued to glance around the room, perplexity written all over his face.  Yoongi looked away from Jungkook’s eyes.  It was only now that Yoongi realized the full extent of his actions and how Jungkook could potentially lose his job because of him.

“Yoongi?”  Someone said.  Yoongi jerked his head up to see Taehyung looking at him strangely.

“What is it?”

“I really don’t think red goes with your outfit.  It’s a bit too bold, considering all the black you’re wearing.”  He curled his lip.

Yoongi was wearing a black leather jacket emblazoned with an assortment of white-colored designs over a black graphic t-shirt.  Black leather pants clung tightly to his slender legs, and black lace-up combat boots covered his feet.  However, that wasn’t the only thing that was covering his feet.

“!”  Yoongi snapped, yanking his boots out of the lake of kimchi stew that had accumulated around him.  “Those better not be damaged, they cost a good ing--”

Before he could get out another word, Park Jimin’s hand was over his mouth again.

“My God,” he said with an exasperated sigh and a shake of his head.  “What sorts of things do I need to do to that naughty mouth in order to stop it from spewing out swear words?”

Yoongi involuntarily stopped breathing.  Jimin, with those full lips, those dark, burning eyes.  Jimin, with his body right against Yoongi’s, thighs and hips pressed right up next to his, free hand slowly tracing down his lower back.  For a moment, Yoongi was completely enthralled by the chef’s hungry gaze and provocative touches.

What sorts of things could Jimin do to his mouth?  He shivered at the thought.

Taehyung gasped and slapped his knee, roaring with laughter.  It took Jungkook a second before his eyes lit up with understanding.  He covered his mouth with his hand and looked away in an attempt to stifle a giggle.  Jimin slowly removed his hand, taking a minute to trace his fingers over Yoongi’s jaw before cupping his chin and forcing him to look straight at him.

Goddamn.

“Well?”  Jimin’s voice was a lot huskier than tinkling wind chimes now.  “What should I do to punish that filthy mouth of yours?  What do you think?”

“I…”  Yoongi was speechless before he finally came to his senses and realized what the chef was doing.  Okay, he was admittedly attractive, and obviously thirsty for Yoongi, but who gave him the right?  Who the did Jimin think he was?  What the did he think he was doing?  The arrogant little--

“Go on,” Jimin breathed, his face inches from Yoongi’s.

Yoongi was trapped against the sink and Jimin, whose body was right against him.  He blushed, gulped, and tried to look away from the chef’s too-intense gaze.  He hated the cockiness that rolled off of him in waves.  Maybe some people liked cocky guys, but Yoongi didn’t.  Major turn-off.

“…Do you need help cleaning up?  There’s still kimchi stew all over the ground,” he said nervously, inching away from Jimin and trying to hide his new distaste for him.  At his words, Jimin glanced down and seemed to notice the puddles of stew for the first time.

“Right, I forgot about that.”  He pulled away from Yoongi and reached around him to grab a stack paper towels.  Throwing them to Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jungkook, he wiped his hands and bustled over to the other side of the kitchen.  Pulling on a pair of pastel pink oven mitts, he bent down to get something from a big oven.

“Mr. Park-- sir, I--”  Jungkook started to say something but Jimin cut him off.

“You three can clean that up.  I’ll be right back!”  He yelled over his shoulder.  He picked up a tray of scones and half-ran to another part of the kitchen, out of sight from the others.  The trio was left to clean up the steaming red mess, trying not to kneel on spots with stew.

“Yoongi, what the hell were you doing in here?”  Jungkook said heatedly once Jimin had disappeared.  “Did it not occur to you that customers aren’t allowed in the kitchen?”

“Relax, Kookie, you won’t lose your job or anything.  Jimin wouldn’t do that to you.”  While Jungkook’s panic was tangible, Taehyung was very calm.  Yoongi wasn’t sure about the outcome of the situation but decided to go along with Taehyung’s approach.

“But--”

“Relax, he won’t,” Yoongi echoed as he tried to soak up the stew with the paper towels Jimin had given them, which didn’t seem to be very absorbent.  He sighed and threw his jacket onto the counter before reaching for a sponge instead.  The guilt was already weighing him down, and he wanted to slap himself for stepping foot into the kitchen in the first place.

“Look, it was my fault, and I’m really sorry, okay?  But I don’t think Jimin won’t fire you because of me.  Why would you take the punishment for something I did?  I went into the kitchen because I was curious, and I spilled all that stew because I was being careless, which had nothing to do with you.”

Jungkook looked at Taehyung and shrugged.  Taehyung shrugged back and resumed mopping up the remnants of the stew.  Yoongi gingerly picked up a few pieces of cabbage, wrapped it in a paper towel, and threw it in the garbage can.  There was a strange tingling in his chest, and he suddenly remembered why he had snuck into the kitchen in the first place.  The thing coming from the kitchen was close.  He could feel it.

“See, what’s done is done.”  Shuddering, Yoongi looked back at Taehyung, who was still trying to reassure Jungkook.  “Whatever.  Besides, remember the chicken gizzard incident?”  Taehyung gave Jungkook a small smirk and Jungkook rolled his eyes in reply.

“What about it?”

“That was a lot worse than this time.  Knowing what kind of person Jimin is, I don’t think he’ll linger over this incident, Kookie.”

Yoongi looked up and felt his face flush again at the mention of Jimin, remembering how closely Jimin had leaned into him, how those warm fingers had brushed against his face, how suggestively he had looked at him.  While the others continued to focus on cleaning, Yoongi’s motions became more distracted.  He replayed those moments in his head for a few minutes, glaring at the ground the entire time.  The cocky, greasy piece of .

“Speaking of Jimin,” Yoongi cleared his throat and broke the silence that had fallen.  “Jungkook, is Jimin always this flir--”

Before he could continue, however, the kitchen door opened and the three of them looked up to see Jimin walking in, wiping his hands on his chef’s uniform.  Yoongi winced at the sight of his bright smile and looked away.

“Oh, good,” he said, eyes lighting up.  “You’re almost done cleaning up.  Need help?”  He adjusted his uniform again and yelled in the direction of a door at the far corner.  “Hey Ahra!  Watch the kitchen for me, will you?”  A girl in a uniform identical to Jimin’s rushed out seconds later and headed straight to the stoves.

“No, Mr. Park, it’s fine.”  Jungkook gave the floor one last glance before getting off his hands and knees and tossing his wad of paper towels into the trash.

“Jungkook, you haven’t called me ‘Mr. Park’ since your first day working here.  Why the sudden formality?  Is it because you’re in trouble, hmm?”  Jimin gave Jungkook a knowing smile.  He beckoned the three over to another part of the kitchen so they wouldn’t interrupt Ahra, who was currently busy making more stew.

“Sorry, Jimin, I--”

“No worries, Jungkook, it’s fine.  No use crying over spilled milk, or in this case, spilled kimchi stew.  Accidents happen all the time, don’t they?  It wasn’t your fault.”

Yoongi shifted his feet uncomfortably and wondered if there was any way he could slip out the door without anyone noticing.  Unfortunately, Jimin chose that moment to turn to him with a curious look.

“Speaking of the person who caused the accident,” he said interestedly, causing Yoongi to tense up.  “What was your name again?  I don’t believe we ever introduced ourselves properly.”

“Min Yoongi,” he said curtly.

“Yoongi.”  Jimin said his name slowly, as if he were savoring its taste and how it felt in his mouth.  “Park Jimin, owner and head chef of The Jam Jar.  Pleasure to meet you, Yoongi.”

“Err, same.”  Yoongi studied Jimin’s wide grin and tried not to scowl at him.  What kind of person was Park Jimin?  A flirt, a ert, a conceited man who thought he was capable of making everyone in sight drool over him.  Not a ing chance, Yoongi thought.

“So are you a friend of Taehyung and Jungkook?”

“Huh?”  Yoongi plastered a small smile on his face.  “Yeah.  The three of us just stopped by here for lunch..”

“Well, not really the three of us,” Taehyung cut in.  “Yoongi ditched us when we walked in.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t the other way around?”  Yoongi glared back.  “You two little s ran ahead of me and left me alone in the car.”

Jimin laughed loudly at their interaction.

“Third wheeling much?”  He cocked an eyebrow and gave Yoongi a knowing look.  Yoongi and Jungkook both opened their mouths to say something, but Taehyung beat them to it.

“To tell you the truth, I don’t even think this pathetic potato chip knows what third wheeling is.”  He slung an arm around Yoongi and leaned against him.  Yoongi stumbled a little under his weight, but Taehyung paid him no mind and continued talking.  “If Kookie and I weren’t around him so often, I don’t even think he would know what a date’s supposed to look like.  He spends way too much time locked up with his music studio.  Part of the reason why I brought him to Busan was so he could see what the world outside his room’s like.”

“I do know what third wheeling is, , and I do not spend too much time in my room,” Yoongi said furiously.  His gaze flickered from Taehyung to Jimin.  He knew Taehyung was joking like always, but today, he was acting more irritably than usual.  Yoongi wanted to leave The Jam Jar.  He wanted to get away from Jimin before the head chef pulled another move on him.

“From what I hear, the latter is arguable.”  Jungkook grinned in agreement, and Yoongi whipped his head around to glower at him too.  Jimin laughed again and gave Yoongi another smile.

“Did I hear right when I heard Taehyung say music?  Do you sing or something, Yoongi?”

Taehyung burst into laughter again as he tried to imagine his friend singing.  Unfortunately, Taehyung jumped out of the way before Yoongi’s sharp elbow made contact with his ribs.

“Not really.”  Yoongi’s voice was sharp, and he looked away from Jimin.  The less Jimin knew about him and the less he had to talk to him, the better.

“Oh, really?  Anyways, having a music studio sounds pretty cool,” Jimin answered brightly.  Yoongi just nodded in return and shifted his feet again.  He really didn’t like the man.  Not only was he cocky, he was too happy, too enthusiastic, too sunny.  There was a short silence before Jungkook cleared his throat.

“Actually, there was a reason why Taehyung and I brought Yoongi down to Busan for a few days.  We were hoping you could… help him relieve some of his stress and tension?”

“Relieving stress and tension, hmm?”  Jimin’s voice lowered and Yoongi cringed as the man looked him up and down.  Did Jimin have to interpret everything in the dirtiest way possible?

Taehyung cut in and quickly grabbed Jungkook’s hand, intertwining their fingers.

“Our bratty blood sausage can tell you all about it.  And in the meantime, if you’ll excuse us, Jungkook and I have a date get back to.”  His face suddenly turned serious, his mood changing immediately.  “Make sure he doesn’t leave until he does.  Come on, Kookie.  Yoongi’ll be fine by himself.”

Yoongi swore under his breath and shot the two of them a furious look.  Jungkook gave him an apologetic glance but let himself be dragged away by Taehyung.  Within seconds, they were out the kitchen door and it was just him and Jimin.

“Hmm,” Jimin said cheerfully.  “So what was that all about?”  To Yoongi’s dismay, he edged a little closer to him and casually leaned against the counter.

Yoongi just shrugged and continued to silently curse Taehyung for leaving him alone with someone he didn’t want to be alone with.  It wasn’t that Yoongi couldn’t make conversation or talk to new people-- he just didn’t want to talk to Jimin specifically

“Well, we have to talk about… relieving your stress, don’t we?”  Jimin his lips and Yoongi resisted the urge to cry out for Ahra to save him from the situation.  Unfortunately, however, she was busy chopping vegetables.

“How about no?”  He snorted.

“So stubborn.  Anyways, I know Taehyung skips class on a semi-regular basis to come down here and visit Jungkook.  But this is the first time I’ve seen him drag someone else with him.  How do you know Kim Taehyung, by the way?”

“We’re roommates.”

“Ah, so you also go to Seoul National?  Cool!  I’d be in college too, but my parents wanted me to stay here and manage The Jam Jar.  What are you majoring in?  Have you decided yet?”

“Biology.”  The word was sour in his mouth.

“But judging from your tone of voice, I’m guessing that you don’t like biology?”

“I ing hate it.”  Yoongi looked down and played with his hands.  Jimin didn’t seem to notice that he had sworn again, and just gave him a sympathetic smile, leaning in even closer and placing his folded arms on the countertop.

“Are your parents forcing you to major in it?”

“Something like that.”  Yoongi shivered and looked around the kitchen, remembering his problem.  The magical food was somewhere in here, he could feel it.  Magical food , where are you?  Save me from this.

“Aww, that must really , not being able to do what you’re really interested in.”  Yoongi jumped in surprise as he felt a hand on his shoulder, which turned out to be Jimin’s, of course.  He flinched, both at the uninvited touch and the thought of academics.  Jimin’s gaze flickered slightly before he withdrew his hand and continued talking.

“So what’s it like being in college?  Kinda that I’ll never get to go.  I dropped out of high school a few years back but I’ve always liked thinking about what things would be like if I were a normal college student.”  Jimin leaned forward eagerly, resting his chin in his hand.

“No idea.  I’m not really into whatever the hell everyone else does.  I’ve any idea what typical college students do.”

“Ah, so you prefer locking yourself up in your studio instead?  I can imagine that you’d prefer to skip the drama and everything else that must come with college.  Hookups, partying, , all that good stuff.”  Jimin slowly bit down on his lip.

“I guess.”  Yoongi fidgeted.  He shivered again, feeling a strange sensation come over him.  This time, he didn’t think it was Jimin’s words.

“I can also imagine that that’s what Taehyung meant when he hinted that you had no social skills.  You don’t seem like much of a talker, huh?”  He laughed his tinkling laugh and his hooded eyes became tiny crescent moons.  “Come on, Yoongi, I don’t bite.  Unless you’d like me to?”  Within a fraction of a second, Jimin completely changed his expression and his vocal intensity.  Yoongi shrank away again, uncomfortable with the chef’s predatory stare.

And then Jimin changed back to his smiley, enthusiastic self.

“I was just messing with you, Yoongi,” he said pleasantly.  “You should lighten up a bit and smile once in a blue moon.  It’s good for you, hmm?  You’d look a lot cuter if you smiled more often.”

What Yoongi gave him was more like a grimace.  Jimin looked disheartened for a second before the corners of his mouth turned up again in a smile-- a little smaller than his previous ones.

“Anyways, we both know Taehyung can be a persistent little if he has his mind set on something,” he chuckled.  “So it’s probably best if we get to it before he and Jungkook come back, right?”

Yoongi initially hadn’t wanted to talk about his problem, but realized that he preferred talking about that over a topic that would give Jimin an excuse to flirt with him.  Seriously, what was his problem?  Yoongi looked over at his glowing smile and looked away again.

“My parents want me to major in biology because that’s the only way I’ll get to do something I actually want to do, but I don’t want to major in biology.  I don’t have any motivation to finish my senior year.  Taehyung told me the magical food you serve here is going to help me,” he explained briefly.  Jimin didn’t need to know anything other than the bare minimum, and Yoongi didn’t want to tell.

Jimin laughed his characteristically merry laugh and walked to another part of the kitchen, motioning him over to the area where he had spilled the kimchi stew earlier on.  Ahra had disappeared somewhere.  Yoongi stood there, unsure of what to do, before Jimin sat down on the ground and took his wrist, pulling Yoongi down next to him.

“By any chance, is this what you sensed earlier in the food and the kitchen?”  Opening the floor cabinet, Jimin revealed a large collection of mason jars.  Each one of them was filled with colored powders, liquids, and crystal grains.  As soon as Yoongi caught sight of them, he shivered involuntarily.  His vision grew fuzzy as a red haze swept over it.  There it was again.

“Well?  Yoongi, are you with me?”  Jimin snapped his fingers in his face, breaking his concentration.  He scowled at Jimin in annoyance at the interruption but nodded.

“Yeah, that’s it.  But what are those?”

Jimin looked around him, making sure that no one was in the kitchen.  He beamed and carefully took out one of the jars.  It was filled halfway with what looked like water, but when Jimin picked it up, the contents wobbled like jelly.

“Clear jell-o?”  Yoongi said incredulously.  “The is--”

“Language, my dear Yoongi.”  Yoongi wanted nothing more than to bite Jimin’s fingers off.  Jimin’s hand was on his mouth for the third time that day, and Yoongi was close to losing it.  He chose to remain silent, prying off Jimin’s hand with a ferocious glare.  Jimin seemed perfectly unfazed.

“Story time, Yoongi.”  Cradling the jar as if it were his firstborn child, Jimin leaned back against the cabinets began to speak in a calm, low voice.  “Once upon a time, there was a stork and a crow tit.”

“A crow’s tit?”  Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

“Crow.  Tit.”  Maybe Yoongi was imagining it, but he could have sworn Jimin glanced down for a split second.  “Crow and storks are very different, naturally.  Storks are larger than crow , have bigger beaks than crow , have longer legs than crow .  But that didn’t matter very much to the crow , because they were happy living in the trees, and the storks were happy living by the river.  All was well.”

“So what’s the point of this?”

“Hey, hey, don’t interrupt me.”  Jimin frowned and Yoongi shrank back again, fearful that Jimin would clamp his hand over his mouth again.

“Whatever, keep going.”

“As I was saying, all was well.  Until one day, a young crow tit saw a stork flying by the local river.  Can you guess what went through the crow tit’s mind?”

“Animals can’t even think.”  Yoongi rolled his eyes.

“The crow tit saw the stork’s legs and became jealous.  Storks were capable of so much more than crow were because their legs were longer.  Because the crow tit was so jealous of the stork, it did everything in its power to try to do what the storks did.  It tried to walk like a stork and it tried getting the stork to teach it how to do the same things the storks did.  The storks had high expectations for the young crow tit, and the crow tit had high hopes because it was young and innocent.  If he tried hard enough, he thought, he could be just like the stork, hmm?  Something had to work.  Potions, magic, something.”

“The crow tit must have been some really stupid in his past life.”  Yoongi said dryly.

“In the end,” Jimin continued, completely ignoring him.  “The crow tit didn’t succeed.  It ended up tearing its legs because it just wasn’t capable of walking like a stork.  The rest of the crow learned that you couldn’t be somebody you weren’t.  Nothing could change your mindset, nothing could change who you were.”

“Big surprise.  Remind me again what the point of this story was?”  He played with the laces of his boots.

“Well, you see, one of the many methods the young crow tit tried was magic potions designed to enhance parts of one’s personality.  The crow tit developed many different concoctions that were supposed to… improve it and others.  What if someone had a big presentation coming up and wanted to be able to remember things for longer periods of time?  What if someone was too shy to ask their crush out?  What if,” Jimin paused with a large smile, the jar he was holding.  “Someone lost the motivation to continue working hard in school and wanted more?”

Yoongi blinked.

“What the ?”

“What?”  Jimin said a little indignantly.  “Don’t you believe me?”

“How the could a crow tit produce your so-called magic potions?  Where would you even find a crow tit?  How would you get ahold of something a crow tit produced?”

“My second cousin’s grandmother’s uncle thrice removed was a hermit who lived by the Nakdong river decades back.  He overheard the crow talking.”

“What the ,” Yoongi laughed in disbelief.  “You could have avoided that bull you call a story and admitted that you’re messing around with drugs.”

“These aren’t drugs.”

“Sure, they aren’t.  Only specialized drugs are capable of doing that to you”

“I’m telling you, these aren’t drugs.  They’re magic potions created by the crow .  Drugs are illegal in Korea, you should know that.  What would you know about drugs anyways?”

It would have been easier to convince Yoongi that Jimin was going to sprout an extra head than convince him that these jars weren’t full of drugs, but magic potions created by birds the size of a finger.  But Yoongi didn’t want to take the time to explain to Jimin about Hoseok’s drugs.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.  To hell with crow and storks and magic potions, give me some of that so I can taste it for myself and see if it’s really magical food or just drugs.”

“No can do.”

“Then--”

“I’m busy right now, Yoongi.  You’re forgetting that it’s still lunchtime, that I still have customers out there and Ahra can’t take care of the kitchen for me forever.”  Jimin put the jar of jelly-like water back into the cabinet and stood up. Yoongi hoisted himself up too, cocking an eyebrow.

“Are you sure you’re not just avoiding me?  Avoiding that I’ll find out the truth?”  He asked accusingly.

“Why would I want to avoid someone like you?”  Jimin chuckled softly and the corners of his mouth turned up.

Eww.  Yoongi took a step back and annoyance swept over him again.  God, what did the annoying little er want with him now?

“Come on, Yoongi, don’t you trust me?  Why would I lie to you, hmm?”

“Why would I even want to talk to a thirsty like you?”  He nearly spat.

His words weren’t supposed to sound that harsh, but Yoongi hadn’t fully processed his thoughts before they left him.  The second Yoongi lashed out at him, Jimin’s face crumpled.  Yoongi had already seen small cracks in Jimin’s smiley facade earlier during their conversation, but he hadn’t yet seen Jimin look this dejected, this sad.  For a moment, Yoongi regretted his word choice.  But he had no choice-- Jimin had to be told that he simply wasn’t interested, and Yoongi was never one to mince his words.

Jimin turned his back to Yoongi, adjusting his sleeves.  The silence lasted a very awkward ten seconds, and Yoongi stared at the ground.  If he could slip out right now, he could avoid--

“Even if you don’t trust me, you should just try it out.”  Jimin motioned towards the cabinet.  “I said before that I’m busy at the moment.  But I have some time at around nine tonight, after dinner rush is over.  Do you want to come back then?”  To Yoongi’s surprise, Jimin was still smiling.  His eyes looked hurt and his smile seemed forced, but nevertheless, he was smiling.

“I’m busy at night.”  Yoongi looked away, feeling just the slightest bit guilty but knowing that agreeing to the offer wasn’t the best choice for either of them.

“Tomorrow then?”

“Jungkook’s showing me and Taehyung around Busan tomorrow.”

“Oh, I see.”

“They’re also expecting me back right now.  Jungkook was supposed to take us somewhere this afternoon too,” Yoongi said in a weak attempt to get himself out of the kitchen.  It wasn’t the best excuse, he realized.  Taehyung had specifically told Jimin that they were supposed to thoroughly talk about his problem, and that he and Jungkook were going to finish their date while they did.  Regardless of his flimsy argument, however, Yoongi found Jimin reluctantly nodding in agreement.

“If you say so.  Anyways, come back whenever you have time, Yoongi.  You’re welcome to come back here whenever you want.”

Yoongi let the chef lead him out the kitchen door and into the restaurant’s dining area, mind spinning and unsure whether or not he really wanted to come back.  The magical food was in the back of the kitchen, and while Yoongi wasn’t sure if it was real, he was desperate enough to want to try.  Jimin’s interest in him, on the other hand, was very real.  The problem was, Yoongi really didn’t want to have to deal with him again.

Hi my readers/subscribers ^^

Yes, this fic is still alive LOL *Still Alive by JYP plays in the background* it's been almost 4 months and I was busy with school and my heart wasn't really in this fic and I didn't really know how else to manipulate the plot to the ending I wanted, so I took some time to think about how I wanted this to turn out.  I've been writing the first half for about a month and a half now but I rushed the second half in the last few hours and holy the ending of this chapter isn't my best work ._. I'm sorry that it was kinda a ty way to end the chapter... and that this was a ty chapter in general ugh.

Kinda stuck on how I want to write this fic ugh but I've changed up a few things from the version I had in my head when I originally planned this, and I've also added the "Yoonmin" tag ;D you can interpret what that means LOL

This really isn't my best writing, but I hope you'll forgive me?  The second half of the chapter might be changed up a bit tomorrow morning.  Mostly posting this right now because I've been putting off this fic for so long and I don't want to keep you waiting for that much longer.  Excuse any grammar mistakes and stuff, I'll go back later and fix those and maybe some of the plot?

Also, anybody who hasn't done so before should really listen to Baebsae by BTS and read the lyrics XD

Thank you for reading, comment, subscribe, and upvote if you haven't already, and have a lovely day everyone ^^