Chapter Text

Everything Kim Taehyung planned, Jimin concluded, was doomed to bring no good ends.

“Hey, Jimin?” Taehyung’s usual deep voice was hoarse as he stretched his limbs, wincing at the slight discomfort before turning to face the male by his side. “You alright?”

The duo lay on soft grass under a shady tree, at their usual spot in the courtyard – where it was fairly quiet and all that could be heard were their steady breathing and the hurried footsteps of rushing students from afar. Their backs ache from lying still, but were both at the moment unable to muster an ounce of strength to be concerned about comfort; not after the long and treacherous morning they had.

“Shut up, Tae.” Next to him, Jimin groaned as a cold juice box (Taehyung’s peace offering) was firmly pressed against his forehead in attempt to ease the throbbing. With both eyes closed, Jimin felt as if he had been forced to chug down a dozen bottles of soju, and as a consequence suffered from a massive hangover – a feeling he absolutely loathed.

“Dude, I’m sorry.” Taehyung pouted, probing at Jimin’s forearm gently only to have the latter pull away. “I didn’t think it would be this-”

“Terrible?” The older of the two interrupted with voice laced with obvious irritation.

“Well I figured it’d be a-”

“Pain in the ?”

“-fun experience, you know?” Taehyung rolled his eyes.

“Oh, it was fun alright.” The sarcasm embedded in Jimin’s words were so heavy that Taehyung felt waves of guilt washing over him for dragging Jimin into yet another one of his ‘ideas’. Jimin – who Taehyung was beyond grateful for – was always going along with his wishes no matter how absurd they seem; plans that even Taehyung himself knew were doomed to fail despite his positivity that they wouldn’t.

“Real fun,” Jimin scoffed, “Way to go, Kim Taehyung.”

“Yah,” Propped up with his elbow, Taehyung fixed his best friend an ‘I-can’t-believe-you-think-I-had-any-more-fun-than-you-did’ look. “I had it worse than you, Park Jimin.”

“I was stuck with a dude that I’m certain left his voice box at home or something. I don’t know but maybe he was so excited for his first day that it just slipped his mind to bring a functioning mouth. He was so quiet that I honestly thought he fell asleep while walking.”

“Oh yeah? You think that was bad, Tae?” Jimin finally managed to crack open his eyes and weakly sat up, body still weighted down with fatigue and looking like he had just ran a 10km marathon, yet his glare burnt with fire that made Taehyung whimper. “I was stuck with a girl who seemed decent until she opened and started asking me stupid questions. She wouldn’t stop talking for goodness sake.”

“Well at least you didn’t need to talk to a walking wall.” Taehyung sat up as well to meet Jimin’s gaze with an equally irritated one, words spat through seethed teeth.

“You call anyone who isn’t as loud as you a wall.”

“Because they are one.”

“I had to spend hours explaining to her why the buildings are painted red and not pink, you .” Jimin couldn’t believe that they were arguing about who had it worse, but he was far too exhausted with his mind not functional to even care whether they were being rowdy, or that passersby shot them odd looks.

“People were looking at me as if I was crazy talking to myself!”

“Well they were right to think that because you are crazy.”

“Am not!”

Jimin huffed and threw his arms into the air in utter frustration, his headache not being much of a help to the situation. “If you aren’t then we won’t have wasted time being stuck on babysitting duty!” The words escaped Jimin’s lips a little too harshly, and he did regret it a little upon noticing the flash of sadness appearing on Taehyung’s face.

The pair of friends locked gazes with each other, both looking awfully tired and for a moment, Jimin was certain they would have another cold war (in which Jimin secretly hated because he always ended up missing Taehyung’s loud presence). And just when Jimin thought Taehyung would stomp off in anger, the latter broke their eye contact to lower his head in shame as an apparent frown furrowed his brows.

“Look, I said I was sorry okay? I just…” Upon realising that it was indeed his fault for being rash, the pouty lad couldn’t help but mentally smack himself. It was never, ever, his intention for things to go wrong. In addition to having spent the entire morning stuck babysitting weirdos, not having the opportunity to greet let alone talk to Hoseok as well.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered.

Jimin wanted to retort, nag and perhaps knock (maybe even literally) some sense into his friend’s occasionally thick skull. But no matter how unconventional Taehyung was, he would always be Jimin’s best friend. And that meant that Jimin would be there through thick and thin, by his side, no matter how unwilling he sounded and complained.

“Hey,” Jimin gently fist-bumped the dejected male on the shoulder, “It’s cool. I’m…sorry for what I said too. We both had a ty day. So what do you say we crash at my apartment tonight?”

“…Pizza and movie night?” With slight hesitation, Taehyung peek a hopeful eye through the slits of his bangs, lips unconsciously raised into a smile at the idea.

“Sounds good to me.” Jimin gave him a toothy grin embedded with an apology, and Taehyung eagerly ree too before slapping the older on the back; his usual cheeky grin plastered all over his face once more.

The duo were so occupied with arguing about which movie to watch (with Jimin insisting that they weren’t going to watch Finding Nemo for the 5^th time that month and Taehyung whining), that Jimin did not notice a vaguely familiar figure passing by at a distance with a laughing Hoseok by his side.

……….

Seokjin finally understood what it felt like to miss someone.

All day long, the young barista gave occasional glances at the glass door, hoping with fingers crossed that a certain male would walk in with his usual shy smile and polite demeanour. Seokjin was, at the bottom of his heart, genuinely beginning to crave his presence; his dorky grin, his silly jokes, his awkward attempts at engaging conversations, the way he lowered his head to mask a wide smile whenever Seokjin casually praised him.

Seokjin missed it all. He missed Namjoon.

And that was why the familiar jingle of the bell instantly rendered the Barista putting whatever task at hand to a momentary half as he shifted his hopeful gaze towards the doors once more only to be disappointed. It was not who he was hoping for.

“Welcome,” Seokjin gave the approaching customer a smile which lacked its usual joy, “May I take your order?”

Up close, the customer’s head of soft black hair reminded Seokjin much of Jimin’s. And he couldn’t help but notice the very faint streaks of red in them; as if they were once dyed crimson. Seokjin personally thought the bold colour would suit the young lad before him quite well.

“Hi,” He gave the barista a small smile, “Can I have an espresso with extra cream and no sugar please?”

“Espresso, extra cream, no sugar coming right up. That’ll be 4200 Won.” Seokjin repeated as his fingers pushed various buttons of the cash register. After paying for his drink, the customer walked over to the furthest table at the corner and took a seat, all the while his eyes curiously darted back and forth to survey the interior of the café; like a child brought to visit the museum. Seokjin couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the sight upon recalling that Namjoon too, had an equally awed expression the first time he came here.

“Thinking about Mr.Weirdo again, hyung?” A lazy voice teased and the barista, with his hands still busy brewing a cup of espresso turned to find a sleepy looking colleague walking out from the kitchens.

“He’s not weird, Yoongi.” Seokjin’s lips were pursed into a fine line.

The younger male simply yawned before giving him a grin, “Whatever you say, hyung. It’s not my business, but you really should just call him. That’s the whole point of having his number, right?”

Seokjin sighed, “I will, maybe…later. And you should really stop working multiple jobs while studying. Look at your eye bags, Yoongi. If the pay here isn’t enough, why don’t you just quit and find another decent one instead?” The barista couldn’t help but be worried of the younger male who started working at the café not too long ago. As his supervisor, Seokjin had come to grow fond of Yoongi; with his carefree, nonchalant and hardworking attitude that made the older care for him like a real brother.

“No way, this job’s good. It’s not too laborious and I get free coffee.” With an unconcerned shrug, Yoongi dismissed his worries, “It’s just that I’m kinda a little tight on finance this few months. Don’t worry, hyung. I’ll be fine.”

“Yoongi, I can-”

“Nope,” The younger male held a finger up to silence Seokjin, knowing all too well just what he was going to say and Yoongi was grateful. “I’m not taking your money, hyung. Thank you, but I can still manage.”

Seokjin opened his mouth once more, but Yoongi was one step quicker. “And I’m late so please excuse me, hyung. See you tomorrow.” Not allowing the barista any room for further discussion, Yoongi clocked out, grabbed his bag and disappeared through the doors in a swift motion, rushing for his next job before Seokjin could convince him otherwise.

It was difficult for Seokjin not to worry, but Yoongi was far too determined and hard-headed to heed any advice from him anyways. With another soft sigh eluding from his lips, the barista picked up the momentarily forgotten cup of espresso before walking towards the young male at the corner – who had his head perched over sheets of paper on the table with a concentrated gaze.

“I’m sorry for the wait, here is your espresso.” Seokjin smiled as he gently placed the cup of hot beverage down, earning a small nod of gratitude from the customer. “Is there anything else I can get you?”

“No, thank you.” The male returned his smile. And just as Seokjin was about to politely take his leave, he couldn’t help but glance at the papers sprawled all over the table. It took no time for him to realise that they were all drawings - drawings of people, places and objects which left his jaw hanging in awe. They were so beautiful and vivid; it was as if they would come to live just by a single touch.

“These are amazing!” Seokjin’s voice was taut with amazement as he felt himself stare a little too hard, “Did you draw them?”

The young customer took a second to register his words. And as soon as he understood the fact that Seokjin was praising him, a sheepish smile crept up and he shyly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, but they’re nothing.” He said, fingers gently tracing the outline of the drawings which showed just how much he treasured them – a complete contrast to the words he spoke. “They’re just sketches, random stuff I draw whenever I’m in the mood. I’m still learning and…I have a long way to go.”

“But they’re really, really good. I mean I can’t even draw a stickman.” Seokjin laughed at his lack of talent in art, “May I?” He motioned towards the chair and sat upon gaining approval. Hands carefully picking up the sheets of paper, he took the time to admire each and every drawing with an approving nod and smile. Looking through them one at a time, Seokjin instantly came to a halt as his eyes took in the sight of a certain drawing.

It was a drawing of the beach, with every wave and grain of sand drawn in explicit detail that Seokjin could imagine himself standing right there with sand beneath his feet, feel the warm sun and wind on his face. It was absolutely breathtaking.

“This is…beautiful. Where is this?” The barista asked with a whisper.

“That’s Busan, where I’m from.” The young male before him couldn’t help but smile fondly at the mention of his birthplace, recalling the joy of sitting by the beach as he sketched said drawing in Seokjin’s hand.

“Is that so? I know of someone who’s from Busan too. I’m sure seeing this would definitely remind him of home. He’s always telling me how much he misses Busan.”

“Really?” Evident surprise emerged on the other male’s face before he smiled. “In that case…please let him have it.”

Seokjin’s eyes widened a little, “What? Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s not really that well drawn and to be honest, I’m quite surprised you even pointed it out from all the others.” The lad’s smile was sheepish, “But if it can make your friend feel better, please have it. I mean I know how it feels, to be homesick I mean.”

“He will definitely love it. Thank you,” A grateful smile played across Seokjin’s lips before he squinted at the small fonts written at the bottom corner of the paper.

“Jun..Jungkook.” He read, eyeing the male before him hesitantly.

“That’s me.” As if to confirm Seokjin’s suspicion, said male by the name of Jungkook pointed at himself with a cheeky grin. And the young barista found himself spending nearly an hour chatting with Jungkook before it was finally time for the young male to leave.

……….

“Please stop crying. My neighbours are going to hear you, Tae.” Jimin took an ear bud and shoved it into his stinging ears to block Taehyung’s desperate wailing out. His friend wasn’t bad looking; in fact many people had expressed affection and interest in Taehyung – given his fun, outgoing and rather charming personality (when he wasn’t behaving like a child that had consumed too much sugar).

But his crying face, Jimin concluded, was best left out of public eyes no matter how handsome others deem he was.

“Here,” The disgusted male passed him a tissue, not wanting any of his snot to stain the couch.

“It’s just so sad.” Taehyung sniffled, motioning towards the movie they were watching. Jimin slapped himself for agreeing to watch “Hachiko” because Taehyung never failed to bawl his eyes out every time they did. Jimin couldn’t help but suspect his best friend merely wanted an excuse to cry after his fail attempt of meeting his crush.

“Why can’t they have a happy ending?” Not able to contain his tears, Taehyung whimpered at the thought of the poor dog’s relentless waiting for someone who will never return – a feeling he was beginning to have a brief taste of.

“You know what would be a great idea?” Almost too suddenly, the mood in Taehyung’s voice shifted and Jimin could practically feel his ears perked as an imaginative light bulb lit above; his voice taut with excitement that left Jimin frozen.

Here we go again, Jimin thought.

“We should totally get-”

“No.” Jimin firmly rejected, not taking any chances at all.

“I wasn’t even finished!”

“No,” The black-haired male sighed before turning to fix him a knowing look, “We are not getting a dog.”

“Oh come one, why not? Dogs are cute.” A slight pout and whine from Taehyung almost made him give in (again), but Jimin was well prepared this time with his heart hardened and impenetrable. He was not going to clean dog poop just because his best friend was on a whim to have one; no matter how adorable and fluffy it may be.

“Yes, they are cute. But they are also expensive to care for and a huge responsibility which you-” Jimin jabbed a finger at Taehyung’s forehead, “-and me are unable to bear. So no, we are not getting one Tae.”

“But I bet Hoseok would come to like me if I had a dog,” Taehyung’s ears were instantly droopy, body slumped against the couch like a limp ragdoll, “He loves dogs after all.”

Jimin was utterly at a loss of words and for a moment was debating the notion of punching Taehyung on the face, to wake the love-sick child up. He couldn’t believe that Kim Taehyung would voice such a pathetic thought.

“Look,” Jimin placed the bowl of popcorn resting on his lap down onto the table before turning to Taehyung, both hands reaching forward to squish the dejected male’s cheeks firmly and pulling him near to meet Jimin’s eyes, tone absolutely serious.

“Stop saying nonsense , Tae. You do not need a dog to get someone to like you. And if anyone does fall for you, they’ll fall for your quirkiness and stupidity regardless. Don’t you dare settle for anything less or I’ll kick your so hard you’ll end up back in Daegu. You hear me?”

“Wes ser.” Taehyung’s words were muffled through squished cheeks.

“Good.” Satisfied, Jimin finally released his grip and shifted his gaze back towards the screen. From the corner of his eye, he saw Taehyung massaging his sore cheeks before cracking a small smile, feeling much happier than he was before. The younger male scooted closer, closing the gap between them and firmly pressed himself against Jimin’s side, cuddling him for warmth and being all clingy. Not that Jimin minded since he had long gotten used to Taehyung’s excessive need to express affection.

“Let’s make a deal,” Taehyung rested his head on his best friend’s shoulder, “If we are both still single by fourty, we’ll get married.”

Jimin couldn’t help but laugh and nearly choked on popcorn, “Thanks but no thanks, Tae. I will make sure you find someone before then.”

“Promise,” Taehyung shove his pinky in Jimin’s face and insisted, “I don’t want to be alone forever, Jimin. Please?”

“Fine,” The older sighed, lacing their pinkies together and earning a happy smile from Taehyung. “I’m definitely going to set both of you up on a date. I know Hoseok-hyung’s funny and a great dancer - fantastic to be precise – but why him though?”

In all honesty, Kim Taehyung had never been in love before.

The lad had revolved his whole life around his family, friends, school, learning the saxophone instead of romance and relationships up till the moment he laid eyes on a certain dancing male. Taehyung was certain that if he ever does come to love, he would fall for someone who is quiet, reserved and willing to listen to his blabbering all day – someone the complete opposite of him. After all, opposites attract right?

So why did he come to fall for never serious, loud, happy-go-lucky Jung Hoseok?

“I don’t know, Jimin.” Taehyung sighed, “I really don’t.”

Hoseok who loves laughter, who always makes stupid jokes to cheer others up, who has the most radiant smile Taehyung has ever seen, who dances with such passion as if music and the stage were his best friends, who made Taehyung wish he could dance along too.

Taehyung couldn’t explain it, but he was positively in love.

“I just fell in love, I guess.”

Even though Jimin couldn’t completely comprehend Taehyung’s statement, he nodded anyways. Perhaps it was true when people said that love makes one behave like an idiot – though he was sure that Taehyung was already an idiot even before ‘love’ decided to jumble his mind up. Just as Jimin was about to comfort his best friend, the doorbell rang, signalling the arrival of dinner.

“Pizza’s here,” Jimin pushed him aside and stood up, “I’m going to go get it.”

“Hurry, I’m starving.” Taehyung whined, flopping down to lay on the couch as if he were on the verge of death.

With hurried steps, Jimin made way to the door as he too was beyond hungry; unable to care less about the fact that he had popcorn sticking all over his old t-shirt, hair greasy and uncombed – the appearance of a typical lazy college male.

Swinging the door open a little too quickly, the sudden motion startled the young man - who skilfully balanced the boxes of pizzas in one palm and clutched a receipt in the other – standing outside.

“Hello,” A male with mint green hair who looked no older than Jimin greeted, “Delivery for…er-Ji…” His eyes widened a little too obviously for Jimin not to notice upon reading the receipt, coughed and chocked on his own saliva.

“Are you okay?” A little frantic, Jimin was afraid he might have to call an ambulance.

“Yeah, sorry about that.” The male took deep breaths to compose himself before reading the piece of paper in hand reluctantly, “Delivery for Ji…Jibooty.”

Jimin froze. Only one person on earth knew that stupid nickname and he could hear a familiar snicker resonating from the living room.

Kim Taehyung, Jimin cursed; out loud.

“One pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and no pickles,” The pizza guy cleared his throat, trying very hard to appear professional and it took him every ounce of strong will to not burst out into laughter. After all, his pay check was on the line.

“T-thank you.” Jimin was certain his face was fifty shades of red as he shakily handed over some cash, unable to look the guy in the eye.

“Enjoy your pizza and have a pleasant evening, sir.” The man bowed politely before taking his leave, with a smile much too forced to be genuine plastered across his face.

“Hey,” Hesitantly, with a soft voice, Jimin called out to the male just as he was about to head down the stairs. The green-haired male looked at him in slight confusion as he was absolutely certain he had not make a mistake with the orders.

“Err-that-uhm…” Jimin breathed, “That’s not my name…My friend-” He frantically pointed inside his apartment, and was even about to drag Taehyung out by the collar to help him pick up the remnants of his shattered image.

“Yeah, I figured that much.” The male gave him a knowing laugh, amused by Jimin’s flushed cheeks and the desperation in his eyes. It was rather adorable; though he kept the thought to himself as it wouldn’t be appropriate, considering that he was technically still working.

“My name’s Jimin…not err-that.”

“Jimin sounds way better. I’m Yoongi.” Said male nodded to assure him that all was well, “Your friend has a good sense of humour.”

“He’s so dead.” Jimin muttered under his breath, mind contemplating all the possible ways of killing someone without leaving traces of evidence. He’d have to put his superb Google skills to work to find the most cruel and painful method.

Yoongi couldn’t help but chuckle at the frown carved on Jimin’s forehead, “Well I’d better go. Bye.”

“Bye,” Jimin smiled sheepishly as he waved, “and please…forget that stupid nickname. Please.”

“Of course,” Yoongi gave him a curt nod and smile before turning to leave.

I’ll try, Yoongi silently laughed.

As soon as the male disappeared from sight, Jimin finally let loose a loud sigh he was holding in before slamming the door shut, stomping into the living room where a certain Kim Taehyung was lounging at, dead set on committing a heinous and bloody murder.

……….

Yoongi’s back, feet, arms, head ache like hell. 

Yoongi's entire body screamed of pain.

It was always a known fact to those who knew him that Min Yoongi was one who preferred leisure, activities that were not vigorous or preferably, those which do not require him moving – a.k.a doing nothing. And after working for ten hours straight without rest, one could only imagine the fatigue seeping through his bones as he trudged back to his apartment with heavy steps. If he were to stumble upon a magical lamp, all he would wish for was a decent bed, silence and sleep.

Walking on the empty streets of Seoul at midnight maybe somewhat eerie and frightening to most, yet it was possibly Yoongi’s favourite moment of the day. It was quiet; as if the world was his and his only. Taking in a deep breath, the tired lad instantly felt much better after a day’s hard work. And just as he was finally having a moment to himself, his phone buzzed from within his pockets, shattering the quietness.

                Sender    :               Idiot #1

                Text       :               Hey, Yoongi-bear!

 

Yoongi groaned, instantly regretting having opened the text from the most annoying person alive in the world. Too lazy and tired to entertain him, Yoongi shoved the phone back into his pockets, wishing that the device would just disappear.

But no more than five seconds later (much to Yoongi’s dismay) it vibrated again.

                Sender    :               Idiot #1

                Text       :               If u aren't gonna reply me I’ll break into your apartment :(

Sighing, Yoongi had no choice but to text back a simple ‘yes.’, afraid that the idiotic male might really break in. He wasn’t looking forward to having his landlord complain about a broken door. Again.

                Sender    :               Idiot #1

                Text       :               GREAT COZ I’M ALREADY IN! Brought supper~ Come back quick!

 

As soon as Yoongi read the message, he immediately dialled the emergency number he had on speed dial for urgent-matter-of-national-security occasions as such.

“Hello,” The urgency in Yoongi’s whisper was evident, “Jin-hyung? Hey, sorry for calling but do you mind If I crash at your place for the night?”

“Why?” Seokjin sounded like he had barely woken from slumber, “Something wrong?”

“Yeah,” Yoongi sighed, feeling a slight headache grow into a massive one at the thought of his loud and much too energetic friend - who also happened to be the closest person to Yoongi though he would never come to admit it.

“Jung freaking Hoseok decided to break into my apartment.”