Jimin

A mansion, especially the one which belonged to Jungkook's and Jimin’s parents, wasn't, naturally the ideal place for a couple of teenagers who were used to the hustle and bustle of a crowded city life, to live in. So, when their parents broke the news of moving in to the place where a bathroom could stretch to twenty meters, they weren't exactly excited. 

"And besides," Mrs.Jeon tried to reason with his son over dinner one night, while her husband, beside her silently helped himself with food. "It's not that far from the city. Two kilometers. Only two kilometers. It's not like we are going to be completely cut off from the rest of the world." She rolled her eyes and then shook her head. 

"But—"

"Why breathe fumes expensively when you can get fresh air at no cost?" 

Jungkook thought about it for a second. She had a point, he thought. But then again, what about his friends? 

And as if reading his mind, his Mom said, "And we," she placed a hand on Mr. Jeon's idle one resting on the table. He continued eating as if he didn't hear their conversation. "We think you should shape up a bit, get away from that lot—those boys. I see their ways are rubbing off on you Jeon Jungkook!" She raised her voice at the end an octave higher, seeing that Jungkook wasn't done being stubborn; evidently he still had more to say on the topic. 

"It's not..."

Right then, Mr.Jeon cleared his throat , signalling the end of the discussion and looked up at Jungkook who closed and waited for his dad to speak. 

"I'll come pick you up at ten tonight." He said getting to his feet. "Help your mom a lot Jungkook. There's still some packing to do. And..."He came round the table and patted Jungkook's shoulder. "you might see your hyung tomorrow."

"Okay dad."

His dad had already climbed upstairs when Jungkook turned to his mom, the words finally clicking in his mind. Mrs. Jeon rolled back her sleeves and started clearing the table. 

"Wait, what?" 

"You heard your dad." She said in a singsong voice. 

"Jimin is coming back?"

Mrs. Jeon threw a warning look. "It's Hyung—"

"Okay okay Jimin hyung. Is it really true?"

Jungkook could barely keep himself seated. He had not seen his brother for nearly two years except for one time during the first semester when he had spend a weekend at home. Since then Jimin had been too busy with high school. Or at least that's what he said. 

"Look at you," Mrs.Jeon who was now at the sink spared a moment to glance back at Jungkook's excited form. She said turning back to the sink, "wonder if he's as much eager to see you."

Meanwhile 30 miles away Jimin lay on the bed for a long time staring at the ceiling, thinking. He was going home tomorrow. Home. They say that home is where the heart is. He bet his heart was anywhere but home. Jimin hated home. Even more when his half-brother was around. It left him with a feeling close to stuffiness. He couldn't move without stepping on some part of Jungkook; he was literally everywhere. He wasn't sure if his half-brother did that on purpose to annoy him.

What bothered him the most was the fear of not belonging to the family like Jungkook did. Sure, Jungkook was the golden boy but Jimin wasn’t a black sheep either. But his mom always doted on Jungkook like he was a baby. He hated seeing that. No matter how you look at it, his half-brother fitted the family more than Jimin ever would.

He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. Maybe the exams were taking a toll on him; he had finished them only an hour ago. He blinked his eyes open the next second because suddenly it occurred to him that his mom had mentioned something about moving. He wasn't sure where they were moving, because she had called him in the early morning right after he had fallen asleep after pulling an all-nighter preparing for his last exam. 

***

When the car pulled up, Jimin could see Jungkook standing just outside the open gates of what looked like a grand palace. Even the ground where it stood looked like an anachronism which must have belonged to the 18th century. Jimin stared out the rolled down window of his dad's car in awe at the waist high red brick wall and everything beyond it. Only when Jungkook came towards him and blocked his view, did he come out of his stupor.

When Jimin got out of the car, Jungkook pulled him into a hug. 

"Hyung!" Jungkook said stepping back and taking a good look at him. He noticed the backpack in Jimin's hand. "Here, let me carry it for you." 

"No, it's okay," Jimin said slinging the backpack o his shoulder. Jungkook stepped to Jimin's side and started walking with him towards the house. While they passed through the gates and walked down the winding gravel path where meadow grew on both sides of it, he actually found himself listening to Jungkook attentively. 

"Mom says we came here once before," Jungkook said tilting his head to a side looking at Jimin as if studying his face to see if he remembered. "When you were like five...I would be three then."

"I don't remember." 

As he climbed the front steps gingerly as if scared the concrete might break away under his feet, something caught his eyes on the left. Adjacent to the building, was a wall of hedge and an archway was cut into it, making it look like a tunnel. The hedges grew so tall that Jimin had to crane his neck up. The archway itself wasn't that big; it looked the same size as the front door of the mansion. The structure looked so solid and not a single stray twig could be seen growing out of it. He had already decided that it was artificial, when a man walked out of it with a pair of sheers.

 "Your room's on the second floor—across from mine."

It took Jimin a while to register the words.  They now stood inside the foyer and even though it was daylight outside, the many glass panes on the walls reflected a warm light and made the whole place look drenched in twilight. 

He groaned internally, imagining Jungkook zooming in and out of his room every other minute. 

But as they climbed up the staircase, side by side, the rooms slowly came into his view and it looked like he could actually endure the idea of living in a room across from Jungkook's. Two long corridors ran from one end of the floor to the other and there was only empty space between their rooms on the left and the rooms on the right.

They turned to the left and stopped at the second door. Jimin could see the foyer from up here. A soft glow coming from down below had settled on the wooden railings and he just had to peek over it to get a complete view of the marbled floor. His dad stood in the doorway with his mom who waved at him with a big smile on her face. "Jiminie," She shouted. "We are going to buy some stuff—won't take too long okay" 

Jimin nodded and waved back at her before they turned to leave. 

Jimin turned to face Jungkook but he wasn't to be seen. The door to his room lay wide open and he heard Jungkook's voice calling for him. 

He stepped inside and caught a whiff of some scented smoke. Jungkook sat at the edge of the bed, staring all around him with wide eyes. 

"I thought the rooms were identical." Jimin said flatly flinging his backpack onto the bed next to Jungkook. He leaned against the small cupboard with his hands.

"I don't have those. Or those." Jungkook said pointing at the wall. 

Jimin followed Jungkook's hand and squinted at the wall. "What? I can't see—"

When his eyes located them he thought he would never be able to tear his eyes away from them ever.

Beads. Jimin was sure they were beads. He crossed over to the other side of the room and stared at the little dots which looked embedded in the walls seemingly at random. 

He ran a finger over one of them. 

"Hyung," 

Jimin flinched and drew back his hand. 

Turning around he said, "What?" He didn't try to hide his annoyance. 

Jungkook was pointing at the wall again, this time further down, his eyes wide. Jimin looked back and saw nothing but the cream coloured wall. 

"A girl!"

He turned to Jungkook again,"A what?" He whipped around but still it was the cream coloured wall for him. This time his eyes caught the almost imperceptible patterns on the wallpaper but no girl. 

He sighed, and walked to the bed plopping onto it.

"Can you leave, Jungkook?"

Jungkook shook his head. "Really hyung, I think I saw—" 

"I'm tired." Jimin said turning over.

Jungkook looked like he still wanted to insist that there was a girl but he said, "Oh, okay. Rest well hyung," and left the room.

Jimin waited till he heard the door click shut. Then he sprang to his feet and moved to the spot, in front of the wall, where he had stood earlier staring at the intriguing white and blue dots on the wall. He didn't know why, but as his eyes darted from one dot to the other a melancholic feeling settled in his heart and he thought about how he had almost expected something to happen when his fingers came in contact with them a few minutes ago. So it was once again with a tinge of disappointment and reluctance that he broke his eyes away from the wall when his mom called him. 

"Jiminie," She tapped on the door twice before adding, "Come down for dinner honey. I've made your favourite." 

Jimin gave one last sweeping glance at the gleaming beads before hurrying towards the door. 

* * *