Just as they start their American leg of the concert, BTS was given ample time to take a leisurely stroll at New York and enjoy. They were given enough time to go shopping under the condition that they should be accompanied by one manager.

“Sejin-hyuuuuuung~!” Taehyung hooks his arm around their 6-foot tall manager. “Jimin and I want to go shopping later. Can you come with us, please please please?” Their manager, a soft-spoken man, merely nods at the clingy boy.

“Really? Yay!” Taehyung jumps up and down and goes off to find Jimin. He finds him lazing around the corner of their suite, earphones plugged in. He joins him on the coach and nestles his head on Jimin’s shoulder. The other responded by twiddling his fingers under Taehyung’s chin.

“Jiminie~ We’re going shopping later, okay?” Taehyung lazily brushes his fingers against Jimin’s toned thighs. When he got bored, he squeezed at them hard and rough. Jimin retaliated by kicking him to the opposite end of the coach.

“Who’s coming with us?”

“Sejin-hyung!” Taehyung wiggles his eyebrows.

“Cool! He’s both a manger and a bodyguard. Hahah!” Jimin now rolls around to lay his head on Taehyung’s lap.

“I’m think of getting a friendship bracelet? Just for the two of us.”

“Knowing you, it’ll be Gucci.”

“I’m an expensive man.” He pinches Jimin’s soft cheeks.

“Oww! Hurts!” Jimin whines and slaps Taehyung’s hand away.

“Your cheeks are just so cute and soft, it’s like mochi!” He twiddles his fingers under his chin again and Jimin just sighs.

*

“Jimin! Get up! Time to go shopping!”

Taehyung is dressed in his Gucci denim jacket, black skinny jeans, and a beanie. He waits for Jimin to come out of his room. He comes out wearing a green Gucci varsity jacket, black skinny jeans, and his signature Pulp Fiction baseball cap. They were both wore face masks to at least conceal their identity. They did make waves in America and were even recognized in the most remote parts of Europe. It was just a small step towards their own safety, as they learned after living years in the idol industry.

As manager Sejin promised, he accompanied Jimin and Taehyung. But also as expected, they drew crowds following them with cameras and smartphones pointed at them. Thankfully, Sejin’s presence discouraged fans from getting too close to them. They at least just took photos and left them in peace.They both went around and window-shopped. But most importantly, they looked for the only store that mattered to Taehyung- GUCCI. They entered the store and browsed through the collections. Taehyung was obviously excited. They went through the clothes, bags, shoes, and finally, his eyes grew even wider at seeing the accessories. He drags Jimin through the glass cases of rings, bracelets, and necklaces.

“What about this one?” Jimin points to a Gucci skull ring.

“Thought we were getting a bracelet? We already have matching rings!”

“Oh. Right. Then what about that?” Jimin points to a silver chained charm bracelet. Taehyung inspects the bracelet through the glass. It was a sterling silver bracelet with a few charms hanging around it. There were stars, hearts, dragonflies, and a skull. At the back side of each charm is engraved with the brand name and a serial number.

“Ooh~ That looks so cool!” Taehyung was about to ask the sales lady if they could inspect the bracelet, but something caught his eye. Just beside it is a charm necklace and he grew particularly attracted to. Taehyung shifts his attention to it and asks if he could see that one. The lady hands it to him with care. It was a simple silver chain necklace with flat tiger pendants painted with green and red enamel.

“Thought we were getting bracelets?” Jimin asks, one eyebrow raised.

“I know, but this looks too good. Don’t you think?” Taehyung fits it around Jimin’s neck. “It suits you!”

Jimin looks at the mirrors and hums in agreement. He smiles that famous smile all fans love- the one where his nose is scrunched up a bit and his eyes disappear into little crescents.

“Let’s get this one. What about,” he says with a pause, “You get the green tiger and I get the red tiger?”

Taehyung jumps in joy at the suggestion. He’s been shopping with Jimin so many times and they’ve had a lot of matching shirts, rings, and shoes. But this one has got to be the best so far. Mainly because it’s Gucci.

“We’ll take two. One with the red tiger and another with the green tiger.” He turns to the sales lady which led him to the counter.

“$169 for one necklace, so that’s $338 all in all, sir.”

Taehyung hands the cashier his credit card without batting an eye while Jimin worries about the price. Taehyung used to worry about the prices too, now he no longer looks at the price tags before buying the items. They have become more famous thanks to their chart achievements, and they have been earning a lot. While the other members like Jungkook and Yoongi were cheapskates, Taehyung is one to flaunt his earnings using clothes and accessories. They complete their purchase as the lady puts their necklaces in two separate boxes lined and cushioned with soft velvet cloth. The two of them visited more stores around the area and bought clothes. As soon as they felt satisfied, they went back to the hotel earlier than everyone else, much to their manager’s delight.

Their staff announced that they’re going to Hawaii after finishing their American leg of the tour to film another season of Bon Voyage. They all hollered in happiness, hugging and dancing around the room like they always do when they’re ecstatic. They all celebrated the best way they knew how- room service while playing games and jamming to songs in Seokjin’s room.

The party broke up at around midnight. They each went to their respective rooms except, of course, Seokjin who was left to clean everything up. Luckily, Jungkook volunteers to clean with him. And so, Taehyung leads Jimin back to his own room where they stocked their purchases earlier. They took the necklaces out of the box and put them on each other’s necks.

“May our friendship last forever.” Jimin says as he closes the clasp.

“Forever.” Taehyung takes Jimin’s hands, which were significantly smaller than his long ones, and slid them together. Their fingers laced each other in familiar comfort. They both talked until they fell asleep, facing each other.

*

A ringtone nudged Jimin into waking up. He felt for the desk just beside the bed to answer it, still blind from the pitch black darkness of the room. His phone was somewhere between the mess of the newly bought necklace and his numerous rings he doesn’t even remember taking off. He slides his thumb to answer the caller whose name he didn’t even pay attention to.

“Hello?” His voice cracked from just waking up.

“Hey, Jimin. Is Taehyung with you? He’s not in his room.” He answered the voice which his delirious half-awake mind couldn’t recognize yet. He assumes it’s one of the managers.

“Yeah. He’s here with me,” Jimin yawns. “He kind of fell asleep on my bed. Well, we kind of fell asleep together.”

“Okay, thanks. Just making sure. We’re going to Newark tomorrow, okay. Just a reminder so you can pack earlier. Go tell Taehyung that too when he wakes up.”

“Ok. Bye~” Jimin hears the phone click, indicating that the call from the other line has ended. He puts his phone down and buries his head under the sheets. The bed felt colder than it was last night. Taehyung also felt somewhat smaller. He moves his feet closer, but finds that the pair of feet he’s looking for is nowhere to be found. He feels through the sheets, looking for his best friend’s body. But to his surprise, he felt something furry - and fluffy. He tries to dissect the happenings of the previous night. Did we buy any stuffed toys? Is this one of our fur jackets nudged between us? What is this? Jimin continues to feel the furry thing. It felt warm and solid, and there’s some kind of rubbery material in some areas and - breathing ?!

“AAAAHHH!” Jimin hurriedly jumps out of the bed and rushed to turn the lights on. He finds the thing, whatever it is, seemingly having a slow and steady breathing under the sheets. He considers running out of the room and seeking help, but he couldn’t do that without looking for Taehyung first. Taehyung. Where IS Taehyung? Jimin is panicking, pacing back and forth around the room. He looks at the breathing bulge underneath the sheets. Whatever it is, it looks tiny. He slowly steps closer, moving with extra precaution lest he wakes the thing up. He musters up his courage and carefully peels the sheets open.

“A cat?” Jimin asks himself. “Why would it be here?” He peers closer to examine it. He finds that it’s not just any ordinary cat. It was orange with black patterned stripes that stretched from its face, down to its back and tail.Its paws were too wide and thick to be just an ordinary cat.

“A tiger… cub. What- What is it doing here? It won’t bite… wouldn’t it?” He sinks his knee on to the mattress, trying not to startle the sleeping cub. Now that he looks closer, it had a sort of silver chain around its neck. “Does it have an owner?” Jimin wonders if it somehow wandered inside his room without the knowledge of its owner. He was about to call hotel service when the tiger cub rolled on its back revealing a very familiar pendant. The exact pendant that Taehyung had around his neck the night before. He pieced everything together in his mind. Taehyung’s missing. There’s a tiger cub on my bed. That cub’s wearing his necklace and is at the same spot as he was sleeping.

“Tae… hyung?” As the name pours out of Jimin’s mouth, the tiger cub’s eyes fluttered open. It made slow, lazy blinks then abruptly got up when it saw Jimin. He bravely approached the cub and extended a hand towards it. Something lit up in its eyes and it nuzzled its head on Jimin’s outstretched hand.

“Taetae, is it really you?”

The tiger cub went stiff. As if in realization, it tried to sit but lost its balance so it rolled over and fell off the bed with a loud thump. It looked around, stared at its paws and then its tail. It ran around the room in confusion until it found a full-body mirror. It stared at itself, not recognizing its form. It slowly steps towards the mirror and does some kind of side step dancing, testing whether the mirror is real or not. Finally, it made a loud cry. It was no way a roar, a young cub’s vocal chords cannot sound like a full-fledged adult tiger yet. It was a lot similar to a cat hissing, but fuller and louder. Its head turned towards Jimin who was also in shock.

“Tae- It’s you, isn’t it? How did this happen?” Questions muddled up Jimin’s mind. Taehyung is now stuck in the form of a tiger cub and he has absolutely no idea how to bring him back. Taehyung sat on the floor looking helpless, craning his neck up to Jimin’s towering figure before him.. He didn’t know what got to him, but Jimin scooped the baby tiger up in his arms, balancing and carrying him like he’s a newborn child.

“What do we do now, Taetae? We leave for our Newark concert tomorrow.” Taehyung simply nuzzled against Jimin’s cheek and chuffed. The tiger cub felt comfortable in the embrace and Jimin’s shoulder became solace after all the running around and frenzied gallops in the room. Jimin heard his stomach growling. He laughed at the sound, just realizing that it’s almost noon when they woke up.

“So… Uhhh… Room service?” Taehyung looks at him with his now golden eyes and nods.

Jimin softly puts Taehyung’s fury body down onto the bed, to which the now playful tiger that he is, decided to wrestle the bed sheets and flomp and frolick in between the pillows. Jimin giggles at the sight while dialing the hotel-assigned number for food service. He orders two medium-rare steaks. At the approval of the staff and the notion that it will arrive after 30 minutes, Jimin lays on his back and continues to observe the hyperactive tiger cub. Taehyung sees him as a human obstacle course. He jumps up on Jimin’s stomach, landing heavily and almost knocking the breath out of him. He pads his paws on his skin, nails retracted, of course. He nuzzles Jimin’s side which elicited giggles from best friend. More than worried about going back to a human again, Taehyung seems to be enjoying his time as a tiger, at least  for a little while. Growing tired, Taehyung settles to lay beside Jimin. He chuffs and places the pads of his paws on his cheeks. His wet nose then connects with Jimin’s own. He at his best friend’s face, though affectionate, was actually quite a different feeling from normal cats’ . His tongue was a lot wider and rougher. It felt like wet sandpaper brushing on his delicate skin. But as long as it’s Taehyung’s current way of showing endearment, he has no means to refuse it.

Ding dong. Ding dong.

Jimin and Taehyung jump up in excitement. The tiger cub chuffs and runs around in circles once again but much to his dismay, Jimin pulls the comforter over his little body.

“Ssshhhhh. They shouldn’t know there’s a tiger let loose in here, Tae. Stay hidden. I’ll go get the food.” Taehyung whines but stayed as still as he could.

“Such a good boy.” Jimin chuckles and proceeds to the door. He peeks through the peephole and confirms that it is indeed room service. He lets the hotel staff in, wheeling the food on a cart. They get to the table and he starts setting their order.

“Here you go, sir. Two medium-rare steaks.” He places them carefully and starts setting up the table for two people. He also puts a pitcher of water and two drinking glasses. Unfortunately, something got caught up in the corner of his eye. A striped black and orange tail was swinging back and forth at the edge of the bed.

“S-Sir, is that…?” The staff’s voice trembles. Jimin follows through the direction the staff pointed at. Taehyung’s tail has been well in view the whole time.

“Oh my g- No! It’s just- It’s a toy I bought! Uhhh…” He hurriedly tries to lead the staff out of the room. “He’s your tip!” Jimin fished out a $50 bill from his pocket which quickly silenced the staff and bid farewell. He locks the door, sighing at how he’s almost been caught. As soon as Taehyung heard the door close, he frees himself out of the comforter and runs towards the table where the steak has been set up.

“Taehyung-ah! You almost got us busted!”

The tiger cub ignores Jimin and concentrates on jumping up on the table. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t reach it.

“Fine. Because you’re cute.” Jimin picks him up and cradles him on his arms again. They both settled down on the chair with Taehyung on his lap.

“Do tigers eat cooked meat? I should’ve ordered the other steak raw.”

Taehyung turns around to face Jimin. His round golden eyes narrowed, just like how a predator would when they feel threatened.

“Just kidding!” Jimin hugged the fury body tight then forked a whole portion of steak into Taehyung’s salivating mouth. He heard very light growling and just sounds the baby tiger made while wrestling his piece of steak on his lap. Jimin ate as primly as he always does. He cuts a piece of steak and spoons out some mashed potatoes. The two enjoyed their brunch as the portions they were given were quite large.

After the meal, Jimin hoists Taehyung up and puts him back onto the bed. They both wrestle for a while; the tiger cub makes an attempt at roughhousing. Jimin suffered some play biting. The cub didn’t bite deep enough to puncture his skin, but it was nonetheless still a bit painful. They both rolled around the queen-sized bed until they felt tired. Jimin scooped the tiger cub and laid its head on his arm, the rest of its body is pressed comfortably on his chest. He hugged him close, treasuring him. They don’t know whether Taehyung will ever go back to his original form, but he is sure that their relationship will stay the same. The baby tiger’s breathing slowed, about to fall into slumber. Jimin scratches behind the ears and down to its neck, to the line the necklace created on its striped fur. Taehyung keens at the pleasant feeling and relaxes. He Jimin’s nose to which the other scrunches up and giggled, a single thick paw rested on his cheek. Their noses touch together and both fell fast asleep.

*

Jimin wakes up an hour later. His eyes open slowly to face a sleeping Taehyung- all in his jealousy inducing doll-like facial features. Their noses were pressed together, and Taehyung’s hand cupped Jimin’s cheek lazily. He ruffles through his best friend’s silky locks, trying to wake him up.

“Taetae. You’re human again.” Jimin said in delight.

“What are you talking about, Jimin? I’ve always been human.” Taehyung’s deep voice reverberating in his ear.

“You- Nevermind. It must’ve been a dream.” Jimin looks to the side to see the table with two plates- smears of leftover steak sauce colored the pristine white. He chuckles to himself. Whatever happened is done. What’s important is that he’s back and right in front of him.

“Tae? I love you.” Jimin says with utter conviction. “Let’s be friends forever.”

“Forever.” Taehyung echoes back and pressed their foreheads together.