By the time Jimin pulls up to the front of the modest little library, Yoongi has thought through every scenario to the moon and back, including one where the library ends up on fire and another where Jimin is in only his underwear because what's the point if he isn't thorough?

Stay calm, he tells himself as he eyes a - thankfully - fully clothed Jimin through the reflective car window. If he can just find a point between standoffish and friendly, he'll be fine.

Turns out, there is one scenario that he did not anticipate, and that was Jimin handing him an entire meal the second he climbs in the car.

A warm container of takeout sits in his lap, where Jimin had used his tiny hands to place it moments ago. "What is...?" Yoongi asks, blinking at it like somehow that's going to achieve something.

Jimin eases his foot on the gas. "Dinner," he clarifies, turning out into the exit of this weirdly formatted parking lot.

Yoongi's not sure what to think about that, but the last thing he wants to be is rude. Jimin went to the trouble of spending money on him, on top of hauling his here in record time to rescue the damsel in distress.

So, he eats. He's never been one to talk with his mouth full, so it's a silent ride if you don't account for his quiet directions at a few stop signs and traffic lights. It's a ride that makes him think back to the old days in that red fixer-upper (he uses that term very loosely) he drove back in high school.

Those times when they'd crank music and sing at socially unacceptable volumes, debate over video games. Worrying secretly that the disaster of a car would break down before they got to the nearest fast food joint or park.

Those were the days. Yoongi's just not sure why they're flooding back to him all of a sudden.

"Something smells kinda weird," he remarks quietly, trying to distract himself. Really, the smell hadn't been too noticeable until he felt the need to notice something else.

"Hm?" Jimin hums. "Oh, right. My ex-girlfriend left a bottle of her perfume in here, and I accidentally broke it, so now it reeks."

Yoongi swallows, and he suddenly wishes that Jimin had bought him some water too, because his throat feels like a desert. "So you're dating, then?" he asks, trying to sound casual, failing so miserably that he wishes he could give himself a good slap in the face.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jimin remarks through a signature smirk. It's apparent that he's pleased, so pleased that he forgets what a turn signal is. It's a good thing nobody's really out on this road past seven. "Are you asking because you're on the market, Casanova?"

"I will jump out of this car right now."

"There's the sarcasm."

Yoongi sits there, uselessly blinking into his lap. Every minute he spends in this passenger's seat makes him think more of high school. Sitting half a foot from Jimin is a hell of a time to be remembering moments he spent with him laughing over dumb , kissing behind doors and curtains, laying half on top of each other when they watched movies.

"Right here?" asks Jimin while Yoongi's sitting there, picturing the way Jimin's blonde hair used to spill over his face when they'd wake up next to each other on the weekends.

He clears his desert-throat, which actually kind of hurts, and he watches the rain hit the pavement of the familiar parking lot. "Yeah."

Jimin turns the wheel, pulling the car up to his apartment complex's entrance, and usually, Yoongi relishes the sight of this pale yellow building. Usually it just means that he's able to go in, lay in his bed with a Tupperware container of leftovers and stare at the ceiling like a useless pile of bones.

But today, he doesn't want to go inside. He doesn't want to be alone.

They've been stopped for a little while now, but the passenger's door rests in its place, and the only noises are the rain and the windshield wipers going back and forth.

Jimin runs his hands along the steering wheel as he sends a questioning look to his right. "Are you getting out?" he asks.

Yoongi expels a breath of misery. It would be the polite thing to do, and right now he's in no position to do anything but the polite thing. "Yeah," he says, gathering up his takeout box and chopsticks. "I was comfortable," he adds as a way of justifying his concrete muscles.

"You don't have to go," Jimin tells him, and something in the way that he turns in his seat seems to change the mood. It's like another door between them is opening, a little bit of that distance being filled. "Are you upset? You sound sad."

"I'm fine," Yoongi says by default, like tensing your muscles when someone pinches your side or flinching when something comes too close to your face.

Jimin knows better than to believe the first words that come out of his mouth. "Hey," he says, eyes on Yoongi with a gentleness that reminds him of snow for some reason. "Let's just stay. I don't mind."

Time ticks, and Yoongi doesn't move or speak, only thinks. This could be a good idea, or it could be the worst idea. At the moment, he doesn't have the energy or mental capacity to tell the difference, so he ends up nodding and hoping it's the former.

Jimin turns the car away from the building and instead brings them to a parking space, one that looks out to the main road. Rain patters on a flickering lamppost, and cars zip by, their headlights bright. It's what Yoongi sees out his apartment window, but closer and clearer, and he feels a little like he's at a drive-in movie.

"Hey," he begins after a sufficient amount of silence has passed. It took him a solid five minutes to find the initiative to speak. "What'd you pay for my food?"

"Oh no," Jimin cuts off before Yoongi can even take another breath. "You're not paying me for that."

"Jimin," he sighs, reaching for his wallet in his pocket. Coincidentally, there's more in there today than his usual sad, crumpled couple of bills. "I'm gonna give you something even if you don't tell me, so you might as well."

"I will straight up tackle you if you try to pay me right now," warns the stubborn blonde, and it's his turn to reach in his pocket. "This is like, a little gift. Look, I even got you dessert."

There's a crackling sound as Jimin pulls a yellow bag from his pocket, and he holds it out, opening the torn top of it so Yoongi can see inside.

And Yoongi just gives him a weird look, because that bag is already open, Jimin, but when Jimin nods at the bag, insisting he take a look, he gives in and leans forward.

And when he leans forward, he's able to get a glimpse of what are definitely purple Starburst jelly beans, gathered at the bottom.

He can't believe Jimin. Honestly. "You're an idiot," he snorts, taking the bag.

Jimin slouches in his seat, kicking his feet up to the best of his ability as Yoongi tosses a jelly bean in his mouth. "Agreed."

____

a/n
:))