Jimin is of two minds about the entire situation with Jungkook and Taehyung.  Apparently, Jimin, Jungkook’s best friend of years, is literally the last person to know about Taehyung in some capacity (in relation to Jungkook’s life).  It’s upsetting in that aspect because Namjoon knew before Jimin, Namjoon.  Kim Namjoon, disbelief is an understatement for whatever he’s feeling.  (Kim Namjoon?)

There are some things that he would assume that Jungkook would naturally clue him in on.  He was the first to know about Jungkook’s fleeting crush on Jieun in middle school; Jungkook told Jimin about his ual orientation before his parents.  Apparently, that doesn’t count for anything anymore.

On the other hand, Jungkook has a boyfriend.  Jimin is obviously happy for him. Sure, it’s a little bit weird that he’s dating the brother of his former employer’s friend.  (Or is it that he’s dating the brother of his former employer?  Jimin is still unclear about the extent to which Yoongi is involved in hiring decisions.)  As long as Jungkook is happy, Jimin is happy.

The fact that it’s Taehyung is the awkward bit.  He doesn’t know the extent of Taehyung’s knowledge about his termination from Yoongi and Seokjin’s employ.  Plus, he hasn’t the slightest clue whether or not Taehyung knows about Jimin’s feelings about Yoongi.  (He briefly wonders if Taehyung knows what Yoongi thinks about him, but there is no way to somehow extract that knowledge from Taehyung.)

On the plus side, Jimin is 98% sure that he never ever mentioned Yoongi’s name in relation to having a crush on him to any of his friends.  He doesn't even remembering saying that he was employed by Min Yoongi.  As far as he’s concerned, his feelings toward Yoongi will remain a secret for the rest of forever, even if he happens to cross paths with Yoongi again because of this new aspect of his relationship with Taehyung.  All that Jimin can hope is that Taehyung has the courtesy to not mention that Jimin worked for Yoongi and Seokjin at one point.  Really, his entire life depends on a house of cards, and Taehyung might be a gale force wind.

He tells himself it’s not at all awkward to be sitting across from Taehyung and Jungkook being lovey-dovey.  He lies and says that it doesn’t bother him, the way that they’re bent around each other.   One week.  They’ve been dating for seven days, and it is nauseating to be in the same room as them.

(Taehyung is constantly over, watching movies and giggling.  Once, Jimin came back from an interview to find a pillow fort set up in the living room.  The most offensive part was that they wouldn’t let him in.  He didn’t know the password.)

The reason that Jimin is party to their gross displays of affection is because Namjoon formally requested to meet this “Taehyung character” face to face.  Somehow Taehyung always misses Namjoon, either coming too late or leaving too early.  Namjoon, apparently, is fed up with not being able to put a face to the constantly mentioned name.  (Has mentioned that when Jungkook is apart from Taehyung that all he talks about is his boyfriend?)

So now, everyone sits at the dining room table, waiting for Namjoon to return home.  The conversation has long since abandoned Jimin, so he’s left trying not to eavesdrop on the words traded between the lovebirds.  That is hard said than done because they aren’t even trying to keep it a secret.  Jimin desperately tries to find the grain of table interesting, running his finger along the polished wood.

Jimin wants Namjoon to be there immediately.  Well, he’d also settle for the delivery of the food that they ordered.  It’ll be easier to tune out Jungkook and Taehyung if he’s trying to eat jjajangmyeon without making a mess of his face.   Really anything to make the situation less awkward is.  Maybe his phone will ring.  He hopes his phone will ring.

Jimin’s text tone goes off, and for a split second, Jimin thinks that heavens are shining down on him. His hopes fall flat when he actually opens the text. 

It’s from Kim Seokjin.

Jimin looks between his phone and Taehyung.  Paranoia courses through his veins.  Seokjin knows that he’s in a room with Taehyung somehow.  He has to remind himself not to let his panic snowball.  It's fine.  It will be fine.  He hopes.

He takes a few deep breaths because he’s too scared to read the actual contents of the message.  He either has to confront whatever harsh words Seokjin has for him or somehow avoid the whole Jungkook-and-his-boyfriend situation.

It comes to the point where he cannot take the suffocating awkwardness, and Jimin opens the Seokjin’s message.

It’s far from what he’s expecting.

Hello Jimin.  You still need to pick up your final check.  Please let me know when you’re available to pick it up.

There’s nothing about Yoongi and the circumstances under which he was fired.  He briefly wonders if that was what the email he ignored was about.  He is as confused as he is relieved.  Happily enough, it gives him a way to escape the most awkward involuntary third-wheel situation.

He pushes away from the table without even bothering to justify his departure.  It’s highly unlikely that his supposed best friend and his boyfriend even notice.  The effort that it takes to break the honeymoon phase of a new relationship isn’t worth it if Jimin is just excusing himself.

Jimin reads the message in the comfort of his own room again.  He reads and rereads it, trying to figure out how he should proceed.  His ultimate decision is to call Seokjin back.  He’ll be able to clarify the details surrounding his termination, or at least, he can counter-argue any defamation of character that may have occurred.

He presses Seokjin’s contact number in order to make his call.  The phone rings for what feels like eons.  Seokjin picks up at the last second with a breathless, “hello?”

Jimin forgets how to speak for a second.  Confrontation is as terrifying as ever. It takes Seokjin repeating his salutation for Jimin to snap out if it.  He does trip over his words though, “It’s Jimin.”

“Oh, hi, Jimin.” Seokjin says in the genuinely sweet voice.  “I assume that this is about the last paycheck.”

“Um, yes.” Jimin quietly replies, “I’m sorry that I haven’t been responding to your emails.”

There’s an indistinct voice in the background that Seokjin hushes before continuing his conversation with Jimin, “Right so, when can you pick it up?  You also need to sign the official termination of employment contract.  It’s not all that scary, but Yoongi did mention that you saw some of his intellectual property.”

Jimin’s throat closes up.  So Yoongi did mention his tiny violation of privacy.  “I’m sorry.”  He apologizes instinctively.

“It’s fine.  I trust you to keep it under the wraps until it’s officially released.” Seokjin brushes it aside so smoothly that Jimin almost forgets that he’ll have to wade through legalese again.  “When are you available?”

“Um, is tomorrow okay?”

Seokjin actually snorts, and Jimin can picture the fact that accompanies it.  “Tomorrow is perfect.  Is 12:00 okay?”

Jimin nods before he remembers that he needs verbal confirmation.  “12:00 is good, but where will we meet?”

“I’ll send you the address.” Seokjin promises, “Thanks for your cooperation.”  He hangs up on Jimin before even saying goodbye.

The goodbye that he never got to say hangs on the tip of his tongue.  He frowns because Seokjin was almost too nice.  He didn’t ask about why Jimin couldn’t keep his curiosity at bay.  He gave Jimin his forgiveness without really being asked.  Maybe he’s just unhappy about it because it will be the actual end of whatever relationship he has, correction, had with Yoongi.

His heart still pines after Yoongi despite being very clear on how Yoongi views Jimin.  Love is unfair and ridiculous.  If only he hadn’t kissed Yoongi, maybe his heart wouldn’t be so stubborn and hopeful.  Only love would be so confusing and contradictory.

He pockets his phone and prepares himself to head back into his own personal hell. Oh how he hopes that Jungkook and Taehyung will find somewhere else to be gross.

___

Seokjin has come to terms with the fact that maybe, just maybe, he can’t leave well enough alone.  Actually, he knows that he can’t leave well enough alone.   Never once in his entire life has he been satisfied with walking away from an improvable situation.  It’s what makes him good at his job, but it also makes him a meddler.

Yoongi is perhaps the best friend that he has, even if they’re equally stubborn.  Yoongi has no problem being blunt, which counters Seokjin’s incessant need to make everything fanciful.  To be honest, Yoongi was a tough cookie to crack, but at some point, he just kind of gave up resisting Seokjin’s attempt to form a friendship.  He's also one of two people to have ever voluntarily be his friend.  Namjoon is the other, but the friend part, as it turns out, isn't enough for his heart (or Namjoon's).

He has also been working on this whole Namjoon thing.  Namjoon is a bit tougher than Yoongi; he’s actively trying to hate Seokjin.  The worst part is that with every hostile glare that Seokjin earns he becomes more resolved.  The moment happened, the one where Seokjin’s heart said ‘I want that one’ and pointed at Namjoon. Of course, it had to happen after he told Namjoon that being friends would be ideal for the time being.  Namjoon’s response had been less than encouraging.

At the moment, his focus is aimed at Yoongi and Jimin.  Jimin and Yoongi.  Min Yoongi and Park Jimin.  Seokjin really likes saying their names in succession, mainly because Yoongi is super duper in love with Jimin.  Seokjin knows, even if Yoongi has refused to admit it out loud.  A best friend knows.

He has successfully lured Jimin into coming to the café a block away from the place where Namjoon works.  (Seokjin will totally have a reason to swing by after his scheme comes to fruition.)  All that he has to do now is convince Yoongi to go there.  It will be rough convincing Yoongi to go somewhere out of the blue, especially to a café that he’s never been in.

Should he lie or tell the truth? 

Telling the truth means that Yoongi will know what he’s walking into, and Yoongi is probably the world’s biggest chickens when it comes to facing his fears.  Lying means he has to come up with a convincing and possibly (probably) elaborate lie that is a good enough incentive for Yoongi to get up off of his bottom and leave his condominium. 

Lying feels like the easier option, but Seokjin is not the world’s best liar.  His confidence tends to crack under the pressure of potentially being discovered.  If he gets called out, he breaks like an egg hitting cement.  It’s ugly, and he has been known to cry.  It makes his apology very wet and mucus-filled and usually the person that he’s lying to ends up comforting him.  The bigger the lie is, the bigger the break down is for Seokjin. Plus it’s risky since Yoongi can usually tell pretty quickly when he lies.  But Yoongi is a little bit emotionally damaged so maybe his lie detector will be less sensitive.

Seokjin sighs as he opens the door to Yoongi’s humble abode.  Since Jimin stopped working, it’s noticeably dirtier.  The open pizza box on the couch says something about Yoongi’s state of mind that Seokjin knows that he dislikes.

“Min Yoongi!” He shouts, waiting for his hermit of a best friend to respond.

A loud unpleasant groan comes from the kitchen.  Seokjin sighs in frustration.  Why is Yoongi always on the floor when he comes in?  He makes his way to the kitchen where (surprise, surprise) Yoongi lies on the floor with his face flat against the dirty tile.

“You do know that you only perfectly functional chairs?” Seokjin asks, leaning against the counter with his hip.

Yoongi scoffs, “You would be surprised how much you can get done down here.  Wallowing, self-pity, introspection, et cetera.”

“We’re going out for coffee tomorrow at noon.” Seokjin states.

“That doesn’t sound like something that we would do.” Yoongi mutters.

“You need it.”  Seokjin states.  Perhaps the key to this whole “lying” thing is to find little bits of the truth that suit his needs.  Yoongi does need to see Jimin, so that he can hurry up and get his man.  (Seokjin just now realizes that he watches too many romantic comedies.  It’s affecting his ability to come up with realistic solutions with realistic outcomes.)

“I need coffee?” Yoongi asks, rolling onto his back and looking at Seokjin upside and sideways.  “I’m perfectly capable of using instant coffee and my fancy coffee maker for when I want higher quality coffee.”

“You need to get out and interact with other human beings.” Seokjin sighs once more.  He’s mothering and he knows it.  “Plus, I need you to help me out this once because if you get coffee with me then I get to see Namjoon.”

“Just this once?” Yoongi asks sitting up, which results in his back facing Seokjin.

He replies, “Just this once.”

A prolonged groan of resignation comes out of Yoongi’s mouth.  Seokjin knows he has won before Yoongi even mumbles, “Fine.”

“I love you.” Seokjin whispers coyly.

Yoongi responds, “I tolerate you.”

“How you make me swoon.”

___

Yoongi has been forced to change three times.  He’s not happy about it.  After arriving an hour early, Seokjin has been repeatedly “failing” Yoongi on his fashion ensemble.  He hasn’t reached his annoyance threshold as of yet, but Seokjin is pushing it.

Yoongi shoves his legs into his pants on at time, grumbling to himself about how unfair Seokjin is.  He knows that there is something Seokjin isn’t telling him about this whole let’s-go-out-to-coffee-on-a-Thursday thing.  He currently likes the theory that Seokjin is trying to make Namjoon jealous by showing up with another man.

He’s not sure how it makes sense exactly.  Firstly, how does Seokjin know Namjoon will be at that specific coffee place?  His best friend must have become a stalker at some point.  (Is this at all Yoongi’s doing?  He doesn’t think that he encouraged this course of action directly, a least he hopes he hasn't.)  Yoongi supposes it’s a more subtle solution than walking up to Namjoon’s place of work hand-in-hand. 

Yoongi wishes that Seokjin would just be direct with how he feels.  Straightforward is probably what’s best instead of some far-fetched, meddlesome scheme.  Yoongi will still do it, but it doesn’t mean he thinks that it’s the greatest idea.  Parading a "new man" in front of a current crush spells disaster.

Yoongi slams a black wide brim hat on and marches back out of his room.  He gives a look that’s meant to be somewhere between incredulous and sour.  Seokjin smiles for a moment and says, “What if you put on suspenders?”

“I’ll kill you.” Yoongi flatly threatens.  He’ll snap, and everyone knows that when he snaps, he goes for the jugular. (Jimin knows how scary Yoongi can be, not that he was ever supposed to.)

“Let’s go then.” Seokjin forces a smile, stifling a whimper that had bubbled up in his throat.

Seokjin quite literally drags Yoongi out of his home.  They walk to the café in which Seokjin’s half-baked plan will be executed.  It occurs to Yoongi that he has never seen Namjoon, so this might be the first opportunity to get a sense of whether or not he deserves someone as wonderful (if not helpless and hopeless) as Seokjin.

He scans the faces in the coffee shop, wondering which is the face of the person that Seokjin is putting on a show for.  Most of them look pretty boring, trying to be trendy with glasses and thick scarves.  None of them suit Seokjin’s taste; he had always leaned toward eclectic people.

He passes over one face that seems familiar, but the general shape doesn’t seem like what a Namjoon (that Seokjin likes) would be.  It nags on him until he finally really looks.

Jimin.

Panic seizes his entire body as he freezes in place.  Jimin is staring at the latte in front of him with worry written all over his face.  The initial wave of panic ebbs away as his heart picks up in its pace.  A nervous excitement takes over, and it kind of makes him want to vomit.

Okay, he’ll finally admit to himself.  He likes Jimin.  When he says like, he really means love.  He could probably make the rest of his career as a songwriter solely based on the way that Jimin inspires him.  Isn’t that love?  Finding someone who inspires you and makes you want to be a better person?  He’s already written plenty of songs about pining after him.

Yoongi takes the tiniest step forward when he remembers that Jimin has more than enough reasons to hate him.  His heart dies a little.  Sure, at one point, when Jimin was kissing him, he had been sure that the feelings were mutual.  Now though, this moment is a completely different story.  The excitement that had accompanied his nervousness jumps ship, leaving Yoongi feeling nauseous.

Does Jimin have the room in his heart to give him another chance?  Yoongi wouldn’t deserve it, but if given, he won't blow it.

He stays froze until Jimin pulls his eyes off of his drink and looks up. Yoongi has been caught, or has he?  Jimin is face-blind, so maybe he can try to play it off like he’s anyone but—

“Yoongi?”  Jimin asks, looking straight at him.

He can’t respond.  It’s like an accusation, and if he just stays still long enough, he’ll be able to put off the inevitable heartbreak for another day.  Seokjin elbows him, hard, causing him to stumble toward Jimin.

It’s precisely at that moment that Min Yoongi comes to the realization that Kim Seokjin just meddled with him.  Oh, there was most definitely a half-baked scheme, but it wasn’t about Namjoon at all.

Yoongi stops again, a foot away from the table where is former housekeeper and current crush is sitting.  He can still get out of this somehow.

“I see you.” Jimin corrects his posture to give off an air of confidence before saying, “Min Yoongi.”

a/n: so out of it that i don't now if my sentences make sense.
(so this is probably going to end soon.  prepare your souls.)
um, so thanks for reading and subscribing and stickin' with it.
comment. upvote maybe...
*greasy finger hearts*