Hello!!! Sorry for the late update again, I am busy with university, and being a freshman is no joke ahaha because I have to adjust quickly or else I’ll die… and I am not with my family… they are about 2-3 hours away from me and I am emotionally dead. I am avoiding BTS stuff, because I need to set them aside for now.  I need help, because I am really dead inside, like I can’t see the point of living. Actually I just cried a while ago before I wrote this chapter.

So here’s it is!!! I hope you like it guys!!! Don’t forget to comment, (because comments almost always lifts my mood), subscribe (if you haven’t done that yet xD) and upvote (no pressure… no need to vote if you don’t find the story deserving enough)!!!

[!!!] Next update will take some time...

XV

Old Place

Jimin’s POV:

I slowly and drowsily sat up from the comfortable and soft bed in my room even before I opened my eyes. There’s something about the morning that makes me not irritated by the fact that the sunlight pouring from the window is making its way through my eyelids. Today seemed big – but I can’t quite put a finger on it.

I rubbed my eyes with my fists as I peeked to the alarm clock sitting on top of the bedside table. It’s a bit early.

After finally completely waking myself up, I tried to recall my scheduled activities for this Sunday. I had no work today, so it wasn’t anything about work. I tried to recall my last conversations with Jungkook yesterday, and I remembered him telling me that he has school work to do for today, so we are not going to go out together. Then, my phone lying beside the alarm clock lit up and rang, telling me I got a message.

From: Taehyung

AEYO!!! Good morning, hyung!!! You ready for today? Old place, ok? School garden!

SEE YAH LATER!!!

The moment I read that the message came from Taehyung, I remembered what I was going to do today. My lips involuntarily curved up to a smile just with the thought of meeting him again. Before, I can feel a very sharp pain in my chest whenever he enters my mind. But since Jungkook’s eomma’s advice, that never happened again. I felt like the old US is back.

Now that I remember what I was bound to do today, I happily skipped out of my room and into the kitchen to start making my breakfast. As usual, I really couldn’t cook complicated ones so I just settled for toasts and eggs. After getting my fill, I quickly cleaned the utensils that I used in preparing and eating before climbing up the stairs again to my room to prepare to meet him.

I entered the shower room and turned the shower on, feeling the water slide down my body. I started cleaning myself up with soap. Before, I normally use soap on my body about twice per shower. But today is different for some reason. I don’t feel clean enough after doing that routine and scrubbing. It’s been thirty minutes already since I started, but I can’t seem to stop. I want to continue cleaning myself, so I spent about another ten or fifteen minutes rubbing and cleaning that I ended up having wrinkly fingertips when I got out of the shower room.

Next stop, the wardrobe. With the towel wrapped around my waist, and my hair dripping wet, I opened the closet to reveal the set of clothes from which I have to choose one from. I thought it would be easy to look for clothes that will look good on me for today. I thought wrong.

“Hmmm…” I raised a brow at myself. I was standing in front of the mirror, holding a long-sleeved shirt in front of me. I already settled for my black pants. Normally, this shirt will look good on me, but I don’t find it appealing. Like… it lacks something.

“It’s too hot today to wear a long-sleeved shirt.” I mumbled before throwing the article onto the bed. I pulled out another shirt with short sleeves this time. I held it out in front of me to judge.

“Gosh… I can’t look bad in front of Taehyung… I can’t look bad in front of someone who doesn’t even know how to look bad.” I was being honest. Taehyung just looks good in anything. So meeting him poses severe threats of looking really ugly when you go out with him beside you. People nowadays find it easier to compare people.

The shirt just looked too boring that it ended up lying on the bed next to the long-sleeved shirt.

I pulled out another shirt, this time, one without sleeves. They neatly expose my toned arms. “This looks pretty comfy. And y.” I muttered unknowingly. I almost wanted to slap myself from thinking about it that way.

But since I really find it convenient and good enough, I just put it on and started spraying perfume all over me. I also grabbed a snapback from my collection before heading out of the house and into my garage when my car was waiting. The moment I stepped into the garage, I already groaned in frustration.

“Ughh… why is my car this dirty?” I asked to no one in particular. Again, normally, I would just let the car be and use it. But of course, I can’t do that today. Not when I’m pretty sure Taehyung will be bringing his own car, too. In this state, my car will look like trash beside his.

After cursing the hell out of the poor potted plant, I went back inside and changed back to normal clothes. I hurriedly went back to the garage. I don’t think Taehyung will mind if I will be a few minutes late.

I started cleaning the car. I got the hose and started blasting water to the dirty car to rinse it off and get it all wet before I start using soap on it. When it was already dripping, I grabbed a bucket full of soapy water and a sponge. I started cleaning away all the dirt that stuck to the surface of the car, especially the wind shield that even got some white streaks that probably came from bird poop. It was such a labor for me, because I don’t want to make Taehyung wait for too long, making me use very long while cleaning the whole car, resulting to my sore shoulder. After removing all the dirt, I began removing the soap by using the hose again to rinse it. And there it was, shining, squeaky clean.

“… I’m sweaty all over again.” I cursed while shaking my head, making droplets of sweat fly from the tips of my hair. I rushed back into my room and into the shower room to clean myself again, quickly rubbing all the dirt and sweat away from my skin. It’s just morning and I already took two showers. But I can’t really help it – I need to be prepared for this day. But I also have to admit – the amount of effort I am currently putting into this meeting is actually scaring me.

When I got out of the shower, I put back on the outfit that I chose for today, and left the house to start driving to the school. The school where Taehyung and I graduated. The school where Jungkook is currently studying, and where I meet him daily.

It was always like this in this school – it is always open for everyone, especially if you have a car. The school is really big, so there are also some wide streets inside. It also became some sort of a training ground for student drivers trying to find a place where they won’t have to maneuver around high-speed vehicles. It was kind of surprising that they actually prefer maneuvering around high-speed students running around the campus, and sometimes, even in the middle of the streets.

I still remember the place all too well, even though I never went inside the campus for two years already. I still remember every curve in have to take to reach out past and present meeting place. After a few minutes of driving inside the school premises, I finally pulled over and stepped out of the car.

“School Garden.” I muttered as I read the metal sign located on an arc above the entrance. All of a sudden, memories came flashing into my mind.

The first moments are when Taehyung and I are just hanging out during breaks when we were still in our first year in our school.

I remembered how Taehyung confessed to me during the last day of our first year in the school. He was shaking from too much nervousness back then, not knowing how much I liked him.

The moments when we were sitting on a bench under the shade, sharing our food with each other, laughing, and cooing sweet and cheesy things to each other’s ears.

That day when Taehyung left me crying alone. After he told me that he ‘he doesn’t feel it anymore’.

It . All of those memories I managed to forget lately came back in full force, and I had to stop myself from breaking. After fighting back the tears and taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I entered the garden.

“They’re all in the past, Jimin. You are happy now.” I convinced myself, continuing to navigate through the place. Except for the addition and disappearance of some plants, nothing really changed in the past two years.

And then, I saw it. The bench where it all started, and unfortunately, ended.

And I saw him, sitting on it, looking around the whole place like it was all new to him. He’s still wearing that same childish look, like a toddler looking around an amusement park in wonder. Except that he looked much better.

I slowly walked towards him, while taking in all his features. As usual, he looks stunning. I don’t even know how a person could look as perfect as him – his skin flawless, his hair falling in all the right places. He’s pretty, even prettier than the girls of our batch combined.

Damn, he really looks good. I thought. I knew I shouldn’t be staring at him like how I am doing it right now, but I really couldn’t help it. Though another thing caught my attention. He was clutching a handkerchief. It really looked familiar, so I tried digging into my memory

“JIMINIE!!!” He screamed when he turned around and saw me walking. He gave me that warm, cute smile, which I gladly returned with my own one.

“Hi, Tae!” I answered. He scooted over to one side of the bench and made space for me to fit in. I gladly took the seat beside him. He was clutching a handkerchief. It really looked familiar, so I tried digging into my memory, but I instantly regretted doing so, because when I remembered it, I felt my eyes starting to water again.

It was the same handkerchief he gave me when he left me two years ago.

I really wanted to go somewhere for a while to calm my emotions down, but I knew it would be useless. So I just tried to ignore it and forget the negative memories associated with the cloth.

“H-Hey, Tae.” I said to catch his attention. He looked at me and let out an ‘mmm?’ to let me know he’s waiting for me to continue. “I remember that handkerchief. Do all of you hankies have the same design?” I jokingly asked him. He lifted the fabric and examined it before laughing.

“Yeah… I really have a lot of hankies with this design.” He chuckled. “I really like them, you know?”

“Oh… ok.” I just dismissed the conversation before it spiraled into more serious topics. “Yah… you made too much space for me! Do I look that fat?” I asked him jokingly when I noticed he was squeezing himself to one end of the bench. He looked at me and laughed before taking the remaining space.

“Yeah… you have a larger frame than me. I guess I just over-estimated.” He chuckled. “You know… you’re not fat anymore! You used to have these baby fats, but now, they’re all gone!”

“Aww… thank you.” I answered. “So… how have you been?”

“Fine! Actually, really good.” He answered. “You?”

“I’m alright.”

He turned around a bit to face me. “I really had nothing to do today, so I called you yesterday to ask if you got plans already. I’m so glad you didn’t!”

Well… I actually had. I just cancelled it to meet you. I thought. But it wasn’t really an appointment, so it wasn’t a big thing. The only thing that was important with it is that it was with Jungkook.

“So… where were you when I called?” He continued asking. “I heard some children laughing in the background… and also a humming sound coming from somewhere near you.”

“Oh… I was in the amusement park yesterday, hanging out with my friend.” I answered him. His brow raised themselves, clearly showing his curiosity. Oh .

“Let me guess… Hoseok-hyung?” Tae asked. I shook my head. “Uhm… Namjoon-hyung!”

“Nope… I don’t think you know him. He’s a new friend of mine.” I answered him. His expression fell, but that was only for a second, for he looked at me again in anticipation.

“Why don’t you introduce me to him?” Taehyung suddenly asked. Actually, he already knows you.

“Uhm… I don’t think you will have matching schedules… he’s still a student. I met him in a café one day.” I answered him. “Though I already told him about you.”

“Oh really?” Taehyung excitedly asked. I knew he was just going to push the topic until I give in to his request, but to my surprise, he didn’t.

He suddenly stood up and began stretching, rotating his hips, clicking and cracking of bones being heard. After he finished, he held out his hand to me. What is he telling me to do?

“What?” I asked him. He shook his head in disapproval, and instead on answering, grabbed my wrist and began dragging me who-knows-where. “YAH!!!”

“I prepared for this day, hyung! Just follow me!” Taehyung yelled back as he continued dragging me. I don’t know why my heart suddenly started beating erratically as he continued dragging me by the wrist. Gosh Jimin what is happening?

I was so lost into my thoughts about how I was feeling right now that I didn’t notice him let go of me, making me stop moving. Taehyung continued to run, and stopped after a few moments.

When I focused on what was before me, I was amazed by his efforts. We were already standing in the picnic grounds part of the garden, where there were few trees to provide some shade, and where the ground was covered with soft grass – perfect for a picnic setup.

I just stood there, dumbfounded by the hard work Taehyung seemed to have put into our meet up today, while he was already starting to kick his shoes off to step into the picnic blanket. He looked at me and frowned.

“YAH! Jiminie! This is a picnic, not a movie! Come here!” I nodded and scurried next to him and removed my own shoes before sitting down in the middle of the mat, facing the baskets of what looked like food he prepared.

“Wow.” I muttered.

“I put sooo much effort into this meet up! I came here earlier than the time we chose to see each other just to get everything in order!” He boasted, holding his head up high as a clear sign of pride. I couldn’t help but laugh at his childish sense of achievement, prompting him to laugh along with me.

After a few moments of laughing, I reached over to one of the baskets to check out the food inside. I saw several packed sandwiches inside. I took one and closed the basket to check on the others. While peeling off the bag from the sandwich, I went over to the next basket, and looked inside while taking a bite from the sandwich. I have to say – the sandwich really tastes good.

“Woah… pasta…” I mumbled when I saw the contents of the next basket. I looked over to Taehyung, who had a smile plastered on his face as he watched me check on the food. “This sandwich tastes delish, and the pasta really looks tasty and good.” I complimented him.

“Aww… I know right!” He chuckled. “Thank you!” Why is he so proud?

“You know, you will make a really good husband with your cooking!” I absent-mindedly remarked, and as soon as the words rolled from my tongue, I felt my heart stop beating for a moment. What did I just say? Oh my god Jimin…

I shifted my gaze to the checkered picnic blanket, not wanting to see Taehyung’s expression. Jimin, you’re so ed up…

I really, really wanted to take my words back, though by doing that, I would only make the situation more embarrassing for me. The next moment I knew, I was already hearing a laugh coming from him. I slowly lifted my head up to take a look on what’s going on. To my surprise – and relief – he looked like he wasn’t bothered by it at all. He was cackling like crazy, like I just cracked the best joke of the century.

“W-What –“ I was about to ask him why he was laughing when he cuts in.

“Really? What will I feed him then? Sandwiches?” He chuckled, throwing his head back in laughter after speaking. I became a bit confused.

“H-How about the other food? The pasta?” I stupidly asked him.

“I just bought them from somewhere! The only food I made among those are the sandwiches!” He confessed, making me uncontrollably laugh along with him. “Jiminie, you know I CAN’T cook…” Yeah… I forgot about that…

It was beginning to shift back to a more comfortable mood until he spoke again. “Though you would make an even better husband then!” He chuckled as he opened all the baskets. What did he just say?

“W-What?” I asked, shocked by his words. It shouldn’t be affecting me this way. I know he’s joking. He MUST be kidding.

“Because it would be very easy to impress you with food!” He continued. I started to laugh awkwardly at his JOKE. Jimin oh my god what’s happening to you?

“Sh-Shut up.” I said. “I’m starving; let’s just get down to business!” I just ignored the confusion that was continuing to build up inside me and focused on this SUPPOSEDLY fun day with my BEST FRIEND.

Taehyung took out the packs of food he bought, all contained in Styrofoam containers they use in children’s parties and fast food take outs. We started eating delightfully, talking about all the random things that come across our minds. This is how it feels like. This is how it SHOULD feel like.

“As usual, Namjoon-hyung and Hoseok-hyung being my officemates in the morning, and Yoongi-hyung being my co-instructor in the afternoon.” I told him when he asked about how my work was going.

“But seriously though, why not just choose one job?” He asked as he slurped on the pasta.

“Because I really, REALLY love dancing, you know that, Tae.” I answered. “But the lessons only start in the afternoon, so I had to find a work for the morning. I hate being idle.” It makes me think about our past.

“Is there really nothing new about them?” He asked. “Like… didn’t anyone of us have a new love life or something? I didn’t have one!”

I thought about Jungkook. Do I really need to tell him about Jungkook? Are Jungkook and I actually a thing? Like… we are dating… but does that mean…

“Oh, yeah! There is! I remember!” I exclaimed, choosing not to talk about myself. Not yet. I don’t know what, but something is stopping me from telling Taehyung about Jungkook and my relationship with him.

“Really? Who is it? Is it Namjoon-hyung?” Taehyung excitedly asked.

“Nope… It’s our horse friend, and our granpa-hyung.” I whispered. “Hoseok-hyung and Yoongi-hyung.”

Taehyung’s face showed too much surprise. “What?! Yoongi-hyung and Hosoek-hyung are dating?!” He asked, shocked by the sudden revelation.

“Well… we aren’t really sure, because they aren’t saying it to us. Namjoon-hyung and I notice it, though. They’re a little bit too obvious. I don’t understand why they would hide it from us.” Yeah… why hide it? Right, Jimin?

“Oooooohhhhh…” Taehyung nodded. He let out a sigh before speaking again. “Life here seems interesting, compared to my VERY boring life in Japan.” He admitted. “I can’t share interesting stories. That’s how boring my life has become when I left Korea.”

Well… I guess your life would look like a parade of colors when compared to mine before I met Jungkook. I thought. It was so true – before I met Jungkook, my life was nothing but a matter of existing and surviving. I shouldn’t be thinking about this. I already moved on. I am not enjoying the day because I keep thinking about our past… get yourself together, Jimin.

“Same, though. My life was all about work, so I go to amusement parks every now and then to loosen up a bit.” I managed to answer in an effort to lighten the mood up.

“I see… maybe I can do that, too, sometimes.” Taehyung smiled. “But I also chill out by eating blueberry cheesecake. Yesterday, I went into this… little café where they serve GREAT blueberry cheesecake.” He narrated, putting emphasis on the word ‘great’. “I did that after I bought some things – OH WAIT I FORGOT SOMETHING!!!” He jumped up from his sitting position and started wearing his shoes again.

“What? Where are you going?” I asked him, confused by his actions.

“I forgot something in my car! Wait here, I’ll be back in a minute.” He answered as he dashed out of the picnic grounds, and back to his car. What did he forget in his car that he had to sprint like that?

I sank back into my seat and decided to pull out another sandwich to eat while waiting for him to return. About a minute and half a sandwich later, I saw Taehyung sprinting back to the blanket, clutching what seemed like a heavily-decorated paper bag.

I waited for Taehyung to catch his breath before asking him. “Tae… what the hell did you do to the poor paper bag?” I asked him, holding back a laugh. He looked at the bag and pouted, before hitting me in the shoulder.

“Yah… I put so much effort in making this pretty and then you’re just going to mock it? What a friend…” He sadly answered, and I hated how my heart clenched at the sight. I surprised myself when I held him by the shoulder and started apologizing.

“Sorry! Sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!” I, a little too frantically, asked for forgiveness. Why am I even reacting this way?

He started laughing again, the mere sound of it lifting off weight from my heart. Jimin, what’s happening to you? You’re scary…

“Seriously? You really think I was mad?”  Taehyung chuckled. “Here.”

He handed to blue paper bag to me and I just stared at the object in front of me. “W-What?”

“This one’s for you!” He happily stated. “It’s a gift!”

“O-Oh… Thanks…” I said awkwardly, for the nth time today, and got the gift from him. “What is this?”

“It’s a gift, obviously.” He retorted. “I can’t buy anything from Japan because I didn’t have a job there, so now what I got a job, I thought about buying.”

“But you know you didn’t have to…” I mumbled as I fiddled with the ribbon of the bag.

“I didn’t have to, yes, but I WANT to.”

I was about to pull the ribbon to open the bag when Taehyung placed his hand on mine and stopped me from pulling any further. I can almost swear the way I felt when we made contact was beyond abnormal.

“DON’T OPEN IT YET!!!” He screamed, his eyes pleading. “I don’t want to see your reaction.”

“I will surely like it, Tae.” I reassured him, as I tried to resume the tug at the lace. Taehyung tightened his grip and begged even more, complete with whimpers. “Okay fine.” I submitted, putting down the bag beside me.

For the rest of the afternoon, Taehyung and I continued talking and eating the food he brought. We laughed and giggled about funny stories, mostly those that were from our school days. He also babbled about his ‘alien encounters’ and ‘ghost stories’ back in Japan, and even though by now I know he was just using his imagination, I couldn’t help but shiver a bit when he talks about really scary and gross things. He’s always been the ‘detailed’ and ‘vivid’ type of story-teller.

“I think we should go.” Taehyung suggested after stifling a yawn. Why is he already sleepy?

“Are you sleepy already?” I asked him.

“A bit… I used to have these little afternoon naps…” He answered while getting up and closing all the picnic baskets. I helped him clean the place up by picking up the used containers and neatly folding the blanket when it was clear. I grabbed some of the baskets and helped him carry them to his car.

“Thanks for today, Jiminie. I had so much fun.” He smiled sweetly.

“Yeah… me too. I had so much fun with you, TaeTae. Thank you so much.” I answered him back. He entered his car and waited for me to get inside my own, and we drove out of the school together. When we were about to take our own ways, he opened our windows and waved each other goodbye.

For the rest of the way, a smile was plastered on my face. I finally reached my house and got changed into my house attire consisting of a tank top and shorts before going over to my bed and excitedly opening his gift.

Inside was an electric blue shirt that had the perfect fit on me, hugging my muscles in all the right places. I think I’m over-reacting, but I really loved the shirt. I quickly snatched my phone from the table and texted him.

To: Taehyung

Thanks for the gift! I really like it! You really know my taste.

His reply came a few seconds later.

From: Taehyung

You liked it?! Oh, thank god…

I tried typing a response.

To: Taehyung

Of course! Especially because it’s from you!

“WAIT WHAT?!” I exclaimed, and frantically erased the whole message and sighed.

To: Taehyung

Yes! Thanks, again! And good night!

From: Taehyung

Good night, Jiminie!!!