Jimin wakes up startled by what he thinks it’s the sound of the doorbell ringing. He leans up in his elbows and turns his head to the right, the clock on the nightstand pointing ten sharp in the morning with bright red numbers. He furrows his eyebrows at the inanimate object and keeps silent, not knowing if he really heard the doorbell ring or it was just his imagination.

After a couple of seconds of not hearing anything he rests back on the bed and sighs deeply, cuddling warmly under the covers, dragging them up to cover his nose and inhales, Jeongguk’s smell invading his nostrils. The younger left to work an hour ago unwillingly, complaining loudly it wasn’t fair he couldn’t be at home now that Jimin had a break from work since the dance academy where he teaches classes closed the day before for christmas break. The kids weren’t much happy about it, but Jimin is sure it won’t be difficult to find some activity to be occupied with, after all it’s snowing outside and kids love to play with snow (and adults too, he’s dragging Jeongguk out to play when the younger gets home).

He closes his eyes, cocooning himself with the blankets, ready to fall asleep again when de doorbell rings twice, impertinent and loudly, resonating in the quietness of the apartment. This time he’s definitely awake, so it’s not a thing of his mind. Crap, he was anticipating a full day of sleep, the bed is comfy, warm and it smells of Jeongguk, so whoever it is that it’s interrupting him is going to die today.

Jimin rises from bed grumpily, grabbing the first sweater he finds to cover his bare chest, and makes his way to the entrance with heavy steps.

He opens the door more harshly than intended, but he’s sleep deprived and has the right to be mean to whoever it is that is molesting him at this hour. However, when his eyes focus on the person in front of him his half-anger dissipates, looking dumbfounded at the women standing at his door in all her classy glory.

His eyes scan her from her flashy, but surely expensive, red stilettos to her beautifully styled hair, short locks of black hair perfectly curled and resting on her shoulders majestically. Jimin swallows hard, self-conscious of his tousled hair, shorts that are covered by the over-sized sweater he’s wearing (Jeongguk’s probably, considering how big it sits on him) and his socketed feet.

The woman clears his throat when Jimin only stares at her with wide eyes and mouth hanging open, making the young boy snap out of it.

“Uh, Uhm..” he stutters awkwardly, hand reaching up to smooth down a bit his bed-hair. “Why are you here?” he finally manages to ask with a hoarse voice.

“Sorry if I woke you up, Jimin-ssi.” she speaks with a calm tone, her voice is velvety, sound sweet and welcoming, Jimin would fall for the trick if he didn’t know any better. It sounds too sweet for a woman as evil as her. “Can I come in?” she asks politely. Jimin feels as if those cold eyes can see through him, deciphering his darkest secrets, and he suddenly feels extremely cold.

“I-I don’t know…” he trails off, squirming on his spot, hand curling around the doorknob, wanting to shut the door at her face and go hide under the bedsheets. “Jeongguk’s not here If you-“

“Actually,” she interrupts him, “I came to see you.”

“Oh.” it’s all he can say. Okay, that caught him off guard. Jeongguk’s mother came to see him and not Jeongguk. It wouldn’t be too weird considering he’s been in a relationship with her son for the past four years, but the truth is that they aren’t in good terms.

“So, can I?” she asks again, perfectly defined eyebrows rising in question. Jimin nods dumbly, stepping aside and opening the door for her to come in, praying she won’t just take out a gun and kill him right now, right there. They wouldn’t find his body until late at night when Jeongguk came home, and honestly, it’s not how he wanted Jeongguk to find him. Maybe and taking a bubble-bath, making the younger join in is definitely a better way to end the night.

Her heels clack on the wooden floor until she sits on the couch, body stiff and looking at her surroundings with an expression Jimin can’t quite read.

“Can I offer you something to drink?”

“No, thank you, I’m okay.” He goes to sit at the other couch, as far as possible from her. He’s not sure what to expect from her visit, he hesitates between running or fighting, whatever is more appropriate to save his life.

She clears again, resting her sparkling Leiber’s purse on the cushions of their common and surely not-glamorous-enough-to-hold-such-expensive-bag couch.

“How have you been doing, Jimin-ssi?” Jimin sits straight on his seat, hands playing with the sleeves of his sweater nervously, he suddenly feels as if he is back in high school and Mrs. Lee is reprimanding him, again, for his troublesome behavior. Not that he was a bad kid, but teenagers that age like to play sometimes.

“G-Good, I’m doing good.”

“I’m glad.”

“Yeah…”

It’s so awkward, Jimin has never been in a situation like this before and it shows on his face. He always squirms a lot and bounces his leg or bites his thumb nail whenever he’s anxious, nervous, and he’s fighting the urge to do all that at the same time. Maybe jumping off the window would be better. A faster death, less painful.

“You may be wondering why I’m here, so I think it’s better if we go straight to the point.” Jimin nods, glad he didn’t have to ask.

She sighs, and during that short second Jimin sees her eyes cloud with sadness, but she hides it fast again under her cold stare.

“I wanted to ask you if you could talk some sense to Jeongguk and make him talk to me again.” Jimin’s eyes widen in surprise. He didn’t expect a request from her, a powerful woman that could to anything on her own, that has never needed anyone to help her with anything is now asking Jimin, out of anyone, for help.

She sees the hesitation in his eyes and speaks before he can formulate any question.

“I know I’m in not position to ask such thing from you, but you are the only one he will listen to.” He sees again that glint of sadness in her eyes, she suddenly looks exhausted, tired of fighting in a world where you have to step on people before they step on you.

Jimin thinks about his own mother, how sad she sounds over the phone when he tells her he can come to visit, how worried her eyes look every time she says he’s too thin, that he should eat more and take care, and feels bad that Jeongguk’s mother hasn’t been able to do all that these past years, even if it is her fault. Jimin can’t explain to himself why he’s feeling bad for her considering all the awful things she’s done, he thinks she’s probably playing the pitiful and sad mom role to win her way with him knowing how much of a family man he is.

“I’ll try, but you know how stubborn he is, won’t promise anything.”

“It’s enough for me that you are trying. Thanks Jimin-ssi.”

And just like that she leaves, and Jimin’s day of sleep is ruined. He spends the rest of the day moping around the house, simply thinking the way to bring this up to Jeongguk, because he knows the other won’t like it at all.

 

 

 

Jimin rises from his seat, taking his plate and drinking glass with him to the kitchen and leaves it on the sink, where Jeongguk is cleaning his own plate. Jimin repositions himself behind his tall, tall boyfriend and sneaks his hands on the big holes of the younger’s tank top (Jimin wouldn’t consider it a tank top because it barely has enough fabric to cover anything with those big open holes at the sides, but Jeongguk loves to wear it at home and who is Jimin to complain when his boyfriend goes around the house half , showing off all his muscles and tattoos).

His fingertips caress softly at Jeongguk’s ribcage, tracing the lines of the big phoenix he has tattooed there and rests his head between the other’s shoulder’s blades, thinking how to start up The Talk.

“What.” says Jeongguk, turning his head to peek at him but Jimin is pressed so tightly against his back the taller can’t see him at all apart from the top of the shorter’s head. “I can hear you think even from up here.”  Jimin’s face transforms into one of mock annoyance and pinches the skin under Jeongguk’s , making the other laugh and pry his hand away from there and turns around, Jimin still holding him in his arms.

Jeongguk leans down to peck once at his nose and then at his lips when Jimin pursues them.

“I…” he trails off, Jeongguk’s little mole at his neck looks more interesting suddenly. Jeongguk is patient with him, only raising his eyebrows encouraging him to keep talking. “I had a visitor today.”

Jeongguk nods while humming, passing his arms around Jimin’s shoulders.

“Uhm, she-“ he looks at Jeongguk when he says the pronoun, wondering if Jeongguk will get the hint, “-wanted to talk to me about you…” Jeongguk’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“Who?” Jimin’s finger keep tracing the lines of Jeongguk’s ribcage tattoo. The younger is not ticklish at all and loves the feel of Jimin’s tiny hands tracing his body. The shorter knows from memory what the younger’s tattoos look like with eyes closed.

“Your… mom…” he squeaks faintly, if it weren’t for their close proximity Jeongguk wouldn’t have heard it.

“Wha- She- Why was she here?!” splutters confused the taller boy, grabbing Jimin by the shoulders and putting some space between them to look properly at him. The shorter whines at his loud voice and tries to hide in his boyfriend’s chest but Jeongguk is stronger than him and holds him in place, not even budging when Jimin looks up at him with his best puppy eyes.

“Jimin” his voice is strong, full of force. It’s incredible how angry he can get just by the mention of his mother. “Why was she here?”

“She asked me to convince you to go visit her.” he says with a small voice, Jeongguk is scary when angry.

“What for?”

“I don’t know, she didn’t tell me and I did not dare to ask…” he whines, he only wants to hug Jeongguk right now, kiss away that hurt and angry expression from his face. “She only said she wanted to see you.”

Jeongguk falls silent, the next thirty seconds (yeah thirty, Jimin counted them) are really tense and Jeongguk has a weird look on his eyes, one that Jimin has never seen before and doesn’t want to see ever again.

The taller boy releases his hold and turns back to the sink and starts cleaning the dishes again without a word.

“Jeongguk.” tries Jimin, but gets no response. The younger is scrubbing furiously at the plate in his hands. “Gukkie…” he tries again, but nothing.

He takes a step forward and backhugs the other again, just like before. With the skin contact Jimin can feel Jeongguk’s body shaking in anger.

“Won’t you consider-“

“No.” it’s clear, sharp and loud, Jimin recognizes it as the tone Jeongguk uses when he’s said his final statement on the matter in discussion and doesn’t want to talk about it anymore.

“I know you are still angry at them but she came here to ask me, doesn’t that prove that she is desperate enough to see you again?”

Jimin flinches when the plates make a loud clack as the younger drops them harshly on the sink, Jimin hopes they didn’t break.

“Jimin they’ve been jerks all my life, imposing their ways and telling me what to do with my life and now that I’m free of them- now that I’m happy, they want to meddle in and probably try to ruin all again.”

Jimin sighs, resting his forehead on the other’s back. He perfectly understands why Jeongguk doesn’t want to go visit his parents, he was there when hell broke down.

Jeongguk hasn’t spoken to his parents at all for five years, living on his own since he told them he didn’t want to take care of the family business, wanting to pursue tattoo art as his future job.

Jeongguk has always liked drawing and art, he always told Jimin during their high school years that he wished he could tattoo for a living and make his love for art his job. Jimin encouraged him, after all he was his best friend and only wanted his happiness, and convinced Jeongguk to follow his dreams, encouraged him to do what he considered was best for him and would make him happy.

But the Jeons are one of the richest families in South Korea, wealthy enough to live without working for the next four-hundred years (well, maybe that was a bit exaggerated, but it made clear our point), so, obviously they didn’t take well their son was abandoning the business, ditching away completely the idea of being one of the richest and most powerful CEOs on the world and wasting his talent and years spend on his education to paint on people’s bodies with a needle, as his father described it so kindly. 

Jeongguk got mad, disappointed his parents weren’t supportive of his choice and left them. He put his clothes in a bag, grabbed some money he saved on his own and dragged his eighteen-years-old out of that cold mansion he used to call home to live his dream. 

He appeared on Jimin’s door that night, shivering from the cold, eyes red from crying and a sniffing nose, looking so sad and broken the older instantly wrapped him in his arms.

Obviously, the Parks took him in while he did his best to try to survive on his own. Jimin’s family was a simple and hard-working one, his father working his off in an office that didn’t pay him enough for the amount of hours he spend there while his mom stayed at home to take care of their two sons and her mother. Nana, Jimin’s grandmother, accepted and treated Jeongguk as if he was blood-related.

Jimin became his support for everything in the following year and eventually the feelings between them developed into something more deep and meaningful, something that they couldn’t label as friendship or brotherhood anymore. It was pure love.

Jeongguk’s parents didn’t took well either that he started dating Jimin, after all he was the one who encouraged their son to abandon them and his responsibilities, adding the fact that jimin was a boy and came from a mild-class family. They didn’t consider Jimin was worth to be part of the Jeon family.

The two years  that followed after were awful, Jeongguk’s parents, specially his mother, made her priority to destroy their lives. She had connections and had enough money to bribe people that would make their lives a living hell.

Jeongguk confronted her, obviously. They screamed things at each other that hurt too much to try to quote, but she finally left them alone, stating clearly that Jeongguk would be disowned, he wouldn’t be part of the Jeon family anymore, and the younger accepted it without a second thought, he had Jimin that made him happy and a good job, that was more than enough for him.

Jimin embraces him tightly, the memories of Jeongguk’s sad eyes and sleepless nights worrying about everything makes a shiver run down his spine. But then the image of Jeongguk’s mom’s sad eyes appear in his head and, really, he should stop being such a caring person.

“I think she misses you.”

“Well she should have thought that before putting us all through hell.” Jeongguk spats angrily, he’s trying to hold back because his brain to mouth filter doesn’t work properly when he’s furious and Jimin shouldn’t be the receiving end of his anger.

“Look, you are now doing good at work. You are one of the most respected tattoo artists out there. You can stand in front of her proudly for what you’ve achieved without their help.”

“It’s not only that.” He turns around again, and Jimin feels a ting of pain in his chest at Jeongguk’s sad eyes. “It’s not only because they didn’t want me to be a tattoo artist. It’s about how they treated you when we started dating, the awful things they did and said to you and your family. They dragged you into this because they were angry at me and I won’t ever forgive myself for that.”

“Hey, no.” Jimin takes Jeongguk’s face in both his hands, forcing the younger to look at him. “don’t do this, please.” he shakes his head, caressing Jeongguk’s cheeks softly with his thumbs. “Don’t do this to yourself Gukkie. It wasn’t your fault, it was just some rocks on the path that we had to overtake, but we are okay now.”  Jeongguk nods, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Jimin’s. 

“I still think you should go talk with them, after all she came here to ask me to convince you.” the taller breaths out a heavy sigh, as if the world’s weight was put on his shoulders.

“She looked so sad.” Jimin whispers, one of his hand has made its way to Jeongguk’s nape to play with his hair. It always calms the younger, Jimin swears he can almost hear him purr contentedly when he does that.

“I hate you.” murmurs Jeongguk opening his eyes, he looks sleepy and tired, but beautiful as always. “Only you could convince me to go see her.”

“I know.” chuckles Jimin, the giggles coming out from his throat sound always so sweet to Jeongguk’s ears, he would never get tired of hearing him laugh. “I hate you too.”

Jeongguk smiles and closes the little space remaining between them to lock lips with the shorter. The brief contact makes hot waves spread through his body and his heart rate accelerate. It’s amazing how after all these years Jimin still manages to make his heart flutter, butterflies flapping their wings happily on his insides.

 

 

 

He finally mustered up the courage to call and arrange a meeting at a fancy cafe at one of those shopping streets famous around the world for their fancy boutiques and famous people. Well, to be exact, he made an appointment with her secretary because he erased their personal phone numbers when they stopped talking to each other, so he had to call at her office.

He inhales deeply, holds it for a couple of seconds and then exhales, his breath coming out a bit shaky. He hates himself for being nervous, it’s just a meeting, a simple talk.

A talk with the person that rejected and disowned him. Yeah, nice.

Jeongguk steps out of his car, locking it and securing the key on the front pocket of his black jeans. He feels a bit undressed in such a fancy street with his ripped black jeans and oversized sweater under a jacket that surely doesn’t fit in this environment, but he learned to stop caring about other people’s opinions about him some time ago.

He makes his way to the cafe with careful steps to not slip on the snow, sending a quick text to Jimin to reassure him he’s still doing it. Jimin didn’t came along because he felt it was a thing that should be resolved between mother and son. If things went well after their first talk, they could always make time for another meeting. Jeongguk agreed because he was afraid his mother would snap and say some harsh words at Jimin and, honestly, he doesn’t know how he would react if she insulted the shorter boy in front of him.

The bell at the door rings softly, alerting the waitress of his entrance. The cafe is as fancy as it looks from outside, and it’s funny how he frequented shops like this when he was younger and now he feels so out of place just standing at the door.

The waitress approaches him with a polite smile but judgmental stare, clearly not pleased with his attire.

“Welcome to La patisserie, mister.” she offers a ninety-degree bow. “How can I help you?”

He takes his beanie off his head, looking at her with his best intimidating face, “I have an appointment here with Mss. Jeon.” the girl nods stiffly and motions for him to follow her.

She leads him at the back of the cafe, passing by a lot of women dressed in expensive dresses, covered in pearls and diamonds, men stuffed in similar expensive attires with gold watches, shiny and blinding him. He hates this world of fakers and pretenses, full of lies and darkness despite all their shinny accessories. He’s glad he’s out of it now.

The young waitress finally reaches the table where his mother is waiting, expression stoic and cold as always. Jeongguk only sees a tiny sparkle he can’t quite decipher in her eyes when she spots him. 

She stands up after the waitress has left them alone and they stare at each other awkwardly for a couple of seconds. Now that he’s close, he can see the little wrinkles on her face, the little signs that she’s agin too, but she still looks as beautiful as he remembers her.

“Hello.” she says, voice soft and careful, it makes him travel back in time, when he was still just a kid and scrapped his knee when he fell while riding his bike and she comforted him and patched up his injury. She was never one to be overly affectionate and caring, but it was enough for a child his age to feel loved.

He clears his throat, forcing himself to not think about the past. It’s taking him all his effort to stop himself from running out the cafe to go home and hug Jimin tightly. He only feels safe embraced on Jimin’s arms.

“Hello.” he replies with a flat tone, he won’t let her get through the icy wall he built up around his heart so easily. Only Jimin and his family are allowed there.

She motions with her hand for them to sit, and the next couple of minutes are spend silently staring at each other, none of them dares to be the one to speak first.

When the waitress puts their orders on the table his mother finally opens to speak.

“You may be wondering why I requested for you to be here” so formal, so cold, but it doesn’t surprise Jeongguk, after all she was the one who said he wouldn’t be part of the family anymore so, technically speaking, they are just strangers siting in a cafe for a talk. Jeongguk nods slowly, eyes focused on his cup of coffee, removing the liquid with the spoon after adding some sugar.

“I just,” she cuts herself, making Jeongguk rise his eyes to look at her, surprised at her hesitance. She was never one to back off when she was determined to do something, and once she put you on her black list, there’s no way you’re out of it anytime soon. It’s weird to see her vulnerable. She looked so sad, remembers Jimin has said, and he can see it too now.

“I just wanted to see you again, know what you’ve been up to lately.” She’s not looking at him, eyes downcast fixed on her cup of milked tea.

“I’ve been doing fine.” his response is simple, he doesn’t trust her, not yet. You never know with her.

“I’m glad.” they fall silent for a couple of seconds and then she looks at him. “You look good, happy.”

“I am happy” he corrects her, “I have an amazing job that pays me well, a nice apartment and Jimin.”

She nods, but he sees a little grimace at the mention of Jimin.

“I saw him the other day, Jimin-ssi I mean.” Jeongguk nods and quirks an eyebrow, encouraging her to keep talking. “Is he doing fine too?”

“Yes, he gives dance classes to kids in a tinny dance academy. He loves it, and the kids love him.” Jeongguk smiles, remembering the amount of times Jimin has come home with a big smile and bouncing on his feet talking non stop about his day at work, how cute the kids were, how happy they looked when he taught them a new dance move. Jimin is a sweetheart, he loves kids and has a natural charm that makes them love him back easily. It’s one of the hundred things he loves about Jimin.

“Are you two still…” Jeongguk warns her with his eyes, but nods at the unspoken question, yes, we are still together and will be until we die. 

“I see. Good, he’s a nice man.” Jeongguk involuntary snorts loudly at that, thinking back at all the awful things she said about Jimin when they started their relationship.

“What do you really want? I don’t think you called me here to just ask about trivial things like work.”

“I wanted to invite you to spend Christmas day together, if it’s okay with you.” she goes straight to the point, wearing her cold facade again, but Jeongguk sees the glint of hope in her eyes. “Jimin-ssi is invited too, obviously.”

“Why?”

“Well, he’s your partner, so-“

“No,” he cuts her, “Why are you inviting us to dinner.”

“I miss you.” Jeongguk jerks back subtly, surprised at her honest words. Jimin said it but hearing it from her is another thing. The fact that she admitted such thing so blatantly it’s something new.

“I know I haven’t done things the correct way with you or Jimin-ssi and his family-“

“You almost ruined our lives, mom.” the term used feels foreign in his tongue, but it slipped out involuntary. “You made his father get fired from work and consequently they almost lost the house too when they couldn’t pay the bills… They have an elder living with them, do you know how difficult it was for them to pay for her medicines? They had to skip meals to grant her with medicine and food. Jimin had to drop out from the dance academy where they were promising him a good future because they couldn’t afford to pay for it and his brother’s high school expenses at the same time. And don’t make me mention the amount of insults and offensive words you said to him, to us, when we started dating. So, obviously you haven’t done things the correct way, mother. ” Jeongguk spats the last word angrily, feeling it poisonous in his mouth. He stopped considering her his mother a long time ago. He is so angry he could hit something -or someone-, just remembering all the things they had to endure because of her makes his heart hurt and his blood boil. It still pains him to know that he dragged them into such a mess, but the Park family accepted him, refusing to acknowledge it as his fault, and together they managed to survive those dark years. Jeongguk learned then what true love is and where he could find his true home.

She swallows hard, it’s obvious she doesn’t like to remember those moments either, but Jeongguk thinks it’s fair to put her at least through half of their suffering.

“I know, that’s why I want you to spend Christmas with us.” her voice is calm and composed, she has a lot of experience in being in difficult situations that require to hold her posture. “I want you to feel at home again with us Jeongguk, with me and your father.”

“Why now?” he demands to know. He’s confused, tired of being angry at her, he just wants to get over it, but it still follows him everywhere he goes; there’s a little voice in his head that reminiscences him from time to time the painful memories he wants and tries to forget about, making it difficult to completely ignore them.

“Do you remember Lee Jisook? That man that was good friends with your father.” he nods. He remembers him, of course, the old man was nice to him, always bringing him presents and weird toys he found on his travels and journeys around the world. “He was diagnosed with a  terminal cancer. The doctors couldn’t catch it on time, so he’s dying and-“ she furrows he eyebrows, looking past him, embarrassed to admit emotional things out loud, “He fought with his two daughters too a long time ago, and now he’s dying and doesn’t have anyone that loves him enough to go visit him or take care of him. He’s so lonely, so sad.” she looks at him now, her cold face contorted into one of pain, “I don’t want to end like him, Jeongguk. I realized that what I did was wrong and I feel so ashamed of the past, it’s been eating me from the inside this past years. I don’t want to lose you.”

But you’ve already lost me, he wants to say, but bites his tongue.

“I- I’ll talk to Jimin and, well, we will see.” he finishes. He wasn’t mentally prepared for this kind of talk.

 

 

He closes the front door and rests his back on it, the faint smell of vanilla invading his nostrils. He smiles, it’s so typical of Jimin to flame up some scented candles; I want the house to smell nice and welcoming every time we or someone else enter the house, he has said when the younger asked him about it. And it sure works, Jeongguk feels safe every time he opens the door of their apartment.

He drops his keys on the ceramic bowl, clinking loudly when they clack against Jimin’s, and makes his way to the the living room following the sound of the TV, assuming Jimin must be there watching something. 

The shorter is sprawled on the sofa, one leg stretched up resting atop the back of the couch, one arm thrown back under his head, the other under his oversized sweater scratching at his tummy. It’s adorable, and it makes the younger smile fondly at him. He shrugs off his coat and scarf, dropping them on the back of the other couch, and flops down on top of Jimin. The sorter lets out a breathy ouff at the weight but immediately embraces his boyfriend in his arms. Jeongguk moves, dragging his body up to rest his face on the crook of Jimin’s neck.

“Ah, your nose is cold.” Jimin whines, reaching up one of his hands to pull off the black beanie and card his fingers through black locks of hair, massaging his scalp.

“It’s cold outside, of course my nose is frozen.” he mumbles, caressing Jimin’s neck with the tip of the mentioned cold nose, making the younger squirm and giggle at the ticklish sensation.

Jimin drops down the leg that was up the couch, and tangles it with the taller’s, and Jeongguk closes his eyes enjoying Jimin’s scent and warmth. They lay like this for a while, cozy and contented embraced on each other, the only sound heard is the soft voices coming from the TV. It’s snowing outside, perfect for a night of cuddles on bed.

“Everything okay?” finally asks Jimin, voice soft, barely a murmur, and lips pressed on Jeongguk’s forehead.

“Yeah…” Jeongguk pauses, replaying the events of this evening on his mind. “She kind of apologized. I’m not sure, honestly. She said she felt bad about it but didn’t forwardly apologize for anything.” Jeongguk wants to believe he recognized remorse in her words.

“I don’t know, I-“ he sighs, hot breath tickling Jimin at the neck, “it was weird.” Jimin kisses his forehead.

“It’s a step forward if at least she tried to show some regret.”

Jeongguk nods, eyes looking but not watching the scene playing on the TV screen. 

“She wants to spend Christmas lunch together.” he mumbles against the soft skin of Jimin’s collarbones.

“And what do you want?”

“I want to adopt a puppy.” he blurts out.

“What?” laughs surprised Jimin, jerking his head back a little to look down at him. 

“A puppy.” he repeats. “We could go to the shelter and adopt one, I want one of those that end up growing up really big.” he looks up at the older and sees him smiling incredulous at him.

“Are you serious?” he asks. Jimin has always wanted a dog, he had a lot of love to offer to the world and Jeongguk doesn’t mind sharing it with a four-legged friend.

Jeongguk nods with a smile “It can be our Christmas present.”

Jimin smiles wide, and grabs his face with both hands, pestering the younger face with little kisses everywhere, making Jeongguk giggle at his boyfriend’s cuteness.

Jimin finishes with a kiss on his mouth, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” and kisses him again.

 

 

Jimin rotates the plate ten degrees to the right for the umpteenth time. He feels the need to make everything perfect because he knows she will analyze with hawk-like eyes every single thing, searching for any excuse to criticize him. He even dragged Jeongguk one afternoon to IKEA to buy new plates and cutlery, he cleaned in depth the apartment three times in two days, he bought new clothes for the both of them to wear, new shoes, new socks and new underwear, and this morning he went to the hair salon to do his hair.

Jimin’s nervous, a jittering mess, and regrets with all his might agreeing to this, he regrets accepting her request and convincing Jeongguk to go see her, and consequently spending the Christmas day with them. He was anticipating his mom’s cooking, the woman has a true talent for it, she even managed to make Jimin ate broccoli and he hates that ugly and green thing.

But today, The Jeons are going to grace them with their presences at their home. Somehow, Jeongguk managed to convince them to eat at the couple’s apartment, Jimin wasn’t really happy about it but can understand why the younger choose to held the meeting there, probably because he would feel less intimidated in known territory.

Jimin furrows his eyebrows and rotates the plate back to its original place, moving the fork two millimeters to the left. Yeah, much better. 

He feels strong arms circle his waist that press him tight against a firm chest.

“Calm down.” Jeongguk rests his chin on his shoulder, and Jimin leans back into his hold instantly. He closes his eyes, enjoying the little peaceful moment they have left until his parents-in-law come over. Having Satan siting at their table for dinner would be one thousand times better.

Jeongguk starts swaying their bodies from side to side slowly, following a rhythm only he can hear, and Jimin allows himself to relax a bit.

“I’m nervous.” Jimin confesses, Jeongguk tightens his hold on his waist and pecks at his neck.

“I know.” Jimin places his hand above the younger’s, interlocking their fingers. “You look good, though.” Jeongguk purrs in his ear, seductive lilt on his voice and Jimin doesn’t have to turn to look at him to see Jeongguk’s playful smirk. “I’m thinking about not opening the door and spend the rest of the day with you on bed, completely and eating you up whole.” Jimin lets out a breathy laugh, feeling suddenly weak on the knees and squeezes the younger’s hand tightly. He knows Jeongguk is only saying this to distract him, and it’s working, but he refuses to open the door to the younger’s parents with an evident . 

Jimin turns around and lifts up on his tiptoes to kiss Jeongguk, passing his arms around his broad shoulders.

“Maybe we can save that for later.” he mumbles on the other’s lips as Jeongguk passes his hands around his waist, sneaking one down to grab at Jimin’s to give it a hard squeeze, even lifting him up a bit and sticking him to his body, making Jimin gasp against his lips. He loves it when Jeongguk is rough.

Jeongguk, the little , has the nerve to smirk as Jimin’s obviously getting in the mood for some fun, and dips down his head to kiss Jimin deeply as he squeezes his again with both hands this time, taking advantage of Jimin’s little gasp to introduce his tongue on Jimin’s sweet and welcoming mouth.

Jimin’s hand starts to play with Jeongguk’s hair, completely forgetting it’s supposed to be perfectly styled for the meeting they have in less than ten minutes, his other hand traveling down the younger’s strong chest, fingers opening the first two buttons of the black shirt he’s wearing to caress the younger’s defined collarbones.

Jeongguk sighs on Jimin’s mouth and tilts his head back a little to breath, but before he can refill his lungs with fresh oxygen Jimin surges forward, capturing Jeongguk’s rosy lips with his own again. Things are starting to heat up, with rough kisses, nips and adventurous fingers caressing skin. At this rate, they’re going to end up ing on the table, and Jimin didn’t spend two hours putting every single piece of cutlery on its right place to end up messing everything for a quick . 

But Jeongguk lips are so tempting, they kiss Jimin hungrily, like he’s the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted. It’s not that it’s been a while since they got some action, Jeongguk’s always been really ually active, sometimes it’s difficult for Jimin to keep up with him.

The younger pushes Jimin back until his is pressed against the brim of the table, a soft clinking noise is heard at the motion due the force in which Jeongguk’s pinned him against the surface, the sound making Jimin stop for a second to remember they aren’t supposed to do this now, but he can’t really focus when Jeongguk’s hand starts to palm at his growing .

“You have no idea how y you look right now.” groans Jeongguk on his neck, nipping and , waiting for Jimin’s mewls of pleasure to bubble out form his pretty lips as the taller boy abuses the skin there. Jeongguk wets with an open mouthed kiss the skin where Jimin’s jaw meets his ear, and the shorter can’t help the moan that slips out of his mouth. Jeongguk sure knows which buttons to push to reduce him to a mess.

Jimin parts his legs, offering more room for Jeongguk to maneuver. The hand at Jeongguk’s hair closes in to a tight fist, tugging a bit at black locks of hair as the younger’s tongue laps a long stride up to his ear and nips at his earlobe, capturing Jimin’s earring between his teeth.

They lock eyes, and Jimin whimpers slightly at the lust filed gaze Jeongguk looks at him with, with lips colored an angry red due the rough kisses, hair slightly disheveled and shirt opened. Quite the sight.

“.” he mutters, running his hands up and down the younger’s broad chest, fingertips pressing against warm skin. Jeongguk’s hands had made Jimin’s muscled thighs their home, squeezing the flesh and wishing there weren’t any layers of clothes separating him from those sinful legs he adores. Jeongguk has a thing for Jimin’s legs, so thick with lean muscles covered in slightly tanned skin that contrast beautifully with the red marks he leaves there sometimes. He loves how they circle his waist and press him close, pleading to go deeper and faster when he’s ing Jimin slowly.

They lean in again, but when their lips are about to touch the doorbell rings loudly, breaking completely the mood, reminding them the reason why this started.

“Oh my God.” squeaks Jimin, putting his clothes back to their place quickly, flushing embarrassed as if they actually got caught in the act.

Jeongguk chuckles, and moves to go open the other but Jimin grabs his arm and starts fussing with the opened buttons of the younger’s shirt.

“You can’t open the door like this!” Jimin whisper-shouts, and Jeongguk wants to laugh at his cuteness but refrains from doing so because Jimin is already panicking and doesn’t want to make things worst.

He lets Jimin smooth down his hair, putting the messy locks of hair back to its place and then makes his way to the door, looking behind him to see Jimin readjusting everything on the table again. 

Okay, Jeongguk has to admit he’s nervous too, he’s still trying to know why on earth he allowed this to happen, but he can chicken out now. Jimin is a bad influence to him, he wasn’t a softie before. Two years ago he wouldn’t have even thought of calling her to meet up.

He grabs the doorknob tightly, lets out a deep breath, counts down from five, and opens the door.

Here they are. 

Jeongguk lets out a shaky breath, hoping they didn’t hear it, and offers them a polite little smile.

His mother is the first to react, offering back a smile that actually looks sincere, genuinely happy.

“Hello, and merry Christmas son.” she says, voice light and sweet. It doesn’t sound forced, and the little glint of joy in her eyes leaves Jeongguk a bit dumbfounded.

“Hello.” he clears his throat and can’t help but smile at her too. “Merry Christmas to you too.”

Jeongguk looks at his father, who hasn’t opened his mouth yet and only sees a serious face, cold eyes looking back at him. Like always.

He steps aside to let them in, grabbing their coats to put them on the wardrobe near the door as Jimin appears at the corner with mouth pressed tight in a weird smile, and looks at Jeongguk, silently asking with his eyes if it’s safe. Jeongguk nods, side eyeing at his mother, who’s busy examining the entrance hall with a little smile on her lips.

“Hello, Jimin-ssi and merry Christmas.” she says when she spots him, surprising Jimin with her cheerful behavior. He steps aside and bows politely at his parents-in-law.

“Merry Christmas.” he motions for them to come over, leading them to the living room.

The four of them sit awkwardly and silent for a couple of minutes, anyone not knowing what to say.

“Do you-“ Jimin starts with a weak voice, looking at her with scared eyes, “Do you want me to show you the place?” he asks.

She does something akin to a smile and nods at him, and the both of them leave Jeongguk and his father alone. At least his mother is showing signs of regret, desire of asking for forgiveness and compensate them for all the suffering they have put them through, but his father hasn’t even shown any kind of emotion on his face, and Jeongguk doesn’t know what to do.

“Do you want something to drink? I found a bottle of your favorite brand of whiskey.” Jeongguk looks at his father’s stoic expression, hoping to see something, anything, that can make him breath again. He’s not sure why he’s trying so hard, isn’t his father the one who supposedly has to be nice?

The old man nods, eyes following his son as Jeongguk stands up from the couch to go serve him a glass of the strong liquor and give it to him. They sit silently again, Jimin’s voice can be heard from distance explaining to Jeongguk’s mother about the little terrace they have upstairs where they like to sit and relax during the warmest afternoons of spring.

“You doing good at work, I’ve heard.” Jeongguk’s dad’s deep voice startles the younger, eyes focus on his dad instantly and he feels so stupid for feeling his stomach flutter at the thought his father may show interest in him. He feels stupid for still wanting their attention after so many years of rejection, he thought he had overtook that already.

“Yes, work’s fine.” he mumbles, observing as his father nods while taking a sip of his drink.

“Good, good.” says the old man, eyes roaming around the room, “And you and Jimin-ssi are okay?” Why do they keep on asking about their relationship? Isn’t it obvious they are still together and plan to be for very long? They are still living together and plan on expanding the family. It really bothers and annoys him they kind of still hope to see them apart.

“Yes, I’ve never loved someone as much as I love him.” he pauses to study his father’s face, “Also we will go to the shelter and adopt a dog, Jimin’s always wanted one and we are economically stable to do so.”

“That’s good, I’m sure you will take good care of the pup.” his father nods and then looks at him with a bit of softness in his eyes. Jeongguk gulps, holding his stare for what feels like years, noticing how his father seems to want to say something.

“Your mother was very persistent about this,” he says finally, eyes locked on the glass on his hand, ice cubes clinking inside of it as he starts to move slowly the cup. “I was very hesitant because we didn’t end up in good terms and-“ he pauses, frown on his face and finally looks at Jeongguk. “I didn’t thought you would agree to see us and, honestly, I don’t know how I can look at your face after what we did. You’ve grown up to be a really nice man and- and I’m so proud of you.” he finishes with a soft voice. Jeongguk tries to swallow the lump forming on his throat, praying tears won’t fall from his eyes at his father’s words. He shouldn’t care he’s proud of him, after all they hadn’t acted like parents he wanted to impress but hearing it still makes him feel warm inside. He exhales, feeling like he can breath again after being underwater for too long.

“Thank you.” he whispers, trying to show with those two words how much it meant to him what his father said.

Jimin and his mother appear right then, and Jimin instantly notices Jeongguk’s teary eyes, questioning him with a stare but Jeongguk shakes his head and smiles at him softly.

 

The rest of the day progresses rather well, Jeongguk’s parents seem to be more comfortable and talk a bit more, and the young couple open up to them a bit, telling them stories about their lives and how everything has been since they stopped talking to them. It’s weird, Jeongguk has never seen his parents so genuinely happy nor interested on what he says or does, but at the same time it feels nice to have them around again, he’s maybe a little more happy than usual, and finds himself smiling at his parents warmly by the time the are leaving. But he also realizes, that although they seem to care again he doesn’t really need them completely in his life, he can finally move on from this numb pain that has been following him for years.

His mother looks up at him with a little smile before she circles her arms around his torso and brings him closer for a hug. He stiffens a bit for a second but then wraps his arms around her, clenching his jaw in tension at the sudden display of affection. When they pull apart, he sees from the corner of his eyes Jimin and his father shaking hands with polite smiles, and then his father does the same with him.

“It was all delicious, thank you for inviting us.” she says to Jimin before also enveloping him in a hug.

“N-no problem.” laughs nervously Jimin, not expecting at all her kindness.”Thank you for coming.”

The old couple leave after polite farewells, and when the door closes the both of them sigh heavily and long, locking eyes with each other with a lot of emotions swimming on them.

“That was… intense.” mumbles Jimin, circling his arms around Jeongguk’s waist when the younger pulls him on a tight embrace.

“Yeah…” mumbles the younger on his neck, allowing his body to relax at the warm presence between his arms and the familiar smell of his boyfriend. He feels Jimin peck the shell of his ear, and then tilts back his head to look at him with a soft smile that transforms into one of pure playfulness.

“I think we left something unsolved before…” says Jeongguk, smirking mischievously as Jimin catches on it immediately, biting his lip sensually. The older nods before disentangling himself from Jeongguk and starts to make his way to the bedroom, motioning with his finger for Jeongguk to follow him. The younger laughs and lifts Jimin on his arms and leads them to the bedroom for a really nice evening.

 

 

 

 

“We haven’t thought of a name yet.” points out Jimin. Jeongguk hums and puts their interlocked hands inside his jacket pocket.

“We will think of one that suits the dog when we see it.” resolves the younger, smiling when he turns his face to his boyfriend and sees the wide grin on his lips. Jimin has been bouncy all day, smiling non stop at the thought of finally going to the shelter to adopt the dog, wanting to have the new family member with them before the year ends. They don’t really have anything specific in mind, the will just take the one they both like best.

The lady at reception welcomes them with a nice smile and leads them to the back of the building where a man with a wide smile greats them and shows them around before leading the way to the room were they keep the dogs.

“Did you have any specific breed in mind?” asks the caretaker, “We have plenty of dogs, sadly.” he finishes with a sad smile. He’s young, maybe their age and by the way his eyes sparkle and how the dogs get all excited to see him, you can say he treats them all well.

“Not really, just the one that we both like.” answers Jeongguk, eyes already roaming around the room to all the excited dogs inside the big cages. It’s an enormous room with cages lined up one next to the other making a hall between rows to allow walk by.

All the dogs are moving their tails excitedly, some are barking, and some other get on two feet to watch curiously at the strangers in the room.

While the caretaker -Taehyung as he cheerfully introduced himself earlier- shows Jeongguk one of the dogs he thinks would be good for them, Jimin starts wandering away, hooking a finger in the holes to tap on the nose of some curious pups. His heart sinks at the amount of dogs, cats and other species of animals that don’t have a home, an owner that can take care of them and shower them with all the love they deserve. Jimin wishes he could take all of them home.

He stops walking in front of one of the cages at the very far end of the room and crouches to look properly at the dog curled inside. It’s not sleeping, instead is looking with scared honey-brown eyes at the human in front of him. Jimin approaches slowly and rests his hand on the metal fence, two of his fingers hooked in the holes of it.

“Hey buddy, don’t be afraid.” he says with a soft tone. The dog’s nose twitches, sniffling the air to allow Jimin’s scent to invade his nostrils, and the human swears the animal seems to relax a bit its posture.

The dog stands and moves a bit forward to Jimin, his hand still perched on the fence worried if he moves he can scare the poor animal. Honestly, the dog is beautiful,  black as night and long fur cover all its form and  big wolfish ears pointing upwards; he doesn’t look like any breed he’s seen before, probably a mixed race; its eyes are an open book and Jimin can see clearly all the emotions running across them. It kind of reminds him of Jeongguk, the defiant aura, the intense eyes but soft on the inside.

“Hi.” he says softly to the dog with a tiny smile when the animal is finally near enough to press his wet snout on Jimin’s fingers.

“Oh? You have accomplished something big there.” laughs Taehyung. Jimin turns his head to see both the caretaker and his boyfriend looking at him with curious eyes.

“Why?” asks the dancer, turning back his attention to the dog, now sitting in front of him and leaning into Jimin’s touch.

“He’s not really friendly.” starts explaining Taehyung with a sad tone. “We found him two months ago abandoned on the street. He’s still a puppy, seven moths old, but he hasn’t been really nice nor playful to the caretakers nor the other dogs here. But he seems to like you.” concludes the boy with a wide smile.

“Can I touch him?” asks the shorter, hoping to be able to caress the soft fur properly. Taehyung nods and opens the door to allow the animal to come out. He steps out of the cage with hesitant steps, eyes studying all the humans surrounding him. Jimin can sense the poor animal must feel threatened and crouches down again to call him.

The dog doesn’t even hesitate to approach him this time, and tilts his head down to press it on Jimin’s chest while the human scratches his back between his shoulder blades. With the force the animal uses, Jimin ends up siting on the floor with the dog almost sitting on his lap and wiggling his tail like mad, and Jimin can’t help the bubbly laugh escaping from his mouth.

Jeongguk crouches down then, and nears his hand to the dog carefully to allow the animal to smell him too. The dog seems a bit reluctant at first, tail stiff at his back and hiding a bit on Jimin’s chest, but after a few minutes of patiently insisting the dog seems to warm up to him also. 

Taehyung just observes from the side, big grin plastered on his face at the scene. He’s happy for the pup, he thought he would never get out of here taking in consideration his attitude to people. He’s sure that’s why his previous owners abandoned him, or maybe his character developed like this after getting abandoned. He’s not sure, but anyways, right now, the pup looks the most happy Taehyung has ever seen him, and this allows him to breath a sigh of relief.

“I like him.” declares Jimin, eyes determined looking at the caretaker. Jeongguk chuckles while scratching behind the dog’s ear.

“Yeah, me too.” the couple share a look, they don’t need any more words, they can feel this puppy is the one, the decision has been made.

“Great! I’m gonna get all the paperwork ready then.” says cheerfully Taehyung and disappears to go to the office, leaving the couple playing with the dog.

“What should we name him?” asks Jeongguk, eyes sparkling with fondness at the new member of the family.

“Hm, it has to be something strong and powerful, just like him.” muses Jimin. “Sabel.”

Jeongguk pursues his lips in thought, eyes fixed on the dog now curled between them calmly enjoying their company.

“Yeah, I like it.” Smiles the younger. “Hello Sabel, welcome to the family.” both laugh when the dog barks at them waggling his tail, as if he understood the younger.

 

 

Sabel turns out to be a really playful dog, loves to run around the house, playing with the toys the couple bought for him and is starting to be more sociable with other dogs after a lot of patience from his owners. He’s grown bigger also, reaching already Jeongguk’s mid-thigh. According to Taehyung, the pup is not supposed to grow bigger than that, but since he’s not a breed they’ve heard about before, they aren’t really sure.

Although everything is nice and they enjoy the love and company their little buddy provides, they’ve had to suffer some damages; for example the sofa was the one who suffered more, the dog clawed his fangs on it and plucked all the cushions; it was a terrible mess that ended with the purchase of a new sofa and some toys for Sabel to munch while they are out.

Sabel likes to jump on their bed and curl and snuggle with them sometimes, barks loudly to demand attention or food and has eaten Jimin’s favorite jeans. But anyways, Sabel is a great add to their little family, and this year, Jeongguk smiles throughout the end year’s party at the Park’s house, enjoying the company of those who really love him, his true family and his true home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

---

A/N:

yep, sappy ending as always \o/ because it seems I can’t end any story without fluffy ending, because I love to make you go “awwwwww” smiling like idiots when you reach the end of the story. Am I nice or not? yep…

For those wondering:

Sable: With a black coat (x) But doing research I found out that sable is an animal also (x) and that it has different transcriptions depending on which language you use (obviously…). Sabel (in Dutch) was the one I liked best, even in pronunciation. I don’t know, it’s weird but cute, I liked it so that’s why named him that xD

I imagine Sabel looking something like this or this

So, I hope you enjoyed this… whatever it is (I’m not even sure myself), I just wanted to write some fluff for Christmas and this happened… Sorry for the little angst with the Jeon’s family :) Anyways, hope you enjoy your christmas and winter break/holidays and life in general with your most beloved ones, those who truly love you and that make you feel at home :) Love you all ♡