Two

Jimin was born a number zero.
The truth of his status had been clear since he was a child, and even though everyone found it strange, even unpleasant, it wasn't like that for him. His family had never treated him differently, they had loved their two sons; one destined to be a number two the other one a number zero, showering both with the same amount of love. And since in the eyes of his parents, his brother, and even his dog, he was the same careless and terribly stubborn Jimin number zero or what, he had grown up with the knowledge of having different characteristics, but without having to hate them. He was a number zero. For Jimin, it was as if he had been told that his hair was actually black.
However, growing up, he had realized that what for him was pointless, for the rest of the world wasn't. It was a foreign way of thinking, a concept that he would never understand. One that, however, he couldn't ignore. He felt whole, he felt all right and yet people pretended to argue otherwise.
"Being a number zero is the worst of the misfortunes," they said. Jimin didn't want to be a disgrace and he didn't feel like one. As naive as it sounded to his own ears—because it was something that no one ever had assured him— it was quite the opposite. Jimin was convinced that just because there wasn't someone out there who would fit perfectly with his person, it didn't mean that he could not be happy. That just because he wasn't guaranteed to be loved, it did not mean he couldn't love. It was this conviction that was the source of his smiles throughout the years.
He was naïve, maybe just a tad bit idealistic.
Jimin fell in love, a requited love, at the age of fifteen. The consequences of that meeting had cemented his conviction, but they also ended up destroying his innocence. It was not a matter of experiencing love. It was a matter of experiencing its ugliness. Because those who knew that their bond wouldn't be questioned could never understand the pain of the loss.
"He won't come Park, you are just wasting your time," said someone somewhere behind him. Someone else laughed heartily as if his trashed feelings were the best show.
"Look at his face. Look at his face! You think he will cry?” More laughter.
"They should call it tears of zeros instead of crocodile tears,” another person had the stupidity to say. It followed even more boisterous laughter.
Jimin slipped his earphones in. Their words didn't matter, it was his decision to stay there and wait; it had to count for something. After a while, the boys grew tired of staying at the school entrance to mock Jimin, and he would have been happy if they weren't right. No one appeared around the corner. He was alone.
Until the day you say no more.
He loved him, he loved him so much, but no one had told him that he could also love things that hurt, because no one could tell him. It was a secret of the number zeros that the numbers twos would never understand. They simply despised them for their suffering.
See you tonight.
It's a promise.
They were words said a billion times, written a billion times and a billion times had been for nothing. Jimin had been waiting for someone who would not come, back then like now, three years later.
“Why are you doing this to yourself?” Seokjin asked him, taking him by the shoulders, seeking for a reaction from him.
Jimin looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. He would not come. It was like waking up from a dream and realizing that the real nightmare was the reality, understanding the details of it all and not being able to bear it. Love, that could not be to love.
Stop. It's enough. I can't take it anymore. Please no more.
Jimin took a bag and began to fill it, almost not caring what he tossed in.
His phone rang. More by reflex than for a real conviction, he checked the message. Yet another string of excuses. He threw the phone inside the bag and didn't stop. He came out of the damn apartment, out of those four walls that he hated so much and ran to the bus stop. To hell with the rest.
"Everything will be fine. It'll be okay, I promise Jimin,” whispered Seokjin, his hair. "I'm so proud of you." Jimin curled up under the covers. No, he didn't feel proud of himself, but destroyed, empty. Useless.
And then he understood. He understood that the real curse wasn't their inability to love because they could. It was finding out that for them, love was not enough.
"He won't come, Park.” It was like that. No one would ever come, because nobody on this planet existed to return to him. He was a number zero.
So what was the point of living? What was the sense of putting one foot after the other? Jimin asked himself again and again in the endless nights of solitude when loneliness was so great that he couldn't breathe. How was it possible to be able to breathe when you had the absolute certainty of being alone, when you had experienced on your skin so little kindness?
Looking down from the roof of the building, the fall looked almost appealing.
Yet, miraculously, somehow, clinging to the last pieces of himself, he managed to survive. It was not the end of the world, it was not. There were millions of things for which it was worth living. His family, his best friends, his work, even his cat. Perhaps he would never have a happy ending, but there were things he could do.
"How's it going?"Seokjin asked with a true kindness, never complaint, so good like a balm on his wounds.
"Better. I'm trying at least."
"Good!"
"As if it were something to be proud of."
"It is because you have not given up."
Jimin had smiled then, for the first time with a light heart.
One step at a time, he moved on. With more wounds than they were needed, but also with more awareness. Becoming an adult, after all, means learning to downsize themselves, and there was nothing so awful about that. It meant having experienced the sweet and bitter, having learned and realized that some things just happen. You could beat yourself endlessly over your weaknesses, or learn from your mistakes and decide to go ahead. Some battles were quiet, but no less important.
Jimin won his.
However, in his new life, though he had learned to love himself again, he hadn't been able to get rid of his loneliness. After all, that was the only thing he could never do by himself, the only solution to loneliness was in fact 'company'. Yet not even in his wildest dreams, he had ever thought to meet someone like Jungkook.
Jungkook was young, hurt and angry, so angry that he had turned his sense of injustice into a determination. “I'm trying,” he had answered Seokjin back then. The other number zero was trying so hard that it hurt him, his determination squeezed your heart to the point that even though you didn't agree with him, you still wanted to see him succeed.
Everything that I used to be everything that I'll never be.
"What is it that you like so much of Jungkook?" Seokjin had asked, intrigued.
"I like him, that's it," Jimin replied.
"C'mon tell me. I understand that he is attractive, but he’s also not the easiest person on the planet."
Jimin had looked at him sideways.
"You see him and see a new puzzle you fear you will break your head in order to solve it. I see him and I feel overwhelmed by enthusiasm. He makes me feel able to do anything."
“Ah," the blond replied. This was something Seokjin understood perfectly.
He loved him, loved him like a blind man who regained his sight and sees the dawn break for the first time in the sky.
He loved him so much to the point that Jimin decided he didn't care if they could never happen.
It was enough if the other got the things he hoped for, so Jungkook would never reach the day when he would say no more. As it was for him.
I want for you to reach your goals, to conquer everything there is to win. I wish a full and happy life.
Even if it means letting you go.

The Jimin’s parents had lived for years in a city by the sea. They had taken advantage of the fact that both their children were grown up and able to fend for themselves and went back to square one, choosing a house in the place where they first met. Looking back, it was impossible for Jimin not wish that for himself, number zero or not, considering the striking example of undying love his parents showcased.
In any case, it took him a coffee break and a four-hour drive to get there. He turned off the engine of the car in front of the driveway. A house by the sea didn't seem a bad place to spend a forever. He took his suitcase and Tao’s cage and rang the bell.
"Coming!" His mother's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Jimin!" She exclaimed. She was in her dressing gown and she had the air of someone who had been pulled out of bed. Damn. It was later than he had thought, but at the time he just impulsively grabbed his car keys and drove out without checking the hour.
It was late, he was tired and hungry and had the cage of a cat in one hand and a suitcase in the other. He had to look like someone who had just escaped some tragedy. Yeah, the one related to another disappointment in love. Yet Jungkook was not just 'another'. Jungkook was special.
It was then that Jimin got it. He really really had hoped. It was not for numbers zero to hope for a forever. But yes, a selfish part of him had wanted a together.
I'm not strong, I've never been, not like you.
"Come inside,” his mother said softly, because as always, a glance was enough to understand. He let himself be embraced by his mother briefly. "I'm exhausted," he whispered.
"I know, the journey was long." Neither of them were talking about the hours in the car. "Want to get some rest? So tomorrow morning we can talk together with your father.” Jimin nodded freeing Tao from their cage, then taking his suitcase and going to the guest bedroom.
He didn't need his parents to make his decisions, Jimin was accustomed to act and to carry his burden alone since he had realized that being a number zero was not exactly like having black hair. The fact that he had never talked about his feelings openly had hurt his parents, was a distinct possibility. However, Jimin couldn't open his heart, he wasn't able to. Knowing that despite their good intentions, they could not understand him, it had always been the strongest deterrent. So he didn't need his parents to take decisions, but needed their advice to convince other parents. They were the ones, after all, to have made the commitment with the Jeon family.
So Jimin came back to the source to do the right thing, the one that he should have done the moment Jungkook got up from that table in that bar screaming his desperate will to live.

Jungkook kept staring obsessively at the piece of paper on which Seokjin had written the address of Jimin's parents house. The piece of paper had been opened and folded so many times that Jungkook had to refrain from touching it again or he would end up ruining it irreparably and then it would be a tragedy. He was still a bit tired and definitely a bit groggy from the lack of sleep, but he also felt strangely shiny and active. He kept repeating mentally over and over again the speech that he was going to say to Jimin, with some corrections of course, since the facts of the past 48 hours had ruined his declaration.
“Hello Jimin, before you slam the door on me, let me tell you that it's all a misunderstanding.”
Or
“Hello Jimin Have you seen the news?”
“Hello Jimin, it would have been a good thing if you had answered one of my calls.”
Jungkook sighed. It was not his fault, much less than Jimin's. Things happened and now the only thing that Jungkook could do was trying to deliver the right message. Namely, he wasn't so contrary to a happily ever after with Jimin.
I love you.
Jungkook squirmed in his seat while a guy on the other side of the carriage judged him hard.
He tried to compose himself. He had to remain vigilant. Jungkook couldn't help but throw nervous glances whenever the train stopped, and he pulled an internal sigh of relief every time he saw the uniforms that were those of railway staff or the controllers.
When Taehyung had slipped his old phone in his hand, he had explained that he had saved their numbers in the Speed Dial buttons, the first button with Seokjin's number, who was saved in the phone with the fancy name of Kim the savior. Jungkook had fully agreed.
He tried not to think about what would have happened if Seokjin had not intervened. Part of him still wondered what had become of the man he had spoken to in the cell.
“Don't worry Jungkook, Jin will make sure that they are all set free,” his friend had reassured.
The youngest would have wanted to ask the blond many questions, but he decided to reserve his curiosity for a later, possibly after he fixed his life with Jimin successfully. His curiosity about Seokjin could wait, for the time being, he would be content to be grateful forever.
Finally, after the train had stopped in any conceivable stop—and Jungkook had dozed off for two of the five hours of that long journey—he arrived at his destination.
He hoisted the bag on his shoulder, took the crumpled note from the pocket of his jeans and he stepped off the train, then by road. Once he was out of the station he realized that his research would be more difficult than expected. Seokjin had failed to tell him that this city was huge. And he only had a piece of paper, a bit of money that was barely enough for a sandwich, let alone a taxi, and a phone without internet connection.
With a stoicism that would make Hoseok proud hyung, Jungkook told to himself that if he had survived detention, he could easily find Jimin in that bloody great city. Even if he had to beat the place inch by inch, he was going to grab his ing happy ending, damn him.
Anyway, the only clue he had was knowing that it was a house by the sea. So he might as well take a bus that got him to the beach.
"Excuse me, is this the bus that makes the promenade?"
How difficult could it be?
Once he was on the bus, saying goodbye to the possibility of a sandwich, and the bus had started moving, he noticed that there was another bus with the same number that went toward the opposite direction. He had the sudden bad feeling that perhaps arriving at his final destination would have been a bit more complicated than expected.

"Jimin are you sure?"
"Mom I didn't come here to change my mind. I came here looking for some help. You know the Jeons better than me. After all, you did the deal,” Jimin said wearily. He had slept all night and much of the morning, and when he woke up it was more painful than the day before. However, he wasn't confused about his determination. That was still there.
"I thought things were going better. You told us that the break had been good to you, you were friends. "
"Mom."
"It would be such a shame. I believe that if you waited a bit..."
"Mom, please. Just stop,” Jimin pleaded.
His father put his hand on his mother's arm, and this was enough to make her stop.
"I will go myself to the Jeon's if needed, whether you help me or not."
"I'll do it. Don't worry, I'll take care of it,” his father said.
"Thank you," Jimin said, shrugging his shoulders, more exhausted than he had ever been.
"Jimin, I know you're an adult and I know you would not have taken this decision lightly, but I saw you happy. I thought Jungkook made you happy, then why this? "
Jimin closed his eyes.
"Because I want him to be."
A heavy silence followed his words.
"You don't know how it is. I know it's not your fault and I could never be angry for that, but it's true that you really can't know. How it is to get up in the morning and having to find a reason to live in yourself, knowing that if I don’t, no one else will do it for me. You don't know what it is love to a number zero. It's not the love that kills us, but it's losing the love we found that does. So even if it seems incomprehensible that anyone would want to face this world on his own legs, you have to force yourself to accept it. There are number zeros that despite their uncertainties, their fears and their fragility, they still want to deal with the weight of loneliness alone, with all the pride they are capable of. And if Jungkook wants that I won't deny him. Even if I love him. Particularly because it is so."
Do not Cry. Do not cry, he told himself squinting.
He felt his mother's hand, a caress on his wet cheek.

Two hours later Jungkook got off from the third bus that day with the bag heavy on his shoulder and without a penny on him, but finally at the destination.
The driver had assured him that the street he was looking for was a hundred meters away, just around the corner and Jungkook prayed all the gods in heaven that it was so.
His determination was not scratched, he just hoped not to have to keep his promise to beat that city street by street, mostly because in the meantime Jimin would have left.
He covered the last damned hundred meters with a light jog. His legs were aching, but the idea of seeing Jimin gave him back a bit of energy.
There was a pretty house down the street, with blue windows and a garden, merely some meters from the sea. Jungkook checked the address. It was the right house. With his heart pounding in his throat he went down the driveway and covered the last steps that separated him from his hyung.

It was as if he was again eighteen, and he was locked up in his room to pick up the pieces of himself while his parents kept talking about what to do. Only that it had passed several years since then, yet it seemed that his life had to repeat itself in continuous cycles. No. Jungkook was different. Perhaps that was why he was hurt.
Jimin opened the bedroom door, uncertain about what to do.
"I don't understand, the Jeons sounded angry on the phone."
Jimin eavesdropped.
"What did they say?" His mother asked his father.
"They agreed to undo the agreement without batting an eyelid. But I don't think they were even listening. The last time they heard of Jungkook was two days ago. All this is worrisome."
Jimin remained frozen in the doorway. So had it been so simple? It would have been enough to call the Jeons to put a final word? And what did they mean by saying that Jungkook had disappeared?
He had rejected him, he didn't even show himself.
Don't come. Those words were tattooed in his soul.
But was it actually like that? Jimin had based his decision on his past experiences and on what Jungkook had said in the past. Yet in retrospect, there was a time when he would have given the benefit of the doubt to anyone and maybe that was why, that based on past wounds, he had not given one chance to him.
For the first time, Jimin doubted the rightness of his actions. Maybe there was a reason, one ing million reasons that could explain everything, but Jimin had chosen to ignore it. He put his hands over his mouth to keep himself from screaming. He marched back into his bedroom, not minding if the door had closed behind him or not. He rummaged through his suitcase until he finally found it. His phone. And then he stopped again. His stomach twisted and a feeling of dizziness took over him. He didn't know if he had the courage to turn it on, but he couldn't isolate himself forever. He had to know, and also face the disappointment of that new found hope to be stepped all over.
He squeezed the phone. Sometimes it was a matter of faith.
He stuffed the phone in his pocket and exited hurriedly the room.
"I'm going for a walk on the beach!" He said, passing in a rush for the living room where his parents were still talking in a low voice.
"Jimin wait!"
"See you later!" He replied. He needed to be alone, a place where there was only him and the sea so he could scream his frustration if needed. He walked the few meters that separated him from the beach and then once that his shoes touched the white sand, he started to run.

It wasn't Jimin; the one in the doorway. Of course. It would have been too simple. Instead, it was a middle-aged woman and Jungkook knew immediately who it was because he could recognize those eyes anywhere.
In another life, she could have been his mother-in-law.
Jungkook inhaled deeply.
"Good morning, Mrs. Park. I'm looking for Jimin," said the young man in one breath. He felt shivers running from head to toe. She seemed taken aback.
"You must be Jungkook."
"Er, yes. Sorry. I didn't introduce myself,” Jungkook said. He was a walking disaster, but he would ask for forgiveness for his bad manners later. After talking with Jimin of course.
"Unfortunately Jimin is not here, he went out an hour ago for a walk on the beach, but he hasn't returned yet. You can wait inside if you like. I don't think he'll take too much longer to come back. "
Jungkook froze on the spot. Another mishap. No, he refused to be stopped right now.
"Thank you, but...could you tell which way he went?" he asked.
"Usually Jimin likes to walk near the pier, close to the cliff."
"Thank you so much!" He settled the bag on the other shoulder and proceeded to leave.
"Jungkook, wait. You need to know something."
"Mrs. Park I'm so sorry for my manners, but I really cannot wait."
"This is important,” she begged him kindly.
Jungkook put his bag on the ground.
"If you can be brief I'll be eternally grateful."

There were at least around twenty missed calls between Seokjin, Taehyung, Namjoon and Hoseok.
“Jimin, this is all a misunderstanding,” said the first message he opened, one of the many messages poor Taehyung had bombed him.
After that, it was no longer possible for him to refrain from reading every single message from the oldest to the newest. The more he read, the more he felt a weight settle on his shoulders.
He had it all wrong, he had it all wrong damn it, and he had failed to trust Jungkook in the only moment that mattered. There was no longer a formal link to keep them together. What if with his rushed decision, Jimin ruined everything? There was, in fact, no trace of messages or calls made by Jungkook. He walked up and down the pier in despair.
Jimin let out a half shout. Trust him, you didn't trust him then, do it now. Instead of turning off the phone as his fear told him to, he scrolled down all the messages and calls in search of something he could have missed—until he found a voice message warning by an unknown number. He suddenly stopped. The sound of waves crashing on the rocks was deafening.
He looked up into the clear blue sky. Then he looked back down on his cell phone.
He pressed the button of his voicemail.
"Hello Jimin. It's me, Jungkook."

Jungkook ran at breakneck speed toward the beach, legs protesting for the stress of the day and the one before that.
Jimin asked us to help him cancel the engagement entirely.
Stupid. His hyung was so stupid.
He did it for you.
Of course, Jimin had thought of me at such a time.
The cool wind struck his face as he tried to reach the pier as quickly as possible.
Please, be there.

"How are you? Yeah, I know, stupid question." Jungkook's voice sounded shaky.
"You won't believe it, but the unthinkable really happened. You know when you want to do something with all your will, but then the whole world seems against you? That's what happened. What are the chances that it could happen to me? How many chances to be arrested just because I was found in the middle of an event of which I completely ignored the existence? I don't know if you've heard the news, or if you've read any of Taehyung or Seokjin's messages. I would have texted you myself, but in the hustle, of course, my phone fell somewhere and broke."Jungkook chuckled nervously. Then it followed a heavy silence. A sigh. Jimin's breath hitched.
"I'm sorry Jimin hyung. If I think about it, despite the mishap being not my fault, it is my fault if you have felt the urge to leave. Because I should have been clearer about my feelings for you, I should have eaten my fears and been sincere. I should have told you. I really should. Do not think for a moment, not even for an infinitesimal moment that I didn't show up intentionally. They had to arrest me to keep me away from you." His voice sounded agitated.
"I'm here at the train station, I'm about to catch the train that will take me to your parents' house, and even if you were never to hear my message I hope you still will give me the chance to tell you, to repeat in person what I feel for you. Because I love you. I love you. I love you."

Jungkook finally glimpsed a figure in the mist, standing on the dock near the rocks. The wind was ruffling his hair as he stared at the sea while holding the phone over his right ear. He didn't realize that he had slowed down until he found himself at a walking distance from Jimin.
“Hyung," Jimin turned. His lower lip trembled, but it wasn't cold, the sea breeze was warm and pleasant.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I thought … I failed you so deeply. I thought you changed your mind and I left. " Jimin said with such a desperation that was unbearable for Jungkook. Because every tiny wound of Jimin it was like his own. He covered the last few steps that separated them and took his face between his hands, gently. Jimin stopped shaking.
"Shh. Everything is alright. Everything is alright."
"I'm sorry." Jungkook pressed his lips to the tip of his nose, which silenced every word Jimin had planned to say.
"Thank you; for thinking of me even at that time, for thinking of me always. Thank you for never stepping on my wishes, even if it meant stepping over yours.” Jungkook then gently pressed his lips to his. It felt so right like that was like it had to be. He opened his eyes to look into Jimin's, to be sure he would understand once and for all.
And no, it wasn't scary at all.
Love.
"I love you. I don't care if we are numbers zero, I don't care about what my family says, about marriage or that ing referendum. I want to be with you. And now that we are free, every day we spend together—it will be because we chose it. "
“I…" He felt Jimin's hands tighten on his shirt and saw his expression break and then he felt himself sliding forward towards those waiting beautiful lips.
He felt fingers gently grab locks of his hair and his body close, as close as possible. They kissed once.
Thank you.
Twice.
I love you.
Three times and then there was no need to count anymore. Was it was possible to smile in a kiss?
Yes, it was.

There was a time when ‘soulmate’ did not mean number two.

"Let's go back," said Jungkook. Jimin nodded and smiled, offering his hand to the younger who grabbed it happily, smiling back at the sight of their fingers intertwined. They were two number zeros. They were two people who were walking together down the beach and they loved each other.

Epilogue

Jimin checked the last document for the day and sighed exhaustedly.
"Jimin are you done? If you're done, come here to help me out so we can go home,” Seokjin called from the other room. Jimin shrugged but couldn't ignore it, after all, Seokjin was his boss. If he had stayed only his best friend, he would have not hesitated to leave him there.
With a sigh, and ing the top buttons of his shirt, he went into the other room.
The office of Jin was impeccable as always. The documents were ordered and labeled by colors on the desk, pens put back neatly in their pencil box, the computer was turned off and cd's in perfect order on the shelves, although Jimin knew Seokjin liked listening to them every day. Speaking of Seokjin, his best friend seemed intent in the task to hang a picture, judging by the hammer, the nails, and the frame.
"Here come keep up the stationary leveler while I try to mark the points where to pierce the wall. I found this in the attic and as I saw it I knew it had to be hung here in its place." Jimin nodded, internally relieved that it was a simple task. He was tired and hungry and had worked for hours without stopping. He wanted to go home and relax before his evening date.
He watched Seokjin complete the task with all the calm of the world, proceeding then to beat two nails in the wall with the skill of someone that is used to doing this often. Jimin told himself that considering the capacity of Namjoon of getting hurt even with a plastic knife, it was very likely that at home the oldest was the one who did these jobs.
"Done. Pass me the frame on the desk, please." Jimin headed in that direction and when he finally saw the subject inside the frame, he held his breath.
The picture was taken with Seokjin’s camera and it went back a year before or so, the day that had changed their lives forever.
"I want to open my own center,” Seokjin blurted out during one of their weekly lunches. His relationship with Jungkook had been going out for several months and Jimin was still trying to balance fairly his job, his boyfriend and his friends, a task more difficult than he initially thought since the two friends and both Hoseok and Taehyung demanded his presence. Trying to balance his time with Jungkook turned out to be extremely difficult. Jimin would have wanted to spend any time with him, unfortunately, his boyfriend was too busy writing his thesis.
"If you want to see him more, just go to live together," Taehyung had suggested a few days before. Jimin almost choked on the water he was drinking. As tempting as it looked, it was all new to both of them and he didn't want to move too fast.
Anyway, wild suggestions of Taehyung apart, Jimin was pleased to have been able to use his time well and that his routine with Seokjin, for example, had stayed the same.
"Wow," Jimin said at Seokjin's statement. He lowered the fork to drink a glass of water. His friend was biting nervously his lip.
"The director of the community center had been wanting to retire for years, but since he never found anyone to replace him, he always postponed. However a month ago he asked me if I would be interested in the position. I've been thinking about it since." Seokjin paused, uncertain, almost fearing that his friend would tell him he was crazy but Jimin nodded for him to continue.
"I've come up with some ideas and collected information about it. With the air that runs inside the politics environment, this seems a favorable moment for cultural centers like ours. With Namjoon, we have always discussed how much of a waste of talent was that the liberal arts were meant only for number twos and how it would have been nice to be able to do something about it. The center could be an excellent pool of talent, after all, it just needs someone willing to give these young talents a way to be able to continue their careers. I think that's why after hearing the proposal they made to me, Namjoon decided to create his own independent label." Seokjin said as if he were commenting on the weather news.
Jimin nearly choked on his water.
"He what?"
"Yeah well it has always been a dream of his. Between his career and mine, money is not an issue, and we both have enough connections to make sure that his project, as well as mine, can be feasible. However you see, I cannot do everything myself, I am a photographer and I don't know anything about dancing, singing or playing instruments, not as much as Namjoon and he certainly cannot help me if he has to think of his record label. That's why I was thinking of asking you to give me a hand." If he didn't smother before, Jimin thought it was legitimate if he did then, and so it happened. Seokjin spent the fifteen minutes giving him pats on the back.
It started like that, some words exchanged at lunch and an “I will think about it”. Before he realized it things were set in motion. After several weeks of back and forth and after Jungkook's intervention (he had looked the most excited of them all) in the end, Jimin had surrendered, despite the idea of leaving his job and embark on a new adventure terrified him. Seokjin hadn't wanted for him to invest a penny though and despite the protests of Jimin he firmly said, "You're one of my employees now.” And he never talked about the matter again. It turned out that he and Namjoon had really thought of everything. They had talked about the project with all the employees of the center, with the old director, with some accountants of trust and they had probed the waters to understand the amount of necessary documents and the budget needed to start. Meanwhile, Namjoon had been busy on his own establishing his independent label. Who helped him, once again, was Yoongi.
The fact that he was indirectly involved from a financial point of view was something that made Jimin uncomfortable and Jungkook unhappy.
"Yoongi has nothing to do with the center. Nor with Namjoon's label,” Jimin had tried to reassure the younger. Jungkook grunted but didn't protest even though he acted terribly territorial the days after the news as if he was afraid that Yoongi would come out of a bush. Jimin had tried to convince Jungkook that there was absolutely no need to him 24/7, but of course the number zero had not listened and Jimin gave up. He knew that when Yoongi had known of their project, and who was involved, he had tried to give them a financial help but Namjoon opposed to that. Luckily it hadn't been necessary the intervention of Jimin to make him desist and Yoongi understood their reasons and decided to help them in terms of networking instead. Jimin could accept that, but he was glad that his involvement had been limited to that and that only.
The project came to life and within a year, the restoration of the center had been launched as well as the label of Namjoon, who had hired successfully his first artist, Kim Taehyung.
The news had shocked everyone except Hoseok.
"Weren't you the one who said that the life of a celebrity would cut short your time with Hoseok?"
Jungkook had asked his best friend, deeply irritated. Apparently, the thing was done in secret and the younger had been kept in the dark. Although the puppy eyes Hoseok was giving him, he kept saying that Taehyung made him promise to keep the secret, had managed to soften Jungkook a bit.
"Since Hoseokkie started working as a doctor in effect, I don't see him often anyway. I thought that the only solution so that he can finally decide his own working hours, was to gain enough money to buy him a clinic."
Taehyung wasn't joking and judging by the enormous sigh that Hoseok had let out, the latter was aware of it. The sigh was followed by an exchange of glances so full of affection that Jimin had to look away.
Taehyung’s debut was a success.
However, the surprises didn't end there. Jimin that year wasn't the only one to receive a job offer.
With the renovations and the premises of the new row of courses scheduled the center would have needed new teachers. Jimin himself had volunteered to take on some courses, but it wasn't enough since he had to take care of the administration. Thus, the Master Lee suggested forming another teacher: Jungkook.
"I can't do it,” Jungkook had said in a strangled voice but Jimin had learned to read him, to know when was the real Jungkook to talk and when were instead his fears to do so. Jimin then hugged him tight, because it was what the younger needed—what he had always needed. The strong and fearless Jungkook had faced many things in his life without receiving enough hugs in Jimin's opinion, so he had promised himself to shower him with affection at any chance.
"You'll be perfect," he whispered.
He knew what it meant to have a dream, a passion, and having to bury it with reluctance but with necessity, because it was a passion with no future. Abandoning dancing had been a bit of a grief, with which he had to live for years and he knew that Jungkook had done the same, as well as for all the numbers zero that had to kill their thirst for art.
So he wouldn't let his boyfriend not take advantage of that opportunity, because if there was anyone who deserved to live his dream, it was him.
Seokjin took him out of his reminiscent thoughts by taking the frame from his hands and hanging the picture on the wall.
"It seems like yesterday when we started."
"Yeah," Jimin said a bit touched.
It was a picture of them, taken on the day they celebrated the official reopening of the center. At the center of the picture stood Seokjin, with his left hand still holding the sheet of paper which indicated the ownership and while his other hand was intertwined with Namjoon's. Beside Namjoon was Taehyung with a toothy grin, and Hoseok with an arm encircled his shoulders. On the opposite side smiling at Seokjin stood Jimin, whose eyes disappeared and was his smile so wide and there, hands on his waist and tucking him closer, there was Jungkook, who was smiling that boyish smile Jimin adored because the younger smiled like that only when they were together.
"We are all a bit disheveled and my smile looks weird but we were so beautiful that I had to frame the picture and hang it up," Seokjin said. Jimin stared again at the picture and his gaze lingered on Jungkook. His heart did a somersault.
"We've really made it. I still cannot believe it,”Jimin said sighing.
"It was hard, but we managed, and the best is yet to come and will have to roll up our sleeves...though, I'm glad I embarked on this adventure with you all.” Seokjin replied, placing a warm hand on his arm.
"Me too,” Jimin smiled.
"Anyway! Would you like to have dinner with us tonight?” Seokjin suddenly exclaimed all excited, changing the subject. His best friend was over thirty yet he still acted like a kid.
"Maybe next time."
"Skype date?"
"Maybe," Jimin said with a wink.
"All right. I'll leave you to your date time. But promise me you'll be there on Saturday night!"
"Of course! And leave you alone with Taehyung and Hoseok? I could never!"
"Don't joke. Since they returned from their honeymoon, they can't break away from each other. "
"Thank God that the number zero is me."
"Jimin they went to the bathroom together. The bathroom. I've seen them. It wasn't even their bathroom but mine!" This time Jimin laughed.
A few months, before Taehyung had officially asked for Hoseok’s hand. As number twos, their union had been inscribed in the register of soulmates, but they had never celebrated their new status. Marriage ceremonies, in fact, were more a thing for extremely rich people or politicians, like the consuls and their children or high position in the Senate. In their world normal people, even the numbers two didn't marry with a ceremony, because the concept of "I Do" was staggered.
Taehyung had thrown stereotypes out of the window and had organized a party worthy of the heir of the Kims or Parks. Then as soon as Hoseok had managed to finally get rest days, Taehyung had kidnapped his number one and taken him in some exotic island in the middle of the ocean. There seemed to be no limit to the level of ridicule their love could touch. Jimin shook his head at the thought of those two. After finally saying goodbye to Seokjin, he returned to his office to get his things and then walked out of there and back home. It was a lovely late evening and Jimin was glad to have left the car in the garage and decided instead to move on foot. His new job was closer to his home than his old job in the office, one of the many positive aspects of this new life.

Halfway he was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
A video call. A smile automatically printed on his face as he pulled the earphones to listen to the call.
"Our team leader is a slave driver,” he said as soon as Jimin had pressed the button to accept the call.
Jimin laughed. "Hello to you too!"
“Oh hi, sorry hyung. But my team leader is really a tyrant, he almost makes me regret the good old teacher Lee. We've working for four hours without breaks. I think my calves will never be the same."
"You do know that you can stop calling him teacher now that you and Seunghyun hyung are colleagues."
"Of course not. If I try to call him by his name, he is capable of taking a plane just so to kick me."
"He lets me, though."
"That's because technically you're his boss."
"Lies, he said it's because I'm funnier than you."
Jungkook glared at him from the screen while Jimin smiled triumphantly. Despite his complaints, the younger seemed happy and in good health.
"It's decided, I won't call you anymore."
"You'll miss me after just two days,” Jimin teased.
"Unfortunately that's true," Jungkook replied, shaking his head. Then he said. "It's hard here without you."
"Just six more months," Jimin said trying to be encouraging although he was missing Jungkook a lot too.
When Jungkook had agreed to turn his passion for dance into a career, he had not imagined that one day his job as a teacher would take him abroad. However, a few months before, the teacher Lee had sent a video of Jungkook's classes to his friends overseas, and soon after the latter was proposed a place in a famous dance team that followed the tour of concerts of some big artists. It was a great opportunity in terms of career and Jimin had insisted that Jungkook accepted it even if it meant the younger would have to stay away months or maybe a year. The latter had been reluctant for various reasons, from the fact to leave his partner's side to the fact that he had to temporarily put on hold his teaching job.” Think about the things you can teach after," Jimin said. The truth was that both him and the teacher Lee harbored the hope that an experience like that could bring Jungkook closer to the world of performances and why not, maybe being involved in the activities of the new label of Namjoon one day. Jimin didn't know if it could be possible; if the times were right for Jungkook to try that, but he was still young, he was twenty five years old and he really wished that his partner was able to achieve his dreams, even if it meant to be deprived of his company for a while.
Their relationship had been going on for two years and the most wonderful years of his life. They had never formalized their relationship, there wasn't a piece of paper to certify their union and probably there would never have been one. But they didn't care that the world considered them only two lonely souls. They knew that every day they spent together was a new promise for the future.
"I can't wait. You have no idea how much I miss everything."
"I guess you miss me more."
"I do miss you. But I admit that I miss our country’s cooking more." It was Jungkook’s turn to laugh after seeing the outraged expression of Jimin.
"I was joking, I was joking!" Jimin saw the younger raise his hand in surrender.
"Anyway hyung, I'm calling you now because I don't know if I can do it later. I hope so but with the tyrant my squad leader you never know. "
"Don't worry about it. Just work and do your best."
"I miss you hyung. Really,”Jungkook said.
"I miss you too," Jimin said with a sigh. He missed him, he missed him a lot. But it was for a good cause.
Jungkook sighed in turn.
"I have to go hyung. I hope I can call you later.”
"Sure. Don't worry."
Jungkook smiled.
"See you later!
"See you later."
The video call ended.
There were times during those two years together when their old fears came back to, the fear of Jungkook of not being enough and the fear of Jimin to be abandoned, but every time they managed to find their way back. They were not perfect, they weren't two pieces of a set created to fit together, they were only two people who loved each other and they tried so hard to make it work. He had always thought that love alone would never be enough to clean the circumstances, but when he looked at Jungkook, his hand clasped in his, Jimin liked to believe that maybe he had found the only person with whom it was possible.
He put the phone in his pocket and continued walking. Along the way, he saw a supermarket and he was struck by a sudden thought.
He entered the building, he passed the fruit section in a hurry and went towards the noodles department.
The shelves were filled with discounted double packs and for once, Jimin was happy with that. He filled the cart with what he knew Jungkook liked, them he headed at the checkout.
The cashier gave him a radiant smile.
"So many packs!" She commented cheerfully. Jimin embarrassed scratched his head.
"Ah, my boyfriend is abroad and he is missing home food, and so I decided to send him some packages."
The cashier gave him another beaming smile of a number two, and after giving him the receipt, having observed Jimin put the packages in one of the empty boxes left in cash, she said:
"Your soulmate is a lucky person."
The hesitation was barely visible in the movements of Jimin who tried to recover quickly. He put the last pack of noodles inside the box left, and then not being able to refrain himself he replied.
"Thank you. I'll definitely tell my number zero."And still smiling, he exited the supermarket.

"Namjoon! the new projections on real data are coming out, come quickly!” Seokjin shouted while squeezing a pillow in his arms. On second thought, maybe he should have done as Jimin and Jungkook did, kidnap his number one and take him to a romantic place away from everything and everyone instead of torturing with the waiting. Maybe not stargaze in the middle of a wooded lawn. Knowing their luck, Namjoon would have twisted his foot just by getting out of the car. However, even that option now appeared better than the idea of staying attached to the television hoping that everything would be fine. His cell phone vibrated with yet another text from Hoseok and Taehyung who had been sharing their stress with him.
Seokjin tightened his grip on the pillow.
Namjoon finally appeared in the living room, hair still wet and his cheeks flushed from the shower steam.
"Are they out?"
"It's a matter of minutes!" replied the older. Namjoon dropped down beside him on the couch.
"Everything will be fine. Have faith," he said serenely. How he could be so calm was a mystery, but somehow his quiet demeanor managed to alleviate bit of Seokjin stress. The latter then decided to get rid of the pillow and squeeze Namjoon instead.
"You know, you're crushing me."
"Shut up," Seokjin said, planting a kiss on his cheek as an apology. Namjoon laughed.
On the TV screen appeared a new picture, a second later the phone began to ring.
Seokjin almost sobbed.

"Since when do you know the constellations?" Jimin said, giving a slight nudge alongside Jungkook when he corrected him on the right position of the pole star. It wasn't his fault that his knowledge about it was so deep that he exchanged a satellite for a shooting star. Not everyone was Jeon Jungkook apparently former astronomy professor in another life.
"When you spend so much time with Taehyung you learn odd things. If it makes you feel any better I also learned card tricks, I can do the sailing knots and even learned to knit." Jungkook replied, blushing slightly at that last admission.
Jimin laughed, rolling on the sheet they had stretched out on the grass.
It was Jungkook’s turn to to give him a nudge.
"You're just jealous of my awesomeness," said Jungkook.
Jimin laughed harder.
Jungkook glared at Jimin. In order to better see the stars, they left only the mosquito repellent candle as their source of light.
"You are pouting," Jimin commented, sitting up a little and leaning on a semi lying Jungkook. He planted a kiss on his lips, which soon turned into a real kiss. They both sighed.
Jungkook dropped back on the blanket and Jimin followed him, resting his head on his shoulder and encircling his torso with one arm. The youngest hugged him in turn.
"Thanks for bringing me here," Jimin said after a while.
"I wouldn't bear to stay at home and see you walk up and down your living room. This is so much better.” Jungkook said, tightening his grip on the older's body.
"Definitely," Jimin said, placing a light kiss on the other's collar bone.
Jungkook replied with a kiss on his forehead.
"You know, it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change what I feel for you, whether it wins the yes or the no vote.”
"I know," Jimin said.
"I love you.”
"I love you too."
Always.

Seokjin jumped on the couch and even Namjoon, despite having boasting so much security before, followed suit.
His cell phone rang again but Seokjin ignored it, he would call Hoseok later. He looked at his number one who smiled at him, that smile with dimples that Seokjin had loved from the first moment they met.
Maybe the world was ready to change.

39% Yes.

61% No.