Winter 2015

After work, Rapmon drove straight to Jin’s apartment, tired and hoping for a good meal. Remembering that Jungkook was at dance, he quietly opened the door when he arrived, slipping inside and hoping he could catch his boyfriend by surprise. To his delight, there was no sign of him in the living room, but he could hear humming from the kitchen. Ducking so Jin wouldn’t spot him through the space above the stove, he crept further inside, hugging the wall and making his way towards the humming. Glancing around the corner of the kitchen counter, he spotted Jin, clad in his usual pink apron and chopping vegetables, luckily facing away from where Rapmon was hiding.

Tiptoeing up behind him, Rapmon wrapped one arm around his waist and used the other to cover his eyes, pressing a moist kiss against his neck. Rapmon felt Jin freeze for a moment before leaning back into him and humming contentedly. Leaving one hand to keep his eyes covered, Rapmon slid his other hand down Jin’s arm, carefully plucking the knife from his hand and placing it on the counter. Jin tilted his head back, then, and Rapmon took full advantage of the opportunity. Making his way from Jin’s ear to his broad shoulder, gently on the skin as he went, he elicited small gasps of delight from the elder. Finally dropping his hand from Jin’s face, he allowed him to turn around, wrapping both arms around the elder’s waist. Jin wrapped his arms around Rapmon’s neck, and pulled him down into a kiss. As they pressed into each other, Rapmon couldn’t help but muse over Jin and his lips. They, both Jin and his lips, were surprisingly dominant (not that Rapmon really minded) and yet still so utterly soft  and delicate, and moist (well, his lips anyway) when they pressed against his own .

“Heya Joonie, how was your first day?” Jin finally asked, pulling away slightly to look into his eyes. Rapmon had to hold back a whine, having wanted to continue with the previous activity.

“Mmm, good,” Rapmon settled on small pecks, answering between kisses. “My assistant is pretty lively, so that’s nice, but the CEO had a major stick up his . Oh and some guys invited me out on Friday, said I could bring a plus one. You busy that night?”

“Yeah, actually,” Jin pulled away enough to turn around and continue working on dinner, allowing Rapmon to once again wrap his arms around him, pouting and resting his chin on the elder’s shoulders as he watched him work. “And don’t go making faces-” how Jin knew he had made a face was beyond Rapmon’s comprehension. Mom eyes? “-Hyosang has been complaining that I never hang out with him anymore, since opening the cafe and finding my soulmate. I told him I would spend some time with him that evening.”

“But hyung, I’m too shy to go alone,” Rapmon whined, wiggling against Jin’s back.

“So take Yoongi, that guy needs to get out more anyway,” Jin suggested dryly, scraping the chopped vegetables into a pot.

“But he hates going out,” Rapmon sighed, already preparing himself for the fight it would be to get Yoongi out of the house. “Oh, and speaking of Yoongi, what did you say was the name of his soulmate again?”

“Park Jimin.”

“Huh. That’s what I thought. While my assistant was explaining something about the computers today- I honestly still don’t get how the stupid system works but whatever- it hit me. His name is Park Jimin. I know it’s a common name, but I mean...”

Jin’s lip twitched, amused, “Maybe it’s him. Though, that seems highly unlikely.”

“Yeah… but like, the universe makes things happen for a reason. Soulmates are meant to be, you know? Like, I always put up a tough front for my rapper image, but we both know that’s not really me, and I’ve always secretly kinda thought pink was cute, and that was probably a sign about how you and I-” he was cut short by a forceful kiss, before Jin leaned back, eyes twinkling with amusement.

“Alright, alright, don’t get all deep and philosophical on me right now. I still remember when you said that ice cream cone had a philosophical flavor.”

“BUT IT DID. I swear, Jin, you don’t understand, that fla-” he was silenced by another kiss, this one lasting longer, as Jin pressed more tightly against him, leaning them both back against the counter. Rapmon finally gave up, biting Jin’s lip and eliciting a small moan from the other before he felt hands pushing him away and Jin leaned further backwards, out of his reach. The elder grinned mischievously as he ducked away from the kiss Rapmon tried to land on his collarbone.

“Enough, I need to finish making dinner. Go set the table.”

“Hyuuung, you can’t just do that to a guy,” Rapmon whined but did as he was told, knowing there was no winning against Jin.

“Pfft, please, I can do what I want. We both know who wears the pants in this relationship, Kim Namjoon.”

Rapmon opened his mouth to protest, then snapped it shut. . , he’s right. I can’t even complain because I won’t get dinner. Damnit, I am Whipped-mon. God, if Yoongi ever saw this...

***

After Joonie had gone home and Jungkook had returned from dance, Jin flopped down on the couch next to the younger, tired, but not enough to head to bed yet.

“Long day?” Jungkook yawned, stretching and draping himself over the elder.

“Nah. Work wasn’t bad and Joonie stopped by for dinner. You?” Jin began brushing his fingers through the younger’s hair, appreciative of how gosh darn soft it was. The little brat is probably using my conditioner.

“It’s been alright. School , finals are coming up, and Jimin was being pouty today. Something about his soulmate, I bet. Which reminds me, it’s Yoongi-hyung, though I’m guessing you already figured that out.”

Jin snorted, “Of course. I was there when they met . Also, Yoongi talked to Joonie about it later as well. Which reminds me, where does Jimin work?” Jin figured the chances were slim, but he had to know. He did remember Jungkookie mentioning some kind of assistant job while complaining about Jimin falling asleep before dance all the time. Could be.

“He works for SM Entertainment. Writer’s assistant or something. Why?”

Oh. Oh. This was just golden . Jin started laughing in disbelief. What is this, some kind of drama? There is no way the world is that small. This is like… unrealistic.

“Oh, no reason,” Jin grinned mischievously and couldn’t stop himself from laughing harder, relishing the expression on Jungkook’s face. And he says he doesn’t like Jimin. Look at that concern and panic.

“Oh my god, hyung, what’ve you done?”

“Nothing, nothing. I just get the feeling that Jimin is more clever than you give him credit for.” The younger’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion but Jin finally managed to get his giggling under control, and the subject was dropped. He was pretty impressed, actually. It had seemed odd that Joonie would be invited to bring a plus one, but if Jimin was, in fact, his assistant, and had been the one to invite him out, then it was probably actually a very calculated move. He screwed up in forgetting about Jin, but perhaps the universe knew it would work in his favor anyway. Soulmates seemed unable to avoid each other, once the initial contact was made, and Jin was very interested to see how this would play out.

***

It was Friday evening, as good a time as any for bad decisions, and so Jimin decided to step in closer, eyes flicking upward. He hadn’t anticipated this. He had been shocked when Yoongi was the one to show up at Rapmon’s side when they arrived at the bar, and more so when the guy slowly became increasingly intoxicated, and with that, increasingly friendly. Jimin couldn’t say he was in a much better state, nor could he say he really minded.

Somehow, the two had ended up on the dance floor, and that pale, ethereal face was just a few centimeters away now, glowing under the dizzying lights of the bar. Still rolling his hips to the beat, he watched as Yoongi momentarily broke eye contact to glance down at his lips, subconsciously his own as he did so. Jimin felt something in him snap at the sight. Between the abundant alcohol surging through his veins, the pulsing music, Yoongi’s tantalizingly musky scent, and that goddamn tongue , Jimin could no longer hold back. Would no longer hold back.

Grabbing the elder’s waist, he pulled his swaying form closer, and Jimin was still rolling his hips but this time he was met with friction , and then both men were as thin, pale fingers were pulling his face forward and God- God , that tongue. And just as Jimin was flooded with heat, from Yoongi’s lips- tongue - pressing against his own, from their chests flush against each other, from their hips still rolling … just as quickly as they finally crashed together, the heat was gone. Confused, Jimin blinked open his eyes.

Oh.

What he found staring back at him was not a pair of dark, predatory eyes daring him forward. Instead… instead he was met by the blank ceiling above his bed, apathetic to the waves of disappointment and embarrassment rolling through him.

It was a dream.. Of course it was a dream, Park Jimin. What, did you really think Yoongi would actually come? Or- or have interest in you? Or kiss- and then he cut himself off, unable to handle the fleeting memory of what it felt like to have Yoongi pressed against him. Wanting him. He knew better than to hope for such things.

Sighing, he rolled over (definitely not debating if it was worth sleeping five more minutes to try to catch the dream where it left off), before giving up and dragging himself out of bed for work.

It was only Thursday.

***

“Jiminie, what’s the matter?” It was late in the evening already, dance practice long since over, but Jimin and Hoseok had stayed longer, as they often did, to continue practicing some choreography. The two had been sprawled on the floor, panting, when the elder rolled over, dragging a squirming Jimin into his arms. Eventually giving up on escape, Jimin sighed and snuggled closer, burying his face in his hyung’s shoulder.

“I screwed up and got my hopes up. Again,” Jimin mumbled. Hobi-hyung liked to goof off- really, they all did- but he was always the first to notice if something was off with the younger, and Jimin was eternally grateful for it. Snuggled in his arms, as he so often found himself, Jimin could almost stop thinking about the man who had been running through his mind all day (Sometimes he wondered if there was a soulmate version of best friends. Had anything weird happened when he first met Hobi-hyung?).

“What happened?” Hobi coaxed, rubbing circles into his back.

“Well, first, we invited Rapmon-sunbae to come drink with us tomorrow. That was all fine and dandy until I opened my big mouth and told him he could bring a plus one, because you know, he’s besties with Yoongi, so I thought he would invite him…”

“And then you remembered that Rapmon-hyung has Jin-hyung?” Jimin just nodded into his shoulder, deciding to ignore the fact that Hobi-hyung had just referred to Rapmon as hyung, which meant they had met and Hobi had never told him- but whatever. Hobi always seemed to know everyone . The elder sighed quietly, “Oh, Jimin. But hey, that’s not that bad. He could invite Yoongi.”

“Yeah, but that’s just as terrifying. What was I thinking? What if he does show up? What if he doesn’t say a word to me the entire time? God- what if he does talk to me? Hyung,” Jimin whined, clinging to the elder’s arm and curling forward, “I can’t handle this. And, to make things worse, I’m not sure I could even look him in the eye right now.” Jimin buried his face in the elder’s shoulder once more, trying to hide the blush creeping up his neck.

“Why? Just man up, Jimin. It’s not like anything even particularly bad happened when you guys met. I’m sure it would be fine,” Hobi wiggled against him, trying to lighten the mood. Jimin appreciated the effort, but Hobi-hyung didn’t know.

“Hyuuung, you don’t understand. I- uh- I had a dream about it. About Yoongi. About tomorrow. It was the worst , hyung, I wanted it so bad , but now I can’t stop thinking about it, and I’m not sure I can even look at him after that dream…” Jimin trailed off, burning with embarrassment, but still clinging to the elder for comfort.

“Jiminie… you did not have a wet dream about Yoongi ,” Hobi looked down at him in horror, and Jimin immediately shoved him away, a deeper shade of red creeping its way across his face.

“No! No . Of course not! Gosh, who do you think I am? It was just nice , and we might have kissed a little, and… but that’s besides the point! What if I see him, and it’s just like the dream, only not? Or what if he doesn’t come at all? What if I never see him again? Hyung, you know how I feel about soulmates. Help meeee,” Jimin flung his limbs out on the floor, and Hobi sat up, exasperated.

“It’ll be okay. Why are you being such a baby? I thought that title was reserved for Jungkookie? And you know what? Park Jimin, am I not good enough for you?” Hobi leaned over, eyes wide, mouth turned down in a pout. “Time froze when we met, didn’t it?” Hobi jumped on him, successfully trapping him well enough to begin tickling him as he continued his tirade. “Is my best friendship not enough for you? We are obviously bestie soulmates,” the elder was practically hollering by the end, the younger rolling around helplessly in a fit of giggles.

“I am not a baby! These are valid concerns! And time didn’t freeze, hyung, you froze because you literally danced into me and spilled my entire lunch down the front of my shirt!” Jimin countered, gasping for air and trying to control his laughter. The elder jumped up, posing and gazing off into the distance grandly.

“It was a sign , Jimin. Much like the stains that would never come out of that shirt, so too would I stain your life with my glorious friendship. Forever.” Hobi grinned down at him, and Jimin allowed his worries to melt away into the pure sunshine that was Hobi’s smile. It was just so comforting . Maybe they were bestie soulmates. Either way, however, Jimin allowed himself to think that maybe, just maybe , things could turn out okay.