He sat at the farthest corner of the bar, tucked away from the effervescent flurry of activity inside the club. It was supposed to be a night of relaxation, a day off from non-stop practice for their album comeback.

He doesn’t want to sound like one of his hyungs, but he would really honestly prefer the former’s idea of a night out right now: a twenty four hour sleep on his comfortable bed back in the door.

But his luck just ain’t cutting it tonight.

A sigh left his lips as he downed his second shot for the night, his eyes roaming the club to look for his two companions: Jin hyung and Jungkook.

.

.

Their maknae Jeon Jungkook had just turned an official adult this year but due to their busy schedules, the poor young man never really had a chance to actually celebrate it properly. You can’t exactly call a midnight soju shot in their dorm as a proper celebration.

The manchild has already lost out on experiencing proper youth since he started being a trainee from early on in his life. He didn’t get to attend school properly like most kids his age. He didn’t get many chances to make friends beyond Bangtan. They kept singing about youth but their career robbed them a lot of chances to experience youth like a normal person.

And so when Jungkook approached him with eyes that would put puppies to shame and practically begged Jimin to go with him and Jin to go clubbing and drinking tonight, the older man already knew he wouldn’t really have the heart to take away another chance for their youngest to experience normal life for even one night.

Of course he tried to wriggle his way out of the responsibility but Jeon Jungkook came prepared for a mental war. The youngest might not be that sharp in math, but his logic when he needs it to favor his side is unbeatable.

Jimin considered passing off the responsibility to Yoongi since he’s older, more responsible (when he wants to be), and has a slightly higher tolerance than him, but then again, you don’t get in between Yoongi and his sleep while sober. A night’s sleep is just not worth the risk of Min Yoongi’s wrath and sadistic payback.

The half of 95z with the higher tolerance instead tried to convince their maknae that Namjoon is a better clubbing company.

“Hyung! I wanted to go clubbing! Not listen to Joonie hyung talk about how fleetingly beautiful fireworks can be!”

And Jimin really couldn’t think of a retort for that. Their Namjoon hyung is already a deep thinker when sober but his mind must have been really wired in a special way that he gets even more philosophical when drunk. While that would have been amusing by itself, Jin has already agreed to go with Jungkook. And drunk Jin has a short patience for a drunk philosophical Namjoon so it won’t really be a good thing to put both Jin and Rapmon as Jungkook’s clubbing guardians. No need to ruin Jungkook’s beginning in adulthood right after robbing him off of his youth.

On the other hand, Hobi hyung and Taehyung are even more of a disaster formula. The two are among the lowest in tolerance ranking in Bangtan.

Taehyung, despite looking like a playboy who could hold as much liquor as he can collect girls, can immediately shatter that image by exchanging his beer for a fruit juice. Hobi hyung, on the other hand, just really has low tolerance. He’s the type of friend who would already be knocked out drunk before the party even starts.

Jimin knows it’s a futile and stupid attempt but he tried convincing Jungkook to choose either of the two as the third wheel anyway.

A desperate last minute breath of a dying fish, if you will.

Anyone can do, really.

Just anyone but him.

But there’s no fooling or getting in between Jeon Jungkook and his determination to destress like an adult.

“Bring Taehyung. You’re his favorite dongsaeng. I’m sure you’d be able to convince him to drink more than juice.”

“Our manager hyung and Bang PD would flip when we get him drunk and he drunk tweets drunk selcas! Again!”

“Hobi hyung.”

“He would already be drunk before we even warm the club seats!”

.

.

.

Jimin sighed, cursing himself for having a good alcohol tolerance and a weak resolve. He could have been peacefully sleeping in the dorm like Yoongi and the rest if he didn’t give in to Jungkook and Jin’s pleads.

And speaking of the two, the ungrateful duo had run off and deserted him alone in the bar as soon as they entered the club.

.

.

Jimin downed another shot before letting his eyes roam through the dancing crowd which wasn’t an easy task as he was located in a far corner of the bar, hidden from view in case someone sober enough recognizes him. It was a good table nonetheless as it at least afforded him a good view of the huge entrance.

And so that’s how Jimin passed the time alone while waiting for Jin and Jungkook.

People watching is a pastime most people would never associate with him and sure enough, he used to not be fond of being left alone in silence like that. But when you’ve been around people like Yoongi and Namjoon a lot, it’s inevitable to mimick some of their habits.

It seemed like Jimin happened to adapt people-watching from said hyungs. Except he does it more discreetly than the two.

He watched through the corner of his eyes as a group of rowdy young men barged in but they weren’t the ones who caught his attention.

His eyes focused on the familiar lady who walked right behind them. A lost expression marred her face as she looked around, seemingly looking for a comfortable spot to huddle in.

In no time, the familiar young woman found her way towards his direction.

Jimin only had a milisecond to recognize her face before he had to quickly avert his eyes towards his shot glass and duck to hide his face as the young woman got nearer.

It was her.

He’d have to be drunk out of his to not recognize her or forget her name. That would be the same as forgetting his own name after all.

He quietly watched as the other friends she seemed to have gone to the club with headed for the dance floor.

It looked like they were trying to persuade her to join them since she shook her head and turned to sit down a few stools away from him before motioning for the bar tender to take her order.

Jimin stiffened and contemplated for the right time to leave unnoticed. Leaving now would be suspicious and it would most likely just draw her attention even more towards his direction. He’d just have to be patient and wait for her to be a bit more inebribiated.

He mentally shook his head.

Things are really not going his way right now.

If he just knew that tagging along with Jungkook and Jin would lead him to cross paths with Park Jimin— the female Park Jimin, he would have flat out rejected the invitation to go clubbing.

His guts tell him that the young woman spells trouble.

She’s friendly, outgoing, funny and beautiful. The male population flock to her like moths drawn to her charming flame. And she’s not even aware of it most of the time, which makes her much more dangerous in his books.

He had tried to deny it to himself a lot of times before but the young woman’s presence undeniably has a very strong pull on him.

It was a shallow attraction, is what he initially thought.

He flirted with her the first time they met, thinking that the pull would vanish like it usually does right after. But it didn’t dull down even after the next few times they met each other. In fact, it got stronger. Despite him trying to avoid more interactions with