Much to his dismay, the date with Taemin didn’t go as well as Jimin had hoped. Taemin had decided to take him out to a nice restaurant, similar to their last date. And while the food was nice, the conversation between them wasn’t as fruitful as the last date. Jimin tried to keep the elder’s attention and Taemin would respond but every so often, Taemin would glance at his phone and pause to respond to someone. Jimin finally gave in after the third time when they were halfway through their meal and asked Taemin who he was texting.

“It’s no one, sorry, you were saying?” Taemin asked, setting aside his phone once more.

Jimin pursed his lips, the strange feeling from the competition was surfacing again. “I was just asking if you were enjoying the food,” Jimin answered.

“Yea, I usually get this when I come here, how are you liking your meal?” Taemin replied.

“It’s good… you’ve been here before?” Jimin asked once again trying to continue the conversation.

“A few times with some other people,” Taemin responded and then unlocked his phone again to respond to another text.

“Oh… so previous dates?”

“Not really, I wasn’t dating them, we were only seeing each other.”

“I see,” Jimin said as he took another bite of his food, his mood dampened. Taemin was still typing away on his phone and wasn’t even eating. Jimin bit at his lip trying to find the words he wanted to say. He wanted Taemin to tell him who he was texting or at least why, but he didn’t know how to ask without coming off as rude or pushy.

“Hyung, is something wrong?” Jimin finally settled with asking.

“Huh? Of course not, why would you think that?” Taemin questioned once again putting his phone down and returning to his food.

“Because you keep getting messages and you keep replying instead of focusing on this date and us,” Jimin said bluntly before he could stop himself. He regretted the words as soon as they slipped from his lips though as he saw Taemin’s expression change into one of surprise and then morph into one of indifference, maybe even disappointment.

“I’m sorry if you’re unhappy about the way this date is going. I’m just texting with a classmate about a project and didn’t realize it was bothering you. I forget you’re so young and inexperienced; usually, my texting never bothered anyone as most people my age know how busy we all are,” Taemin stated, looking down at his plate with his head bowed in apology.

Having his age brought up and the subtle hinting that he was being immature about the situation, made Jimin feel bad but what made him feel even worse was the fact he hadn’t even considered the possibility Taemin was texting because he had to. Jimin had assumed the elder was texting because he was bored with their conversation. He should have given Taemin the benefit of the doubt.

“I’m sorry hyung, I didn’t realize… I didn’t mean to say that in that way,” Jimin apologized.

“No, no it’s ok. I shouldn’t have expected so much from you. I should have explained why I was texting; I’m sorry, I’ll stop texting now. Let’s finish our meal?” Taemin said and began eating again, but it was obvious to Jimin that the damage was done and the slight tension would remain for the rest of the date.

The couple finished their meal with minimal conversation and after Taemin paid for the meal, the elder began walking him home with Jimin leading the way since the elder didn’t know where Jimin lived. Once they were in front of Jimin’s place, Jimin halted and turned to Taemin.

“So this is it… thank you for the date. I’m sorry I ruined it,” Jimin said, still feeling bad.

“You didn’t ruin it, love, I’m sorry for my behavior. I know you don’t get how busy I am, but I wanted to make time for you and I tried my best, so I’m sorry it wasn’t enough,” Taemin replied with a sad smile.

Jimin was quick to shake his head, “No, I’m sorry; I know you’re busy, I should have realized. Thanks for that, I appreciate it and I’m happy we got to spend time together.”

Taemin’s expression brightened a little, “I’m glad we got to spend time together as well. I enjoy every moment I’m with you and wish we could be together more often… anyway, you should go inside before your parents begin to worry. Good night Jimin.” The elder hugged him and then waved as he began walking in the direction they’d come from. 

Jimin waved back before g