Warning: slight homophobia, swearing, gay af

Word count: 3946

‘You can’t be serious!’ Jimin exclaimed, as he threw his coat on and ducked down under the coffee table to grab his keys from where they had dropped down earlier, after Jungkook had thrown his legs up there when he had plopped down on his armchair lazily. ‘I am not going to stalk some random guy from Starbucks, or wherever, just because you say he’s cute.’ Jimin pushed Jungkook’s legs of his new coffee table for the 5th time. He rounded the sitting area and started lifting things up looking desperately for his wallet.

Jungkook threw his head back over the top of the chair, hair falling back prettily from his forehead as he watched his best friend bustle around and get ready for work.

‘You are such a drama queen.’ His voice sounded strained from the position of his neck, so he jumped round and rested his arms on the back of the head rest. ‘Just go in, get something so you don’t look suspicious and see what he looks like. If you like what you see start up a conversation. It’s not hard.’ Jimin was pretending to ignore him at this point as he found his wallet in his plant pot and sighed. ‘Remember, his name is Taehyung. He looks kinda dark and mysterious with cute tousled hair, but I swear he is really easy going. You can’t miss him.’

Jimin, who was struggling to hear Jungkook, finally found his briefcase under a towel that Jungkook had thrown carelessly after using Jimin’s shower, seen as his hot water in his own apartment wasn’t working.

‘Fine. I will go if it will get you to shut up for once.’

Finally ready, he unlocked the door and straightened his tie. Turning back to Jungkook, he added, ‘Oh, and clear up after yourself before you leave and don’t forget to lock up. I swear I should never have let you back in my apartment after that time. Don’t just the spare key to unlock the door, it works both ways you know.’ He was leaning against the door frame by now, half out the door and ready to shut it behind him.

‘Okay, okay!’ The younger man held up his hands as if he could hold Jimin’s mouth closed from 5 foot away. ‘I will do what you say, my Lord Jimin. Anyway, I have already apologised 1000 times for leaving your door wide open… Now go before your boss fires you for being late again.’

‘It’s not my fault you make me lose my stuff daily!’ Jimin called back, as he pulled the door shut behind him.

‘Don’t forget to look at the guy!’ He heard his (cute) idiot best friend shout through the door, and with a sigh, he ran to his taxi that had been waiting for him for 5 minutes already.

It was just another dreaded day at the office when he finally made it to work. He skimmed being ranted at by his boss, who had had a grudge on him ever since he was late to his first day 5 months ago. She told him off whenever she could, looking out for his mistakes specifically, probably hoping to get him fired because he was late all the time. He had apologised numerous times and he had his reasons, which she knew well, but she wasn’t a very forgiving woman.

This job was his first, which was why he looked like a sore thumb compared to everyone else on his floor. He had gotten a job straight out of university, meaning he could only afford second-hand suits and a taxi to work every day, whereas everyone else looked prim and proper. Jimin picked at a loose thread on his fading red tie as he longed for his break to come 3 hours early. He just had 50 more pages of paperwork to complete.

Truthfully, even though he was only doing the simplest work, he wished he didn’t have a job at all. This was the furthest thing away from what he wanted to be doing, which was cooking up a storm with his choreography, not burning down his pile of paperwork, in what must be the dullest office in the world. He really wished Jungkook could be here whispering an inappropriate joke in his ear. Things were always brighter when he was around.

The time seemed to go slower and slower as his eyes flickered to the tiny numbers at the bottom of his screen every 5 minutes. But it finally came. With 5 minutes to go, he slowly stopped typing and cracked his knuckles in relief, deciding to let himself sit peacefully for a minute before his actual break came.

The small hand of the clock on the wall hit 1 just as the big hand hit 12 and Jimin was on his feet, smoothing down his crumpled clothes, and heading to the break room where he would have his fill of ty office coffee. However, when he reached the stuffy break room he came face to face with a handmade sign spelling out ‘OUT OF ORDER’. As if his day could get any worse. It looked like he would be seeing Taeheon, or whatever his name was, sooner than he thought. And he had thought never.

Sighing, for what must have been the 20th time that day, Jimin plodded back to his desk to grab his coat and threw it over his shoulders to protect himself from the autumn wind outside, even though the coffee shop was only down the road. He checked his pocket for his wallet, before finally leaving his personal hell behind him for half an hour.

The outside of the coffee shop was nice enough, but it looked a lot cheaper than how Jungkook had described it. So he pushed the door open and let his fears of not having enough money fly through the wind behind him.

When the door swung shut he was engulfed in the smell of coffee beans and a homely warmth that had him unconsciously shuffling further into the store. After just one whiff of the coffee that was being brewed he automatically knew it would taste 100 times better than the coffee his work bought for their currently broken coffee machine.

And that’s when he spotted him, just how Jungkook had described him. He was standing with his back to Jimin, but the much shorter male could see his reflection in the stylishly placed mirrors on the wall behind the counter. He was just as handsome as Jungkook had said he was. Hair ruffled beyond an inch of its life, broad shoulders, and smouldering dark eyes. Jimin was 99% sure that if you put his face under a diagram of an ideal male face his would fit perfectly. Maybe, just maybe, Jungkook had actually made a smart suggestion this time.

Clearing his throat, he moved forwards just as the handsome man turned around. Jimin’s hand was in his pocket, struggling to remove his wallet as he was too busy staring at the man in front of him, who thankfully wasn’t looking his way otherwise Jimin’s gaze would have been all too obvious. Taehyung, his name badge read. He definitely wouldn’t forget that again anytime soon.

After finally tugging his wallet out of his trouser pocket, he opened it, tore his eyes away from the man, and peered inside before looking at the prices on the drink menu. If his mental maths was correct, which he hoped it was, he could afford 2 regular cups of coffee. Which meant that if Jimin didn’t up right now he could come back after work to get another cup and stare at the man, or maybe even talk to him.

The enchanted man moved forwards towards the counter, eyes attached to the barista once again. He was too busy wiping down the counter to notice Jimin’s presence, so Jimin lightly cleared his throat to get the man’s attention. When Taehyung’s eyes met Jimin’s he swore his heart stopped beating for a few seconds, or maybe it sped up so fast that it looked like it wasn’t moving. Either way, his eyes looked 10 times more smouldering up close.

‘O-one regular Espresso please…’ The smaller man managed to choke out. The god-like man smiled, which didn’t help Jimin’s racing heart. His square shaped smile was so endearing; Jimin made a mental note to give Jungkook a huge hug when he next saw him.

‘One Espresso coming up dude!’ The barista said cheerfully. Jimin wanted to scream. Taehyung’s voice was the deepest (iest) noise he had ever heard. He was practically drooling at this point, so he turned his head down quickly and scraped together the right amount of money. He breathed deeply once before he raised his head again and waited for Taehyung to finish making his drink.

Once it was ready, Jimin couldn’t even take in the fact that the drink smelt much better than anything in his entire office building, as he was too busy mentally screeching over the fact that their fingers had just brushed twice. Once when he passed over his money, and again when Taehyung passed him his drink. Jimin tried his hardest not to look Taehyung in the eyes again throughout this encounter, otherwise, he thought he might implode.

He made his way to a table close to the counter and made sure to sit facing the handsome worker. He drank as slow as possible until he realised he only had 5 minutes before he had to be sat back in his office chair doing his never ending paperwork. After that realisation, he downed his now cooling drink and took another longing look at Taehyung before getting up and walking to the door.

‘Thanks.’ He muttered shyly, as he passed the counter. Taehyung’s happy eyes looked up from what he was doing promptly to see the man walking towards the door.

‘No problem, man! Have a good day!’ He called in Jimin’s direction. Jimin stopped with his hand on the door handle and resisted the urge to turn back and kiss the out of Taehyung. Instead, he just turned his head back and muttered a quick ‘You too.’ before pulling the door open and stepping out of his new heaven and back to his bustling life. As he rushed back to his office building he officially decided he would go back after work to see Taehyung again, and maybe talk to him more.

The hours flew by faster after that as if time was succumbing to his wishes for it to move forward so he could see Taehyung again. Before he knew it, he was packing his tatty briefcase and heading out into the winds again, only this time knowing for sure what was waiting for him inside the small, stylish coffee shop on the corner of the road.

He was back. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Taehyung still behind the counter, failing to notice anyone else in the store. Walking up to the counter with more confidence than before, he cleared his throat just like the last time to get Taehyung’s attention. When their eyes met again for the 2nd time that day Jimin managed to keep his beating heart under control.

‘Back again already!’ Taehyung exclaimed excitedly. ‘I hope you become a regular.’ Jimin was exhilarated for a moment before Taehyung added ‘We need the income!’ with a laugh. Jimin’s smile faltered for a second before he fixed it and reminded himself that, of course, Taehyung didn’t like him like that. Yet. Not noticing Jimin’s internal problems Taehyung carried on. ‘Same again I’m guessing? I could make you something nicer if you’d like? Espressos are just a bit simple.’ Taehyung had his eyebrows raised in question; Jimin had once thought his face couldn’t look any better.

‘Just an Espresso is fine.’ Jimin forced out, not wanted to let on that it was all he could afford. A genuine smile graced his features as he recalled ‘I’m surprised you remembered my order though!’ He was pleased for all but 2 seconds until Taehyung spoke.

‘I remember everyone's orders.’ He was leaning forwards on the counter by now, which would have made Jimin hyperventilate if he wasn’t sulking up in his head about what Taehyung said. ‘We don’t get many people through here you see. I have only had around 5 people after you.’ He smiled sadly making Jimin feel sorry for him even though he was supposed to be feeling bad for himself. He only managed to let out a sympathetic ‘Ah’ before Taehyung continued on again. ‘Hey, man, why don’t you just go sit down and I’ll bring your drink to you, it will give me something to do.’

‘Okay.’ Jimin smiled, he hoped he was the only one getting special treatment. He handed over his money, though their hands didn’t brush this time, and went to sit at the same table he had taken up before. He was musing about how Taehyung should really stop unknowingly playing with his head before realising he should probably text Jungkook to let him know how he was doing.

After typing out a quick message (reading You finally hit the jackpot with this guy, he is basically perfect! Hopefully he has a useful habit of closing doors unlike you. Remind me to hug you when I next see you, I owe you one.) he put his phone down and went straight back to staring at Taehyung as he made his coffee.

It wasn’t long before Taehyung raised his head to see where Jimin was sitting and made his way to his table. Jimin accepted the drink with a quick nod, and smiled shyly as Taehyung left to go clean some of the tables. Jimin really did try his hardest to not stare at him, but he found himself glancing at his broad shoulders more than once, missing the looks Taehyung was giving a group of girls that had just entered.

Jimin was finished with his drink faster than he would have liked. 2 hours faster going by the closing times hung on the door. He was wondering if he could muster up enough money to come here every day and still afford enough food for a week when Taehyung came to take his cup.

‘Hey, dude.’ Taehyung started to Jimin’s surprise. ‘See that girl over there? With the blonde hair? I know it’s not really professional to ask, but you look like the type of guy who would know, so do you have any tips on how I could get down low with her? If you know what I mean.’ Taehyung winked. Jimin would have fainted if his heart wouldn’t have just dropped down to his stomach.

‘I-I’m… I don’t… I’m not experienced in that area, so err...’ Jimin coughed out.

‘What do you mean, dude? You’re hot enough! You can easily get the girls, don’t you think?’ Taehyung was talking so loudly and Jimin swore the girls were looking at them. His heart would be fluttering at his compliment, but Jimin was too busy dreading what would come after his next words.

‘No, I err, I meant like, um, girls…’ Jimin mumbled out, he saw Taehyung straighten up right away and not so subtly cover his crotch with his hand. Oh God. Jimin’s mind was screaming for him to get out, but he couldn’t move.

‘Oh.’ Taehyung’s voice sounded muffled against the noise inside his head. ‘Er, sorry man.’ He laughed awkwardly. ‘I just thought- cause you were staring at my coworker the whole time you were here…’ Jimin’s eyes flickered over to the counter to see a young woman serving someone, and he hadn’t even realised she was there. ‘Oh. Dude were you looking at me? Err, that’s… I don’t... ‘ Taehyung trailed off. Jimin wanted the earth to swallow him whole. ‘Sorry dude, but I like girls. A lot. Like thanks, but no thanks.’ Taehyung laughed unnaturally again. ‘So, um, if you’re done… Have a nice day,’ Taehyung was backing away ‘Sir.’

The formal word on the end was too much, Jimin could feel his throat tightening to the point that he couldn’t breathe, and tears were looming on the edge of his eyes. He got up as fast as possible and left with a strained ‘Sorry.’ He was barely holding back the tears as he hailed down a taxi and choked out his address. He sat sniffling back his tears the whole ride and thankfully had just enough money to pay the driver when he finally arrived at his apartment building a few minutes later.

He broke down as soon as he got into the lift, resisting the urge to slide down the dirty wall, Jimin sobbed into his palm until he got to his floor. He didn’t care if his neighbours saw him like this, as he ran to his door as fast as possible. His sobs didn’t cease as he pulled off his tie and slumped on to his bed with his tears falling heavily. He felt so humiliated. Never had he been rejected like that. So openly, and with so much barely hidden judgement.

Curling into a ball, still in his crumpled suit, a sob wrecked though his body. He knew he should calm down soon, but he couldn’t breathe. The tears were never ending and Jimin regretted ever listening to his stupid best friend. He hated him. No, he hated himself for going. No, he hated the ty coffee machine at his work for breaking down. A bad cup of coffee was better than that.

His thoughts weren’t calming him down at all so he reached over and his stereo to try and drown them out. A female voice started blasting out of the speakers, and he recognised the song to be an old Taylor Swift song. Jungkook must've left his album in their again after borrowing it. The music helped his breathing slow down at first until he was actually able to hear the lyrics. But then he was right back to square one. It was a rejection song. ‘Teardrops On My Guitar’, he thought it was called, kept on playing it the background as Jimin fumbled for his phone and pressed number 1 on his speed dial. He tried to swallow back the tears as the phone rang only once before the person on the other end picked up.

‘Sup dude?’ Jungkook’s overly happy voice came soothingly out of the speaker. ‘Did you meet hottie? Are you listening to my Taylor Swift CD? I always knew you secretly liked her!’ Jungkook’s voice was so optimistic, but Jimin just couldn’t stop crying. He sniffled a little before he spoke, trying not to make it obvious that he was in such a mess.

‘You told me that cute guy from the coffee shop was nice and easy going. But now I am crying over a Taylor Swift song. I hate you.’ He had started sobbing again and the words were barely leaving his mouth, but he knew Jungkook could understand everything.

‘Oh my God! Are you okay Jimin? What happened? Wait, I’m coming round!’ The line went dead and Jimin dropped the phone from his hand and tucked himself further into his fetal position. The song had thankfully changed by now and the next one wasn’t as relatable, so Jimin’s sobs finally died down into quiet whimpers.

Jungkook found him 5 minutes later. He was out of breath from having run the 3 blocks between their apartments. The first thing he did was pull Jimin into his arms, fingers softly playing with his hair, knowing that it calms Jimin down.

‘You said you wanted a hug in your text earlier, right?’ Jungkook’s voice was more soothing in person as he pressed his cheek against Jimin’s hair. ‘You’re a wreck, Jiminie. What did he say? No wait don’t tell me or a might go round there and knock his perfect nose out of place…’

Jimin was finally able to breathe deeply again as he took in the smell of Jungkook’s familiar washing powder. He lifted his head a little, knocking his best friend’s cheek away from his charcoal hair.

‘I am 85% sure he is homophobic, or maybe just uncomfortable…’ Jimin was face to face with Jungkook, their bodies wrapped comfortably around each other. ‘He asked if I could help him get a girl, and when he realised I was gay, and that I had been staring at him and not his care worker, he covered his and backed away. He said some about liking girls, then basically asked me to leave. Then he called me ‘Sir’ after being all informal with me, like I was a different person suddenly. It was so horrible.’ He was crying again, but much calmer this time, single tears rolling down his cheeks. Jungkook was quick to wipe them away with his thumbs as he cupped Jimin’s face.

‘I know you don’t listen to me most of the time, but I don’t want you to go to that place ever again, okay? Even if you get sick of your works terrible coffee. I will bring you some instead, anything as long as you don’t have to go there. Hell, I will help you find a new job if it means you not being anywhere near that place.’ Jimin smiled softly and his tears finally came to a stop. These were the times he was really glad he had Jungkook in his life.

‘I promise I won’t go there again. Though it was your suggestion in the first place you .’ He hit Jungkook’s arm gently. ‘And please do help me find a job, that place is hell.’ Jungkook pulled him in again and his hair, which restricted Jimin’s arm movements so he couldn’t hit him again.

‘Hey, you must have been really distraught, enough that you left your door wide open. You’re such a hypocrite.’ Jimin struggled against Jungkook’s hold as he tried to hit him again, harder this time.

‘Fine, I will let you off the hook for that time, but if you do it again you’re banned for a week.’

‘You can’t do that!’ Jungkook whined.

‘I can and I will.’ Jimin’s voice was much lighter now. ‘It’s my apartment.’ Instead of replying, Jungkook attacked his sides with a tickle and Jimin jerked with a laugh, shouting for him to stop. When the laughing died down they lay on Jimin’s bed in silence. ‘Thanks for being there for me.’ Jimin whispered and leaned forwards to press a small kiss on Jungkook’s cheek, just centimetres away from his lips. A blush spread across his face as he watched Jungkook smirk and lean in closer, pressing a kiss back, but on the corner of his mouth. After he pulled back, their eyes met as they silently and slowly leaned in, and their lips connected lightly for a second. Jimin pulled away first and hid his face in the crook of Jungkook’s arm. Even Jungkook had a blush gracing his cheeks. The younger of the two swallowed visibly before unwrapping himself from the other man and getting up. He leant over and kissed the top of Jimin’s hair softly before moving away.

‘I will make you your favourite meal. Just nap, for now, I will wake you up when it’s ready…’ Jungkook’s voice was muffled to Jimin, as he had shoved his face into a pillow after losing the warmth of Jungkook’s arm. However, his hearing was working well enough that he managed to hear Jungkook’s next words. He smiled softly, realising what he had been blind to for so many years. ‘Taehyung doesn’t know what he is missing.'

A/N: I honestly don't know if this is good or not... I feel like it gets better near the end. Please let me know if you like it. Also, it's like 2 am here in England and I have to get out of bed tomorrow, but instead here I am...