Jungkook paces back and forth, tossing clothes on the bed looking for something to wear to Jimin’s house, frustrated he has no clean clothes; He quickly gathers his dirty clothes in the bin and heads to the laundry room, bumping into sister in the hall, coming from her room, in her strawberry pajamas with her messy hair, still sleeping, she squints, staring at Jungkook as he walks past her,

“What’re you doing?”

“What does it look like?” he replies going down the stairs. He opens the door to the laundry room, placing it down, he opens the washing machine and shoves his clothes in, turns the machine to the twenty-minute wash, he pours the Tide detergent and then the freshener, he closes the top. He heads upstairs but stops when his sister calls him, her voice coming from the kitchen, he sighs and walks to the kitchen,

“What?” he asks, staring at her,

“Why’re up so early? She asks, “Are you going somewhere?”

“Yeah, I’m going to work on my project,” he replies, “Did you need something?

“No,” she replies, “Just wondering.” Jungkook rolls his eyes and walks to his room, not understanding what the big deal was, he goes upstairs, his father was coming out of the bathroom,

“Good morning dad,” he says,

“Jeongguk, good morning,” greets his father, his father always calls him by his real name something he started doing when his mom died, Jungkook is his nickname but most people didn’t know that, and he prefers his nickname, he had it since he was a kid.

“No work today?” asks Jungkook,

“Yeah,” replies, his father, “Joining your sister and me for breakfast, I’m surprised you woke up so early today.”

“I wake up early,” he replies, getting annoyed at his father and sister teasing him about his earliness, not find it unusual. His father laughs, heading into his room, Jungkook shakes his head.

Since he has time, he decides to play a round of Overwatch until his sister calls him for breakfast or until his clothes are ready for the drier whichever one comes first. After playing the game for twenty minutes, he goes to check on the machine, pausing the game, he puts his clothes in the drier, setting the tumbling for completely dry. He walks to the kitchen, the table was already set up,

“Oh, I was about to call you,” says Jeongyeon, “Can you call dad?” He nods his head, quickly going up the stairs. He knocks on his father door, opening it before he replies,

“Breakfast dad,” he says,

“Okay,” says his father. He closes the door heading back downstairs, he looks at the time, it was already nine, without waiting for anyone, he puts a banana pancake on his plate, pouring maple syrup all over it. He starts eating, his father walks into sitting down,

“In a hurry?

“Hmpf,” says Jungkook, incoherently, mouth full of pancakes. His father shakes his head,

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth,” he says, Jeongyeon puts a cup of coffee for her dad, staring at Jungkook who was shoving food in his mouth, one after another, disgusted.

“You’re going to choke,” she says, sitting down. Jungkook ignores her, picking up a sausage and biting into it, shoving a spoon of scrambled eggs in his mouth. His gulps down his orange juice, he says sorry to his dad and quickly gets up to get an outfit from the drier. He opens the machine, not having enough time, he picks out a black shirt, a white sweater, and black ripped up jeans. He goes back to his room, and quickly changes, he looks at the clock,

“,” he says, he did not want to be late and giving Jimin a reason to be angry, he grabs his backpack with his laptop and the two books they checked out from the library yesterday. He goes downstairs and asks his sister for the car keys, she tosses them to him,

“Where are you exactly going?” asks his father,

“I have a group project,” he answers,

“Project?” says his father, he smirks, “Why do you look like you’re going on a date instead?” Jungkook guffs, ignoring his father’s teasing, he just wanted to look good, there is no harm that. He says bye to them heading out. He opens the car door and puts his backpack softly on the passenger seat, he starts the car, he puts Jimin’s address on his phone GPS and pulls out of the garage.

His heart racing at the thought of spending the day at Jimin, even though they are only going to work on a project, he doesn’t care, any chance to be with Jimin was a good chance to make an impression. But more than an impression, he smiles at the thought of them being alone in his room, no distractions and more than anything Jimin’s friends are not going to be there. He finally arrives at Jimin’s house, his jaw drops at the sight of the mansion, surrounded by trees, the neighborhood feels serene and quiet, no kids in sight unlike in his neighborhood, the streets are filled with kids early in the morning on weekends. He texts Jimin, telling him he arrived, he gets a message telling him to come in. He spots a red car pulling out of the garage, he slowly backs up the car to allow them to get out, the car stops and the window roll down. An older Korean woman with dark black hair stares at Jungkook must be his stepmom.

“Do you need something?” she asks, looking at suspiciously, Jungkook clears his throat, telling himself he has no reason to be nervous,

“I’m here to see Jimin,” he says. She silently analyzes him before driving off, Jungkook exhales, relieved she didn’t call the police, she looked like she was about, he drives his car into the garage, wondering why Jimin has not come downstairs, he is a lousy host. He did not notice any maids or workers, that one would normally see in a house like this, taken by the beautiful landscape, as an artist, he is amazed by the elegant design of the house with flowering gardens, mature trees, and lush lawns. He exhales loudly, shaking out his hands, nervous, he rings the doorbell and waits patiently while his eyes scan the yard. The door opens and a young Korean girl who looks like the same age as Jungkook stands at the door, she has long brown hair wearing a flowery crop top with denim shorts,

“Can I help you?” she says, sounding annoyed, Jungkook stares at her, must be his stepsister, she looks nothing like Jimin,

“Do you want something?” she asks, scowling at him as if he interrupted her,

“Um, is Jimin here?”

“Who’re you?”

“Um…a friend,” he replies, “Is he here?”

“Friend?” she says, looking him up and down, “I know his friends, I’ve never seen you before.”

“Ah, I’m here to work on our project,” says Jungkook, his eyes scanning the house, hoping to see him, Jimin, where are you?

She sighs, rolling her eyes and moves out of the doorway,

“He is in his room,” she says, pointing up, “On the left.” Jungkook thanked her and goes up the stairs, there was a huge framed picture of Jimin, an older man probably his father, the girl and the woman he just met. The hall was filled with smaller frame pictures of Jimin, he stops for a second staring at the picture of him in school uniform, he could not be more than five or six,

“He went to private school,” mumbles Jungkook underneath his breath, smiling, “Cute.” He reaches the room on the left, he sighs, relieved that his room has his name spelled out in capitalized letters. His heart rate increasing and his stomach churning, he felt dazed for a second, he takes a deep breath and knocks on the door, his eyes scan the house, three bedrooms upstairs but they were not near each other, the door opens, Jungkook turns around, Jimin stands there. Jungkook’s eyes widen and mouth slightly, staring at Jimin’s shirtless body with black basketball shorts. His eyes go from his flat chest down to his abs, being athletic, Jungkook was not surprised he is in shape but he still could not believe he is seeing him shirtless. His body temperature rising, he quickly averts his eyes back to Jimin’s face, noticing his messy hair, seem to be all over the place as he just woke up. Jungkook smiles, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

“Sorry,” says Jimin, with a huge smile, “I actually overslept and just jumped in the shower, come in.” Jungkook clears his throat, trying to hide the fact that he is blushing, he walks pass him standing in the middle of the room, Jimin closes the door. His eyes look around, anything to avoid staring at Jimin’s godlike body that left him breathless, but his eyes eventually drifted back to Jimin, it was weird, he is not accustomed to seeing him without clothes, wanting to scan every inch of his body but feeling too embarrassed to look at him, he looks at the picture near his computer. A picture of Korean young woman holding a baby must be his mom, he resembles her. She is beautiful. The woman in the picture had brown hair and eyes with a huge smile, and full dimples, kissing the baby, who can’t be more than few months old.

“You’re really punctual,” says Jimin,

“Huh?” says Jungkook, not realizing he was spacing out,

“I said you’re punctual,” says Jimin, putting on a white shirt,

“Oh,” says Jungkook, smiling, “I don’t like making people wait.” Jimin smiles, running his fingers through his hair, he grabs his laptop, motioning for Jungkook to sit down, on the bed.

They both stare the pages on the screen, papers all over the bed with open books. They smile at each other, not believing that they almost got the essay part of their project done in just one day, they still had the painting they had to work on, but the hard part was over, the only thing left was editing. Jungkook glances at Jimin, who smiles at him. Jungkook reaches for the guideline, Jimin’s hand accidentally brushes against the top of his hand, eyes locked, Jungkook’s heart skips a beat, his face feeling warm. They both quickly retrieve their hands, turning back to their laptops, Jimin smiles, running his fingers through his hair, they gaze at each other smiling, what was that? did he also feel that electricity or is just me? The air in the room tenses, glancing at each other every now, the door opens, and his stepsister was at the door. Jimin following Jungkook’s gaze turns around, spotting his sister, 

“What do you want?” he asks, staring at her,

“Let me borrow your car,” she says, walking in the room,

“No,” he says bluntly,

“Come on Jimin-oppa,” she says, pleading, “My car is in the garage, I’m meeting up with Steven.”

Jimin sighs, looking annoyed, “I in’ said no.” She glares at him, angry, crossing her arms, Jungkook feeling awkward pretends he is not in the room, he goes over the paper, editing it while listening to them,

“Why’re you being so mean?” she says, “I’ll return it in an hour, Jimin.”

“Ya,” he says, loudly, “Listen to this carefully, I’ll never let you borrow anything of mine, let alone my car, get out of my room.” She stomps her feet, walking out but stops and turns around,

“I’ll tell mom and dad,” she retorts, Jimin guffs, not affected by her threat,

“As if I care,” he replies. She slams the door shut, Jimin exhales, looking back at Jungkook,

“Sorry about that,” he says, “She so ing annoying, just cause her mom married my dad, she thinks we are best friends or something.” Jungkook stares at him silently, he really does not get along with his stepmom or stepsister. Curious to why Jimin does not get along with his mom and sister, he opens his mouth about to ask but the phone rings. They exchange looks, he didn’t recognize the ringtone, it was Jimin’s phone, he gets off the bed to answer the phone. Jungkook stares at him, he looks irritated as he stares at the phone, Jungkook wonders who called.

“Annyeong appa, aniya, nae chaleul a jugess-eo, (Hi dad, no I won't give my car)” shouts Jimin in Korean with a familiar accent, he must be from Busan, that’s how my dad sounds whenever he speaks Korean.

“Unda! (No way!), Let her take a damn taxi then,” he says, shutting the phone and putting it back on the table,

“Aish,” says Jimin, pouting, Jungkook scratches his neck, trying not to show his awkwardness, Jimin comes back and sits on the bed, Jungkook smiles at him,

“Are you from Busan?” he asks, trying to decrease the tension in the room, Jimin stares at him as if he just realized Jungkook is still in the room, he smiles, feeling embarrassed,

“Yeah, why?”

“I recognized the dialect, I was born there too,” he says, Jimin smiles,

“Really?” he says shocked, “I thought you were born here.”

“Nah, my family moved here after my mom…” Jungkook’s voice trails off, it’s been awhile since he spoke about his mom’s death, no one at his house really mentions it, Jimin stares at him, Jungkook clears his throat, “Anyway, my family moved here when I was a kid, that’s why.”

“My mom lives in Busan,” says Jimin, “I want to move there with her after graduation, I was about to move there as soon as I turned eighteen, but my mom told me to finish school first.” Jungkook stares at him, heart sinking at what he just heard, Jimin is planning on moving back to Korea.

“You don’t get along with your dad?” asks Jungkook, curious, Jimin pouts his lips,

“It’s not that I don’t get along with him, I just…” he sighs, thinking of what to say next, “We moved here when I was young, it’s been him and me for a very long time but when he got remarried things just changed, I’m old enough to move out but my mom says it’ll break my father’s heart.” Jungkook stares at him, confused, his mom and dad seem to be getting along fine, why did they divorce?

“It’s weird,” Jimin continues, “When I was little I always believed they would get back together, they’re like best friends, I still don’t understand why they divorced.” He shrugs his shoulder, laughing,

“Oh, sorry for dumping my bull on you,” he says, Jungkook laughs,

“It’s fine,” says Jungkook.

“Are your parents still together?” asks Jimin, Jungkook stares at him,

“Hmm,” he says, clearing his throat, “My mom died when I was young, my dad never remarried.”

“Oh,” says Jimin, softly, “Sorry.” Jungkook shrugs his shoulders, laughing not wanting to think about it, he barely remembers it, he was ten years old when his mom died, he mostly remembers the funeral,

“How did she die?” asks Jimin,

“Um…” says Jungkook, chuckling, “She ah…um…accident.” He looks back at Jimin who is attentively listening to him, Jungkook smiles, not wanting to darken the mood,

“It’s was a long time ago,” he says, “Anyway…it’s weird huh? We’re both from Busan, small world huh?” Jimin smiles, nodding his head,

“Yeah, it’s weird,” he says, “You speak Korean?”

“Yeah, not fluently but enough to argue with my dad,” jokes Jungkook, they both laugh.

They go back to editing their papers, glancing at each other and laughing it off, Jungkook smiles. Jimin is the third person he told about his mom, aside from Yugyeom and Crystal, he did not hate talking about it, he just did not remember many things about her, he remembers her smiles, playful and adventurous personality but nothing else. She was always trying new things, from skydiving to flying a helicopter. Jungkook thinking about it now, realizes she died in a creative way, doing something she loved, his family was on vacation, his mom wanted to try driving a racing car, but it went wrong, the car crushed, and she died instantly. To this day, he remembers how much his father blames himself, saying he should’ve stopped her instead of giving in to her. A regret that will always be with his father.

They finally finished editing the paper, it was only one o’clock pm, time went by fast. Jungkook smiles at Jimin, Jimin puts his hand up,

“High five,” says Jimin, smiling at him, Jungkook smiles back at him, high fiving him, his hand fitting perfectly into Jimin’s small soft hand, they laugh. Jungkook could not take his eyes off him, he loves seeing him laugh and smile, his smile so full of life, not someone who was fighting and arguing with his sister and dad. Looking at him, he realizes Jimin’s laugh and smile reminds him of his mom, he smiles and laughs with his entire face and body, his eyes sparkling and captivating, making Jungkook’s heart melt,

“Pretty,” mumbles Jungkook underneath his breath,

“What?” says Jimin, staring at him dumbfounded, , did he hear me? Wonders Jungkook, just realizing he was staring at him,

“Um,” says Jungkook, trying to think of something to play it off,

“You said pretty,” says Jimin, squinting his eyes with a smirk, “What’s pretty?” Jungkook laughs, “Ahh, when you laugh you remind me of my mom, she laughs so beautiful” he blurs out, Jimin guffs, staring at him confused, Jungkook cringes wanting to bury himself, embarrassed, Jimin stares at him silently before smiling, biting his lowering lip,

“That’s sweet,” says Jimin, laughing,

“Yeah,” says Jungkook, clearing his throat, “You probably hear that a lot from boys and girls huh?” Jimin shakes his head no,

“I don’t,” he says, voice trailing off for a second, he looks at Jungkook, “People tell me I’m hot or handsome, but no one ever told me my smile and laugh reminds them of someone so precious to them, like your mom.” Jungkook blushes, not knowing what to make of what Jimin just told him, he stares at him, analyzing him, wanting to know all there is to know about Park Jimin. Is he really a cold-hearted person or is it just a front to hide how much his parents divorced messed him up? The Jimin sitting in front of him is not like anything people say he is, there is no way someone as beautiful as him could be ruthless but then there is the thing with his sister, why exactly does not get along with his stepsister and mom, there must be a good reason.

“You’re staring again,” says Jimin, Jungkook laughs, averting his eyes, scratching his neck, calm the , or else Jimin will figure out you like him. He tells himself, shaking his head and clearing his mind.