Hi, readers! I'm back with a new chapter for this story! Again, sorry for taking so long... college life , as usual. There are like... two to three exams every week, and it's honestly getting old. Good thing this week is relatively a lot lighter for me :)
So... I have quit my part-time job as a tutor, and also quit my student organizations because of my emotional and mental state. So in order to give myself as much breathing space as I could, I removed all possible stress-inducing things in my life which I could remove, and focused only on the things that I enjoy doing and the things that matter the most. That's why I now have a little bit more time for this story. :)

So... without further ado, here's the new chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it! Though since I always take long breaks between writing sessions, I tend to commit mistakes (both in technical stuff and plot-wise). Feel free to comment on those! Be nice though... don't roast me ahahaha 

16

It was just like how it was in fairy tales—the way Jimin walked out of the door and into the open as golden sparks flew behind him was something that seemed straight out of the movies. The young designer looked around him with a blank look on his face, expressing that of both exhaustion and satisfaction, his lips slowly curving up to a smile upon realizing just how beautiful everything turned out to be.

Jungkook watched as the scene before him played in slow motion. The weird, unhuman sound possibly emitted by Taehyung barely registered as his eyes failed to undo their fixation towards the petite male.

However, the trance was broken when a collective gasp by the rest of the place’s occupants momentarily drowned the sound of the fireworks when suddenly, the designer, who was previously walking with immense aura and poise, tripped over thin air.

“Oh my god, it’s Jiminie!” Taehyung shrieked, getting out of his chair and zooming past his boss to get to shorter, who was being helped by the other men in suits surrounding him at the moment. Jimin flashed the people around him a smile of mixed gratitude and embarrassment as he rose back to his feet.

“Jimin! Are you alright?” Taehyung asked all too eagerly, making the slightly older male internally question if he really was worried for him or he was just fussing too much, like he always did. “Did you hurt your ankle or anything?”

“I’m fine, Tae.” Jimin answered, smiling. “It’s just my pride that is wounded, if anything.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“What?”

“Come on, Yoongi-hyung and the others are waiting for us.”

“The others?”

“Just… ugh, stop asking and let’s go.” The taller answered, taking the other’s much smaller hand and practically dragging him away from the scene. Once they got to the table assigned to their company, Yoongi immediately started clapping slowly.

“What a way to make an entrance, Jiminie.” Yoongi smirked. Said male resisted the urge to punch him.

“Seriously though, Jimin-ssi,” Momo asked, reaching over the table to touch Jimin’s arm. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine, Momo-ssi, thank you for the care.” Jimin answered, shaking his head to assure the girl that he was fine. He then turned to the pale musician and frowned. “Unlike someone I know, who wouldn’t even ask if I sprained my ankle or anything.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Jerk.” Jimin retorted, rolling his eyes before smiling once again upon sight of a blue-colored pyrotechnics. “Wow… it’s so pretty.”

“I know right?” Taehyung agreed, afterwards turning his attention to the table’s youngest occupant. “Sir, you haven’t spoken in a while. Are you alright?”

“Huh?” Jungkook asked. “Ah… yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” He answered, nodding. He then turned to Jimin and smiled. “You did well… Jimin-ssi.”

Being clueless of the actual situation, Jungkook’s way of addressing the older did not faze the secretary at all. However, it was different for the boys. Taehyung, beign someone expressive, visibly winced at the unfamiliar and formal honorifics. Yoongi simply let out a sigh, while Jimin’s smile faltered for a brief moment before he got back to his senses and smiled once again.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Y-Yah! Jiminie!” Taehyung interjected all of a sudden. “You didn’t even tell me Yoongi-hyung was your ex?!”

At that instant, the whole table turned their heads towards the tall male in surprise. The scandalized look on Yoongi’s face did not seem to bother him at all, while Momo and Jungkook just wanted to pretend that they did not know the older.

“What are you saying, Tae?” Jimin asked, confused. “You already know about this… why are you acting like you don’t?”

“What?”

“When we were hanging out in the mall, remember?” The shorter explained, taking a swig from the glass of water in front of him. He then followed the clear glass dome that started closing above them with his eyes as he continued. “You said Yoongi-hyung already chatted you about it.”

“Wait…”

“Know that you’ve mentioned it, I actually remember telling Taehyung about us before.” Yoongi said, his brows furrowing. “Yes! I remember telling you about it!”

“You… told me?” The darker male asked, pointing to himself. Yoongi only nodded to him in response. “But… I don’t remember? Maybe you didn’t?”

“It isn’t something you can just forget casually, Tae.” Jimin countered. Right after he spoke, the crackling sounds of the fireworks died down as the place was fully enclosed by the clear glass to give way for the sound system without removing the visual stimuli.

“Well, I do remember you telling me about your relationship with s—mmmmffkk!”

“Nevermind, Tae! Let’s not talk about this anymore!” Jimin instantly butted in, covering the younger’s mouth with his hand and smiling at the people around him. “Did you also forget me telling you that it’s a secret?” He whispered to the man’s ear, while Taehyung struggled against his hold and continued to voice out incoherent muffled words.

“Jimin-ssi, you have a new boyfriend?” Momo asked enthusiastically, silencing everyone else. “Wah… you guys are so lucky.”

“N-No! I don’t have one.” Jimin quickly denied, grimacing at his friend who decided that the best way to get out of Jimin’s hold was to the palm covering his mouth. “And you can call me Jimin-oppa or something… it’s not like were still strangers. You always come to my cubicle anyway.”

“Alright, alright.” Momo agreed, nodding. “Jimin-oppa.”

“That’s more like it.”

Shortly after their conversation, the emcee once again resumed the program and proceeded to thanking and acknowledging the different corporate institutions that attended the event. Considering the fact that Pink Princess was a monster company, there were lots of guests from various partners and potential partners, Wings included. The competing company was also present in the event, with their table also beside Kim Seokjin’s table, only on the other side.

“And now, to grace us with his thoughts, here’s the CEO of Pink Princess. The one and only, the gorgeous,” He paused upon hearing the chuckles of amusement from the audience. “Kim Seokjin.”

Upon mention of his name, Seokjin stood up from his seat, along with everyone else, and climbed up the stage as the guests all clapped for him. He quickly thanked the emcee before immediately taking in charge of the stage.

“Ah… what a warm welcome. Thank you ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.” He smiled, motioning with his free hand for the audience to sit back down. “All this applause is pumping up my ego.”

And with that, the guests laughed. If not for the extravagance of the venue and the suits and dresses that everyone donned, the anniversary dinner could be mistaken for a casual friendly event and not a formal corporate event, because as much as Kim Seokjin was known for being a really efficient and influencial businessman, he was also a very warm and light-hearted person.

Once the people were settled, the broad-shouldered man proceeded to thanking everyone once again and explaining the theme of the event. He also complimented the execution of the design plans.

“I would like to thank Pink Princess’s design team for such a job well done.” Seokjin stated in front, turning to face Hoseok and the rest of the design team who were gathered around one table. “Jung Hoseok and everyone, thank you. Let’s all give them a big round of applause.”

Upon mention of their team, the people around the table stood up from their seats and proceeded to bowing down to everyone who not only clapped for them, but also muttered words of appreciation for the ethereal design.

“And of course, there’s no way I would forget.” Seokjin continued before turning again to face Wings’s table. “I would also like to thank Park Jimin of Wings for helping the design team throughout the whole preparation. Without your help, this event wouldn’t have been this successful.”

Then, another round of applause resounded inside the venue as Jimin shyly stood up from his seat and quickly gave everyone a bow of gratitude for their appreciation of his help.

After thanking the design team, the CEO then continued on sharing about the struggles that the company faced, as well as its successes and good times. Towards the end of his speech, Seokjin mentioned the possible partnership that they would be forming with two companies whose names he did not mention.

“The two companies will be presenting their final proposals next week, and I could already tell that it will be one hell of a competition.” Seokjin announced, and even though it really was not something to laugh about, the people still chuckled lightly at his statement, everyone knowing full well what the man was talking about.

“So… I won’t take any more of your time. Again, thank you for coming, and to the two companies,” He paused, raising his brow and looking around the venue to meet the gazes of the said companies—one being Jungkook. “Good luck. Enjoy the rest of the night.”

And with that, Seokjin took a step back and began bowing down to everyone as the guests once again went up on their feet and gave the man a big round of applause.

After the CEO’s speech, the rest of the night was filled with socialization and music from famous performers. As expected of him, Jungkook proceeded to talking with the officials of other companies to build rapport with them and scout possible future ventures. His secretary, Momo, stuck with the other guys for the night and bonded with Taehyung, Jimin and Yoongi.

“You’ll be back in our company starting tomorrow, right?” Taehyung asked. “It’s starting to get really lonely in our department without you around!”

“Yeah, I’ll be back starting tomorrow.” Jimin answered. “And stop making it look like I’m a key person in the department or something. I barely even talk with other people when I work.”

“Well, yeah, but with you around, it still feels different.” The taller retorted. “At least Yoongi-hyung keeps me company at times.”

“Oh really?” Jimin asked, raising his brow and turning his attention to the said male, who was nonchalantly looking around the place.

It took a few moments of silence in the table before Yoongi snapped his head back to face his ex. “What?”

“So,” Jimin trailed off, smirking. “You visit our department from time to time?”

“It’s not even from time to time, Jiminie.” Taehyung butted in. “I actually asked him if they had nothing to do in their department. He’s basically taken residence in your cubicle.”

“Really?”

“Y-Yah… what are you talking about?” Yoongi countered, internally wincing at the fact that he just stuttered. “It’s not like I’m there often or something.”

“Just admit it, hyung.” Taehyung smiled. “You just miss Jiminie! Oh my god!”

The instant Jimin’s name rolled off his tongue, said male sputtered on his drink, causing both him and Taehyung to grab their napkins and wipe off the liquid that managed to spray out of his mouth. He quickly mumbled apologies to the other occupants of the table along with a few coughs before Jimin let out a small laugh.

“Wow… that’s rather funny. Nice one, Tae.” Jimin said, clapping his hand slowly to applaud the “joke” that he was referring to.

“What? It’s not a joke!” The tanned male answered. “What other possible explanation could you think of? We’ve been in Yoongi-hyung’s office—you know that it’s too good there that he won’t leave it and come to your cramped office cubicle just for the sake of it!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know that.” Jimin agreed. “But it just so happened that I know Yoongi-hyung likes someone else now. And I know who that someone else is.”

“Shut the up, Park.”

“What? Afraid of getting exposed?”

“Now I kind of get it why you guys broke up.” Momo commented, causing Taehyung to laugh and hold his hand up for a high five.

“Are you guys having fun?”

The whole table turned their heads towards the source of the question.

“Hyung!” Jimin suddenly shrieked, standing up to greet the older. “I miised you!”

“Yah, Jiminie, we just saw each other like… three hours ago.” The older chuckled. “Jiminie, thank you, again, for the help.”

“It’s nothing, hyung.” Jimin responded. “And besides, I learned a lot from you and the others. The past few weeks have been the best experience in my career so far.”

“Wow… way to go to make me feel special, Jiminie.” Taehyung complained, causing the rest of the table to erupt in laughter.

“Oh, Jiminie,” Hoseok suddenly said, remembering the reason why he came to their table in the first place. “The team actually asked if you wanted to come to our table and join us for a while.”

“Of course, hyung. I’d love to.” The shorter answered. “Is it alright if…”

“Of course, Jimin, you can go.” Yoongi answered. “Besides, we’ll be seeing you again in the office starting tomorrow anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah, Yoongi-hyung’s right.” Taehyung added. “But, take me with you. I want to meet your new friends.”

“Yeah, that’d be great.” The long-faced man said. “So, let’s go?”

And with that, the three went on to meet the rest of the design team of Pink Princess. When they arrived at the table, Jimin could not help but smile at the sight of everyone chatting animatedly with each other over plates of deserts and appetizers.

 “Hey it’s Jimin-oppa!” Jihyo remarked when she noticed the three approaching. “Come here, oppa! We saved a seat for you!”

“Aww… thank you, guys!” Jimin answered, touched by the simple gesture. “Oh this guy’s name is Kim Taehyung.” He added, motioning to the said man who was nearly a head taller than him. “He’s my office mate and close friend in Wings.”

“Hello, I’m Kim Taehyung. Nice to meet you all.” Taehyung introduced himself. “Thank you for taking care of my friend while he was away.”

“It’s no problem, Taehyung-ssi.” Wheein answered, smiling. “And besides, it was more like him taking care of all of us. Such a thoughtful person.”

“Ah… it’s nothing. You guys just seemed so stressed and tired.”

“Oh, by the way, hyung.” Seokmin butted in after swallowing a sip of wine in his mouth. “Your… boyfriend’s here, right?”

“What kind of question is that even? Of course he is!” Hyejin answered. “There he is.” She continued, pointing to the said CEO’s general direction with his lips.

“Oh my gosh, you guys know about it, too?” Taehyung asked in surprise, to which the people around the table answered with nods and hums. “And yet you don’t want me to tell others?”

“I don’t want you telling others in the company.” Jimin corrected him. “It will be very uncomfortable for everyone if news comes out that our boss is dating one of his employees.”

“Oh my god, just imagining it makes me cringe already.” Byulyie agreed, faking shivering motions with her shoulders. There was a brief moment of silence after that before Taehyung spoke up again.

“Hey, hey, did you gusy know?” He started. Everyone turned to listen to what he was about to say. “Jiminie’s ex-boyfriend also came with us today!”

“Kim Taehyung!!!” Jimin protested, hitting the grinning male quite strongly on the shoulder. “Did you really have to—”

“Really?!”

“Oh my god this is great…”

“Omo, where is he?”

“Here’s the pale one drinking wine from a glass right now.” Taehyung answered happily, pointing to the sail unknowing male, ignoring his best friend’s protests and violence.

“Ooh… he’s quite cute.” Byulyie commented, afterwards sharing a high-five with Hyejin and Wheein. “Eyyy… Jiminie grabbing all them cute boys out there.”

“D-Do you really have to put it like that—yah! Kim Taehyung! I hate you!” Jimin shrieked, continuing to hit the said male with both his arms. “Just you wait until tomorrow you moron. I’ll make you suffer.”

“Oooh… scary mochi.”

“Jiminie…” Hoseok suddenly whispered, nudging the shorter with his elbow and pointing behind him with his lips. “Your Jungkookie’s watching.”

“What?” The younger’s eyes flew wide open in surprise before turning around to take a look. And true enough, the young CEO was looking at him as one of the men he was speaking to continue to talk.

And even though Jeon Jungkook was not smiling, for some reason, Jimin felt good about meeting his gaze. His lips involuntarily curved slightly up as he acknowledged the CEO’s attention with a nod, which the younger returned with the same gesture.

“Woah… what was that?” Chan asked, looking back and forth between the two. “Why did that look so… romantic?”

“I know right!” Joshua blurted out, totally agreeing with the younger’s observation. “Yah, Jimin.”

Said male snapped his head back to the table upon registering the voice calling out his name. “H-Huh?”

“Chan said,” Joshua said, propping his head up on the table with his arm. “That you and Mr. Jeon looked romantic just a while ago.” He then smiled at the other man and blinked his eyes rapidly, as if he was trying to act all pretty.

“What?” Jimin answered, raising his brow at the accusation. He then turned to Chan, who was also grinning. “You’re too young to think about those things, Chan.”

“But I’m already—”

“Blah blah blah…” Jimin teased, covering his ears to spite the younger. Chan only scowled at him in return as the rest of the table laughed.

Jungkook continued to watch the older even when he turned around to talk with the rest of the design team of Pink Princess. He could not help but smile when Jimin covered his ears with his small hands and lolled his head from side to side, as he taunting.

“Mr. Jeon?” The deep, confident voice calling out his name snapped him back to his current situation, causing him to drop the fond smile that he was sporting.

“Yes? I’m sorry, I spaced out for a little while.” He answered, smiling apologetically. “What were you saying?”

“I said,” The man, who was clearly older than Jungkook by at least a good decade, started again. “That it’s quite surprising that Wings and Pink Princess haven’t had any partnerships yet.”

The younger CEO simply nodded at the statement. “Yes, actually.” Jungkook responded. “That is why when we learned about Pink Princess venturing into modern electronic design, we made sure to strike a deal with them.”

“So you’re competing against OB Corporation, then?” The older man asked. Jungkook only nodded.

Soon after, the other CEO’s secretary came to whisper something in the man’s ear, prompting him to excuse himself from Jungkook in favor of attending to the request of another company head. The younger gracefully acknowledged the request and proceeded to going back to their table once his companion was gone.

Once he got back, the only people around the table are Momo and Yoongi. The former immediately noticed his presence, and being used to attending to the younger’s needs, she immediately stood up and gave a small bow to her boss.

“Do you need anything, sir?”

“No, no.” Jungkook smiled, shaking his head. “I already told you, just… enjoy the night.”

In response, the girl gave the CEO a wide smile as she nodded in understanding. The smile in the man’s lips grew at the sight as he took his seat and looked over to the music department head.

The smile he was wearing fell down upon noticing the older’s expression.

“Min Yoongi-ssi.” Jungkook called his attention. “You look so bored.”

“I’m not bored, though.” Yoongi answered, stoic expression on his face unmoved, without even spared the younger a glance.

Jungkook was displeased.

He waited a few moments for the other to continue speaking, but seconds later, it was clear that the conversation was already over even before it started.

Jungkook scoffed. “You’re so boring… I don’t understand what Jimin-hy—” He paused, remembering that he was not supposed to address Jimin in such a familiar manner in front of other employees. And while Yoongi already knew about their arrangement, Momo did not.

And boy, did Jungkook want to hide it the most from the girl.

The CEO cleared his throat dramatically before continuing. “I mean… I don’t understand what Park Jimin-ssi found in you.”

“Actually, I don’t know either.” Yoongi answered, smiling to himself at the thought. There were certain times in the past that he asked himself the same question. Because really, him and Jimin were like polar opposites. While Jimin was all warm smiles and energetic conversations, Yoongi was all about cool image and reserved disposition.

Reaching for his wine glass, Yoongi looked up and took a look at the younger, who was currently looking at the side, as if he was watching something. The pale male raised his brow at the rare sight before following the younger’s gaze.

Jimin.

At the end of the trail, Yoongi found the said male laughing with Taehyung and the rest of the design team of Pink Princess.

When posed with the question of what Jimin saw in him that they got together in the past, Yoongi could not come up with any answer. But there’s one thing he was certain—if people asked him what he saw in the designer that made him want to fall in love with the man, the first thing that always came to his mind was the younger’s smile. The million dollar smile that always made him feel like he could conquer everything. The bright eyes that turned into small crescents whenever he smiled genuinely. The cute cheeks that bunched up akin to that of babies’.

And even if Yoongi never looked at himself in the mirror in the past whenever he was lost in staring at Jimin’s smile, he could bet that he looked just like how Jungkook looked at the moment.

“Uh… Momo.” Yoongi called the secretary’s attention with a soft voice, leaning closer to her. “Can you like… get more food for us?”

“Of course!” Momo answered, immediately standing up to oblige happily. After all, she was just waiting for an excuse to get more food.

“Take your time picking food, okay? Get the things that you like.” He added, to which the girl only nodded enthusiastically as a response.

Once the girl was out of earshot, Yoongi turned his attention back to his boss.

“Do you like staring at Jimin that much?” He asked out loud, smirking when his question effectively penetrated the younger’s concentration.

“Huh?”

“I asked, do you like staring at Jimin that much?” Yoongi repeated his question, internally laughing at the very brief, but definitely there, moment of hesitation in Jungkook’s face. “At Jimin and Taehyung, I mean.”

“No!” Jungkook answered. “I mean… no. I was just watching out if they mess something up. It’s a big event, after all. And seeing them all happy like that kind of worries me. You know, people tend to get careless when they get carefree.”

Yoongi nodded at the younger’s well-thought of answer. He knew it would not be easy to catch Jeon Jungkook off-guard. So instead of pressing issue further, Yoongi just let it slide.

“What?”

“What?” Yoongi asked in confusion, tilting his head to the side at the younger’s sudden question. “I wasn’t saying anything.”

“Yeah, with your mouth, you’re not.” Jungkook answered, irritation slightly evident in his young features. “But I can basically hear your thoughts from here.”

“How is that even possible?” Yoongi asked, raising his brow at the younger. “Tell me, what do you hear?”

The challenging stare that the musician gave the CEO did not go unnoticed—rather, it was something that the younger was used to taking on, and so the two spent next few seconds completely immersed in each other’s stare.

A few seconds past, and Jungkook spoke again.

“You don’t believe me.”

All that Yoongi gave him in reply to the accusation was a shrug, to the agitation of the younger.

“Well, at least Jimin-hyung’s more interesting than you.” Jungkook replied in an attempt to spite the older. Seconds passed, and along with the appearance of the smirk on Yoongi’s lips, Jungkook’s doe eyes widened even more upon realizing the implication of what he just said.

“Y-Yah… what I meant was—”

“Food’s here!” Momo’s voice cut the CEO’s protest, forcing him to hold back the words he so wanted to spit to the older’s face. His knuckles were turning white from clenching his fists in irritation over Yoongi’s smirk which only grew when the secretary arrived.

Deciding not to dwell on the matter, Jungkook resorted to letting the older win for the time being. He shifted his attention from the still-smirking male to the now-eating girl beside him, who seemed so happy and invested in the crispy pork belly she managed to acquire.

Jungkook sighed. At least Momo and her generally cute and happy aura saved the night.

“Oh my god, I love them.” Taehyung said to his companion as the two of them approached their table. “The girls were hilarious! And also, the boys were rather cute.”

“Tae!” Jimin protested, glaring at the still-smiling boy. “Will you stop saying things in inappropriate places?”

“What? It’s not like I’m lying.”

The shorter sighed in defeat, opting not to push the topic as they were already in the company of the other three. Jimin took his seat beside Momo, who was still eating, and joined her in plowing through the crispy pork belly.

“Wow… this is delicious!”

“I know right!” Momo agreed. “Pork is the best.”

The designer only hummed in agreement as he picked another piece. A frown made its way on his face when he turned around to see Yoongi not eating anything.

“Yah, hyung,” Jimin called the attention of the pale male. “Here.”

“I’m not hungry.” Yoongi answered, smiling and refusing the offer. “I’m fine.”

“Awww… come on, hyung!” The younger insisted, reaching over in front of Taehyung and nudging the musician’s lips with the piece of food, playfully trying to place the treat in his mouth. Yoongi only stuck in tongue out and slightly the food before closing his mouth again.

“Yah… why don’t you want to eat?” Jimin complained, giving up. “Nevermind, I’ll just eat everything with Momo.” He continued before eating the piece of pork he tried to feed Yoongi with.

“How about this?” Taehyung asked, reaching for the breaded pork and offering it to the shorter. Jimin turned his head to watch, only to be disappointed when he saw Yoongi open his mouth—rather cutely—an receive the meat the other offered.

“Yah! What is this discrimination?!” Jimin shrieked, glaring at Yoongi, who only shrugged at him and smiled. “You’re doing this to me? Just because you li—”

“Park Jimin-ssi.” Jimin’s complaints were cut short when the boss called him out. “Can’t you keep it down and behave a little bit more properly? This is still a formal event, you know?”

And just like that, Jimin retreated to his seat with a small pout on his lips. He mumbled a few incomprehensible words before grabbing another pork belly and aggressively munching on it.

“Ah… what a child.” Yoongi sighed.  He then stood up and went behind the shorter boy and opened his mouth, pointing to it, asking to be fed.

Jimin smiled before putting in a piece.

“There, happy?” The older asked, to which Jimin responded with enthusiastic smiley nods. “Stop throwing a tantrum, I was just kidding.”

“Okay.”

“Yah, Park Jimin.” Jungkook suddenly interrupted the two, standing from his seat and scrolling through his phone. He then looked up to the direction of the food tables. “Come with me. Let’s get some more food.”

“But… but there’s so much food here.”

“I want to get something else.” Jungkook answered.

“B-But…” Jimin tried to complain some more, only to he stopped when Jungkook suddenly raised his brow at him. “O-Okay.”

And so the designer reluctantly stood up from his seat and followed the CEO to the service tables, the whole time the former waiting for the latter to say something. Once they reached to tables, Jungkook grabbed a plate and handed one to the older before grabbing another one for himself.

“Get more food.” Jungkook instructed. Jimin only obliged and proceeded to getting some food for the table. Jimin could not help but think if getting so much food for their table was a norm in formal events, but he quickly figured that everyone was apparently doing it, at least for the current situation.

After all, it would be a waste of good food if they did not eat as much food as they could.

“What were you doing back there?” Jungkook suddenly asked, slightly taking the older by surprise and causing him to drop the chicken fillet he was holding with the tongs back to the tray.

“Uhm… I was feeding Yoongi-hyung.” Jimin answered. “I mean… he wasn’t eating so—”

“Let me remind you that we’re in Kim Seokjin’s territory.” Jungkook butted in, opting not to listen to the other’s excuse. “You’re supposed to be my boyfriend.”

“But we’re also with other people from Wings.” Jimin reasoned out. “You told me we can’t act like we’re boyfriends in front of other employees from our company.”

“Well yeah, but for you to act all lovey-dovey with your ex-boyfriend? Isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

The two fell silent for a few moments after that.

“Then, how should I act?” Jimin asked. Then, he suddenly turned to face the younger, with a piece of grilled duck meat in his hand, a sweet smile on his face. “Like this?”

He almost laughed at the younger’s reaction, shock evident in his face as he already-big eyes grew even bigger.

“W-What are you doing?”

“Feeding my boyfriend? What else?” Jimin answered, shrugging. “I mean… I thought—”

“Just get it done quickly.” Jungkook suddenly said, this time, taking the older by surprise. He then opened his mouth and leaned closer to the smaller, getting to his eye level, reducing the distance between their faces to mere inches.

Jimin dazedly put the piece of food on the younger’s mouth. Even as he was chewing, Jungkook did not move his face away and maintained eye contact, making the older slightly fidget.

“W-What are you—”

“Eating my boyfriend? Ah… I mean eating the food from my boyfriend? What else?” Jungkook smugly answered, smirking. “You think I can’t play this game?”

“Y-Yah!” Jimin protested, moving back. “I-I’m going back to our table.”

After saying that, Jimin practically dashed back to their assigned table. Jungkook could not help but smile as he watched the panicked male escape the situation. Shaking his head, at the older’s actions, the CEO continued to pick foods.

Once back at the table, Jimin set down the plate full of various kinds of food down before taking a seat between Momo and Taehyung. As expected, it was Taehyung who first attacked the new plate.

“Where’s boss?” Taehyung asked the other designer.

“I left him.”

“Oohh… I see, I see.” The taller nodded in understanding, once again picking a piece of chicken fillet from the plate. He then scooted closer to Jimin and whispered to his ear. “What happened?”

“What do you mean ‘what happened’?” Jimin asked. “Nothing happened.”

“Eh? But that’s impossible!” Taehyung protested. “Come on, just tell me already! He wouldn’t single you out just to grab food with you.”

“Maybe he would?”

“Yah!”

Determined to know what had transpired while the two were away, Taehyung continued to bug Jimin about it. He was in the middle of using physical means to pry information from his best friend when he was forced to stop by Jungkook’s arrival.

“What’s happening here?” The youngest in the table asked. The fact that Taehyung abruptly stopped when he arrived made him even more curious.

“N-Nothing, sir.” Taehyung answered, showing the younger a boxy smile in hopes of appeasing him into dropping the subject. “Jiminie and I were just playing.”

“Is that so?” Jungkook asked, turning to Jimin, who just nodded at him in response.

The rest of the night went smoothly. Momo stayed on her seat for the most part, plowing through all the pork she could get her hands on. It was surprising for everyone else—even for Jungkook—that the girl had an appetite for the guilt-ridden treat, because given that her figure was basically that of a model’s, it was easy to assume that she was on a low calorie diet.

When Jimin expressed this surprise, all she had in reply was a smile and an offer to join her in her eating.

Taehyung did join the girl at some point, but he mostly stuck with Jimin—bothering him non-stop and mostly bickering or laughing with him—and Yoongi, with whom he had actual sensible conversations with.

Yoongi, on the other hand, only moved from his spot for a total of three times, two of which were to go and use the comfort room. The other one was what Jimin and Taehyung double teamed him by forcing him to stand and grab more food and drinks for them. Jimin was pretty convinced that Yoongi obliged only because Taehyung asked him to, but he would not tell the elder that.

Jimin did what he usually did. But he made sure to steer clear of his boss. As much as he hated to admit it, he was a just a tiny bit affected by the younger’s little stunt. He was attracted to males, after all. Just not Jungkook, since the boy was basically everything Jimin despised about the rich.

In order to save himself from the trouble of having to avoid Jungkook for the time being, the designer made sure to keep himself busy with conversations with Yoongi and Taehyung, since he knew Jungkook would not do anything with them around.

To his delight, though, Jungkook acted like nothing happened and continued to keep up the “tough respectable CEO” image he had. But every now and then, when no one else noticed, Yoongi caught him openly staring at random things—may it be the food, the crumbs on the table, the droplet of dew outside the walls of his wine glass, or the table décor.

Or Jimin.

Being seemingly the only one who noticed things was a burden for the pale musician, and to say that it did not bother him was a huge lie. In fact, watching how things progressed worried him to great extents, because knowing Jimin, the younger would surely get hurt if things go bad.

The night ended with a classical performance accompanied by one last big display of fireworks and dance of searchlights that varied in intensity and tempo in accordance to the movement of the song. One last round of applause, and the event was over.

The five people from Wings left the venue together and went to where their cars were parked so they could go home and rest.

“Park Jimin-ssi.” Jungkook suddenly called the man’s attention when they were just beside their cars. “Come with us, we’ll take you home.”

“No.” Yoongi disagreed, causing the younger to raise a brow at him. “I’ll take Jimin home.”

“Y-Yeah, it’d be a bother for you to take me home.” Jimin agreed with the older. “Besides, you still have to take Momo to her place, right? She’d arrive home late if you’d still—”

“Then we’d drive Momo to her place first.” Jungkook answered. “I still have to discuss things with you.”

“Jimin will be back to our office starting tomorrow.” The musician countered. “I think what you have to say can wait until then.”

Silence ensued after Yoongi’s words. Despite the conversation being about him, Jimin could not help but feel awkwardly out of place, along with Taehyung and Momo, with the former knowing what the argument was really all about, and the latter being clueless.

“Maybe I’ll just go ahead?” Taehyung said awkwardly, smiling. “Jiminie can come with me and—”

“Let’s go together, Taehyung.” Yoongi butted in, turning his back to his boss and opening the door of his car. “Jimin, come in.”

“O-Okay, hyung.” Said male answered. Before getting inside the car, he quickly gave the CEO a bow and bid Momo a farewell.

“What was that about, hyung?” Jimin once they were on the road. He stifled a yawn after giving his question and rubbed his tired eyes before sinking further into the passenger seat.

“Nothing much.” The older replied. “I’m just trying to give you a well-deserved break from him.”

“So… you noticed, huh?” Jimin asked. Yoongi only nodded at him in response. “Yeah… I actually need this. Thanks, hyung.”

“But really though, Taehyung’s right.” The pale male continued. “What did you and Jungkook talk about when you two went to grab more food?”

“Ah… that.” Jimin sighed. “Well… he said it was weird that I was acting sweet to you when we were supposed to pretend that we were boyfriends.”

“That’s all?”

“That’s pretty much it.” The younger answered. There was a few moments of silence in the car before Yoongi spoke again.

“Is Jungkook jealous?”

“What?” Jimin asked, his face looking scandalized. “Of course not! There’s no way that’s true! Not a chance.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Jungkook’s straight.” Jimin answered, nodding to himself. “I don’t really consider myself so good-looking to bend someone’s gender just like that. Maybe if I looked like Taehyung, it could happen. But even then, I don’t think Jungkook would budge.”

Yoongi frowned. “You think of him like that?”

“Yeah! He made it clear pretty much right from the start.” Jimin retorted. The car then once again fell into a comfortable kind of silence until the pair arrived at the younger’s place.

“If you’re in Jungkook’s place,” Yoongi suddenly asked as Jimin was unbuckling his seatbelt. “And he’s acting all sweet and caring towards his ex, would you be jealous?”

The question sounded so loud in contrast to the silence of the night, and it made the young designer momentarily stop with what he was doing. He quickly recovered, though, and answered.

“No, of course not.” Jimin said. “I would not even start a fake relationship with him, if I were the boss.”

“But you’re not answering the question, Jimin.” Yoongi said, seriousness evident in the tone of his voice. “Would you be jealous?”

“I already answered,” Jimin responded, opening the door of the car. “And my answer is no, I won’t be jealous.” He said with finality before stepping out of the car. “Thanks for the ride, hyung, take care!”

“Yeah, yeah, no problem.” Yoongi smiled at the younger. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

Once Jimin closed the car door and disappeared behind the apartment door, Yoongi started driving back to his own place. And along the way, he could not help but let out a sigh of concern.

“I can feel a disaster about to happen.”