Hello guys!!! Here's another chapter! :) Hell's about to break lose into our university (you know, finals week and all exams), so I might not be able to update for some time. Sorry. :(

17

Everything was different the instant Jimin opened his eyes. And while he would also love to stay in his bed and get a lot more rest, the young designer actually felt motivated to go to work.

He stretched his rested limbs, and lightly sighed at the feeling of his muscles being pulled. A smile automatically plastered itself on his face when his felt his bones click to place as he continued to stretch. His limbs felt like when he just finished working out or dancing, and they felt great.

Feeling satisfied with his good night sleep, Jimin climbed out of his bed and proceeded to his morning preparations—taking time to actually eat breakfast in the form of a bowl of instant oats and a cup of hot coffee. He knew he was going to run late if he continued with his pace, but it was not like he was going to Wings first. Jungkook and he had already talked about the post-collaboration conditions. He was actually allowed to not come in the next day after the event, but he figured such a motivation-filled day should not go to waste. And he still had to properly say goodbye to his friends in Pink Princess and get the personal belongings he had left in their office.

Jungkook.

The instant Jimin realized that he would still have to face Jungkook again, a sudden wave of nervousness washed over him, making him have a mini-heart attack.

“He still has something to tell me today…” Jimin sighed against the lips of his mug. “I hope it’s not something serious.”

Once he finished his food and drink, Jimin went over to the sink and cleaned the utensils he used before taking a bath. Since it has been such a long time since he actually got to enjoy his bath, he took his time to do the things he absolutely loved to do in the bathroom—singing.

After six songs, the man finally stepped out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and clean. He quickly got into one of his office attires and fixed himself and his things before double checking all the lights, faucets, and electrical appliances in his place—not that there were many—and locking the door behind him to set out.

Just a few steps out into the street, Jimin’s phone suddenly pinged to indicate the arrival of a message. He quickly took the device out of his pocket and read the message as he hailed a cab.

From: Taehyungie

Good morning!

You’re coming today, right? What time are you coming to the office?

Mingyu and Wonwoo already miss you!

“Why don’t you just say you miss me?” Jimin smiled to himself as he boarded the car. He quickly sent a reply before telling the driver where he was headed to.

To: Taehyungie

Tell them I miss them, too. J

Uhm… I’m not sure what time I would be arriving there… I still have to go to Pink Princess first to get my stuff.

Seconds after sending his reply, his phone rang again, this time, because of a call.

“Hello?”

“What do you mean you still have to go to Pink Princess first?” Taehyung practically shrieked into the receiver of the phone. “You’ve been there since forever!”

“You’re exaggerating things, Tae.” Jimin chuckled. “I’ve been gone for only a few weeks… and we’re literally together last night.”

“Still.” Taehyung answered. Jimin could practically hear his pout through the device.

“Yah… don’t be sad.” The designer said as he opened the car window and let the air hit his face. “The design team would probably ask me to eat lunch with them for the last time, so I’d probably get there after lunch.”

“Aww… that .” Taehyung whined. “Well then… I’ll just see you later, I guess?”

“Yeah, see you later.”

And the call ended. Jimin, deciding to enjoy the morning air in Seoul, put away his phone and just watched the scenery outside pass by as the cab continued to travel to his destination.

Upon arrival at Pink Princess, Jimin quickly paid the cab driver before proceeding to enter the establishment. On his way in, the guard took notice of his presence and greeted the designer.

“Oh, Jimin-ssi, you’re here.” He said, smiling to the smaller male.

“Yeah… for the last time in a long time, actually.” Jimin answered, smiling back at the confused look on the other man’s face. “I’m going back to Wings. My work here is done.”

“Aww… that’s too bad.” The guard replied. “Your bright smile will truly be missed here.”

At the guy’s compliment, Jimin could not hide the smile that automatically appeared on his face. “Come on, it’s not like people here don’t have bright smiles either.”

“But yours is different, really.” He continued. “Anyway, how did the event go last night? I practically drowned in the sound of fireworks for like… hours.”

“It was successful.” The shorter answered. “All the hard work paid off.”

“That’s good to hear.” He then motioned with his hands for Jimin to go on his way, to which the designer replied with a small bow before leaving the nice personnel to his work.

Along his way to the design department, Jimin met several staffs who he greeted cheerfully, like he always did. They were all part of the reason why he felt like crying now that he really was leaving the wonderful workplace he had grown to love in the past days that he had work with them.

But then again, all good things just had to come to an end.

Jimin was lost in his thoughts when he stepped into the department, so he was taken by surprise when Hyejin suddenly went on screaming his name to announce his arrival.

“Oh my gods! Jiminie, you’re here!” Wheein clapped, afterwards throwing her arms around Hyejin’s and Byulyie’s shoulders. The rest of the design team went over to swarm the new arrival.

“Yeah, hyung.” Chan agreed. “Are you staying here for good? Did Mr. Kim hire you already?”

The said male, recovering from the initial shock of being welcomed with so much enthusiasm, chuckled at the shorter’s question. “No, Chan, I just came for my stuff.”

“Aww… that’s sad.” Seokmin sighed, disappointment clearly in his voice.

“Yah, Lee Seokmin.” Jeongyeon called the male out. “It’s not like we can’t hang out with Jimin-oppa every now and then. We’ll still see him.”

“Oh my god Jiminie’s here?!” A high-pitched shriek resounded throughout the whole office, prompting the occupants to turn their heads to the direction of the department head’s room. There stood a pleasantly-surprised Hoseok.

“Yeah, hyung, I’m back.” Jimin answered. “To get my stuff.”

The smile on the department head’s face immediately fell upon hearing the younger’s purpose in coming, and was replaced by a pout that had everyone laughing.

“We’ll miss you, Jiminie!” Hoseok then cried out loud, rushing to an amused Jimin and engulfing him in a hug. “What would we ever do without you?”

“Wow, hyung, way to go to make me feel special.” Jimin chuckled. “You guys will do so well, as if I was never here before.”

“Don’t say that.”

“It’s true, though.”

“Guess I’m just in time for the drama.” Another voice spoke up, making everyone face the entrance to see the CEO. Everyone gave the man bows of acknowledgement, which Seokjin returned. “Park Jimin.”

“Sir.”

“Thank you… for your big help.” The broad-shouldered man said, sincerity evident in his voice. Jimin felt pride grow in him at the thought of having helped Pink Princess.

“It’s my pleasure, hyung.” Jimin answered. “And I would like to also thank you and Hoseok-hyung for the incredible opportunity to work with such…” He trailed off, looking around at the people around who gave him all bright smiles and happy faces. “…great and talented people. It really was so much fun working with you guys.”

A sniff was heard in the room, making everyone turn their heads to the source.

“Yah! Jihyo don’t cry!”

“I’m not crying!”

“Wow, she’s not crying right now.” Joshua chuckled. “Imagine if she’s actually crying.”

“It’d destroy the devices in the office.” Soonyoung added, making everyone laugh and prompting the crying female to try and hit him on the shoulder.

“Shut up.”

“Oh my god, Jihyo, you made Hoseok cry, too!” Byulyie laughed, pointing at the said male who hurriedly wiped his wet eyes with his fists.

“Shut up, Moon, I’m not crying.”

“Oh lord, before the waterworks get too much to handle I’ll make you guys happy by announcing a department lunch.” Seokjin groaned, gaining the attention everyone. “As celebration for a job well done for last night, and also as a sending off party for Jiminie, this lunch will be on me and my gold card.”

“Wow!”

“Kim Seokjin’s the best!”

“Let’s get wasted!” Hyejin suddenly yelled, prompting everyone to give her weird looks. “What?”

“We’re having lunch, Hyejin.” Wheein answered. “Which means there won’t be alcohol to get wasted with.”

“Then we get wasted with food.”

“Anyway,” Seokjin butted in, effectively stopping another round of bickering between the two. “Everyone just finish what you need to get done by noon. Jimin will pack his things up, and I’ll be returning to my office. I’ll just come back later.”

“Okay!”

And with that, Seokjin left the department in favor of going back to his own work. Hoseok and everyone else continued on with what they were doing before Jimin arrived, while the said male proceeded to his task of collecting whatever stuff he had left the last time he was in Pink Princess.

The stuff Jimin had to put inside the extra bag he brought with him with mostly papers, so it took him quite some time preparing. He still had to scan through the contents of the sheets before deciding whether to bring them or just discard them.

Once he was through with the papers, the designer from Wings gathered his personal belongings such as toiletries and his mug and squeezed them into what little space remained of his bag.

Unexpectedly, the boy finished just in time for lunch, when everyone else also finished with their immediate deadlines. He just finished zipping up his bag when Seokjin made his presence known once again.

“Ready?” The CEO asked, to which everyone answered with nods and excited claps. After making sure everything was set, all of them went out of the building and boarded their respective vehicles. The girls all rode in Wheein’s six-seater, while Soonyoung, Joshua, Seokmin and Chan rode in the second’s car. Hoseok left his own car in favor of getting into Seokjin’s with Jimin.

With the boss’s lead, all three vehicles headed straight to a traditional Korean cuisine restaurant that was not too expensive, but still served top-quality food. Lunch was fun and noisy—just like how they always were even at work, much to the delight of Jimin.

At least, for the last time as their colleague, he got to enjoy the thing that he loved the most in working for Pink Princess—the friendship.

Of course, as expected as well, there were lots of times when some of them would bicker over the most trivial of things, like on who was supposed to get the condiments or cut the meat on the grill. However, those small disputes always ended with everyone laughing at how stupid everyone was.

Jimin also opened up about how he felt when he first came to the department, mostly expressing his concern on Wheein’s weird stare at him when he first arrive.

“Did I really stare?” Wheein asked, smiling. “I really did not notice.”

“Oh well, maybe it was just me?” Jimin answered. “But wait… you also did that to Jungkook when he first came to the office.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Ahh… Our Jung Wheein is really weird like that at times.” Hyejin chewed around the piece of meat she just put in . “She’s just… weird.”

“Wow…” Byulyie chuckled, taking a swig of her iced tea. “That sounds serious, hearing it from someone as ‘normal’ as you.”

“Yah, unnie, we’re both weird.” Hyejin countered, sticking out her tongue at the elder.

Hoseok just laughed at the three. “We’re all weird.”

“True.”

“Yeah.”

The team also talked about the anniversary night and the things that had happened in the venue. Taehyung was brought up and dubbed the “weird, handsome guy”. Despite the nickname, though, everyone agreed that the boy was a really nice and fun guy.

Jimin knew that Taehyung would be ecstatic to know how Pink Princess looked at him, but he would not give him that pleasure. Not just yet.

Everyone’s love life was also brought up, and a lot of teasing and blushing resulted from the topic. Apparently, majority of the team was straight and almost all of them were in their own relationships.

And everyone knew about all of it, everyone save for Jimin, who was just learning about the said aspect in everyone’s lives.

When the group decided to leave the diner, it was out of time restraint and not actual want to leave. All of them stopped just outside and around their cars to say goodbye to Jimin, who did not want to go back to the office anymore.

“Are you sure you don’t want us to drive you to Wings?” Hoseok asked the shorter, a small pout evident on both his voice and his face.

“No, hyung.” Jimin smiled. “I’ll just take the cab.”

“Don’t force him, Hoseok.” Seokjin said. “You’ve asked him like a thousand times already.”

“Yeah, hyung, I’ll be fine.” Jimin agreed. He chuckled at the sigh that his hyung let out, clearly a sign of giving up.

“Fine, then.” The department head relented. “Just say ‘hi’ to Jungkook for us.”

“Yeah, I will. And I’m sure Kookie’s gonna say ‘hello’ to you guys, too.”

“Oh my god, that’s so cute.” Jihyo squealed, clapping. “The nickname ‘Kookie’ is so cute!”

“Yeah, it really is.” Chan agreed. “If Jungkook-ssi’s the ‘Kookie’, then is Jimin-hyung the ‘monster’ who eats the coo—”

“Yah, Chan!” Jimin interrupted the younger. “You’re too young to talk about those things!”

“I-I’m not too young!”

“You’re like…” Jimin paused, counting with his fingers. “Twelve.”

“Yah!”

“Okay, okay, let’s all say goodbye to Jiminie.” Seokjin butted in, stopping another round of bickering from happening. He then turned towards the said male and patted his shoulder. “Thanks again, Jiminie.”

“It’s a great honor and privilege to work with Pink Princess. I should really be the one thanking you.” Jimin answered. “Okay then, guys, I’ll have to leave now.”

“Visit every now and then, okay?”

“Let’s eat outside sometimes, hyung!”

“Take care!”

And with that, Jimin hailed a cab timely passing by at the time everyone had said their good byes to him. There was once again a strong urge to cry, but Jimin would not. It was not like he could not meet them ever again.

 “Well, if it isn’t Park Jimin?” The female guard of Wings’s building smiled at the figure alighting the cab in front of the establishment. “It’s been some time since I’ve seen your smiling face!”

“Long time no see, too, noona.” Jimin greeted the girl back as he entered the place. “I’ve been assigned to work somewhere recently, but we just finished, so… yeah. I’m back.”

“That’s nice.” She replied. “We’re gonna get a little bit more energy with you around.”

“Ahhh… it’s not like I’m important or something.”

“Yah! Don’t say that!” The guard reprimanded, frowning at the boy. “Everyone’s important in their own way, okay? Don’t think otherwise.”

The young designer smiled at the lady, appreciating the words of encouragement. He then headed straight to the design department, and he did not know if it was just he was so used to being greeted by everyone along his way to the office back in Pink Princess or it was just him, but the hallways felt empty, despite the multitude of people passing by him.

Unlike in Pink Princess, none greeted him on his way up.

The lack of interaction on his way to his cubicle was compensated by Taehyung’s rather warm welcome.

“Oh my gods!”

Jimin could not help but cringe at the taller’s interjection. He was quite positive the whole department heard.

“Omo, omo, Jiminie, you’re here!” Taehyung continued, standing up from his seat and engulfing the embarrassed boy in a bone-crushing hug. He got a heavy, paper-filled bag shove into his face in return.

“Again, Tae,” Jimin started, exasperation clearly in his voice. “We basically saw each other last night. You’re acting like we haven’t seen each other since childhood.”

“Well… you were a child last night and—”

“Yah! Kim Taehyung!”

“Oh, Park Jimin-ssi’s back?” Mingyu asked, sliding out of his cubicle. “You look even better than the last time I saw you, and that’s telling.”

“Uhm… thanks, I guess?” Jimin awkwardly smiled at the tan male as he continued to fix his things in the cubicle. “You too. You look great.”

“I know.”

“Hi, Jimin-ssi.” Wonwoo joined in, maneuvering his chair to a spot next to the taller Mingyu. “I see you’re back.”

“Yeah, Wonwoo-ssi, I just got back today.”

“Good to hear.” The boy answered. There was no malice in his words, but Jimin could not help but feel like there was something wrong with how his officemate just talked to him.

And just like that, Wonwoo slid back to his cubicle, but not without giving Mingyu’s chair a rather hard push back into his.

“That felt like the last time…” Jimin mumbled to himself, tilting his head to the side in interest over his two office mates’ behavior. But in the end, the designer decided not to dwell too much on other people’s issues and focused on his tasks at hand.

“Where are you going again?” Taehyung asked when he noticed Jimin leaving his cubicle once again. “You just got back!”

“I’m just going to Yongsun-ssi’s office for some sort of a courtesy call or something.” Jimin answered, pointing to the door of the department head’s office with his thumb. “I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

And with that, Jimin left Taehyung in favor of paying his head a visit. He knocked on the door of the woman and opened it upon hearing Yongsun tell him to come in.

“Oh, you’re back, Jimin-ssi.”

“Ah… yes.”

“I heard you really did great on that collaboration with Pink Princess.” Yongsun headed straight to the point. “Good job, Park.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s actually quite good that you came to me first.” Yongsun said, confusing the younger. “I really want to thank you for putting up a good image for Wings’s design department out there. You really showed everyone what a Wings designer really is capable of.”

“Ah… was it really that good?” Jimin embarrassedly chuckled. “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Of course, it is!” Yongsun answered, laughing a bit. “I won’t really go out of my way just to bull you.”

“Ahh…”

“Oh, anyway,” She continued, putting her clasped hands on top of her table. “I’ve already reviewed the proposals that you guys have submitted.”

“Proposal?” Jimin asked. It took him some time to understand what the woman was referring to, but once he did, his heart slightly picked up its pace. “Oh my… I forgot to make a better version!”

“It’s okay, Park.” The department head reassured the younger. “I understand just how much work you had on your plate recently. Actually, even though I could tell right now that you think what you submitted to me was substandard, I’d like to say otherwise.”

“H-Huh?”

“Your ideas weren’t exactly out of the ordinary.” Yongsun began explaining. “The proposal itself wasn’t polished either. But the level of detail in your body of work is amazing. It made a cliché idea seem different in some way. And I liked the thought of it—taking a cliché idea and turning it into something that is still the same in essence, but in a way that removed the cliché part of it. You get what I mean?”

Jimin pursed his lips, opting not to answer, since he wanted to say no. There was no way his submission for the special assignment was that good.

“So,” The woman continued. “I’ve decided to give you this project.”

“W-What?”

“I’m giving you this special assignment, Park.” Yongsun smiled, standing up from her seat. “Congratulations.”

“Ah…” Jimin scratched the back of his head, still confused as to what was happening. Apparently, he was onto some sort of a lucky streak.

But then again, who was he to refuse such opportunities?

“T-Thank you, Kim Yongsun-ssi.” He extended his hand forward for a handshake, feeling a smile growing on his face.

“We’ll talk about it again in the future, but for now, get settled down again, okay?” The female answered. She then let go of Jimin’s hand and bid him a good bye before he left the office.

The boy exited the department head’s office with an untamable grin on his face. With an extra bounce on his steps, Jimin proceeded to walking back to his cubicle. However, before he got back, his phone in his pocket dinged—an indication of the arrival of a new message.

From: Yoongi-hyung

Come to my office, when you have time.

“What is it now?” Jimin asked to himself, letting out a sigh afterwards as he put the device back into his pocket. Invitations as such from the elder rarely meant casual talks. But still, the designer thought Yoongi would never mean harm for him, so he went to the older’s office anyway.

Once he got to Yoongi’s room, Jimin was pleasantly surprised to see the pale male just lounging around in his chair with a light-hearted KPop song playing softly in the background. The gummy smile the department head sent his way just made the whole thing a hundred fold better.

“How’d you know I’m back?” Jimin asked as he closed the office door behind him and went over to the older. “Do you have a screen for the surveillance cameras or…”

“Taehyung told me.” Yoongi answered. Jimin did not miss the slight blush that went up the other’s pale neck as he struggled to hold in the silly smile that was coming out.

“Oh, yeah?”

“He… chatted me just when you left for Yongsun’s office.”

“He chatted you first?”

“Well…” Yoongi trailed off, not really finding it in himself to answer the question because Jimin would definitely use it against him. So instead of giving a proper reply, the musician opted to start with what he really wanted to talk about with Jimin.

“I did not call you here for that.”

“Yah, you’re avoiding the question.”

“I’m serious here, Jiminie.” Yoongi continued, switching back to his serious tone. “I actually wanted to talk to you about this last night, but I know you were exhausted.”

The instant the younger realized what it was Yoongi wanted, the smile on his face immediately fell. “Why do I feel like I won’t like this conversation?”

“Well, to be you, then, since we’re having this conversation, whether you like it or not.” The pale male answered. “Jimin-ah… you know I’m only doing this since I worry about you.”

“But you really don’t need to worry about me.” Jimin countered. “I can handle this by myself.”

“I know you could.” Yoongi said. “I know you can recover, but I’m already warning you now, so you could prevent further damage. I really think it’s better if you start to distance yourself from him, physically and emotionally.”

At the older’s words, Jimin closed his eyes and let out a burdened sigh. Yoongi knew that the younger certainly understood his point, and that even he knew that there was no way his deal with Jungkook could end well for him.

“Hyung,” Jimin said, his voice low and weak. “I just… Let me do this my own way, okay? Just… trust me in this.”

“I trust you, Jimin-ah.” Yoongi replied. “It’s just that… there is something wrong. You cannot,” He continued, emphasizing what the younger could not do. “Fall for him, understand? Though from what I can see my advice is a bit too late already.”

“W-What?”

“You’re falling for him, and we both know that.” Yoongi answered. The defeated look on Jimin’s face gave the musician a heavy feeling in his chest.

“But I’m trying, hyung,” Jimin defended himself, desperation clearly laced in his voice. “Every single time I find myself losing control, I remind my heart to not fall for anything, because it’s all just for show—because it’s all fake, and that it would end once the deal between Wings and Pink Princess is settled. Though at times, it’s just hard… Jungkook… he’s seemingly sincere at times…”

Yoongi nodded at Jimin;s explanation, knowing full well what the younger meant. And even he, at times certain times, could see that Jungkook was actually unconsciously sincere with how he treated the designer.

But he would not tell Jimin that much. It might give him false hopes.

“That’s why you should end is as soon as possible.” The older said in a soft voice, putting his hand on Jimin’s shoulder. “The sooner you can distance yourself, the less it would hurt in the end.”

Immediately after Yoongi said those words to Jimin, the latter’s phone dinged again in his pocket, prompting him to pull the device out to check.

“Who is it?” Yoongi asked, watching the designer read the message that arrived in his phone. One, two, three seconds passed without the younger’s reply, and Yoongi knew.

“I-I need to go now, hyung.” Jimin excused himself, standing up from his seat. “I’ve got to go somewhere.”

“To Jungkook, right?”

And there was it again, the burdened sigh. Yoongi could not do anything else but mimic the younger.

“I’ll be alright in the end, hyung. You know how much I’ve been through. This one can’t break me now.” Jimin reassured the older, giving him a small, tired smile. “I just want to enjoy this while I can while protecting myself as much as possible.”

“Let me make good memories with him while I still can, okay?”

And with that, Jimin left.