Hello everyone!!! I AM BACK!!!

I am sorry it took me such a long time to make an update... it was just that... I am a graduating student, right? And then this whole pandemic happened so all the school work got condensed... that, along with all of my problems contributed to me being unable to write.

And again, since this chapter was made coming from a very long writing break, it is bound to be a horrible chapter, of course. I had to read the whole story again before I attempted to write again, but even then, I still am rusty from lack of practice.

Also, I just came from a recent heart break, so there. It actually made me go back to writing, so at least something good resulted from that forsaken mistake I made... mistakes that I told myself I would never do again, but still ended up doing.

And congratulations to the graduates of this school year! Your author-nim is now a Mechanical Engineering graduate! <3

Anyways, without further ado, here's the chapter! I hope you guys enjoy, and again, I am sorry for the long wait.

23

“Are you really serious?”

The pair was alone in the elevator on their way to their floor when Taehyung started questioning Jimin about his decision. In all honesty, the latter already knew that his extremely clingy and adorable best friend was going to keep on bringing the topic up once he revealed that he was going to leave the company, but of course he could not just randomly disappear on the guy on the day itself.

He will just have to put up with him being like that for a couple more weeks.

And knowing Taehyung, it was not like he will try to stop Jimin directly. The tall boy was clingy, yes, but he also wants Jimin to be happy, and puts utmost importance on it.

The lack of response on the part of Jimin frustrated Taehyung. In retaliation, he proceeded to using physical force to pry out a response from the slightly older male, shaking the guy’s shoulders until he relented.

“Oh my god, stop it, Tae.” Jimin groaned, smiling at the antics of his best friend. He can already feel his tie loosening. “Yes, okay? I am serious about leaving.”

“B-But…” Taehyung stammered, completing the kicked puppy look with a pout. He trailed behind the other as the two of them got out of the elevator. “But… Ah! I know! You’re gonna start getting a higher pay here, right? Both from the special assignment and the whole deal thingy?”

“Well, yeah.”

“What about that then? Will you let that go to waste?”

“Pink Princess said I’ll be the one to set my own wage.” Jimin revealed, causing the taller’s jaw to drop. He smiled to himself at the obvious shock on the part of Taehyung, who was not able to recover until they were already in front of their department entrance.

“So, just how much did you say your wage is?” Taehyung lowered his voice to ask, making sure that only him and Jimin could hear their conversation. “Millions?”

“I don’t know, TaeTae.” Jimin sing-sang, smirking. “But I can treat you to lunch every day with it, that’s for sure.”

“I don’t want you to treat me to lunch every day if that means you’re leaving.” Taehyung pouted once more, making the shorter coo at him internally. A second later though, the eccentric male perked up again, having thought of another factor. “Oh, I know, I know!” He exclaimed, making a couple of heads turn towards their direction. “Pink Princess is really far, you know! How are you gonna get there from your house?”

Jimin let out a sigh as the two of them reach their cubicles, not really wanting to talk about it with the rest of their officemates in earshot. “Tae, let’s just talk about it later during lunch, okay? I still have to treat you, remember?”

“But—”

“Later, Tae, I will tell you everything about it over your favorite food.” Jimin chuckled, smiling at the conflicted look on the other designer’s face.

“Okay.

With that, Taehyung simply retreated into his own cubicle, probably to start preparations for the day at work. Jimin did the same, proceeding to open the desktop and pull out papers that he had brought with him to his humble abode from his bag. Since the day he had finally decided to accept Seokjin’s offer, Jimin had felt extra motivated to do well in his job in Wings, since he was about to leave it.

He only got in, and had a very strong start due to his luck, and now he was already leaving.

He felt kind of bad about it, since it might seem like he only used Wings to get some experience and leverage. It did not help that he practically got in by virtue of connections.

His values pushed him to work a bit harder than he already does the moment he gave his resignation letter to Yongsun. The department head was shocked, of course, when she realized what the envelop that Jimin handed to her contained two weeks prior, not being able to think of any reason as to why the talented new hire wanted to resign already. Jimin had already expected quite a reaction from the senior designer, since during his short stay in the company he had already observed how animated the female was.

He initial reaction consisted of strings of “ommo” and “yah”, but other than that, she had not asked for more details, nor did she try to stop him from resigning. Not in the past two weeks, at least.

The first week after he had given the letter was the worst. His insides were twisting, as if they were trying to make him take the letter back and just keep working in Wings. However, his resolve was stronger—he wanted to stop hurting after what had happened from his deal with Jungkook, and to do that, he had to completely remove the guy from his environment.

He only told his pale hyung about his plans three days after he had submitted the letter to his department head.

Jimin tapped his shoes against the tiled floor of the hallway as he waited for the elevator doors to open. He kept on side-eyeing another set of elevator doors, getting ready to bolt in case it opens to reveal the person he wanted to see the least at the moment.

It had only been days since that one hell of night, so the wounds in Jimin’s heart are still fresh.

The broken-hearted boy let out a burdened sigh just when the elevator he was in front of dinged, indicating that it had arrived at his floor. He quickly got on the lift, which was devoid of other people when it arrived, and quickly pressed the number corresponding to his hyung’s floor.

Once arriving on his desired floor, Jimin headed straight to the music department head’s office, where he knew his trusted hyung would be. He did not dare mention to Taehyung where he was heading when he left his cubicle, since the guy would certainly want to go with him.

Once he was in front of the office, the designer took a deep breath, and knocked on the door twice as courtesy.

“Come in.” His hyung’s muffled voice sounded from the other side. Jimin took this as his cue to enter.

“Hyung.” Jimin mumbled once he got inside, turning around the close the door behind him. Yoongi’s sensitive ears still detected Jimin’s voice despite it being softer than usual.

When the older turned around, he was met with a Jimin with lowered head and slumped shoulders.

Jimin was shy. Or rather, ashamed.

“I’m sorry, hyung.”

“It’s okay, Jiminie, I understand.” Yoongi answered, offering the younger a comforting smile, much to the surprise of the designer. “I know you’re only protecting yourself.”

“B-But… you even had to get me here…” Jimin complained, sniffling since he could already feel the waterworks starting. “I feel like I let you down…”

“No, you did not, Jimin.” The older answered, standing up to give the already crying man, who have not moved from his spot right at the entrance, a hug. “In fact, you made me proud. So proud.”

“That was just one-time, hyung.” Jimin answered. “And it only happened because I entered this forsaken agreement with him.”

Yoongi smiled, starting to rub circles onto the younger’s back as he pulled out of the hug and led the designer to one of the chairs. “I was not talking about that night, stupid.” He chuckled. “I am talking about now.”

“What?”

“I am proud of you for choosing to take action for yourself.” The musician answered. “In the past, you would’ve stuck around to see if he’ll ever change his mind.”

“Yah…” Jimin protested, hitting the older’s shoulder. Yoongi only raised a brow at him, causing him to sigh in defeat. “Well, you’re right.”

“Exactly.” The older smiled. “Every heart break you go through, you get better at handling yourself. Let’s just treat this as another learning experience, okay?”

“Yes, hyung.” Jimin nodded, wiping away his tears with his fists. “I still feel bad though… I only worked here for a short amount of time after you used your status to get me in.”

“Nah, it’s fine, really.” A handkerchief was held out to the younger. “Why would I feel offended? I just made the company hire someone who got it the Pink Princess deal.”

Jimin had not expected his own department’s head to actually tell other people about his resignation—he did not know who else had Yongsun informed, but it did not really matter to him, unless the news reached the CEO, of course.

Not that Jungkook was going to do anything about it, of course. He just would not care.

With Yoongi, it was fine since Yongsun seemed close with him, and Jimin himself was also close with the musician.

When lunch time came, Jimin had to follow Taehyung wherever he wanted to eat lunch at, in honor of his promise to treat the taller. The latter drove the both of them to a restaurant that he claimed he used to frequent before Jimin came into the company, complaining about his work ‘getting worse every passing day’ and claiming that he ‘did not want to eat lunch there if Jimin was not coming’.

The latter statement made Jimin smile, he had to admit.

Once they have settled down on a table, they were both handed a menu.

“Oh my god, Jiminie, this menu reminds me,” Taehyung started, eyes never leaving the pictures of food in front of him. “The food video thingy I was assigned to review… god it’s so bad.”

“What do you mean by ‘bad’?” Jimin asked, flipping the list to the next page. “As in… content-wise, or editing-wise?”

“None of the above!” Taehyung answered, proceeding to rant about the aesthetics of the video itself and its choice of camera angles and colors, not minding the waiter still waiting for them to decide on their lunch.

As Jimin continued listening to his best friend, his gaze fell upon the television propped on one side of the place, and almost immediately, his fond smile was replaced by a look of despair.

Playing on the display was none other than his boss.

Jeon Jungkook.

The said man was wearing a smile on his face—the smile that Jimin knew was reserved for formal settings where the young CEO needed to establish both relatability and dominance at the same time—as he talked about the future ventures that Wings and Pink Princess could possibly take together after having established a successful deal.

The deal that costed Jimin a lot.

He also got a lot from it, though, so he was not really in the position to complain.

“Yah, Jiminie!” Taehyung’s voice snapped Jimin out of his thoughts. “Are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah… Yes, of course.” Jimin answered, looking back into his menu to continue looking for a food to eat. Taehyung, on the other hand, took a look at the general direction towards which the shorter’s gaze was to see if there was something wrong, and the moment his brain registered what the television was showing, worry immediately filled him.

“Hey, buddy, are you alright?” He asked in a lowered voice. He knew that the issue still hurt the other designer, even though some time had already passed.

Jimin lifted his gaze from the list to meet his best friend’s, and gave him a smile. “I’m fine, Tae. Don’t worry about me.” He responded before taking interest in the duck meat pasta on the menu.

Jungkook loved duck meat.

He still could not understand what the younger had seen in the tough poultry, when in his opinion, it was just like a tougher version of chicken.

That boy and his weird preferences. Even Jungkook’s food choices confused Jimin, much like how his body language when they were still fake dating confused him and caused him—

“Aish! Stop it!” Jimin mumbled to himself, lightly slapping his cheek in an attempt to get rid of his thoughts. He knew that he should not be thinking of the CEO at all, but he just could not help it.

Not when everything reminds him of the man with the bunny teeth.

But Jimin knew that just like everything he had been through thus far, he was going to come out stronger and better. He just needed more time.

With that thought in mind, Jimin closed the menu and handed it over to the waiter.

“I’ll have a chicken bacon spinach alfredo.”

“And, cut!”

The moment the slate clapped shut, Jungkook let out a sigh that he had been wanting to release a few minutes into the interview, owing to the unexplainable heavy feeling in his chest. He took a look at his watch as he acknowledged a bow that one of the station staff gave to him while walking out of the set.

“At least it finished as scheduled.” He muttered, slightly impressed by the show’s time management. A smile slowly crept up his face as his female companion approached him, clipboard and tablet on her hands.

“That was a good interview, sir.” Momo complimented the boss, smiling. “Congratulations.”

The boy quirked a brow at the secretary. “Just good?” He asked, pulling up a smirk that he knew looked really good on him. Maybe it was what had drawn Jimin in before, so it should work on—

What?

Momo chuckled, bowing. “Sorry sir, it was excellent.” She answered good-naturedly, knowing full well how much feeding the CEO’s ego needed. “It was the best interview in a long time.”

“I know, I know.” Jungkook waved his hand at the woman, smiling to himself. He briefly internally berated himself for letting his thoughts stray a bit too far as the two of them headed back outside to their car.

The drive back to the company building was a relatively long and quiet one. The young CEO knew that the car ride was actually a good opportunity to talk with Momo on friendlier terms, but for some reason, he just could not at the moment, since he felt heavy. He might just end up scaring the girl instead of getting closer to her.

So, to alleviate the silence in the car, Jungkook simply turned the radio on and played some soft music. He took a glance at the secretary who, unsurprisingly, was still working on her tablet and clipboard, doing her job diligently even while traveling.

Namjoon was not kidding when he said Momo was a hard worker, back then when they were still looking for a secretary for the newly appointed CEO.

Through their years of working together, Jungkook had never seen the female slack off or perform poorly on tasks that she knew how to do, which he finds really attractive. However, he had not seen Momo completely at ease before, since she never slept during their car rides when he had to take his secretary with him.

Maybe Momo would also look serene when asleep.

When they arrived in the building of Wings, the two parked the car in the basement before taking the special elevator up a floor to visit the ground floor, in accordance to Jungkook’s previous idea of “having his presence felt more” by the whole of the company to establish better relationship with their employees. Just a few minutes of casual strolling on the floor and casually greeting the employees, and the boss deemed it enough for the day on that floor.

At least they can now see than he actually cares about his personnel.

After a few exchanges with a janitor, the CEO and his secretary headed back to the special elevator that was still waiting for them on the ground floor.

Jungkook was busy throwing smiles at people he met when all of sudden, his eyes met his.

The way the look of nonchalance on the designer’s face immediately changed to a pained expression bugged him. The man even momentarily flinched in his tracks before he opted for diverting his gaze towards the general-use elevator, which was right beside his.

Jungkook was ready to just ignore the occurrence to continue his day, but it was Momo who initiated contact.

“Hello, Jimin-ssi!” She waved at the designer, who, in Jungkook’s eyes, was clearly not interested in conversing either.

He still had that pained expression on his face, and the CEO wanted to shout at him to get rid of it.

“Hello, Momo-ssi.” Jimin answered, bowing. He then turned to the boss, and also gave him a deep bow. “Good afternoon, sir.”

“Good afternoon.” Jungkook answered without looking at the older. He loosened his grip on the insides of his pants pocket, remembering the tension his hand had that night.

From his peripheral vision, he could see the designer holding an empty medium-sized box in his arms. That was probably why he was in the first floor, since the general supplies department was stationed there.

What use he had for the box, however, evaded Jungkook’s mind. He was just about to ask about it when once again, his secretary beat him to it.

“Oh, you got a box from the general supplies?” The woman asked, obviously still oblivious to the tension between the two. “What for?”

“Oh! Uhm…” Jimin stammered, sparking the interest of the CEO. Jungkook knew that tone—that moment of hesitation whenever the older was speaking.

Jungkook knew the elder was about to lie.

“I… I’m rearranging my stuff.” He finally answered. Jungkook was not convinced. He wanted to ask more, to make the older tell him what was happening, but he shoved that thought aside.

He was not supposed to care anymore. Their deal was over. He was just another employee.

“Oh, okay then.” Momo answers, smiling. “You’re such an organized person really.”

“Thanks.” Jimin smiled. It was followed by the sound of the general-use elevator arriving on the ground floor. “I-I’ll be going now, Momo-ssi.” He excused him with a bow to the female before he turned to the CEO, who was can still feel his insides twisting for some reason unknown to him. “Sir.”

“Mmm.” Jungkook only answered, also starting to enter the special elevator. His secretary immediately followed him inside.

And as the doors closed, he could not help but picture the look of distress on the designer’s face—the look that had always bothered him whenever Jimin’s face was painted by it when they were still fake dating.

That was then, though. Jungkook quickly diverted his attention elsewhere by asking his secretary about the appointments for the rest of the day.

Jimin took into his hands his DIY pencil holder, which contained a photo of him with his family. He smiled at the old photo, which he remembered was taken a few days after his father accepted him again after having learned of his ual orientation. It was in a family restaurant, and it was also where he told them about his huge, fat crush on Yoongi.

Laughing at the good memory, he took the pens the container housed out and dropped them into the box, before carefully placing the container itself into another one.

That’s the last of them.

The designer let out a sigh which coincided with another sigh coming from above the cubicle divider.

“Is that all?” Taehyung asked, still pouting as he rested his head onto the top of the metal divider. “Are you sure you didn’t leave anything? Check again.”

“That’s all, Tae.”

“But you didn’t check.”

Jimin chuckled, standing up from his chair and giving the much taller boy a pat on the head. Taehyung snuggled into the hand.

“So, you’re leaving then?” The pouty designer asked. “You’re leaving me now?”

“No, not yet, actually.” Jimin answered, causing a small flash of happiness on the other’s face. “I’m gonna have to say goodbye to Yongsun-ssi first, of course.”

And just like that, the pout was back again. “Aww… I thought you changed your mind.”

“Come on, Taehyung,” The shorter of the two said, getting out of his cubicle. “It’s not like we can’t see each other anymore! We can still eat lunch every day, if you want. Now, wait for me here, okay? I won’t take long.”

“Take all the time, please.”

And with that, Jimin calmly walked away from his best friend to enter his department head’s office. It was as if Yongsun was actually waiting for him to drop by in her office, since once Jimin entered, the woman was already on her feet, smiling warmly.

“So, it’s the time already?” She asked, letting out a sigh of regret. “A month flew by really fast, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s time.” Jimin nodded. A short silence ensued between the two designers for a few moments before Jimin broke it again with a right-angle bow.

“Thank you for the opportunity to work with you and this department, it was my honor, Yongsun-sunbaenim.”

The high level of regard the younger displayed in his fair well made the senior designer regret even more, feeling bad at the loss of such young talent.

With Jimin remaining in his bowed position, the department head walked towards him, her heels sounding against the tiled floor with her every step. She stopped right in front of the man, held him by the shoulder, and pulled him back up.

“Thank you, too, for your service to Wings.” Yongsun muttered. “The only thing that I am sorry for is that I couldn’t convince you to stay.”

“No need to say sorry for that, sunbae.” Jimin bowed again. “It was entirely out of my own decision.”

“Yes, I know.”

The woman then took the younger’s hand and put a flash drive on it, smiling as she did so. Jimin sent her a questioning look.

“It’s your special assignment, Park.” She answered the question running on Jimin’s mind. “It’s your brain child, so you should be the one to make it true in the future. Such talent… please never stopped designing.”

Hearing the kind words of his superior, Jimin could not help but wipe away a tear that had managed to escape his eye.

He was happy. He was going to leave the company leaving a positive impression on its people, and that in itself was already enough.

After spending a few more moments saying good bye to each other, Jimin finally left his department head’s office, and went back to his cubicle, where a sad Taehyung was waiting. He only nodded at the taller as he approached to tell him that it was already time.

Jimin took one of the boxes, and Taehyung took the other one in his arms to put them in his car so he could drive his best friend home. Sparing his workstation one more glance, and remembering the good and bad moments he had while it was still his, the designer finally turned his back and left.

It was time he moved forward.