It was around two in the afternoon when Yoongi had shot the rest of the families and finished his time for the day. One family went without any incidents, but the other was difficult to manage. The son was barely a toddler and having a terrible tantrum that the parents couldn’t pacify. Yoongi had to step in and bribe the child with candy in order to keep him still long enough to take the pictures. Part of it was for his own sanity because if the kid hadn’t quieted down within the next five seconds, he swore his head was going to explode from his high pitched screams.

After the pictures were done, he gave the camera to Jooheon to have him develop them so Yoongi could send them out to the respective families.

“Let me take you out to lunch,” Jimin suggested as they walked outside.

“Where do you wanna go?”

“This place by my condo, it has really good sushi.” Yoongi scoffed under his breath and mounted his scooter.

“What?” Jimin asked.

“You have a condo?”

“Yeah...is that bad…?”

“No, I just wish I was that rich.” Yoongi saw Jimin’s expression drop and his arms folded across his chest in discomfort. “I’m sorry, did I make you uncomfortable?” Jimin kept his eyes on the ground.

“It makes me feel guilty for having the money that I do. I’ve never felt like I deserve the job that I have and the money I make because I’m so young. People assume that I have connections or that I ed somebody to get the position that I have and it because I’m not even in a powerful position. I work with numbers, not the CEO.” Jimin began plucking at his lip in a nervous gesture and Yoongi could see the gears turning in his head.

“Hey,” Yoongi said gently, tugging on Jimin’s hand to bring him closer. “Look at me.” Jimin hesitated as he tried to decide if he could do so without feeling weak. Finally, he did.

“You should never feel bad about your success. You know you worked hard for what you have and so does your boss, and that’s what matters. I’m sorry I teased you about it, I didn’t know you took it to heart like that. I just did it cause in the past it’s made you blush, but I didn’t know it was because it made you uncomfortable. I won’t do it anymore, okay?” Yoongi’s voice was low and soothing in attempts to put Jimin at ease and it worked.

“Okay...thank you.” Jimin nodded quickly and evaded Yoongi’s gaze. Yoongi let it happen without protest, for fear of making Jimin more uncomfortable.

---

The restaurant was closed, but Jimin gave the option to make Yoongi lunch at his place, to which he agreed. Part of him was curious to see Jimin’s place and the other part was curious to try his cooking.

After some instructions from Jimin, Yoongi pulled into the parking garage of the complex. All of the condos were at least three of Yoongi’s studio apartments put together, but he didn’t comment on it.

“How long have you lived here?” Yoongi asked as they dismounted and began walking through the lot, Jimin leading the way to the elevator.

“Almost six months, I’m still fairly new here.”

“Where were you living before this?”

“A one bedroom place about forty minutes away from my job,” Jimin answered with a grim facial expression. Yoongi didn’t ask anything else and instead quietly watched Jimin go through the motions of pushing buttons and walking down hallways. He could tell how automatic the actions were for him, they were second nature at this point. Even if he wasn’t thinking about it, there was still something graceful and purposeful about the way he moved that Yoongi figured developed from his dancing background. In any case, it made it impossible for him to look away.

Turning left, Jimin walked a few more steps until he reached his door, number 628. He put the key in, turned the handle, and entered his home.

“I always miss this place when I’m gone for too long,” he murmured while he flicked the lights on.

“Yeah...I can see why…” Yoongi said under his breath as he took in the room. The walls were an unbelievably flawless white color and Jimin’s black furniture silver accents contrasted them beautifully. There were splashes of gray here and gold there to brighten up the neutral palette, but it was clear to Yoongi that Jimin had an eye for decorating even if the colors seemed so bland. “You’ve got a knack for decorating,” Yoongi told him.

“Ah, really? Thank you, hyung. Would you like a tour of the place?”

“Nah, just show me the bedroom,” Yoongi teased as he wrapped his arms around Jimin’s waist. Jimin made a sound of annoyance but he couldn’t hide his smile.

“The bedroom is in the back, but we won’t be doing anything tonight,” Jimin quipped back, removing Yoongi’s hands from his waist. The other feigned a pout, causing Jimin to roll his eyes at Yoongi’s childishness. Still, he followed Jimin into his bedroom which was just as pristine as the rest of the house. He kept it unnaturally clean, not a mess or spec of dust in sight. The bed was twice the size of Yoongi’s and his thoughts went to the 2 people that used to sleep there. He could easily imagine Jungkook and Jimin sharing this bed and the thought of it set his playful grin into a hard line. Jimin noticed Yoongi’s expression and spoke to him as he looked through his dresser for a change of clothes.

“Don’t think about it too much, we barely shared a bed towards the end. Either he came home late and I made him sleep on the sofa, or I got drunk and passed out on the couch waiting for him to come home.” He took the clothes off that Yoongi had given to him and put his own on. “Sometimes on those nights I’d wake up in my bed, so I figured he’d carry me to bed but...it didn’t happen often. I don’t even remember what it feels like to lay next to him.” Jimin looked at the bed, his expression difficult to read, and then left the room in a dismissive way.

“C’mon, I’m gonna make sushi,” Jimin called from the kitchen.

“You can make sushi?”

Jimin scoffed. “I make the best sushi you’ll ever have.” He washed his hands and began moving around the room, picking out ingredients he needed from various cabinets and his fridge. Then he walked over to his stereo system and hooked his phone to it. He picked a playlist and lo-fi jazz played through the speakers.

“I like to listen to music while I cook,” he said when he returned to the kitchen. Yoongi had taken a seat on a stool by the island countertop and watched Jimin prepare the food. His fingers moved without him thinking about the actions much. He’d made it so many times already that he could rely on his muscle memory to do most of the work. Yoongi admired the way Jimin worked across the countertop, smiling to himself when his small hands would pause while Jimin assessed whether or not the food looked the way it should. Finally, when it was done, he served Yoongi a maki roll on a plate in front of him. He placed his elbows on the counter and leaned forward eager for Yoongi to take a bite.

“Tell me what you think,” he nodded at the chopsticks to Yoongi’s right. Yoongi obliged and picked up the chopsticks to grab the first piece of sushi in the row. Immediately, he was satiated by how good it tasted. He’d been to a few sushi restaurants before with Hoseok and Taehyung, but none of them tasted as good as this.

“This is really good Jimin, why would you want to go to a restaurant when you could make it here and make it taste a hundred times more delicious.”

Jimin shrugged. “I wasn’t aware you’d like it so much.”

“You should open up your own restaurant.” Jimin picked up his own chopsticks and began eating.

“You think so?”

“Mhm.” Yoongi’s mouth was full as he nodded in agreement.

The two finished their meal with playful banter and once everything was eaten, Yoongi insisted on washing the dishes since Jimin had made them lunch. Jimin wasn’t used to such offers and reluctantly agreed to Yoongi’s insistence.

“Do you have work tomorrow?” Yoongi asked after he was done. Now, he was sitting next to Jimin on his couch. He nodded solemnly and rubbed his eyes as if just the thought of going to work exhausted him.

“I should probably look over the paperwork from the deal we made.”

“But you don’t want to.”

“No, not really.”

“Do you like your job, Jimin?”

“No, not really,” he replied with a smile. “But I could have it worse. The pay is good and I’m good at what I do so I don’t really have a lot of complaints. The hours are just longer than I’d like them to be and my boss can be a real sometimes, but that comes with any job.”

“If you could be doing anything right now, what would it be.”

“Dancing,” Jimin said without hesitation.

“What’s stopping you?”

“I don’t know...just isn’t realistic in the long run I guess.”

“But working at this job you don’t like is?” Jimin remained silent. “You’re afraid to take the risk.” The phrase was a question but Yoongi said it as a statement because he already knew the answer.

“I’m not a big risk taker, Yoongi. Even if I was, I’ve been out of practice for so long, it’d probably take me at least six months if I’m lucky to get back to how I used to be. Sure, I practice sometimes at Hoseok’s studio but that’s not enough to get me to the top where I want to be.”

“Why not work at Hoseok’s place then, you could teach there.”

“Hoseok created that studio because he likes teaching dance, I like actually doing it. I wouldn’t be satisfied there either.” Yoongi could feel Jimin becoming uncomfortable and decided not to push it.

“If that’s what you want to do. But, promise me two things.”

“That depends.”

“You promise me that if you change your mind, you tell Hoseok and I so we can help you as best as we can.” Jimin nodded at that. “The other thing...if I make it with my music, you quit your job and follow your dreams instead of a paycheck.”

“Yoongi I-”

“Even if we’re not dating, I still want you to do it. You’ll come live with me because I’ll be making enough money for the two of us. You can focus on getting to the top and we can just be friends.” Jimin was looking at Yoongi as if he’d grown a second head because the idea sounded ridiculous to him. It was evident though, that Yoongi was being completely serious. To think that somebody cared about his dreams that much made Jimin feel a sense of warmth radiate over his chest.

“Jimin, you’re a good person and you deserve to be happy about what you’re doing. This isn’t even about me liking you, it’s about me genuinely caring about you because of who you are.” Tears prickled in Jimin’s eyes and all he could do was nod.

“I promise.”