(Jimin)

Jimin smelled the flower he had picked from one of the shrubs in their backyard garden. He had a gift in his left hand which he had bought for Taehyung the night before, but Taehyung had been away to his own apartment for the night, to get his belongings. Jimin had been lying back on one of the recliners in the garden, ready with the gift by his side for when Taehyung would arrive, smiling goofily, all alone, at nothing in particular. Since the day when the boy he loved had accepted his hand, everything around him had seemed to have a different color, every sound around him had a different ring to his ears, everything seemed pleasant. He had spent most his childhood afternoons in this very garden, playing with his Hyung, climbing the trees, getting his clothes slathered in dirt, and running around in silly euphoria. Every corner of the garden was etched into his mind and their parents hadn’t ever thought of making any major changes to it as the boys had always loved it the way it was. But suddenly it seemed to Jimin as if the place had flourished and bloomed out over the past few days. Every flower that surrounded him right now seemed to have blossomed, just to come out impatiently and witness his happiness.  And it seemed to him that the irrational euphoria of his childhood had come back to him once more.

He sighed and fell back on the chair again, mentally scolding himself. “Why are you being such a dork?! It’s not like you’ve never had a guy in your life before.” He told himself, smiling when his own voice in his mind replied, “But those guys weren’t Taehyung!”

The only wound in his happiness was the fact that his Hyung wasn’t happy with this marriage. Namjoon, his elder brother, who had meant the world to him, whose consent had meant everything to him, had expressed clearly that he did not like his decision to marry Taehyung.

After returning from his meeting with Taehyung, Namjoon had been silent, heading straight to his study, refusing to talk to Jimin about the meeting and shutting the door behind him. Ever since then, whenever Jimin had mentioned Taehyung’s name his Hyung had been quiet, avoiding Jimin’s eyes. 

One night, Jimin had followed Namjoon, who was about to enter his study and stood in the way so that Namjoon could not shut the door. He had asked, with tears in his eyes, “Hyung, do you still think that Taehyung is going to hurt me?”
Namjoon had avoided his eyes again, but replied in a grave voice, “He’s not going to hurt you as long as I’m still alive. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you and I’ll do what I have to for it.”
Jimin sighed again, this time in frustration, looking up at the sky. Why couldn’t his hyung just be happy for him and believe that Taehyung would keep him happy? He cursed the day when he had told Namjoon about Taehyung’s infatuation with his best friend. If he hadn’t disclosed the story about Jungkook to his hyung that night, in a gust induced by alcohol, his hyung wouldn’t have been doubting Taehyung’s intentions today.

Jungkook…

Jimin shook his head lightly, giving himself the same assurance as he had, several times, every day, till now. Jimin had thought over this several times and come to just one conclusion…Jungkook had been an infatuation of Taehyung’s teenage mind, that’s all. Taehyung had grown up with the boy, shared his room and every other belonging with him, even feeling a sense of gratitude towards the boy for whatever his parents had done for him. Taehyung was an orphan and he had clung on to someone he could call his own. As he had grown up, he had naturally developed feelings for this boy. 

Jimin felt a familiar surge of something he had never known well until the day Taehyung had told him about Jungook. Whether it was hatred or rage or even jealousy, he could not tell. But he couldn’t stand that boy’s name on Taehyung’s lips. The boy who had been the subject of the love Jimin had pined for and thrown it away. The boy who had been the closest to Taehyung, the one Taehyung had trusted the most, counted on to always be there for him. The one Taehyung had loved(Jimin’s own voice told him again in his mind, inducing that familiar burning feeling again.)

The one who had hurt Taehyung terribly and made a mess of his life. Jimin had tried to tell himself that he should not hate Jungkook. But every time when Taehyung had been distant and lost in his own thoughts while Jimin tried to talk to him, Jimin had feared that it was this heartless boy he was thinking about and ended up hating him even more.
 

Why is it that the people who get unconditional love are mostly the ones with the coldest hearts?…And the ones who love are left to suffer the worst pain in the world? It doesn’t seem fair…

Jimin had sent the invitation mails to Taehyung’s friends himself, purposely leaving out Jungkook. He felt bad doing it but he knew he had to. Besides, it was not like that boy would feel any sense of obligation to be by his so called best friend’s side for his marriage after he had kept away purposely from him for a year. There was no point calling him anyway. 

Jimin heard the sound of a car backing up into their garage and his heartbeat sped up immediately, his smile returning. This must be the car that had just dropped off Taehyung.
 Taehyung had arrived and he would be with Jimin in a few minutes. He picked up his gift from his side and jumped off the chair, wheeling around and running towards the house.

He ran in through the door, expecting to find Taehyung in the hallway or somewhere nearby but Taehyung wasn’t there. He looked around, confused and Mrs Chang came up to him with a kind smile. “Master Jimin, are you looking for someone?” She asked.
“Where’s Taehyung?”
“He went up the stairs immediately after he came in! I was about to ask him what he wanted for lunch but he looked like he was in a hurry.”
Jimin took this bit of information in with some confusion. But after a few seconds he told himself that Taehyung must have been tired, it was only natural, as he must have had to pack up a lot of stuff alone last night. Jimin said thanks to Mrs Chang and rushed for the staircase himself, running, taking two steps at a time. He couldn’t wait to get to Taehyung. As he neared the end of the stairs, he saw a familiar backpack lying sprawled on the stairs. It was the backpack Taehyung had always used in college. Jimin’s heart skipped a beat. Why was Taehyung’s bag lying on the stairs? Was he okay? Jimin was overcome by a fit of fear, standing frozen at the spot for a few seconds, before gathering his nerves. He picked up the bag and covered the rest of the stairs. As he reached the top, he stopped dead in his tracks. It was Taehyung. 
He was okay. Jimin breathed a sigh of relief. 
When Jimin’s fear had subsided, he was about to call out to Taehyung, but he noticed that Taehyung wasn’t alone. He had his back towards Jimin and was looking at another boy, who was leaning against the wall. Jimin did not recognize this boy.
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(Jungkook)

“So…” Jungkook said.
Taehyung remained silent, looking into Jungkook’s eyes.
“You asked me to be here…I’m here.” Jungkook shrugged, trying to maintain a casual attitude. 
“Thanks for coming…”Taehyung uttered, in a very low voice, his eyes still fixed on Jungkook.
Jungkook clenched his fist behind his back. The hall was dark and in the faint light coming from the direction of the staircase, he could make out Taehyung’s face, his eyes focused on him.
Why am I feeling this way?...Why does it feel like a missing part of me has returned to me but I still can’t have it? You need to stop looking at me that way.
Jungkook opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He met Taehyung’s eyes, and a warm feeling emanated in his stomach, creeping up along his chest. He sunk back against the wall and blinked, trying to break his eyes away. But he couldn’t.
Taehyung had changed over the past year. His face was slimmer, his hair slightly longer, coming up to his eyebrows. His eyes were sunken with dark patches under them but still so beautiful.

Jungkook had had pictures of Taehyung along with the ones of the Hyungs at his place, which he had taken along with him when he had left his house. Those had been the first items he had packed before leaving and the life jacket he had held onto in the depths of loneliness.

His best friend had always been beautiful. Even when Taehyung was a child, he had had the sweetest angelic face. As he had grown up, Jungkook had often joked that Taehyung was growing up to be so pretty, he could pass for Jungkook’s girlfriend if he just grew his hair a bit. With each passing year, Taehyung’s face had seemed to become more flawless, even making Jungkook jealous at some instances. 
Now, as he looked into the face of the young man in front of him, taking in the beautiful face after so much time of not being able to see it, he noted that the photos had not done him justice.
This is your friend you’re looking at…Just your friend…So why are you obsessing over his face right now?
“Taehyungie?!” An unknown voice surprised Jungkook. He looked over Taehyung’s shoulder at the owner of the voice. 
Taehyung seemed to be shocked at the sound of the voice, his face giving it away clearly. He spun around and Jungkook saw a boy with black hair and a cute face standing at the head of the stairs.
“J-J-Jimin ah!” Taehyung stuttered. Jungkook realized the reason for Taehyung’s panic.
Jimin inched closer. Jungkook noticed he had Taehyung’s backpack in his hand. Jimin had his eyes on Taehyung, apparently he hadn’t noticed Jungkook or ignored him.

Jimin looked all over Taehyung’s frame a few times, coming up to Taehyung’s side and touching his arm lightly. “Are you okay Taehyungie?...Why did you leave your bag on the stairs?” He gazed with a concerned expression into Taehyung’s eyes. Jungkook observed Jimin’s expression and behavior. It served to remind him that his friend now belonged in this man’s life and he was ashamed for his thoughts from a few minutes earlier.
“I’m fine Jimin ah,” Taehyung said, putting his hand on Jimin’s.

Jungkook felt a strange jerk from inside, witnessing this one action and looked away. 
Jimin exhaled loudly and embraced Taehyung. “I was so worried!...Don’t scare me like that again.”
Jungkook took this in from the corner of his eye, getting an unreasonable urge to pry this guy off from Taehyung.
That’s my best friend you’re throwing yourself on!    
He noticed that Taehyung hugged him back, his back with one hand.
Jungkook had had enough. He pushed himself off the wall and made his way around the couple, walking towards the staircase.
“Jungkook, wait.”
Jungkook stopped in his tracks. The sound of his name in Taehyung’s voice after so long had a weird effect on him. This was possibly the first time Taehyung had said his name out loud in front of him after the night where he had kissed Jungkook. He turned around mechanically. Taehyung withdrew his arms from Jimin and stepped aside, looking at Jungkook, a strange smile forming on his lips.
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(Jimin)

Jungkook…Did he just say…
 Jimin’s blood seemed to go cold under his skin as he withdr