Park Jimin is used to waking up the way kings do (which is fair, since he’d sure been one in his past lives). He has always been blessed with the same experience of consciousness: his eyes would greet the dayshine, his heart and lungs expand to welcome the fresh morning air in an unhurried pace, pleased to be up early and excited for what the new day would bring. But not (not) today. 

The gentle sunlight that should be pouring through the cracks in the blind in his room didn't reach Jimin's eyes and for a moment the young man felt lost. He hesitantly rubbed the night's glue and the dreams away from his eyes before he situated himself.

Taehyung was there, sleeping on his side facing Jimin while clutching the latter’s left hand, warm breath hitting the pink haired one on the forehead, feet touching, body heat making him feel cozy and protected from the autumn cold air. Jimin’s soul hummed in contentment. In that moment, all was perfect... he just needed to make sense of the apparent eclipse of the sun.

Upon further inspection, Jimin came to the conclusion that they were huddled in a cave made of cushions and sheets. It was a (half-)decent pillow fort. Jimin was even more impressed considering Taehyung’s severe deficit in engineering skills.

Light sheets had been used as the roof, having its center hoisted really up by an umbrella that seemed to be tied by ropes (probably to the celling?). Somehow the pillow walls were not falling off the side of the bed that wasn’t against the wall and there were even stuffed animals posing as door guards in the little space that looked like a gate.

Jimin smiled and cooed before he started poking Taehyung awake. “Hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey...hey! Are you awake yet?”

“ off” came Taehyung’s voice. Deeper and raspier than usual, but without any bite behind it.

“That sounds almost like a yes to me” Jimin smiled as he poked his best friend again “I’m not going to stop poking you until you decide to wake up and give me some attention and explanation”

“Poke me one more time and see what happens, Park Jimin!” If it was meant to be a threat, the honey tone of Taehyung’s voice ruined it.

Jimin had grown into not listening when people told him what to do. So poke Taehyung was what he did. No consequences followed for a couple of seconds. Jimin almost believed his blue haired friend had fallen asleep again. As he prepared to poke Taehyung once more, nice long fingers started to tickle him.

Jimin hated being tickled and Taehyung knew, but he also knew that he was the only one who could get away with it. Jimin kicked and screamed, almost making the fort come trembling down before he managed to hoist himself up on Taehyung’s lap to pin his hands down atop his head, effectively stopping the tickle attack. 

One last laugh. One stare into each other’s eyes. One soft smile and Jimin was plopping down (slightly breathless) on his bed again.

After regaining control over his breathing, he got himself out of the fort (without destroying it) just to stick his head back again after he checked the time.

“Please get out of the pillow fort. We’re supposed to go to class in 45 minutes!”

“Counter-offer: you join me back in, we skip classes, rule this pillow kingdom together, watch Hocus Pocus and eat cold pizza for breakfast.” Taehyung said with a lazy smile on his face as he stretched himself much like a cat would do.

“No can do. Gotta keep this physique intact” Jimin responded as he placed one hand on his waist, another on his head and forced his natural curves to pop out in unnatural angles.

“We literally spend all our weekends eating pizza for breakfast” Taehyung retorted without making any move to leave the fort.

“But it ain’t the weekend anymore, is it?” the condescending smile one would use while talking to a particularly stubborn sweet child could be heard in Jimin’s voice “Since you’re not coming out, I’m only making breakfast for myself”

The rustling sounds made Jimin giggle a little as Taehyung’s head poked through their pillow fort’s gate. “If I tell you I love you, will you make me breakfast and bring it to the fort?” The younger asked as he batted his eyelashes.

“I don’t know…” Jimin replied while tapping his index finger to his chin “There’s nothing stopping you from trying”

“I love you, Minnie” Taehyung eagerly said as his eyes shone. He must be really hungry for breakfast.

“Nah. Didn’t work at all.” Jimin snickered.

“You’re a meanie Minnie” Taehyung pouted for a second before stripping their fortress of a piece of its walls to throw a pillow at Jimin “And to think I dedicated this nail to you when I painted them” 

“For starters, that’s only one nail” and Jimin was not impressed at all.

“It’s not just one nail!” Taehyung scoffed offended “I’ll have you know this finger is the one with the vena amoris, the vein that runs directly to one’s heart. It’s a physical representation of my soul being connected to yours!”

Jimin was touched. He wasn’t heartless after all, but he also wasn’t dumb. “You’re just trying to butter me up into slaving myself off on the kitchen for your own profit.” 

“You know me so well. Is it working?”

“Not even a tiny bit” Jimin said as he gave a light slap on Tae’s head “Bad soulmate! Bad!” Taehyung whimpered like a scolded dog and got inside his cage.

Jimin felt endeared. His best friend was full of nonsensical alien , but he was above and beyond a good boy, which actually did butter up Jimin’s heart into playing Taehyung’s favorite wake up songs, Young At Heart by Frank Sinatra and Rebel Rebel by David Bowie, while making breakfast.

j

To carry a breakfast tray is no simple action (do not trust TV when it shows you the opposite, dear reader), a truth that Jimin was well acquainted with. But it was one of his and Taehyung's traditions, much like sleeping on the same bed (be it going to sleep together at the same time or barging into each other's bed in the middle of the night) and going to the Christmas Market together to ice skate and buy gingerbread hearts that they wouldn't eat (because ewwww), using them instead as decorations.

Before Jimin came barging inside their sleeping cage with a tray full of blueberry pancakes with honey (the exact type and way Tae loved best), he noticed the purple light being emitted by the lamp on his bedside table. Jimin knew the same light would be coloring the walls of Taehyung's room. Nevertheless, he was still impressed that their friendship lamps still worked after 6 years.

“Hey! You don’t just invade a person’s pillowfort nest like that! You have to ask to be invited in!” Taehyung mumbled.

Jimin gave him a pointed look and instantly regretted making Taehyung’s favorite pancake recipe when he could have cooked his (chocolate dough, with chocolate chips and chocolate sauce) “You barged into my bedroom, slept in my bed and built the fort around us while I was sleeping. Why can’t I just get in?”

“Don’t you question my nesting habits! It’s rude and-” Taehyung certainly would have at least 50 more reasons that would all tick Jimin the amused side of annoyed, but he stopped when he saw the pancakes “But I guess I’ll let it slide this time” The boxy boyish smile that has always made Jimin’s heart do a weird skip and beat movement was shown in its full, slightly crooked, glory. 

“When did you build us a pillow fort anyways?”

“At 3am.”

“What were you doing awake so late?!” Jimin was concerned about his friend’s inconstant sleeping schedules but Taehyung would always argue that ‘Inspiration hits when it hits, Minnie. And I have to make use of it’.

“Felt restless and like nesting so...ta-da!” Taehyung made jazz hands (a gesture that should be banned from the face of this planet). “Besides…” his voice started to trail off “You never know when you’re going to build your last fort” He faked tearing up and Jimin just rolled his eyes.

i

When they were done eating their breakfast in bed, they got out of the makeshift castle (without dismantling it) and Jimin went straight to his gym bag to make sure he had all that he needed for that day.

“Why are you packing extra clothes?”

“Won’t have time to come home and change” Jimin said, but was met with a quizzical look in Taehyung’s face “Got a date tonight” Jimin wasn’t particularly excited about who he was going on a date with (some senior from the maths department), but dates in general got him excited - that’s why he had been going on so many since he got better after the last year’s events, but he wouldn’t think of that. Not that moment. Not ever again.

“Why go on dates when you can spend the night with me watching ty TV and eating our weights combined in cheetos?” Taehyung winked and whined.

Jimin promptly ignored his friend’s question, not falling for the teasing “I’ll probably stop by the supermarket on my way home after the date. Do you need anything?”

“Sure.” Maybe Jimin wasn’t as perceptive as he thought he was, otherwise he would have heard the sigh in Taehyung’s voice “I need tampons, two barbie dolls and radishes”

Turning away from his closet, Jimin said “I don’t know if I’m ready to know but I know I wanna know anyways. What are those for?”

“I’m trying something for my final in Unconventional Expressionism, thus I need the tampons” 

“Ah!” Taehyung had mentioned that to Jimin already: the class he had to show the progress for his final project every 2 weeks or so. It was a huge deal. “Okay”

“Uh! Which reminds me” Taehyung continued as he got to one knee and held Jimin’s left hand “Would you do me the honor of being my model for it?”

“Oh my! This is all so sudden! I-I...yes!” Jimin has always loved the teatrics he and Taehyung would find themselves in (drama queens quite literally) and he threw himself in the other’s open arms while both let out belly laughs “When are you going to need me?”

“On Saturday. 4pm-ish? So I can use some golden hour on that skin of yours ” 

“Sure, it’s a date” If Jimin hadn’t turned to pick his bag from the floor, he could possibly have noticed a weird sparkle on Tae’s eyes. But maybe even if he had noticed, he would just assume it was excitement over his art “What about the other stuff?”

“Oh...not that important really. I’ve been thinking of making earrings with barbie dolls heads. Wanna see if people would buy it” 

“If it’s you making them, they sure will” Jimin patted the other’s shoulder reasureling.

“And I have this feeling I’m being followed by a vampire so I need the radishes to protect me from it” Taehyung said as he nodded his head up and down with pinched eyebrows.

“Isn’t it supposed to be garlic what vampires are not into?”

“That’s what they want you to think, Jiminie. That’s what they want you to think”

n

They left the apartment at the same time. Leaving behind the pillows and the blankets. The sheets and the rope. The umbrella and the plushies. It was okay not to take it down, if the date went poorly, Jimin could demand cuddles in the coziest place on Earth. It was okay because it all belonged to them. As did the secrets they whispered inside.