Jimin was on the phone with his mother when someone knocked on the door. He told his mom he had to go and quickly hung up before opening the door. Jungkook was standing in the doorway.

“Hello baby.” Jimin said, kissing him chastely on the lips.

“Hi. How are you?” Jungkook asked, closing the door behind him and going to sit on the couch with Jimin.

“Fine but I missed you.” Jimin said, pouting.

“We saw each other this morning, babe.” Jungkook chuckled, kissing Jimin’s pout away. “But I missed you too.”

“Liar.” Jimin muttered, shooting Jungkook a dirty look.

“I swear I missed you! Let me prove it to you.” He replied and pulled Jimin closer, placing his hands on either of his cheeks and kissing him deeply. Jimin immediately began to make cute little pleased sounds and pushed Jungkook away after a few seconds.

“Okay, I believe you! But let’s not start anything, I have to tell you something first.” Jimin said, his face all red.

They had become official two weeks ago now and the school year had just ended. They were still hesitating about staying on campus or going home but Jimin had took care of it.

“Look, I know we’re still thinking about it but I think we should go home. Maybe not for the whole summer but at least I need to go back home.” Jimin stated. He deeply inhaled. “I wanna come out to my parents.”

Jungkook was stunned. Jimin had come out to his brother some days ago already but he had known that his brother would be okay with it. His parents, however, were a different topic.

“Are you sure babe? I don’t want you to push yourself. Just because we’re now out doesn’t mean –”

“I want to.” Jimin cut. “I think it is a necessary step. And I’ll never be fully ready anyway so might as well just do it. I don’t know how they’ll react. It’s not a topic we’ve ever really talked about so I don’t know where it is situated on the scale of touchy topics. I’ve just talked to my mom and she said I could come on Sunday which is in two days.” Jimin stated.

Jungkook saw that Jimin was a little nervous, he was counting his fingers by touching them one by one.

“If you feel like you need to do it, I totally support you. I could come with you if you want.” Jungkook said, grabbing him softly by his waist.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Jimin said, smiling before kissing Jungkook.

“Are you okay? We can still call a cab, you know? Your father won’t hold it against us.” Jungkook said as they were standing outside of the station.

“No, no. I told him to come fetch us and I don’t want him to drive all the way here for nothing. We don’t live very far but still.” Jimin said, squeezing Jungkook hand for reassurance.

“You know, my family leaves pretty far from the station. Imagine if I had asked my mom to come fetch us! She would have thrown a tantrum just to annoy us so that we tell her that we’d take a cab when, in fact, she had been in the car since the beginning, waiting for our text.” Jungkook said, laughing.

“You mom sounds like the sweetest woman on earth. I’d love to meet her.” Jimin said, a soft smile on his lips.

“She’d totally love you. She’d go crazy over you! With your cute and angelic charm, she’d forget I’m her son.” Jungkook said, pouting.

“Hey, stop pouting or I’ll have to kiss you. I don’t want you to meet my dad with red and puffy lips.” Jimin warned, pinching Jungkook’s chest, making him wince in pain.

“You’re mean.” Jungkook complained, pouting even more as he rubbed his chest.

“Stop, you big baby. My dad’s here.”

Jungkook looked where Jimin was looking and saw his dad walking toward them. He looked just like Jimin, only he was a bit taller and had more wrinkles. He had the same eyes and the same softness to his features.

“Jimin-ah! I’ve missed you!” he exclaimed with a heavy Busan accent.

He immediately hugged his son, not noticing Jungkook yet. Father and son held each other for some moments before finally detaching. That’s when Jimin’s father noticed Jungkook.

“And you must be Jungkook, Jimin’s friend!” he exclaimed again, hugging Jungkook.

Jimin wanted to laugh at Jungkook expression before his heart melted as Jungkook hugged his father back. Jimin’s father let go of Jungkook and reached for Jimin’s little suitcase but Jungkook beat him to it.

“Sorry, force of habit. I’m used to taking care of hyung by now.” Jungkook said, giggling nervously and releasing the yellow suitcase.

“No, no! It’s okay, take care of it, I’m too old anyway!” Jimin’s father said, laughing. “I’m very happy to welcome you guys, the both of you! Your mother can’t wait to see you Jiminie.” He went on, making his way to the car.

In the car, Jimin’s father made small talk with the two boys and asked Jungkook a few questions to know more about him. In no time they arrived and Jimin began to feel nervous. Jungkook turned to him, sensing his uneasiness, and gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.

“Come on guys, lunch must be ready by now.” Mr Park said, all smiles as he opened the door, the two boys quickly following behind him.

The entry way was quite small, Jungkook noticed, but it was just enough. It immediately overlooked the living room which was greatly floodlit by big windows. As Jungkook was still taking his shoes off, a quite small woman came into view, wearing the same heart-fluttering eye-smile as Jimin.

“Jiminie! I missed you!” Mrs Park exclaimed, hugging her son tightly, leaving kisses on his cheeks.

Jungkook found that absolutely adorable, he loved how close Jimin was to his parents. When Mrs Park released Jimin, she turned to Jungkook.

“Welcome, Jungkook! Come on in, come on!” she said, grabbing Jungkook's arm and gently pulling him into the living room.

Jimin looked at Jungkook’s surprised face and giggled. Mrs Park made Jungkook sit on the couch and sat down next to him.

“Are you hungry sweetie? How was the trip from Seoul?”

“Um, it was fine, thanks. Hyung slept a bit. And I admit I am hungry.” Jungkook replied, shy and his face reddening.

“Jiminie is such a sleepy head!” Mrs Park said, making Jimin whine but she just laughed it off and got up. “Come on, Jungkook, I made lunch.” She said and went to the kitchen.

“I better go help her.” Mr Park said. “Go put your bags in your room and wash your hands before coming back.” he added towards Jimin and followed after his wife.

“Come, Jungkookie, I’ll show you my room.” Jimin said as Jungkook grabbed the bags.

Jimin grabbed Jungkook hand and lead him up the stairs. He opened the second door on the right and entered.

The room was painted in light purple. Just in front of the door was a big window that showed the road with a little desk next to it. The queen-sized bed was on the door’s left and a bookcase on the wall opposite from it. It was full of novels, comics but also little figurines and decorations. Jimin went to sit down on his bed and Jungkook put their bags down next to it.

“It feels good to be back home.” Jimin said, stretching and letting himself fall on his back.

Jungkook lied down beside him, noticing something on the ceiling.

“Are those glow-in-the-dark stars?”

“Yeah. I used to be afraid of the dark as a kid. When I got scared, I would look at them and fall asleep. I’m not afraid of the dark anymore but I can’t bring myself to take them off.” Jimin explained.

“That’s cute, hyung. Let’s go eat now, I’m starving and it smells hella good.” Jungkook said, making Jimin laugh as he pulled him up.

They washed their hands in the bathroom upstairs before going down.

“Mom, it looks delicious!” Jimin exclaimed as he entered the kitchen with Jungkook.

Four bowls of rice were on the table as well as four other bowls full of steaming hot kimchi stew. It was Jimin’s favourite dish, everyone knew that and both Jimin and Jungkook were touched that Mrs Park had thought of making this dish. It made Jimin a bit more emotional to eat it on this particular day but he didn’t show it.

“I know it’s your favourite, honey, that’s why I made it! I hope you like it too, Jungkook?” she asked as they all sat down around the table.

“I love it.” he answered, beaming.

“Let’s dive in, then!” Mr Park said and they all did.

“So, Jungkook. What is your major?” Mrs Park asked after a few minutes.

“I major in photography, ma’am.”

“Don’t need to be so uptight! You can call me eomeoni.” She answered, waving her hand in a nonchalant manner.

“O-okay… eomeoni.” Jungkook shyly said.

“And why did you choose photography?” Mr Park asked.

Jungkook looked toward Jimin and they both smiled.

“Well, the story is a bit childish, I hope you won’t think too bad of me.” Jungkook began, embarrassed. “Originally, I wanted to major in singing because I wanted to annoy my parents. But then I discovered photography and literally fell in love with it so I decided to major in it to become a photographer. I was lucky though because my parents weren’t that happy about it.” Jungkook explained.

A beat passed and Jimin’s parents both began to laugh heartily.

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Mrs Park, her smile reminding Jungkook of Jimin’s. “You really went to some extent to annoy your parents!”

“I hope you have good relationships though.” Mr Park added after he had regained some seriousness.

“It took some time but now I think we’re okay.”

“You think?” Jimin asked. He had never heard about this, he just thought that Jungkook was on good terms with his parents no matter his major.

“I’m not sure because only my mom replies to my texts and phone calls. I haven’t talked to my dad since the beginning of the school year so I guess he’s still mad.” Jungkook said, getting a little in thoughts. Then, he just smiled and shrugged. “But I’m doing something I love so I really don’t care if he doesn’t like it. It’s my life, not his.” He added.

“I don’t think he’s mad.” Mr Park said. “I think that he just wants the best for you and – I mean no harm saying this – being a photographer isn’t a very steady job, especially when you first step into the world with your diploma in hand. I think that, as a father, he’s just worried that the path you chose will be a hard one and he doesn’t want you to face any hardships. That’s what I thought when Jiminie told me he wanted to major in dance. We fought a bit about it but when he told me he wanted to teach and not become a professional dancer, I admit I was relieved.”

“I never thought about it that way. I always thought he wanted me to pursue economy or something boring like that. I never thought he could be worried about me.” Jungkook said, looking down, feeling guilty. He had blamed his father so much for not respecting his choice but he never tried to put himself in his father’s shoes.

“Enough about this, it’s making Jungkook sad.” Mrs Park said. “Let’s talk about the last drama I’ve been watching, it’s a very interesting rom-com!” she said, clearly excited as she clapped her hands.

The rest of the lunch went by with Mrs Park ranting about her drama and the others throwing some comments here and there.

When they were done, Jungkook insisted on doing the dishes – to Mrs Park's dismay.

“You can’t do the dishes, you’re the guest!” she complained as Jungkook situated himself in front of the sink.

“That’s why I should. To show how thankful I am.” He said, determinate.

They stared into each other's eyes until Mr Park intervened.

“Darling, let the boy do the dishes. Jimin can help, right Jiminie?”

“Of course!” Jimin immediately replied, going to Jungkook’s side.

Mrs Park let out a deep sigh, defeated.

“Okay. But that’s the first and last time, Jungkook.”

“Sure, eomeoni.” He answered, proud of his victory.

The parents left the boys in the kitchen and went to the living room, turning the TV on.

Jungkook and Jimin were halfway done with the dishes when Jungkook asked the burning question.

“When are you gonna do it?”

“I think I’ll do it when we’ll be done,” Jimin answered.

“So soon?” Jungkook was surprised.

“Yeah. I don’t know how they’ll react so if they have a bad reaction, we can just spend the afternoon out and come back in the evening, hoping for the best.” Jimin explained.

“That’s a great idea. To be honest, I thought you would do it during lunch.” Jungkook admitted. Jimin giggled.

“ I thought of it too but I decided not to when I saw my mom's kimchi stew on the table. I couldn’t deprive you from it.”

“That’s right.” Jungkook laughed.

A few seconds passed and Jimin talked this time.

“I didn’t know the relationship with your dad was so bad. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I just don’t talk about it because it makes me angry. Or it used to. Now I just feel guilty after hearing what your dad said. I’ve been very unfair with him and I feel sorry about it.” Jungkook admitted.

“Baby…” Jimin said in a whisper. “Wish I could hug you now.”

“Wish you could.” Jungkook whispered back. “By the way,” Jungkook began after a moment of silence, “I didn’t know you’ve fought with your dad about your major.”

“Oh, yeah. It was nothing really. He just got worried the moment I told them I’d be majoring in dancing and I was quick to tell him I want to be a teacher. It wasn’t really a fight, it was more of a… lecture? He started with all the ‘life is hard for artists’ and ‘you’ll have a hard time finding a job, even more when you’ll get older’. I just cut him and told him to calm down because I would become a teacher, not a dancer.” Jimin explained.

“You never thought of becoming a dancer?” Jungkook asked as they were finally done with the dishes.

“I did, of course I did. But I know it’s not made for me. I’m too much of a perfectionist, such pressure would surely destroy me.”

“You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met Jimin.” Jungkook stated, staring into his eyes.

“Thanks.” Jimin replied, smiling. “Let’s go, it’s time to enter the lion’s den.” He added and they went to the living room.

Jimin’s parents were sitting close, watching the news while drinking soju. They looked up when the boys came into view.

“Done already? That was fast.” Mrs Park said, satisfied.

“That’s because I have something to tell you.” Jimin said, sitting beside his father, Jungkook following to sit beside him.

“You know you can tell us anything, right? Whatever it is, we’ll listen.” Jimin’s mother said and Jimin nodded.

“I’ve been asking myself many questions since I was around eighteen. In fact, I think it began when I was fourteen or fifteen. Like all my friends, I got my first girlfriend and, like all my friends, I had for the first time. It’s embarrassing but I need to tell you this because it’s very important. To be honest, I didn’t like it, at all. I thought it was because I was very inexperienced so it didn’t bother me at the time, I was only sixteen after all. But then, I graduated from high school and entered university. I made new friends, including Jungkook.” He placed his hand on Jungkook’s knee. “We became close friends rather quickly, we kinda clicked. But one day, we were talking and the subject of uality came up. Jungkook is gay. After that, I asked myself more questions and with Tae’s help, I discovered that I’m gay too. And Jungkook is my boyfriend.”

When Jimin finished, he waited a little bit and when he saw his father smile, he thought he was hallucinating. He blinked a few times and, before he knew it, his father was hugging him so tight he almost had troubles breathing. Behind his father he could see his mother smiling to her ears, pure joy radiating from her. When his father finally released him, he was so confused he felt numb.

“I’m so proud of you, Jiminie. I know how much courage it takes to admit such a thing and I feel so proud and honoured that you shared this with us.”

“We kind of had some suspicions but we never talked about it to not pressure you.” Mrs Park added.

“You knew?” Jimin asked, astonished.

“We didn’t know until… Yerin, was it? We kinda had our suspicions after your break-up.” Mr Park admitted.

“I told you you had nothing to worry about.” Jungkook said, taking Jimin’s hand and intertwining their fingers. Jimin smiled and kissed his cheek.

“You’re so cute, together! Let me take a picture.” Mrs Park said, getting excited suddenly and reaching for her phone on the coffee table. She snapped a picture of the cute couple and then decided to take a selfie of the four of them.

“I feel so light right now! I was so nervous to tell you, I thought you’d kick me out of the house!” Jimin said, only now realising how stupid he had been.

“We would never, Jiminie. We love you no matter who you love and although I’m a bit hurt you thought so lowly of us, I still understand how you could think this way.” Mrs Park said, smiling.

“I’m sorry.” Jimin said and his parents dismissed his apology by kissing him on the cheeks.

“Well, the weather is beautiful today boys. Don’t you wanna hang out? You have the whole afternoon to stroll in the streets.” Mr Park suggested.

“Yeah! Come on Kookie, I’ll show you all the places I used to go to when I was younger!”

Jimin didn’t wait for an answer but just took Jungkook’s hand, bid goodbye to his parents and dragged him out the door.

Their first stop was at Jimin's middle school. He showed Jungkook everything: where he liked to eat best in the cafeteria, where he loved sitting down with his friends to chat, where was the dance studio, where he first had a fight with his best friend,… Jimin was so happy to be back and able to show Jungkook a little bit of his past. Jungkook was pleased to see Jimin so happy and enthusiastic, he followed him everywhere.

After the school, they went to Jimin’s favourite street-food booth. Jimin loved eating spicy since he was a teenager and that was thanks to the delicious ddeokbokki place not too far from school. They shared one serving and the old lady – who still remembered Jimin – told Jungkook stories about the chubby little boy she’d known. But the cherry on top was the arcade. When they arrived, Jimin was a bit sad to see that the pinball machine had been removed because it had been his favourite game. However, the basketball game was still there and the couple went against each other (Jungkook let Jimin won but don’t tell him or he’ll get mad!) before playing a bunch of other games.

“There’s one last place I want to show you now.” Jimin softly told Jungkook and they had to take the bus.

On the ride, Jimin reminisced about his childhood, about everything he’d lived that brought him to this moment, him sitting on the bus with his boyfriend, Jungkook, their hands intertwined. He got emotional and felt Jungkook squeeze his hand. He turned to him and smiled so wide, he almost couldn’t see Jungkook anymore.

When they arrived, they had to walk for some time as it was a quite secluded place. Jimin had been afraid that it would be gone but it was still the same as it had ever been.

There was a white little pavilion with a bench surrounded with bushes and dozens of flowers of various colours and scents. The rose’s fragrance was the more prominent one and it reminded Jimin of all the times he had come here. It was simple and away from straying eyes which was what had drawn Jimin here in the first place.

“Here’s my safe place. Or more my teen self’s safe place. That’s where I liked coming when life would get a little too busy or confusing. I would come here, sit down and listen to music until I felt better. On rare occasions I would even dance.” Jimin sat down and tapped the spot beside him for Jungkook to sit down. “I was always alone here. You’re the first person to see this place.”

Jungkook looked around and, strangely, the place felt familiar to him. Maybe because he could feel younger Jimin’s aura here.

“Why did you bring me here, hyung?” Jungkook asked, genuinely curious.

“As I told you, that’s my younger self’s safe place, not mine. Not anymore at least. You are now. You, Jeon Jungkook, are my safe place.” Jimin answered, smiling and blushing a little.

Jungkook returned the smile and leaned in to kiss Jimin. They kissed languidly for long minutes, feeling so close and yet so far from each other but they knew they couldn’t give in to their needs, they shouldn’t.

When they broke apart, they both looked like a mess but a beautiful one at least. Hair dishevelled, lips swollen, pupils blown and faces red but beautiful nonetheless.

“Hyung, I have a question.” Jungkook began. “Why didn’t you tell your parents you’re biual?”

Jimin stiffened a bit at the question but quickly relaxed. He lied down, his head on Jungkook’s lap.

“Because I’m not. It’s quite a ridiculous and embarrassing story to be honest.” Jimin sighed and went on. “Some weeks ago, I was missing you; you were busy with your pictures and I also was stressing about a part of my choreo I couldn’t get right. I needed to release some of this stress and searched up some .” He quickly added, “I could have just thought of you and it would have been enough but I wanted to get done quickly and if I thought about you, I would have come to you, distracted you and it would have lasted too long.” Jimin admitted, his face getting redder every second. “Anyway, I was quite in a rush and looked up straight . You know, since I was biual” emphasis on the ‘was’ “I didn’t think too much about it and began to watch it. I spent the first 15 minutes myself but to no avail. I was only half hard by the end of the video. I thought about it for some time because it was the first time it happened so I was very confused. But I noticed I got hard from the sounds the man was making, not the woman. So, I searched for gay and bingo! It worked. I did what I had to do and, as always, talked about it with Taehyung. Well, you know how he is. He immediately dragged me to the cafeteria, introduced me to his straight cousin who knew I was bi and told the both of us to rate any person who would walk by us.” Jimin closed his eyes and giggled a bit at the memory. “Of course, I refused at first because I found this ridiculous but I finally caved in and we began our little shameful game. We had to give a note out of ten. At first only guys went past us, I would give them 7 or 8 at best while Jun would give them 3 or 4. It went on like that for some time until a girl walked past us. She was quite pretty, I could see that but I couldn’t really give her a note. Gosh, it sounds terrible.” He sighed but decided to still go on with his story. “Anyway, Taehyung forced me to give a note so I gave her a 4 whereas Jun gave her a 8. I was shocked because okay, she was pretty and well proportioned but it wasn’t worth a 8 in my opinion. Then another girl came into view. Jun gave her a 9 and I gave her a 3. Every time a guy would come into the cafeteria, I would give him a 7 or 8 but for the girls it never went over 4. After that, I talked with Jun and he told me what physically attracted him in a girl. When it was my turn to answer, I thought about it, I really did but nothing came to me. Not the lips, the eyes, the s, the , the legs, I found none of these attractive on a girl. But on a guy… it was another topic. Then, Tae asked me a very strange question. What if you were a girl? If you were a girl, would I date with you?” Jimin asked, looking at Jungkook. He paused, re-asking himself the question.

“Why did you say?” Jungkook asked, his voice almost a whisper.

“I said I wouldn’t. Because what I find attractive on you, besides your personality, are your lips, your broad chest, your strong arms and thighs, your jawline, your Adam apple. And that’s when I realised I was in fact gay and not biual. Then, at the exhibition, you told me you loved me and I was so sure of myself, so sure that I loved you too, that I was absolutely head over heels and gay for you that it just made sense for me to jut show it to everyone who was there.”

When Jimin was done, he felt short of breath. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he was only waiting for Jungkook’s reaction.

“So, what I heard is that some random guy you saw in the cafeteria was your gay awakening?” Jungkook asked.

“W-what? No! Kookie, that’s not it!” Jimin exclaimed, sitting upright. “Have you not heard what I just said? I said–” he tried to explain again but was cut off by Jungkook kissing him.

Jimin instantly melted into the kiss, he could never get enough of Jungkook’s lips. When they broke apart, Jungkook was laughing.

“I got it, I was just messing with you baby.” He said, earning a punch on the arm. “But your story is quite funny. You should still have come to me when you felt stressed. Maybe I would have pounded into you so hard you would have screamed ‘I’m gay!’ when you came.” He added, Jimin turning scarlet as he howled in laughter.

“I hate you!” Jimin said, getting up to leave when Jungkook caught him by the arm, turning him around and making the shorter straddle him.

“And I love you baby.” He said before crashing their lips together.