chapter // iv.

Jimin was awoken to a text he'd received on his phone. He first checked the time: 7:04 a.m. Before unlocking his phone, he rubbed his eyes and stretched his body. He sat up and typed in the code to his phone's password before reading the text. It was from Yoongi. He was a bit surprised since Yoongi wasn't one to text him--or anyone--that much. He also hadn't been talking to anyone after he started attending university. He figured this text was probably important.

Hey, do you and Jungkook wanna come to a party with me this Saturday?

Jimin took a moment to think about his response. Yoongi wasn't much of a party-goer, but when he did party he was crazy fun. Jimin especially liked to see that side of Yoongi since the elder was quiet and indifferent most of the time. Jimin didn't get to go out and party much, but he loved to get wild and wasted, so his answer to Yoongi was a no-brainer. Before accepting the invitation, though, he decided to ask a couple questions.

where is it?

are jin and namjoon going too?

He was met with an almost immediate response. 

It's at my friend's house. I already invited Jin. He declined due to excessive work. And I didn't invite Namjoon. But you can invite him if you want I guess.

Jimin nearly chuckled at that last part. Of course he didn't invite him. Why would he? He slowly texted his next question, still attempting to fully wake up before getting out of bed.

is there gnna be booze?

He placed his phone on his desk beside his bed as he got up to get dressed for school. He hurriedly stripped his pajamas and slipped into his uniform. The overall color of the outfit was navy blue. He wore a white button-up underneath a blazer and adjusted his burgundy tie. Before he could put on his shoes his phone vibrated again. He picked it up again to open a new text:

Duh.

Jimin smirked as he and Yoongi exchanged a few more texts about the party. After finally getting fully dressed and prepared for school, he headed out. Everyone in the house was already gone. He then quickly made his way outside and started walking to school. Jimin and Jungkook lived fairly close to each other, so sometimes they'd see each other walking to school and then they'd walk together. He was hoping to see Jungkook this morning, but there was no sign of him the whole way to school. He couldn't get the other night out of his head. Usually when he drank and got overly affectionate around Jungkook, he would push him away and tell him to stop being so weird. But he'd just fallen asleep next to him. He had thought about this a lot yesterday too. Maybe Jungkook was finally becoming more comfortable with his drinking.

Jungkook was always a bit of a goody two-shoes, and never drank when Jimin offered. He'd never even done any light drugs or stolen anything, let alone cheated on a test. Although it was annoying at times, Jimin thought it was kind of cute too. 

As he reached the school he found Jungkook walking towards to entrance. Jimin shouted to him, which caught Jungkook's attention and turned around. As he hurried to his friend, Jimin swung his arm around him and began to walk to the entrance. As they were walking to class he told Jungkook about the party that Yoongi had invited them to. 

"Is there gonna be anyone else we know there?" Jungkook asked while looking down the hall. Jimin shrugged.

"As far as I know Yoongi's gonna be the only one we know there," he replied. He considered inviting Namjoon, but he knew it wasn't a good idea. He felt bad, but he figured since Namjoon didn't really like parties anyway it was fine. He never understood why, but Namjoon just wasn't the party type and would rather just stay at his place alone. Jimin sometimes about how he was a buzzkill. 

Jungkook thought for a few moments, still looking down the hallway. "I guess I'll go. But I have to ask my parents first," he finally replied. Jimin's face twisted.

"You're gonna ask them if you can go to a party with a bunch of college kids?" he laughed.

"Don't be stupid," Jungkook smiled and playfully hit Jimin's chest. "I'm not gonna tell them that. I'll make something up."

"Wow look at you being a little delinquient." Jimin pinched Jungkook's cheek. The younger hit him in the chest again as they separated to their designated classes. 

When lunch came around, Jimin appeared in Jungkook's class room to eat with him. Sometimes Jungkook would go to Jimin's class for a change, but mostly Jimin was the one to go to Jungkook. Sometimes neither would show up to the other for whatever reason, and they'd eat with their classmates. 

When Jimin approached Jungkook's desk he let out heavy sigh and practically threw his bag onto the floor after taking out his lunch. The younger looked at the messily thrown bag, then up at the boy in front of him, now sitting down across from him. The expression on Jungkook's face showed that he was a bit confused at the sudden action.

"I got more math homework for the project and I don't understand ," Jimin confessed as he opened his lunch box. Jungkook had already dug into his lunch and was in the middle of eating it. "Why does Mr. Hwang hate us? Why does he always give us even more homework when he gives us projects?" Jimin let out mock cry. Jungkook remained expressionless as he took a piece of food out of the older boy's lunch box and ate it.

"Do you want me to help you study?" Jungkook asked as he continued to stuff his face. Jimin's face then lit up.

"Yeah, please," he replied. He then began to eat his own lunch. 

"Let's study at my place. I think my parents are starting to get suspicious since I'm always at your place," he jokingly stated.

After school they headed to Jungkook's house. It was closer to the school than Jimin's, so it wasn't that far of a walk. When they arrived at the house they were greeted with the smell of cooking meat and savory broth. They both walked over to the kitchen, where Jungkook's mother was preparing a stew of beef and vegetables with a side of rice. When she noticed them she turned and greeted them. Usually she'd be working until late, but lately she hadn't been feeling well, so she'd decided to take some time off to recover, which didn't seem likely any time soon.

"Oh, hello Jimin! And welcome home son," she smiled at the boys. 

"Jimin and I are going to study for our math project," Jungkook said. 

"Ah, study well then," she said as she went back to cutting vegetables. "Would you like to stay for dinner, Jimin? It'll be ready in a few hours."

"I would, but my mom said she was gonna make me a big dinner when I get home," Jimin responded. That was a lie. Although for the most part he liked Jungkook's parents, he didn't like being around them too much. They just rubbed him the wrong way for what ever reason, which made him feel bad because they liked Jimin a lot. He was always welcomed to their house, but he tried not to stay over too often.

"I see, that's too bad. Maybe next time then," she gave a warm smile as she prepared to cut more vegetables. The boys then headed to Jungkook's room and took off their blazers, sat down on the floor, and rummaged through their bags for their math homework. Jimin gave a frustrated groan as he took out his papers. Just looking at them gave him a headache.

It was silent for the most part as they worked. Occasionally Jungkook would help Jimin with working out a problem, or lightly hit his face if Jimin started to fall asleep while working on his project. Time seemed to go by very slowly as they worked out pages upon pages of equations. At one point Jimin got up to use the restroom to splash cold water on his face so he wouldn't fall asleep. He could hardly focus anymore. When he went back to the room he saw Jungkook reading a math textbook, and highlighting certain areas. 

Jimin then collapsed on the floor in front of Jungkook, to which he paid no attention to the older boy. "I'm so bored," Jimin complained as he burried his head in his arms. Jungkook kept highlighting important information from his textbook.

"Studying isn't meant to be exciting," he said in a very monotonous voice. Jimin looked over at him and wondered how he could be so dedicated to his studies all the time. He never seemed to enjoy it, but he was always so focused on it too. Meanwhile, Jimin could hardly take ten minutes of doing any kind of schoolwork before needing to take a five-hour break. However, he did like to stare at Jungkook's face while he was focused on something he was working on. He looked determined yet adorable at the same time. 

"Let's do something," he said. Jungkook took his eyes away from his text and onto Jimin.

"We're studying," the younger responded. 

"You're no fun," Jimin scoffed. Jungkook again went back to reading and highlighting his text. This annoyed Jimin a little. Usually he would agree to do something else even if he didn't want to. Jimin really didn't want to go back to those tortuous math problems, and he was also feeling very antsy. He then hit the math book out of Jungkook's hands as it slid across the floor. Jimin cracked a mischievous smile at the annoyed expression on Jungkook's face.

"Really?" Jungkook said as he started to reach for the book. Jimin then firmly placed his hand on his friend's thigh. The action caught Jungkook off gaurd and caused him to jump a little. 

"Jeon Jungkookie," Jimin sang as he squeezed his thigh. Jungkook let out a yelp and smacked his hand away.

"What? Why are you acting weird? Did you drink?" he slightly raised his voice. He picked up the book and searched for the page he had been reading. Jimin started quietly giggling to himself. He always thought it was humorous to see Jungkook annoyed, so he often . He again grasped Jungkook's thigh and squeezed it a little. At the motion Jungkook lowered the book from his eyes and stared at Jimin. He was clearly irritated with him. Sometimes Jimin got overly physically affectionate with his friends, especially if he was under the influence of something. And sometimes he liked to test the boundaries of how affectionate he could get with his friends. Is that what he was doing right now? Or was he trying to do something else? 

Jimin then sat up and stared at his friend while still having that smile plastered on his face. This made Jungkook feel a little uneasy. What was he doing? He was being weird, and he wasn't sure if he liked where this was going. Jimin put his other hand on Jungkook's other thigh and leaned in closer to him. Jungkook was starting to feel embaressed now.

"What are you doing?" Jungkook asked as Jimin's face got very close to his. Jimin looked like he was trying very hard not errupt into laughter. Not quite knowing what to do, Jungkook pushed him away with great force. "What's wrong with you? Don't you know this is werid between two men?" he protested. 

"What? What'd I do?" Jimin said while chuckling. Even though he was just feeling embaressed, what Jungkook said actually hurt him a little. But wanting to keep the mood light, he kept a goofy expression on his face. 

"Why are you so weird?" Jungkook said while flipping through the pages of the book, irritated and flustered. "My mom's home, what if she would've walked in? Why do you always do weird like this?" he yelled angrily. He kept his head down to his textbook, not wanting to look at the boy in front of him. He was blushing very hard. Even though he was being cautious, his heart was beating fast. He didn't want to admit it, but he actually liked what Jimin was doing, which might be why he was so upset.

Jimin's expression slowly faded. "Calm down, I was just teasing you," he said.

"Whatever. Just get back to your work," Jungkook replied as he gathered up some papers from his homework. Jimin's playful expression had now completely faded, and he slowly went back the last problem he had been trying to solve. It didn't make any sense to him, and he needed Jungkook's help, but the atmosphere was now a little awkward. Jimin didn't know how seriously he should take Jungkook's words. He never quite knew if Jungkook might like him back, or if the very idea of them being together disgusted him. However, his words may have just confirmed that maybe Jungkook really doesn't like him like he thought. This really crushed him.

Not long after, Jimin pretended to finish his work. "Well I'm done for the day. I think I should be going now," he announced as he stood up. He and Jungkook walked out of the room and passed the kitchen, where Jungkook's mother said her goodbyes to Jimin. 

"See you later," Jungkook said before Jimin walked out of the house. He has felt bad about what he'd said earlier, but was too embaressed to apologize. He hoped Jimin wouldn't take it seriously based on his expression.

"Yeah," he half-heartedly replied. He then shuffled out of the house and made his way down the street toward his own house.