chapter // v. 

"Where is he?" said an impatient Yoongi. He was slouched in the driver's seat of his black van with one hand resting over the steering wheel. He and Jimin were at a particularly dark part of Jimin's neighborhood. Almost no lights in and around the surrounding houses were on, which made it incredibly hard to see in the pitch blackness of the late night. Perfect for trying not to get noticed. However, if someone were to notice them, they would look incredibly suspicious. 

"I don't know, he said he was on his way," replied an antsy and equally impatient Jimin. He was leaning against the van with his phone in hand, awaiting any possible incoming texts. 

"He's taking longer than he should. What's he doing?" Yoongi questioned, clearly irritated. Jimin just shrugged and looked back at his phone's screen, checking once again if he had gotten any new messages. Nothing new, though. He was taking longer than expected. Maybe he had been caught by his parents. Maybe something had happened to him while walking in the dark streets. Yoongi let out a slightly forced sigh and sunk deeper into his seat as he turned his focus to the still road.

It was cold and Jimin has wearing light clothes: a black wife beater, black jeans, a black bleanie, and dark grey sneakers; he was barely visable. He figured it would get real hot real fast where they were going, but he had been waiting, standing outside the van for what felt like twenty minutes. He was freezing and more than a little annoyed at this point. Just when he was going to check his phone again he saw a familiar figure making its way toward them. 

"Finally," Yoongi said as he sat up in his seat and started the engine. Jungkook hurried over to them with an embaressed smile on his face.

"What took you so long? Did you get lost?" Jimin asked as they both entered the back of the van as quickly as they could. Yoongi had the heater on low, so as soon as they stepped in they were no longer shivering from the icy night winds outside.

"No, my parents were just giving me a hard time why I was going over to your house so late. They almost didn't believe me," Jungkook replied as he strapped in his seatbelt. 

"That's 'cause you're a bad liar," Yoongi said as he started to drive down the street a little too fast for comfort, but he was just eager to get to their destination. He and the two younger boys had been excited and anxious to attend the party Yoongi told them about. Jimin was especially excited about partying with a bunch of college kids. He'd been to parties before, but they were mostly with high shool students, where the alcohol was scarce, if there was any. It was about as fun as you'd imagine. Jungkook, however, was more nervous than anything since he'd never even been to a party that wasn't a middle school birthday party with balloons and kiddy presents.

"Because I don't have to lie often," Jungkook responded. "Unlike some people," he looked over to the boy sitting next to him. Jimin leaned back a little at his words.

"What? Me? When do I lie often?" he asked, trying to conceal a smile, because even he knew he was quite the liar when it came to adults and people with authority. He wasn't exactly a straight-edge.

His parents and teachers were suspicious of his sketchy behavior at times, but whatever questionable thing he did he never got caught for it. Like the time he took some forgein pills his classmate gave him to try and he took it before class started. He was so lost in his high he didn't realize class had even started until an hour and a half into the lecture. His eyes were red and he was spacy. At one point he had to run to the bathroom because he was going to vomit. Being suspicious at his behavior, his teacher had asked him if everything was okay after class. He was a good actor and a good liar, and had said he had just eaten some bad fish for breakfast and wasn't able to focus in class. Needless to say, that was not the first time something like that had happened. 

He wasn't a bad kid, though. He never acted out, kept his grades in check, and only did risky things sometimes, but never anything life-threatening. At least, he liked to think he never did.

Finally, they had arrived at the house where the party was. It was lit up from all the lights flashing inside. The sound of hard party music was already so loud even from the outside, it was a wonder how the police hadn't shut down the party already. They all stepped out of the van and before they could enter the house, Yoongi stopped them. 

"A few things before we go in," he stated. "Since this is a college party, don't mention you're still in high school. No one's gonna want high school kids around. Just tell them you're in college." Jimin wondered how well that would go for Jungkook. He looked a little younger than he was, so he wasn't so sure if it was believable that he was a college student. Jimin, on the other hand could easily pass for a college first year. 

"Also," he continued, "don't accept drinks from anyone, escpecially if the drink is already opened or in a glass. It's probably spiked, and that happens a lot more than you think at these kind of things. So just be careful what you drink. There's also probably going to be a lot of drugs passed around. I'm not gonna lecture you about that, but if you're going to take anything, just be careful. That can be seriously dangerous. If you guys need me and can't find me, just text me and I'll meet you out here, okay?" The two younger boys nodded in response. 

They then headed into the party where they were immediately met with the musty smell of a hot house infested with a bunch of sweaty, drunk 20-something year olds dancing wildly. Yoongi disappeared into the crowd almost immediately when he spotted his usual group of friends from his university. Jimin was fired up as soon as he saw everyone bouncing around with red cups of alcohol in their hands. Jungkook tensed up when he stepped into the house and wondered why exactly he agreed to go to this. Maybe he just wanted to do something out of character for a change and experience something crazy. Maybe it's because he wanted to go out and do something fun with Jimin that he really liked, which had to be going to wild parties of all things.

Jungkook decided to just follow Jimin around, being uncomfortable with everyone else who surrounded him. It was no surprised at how quickly Jimin had found the table with thirty different kinds of alocholic drinks.

"Aw sweet I haven't had this in forever!" Jimin shouted as he grabbed a bottle of brandy and poured some of it in a red cup that was on the table. He mixed in some tequila and a lot of strawberry juice into it, which created a strong yet fruity drink. He turned around and saw Jungkook staring at him. He'd nearly forgotten Jungkook was there with him after he sought out for the liquor. "Want some?" Jimin joked with a big smile. Jungkook looked down at the filled cup Jimin held up. Usually he'd roll his eyes and say 'no thanks' but instead he decided not to decline this time.

"Yeah, sure," he said nonchalantly.

"Wait, really?" Jimin said, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Well you offered, didn't you?" he said while reaching for the cup. He wanted to see why Jimin drank this so much; what was so great about it. Plus, if it helped him loosen up at a wild place like this, maybe he wouldn't be so tense and would actually have fun like he intended to.

"Wait, for real? You want some?" Jimin asked, still in shock. 

"Yes." He reached for the cup again, but Jimin pushed his hand away.

"You've never had alcohol, though, right?" he asked. The younger nodded. "Okay this would be way too strong for you then. Let me get you something else," he said as he set his cup down on the table and grabbed some bottles. As Jungkook watched Jimin mix the drink in a new cup and he prayed he wouldn't regret this. Jimin then handed him the newly filled cup. Jungkook smelled it and the scent was definitely alcohol with some kind of fuity juice.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's vodka with mango juice. I didn't put a lot of vodka in it since I don't know how well you're gonna take it, so it's really watered down," Jimin replied. Jungkook looked down nervously at the cup again, and was appreciative of Jimin's consideration.

"You gonna drink it or just stare at it?" Jimin chuckled. Jungkook was hesitant, but then decided to get it over with. As soon as he took his first sip his face twisted. 

"Oh, God that tastes awful!" he coughed. Jimin bursted into laughter at his reaction, nearly tipping over his own cup of liquor. 

"Of course it tastes awful, but you get used to it," he said while trying to contain his laughter. Jungkook's face was still disoriented with the bitter taste of the vodka. The juice didn't really help much, but he was glad Jimin had given him something less strong than his own drink. 

Once he was able to stop himself from giggling, Jimin nearly downed his entire drink in one chug. When Jungkook watched him he got that same uncomfortable yet aroused feeling he usually felt whenever Jimin drank in front of him. But for whatever reason, he felt more aroused than uncomortable this time. Jungkook also took a few more sips of his drink before Jimin dragged him to the dance floor, where they were shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone around them. It wasn't long before Jungkook's body started to feel light and his head was hazy. His balance had been thrown off so he hand to hold onto Jimin's shoulders as they danced to the music. 

He suddenly found himself unable to stop giggling while they were bouncing and jumping. Jungkook couldn't tell if it was because Jimin looked silly as he jumped and moved to the music, or if it was because the alcohol was hitting him hard and he found everything he looked at to be hilarious. Probably both.

Jimin was hyper. He was practically jumping off the walls. He was lost in the music and moving in all sorts of directions with his body. Once the alcohol had completely hit him his mind was gone. The only thing that mattered was the beat to the music. He hadn't realized that Jungkook wasn't with him anymore. He was just dishing out the craziest dance moves he could. At one point a tall, slender man was handing out small white tablets, to which he happily took. The music was suddenly louder, and the room was spinning. 

He had stopped by the liquor table again and saw Yoongi chugging a beer. When they saw each other they nearly fell to the floor laughing. The elder shouted something incoherent to Jimin, and he yelled something just as inaudible back. This caused them to errupt into more laughter as they struggled to get themselves more alcohol.

They danced with each other for a short while, drinks in hand, before they lost each other again. The flashing blue and green lights in the dim house sent Jimin in awe as he was swaying to the fast-paced music. His heart was beating impossibly fast and he felt weightless, like he was slowly floating to the ceiling of the house.

At some point he found himself dancing with a group of three girls who were equally as intoxicated as he was. He couldn't focus on their faces clearly. It was like their features would change and distort right before his eyes. But they were all cute, even with their make up all smudged around their faces. Then he was suddenly having a dance off with someone while the whole room circled around them and cheered. He could hear Yoongi screaming his name as he rooted for him. It didn't take long for Jimin to show up his opponent, which resulted in more cheering and loud shouting. 

He had ventured off to find the liquor table again, but when he got there all the bottles were empty. Jimin groaned, and without thinking he whipped out his phone. He eyes couldn't make out the time that was on the screen. But he saw that he had gotten a text. He struggled to punch in his password to unlocked his phone. When he opened the text he spent a whole minute trying to read what it said, but he couldn't decipher the message. It was too blurry and his eyes couldn't focus that well. He then looked at the sender's name, which was in bigger text--thank God--and saw that it was from Namjoon. At the sight of his name, Jimin started laughing uncontrollably. Of course he gets a text from Namjoon when he's at the party he didn't get invited to because of Yoongi. For some reason this was hilarious to him.

He decided to reply:

fcuck man n u shulda been he re  u missng ou t

Not too long after sending the text, he received a reply.

wtf are you talking about

He held the phone centimeters away from his eyes so he could see what the message said. Jimin couldn't help but giggle at his text. It was just too funny. He looked completely insane with his phone to his face, laughing hysterically. He struggled to type his next response. He could hardly see the keyboard well.

th epar t yt

He recieved an immediate reply.

who's party? and why are you typing like that? are you on something?

He was still a giggling mess, and nearly fell on his when he lost his balance.

woul nt yuo leike t oo kno ha ahaah

It took a moment before he recieved the next text.

where are you

At that he realized he genuinely didn't know where he was.

man idekk 

Another immediate response.

goddammit jimin just tell me where you are

This suddenly wasn't fun anymore and Namjoon was just being annoying. Jimin was now a little annoyed. He rolled his eyes and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He decided not to reply because Namjoon was being a huge buzzkill. He decided to stumble around the house to try and find Yoongi or Jungkook again. He noticed how gross the floor was. It was littered with spilled cups, tissues, various clothings, white powder--probably some pills that had gotten dropped and stepped on--and other fluids he couldn't identify.

After he wandered around for a few minutes he found Jungkook laughing on a couch with a large group of girls and a couple of guys all sitting around him. Jungkook's face was completely red, especially his cheeks. He looked so ridiculous and adorable. One of the girls next to him pinched his cheeks and a bunch of the other girl squealed in reaction. 

"Jeon Junkookie!" Jimin said as he rushed over to him and jumped on the spot on the couch next to the younger. "So this is where you've been!" Jimin slurred as he wrapped his arms around him.

"Is this your boyfriend?" one of the girls joked, while others reacted with 'Aww's.

"No this guy is weird," Jungkook chuckled.

"Jungkookie is the love of my life, but he's always rejecting my love! Please accept my feelings!" he said and made a mock-kissing face to him. The girls squealed again and the few guys laughed pretty hard.

"You see?" Jungkook giggled. Usually he would push Jimin away out of embaressment, but in his drunk state he found him to be irresistably cute. Even if he did look crazy. His hair was a sweaty mess and his beanie had disappeared at some point during the night. But he found his messy, sweaty appearance ot be rather infatuating. In fact, he wouldn't mind actually kissing him right now, even in front of all these people. His body was starting to feel really hot. His blood was getting really warm. He was starting to become less aware of his surroundings and only aware of the drunk mess of a boy in front of him.

The next thing Jungkook remembered was seeing two guys yelling at each other, and being confused. He didn't understand what was going on, and he was wrapped around Jimin's arm. He was suddenly feeling very tired and he was no longer interested in the two men. He looked up at Jimin, who was watching the men with an expressionless face, like he couldn't comprehend what he was seeing and he was spacing out. 

"Jimin," Jungkook said. The elder snapped out of his trance and looked at him, immediately a large smile found its way onto his face. 

"Ah, you're so cute," Jimin said. Jungkook was suddenly confused again, but he couldn't understand why.

He was now in a moving vehicle. It was dark but Jimin was beside him laughing. Again not understanding the situation, but he laughed as well.