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it was only his second tour for the day and he was already exhausted. honestly, walking around the same art museum for 5 days out of the week, giving people the same repetitive talk about the history of everything got kinda boring after a while. sure, there were ways to make his tour a little bit more entertaining than it usually was, but even those ideas got boring after two years of doing this job.
it wasn’t all bad though. occasionally there was a group that would ask questions and pay attention and attempt to look like they weren’t regretting wasting their money on his tour. groups like those were his favourite. also, a lot of the cute kids from the local college came here frequently. that was definitely a plus.
he thought today would be a great day, honestly he did. the birds were singing, the sun was shining, his hair looked great. but then he had been given a group of rowdy school children to control while their teachers stood in the back and played games on their phones. needless to say, his patience had worn thin.
namjoon, the bastard, had laughed when he stumbled into the break room after the school group had finally moved on. he felt sorry for whoever had to deal with those kids next. a cup of coffee was pressed into his hands as he nearly collapsed onto the couch.
“tough day?”
“tough life, more like it,” he muttered, downing half of his coffee.
namjoon snorted, dimples on full display as he smiled at jimin’s misfortune.
“stop being so pessimistic.”
“stop being so optimistic.”
“you’re spending too much time with yoongi-hyung.”
the only reply he could offer was a shrug, too busy wondering whether or not he had time for a nap before the next tour rolled in.
“hello, earth to jimin?”
a fleeting prick of pain on his forehead drew his attention away from where he was busy death staring the microwave, inspiring him to look up and death stare the asshole he called his best friend instead.
“i will burn everything you love.”
“wow, emo much? honestly, if i didn’t know better i would think you were reverting back into your preteen self. you could say you’re dead inside and start listening to my chemical romance again and i wouldn’t be surprised.”
the contemplative look on jimin’s face caused him to backtrack; hands waving frantically in front of him and expression morphing into one of horror.
“no. no, no, no. please don’t do any of that i don’t know whether i can deal with a jungkook 2.0.”
he let out a surprised laugh at that, curling around the mug cradled in his hands as he giggled. namjoon snorted, throwing an arm over the back of the couch, feet kicked up on the coffee table despite knowing that seokjin, the handsome college senior that manned the front desk, would most likely scold him later.
“look, dude, you’ve just gotta do your best, y’know?” at jimins shrug, he sighs. “i know this isn’t the best job, and that you’re starting to become bitter and old like the rest of us – which, by the way, congratulations and welcome to the club – but you’ve just gotta push past all that. live your life, follow your dreams. you’ll never get anywhere if you don’t try. so go out there, dance on top of a car, suck a few dicks, adopt a pet hamster. be happy, jiminie!”
he paused, slowly turning to namjoon and just looked at him for a moment. when namjoon just blinked in return he laughed, throwing himself against his friend. his laughter reduced to the occasional squeak and then he was just lying down, head pillowed on namjoon’s thigh.
“suck a few dicks, really joonie-hyung?”
a gentle swat on the shoulder was what he got in return, coupled with a gentle “shut up”.
by the time the third tour rolled in he felt prepared, ready to handle anything they threw at him. he was actually smiling when he greeted the group, something that only really happened when he was in an extra good mood. seokjin shot him a confused look as he introduced himself to the 20 or so people that were currently crowded into the foyer. he shot him a wink as he passed, laughing to himself as he just heard the “who are you and what have you done with the real jimin” the elder mutter under his breath as he passed.
surprisingly, the tour started off really well. there weren’t too many stupid questions, and there were no screaming children that he had to constantly refrain from putting their hands on the paintings. they were relatively polite, and didn’t interrupt him when he informed them about the different artists which was definitely a plus. unsurprisingly, his good mood didn’t last for long.
they had just made their way into the next room, and while he was busy counting heads and making sure his entire tour group was accounted for, a single hand raised into the air. he made note of the action and turned towards the individual as soon as he had double and triple checked that everyone was there and no one was off locked in the bathroom, busy having sex with their boyfriend (he’s walked in on shit like that too many times now).
the guy who takes a half step forward, and the people in front of him shift. multiple people turn to stare and he’s fairly certain he hears one woman in the back mutter something that sounds like oh shit and all he can think in response is same. the man in front of him is gorgeous; doe like eyes and gently tousled light brown hair. his shirt is just cropped enough to rise up and show some of his cute stomach when he runs his fingers through his hair, with a design on the front that he’s certain has something to do with sailor moon. his gaze is drawn from the collar of his shirt which is close to slipping off his shoulder to his collarbones to the thin black choker that hugs his throat. he’s got a sketchbook in his hands, the cover decorated with stickers of dogs and flowers and what appear to be various overwatch characters, a gap in the top right corner reading the name taetae in large black letters. he’s very obviously an art student, however he is far prettier than any of the other art students jimin has ever seen.
he shifts, clears his throat, and in the loudest voice he can manage at the manage at the moment replies “um, yes?”
the stranger – taetae? – bounces up on the balls of his feet, starting to look more like an excited puppy than he did before. he nods to himself, the beginnings of a grin starting to form as he looks up under his lashes at jimin.
“what did michelangelo say to the ceiling of the sistine chapel?”
“um. what?” his reply was more one of surprise than an answer to his joke, but other took as that anyway.
“i’ve got you covered.”
he let out a strangled noise and turned back to the painting the had stopped in front of, unsure how to respond to the sudden joke. the stranger giggled behind him, the sound deep and melodious and entirely too distracting. he wanted to laugh, but the sudden joke combined with the godlike features of the art student had him too flustered to do anything except stare blankly at the artwork.
hopefully, hopefully, that would be the end of the bad jokes. he’d be able to go back to his regularly scheduled tour, with his regularly scheduled notes and speeches and no impromptu bad jokes from the guy who looks like he belongs in the hallway full of marble sculptures with perfect proportions and gorgeous features.
however, things do not go as planned.
the tour only brings out more bad jokes from The Cutest Art Student Ever™ as jimin had started to call him. some of them are worse than others (“why did van gogh become a painter?” “please..” “because he didn’t have an ear for music!”) , but even then jimin finds himself struggling to control his laughter. although it’s almost like The Cutest Art Student Ever™ can sense his entertainment as his eyes light up in joy and his boxy grin grows at every different response from a rather flustered jimin. the jokes only get worse as they go along (“did you hear about the artist who died?” “i can’t..” “too many strokes”), and he finds himself having to turn away from the group to compose himself each and every time.
by the time the tour ends he’s exhausted, completely ready to go home and forget about the gorgeous boy with the gorgeous smile and the stupidly good jokes. his plan is ruined, however, by the loitering of a certain male, waiting near the potted plant in the corner of the room while the rest of the group disappears through the front doors, most likely never to be seen again. at least not seen by jimin anyway.
the boy seems to be very interested in the plant, as he’s too busy poking at the leaves to notice jimin as he slowly makes his way over.
“so did you have any actual questions about today’s tour or were you here just to make bad art jokes?”
the other looks at him, relatively startled, before dropping his hand and slowly inching away from the plant. he’s tall, jimin notes, perfect boyfriend height. he’s also way prettier up close, which is something that he can’t help but note. at this distance he can take in the small mole at the end of his nose and how long his eyelashes are and how he smells like strawberries.
“i wanted to make you smile,” the stranger replies, quieter than expected. “you have a cute smile.”
maybe not so unexpected. the soft creak of a chair alerts him to the way seokjin is most likely leaning in, phone at the ready, prepared to record all of this conversation and use it as future blackmail material. or at their wedding. really, whatever situation comes first.
he can’t help but smile now, hearing those words. he’s certain that his cheeks are bright red and that seokjin is going to tease him about this for weeks but there’s a cute boy talking to him – complimenting him – this is a moment he’s not going to forget.
“you’re pretty cute too.” as soon as the words are out of his mouth he realises his mistake, immediately backpedalling to try and fix it. “no wait i meant you’re smile is cute i didn’t mean that. i mean i did you are super cute but that’s not what-“ at this point he knows he’s rambling, and there’s not much he can do to fix it especially when the cute boy in front of him looks amused and he’s just panicking and really he needs to learn when to stop.
a very distinct laugh coming from the direction of the front desk causes him to spin, only to be met with the sight of seokjin, face red with laughter, attempting to both film the situation and not fall out of his chair at the same time.
“shut up, stop laughing at me.”
if anything the laughter only increases, followed by a slew of frantic curses as seokjin finally slips out of his chair.
“i’ll fire you.”
it’s an empty threat, he has no power to fire anyone in this god-forsaken company but it works nonetheless. seokjin’s face peaks out over the top of the desk, hair ruffled and eyes glaring daggers at jimin. there’s a glimmer of amusement there, however, so he knows he hasn’t fucked up too bad. yet.
“you can’t fire me.”
“i’ll ask yoongi-hyung to fire you then.”
“yoongi can’t fire me either.”
he only raises an eyebrow in return. seokjin disappears beneath the desk for a moment but when he returns he looks mysteriously composed. he heads towards the break room in the back, shooting one last playful glare at jimin before he goes back to tapping at his phone. he’s most likely posting the video to twitter, but that’s a problem for the future jimin to deal with.
a chuckle from behind him reminds him of the root of his problems, and he slowly spins, somewhat reluctant to face The Cutest Art Student Ever™ after his conversation with seokjin.
“don’t worry,” there’s a brief pause as the other quickly scans his name tag. “jiminie, i think you’re cute too.”
he lets out a sigh of relief, glad that he didn’t make a complete fool out of himself. though really, he should’ve seen this coming.
“in fact, i think you’re so fine you could make an impression on monet.”
if he thinks his face was red before, well then right now it’s positively on fire. he chooses to ignore the smug look being sent his way, and instead focus on trying to form a proper sentence.
“i’m- you’re-“
okay, well there goes that plan.
“taehyung! i’m taehyung, nice to meet you.”
“taehyung,” he sighs, running his fingers through his hair.
“that’s my name,” comes the chirpy reply.
he sighs, once again. really, he sighs too much these days. glancing around, he can’t help but notice that they’re completely alone in the lobby. aside from the allseeing eye of the security cameras, of course, which seokjin will most likely ask their manager for the footage from in an attempt to stay up to date with jimin’s (previously non-existent) love life.
really, since there’s no one around to make unhelpful comments in the background, there’s nothing stopping him from just-
“-will you vincent van gogh out with me?”
the smile that he gets in return is blinding, and jimin questions why he has been called human sunshine in the past if a man like this exists. he can’t help but return the smile, a happiness radiating through the both of them that can barely be contained.
“honestly, i thought you’d never ask.”
(if anyone questions why jimin smiles through his last tour of the day, being friendly and willingly taking extra time to answer questions, they don’t say anything.)