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Park Jimin promises he was always much more vigilant than he was on this particular day.
He was coming from a busy evening of work at the university preschool and -- to make matters worse-- it was raining. Thankfully, he remembered to carry his new umbrella. He broke his last two umbrellas in one week-- that was a tragic occurrence for him, as the last few days had been very wet.
He was approaching his building, walking up this slightly inclined walkway. The campus was paved with brick--brick that had a history of its own with the number of people that had fallen or tripped on them. They were uneven in some spots, but the bricks did add to the beauty of the campus.
So, when it rained, you can imagine the bricks were slick. And as Jimin walked up the incline to his dorm building, you can imagine he was focusing on not slipping. He'd slipped in this exact path before, thankfully not hitting the ground.
He had his earphones in and was watching his feet take turns hitting the ground -- which is funny because that was a line of the song he was currently listening to -- so he was pretty much zoned out from the rest of the world, and that was unlike him when it came to being outdoors. He was just trying to relax; the kids at the preschool were pretty wild that day.
But he was almost at his building where he could further unwind with music, a book, and a cheap pack of noodles. So, it was all good.
Jeon Jungkook promises he was much better on his feet than at this particular moment.
Jungkook had just left soccer practice. They practiced in the gym that day, because of course Coach Yi wouldn't let them have a day off just because of the rain.
So, Jungkook -- who didn't think to grab his umbrella or raincoat; he really did mean to check the weather, but hey time got away from him-- was running and slipping every now and then on the slick university bricks. He hated those bricks.
He was getting soaked from head to toe, but his dorm building was right down this incline so he sped up. At times like those, his athleticism was an advantage.
Although, he should have been more careful and thoughtful about his decision to run over a slick hill because he was soon falling.
It happened so quickly.
Jungkook's foot slid on one particularly slick spot and his foot flew into the air taking him with it. His back hit the ground first and some point between going airborne and hitting the ground, he had his elbows behind him to keep his head from hitting the ground. Yelling, he barreled into what looked like Park Jimin. The fluffy, yellow hair was the giveaway.
Jimin was literally knocked off his feet, his hands letting go of his umbrella to prepare for impact. He fell onto a body which stifled some of the fall. However, his hands and knees weren't so lucky. He ended up straddling the person, which allowed his hands and knees to smack into the pavement much like this person smacked into him.
"Owwww!" Jimin moaned at the same time Jungkook groaned, hissing as he could tell his elbows were scraped.
After a few seconds of making sure he was still alive, Jungkook focused on the figure above him.
They had sagged into him, still making sounds of pain.
"I'm so sorry! Are you okay??" Jungkook was quick --well as quick as he could with injured elbows--to check on the small guy he'd knocked over.
Jimin whimpered. "My knees...I-I'll be okay.." He continued to writhe, which made Jungkook feel really guilty.
Jungkook looked around for help and surprisingly no one was around. It was pretty dark by now and it was still raining. They needed to get inside.
"Hey, do you think you can move? I can pick you up, if not," Jungkook suggested. He felt bad.
Jimin tried to get up, but stopped and gasped. "I- I can't. Just leave me here."
That sounded so dramatic. Jimin hadn't hit the ground like this since he was like eight and used to ride bikes around his neighborhood with his brother. Thirteen years later and his self-proclaimed bony knees were no match.
"It's okay." Jungkook was sitting there with Jimin in his lap, so he wrapped an arm around the boy's small frame, using the other hand to push them both off the ground.
After that, Jungkook wasn't sure what to do besides take Jimin to his room. He looked around seeing an umbrella on the ground. He assumed it was Jimin's and bent down to pick it up, which was hard with Jimin in his arms and slight pain from his back hitting the ground.
He starting walking-carefully now-to his building and got there in no time. Jimin was still in pain, so he didn't really care what was happening at the moment as he had his head rested in Jungkook's neck. Jimin would never do that if he was in a normal state. They were practically strangers.
But Jungkook recognized Jimin from an art history course they took last semester, so they weren't complete strangers.
It was extremely difficult for Jungkook to balance Jimin, Jimin's umbrella, and dig out his student card to get into the building. But he managed, eventually pressing the button on the umbrella to get it to close, pulling the door open with his free hand, catching the door with a foot, and hobbling inside. It sounded like as much trouble as it was. How he managed not to drop Jimin or knock him into a wall accidentally, he didn't know.
Once Jungkook placed Jimin onto his bed as softly as he could, things seemed to register for Jimin. He frowned. "Where are we?"
"My room. We needed to get out of the rain."
"I don't even know you like that."
Jungkook frowned. He was just trying to be nice. He told Jimin as much.
Jimin frowned this time, rubbing his knees. He groaned, taking off his wet jacket and Bluetooth earphones. He hoped they still worked. He saw the blue light coming from the earphones signaling power and assumed they did. "How and or why did you hit me like that?"
Jungkook opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. "I was trying to get out of the rain."
"And to do that you had to smack into me?" Jimin's voice raised a bit. He was in pain, wet, and irritated. He just wanted to go to his dorm, that's it. But no, this hot guy with huge eyes had to attempt to kill him.
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Jungkook argued. He took a breath. "I said I was sorry-"
"Wait, I know you. We had art history together." Jimin squinted.
"Yes, I was there," Jungkook stated shortly. He hated when people interrupted him.
Jimin squinted at Jungkook's tone.
"Anyway, I-"
"Watch it, brat."
"JIMIN! You keep interrupti-"
"Waiiiit, how old are you?"
Jungkook sighed. He was never going to get a word in. "Eighteen. I'm eighteen."
Oh, Jimin finally allowed him to finish.
"That's hyung to you,brat!"
Jungkook ignored Jimin opting to look in his dresser.
At the lack of response, Jimin frowned. "What are you doing?"
Jungkook didn't say anything. With Jimin's mouth, he would probably get interrupted.
When Jungkook sat at the edge of the bed with his first aid kit, Jimin couldn't help but flush.
He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair as if he was trying to get rid of the pesky pink tinge to his cheeks. It was going nowhere. "What are you do-"
This time it was Jungkook who interrupted Jimin. He grabbed one of Jimin's hands, surveying the damage. Between both of his hands, there were minor scrapes and redness. "Oh look, your hands match the color of your cheeks," Jungkook teased.
Jimin ripped one hand from Jungkook's hold and popped him in the shoulder one good time. Not hard enough to hurt Jungkook, but Jungkook still faked a wince. "Oh, shut it!"
Jungkook chuckled at Jimin's exclamation.
Jimin allowed Jungkook to continue bandaging him up despite some protests.
"Hey be careful. Those are my money makers," he yelled to Jungkook, who was already carefully grabbing one of Jimin's injured legs. He was wearing shorts, so Jungkook could easily see bruises starting to form around Jimin's knees.
His fingers danced along the edge of the bruise on his left leg. Jimin fought to remain calm. A pretty boy's touch could be something like magic.
He chuckled awkwardly, "Okay, do I need to take over? Getting a little handsy there," he eyed Jungkook's hand on his thigh.
Jungkook removed it quickly, "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I did that. I nev-"
"Calm down. I know you didn't mean anything by it," Jimin brushed it off to make Jungkook feel better. Jimin didn't actually mind, it just made him flustered.
Jungkook nodded. As he continued to apply ointment to and bandage up Jimin, the older boy admired him from his spot on the bed. He was lovely. Jimin didn't think he'd ever met anyone so attentive and hot at the same time. That just didn't happen. It was almost like it was illegal.
Jungkook had only gotten less than caring and friendly when Jimin was being sassy and unreasonable, so that was understandable. With that in mind, it was then that Operation Make That Man Mine went into effect.
"Why are you looking at me like that," Jungkook asked, eyes slightly squinted as he waited for a sassy remark.
"You're cute," was the response he got from Jimin, with a sweet smile hanging from each word.
He certainly didn't expect that, so it immediately brought a flush to his cheeks.
"Oh look, your cheeks match the color of my hands," Jimin teased, wording what Jungkook said earlier a little differently.
To kick it up a notch, Jimin took Jungkook's face into his hand, softly thumbing at his cheek. Jungkook blushed even more, "So you're not the only one," the younger boy stated, a small smirk barely visible. Oh, he definitely had to have him now.
After Jungkook finished taking care of Jimin, Jimin returned the favor, stating it was only fair. Jungkook argued that it was his fault for smacking into Jimin, which made Jimin cheese a little bit more.
Between applying bandages to Jungkook's elbows, Jimin brought up the plethora of Marvel posters Jungkook had on his wall, which turned into Jungkook learning that Jimin has only seen phase one of the movies. Jungkook, being a true Marvel fanatic, immediately suggested they eat ramen and watch a movie. Because it was only fair, right?
And who was a hungry Jimin to say no to a meal and a show?
In the middle of one of the Iron Man movies, Jungkook spoke up.
"Thanks, so are you."
Jimin frowned in confusion, wondering if he was doing that thing he kept doing. Quoting lines from the movie before they said it. But the line never came.
"What are you talking about?" He chuckled, squinting his eyes playfully at Jungkook.
Jungkook turned to look at him, a spark in his eyes lighting something within Jimin. "You're cute too."
Yeah. Jimin definitely had to have him.