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taehyung doesn’t believe in magic. he believes in ghosts and aliens but magic is where he draws the line. his friends love to tell him that his opinion is flawed because if he believes in the supernatural then he should believe in magic to an extent. taehyung calmly tells them to shut the fuck up.
taehyung doesn’t believe in magic.
he’s reminded of this when he gets a text notification from the group chat.
jeongguk: the gang made a new friend today
jeongguk: he does magic ^^
yoongi: can confirm
namjoon: can conform x2
hoseok: can confirm x3
seokjin: @ tae , u mad lol
taehyung: who is he
jeongguk: he’s comin over later today
jeongguk: i told him to show us sum tricks
namjoon: we want pizza or wings?
hoseok: wings
taehyung: can’t wait
every thursday the boys get together in taehyung and yoongi’s apartment to watch shitty tv shows on tlc. it’s been tradition ever since they met in college.
frankly speaking, taehyung is excited to meet the new friend. the gang has never really found anyone interesting enough to introduce to each other. this means the person must’ve left some kind of impact to prove he’s cool enough to hang. the magic detail must be just some teasing.
it wasn’t teasing or a bluff. park jimin, taehyung learns, loves to do magic.
taehyung can’t be mad about it, though. his most powerful trick is pulling out a card with your name written on it come out from your jean pockets, followed by the cutest giggle when the boys yell in excitement. sweet, innocent magic. taehyung approves.
they’re all sitting on the floor around the coffee table. there’s wings, fries and drinks at their reach and a crazy couponing lady talking in the background.
“where did you learn to do these tricks?” hoseok asks through a mouthful of chicken. jimin doesn’t mind. namjoon does so he kicks him in the shin.
“my father was a professional magician so he taught me throughout my whole life.” jimin wiggles his fingers with a mischievous grin. “i’ve got many tricks up my sleeves. only from the best.”
“only from the best” yoongi repeats. “you say that as if your father was famous.”
“park pilwoo is the man” jimin winks.
“why’d i think he was about to say neil patrick harris was his dad” seokjin failingly whispers loudly to jeongguk.
“bro, hes asian.” jeongguk looks at him incredulously.
“oh shit you mean the park pilwoo?” namjoon gasps. “i always seem him on television. dude.”
“what? does he know neil patrick harris?” seokjin insists.
“fucking idiot” hoseok mumbles with an eye roll.
“no but he is a member of the magic castle.” that sends seokjin into a frenzy.
“whats the magic castle?” taehyung finally speaks up.
“some weird magic country club kinda vibe” namjoon shoves some fries in to his mouth. jimin adds to his response.
“it’s a magically place for members and guests. definitely different than other things.”
“it sounds like some weird kink shit to be honest” jeongguk comments. yoongi couldn’t help but agree with a nod. they bump fists.
“moral of the story, i was trained by one of the best.” jimin smiles, reaching for a wing. he looks at taehyung and winks. “i know you’re not the biggest fan but i’ll bring you around to it.”
“I can take a bet on that” taehyung smirks. jimin’s eyes twinkle for the rest of the night and taehyung blames it on the living room lighting.
“sooo, what do you think of jimin?” yoongi starts as they clean up the place. it’s almost midnight, everyone having left just a few minutes ago.
“he’s fun” taehyung grins and means it. “where did you guys meet him?”
yoongi chuckles. “he came to us, actually. we were fucking around at the store getting snacks for tonight and he started talking to us. we all clicked with him. I’m glad he clicked with you, too. of course, when he told us he liked doing magic tricks we couldn’t wait to tease you about it, him included. but before we came in, he told us to leave you alone about it.”
taehyung pauses, holding an empty coke can midair. “wait, really?”
“yeah” yoongi nods. “surprised jeongguk listened to him. boy was ready to roast you good.”
“i’ll beat his ass” taehyung shakes his head, getting back to picking up cans.
the twinkle in park jimin’s eyes never leave.
it’s the first thing taehyung’s gaze falls to whenever they hang out for the next few weeks. he thinks jimin knows about it, too. the way he smiles knowingly at taehyung when they meet eyes. but it can’t be, taehyung reasons with himself. he’s just tripping.
“are you in school too taehyung?” jimin brings taehyung into the conversation.
he joined jimin and jeongguk for dinner and they’re crammed into a small booth in the back of the diner. Jimin sits in front of the other two, elbows on the table and chin tucked in his tiny hands.
“nah. decided to end it after community college. i work with seokjin.”
“he owns a tire shop, right?”
“yeah, i work at the register.”
jimin looks at jeongguk. “and you work as a handy man sometimes correct?”
jeongguk puffs his chest out a little. “yeah, on weekends. no biggie”
“what about you?” taehyung fiddles with his straw. jimin exhales through his nose.
“was in school for a while but dropped out. it was too much, but i’ve recently applied for online school so i’m excited for that.”
“yoongi almost went that route” jeongguk shares. “he pushed through though. he just graduated.”
jimin smiles. “all of you are so close with each other. it’s cute.”
“friend groups are tricky but we’ve grown around each other well.” taehyung elbows jeongguk’s side. jeongguk rolls his eyes and shoves him back. jimin smile further grows.
he stares at taehyung when he says, “i’m happy you’ve all accepted me into it.”
the twinkle brightens for a second before it simmers down. taehyung feels a small tug on his heart.
“your birthday is coming soon” jimin tells taehyung while they watch cartoons alone. “let me be the party magician.”
jimin flicks his wrist, confetti falling out of his sweater’s sleeves. taehyung shakes the small strips of paper out from his bangs.
“an ironic detail added to the party, yes” taehyung grins. jimin shakes his arm.
“i’m serious! it’ll be fun”
“you perform tricks to the guys every time you hang out with them. why would by birthday make it more entertaining?”
“because it’s going to be your birthday. i’ll make these new tricks extra special and cool for you.” jimin ends up snuggling up against taehyung, hugging his arm closely to his chest.
“if it makes you happy” taehyung shrugs nonchalantly. “then go for it. i’m down.”
“perfect.”
taehyung’s in the back office sorting out the finances for the week when his phone begins blowing up, vibrating uncontrollably on the table.
seokjin added you to a new group chat: two bros chillin in a hot tub
seokjin: so are we going to address the sexual tension between tae and jimin
jeongguk: oh thank god
jeongguk: I thought I was the only one who saw it
yoongi: tell me about
yoongi: that shit g a y
hoseok: lol what ??
jeongguk: omg hoseok your straight is showing
hoseok: )))):
namjoon: n e ways
taehyung: what are you guys talking about ???
jeongguk: br u h
taehyung: also @ seokjin
taehyung: were literally at work ??
seokjin: n e ways
yoongi: back to the gay shit
namjoon: dude it so obvious you guys like each other
hoseok: what
hoseok: I haven’t seen it
seokjin kicked hoseok out the chat
seokjin: I don’t know why I thought adding our only straight friend into this conversation was a good idea
jeongguk: lol
jeongguk: hes pouting across the room
yoongi: GUYS
taehyung: …
namjoon: tae sweetie ((((:
namjoon: not to pressure you or anything but
jeongguk: JUST TELL JIMIN YOU WANNA SUCK HIS DICK ALREADY GOSH
yoongi: what the kid said
namjoon: what the kid said x2
seokjin: what the kid said x3
taehyung: im muting this chat
taehyung: good bye
the gang made a super-secret surprise birthday party that ultimately failed given to the fact that they always try to do this every year and its literally the most predictable thing in the world. the group chat full with fake conversations of everyone hanging out separately at different places but in reality, are all gathered at taehyungs apartment filling up birthday balloons.
taehyung always tries to pretends to sound at least a little bit surprised. keyword: tries. he lets out the least exciting “oh wow” of his life proceeded with the fakest cheer. despite that, he is happy his friend set this party all up. he can’t complain about birthday hugs and pizza.
this year’s cake has a printed picture of a terribly photoshopped picture of chris hemsworth’s head on a naked muscular body.
“what’s it like sharing a birthday with jesus christ himself taetae?” jeongguk taps his shoulder, already drunk on cheap champagne. seokjin informs him jeongguk had dug in the bottle a little earlier than planned. seokjin is saving a good smack when he sobers up. taehyung lets him be as he fills his plate with more pizza.
“you idiot, they can’t possibly share the same birthday. jesus is—hic—way older than taehyung.” yoongi isn’t that far behind.
“who’s going to tell them they’re both wrong?” jimin wraps his arms around taehyung’s waist from behind, most likely on his tip toes to rest his chin on his shoulder. taehyung chuckles.
“I think its better not to. they’re so far gone to hold that argument.” Jimin hums, squeezing taehyung’s waist once before pulling back. taehyung spins around to meet with his twinkling eyes.
“happy birthday, taehyung” jimin’s smilebright. taehyung actually finds himself speechless for a moment. jimin’s smile falls to one wittier, eyes sparking with something.
“hey, jimin” hoseok walks in the kitchen, interrupting their moment. “didn’t you say you had a show planned?”
“my magic show, yes” jimin claps his hands together. “let’s all go to the living room for it.”
hoseok drags jeongguk and yoongi back to the living room couch. everyone squeezes onto the couch while jimin waits patiently behind the coffee table to start.
“in celebration of taehyung’s birthday i’ve decided to show you guys my greatest magic trick yet. are you ready?”
“please don’t start stripping. i don’t think I’m sober enough to watch taehyung fall apart.” yoongi slurs. everyone shushes him. yoongi waves his middle finger around. “just voicing out what everyone’s thinking, you assholes.”
“okay” jimin rubs his hands together. “here goes nothing.”
nobody was ready for this magic show.
jimin slowly brings apart his hand, thin cloud of stardust stretching in length. the cloud expands to fill the space over the coffee table. jimin brings his hands back to the middle and swirls the dust around to morph it into a beautiful gray bunny.
they all gasp as it hops around the air, between their shoulders, leaving stardust on their cheeks. jimin smiles proudly as the bunny return to him. he bops its nose and it explode back into a cloud only to morph immediately into a small army of stardust troops shooting glitter into the air. jimin hovers his hand under them, flicking his wrist.
the stardust form into a physical snow globe. It’s big, jimin barely being able to hold it on his palm. the stardust swirls around inside, stars pulsing with light.
“close your eyes and think of your favorite place” jimin tells taehyung softly. taehyung shuts his gaping mouth, swallowing thickly, and closes his eyes. he thinks about where he grew up. thinks about the morning sunrise peeking through the mountains when he was younger. thinks about the warmth on his face as the sun kissed his skin. “open your eyes.”
taehyung opens his eyes and finds the stardust replicating his vision, star light mimicking the sun.
the room is still and quiet. the boys turn to stare at taehyung waiting for a reaction.
taehyung doesn’t believe in magic.
and jimin just performed for him, tipping his world off.
taehyung tears his gaze away from the globe and back into jimin’s eyes.
the twinkle. It’s his magic.
jimin just stripped himself raw and demonstrated what taehyung’s life would look like through his own vision. through a vision of magic.
I know you’re not the biggest fan, but i’ll bring you around to it, jimin’s words play on repeat in his brain. he’s showing him how beautiful it is. showing him what he’s closing his eyes to.
“I hope you like it” jimin says shyly, seemingly out of breath. the shakes the globe and the stardust goes back to swirling around. “you can make anything with it through here” jimin taps his head.
taehyung shakily reaches for the globe, holding it tenderly in his grasp.
“I’ll understand if you don’t like it.” jimin hugs himself. “it’s ok”
“jimin” taehyung exhales. he carefully places it on the coffee table and grabs jimin’s hoodie, bringing him in for a kiss. jimin lets out a startled noise, but quickly melts to the kiss, closing his eyes.
when they pull away, jimin blushes and giggles behind his hands.
“if any of that was real” jeongguk blurts out, “it was really fucking gay and I want that to happen to me, too, the fuck.” yoongi bumps fists with him.
“OOHHHH!” hoseok comes to realization, pointing violently between jimin and taehyung. “you guys like each other!”
“christ” seokjin wheezes. namjoon chugs the rest of his champagne.