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The third date always had excitement bubbling up in Jimin`s stomach. Well, it´s not like he was on many third dates, but still. The holy number held a special meaning to him. It was the stage, when you already know enough about the person that you`re not scared to be murdered and robbed if you invite them over and your friends already suffered through the sickening gushing about the new crush, so they would know who to suspect in sudden disappearance of their friend.
Jimin`s paranoia aside, the third date was the night, where he would finally… well, get it or as Taehyung jokingly called it Jimin`s champagne and strawberries date.
Glancing at the fancy bottle with sparkling bubbles and a cute box filled with fresh strawberries that stood on his table, Jimin chuckled. Fine, Taehyung was on point with that one, but would you expect anything less from best friend for years?
Jimin`s phone lit up with incoming messages, but he didn`t bother reading them. Fixing his light blue button up of soft silk, he ran a hand through his fluffy blonde hair. Jimin looked stunning, his date would start salivating as soon as he opened the door.
“This time it`s the one.”, Jimin mumbled to himself, tying up the shoelaces. The truth was, that Jimin was convinced of it every time he reached the third date with someone. Call him romantic or as Taehyung preferred: naïve, but Jimin never looked for a one-night stand. He was ready to dive in, all strings attached. It never worked out before, obviously, but there was something about Min Yoongi that promised him a happy ever after.
The slightly older journalist opened up slowly and hesitantly, but Jimin melted in endearment at every revelation he achieved. They met on the grand opening of the gallery Jimin was currently working at. At first, Yoongi didn`t stand out, just one of the guests who passed in a blur by a busy and slightly nervous Jimin . However, once the glasses with drinks were filled and important and not so much people flounced elegantly from one art piece to the next, Jimin took a deep breath and relaxed. Perhaps a bit too much, since he wasn`t prepared to lay his eyes on Yoongi. Standing in front of a painting, eyes slightly narrowed, and lips pouted in concentration, he took Jimin`s breath away. Then one thing led to another and suddenly Jimin found himself in a extravagant restaurant eating medium rare steak with a shrimp on top and gulping down his nervousness with the help of ridiculously expensive wine. Now, Jimin, despite his field of work, never felt too comfortable being in fancy places, but with Yoongi… with his weird jokes and dashing smile, Jimin almost felt at home. Yes, again, romantic or naïve, your call.
On their second date, Jimin invited Yoongi window shopping. That might have almost been a miss, since Yoongi turned out to be the online shopping guy, but after five minutes they were already so engulfed into a discussion on the influence of politics into paintings during Renaissance, that hours flew by unnoticed.
Finally, three weeks later, due to Jimin`s work travel to France, it was time for date number three. Jimin parked the car in front of a nice building complex. It wasn`t screaming money, but it whispered cozy, at least to Jimin. Taking the elevator up, Jimin bit his lip in anticipation. He missed Yoongi. Having time consuming jobs, it was clear from the beginning that they couldn`t talk or text often. It ended up with not talking for the entire last week, so Jimin couldn`t get fast enough to the apartment door 302. Fixing his still perfect hair, he breathed out and rang the bell. Through the closed door, Jimin could hear a muffled voice groaning and some shushing and then shuffling. Frowning, Jimin`s imagination already ran wild. He gripped the bottle of champagne tighter in his hand, hoping for the door to open and Yoongi being ready for their date, their third date, and smiling softly at him. That`s how it should be. Jimin was looking forward to this day for weeks, Yoongi couldn`t have forgotten, right?
Suddenly, the door opened and Jimin put a smile on his face only for it to morph into the expression of surprise at the picture in front of him. Yoongi stared back at him with wide eyes, an old t-shirt and sweatpants as additional indicators that Jimin was not expected and it wouldn`t be half as bad and Jimin would be able to put a smile right back on his face, if there wasn`t a little girl in Yoongi`s arms, blinking tiredly at Jimin with her shiny eyes. That… that… what?
“Shit…”, Yoongi mumbled quietly, closing his eyes for a while. “Jimin, I`m so sorry, I totally forgot.”
Jimin glanced at Yoongi, who looked apologetic, and back to the little girl that held tightly on Yoongi`s shirt. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Somehow, his brain short-circuited and lost the ability to formulate words.
“F-forgot, that you have a date or to tell the said date that you have a daughter?”, Jimin knew his eyes were still incredibly wide open, but he had no control over it. A child… a child changes everything.
“Look,”, Yoongi sighed tiredly. “I haven`t slept for about a week and Yuri keeps crying and not eating and doesn`t sleep without her berry princess and we went to the toy store only to reject every single doll in the assortment, so we`re still not sleeping and crying and not eating-“, Yoongi ended his quiet rant with a deep sigh. “So, please, please, can we talk about it another time… if you still want to?”
There was definitely too much information trying to make sense in Jimin`s head. What he definitely caught on though, was, that he was asked to leave. Nodding dumbly, he slowly turned around, going to the elevator, hoping it could descend him deep enough under the earth, so he could scream “What the hell?” loud enough, without disturbing any clueless people.
Back in his car, Jimin put the bottle and strawberry box on the passenger seat. Third date? Jimin snorted, shaking his head. What just happened? “Oh my God!”, he shouted out, scaring an old lady that was walking her dog. “What?”, Jimin`s voice was way too high pitched.
A glance towards the champagne made him laugh incredulously. He planned to drink it with Yoongi, while listening to his soothing voice and staring into his beautiful eyes, but now he would gulp down the liquid all by himself, trying to live down the disappointment and embarrassment of the day. Calming down enough to be able to drive, Jimin took a deep breath and was about to start the motor, when his hand froze over the start button. A sudden thought made him frown and he turned his head to the box on his passenger seat.
“it`s really not my business.”, Jimin shook his head to get rid of the nagging idea. It didn`t work though and Jimin whined loudly. “Well, how much more humiliating can it get?”, he started the car, heading the opposite direction of home.
Jimin was never so afraid of a door before… or rather what could happen if he finally found the guts to knock on it. Embarrassing but true, Jimin spend four minutes and forty-seven seconds staring at the metallic numbers three, zero, two, without being able to move. A lady from the apartment next door sent him a judging look on her way to the elevator, but at this point, Jimin didn`t even care.
After a little pep-talk to himself, he finally knocked softly on the door, ignoring the bell, which might wake up the little girl inside the apartment. This time the door opened way too soon for Jimin`s liking and once again, he was faced with a tired and confused Yoongi. Before the man could sent Jimin back to where he came from… again, Jimin raised his hand, almost pushing a doll in Yoongi`s face.
“Strawberry Shortcake Doll.”, he announced. “From the 80s. Can only be found in little boutiques or hipster-y shops. Is that the berry princess?”, Jimin rattled down, avoiding eye contact, which worked out very well with the doll between them.
After a beat of silence, he caught a little “Oh.” Sliding the doll slightly to the side, he caught Yoongi already looking at him. “Do you want to come inside and check? I really have no idea.”
Now again, coming in was not Jimin`s intention, but he probably should accept the fact that today nothing would go as planned. Truthfully, this is not how he imagined to be invited in, but Yoongi`s little smile made it still so easy to agree.
The apartment turned out to be much softer than Jimin expected. The amount of fabric on the floor, on the couch, on the windows, even on the table immediately engulfed Jimin, making it seem as if someone rolled him up into a cozy blanket burrito. The aesthetics of beige and brown tones was heavily disturbed by toys and leftovers and clothes on every possible surface, but that`s to be expected when you have a little child at home.
Right, baby girl.
Jimin looked around to find her sitting on the fluffy carpet next to the couch with a banana milk in her tiny hands, staring back at him with curious eyes.
Jimin sent a nervous glance to Yoongi, who just nodded slightly. Clearing his throat, Jimin crouched in safe distance as to not scare the girl (or himself) and smiled at the precious little thing. “Hi, I`m Jimin.”, he introduced himself carefully, feeling his throat getting dry. “I was wondering, if you maybe like this doll.”, he stretched out doll, rocking it slightly. The little girl gasped, causing Jimin to flinch in surprise.
“It my Berry.”, she whispered, her wide eyes fixed on the doll. She seemed too shy to stand up and take it from Jimin, but he could basically see her buzzing in excitement. Slowly, Jimin crawled closer on his hand and knees, placing the doll next to the girl.
“It`s yours, if you want.”, he sat back, leaning his back on the couch. It was so endearing to see, how the little girl attentively glanced from Jimin to the doll, slowly taking the doll to hug it close to her. Not being able to hide a smile, Jimin beamed at Yoongi. His smile fell however, when he noticed the expression on his face. Suddenly, Yoongi`s shirt and pants seemed too big, drowning him, his eye bags too prominent, his hair too flat, his lips too shaky.
“Hey,”, Jimin whispered, standing up, coming closer to the now seemingly so fragile man. “Hey, are you okay?”, he really wanted to step one more step closer, hug Yoongi tightly, but suddenly wasn`t sure, whether he was allowed to.
“I-“, Yoongi breathed out, nodding his head. “You found the doll, that I mentionned in passing. I spent a week and still couldn`t find it. How am I supposed to do this, if I can`t even find a doll?”, Yoongi`s gaze was still fixed on the little girl, hugging the doll and swaying slowly from side to side.
“Yoongi,”, Jimin bit his lip. The problem obviously wasn`t the doll, but why was Yoongi so nervous? The girl appeared healthy and happy, so he couldn`t be that bad of a father, right? “You managed it all this time. Look at her, you reached this point, right?”
Yoongi rubbed his face with his hands, before dropping them back to his sides. “No, no, I didn`t do anything before.” Jimin frowned, not sure how to understand the words. “Genetically, she is my daughter.”, Yoongi laughed out, as if he couldn`t believe it himself. “But I only know her for a week. She`s three years old, but I only met her like eight days ago.”, next to the desperation, there was a little smile tugging on Yoongi`s smile. Jimin turned slightly to also watch how Yoongi`s daughter was feeding her banana milk to the doll now. Sure, one week is a short time, but Yoongi already loved her, possibly more than anything else in this world.
The nagging question was already on the tip on Jimin`s tongue, when wordlessly, Yoongi moved forward, setting the girl on his arms. “How about a little nap?”, he asked softly, stirring something fluttery in Jimin`s stomach. The girl nodded, holding the doll closer to herself. Sending Jimin a short smile, Yoongi disappeared in another room.
Being left alone in the living room, Jimin stood there awkwardly. Was he supposed to stay? Leave? Before Jimin could find an answer to his struggle, Yoongi reappeared in the living room.
“Thank you.”, he smiled at Jimin, slumping on the couch.
“Not a big deal.”, Jimin shrugged, running a hand through his hair. “You look tired. I think it`s your nap time as well.”, he smirked at Yoongi`s raised brow.
“Let me at least make you a cup of coffee.”, Yoongi stood up, gesturing Jimin to follow his to the kitchen.
“It`s fine. You don`t-“, Jimin retorted, feeling like a bother.
“I want to.”, Yoongi interrupted him, already pressing buttons on the coffee machine. Jimin smiled, sitting down on a kitchen chair, fumbling with a pretty tablecloth. “You can ask, Jimin?”, Yoongi chuckled, putting a cup of hot coffee in front of him. Jimin`s head snapped up, watching how Yoongi placed some cookies on a big plate to also put it on the table.
“How… I mean… A week? What happened?”, Jimin drummed on the cup with his fingers. Yoongi sat on the opposite side of him, stuffing a cookie in his mouth.
“Back in the days when I was a poor aspiring journalist, I was in need of money, so I donated sperm.”, Yoongi explained off-handily, like he was talking about the weather. “And as you probably know, that`s where a donor`s job is done, but…”, Yoongi took a sip of his own hot drink, tilting his head. “Apparently, the couple that used the sperm stated in their will, that in the case of their deaths, the biological father should get the custody.”
“But, what?”, Jimin slightly shook his head. To be fair, usually he was much smarter than this day could lead on.
“The couple, um, Choi Seumin and Areum, they had a car accident some months ago and apparently they would rather give the custody to a stranger than their homophobic parents, who my lawyer is still trying to shake off, by the way. So… after lots of paperwork and consultations, Yuri is here… with me.”, Yoongi ate another cookie, sighing. “And I`m failing miserably.”
“You`re not.”, Jimin shot back immediately. Yoongi`s eyes widened. Chuckling, he finally focused his gaze on Jimin.
“Thank you for today and I`m so, so sorry and I hope you weren`t too angry at me and-“
“Why does it sound like a goodbye?”, Jimin narrowed his eyes.
Yoongi snorted, leaning back in his chair. “It kind of is, isn`t. I mean, I can`t really expect you to stay. The circumstances changed quiet a bit since our last date.”
There was a part of Jimin, that was already screaming “I`m staying!”, but there also was a part of him, that wasn`t ready for such a relationship, that wanted to go home. While the two sides were fighting within Jimin, he studied Yoongi`s face. It seemed so familiar and still it felt like seeing it for the first time.
“I never had a third date like this before.”, Jimin scraped his brow with a finger.
“No need to put salt in my wound.”, Yoongi hung his head, rubbing at his tired eyes.
“You know, I was serious about you in the beginning.”, Jimin squirmed in his seat, unsure of Yoongi`s reaction, since the other still didn`t look up. “A child, however, is a whole other level of serious.”, Jimin breathed out a laugh, although there was nothing funny about it. “And I`m not even sure, if you are in the place for dating right now.”, Jimin noticed, how Yoongi clenched his hand around the cup. “So… I don`t think we should plan our fourth plan right now.”, Yoongi`s head finally raised, and his expression of pain and agreement shot painfully through Jimin`s heart. “I don`t know anything about kids, but…”, Jimin licked his lips. “But if you want my help, even if just as a friend…”, Jimin gulped down the bitter feeling the last word left on his tongue. “I`m here and I stay.”
As often, Yoongi took a second before reacting, sending Jimin`s alarms unnecessarily into overdrive. Soon enough, however, his shoulder relaxed, and he smiled. “I`d like that.”, he smiled softly.
Feeling thousands of butterflies erupting in his stomach, Jimin wasn`t too convinced himself about the being friends agenda, but he nodded and carefully clapped his hands together. “If I can manage a whole gallery than we can organise you as well. First, take a shower. Second, go sleep while you can. I watch Yuri, while you do that, so don`t worry.”
Saluting Jimin, Yoongi rushed with a wide smile to the bathroom. Ignoring a betraying blush, Jimin put the empty cups into the sink, before checking on Yuri, who was still sleeping deeply with her new doll by her side. Nodding to himself, Jimin went back to the living room to collect the sprayed-out toys. He would collect the clothes, once Yoongi got out of the bathroom. What did 3-years old children eat? From the little glance into Yoongi`s fridge, as the latter was getting out the milk, it seemed depressingly empty, so they are in high need of grocery shopping, maybe they could go together. Fresh air would also help Yuri to fall asleep in the night-
Working out a detailed to-do-list, Jimin missed how Yoongi left the bathroom, now leaning on the doorframe, watching Jimin moving around the living room with a smile on his face.
Almost shrieking once Jimin noticed the other`s presence, Jimin held a hand to his chest. “Oh, you scared me.”, Jimin breathed out.
“Jimin, thank you.”, Yoongi tilted his head and a water drop fell on his shoulder, because – oh wow- the man had the audacity to only wear a towel around his waist.
“Sweet dreams.”, Jimin nodded, before quickly turning his attention back to children toys, since the adult toy in front of him made him blush furiously. With a chuckle, Yoongi finally went to his bedroom.
Running a hand through his hair, Jimin wondered, what he actually got himself into. Since there was a smile playing on his face, he assumed it couldn`t be that bad.
Little did he know, this time, it was the one.