Work Text:
It hadn’t started in an antiques shop, but rather, because of Namjoon. Lamenting in the eviction that had been a long time coming - he had a tendency to put frogs in the mailboxes of his neighbors to greet their hangovers after nights they had loud sex - he had ended up in Taehyung's apartment, coat disheveled and arms full. Taehyung, bending to family obligations, had begrudgingly opened the door, letting his witch of a brother march in with a whoosh of leaves and post-it notes.
With Namjoon came the piles of books. And when Namjoon moved in, so did his casual mess, slumped at the table during evenings with slippers falling off and pencils on the ground. The books made themselves to the table, and when they fell off they slumped their way through the apartment. There was a stack as high as the singular lamp in the living room, a few smaller ones painted in pen jammed in between the ibuprofen and pepto in the medicine cabinet behind the bathroom mirror, and they were layered on top of each other, pages touching, on the edges of the couch where Namjoon curled up with them at night. Taehyung had taken to using them to prop open doors and so when he wandered his way to the bathroom he grabbed one off the counter, figuring that it beat reading the backs of shampoo bottles.
The book was as in Korean as the rest of the books flitting around Taehyung’s apartment, although looking back he nitpicked that fact, as it was, in the end, Namjoon’s translating (combined with his witchery) that had begrudgingly altered his life, as he had always feared it would. However, it wasn’t to the effect of sprouting leaves out of his skin like he had been concerned might happen, at the beginning treading nervously around the paper piles of magic and eying the little sprouts that sometimes bloomed in Namjoon’s dimples, but rather it was the production of a demon.
Taehyung was no fool. He hadn’t gone around chanting any of the texts, just more-or-less read through it. And so when the demon had appeared before him, well, he blanked. Unfortunately for him, the demon was stubborn, a short, yet sharp, man named Jimin, and had decided he’d prefer to stick around.
With his refusal to sign a contract, Taehyung thought maybe this demon — who was floating uncomfortably close to his face, due to the small space of his restroom and the position he was stuck in (a book over his private parts - he still needed to actually use the restroom, after all) — he thought this demon might leave.
But after shamefully hiding himself the best he could with the book, which brought an almost unnerving, curious gaze on him as he tugged up his underwear and shorts with one hand, and feeling completely exposed just trying to get out of the bathroom and toppling a stack of Namjoon’s cursed books —
“You’re really not gonna give me your soul for, like,” Jimin eyed him up and down, “some new clothes?”
Taehyung stopped, the pile of books he created no longer his focus of attention as he looked back at the floating demon, at the infuriating way his plush lips had curled into a smirk and the minuscule flip of his black hair from his eyes.
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Taehyung snapped petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest. He worked hard for his style!
Jimin paused, looking him once over again and shrugging, “I don’t know, you tell me.”
Taehyung decided his first approach would be ignoring him. Maybe he’d leave. Hopefully. But after about half an hour it seemed the demon had picked up on that, and decided annoying Taehyung would be a great way to pass the time. A few tugs to his hair, a poke here and there.
“Are you really ignoring me?” Jimin whined, crowded in Taehyung’s space as he tried to do some homework. “ You summoned me .”
He was doing so well, a glance at the clock telling him soon Namjoon would be home and could rid their home of this demon. So he bit back his words and buried his head down more into his work.
But unfortunately —
“You summoned a demon?” Namjoon gaped, eye to eye with Jimin even though the demon was still not touching the book covered ground.
“It was your book!” Taehyung groaned.
Which led to an agonizing hunt through the books, the witch grumbling ‘no’s and tossing books onto stacks, really piles at this point, only to declare after setting the last book he’d flipped through on the kitchen counter in front of Taehyung with a simple declaration.
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“ Nothing ?”
“Nothing,” Namjoon nodded.
So now he didn’t just have to live with Namjoon and the infestation of books. Now he had to also live with a floating demon who apparently thought waking him up at 3 am to ask if they had the next book in a series he decided to start reading from one of the numerous piles was okay. Taehyung would have to turn them back into stacks some point if he wanted to preserve what was left of his apartment.
Now, Taehyung had been asked out on a date by Min Yoongi, whom Taehyung had been crushing on ever since the upperclassman had made an appearance in his photography class and handed him the camera lens he’d forgotten. Taehyung had seen the guy cocooned in an oversized hoodie and a round face hidden under messy bleached blonde hair, had learned they shared common interests, and his heart was stolen. It wasn’t like Taehyung had a particular type, but he still had some expectations, and Min Yoongi just happened to meet all of them.
Taehyung, however, had done nothing about that. They chatted a few times, thanks to friends they shared – or to be exact, thanks to their respective friends dating – but it had never gone further than that.
At least, not until Taehyung had summoned a demon into his bathroom – note to self , Taehyung recalled, never read Namjoon's books again.
As to the reason Taehyung had been asked out by Min Yoongi… The thing about demons was that they had no shame and no shyness, so when Jimin had started taking a liking to Taehyung he hadn’t hesitated to tell him, nor to kiss him ever-so-sweetly when Taehyung had drunkenly cried about never being loved back by his crushes. It had confused the human when the next day Jimin had excitedly announced that he was going to help him “get his man”.
Taehyung had to give it to the demon, he was one hell of a matchmaker – pun definitely intended. Jimin had promised not to use his powers to influence Yoongi’s feelings, just to tweak situations here and there to allow Yoongi to see Taehyung better, like he did himself – Taehyung’s heart had quietly skipped at the wording. And so two weeks later, Yoongi had stared at Taehyung for a few minutes, head propped on his hand, and asked quietly: “do you want to go on a date with me?” – And that was when Taehyuung rejected him.
"What do you mean you said no ?" Jimin said, mouth agape.
"I said no, nein, 아니, non, in how many languages do I have to say this?" Taehyung shook his head.
"After all my hard work! You tell me you said no?! "
Taehyung laughed at his outrage.
Jimin frowned at Taehyung's amusement. That only made the human laugh harder.
"I trained you to seduce that boy!" Jimin stuck a finger in his chest with every word. "And you turned him down ? Are you in your right mind?!"
"I sure am," Taehyung managed between giggles, his arms clutched around his stomach.
"Then, why?" Jimin asked, slowly calming down.
Taehyung heaved a breath, wincing at the pain in his stomach from laughing. "I just — thought it was the most logical thing to do."
Jimin sharply inhaled like he was going to either yell or make the biggest sigh Taehyung would ever hear in his life, but in the end, just nodded.
"Okay… I still don't understand why , but good for you, good for you." And with that, he walked into his room — which was actually Taehyung's, but he didn't seem to care.
Taehyung sat down on the couch. It was true — he did think at the moment that he shouldn’t reject Yoongi, that it wasn't what he wanted. Still, he didn't know what prompted it. He just said ‘I don't, sorry’ , without even thinking it through.
Why did he say no? At that moment in time, he was thinking of — of —
Well, it was Jimin, but —
But, huh . It — it was just because he always thought of him, right? Jimin was always in his mind, no matter what he did. After all, it was pretty crazy to live with a demon; obviously he would keep thinking back at it, it was normal that he would think of him even though he was getting asked out —
Taehyung sighed. That wasn't going to work.
He had never truly thought about it. But did he… maybe have a crush?
But that wouldn't make sense, would it? Of course, Jimin was attractive, but Taehyung never saw him that way. And sure , Jimin was sweet, but Taehyung didn't ever see it as a big deal. So maybe his heart skipped a bit and he blushed around him only when Jimin was being sappy and saying how much he liked him and—
And, oh .
Well, maybe he did have a bit of a crush.
Jimin… Jimin was nice. He helped him out. Sometimes he cooked for Taehyung. Jimin took care of him when he was drunk, or when he just didn’t have the energy. Jimin sang for him when Taehyung asked him to. He indulged him when Taehyung talked about his favourite things.
Jimin was truly great, in Taehyung's eyes. Maybe he should ask him out. Jimin already asked him out a lot of times, and he always rejected him, so maybe he should be the one to do it, this time around.
But - how would Jimin like being asked out? Taehyung thought and thought: the things Jimin's done to him, the things he commented on during the romance dramas they often binged, the movies…
Jimin, as much as it embarrassed Taehyung, liked sappy things.
Taehyung would make it his mission to be as sappy as possible now.
His first (and hopefully only) attempt would be sly. Jimin wouldn’t realize what was happening until it happened but until then, he would have to be as stealthy as possible planning it because the demon had a habit of materializing wherever and whenever he felt like it.
“For today, please stay out of my room,” Taehyung grasped one of Jimin’s hands in his own, and the demon stared at him, confused.
“Huh? You planning on jerking off or something?”
Taehyung snorted, rolled his eyes and used his free hand to smack at the shorter. Jimin snickered, whining only a little at the impact.
“No . I’m just planning some things and I can’t be distracted. I’m sure you can mess with Namjoon hyung, if you want.” Jimin eyed him suspiciously, but his hands had clasped around Taehyung’s own, seemingly on instinct.
“What, and I can’t know? If it’s a prank, I can help you!”
“Just not today,” Taehyung reassured him at the sight of his puppy eyes. Oh, of course it was hard to resist, but in the end, the demon begrudgingly nodded and made a pinkie promise with him before disappearing; the smell of vanilla and burned oak wood lingering behind. Taehyung slipped into his room, locked the door (not that it would do anything to deter Jimin), and started working.
His first order of business would be a proper list of all the things Jimin liked and the things he hadn’t experienced yet. After all, Taehyung thought, an endeared smile having slipped onto his face without realizing, it was really quite cute when Jimin asked him to help navigate the laptop (“Taehyung! It turned black again! What did I do?”) or struggled to use Taehyung’s smartphone.
Perhaps he should take the demon to an amusement park. It had been hundreds of years - surely it would be different by now. And anyways, there was nothing more romantic (at least, to Taehyung) than kissing at the top of a ferris wheel.
Ah - kissing? Taehyung felt the heat rush to his face and gently slapped his cheeks and shook his head. Confessing, for now. The kissing could be saved for later, if there was one.
“Back to the amusement park,” he muttered to himself, tapping away on his keyboard. It was only the afternoon, so he could get tickets for this evening. Cooking dinner before then was not an option - unfortunately, Taehyung wasn’t the best cook - so maybe a restaurant? But nothing too fancy - they were going to go to an amusement park afterwards, after all - so maybe just chicken? But half the park experience was eating the food - Taehyung let out a groan, letting his head fall to his desk. It had barely been six minutes, and already he had reached a dilemma.
“I’ll just ask him myself,” Taehyung skipped out of his room, hearing the TV before seeing Jimin.
“Jimin,” he called. The TV paused, and the shorter looked over his shoulder.
“Done planning already?”
“Not yet, no,” Taehyung shook his head, shifting his hands to his hips. “But tonight, do you want to go out for chicken, or maybe a fancy restaurant?”
“Chicken,” Jimin immediately replied. “And beer. Definitely.”
With a chuckle, Taehyung thanked him and ambled back into his room, the noise of the TV resuming the show it was playing muted as he closed the door.
Perfect. Grabbing some spicy chicken off a street vendor, and then it would be off to the amusement park.
It was two hours later when Taehyung emerged from his room. He definitely did not spend most of the time trying not to think about kissing Jimin after confessing to him, how soft it would be against his plush lips, or how their future together would be.
Of course he didn’t. Absolutely no thinking whatsoever.
Jimin was still as he last saw him, lounged on the couch while watching random dramas.
“Are you done plotting your schemes yet? I’m bored,” Jimin said with a pout, turning away from the TV to face Taehyung.
Taehyung couldn’t help but chuckle at the pout that appeared on the demon’s face, and moved towards him to pull him off the couch. “Let’s go get that chicken then.”
A frown overtook the pout, confusion evident on the Jimin’s face. “We aren’t going to order in?”
Taehyung only shook his head as he pulled the other towards the front door. “Nah, I thought it’d be better to get some fresh air. Besides, we can go somewhere else after.
“Where are we going?” Jimin almost looked skeptical, but Taehyung only smiled as they left the apartment. “You’ll see later, but first let’s eat.”
They ended up taking Taehyung’s car, despite Jimin’s strong dislike for the “contraption”.
( ‘That thing is dangerous.’
‘It’s better than walking, which you refuse to do.’
‘Have you seen how fast these things go? It’s unnatural!’
‘….Jimin, you’re literally a supernatural being who can materialize wherever you please...I don’t think that’s natural either.’
‘That’s beside the point-!’ )
Taehyung drove slow, just as he promised, but he didn’t really mind because he got to see Jimin pouting about how ‘ It was better when there were horses ’, and he couldn’t help but be absolutely endeared by him.
Taehyung parked his car a little distance from the street vendor lined against the left side of the street. They both hopped out of the car, walked across to the front and ordered. They chatted for a few minutes while the vendor prepared their food, thanking him when they recieved it. Jimin started to walk back towards the car while Taehyung walked the other way — towards the amusement park, but Jimin didn’t know that.
“Tae, where are you going?” Jimin called, tugging at the door handle, to no avail. Taehyung shook the keys in front of his face, and Jimin stuck his tongue out at him.
“Just follow me! I want to take you somewhere,” Taehyung said, a bright smile on his face.
Jimin walked back to him with no hesitation, and they began the eight minute walk, eating the chicken they got on the way towards the amusement park. Jimin bombarded Taehyung with question after question as to where they are going but Taehyung didn’t give in, reassuring him that he would (hopefully) like it.
They took a right turn at a crosswalk, and there it was: a big, bright, neon sign welcoming them into the amusement park. Taehyung looked over at Jimin and saw his smile flash brilliantly at the sight. The pink light from the sign lit his face beautifully as they walked closer.
“Woah! This place is pretty! What is it?” Jimin bounced in his shoes as he peered into the park past the gate, amazed by the stream of people and the towering machinery.
“It's an amusement park. They have a bunch of rides and games you can play. And there's a bunch of overly sugary and oily food you can buy.” Taehyung grabbed Jimin’s hand and dragged him towards the ticketing booth and into line. As Jimin pelted him with questions, they slowly inched forwards; despite having bought them early, the line was still long, and Taehyung was glad when they finally got inside. Immediately, he pulled them towards the line of game booths. Jimin stopped them in front of the balloon darts.
“Taehyung?” The man in the booth leaned out, his bangs falling in front of his eyes. He pushed them aside, grinning. “It is you!”
Taehyung lit up at the sight of Jungkook, a close friend and the boyfriend of Hoseok, who he had met through Yoongi. “Jungkook! I didn't know you worked here?”
“Only sometimes, when they need extra help on busy nights. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend. Nice to meet you, I’m Jungkook!” He extended his hand towards Jimin, wiggling his fingers.
“Nice to meet you too, I’m Jimin. We aren’t, um, together, though,” Jimin hesitated; a flush had settled over his face, illuminated by the light of the booth. He was still holding onto Taehyung's hand, but he extended his other to shake Jungkook’s.
“Anyways, would you guys like a round? On me just this once,” Jungkook offered, slightly waving his arm toward the balloons.
“Really? Let’s do it!” Taehyung followed Jimin’s pull toward the left-most player area of the stand. Jungkook set five darts in front of each of them and stepped out of their lines of fire.
“Winner gets to pick the next ride,” Jimin announced as he aimed his shot.
“You’re so on,” Taehyung chuckled, readying his own darts towards the balloon.
They shot all their darts, Jimin winning only by “accidentally” elbowing Taehyung on the last one. By this time, the sun was setting. The two waved goodbye to their friend, and Jimin guided him to the large ferris wheel that he had been eyeing since before they’d entered the park. “You’ve definitely seen too many romance movies,” Taehyung said as he eyed the ride. Either way, it was a perfect set up for his plan
“Oh, come on ! It’s a ferris wheel! Everyone loves a good ferris wheel!” Jimin exclaimed as he tugged Taehyung’s arm toward the start of the ride. The man let him in, and they slowly climbed to the top of the ride.
Taehyung checked his watch. Almost time. Sure enough, as their car stopped at the top, their faces were lit with the reds and greens of the nightly fireworks show. Jimin gasped.
“Taehyungie, look at that one!” Jimin gasped looking at all of the exquisite shapes that were made in the sky. As Jimin’s face lit up, both metaphorically and literally, Taehyung couldn’t help but realize how absolutely adorable the demon looked.
Oh.
Oh.
Taehyung’s eyes widened with the realization. This demon wasn’t just someone that Taehyung had a crush on.
Taehyung loved Jimin more than anything else in the world. There was no moment that he’d ever felt it more than in that one, when Jimin was gasping at each firework like he had never seen something more beautiful in his life. Jimin, the one who was always there for him. A demon he’d accidentally summoned while on the toilet. Jimin. His whole world revolved around Jimin.
Taehyung, in this realization, turned the demon to face him with just two of his fingers and leaned in close. Jimin’s eyes and lips widened, as if he was just about to say something, and as the firework show reached its final seconds, the explosions coming seconds after one another, Taehyung tenderly pressed his lips into Jimin’s. It was the most natural thing that either of them had ever done, and they knew this as Jimin wrapped his arm around the back of Taehyung’s neck.
He could almost feel Jimin smile into the kiss. And the demon could feel the human’s heart beating at what seemed like a million miles per hour.
This, Taehyung thought, this is love.
They’re inseparable when they start dating.
Wherever Taehyung went, Jimin would follow, and vice versa. Namjoon would complain about how they would seem to be stuck side by side 24/7; feeding each other at the dinner table, back hugs when doing dishes, cuddled in each other’s arms on the couch.
Don’t get Namjoon wrong, they’re cute together, and he’s not surprised things turned out the way they did seeing from how they were before they dated. But he has gotten tired of walking in on them in their SHARED living room, and has threatened to curse them if he so sees anything again. (Namjoon wouldn’t really curse his dear younger brother…. Right?)
He had however kicked them from the apartment for causing too much ruckus when he was trying to practice spells.
“I wasn’t even being that loud!” Jimin whined, letting himself get dragged to wherever destination Taehyung had in mind.
“Babe any time you fell behind a place you’d start yelling curses at the screen. Not to mention the shells-“
“I cannot believe you were throwing shells at me; we’re supposed to be a team!” Jimin swatted at Taehyung’s shoulder, prompting a blank face from the taller.
“You chose to do an all-for-one race so you could ‘show me who’s boss’.” He reminded the other, leading him into one of his favorite cafés. Jimin could only pout in return; he hated losing. He had gotten a lot better with technology but was still terrible at video games.
A small smile crept onto Taehyung’s at the sight of how cute his boyfriend was.
‘Boyfriend.’ God, sometimes he still can’t believe that he’s dating Jimin. He had never been more grateful for Namjoon leaving his books everywhere than when Jimin said yes to be his boyfriend.
“How about I make it up to you by getting you any sweets you want?” He offered, watching the way Jimin’s eyes light up. But then a smirk overtook his face as he looked up to Taehyung.
“You would have gotten me whatever I wanted regardless.”
Yes. He couldn’t deny Jimin of whatever he wanted, and it was a plus that Taehyung loved to spoil his boyfriend.
He only rolls his eyes at Jimin instead of dignifying him with a response. “I’ll go order. Pick us a table?” With a nod, Jimin goes to find a table, but not before he’s pulled back by the waist so that Taehyung could plant a peck to his lips. They both smiled, and when Taehyung let him go, he turned back to say, “Get me the chocolate cake!”.
Tae watches fondly as his boyfriend picks a spot by the window (he loved people-watching) then waved to him as he sat. He was too busy watching Jimin to realize that the person in front of him had finished ordering, and that it was his turn.
“Next please!”
He orders hot chocolate for both him and Jimin, along with two pieces of the cake the other had desired so much. He was trying so hard to balance the drinks and cake that when turning he almost bumped into the person after him, everything almost falling out of his hands and onto the other person. Embarrassment crept up his neck and to his cheeks as he began to apologize.
“Oh my god, I should’ve been looking where I was going, I’m so sorry-”
“Tae?”
When he realized just who he had almost knocked over, surprise overtook him.
“Yoongi hyung?”
He hadn’t seen him much outside of their shared class lately. Then again, he was spending most of his free time with Jimin. He was glad things didn’t get very awkward between him and his hyung after rejecting the older. Yoongi hadn’t pushed for a reasoning when he said no, he had only smiled and told him it was fine.
“You gonna be fine handling all that?” The blonde gestured to the food in Taehyung’s hands.
“Ah, yes don’t worry! Sorry for almost getting it onto you though.”
“You’re good. You might want to get to your table before you bump into someone else though.” The small smile on his face was teasing. “Is that your boyfriend over there waiting for you?”
He looked over to where Jimin was sitting, and could see he was watching people outside of the window. “Yeah,” he sighed fondly. “You guys are cute,” his hyung said as he looked to Jimin as well. “You look so gone with each other. Was it love at first sight?” The teasing tone was back in his voice at his question, but Taehyung paid no mind as he answered with a smile.
“He had me at hell.”
He missed the way Yoongi had started in confusion, mouth parting to find words. “...Do you mean at ‘hello’?”
“No, at hell. He’s a demon.”
A quiet ‘Oh’ escaped the elder, Taehyung decided it was time to get going when Jimin stopped looking out the window to find Taehyung’s eyes and smile. “I’ll see you in class hyung.” After their goodbyes, Taehyung had thankfully managed to make it to the table without any more close calls.
He sat next to Jimin instead of across from him, setting their order down on the table. “As requested, chocolate cake, and some hot choco.”
“Thank you Taehyungie.” Jimin smiled, eyes curved into half-moons.
Taehyung felt his heart clench at the smile. He would buy out that entire café if it meant Jimin could smile this happily forever. He was brought out of his thoughts when he realized Jimin was asking him a question.
“What took you so long?” Jimin asked with a cheekful of cake.
“Ah, I bumped into Yoongi hyung.”
“Min Yoongi? The same Yoongi you rejected?” Jimin’s eyebrows were raised, though he didn’t seem to be jealous.
“Yes, Minnie, that Min Yoongi.”
The demon hummed as he ate another fork of cake, his eyes rose in time to see said blonde walk out of the café, watching him leave through the window. “I never did understand why you rejected him, though.”
Taehyung only sipped from his drink. “I told you it was the most logical thing to do.”
“Yeah but you never provided any reasoning. I mean, after all that pining, going on and on about him being perfect, I don’t see any reason to have said no. He’s the man of your dreams, isn’t he?”
With absolutely zero hesitation, Taehyung slid an arm over his shoulder to lean into him.
“He’s the man of my dreams, but you’re the man of my life.”
Jimin turned towards him with a disgusted face, but it was clear that he was fighting a smile. “That was so fucking cheesy.”
The smile that spread on Taehyung’s face was large and boxy, laughter spilling through and making Jimin smile as well. “Shut up, you love it.”
“Kiss me.”
As he said before, Taehyung could never deny Jimin what he wanted.