Archive of Our Own ^beta

Jimin has not exactly been stressing out. In the end, it was hardly a few hours since the hypothetical incident happened and there is no need to freak out. 

So of course, his roommate and best friend since forever, is doing exactly that. 

The slightly younger man is currently storming through every crane and corner of their kitchen, opening cabinets and pulling out drawers, even checking the fridge and the freezer because yes, a giant cat would absolutely get stuck in their tiny, two-drawers only, freezer for fuck's sake. 

Jimin is sitting on top of the kitchen counter, still in his yellow sleeping shorts and an oversized pastel pink hoodie, calmly sipping on a cup of warm blueberry tea as he watches his friend running in circles about their whole house.

He honestly doesn't understand Taehyung's logic behind his actions. Their cat is pretty fucking big to just be hiding somewhere without them noticing it for a whole day. 

"Taehyung, chill. She'll come back. She's a smart cat. Besides, she has a collar so if anyone finds her just wandering in the streets, they'll bring her back." 

Jimin is not trying to lighten the situation too much. 

He loves their cat dearly and he can imagine why Taehyung is panicking. It's not just losing a cat, it's losing a member of their family. But he's also very aware of the fact, that cats do sometimes just wander off for days and then come back. They're independent creatures and they behave like people are their slaves, not like they're the actual pets.

Their cat is a Maine Coon. A giant cat with tender and lazy attitude, very friendly towards everyone she meets. She's really hard to not notice as a member of their household when she spends most of her days lazing around on their porch, able to not move for literal hours. Each of their neighbours knows her and she knows everyone in the neighbourhood.

"Jimin, you don't understand. It's been at least a day since we last saw her and she's never away for such a long time." 

Jimin doesn't try to explain the cat's wild lifestyle to his slightly younger friend. He is aware that Taehyung is just scared for its safety because he cares about everything and everyone important in his life a bit too much.

"So what are we going to do? Put up posters of her?" Jimin offers and takes another sip of his tea.

Taehyung seems to be considering it. 

Jimin watches as the man finally pauses the one-man searching party, halting to a stop in the middle of their kitchen, dressed in oversized... Everything. The hoodie he's wearing, the sweats that pool around his ankles. Giant pink bunny slippers. 

If he didn't know this man, he would never say he's an aspiring actor. 

Not when Jimin sees him sporting the homeless man look almost all the time. 

An idea seems to spark in Taehyung's brain because his face instantly brightens up and a dazzling smile appears on his - till that moment scowling - lips. 

The second he turns to Jimin, the older man knows he's in trouble.

Taehyung skips closer and cages Jimin's hips in between his arms, palms placed on the counter. Jimin places his cup away from his lap.

"Jiminie... Would you be so sweet and go ask the neighbours if they have seen her? Pretty please." 

Jimin mockingly frowns at his best friend, but given those well-known puppy eyes Taehyung is famous for, he can't deny him. It's physically impossible to say no to those dark brown orbs accompanied by pinched eyebrows and lips pursed in a sad pout.

"Fine," Jimin gives in.

"Thank you! You're the best," with that, Taehyung throws his arms around Jimin's neck and cuddles closer.

"Yeah yeah, I know," Jimin mutters, resting his chin on Taehyung's shoulder. He's smiling, although he very well knows, that there was never an option even when Taehyung presented his request as such. It doesn't matter. He can't lose anything after all. If the cat turns up, it will be good, if she doesn't, at least they'll have a spot from where to think about what to do next.

Jimin doesn't bother changing his clothes.

It's his day off and he dragged himself from his bed barely half an hour ago. Plus, the weather is pretty nice during May and even the mornings are warm enough for his current attire. Also, he's lazy and because he has already established good relationships with most of his neighbours, he doesn't see the point in dressing somehow representatively. 

He finishes his cup of tea, washes the mug and aims for the entrance, all the while he hears Taehyung turning the first-floor upside down and inside out. Jimin shoves his feet in his white sneakers and opens the front door, the warm wind immediately blowing his dishevelled hair around. 

He stands there on the white porch for a couple of minutes, basking in the sunshine with his eyes closed. He loves his days off during the warm months.

When he opens his eyes, he kind of expects Milkshake to lay there on the porch and give him the lazy eye she always does, acting like she doesn't understand the fuss about her.

But the cat is not there and Jimin thus has no other option than go disrupt their neighbours. Hopefully, around 9 am they should be up already. The neighbourhood is very active during the whole year, be it at the residences' respective gardens tending to the flowers and various vegetable midst spring, their kids running around on the grass, cleaning the fallen leaves during autumn or snow at the time of winter.

The first house he visits contains a family of five, a couple with three lovely little children that Jimin loves to the core. He always made sure to stop by at least once a month to play with the kids which resulted to a reserved invitation to every friendly gathering with an outdoors barbeque there ever was since Jimin and Taehyung moved in next door.

They know nothing about their cat, but still wish him good luck and promise they'll let them know if they see her. The whole family seemed to be saddened by the fact that she 'went missing'.

Five more houses down the street and Jimin is beginning to think that Milkshake has just disappeared from the Earth. Seriously, how can an over half metre long cat just... Vanish like that without anyone noticing. She's the size of an average dog. 

Jimin crosses the street and rings more bells and knocks on more doors, always leaving with the same result. He's invited for some cookies and cocoa by a nice old lady, which he politely declines, but promises he'll stop by soon. 

Then he stands at the house directly across the street from his own home. And once he knocks on the door, he realizes that the last family has moved out recently. They were lovely and from what Jimin gathered, it was because the father of the family was promoted at his workplace and would have to be leaving his family for prolonged periods. So they decided to move.

Jimin doesn't recall seeing anyone moving in, but maybe they've just been sneaky about it. He has his job after all so he probably just missed it. 

He rings the bell when there is no answer to his knocking and stands in front of the door for two good minutes before doubt settles in. There is probably no one moved in yet and Jimin is wasting his precious lazy-morning time here.

Except that the door suddenly cracks open and he's met with a sight. A Sight with capital S.

The young man leaning with his shoulder against the doorframe is tall, with black wavy hair framing his face reaching just to his pierced ears, lazily tousled as if the man just ran a hand through them. Giant doe eyes, cute prominent nose and thin lips. 

Jimin knows it's not polite to stare, but he can't help himself, because if he could be so bold, he would say the man looks like a fucking sex god. Wide shoulders, perfectly sculpted as if he fell out straight out of a magazine and the black tank top he's wearing reveals biceps that could probably crush his skull. And the strongest blow to Jimin's gut comes in the black ink covering the man's whole neck, spreading down to his chest and two whole sleeves.

Jimin feels intimidated, especially when the stranger gives him a lazy once over, then cracks one of his eyebrows up. He sees the man running his tongue over his bottom lip as their eyes meet and it has Jimin's whole face heating up. 

"Can I help you?" he asks in a coarse deep voice. 

Oh god.

Oh god, and everything saint in the world.

"Oh, yeah, hi. I just wanted to ask if you've seen Milkshake recently," Jimin blurts out, voice high-pitched with nerves.

The man is looking at him as if he was speaking in a different language, or as if Jimin was just trying to pull a lame joke.

"My cat. Milkshake is my cat. Our cat. Better yet, she mostly belongs to Taehyung but-" he tries to quickly explain, but the man interrupts him.

"A cat," he repeats slowly, the arch of his eyebrow not faltering.

"Yeah. She's kinda big though, long grey fur? She has a pink collar." 

At the mention of the collar, the stranger stares at his pink hoodie for a second too long and a smirk pulls on his lips.

"Yeah, I mean, there was a thing in my backyard this morning," he points with his thumb behind himself, but otherwise doesn't move.

Jimin sways on his heels back and forth, fingers wrenching together.

"Cool, so can I maybe take a look if it's my cat?" he asks.

The man pushes the door open and motions for Jimin to enter.

"Come on in."

Jimin doesn't feel good about that at all. Maybe he should just run away and come back with Taehyung so he can be sure the man won't try anything funny. 

Before he can properly think about it and chicken out, Jimin steps inside and judging on what he sees, he concludes this house the same layout as his own. Which means the door to the backyard is like, right in front of him, across the short hallway.

Jimin hears the door closing behind him and he almost jumps out of his skin.

He's certainly playing with fire here.

It takes no longer than ten seconds to cross the hallway and soon he's opening the door to the backyard, trying to ignore the hovering presence behind him. 

And there she is. Milkshake is just chilling in the grass as if the place belonged to her and when she hears Jimin's excited squeal, she perks her ears up. Jimin runs to her and takes half a minute to gather the giant in his arms and although he almost can't see through the fur it doesn't bother him all that much.

Because he has their cat and can finally fuck off from this stranger's residence. 

Jimin quickly returns to the house and the man is waiting by the doorway.

"Should keep you on a leash, huh?" he comments as Jimin passes by him and his heart stops in his chest.

"What?" He glances over his shoulder at the tall man.

"Should keep it on a leash," he repeats, motioning with his chin towards the ball of fluff in Jimin's hold.

Oh, yea.

Right.

Jimin lets the man open the front door, not wanting to risk dropping the cat and having it run off somewhere.

"Thank you very much," Jimin says, once again standing outside the front door. 

"Anytime," the man replies and Jimin feels like it's not about the cat at all.

"Well, uh, okay. It was nice meeting you. Bye," Jimin stutters out and spins around. He skips down the stairs but tries his best to walk calmly across the streets towards his house. He feels the man's piercing gaze in his back for the whole way. 

Once he closes the front door with his back, he drops the cat to the floor, ducks down and crawls to a nearby window to see if the man is still watching after him.

The door is closed and the house looks as innocent as before.

"Jesus Christ, Milkshake. Why would you go there?" he whispers and turns to sit under the window.

"Taehyung, your cat is here!" He yells and soon frantic footsteps approach them followed by a very excited young man. He drops to his knees and hugs the cat, whispering sweet nonsense. 

Finally, when Taehyung looks up at Jimin, words of thanks get stuck in his throat. 

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?," he asks and Jimin keeps sitting under the window, staring into the floor as if he wanted to burn a hole in the wood. 

And sure, Jimin certainly is terrified to the core.

"We have a new neighbour." 

"Okay, and?" 

"I think I never want to meet him again."

Few days pass by quietly. Jimin attends to his job, Taehyung has a couple of gigs here and there but spends most of his time at their house. 

So it comes as a surprise, when Jimin walks home from the bus stop one evening and sees their strange across-the-street neighbour sitting at the steps to their house, cradling their cat to his chest. It's such a strange sight to see the tall black-clad figure chilling there by their white porch, cuddling Milkshake like no big deal.

As Jimin walks closer, his throat is getting considerably tighter and tighter and he shoves his clammy palms in the pockets of his pastel yellow hoodie.

At the sounds of his steps, the man looks up and the familiar lazy smirk finds its way on his lips. He once again looks Jimin up and down, not even trying to be subtle about it and Jimin regrets his decision of wearing black skinnies.

"She was in my backyard again," the man explains and gently urges the cat off his lap before he stands up.

"Ah," Jimin gets out trough his clogged throat. The man is wearing a simple t-shirt and ripped jeans, accompanied by leather combat boots. 

Why is he so goddamn tall, basically towering over Jimin without much effort?

Jimin keeps his distance of two metres and maybe on purpose the man steps closer until they're almost breathing the same air and Jimin has to lift his head to look the man in the eye. Of course, he's not going to run off like some goddamn coward, even when his knees feel weak under him.

"Have you tried the leash yet?" the man asks and Jimin feels a freeze crawling down his spine. 

"I'm afraid she doesn't like to obey anyone's rules."

Jimin is sure the man is not talking about the cat. Not with the way he's basically undressing Jimin with his eyes. But maybe, the man will stop it when Jimin clearly shows he's not interested in anything he's proposing.

"Ah, that's a shame," the man comments, his eyes never leaving Jimin's.

Is this a power-play?

What is this, a fucking rom-con?

"I'll try my best to keep her from sneaking on your property."

The man is smiling at him, but it barely reaches his eyes.

"The name is Jeon Jugkook," he reaches out with his right hand and Jimin is tempted to just walk away. Has his clear ignorance of obvious flirting not been enough of a message that he's not interested?

"Park Jimin," he reluctantly replies, trying to make the handshake quick. But of course, once Jungkook gets hold of his palm, he doesn't just let go like a normal human being.

And now Jimin is stuck and wonders if he should cause a scene.

"Nice to meet you, Jimin," he finally lets go of his palm and Jimin quickly stuffs it back in the pocket of his hoodie, "I've just recently moved in here. It's a lovely neighbourhood."

Yeah, and you don't fit it.

"Yes. People here love their peace and quiet," Jimin replies, "Thanks for bringing our cat back. Taehyung would probably freak out again if she wasn't home." 

"Is Taehyung your boyfriend?" Jungkook asks and now it's Jimin's turns to raise an eyebrow.

"I think that's none of your business," he dryly replies.

Jungkook turns back to the porch and grabs his leather jacket from the railing- because of course, he owns one of those. He doesn't put it on, only drags it over his shoulder, still holding it by the collar.

"We'll see about that. Have a good night, Jimin."

And with that, the taller man walks across the street and into his own house.

Jimin only now realizes how fast his heart has been beating during the whole encounter. He can directly feel it in his throat and after hearing the last words spoken, uneasiness wrapped around his stomach.

Milkshake sits on the porch, her tail active and her eyes following the neighbour. 

Jimin aims for the front door and keeps it open for the cat to wander inside. 

"What are you doing, hm? Do you hate me that much?" Jimin asks the cat as he throws his backpack towards the shoe rack. 

He still feels sick to his stomach, even after parting ways with the man and being in the sanctuary of his own house. He's been planning his dinner for the whole bus ride home and now he doesn't feel like eating anything.

He settles for a bowl of cinnamon cereal and after pouring milk over them, he takes a spoon and goes to the living room to plant himself on the sofa. Milkshake immediately sprawls across his lap and curls up. Jimin places his bowl on the conference table in front of him so he can scratch behind the cat's ear, second hand occupied by the remote control, trying to find someone watchable. It takes him a few minutes until he settles on some cartoon. 

He can imagine what's going in Jungkook's brain.

He's a man that wants to fuck anything remotely attractive he crosses paths with and doesn't care if the other party is into it or not. And Jimin, though he might've found the taller man fucking hot at first, is now realizing just how much of a douchebag he probably really is.

Jimin was never too fast to make assumptions about anyone he ever met, but honestly, this man is not giving him much to work with. He's striking Jimin as someone who pins after their current person of interest and once they get them in his bed, it's over and he moves on someone else.

Jimin honestly doesn't need a person like that in his life, so he hopes he doesn't have to cross paths with the neighbour again anytime soon. The less they see each other, the better.

"Don't go there anymore, alright? I'll be really sad if you keep going there," he whispers to the Maine Coon and she only shifts her ears without meowing anything back. 

Jimin hopes the cat understands what he means.

A few days later, Jimin wakes up feeling lazy and stuffed like a plushie. He rolls around in his bed, knowing he deserves at least ten more minutes before dragging himself out of the warmth of his cocoon. 

But then there is a bag of fluff planted in his face and Jimin groans in the fur. 

"Milkshake, why you gotta torture me like this," he croaks out. Every morning is the same. Milkshake curls up in Taehyung's bed when they go to sleep and somehow ends up in Jimin's when they wake up. 

The man shoves the cat away as gently as possible and sits up, knowing she won't let him sleep now that she knows he's awake. Honestly the best alarm clock he's had in his life. 

From his spot on the bed, he can directly see in Taehyung's bedroom and the fluffy cat bed they ordered off Amazon two years ago. He can't remember a single time Milkshake has slept in there.

What a waste of money.

Nonetheless, Jimin pulls himself out of the bed, quickly stretches, then slides on his glittery slippers and drags his heavy feet to the bathroom downstairs. He washes his puffy face, brushes his teeth and soon hears the cat thumping down the stairs and wandering into the kitchen across the hall.

It only makes sense as his another course of action is to make himself a cup of tea, as per his day-off morning routine he's established over the last few months. He could never eat as soon as he woke up and a cup of tea became his little ritual before he usually went for a jog around the neighbourhood.

He puts the kettle on and drops a baggie of ginger-lemon tea in his favourite mug, then hops on the counter and stares into nothing, swinging his legs in the air and banging them against the cupboard under him.

He likes the quiet lazy mornings.

It's not like he doesn't enjoy Taehyung's company, but sometimes it's nice to have this whole place to himself and just be there, not thinking about anything.

The kettle beeps and Jimin slides off the counter to pour the water into his cup.

And just when he puts the kettle back, Milkshake bites him.

Jimin yelps, more in surprise than actual pain. The cat hisses at him and runs to the front door. Jimin doesn't care about the bite, more he's concerned about the cat. Because she's never been violent towards anyone ever. 

Jimin runs after the cat who slipped through the pet door and easily follows on the porch. He sees her running across the street and Jimin thanks god that no cars are driving around the neighbourhood at this hour. 

Milkshake scratches against the door of the house across the street.

Oh no.

Jimin hopes to get to her sooner than Jungkook notices the scratching and it doesn't seem too impossible as the man will probably still be sleeping at such an early hour on the weekend. He doesn't want to have to knock on the man's door to retrieve his cat when Taehyung later starts freaking out again because she wasn't home to welcome him.

He runs up the stairs and gets a hold of his cat just when the door crack open. 

"Good morning sweethea-" 

Jimin looks up. Then regrets all of his life decisions leading up to this moment. He feels his cheeks turning the brightest shade of crimson. He has to look bat-shit crazy right now. Unkept hair, dressed in just an oversized t-shirt and boxers, with his fabulous slippers on, holding his cat in front of the man's door. 

"What a feast for the eyes," Jungkook comments. He's just standing there leaning against the doorframe, with the familiar lazy half-smile on his lips, bare chest on the display for the whole world to see. He's only wearing a pair of black sweatpants and Jimin is somehow mesmerized by the amount of ink permanently engraved into his skin.

"It's- I didn't- This is not what it looks like," Jimin stutters. Fucking. Stutters. He picks up Milkshake and cradles her to his chest, maybe using her as a shield between himself and the tall man.

"It looks like your cat ran off and you came to pick her up before she sneaks into my backyard again," Jungkook easily replies, "but, if it's not what it looks like, maybe you've changed your mind and brought me breakfast?"

Jimin takes a minute to process what was just said.

"What are you talking about? Because that just sounded like you want to eat my cat."

Jungkook sighs and rolls his eyes. With the smirk on his lips, it doesn't look as mocking as Jimin would expect. It's almost adorable.

"Obviously I meant you, Jimin."

Oh no.

Oh nonononono.

Jimin wishes nothing more than to teleport back to his own house but he would sooner melt from the heat in his face.

"Yeah, no. No, I just came here to pick up Milkshake."

"If you say so," Jungkook responds. Amusement is dancing in his eyes and Jimin stops himself from saying anything further. He turns around and skips the stairs down, holding onto his cat as if she was his life-support. Crossing the street sure feels like a walk of shame, especially when he once again feels Jungkook staring after him.

He closes the pet door before letting Milkshake back inside the house and glances over his shoulder.

Even across the street, he can see Jungkook's gaze returning to his face from a much lower part of his body. The man waves at him and Jimin snaps his head forward again and slips inside his house, slamming the door closed behind him.

Jesus Fucking Christ.

Leaning with his back against the door and trying to calm down his breath, he realizes something weirder than the whole exchange.

"Did he seriously say Good morning, sweetheart?" 

Jimin turns to look at his cat, who's sitting there licking at her paws, pretty much unbothered. 

He narrows his eyes at her. 

It's true that if she wasn't scratching at Jungkook's door, the man wouldn't even open the door. For fuck's sake, he's been expecting Milkshake to show up on his doorstep, wasn't he?

The next week passes with nothing out of ordinary. Jimin avoids meeting the neighbour and even Milkshake has seemed to come to the conclusion, that she shouldn't keep going there. 

And Jimin starts slowly forgetting about his embarrassing encounters with that man. 

He's lazing on the sofa, legs intervened with Taehyung's who sits on the opposite side. They share about three bags of popcorn in a giant pot, as they don't own a bowl big enough, while they watch some comedy show on the TV.

The doorbell rings and Jimin groans.

"I went groceries shopping today. The door is on you," Taehyung comments and shoves a fist of popcorn in his mouth. 

Jimin pulls himself up from the sofa, slides his slippers on and waddles over to the front door, cracking them open. 

Jungkook is standing there, in all his tall and muscular glory, wearing a short-sleeves t-shirt and black jeans adorned with a leather belt.

Jimin blinks, then closes the door without a second thought, and knocking resonates against them. Jimin is thinking about just leaving the man outside like that, telling Taehyung it's some junkie asking for money and ignore Jungkook for the rest of the evening.

But he also knows that he can't just not hear him out, whatever it is on his mind.

He takes a deep breath and opens the door again.

"Hi, can I help you?" Jimin asks through gritted teeth. 

This dude is the last person he wants to see when he's trying to have a fun, relaxing evening with his best friend.

"Do you have some sugar I could borrow?" 

That's such a neighbour-y thing to ask and Jimin doesn't believe a single word of that sentence. He watches Jungkook with a blank stare and the man takes a tiny step closer.

"Please help me, I really don't want to drive to the grocery store right now." 

"Sorry to hear that," Jimin replies. He's not feeling sorry at all and it was perfectly audible in the flat tone of his voice. He has no reason to help out the man. 

And bet, that Jimin is hella petty. 

"Listen, my mom came over and now decided she wants to bake. But I don't use sugar, ever, and I can't go back there with no sugar or she'll kill me. Aight?"

"I'll make sure to have a nice black suit ready for when the day comes," Jimin says back.

Jungkook opens his mouth, then closes it. He looks kind of lost and it's pulling at Jimin's heart. He despises that feeling.

"I swear I just want some sugar. Just please, give me some sugar and I will be outta here."

Jimin could just slam his door in his face again. But he can't. 

Literally can't, because Milkshake decided that now it's the time for her to go snuggle up to the neighbour. And Jimin watches the cat with betrayal in his eyes.

How could she? 

He'll never forgive her. 

Jimin opens the door a bit more and motions for the man to step inside. 

Maybe the cat is reminding him to not turn sour. What is the worst thing that can happen? All of his neighbours are home and Taehyung is just a few metres away.

"I'll get you some sugar. Just. Stay right here," Jimin warningly says.

"Thanks," Jungkook replies and steps inside, immediately ducking down to pet Milkshake. 

Jimin walks to the kitchen and sees Taehyung looking at him from the sofa. 

"What's up?" he asks and Jimin motions towards the front door. He knows Jungkook can hear them so that gives him a sense of security.

"Just a neighbour came to ask for some sugar."

"Ah, okay," Taehyung turns back to the TV.

Jimin opens the top cupboard, reaches for the pack of sugar and his fingertips barely touch it. 

Jesus Christ, not now. Taehyung knows very well that Jimin can't reach the highest shelf so he always puts the least used groceries up there.

Jimin tiptoes and reaches up again, only to feel a hand around his waist and body pressing against his back.

"Need help with that?" Jungkook whispers directly in his ear. His palm squeezes his waist just a tiny bit more when he reaches up and with Jimin being on his tip-toes, it's no surprise that Jungkook's crotch is like smack-dab right against his ass. 

And Jimin almost undergoes a heart attack. It feels like forever before Jungkook steps away and by that time Jimin is sure his heart will jump out of his chest. He turns around, ready to spit curses, but the sight of Jungkook's face has the words dying on his tongue.

Because his eyes are dark, oh, so dark, filled with pure lust. And Jimin holds onto the counter behind him to not collapse because he certainly doesn't trust his knees right now.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to return the favour."

And just like that Jungkook is gone in mere seconds, polite enough to close the door behind himself. Jimin watches Milkshake strutting back to the living room and his gaze moves to Taehyung.

He's staring straight at him, mouth hung open.

"What the fuck was that?!" the younger exclaims.

Jimin only throws his arms in the air in a slight state of panic.

Jimin doesn't usually go out during his lunch break, always preferring home-cooked low-cost meal instead of spending much more money for a meal of no real nutritional value as he exactly doesn't have the time to go to a restaurant for a proper lunch. 

But they have technical problems at the office now and the repair has been scheduled in two hours. So Jimin eats his packed lunch together with some of his coworkers, then decides to take a stroll around the block. 

It's actually pretty nice to be able to stretch his legs after spending half a day in the office and when he sees and newly opened café nearby, he doesn't hesitate to walk inside. 

He had always adored cafés when he was still in high school. He traded them for pubs during college and now he's mostly happy to get home and enjoy Netflix and chill.

Jimin walks inside the shop and sits at an empty table by the windows with a lookout to the street. He loosens the tie around his neck and pops two buttons of his dress shirt open as he still has about an hour left of his break and is excited to pamper himself a little bit.

"Good afternoon, sir, what can I bring you?" 

Jimin snaps out of his daydreaming and turns towards the server, polite smile freezing in his lips. 

Would you look at that. 

Black wavy hair tied into a bun, tattoos partly covered by the fabric of his uniform shirt, looking like a deer caught in headlights. 

Jimin can't help the giggle that escapes his lips at the surprised expression crossing Jungkook's face. It's a nice change to his usual arrogant stare.

"Hi. One iced caramel mocha, please."

"Coming right up, sir." 

The man turns around and swiftly walks away. 

Jimin didn't expect to run into his Jungkook here. And he apparently didn't expect him either, given the confused face. And although he seriously despises the tattoed man, he's willing to let it slide, to not have his presence spoil this beautiful day of his.

It takes just a couple of minutes for Jungkook to return with his order and he experiencedly slides the tall glass right in front of Jimin.

Then parks himself on the chair right across him.

Jimin stares at the server with an eyebrow raised, "Don't you have something to do?" 

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" the man parrots back, pointing with his chin towards Jimin's attire.

"I'm on my lunch break," Jimin simply replies. He can't look the man straight in the eye now that he's sitting so close, recent encounters still alive on his mind.

"What a coincidence, me too," Jungkook announces, leaning one elbow on the table and resting his chin atop his palm.

Jimin would prefer him to spend his lunch break somewhere else, but he doesn't say anything, only stirs his drink with the provided straw, turning his head to look outside the window. He wonders when will the man grow tired of pinning after him. Probably longer, if Jimin keeps giving in. He should set the record straight and then be done with it. 

"Do you need anything?" Jimin asks, turning his gaze back towards the man before him and catches Jungkook smiling at him. Once their eyes meet, the taller man quickly transforms the smile into his usual smirk.

"Looks like you want something from me, given the fact that you've come to my workplace." 

Jimin laughs. This is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

This game has been dragging for goshdarn weeks and he's honestly tired of the man's continuous comments and actions, acting like Jimin is only good for being toyed with.

Jimin leans back in his chair and entangles his fingers on the tabletop.

"Jungkook, I understand that you're probably having a lot of fun with your constant teasing. I'm not going to lie, it was kind of endearing in the beginning and I enjoyed the banter, too. 

But I'm not interested, so I would appreciate if you stopped flirting with me. We're both adults so I hope you understand and will act accordingly.

Now, I would like to enjoy my coffee in peace."

Jungkook doesn't say anything, only stares at him. Then, without a single word, he stands up and returns behind the bar.

Jimin doesn't look after him, only lets out the breath he's been holding in. His heart is still hammering against his ribs, but he feels very delighted about the fact that, for once, Jungkook has listened to him.

When he comes home that day, Jimin takes a shower first, changes into comfy sweatpants and a baby blue hoodie in which he swims. 

When he waltzes into the living room, Taehyung is laying on the sofa, scrolling through his phone and Jimin wastes no time to slide right atop of him and lay his head on his best friend's chest. 

Taehyung doesn't look disturbed at all, only rearranges his arms around Jimin.

"Oh no. It's big big hoodie time. What happened?" 

"I've met Jungkook today. Told him to stop with whatever he's doing."

"Oh? Isn't that the very hot neighbour across the street?" Taehyung asks offhandedly, no real emotion audible in his voice.

"Yep," Jimin pops the last letter. There is no point in denying the man's attractiveness. He still thinks their neighbour is a hot piece of a man.

"How come?"

"It was getting annoying. He just strikes me as a fuckboy, you know? I don't need that."

"Will he stop?"

"I think so. He didn't say anything, but left me alone afterwards."

"Good for you Jiminie," Taehyung puts his phone away on the floor next to the sofa and instead starts kneading his fingers through the smaller man's hair.

It's been over a week. 

It's been over a week now since Jimin last saw their tattooed neighbour and he feels very much at peace.

He does some cleaning around the house after he drinks his morning tea, then catches up with his friends from college over a few phone calls. The last call is dedicated to his parents, whom he promises a visit soon. 

After that exhausting session, Jimin fills up Milkshake's bowl and gives her fresh water in the other one.

Except that the cat is nowhere to be seen. He tries calling her, but she's obviously not inside the house and Jimin walks over to the window next to the front door and sees the grey monster happily strutting towards the house across the street. 

Jimin sighs. 

Of course, that would happen.

He moves to walk outside, but one more glance from the window lets him know that the tattooed man has opened his front door and immediately ducked down to pet the cat. 

Jimin wonders if he should just leave it as it is, or go fetch Milkshake.

Maybe he should talk to the neighbour, see how much his attitude towards him changed. Jimin doesn't want enemies in his neighbourhood, that's just not how he rolls. So if Jungkook is pissed at him because of his rejection, they can try to talk it out.

At least Milkshake gave him a good reason to show up at the man's doorstep.

Jimin takes a deep breath to ground himself before he opens the door and walks outside. He crosses the street and when Jungkook notices him, panicked expression crosses his face. He stands up and opens his door to slip back inside, but Milkshake is faster and quickly disappears deeper inside the house.

Oh Jesus. 

Oh sweet Jesus. 

Jungkook stands in the open doorway, looking after the cat.

Jimin soon catches up. 

"I didn't want to let her in." 

"I know. I saw it," Jimin softly replies. Something in the man's tone of voice has definitely changed, that's for sure. One glance at him and Jimin thinks he looks strangely drained.

He opens his door for Jimin nonetheless and he doesn't waste any time fetching his cat. Once he has the ball in his embrace, the owner of the house speaks up. 

"Hey, um. Can we talk?" 

Jimin turns around and plasters a friendly smile on his lips.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you as well."

Jungkook scoffs, but doesn't look at Jimin, only gently closes the front door and aims for the living room. This house has the same floor plan as Jimin's, so he has no problem to walk through the kitchen and seat himself on the leather couch. 

"Okay, so what do you want to talk about?" Jimin asks.

Jungkook sits in the armchair across him. To Jimin's surprise, he's wearing a pretty nice turtleneck, although it's still black, a giant contrast to Jimin's own pastel orange sweater.

"Can I ask something first?" 

"Shoot."

"How old are you?" 

That's kind of strange to ask, but...

"I'm turning 21 this year. Why?"

Jungkook's eyes grow wide, full of pure and utter panic. He quickly composes himself but doesn't meet Jimin's eyes anymore, when he talks.

"I thought you were... younger," he comments, running a finger behind the collar of his turtleneck.

Okay, Jimin is quite confused now. What does his age have to do with anything?

"I didn't realize until we talked in the coffee shop, that you may be- that you're probably older than me."

Oh.

"So, how old are you?" Jimin asks in return, just to keep the conversation going. He still doesn't understand what exactly is so bothersome about his age.

"I'm eighteen."

Oof. Now it's Jimin's turn to stare at Jungkook in disbelief.

"You're joking. Eighteen and looking like- like that?" 

Jungkook catches on, his eyebrow raising: "Like what?"

Jimin is not amused. He frowns at the younger man and he seems to realize that Jimin was not flirting with him. At all.

"My parents are very free-minded."

"Yeah. Obviously."

Silence settles over the two of them for long minutes. Jimin doesn't know if Jungkook has anything else on his mind, but he gives him the benefit of doubt and keeps sitting with Milkshake in his lap until the man is ready to speak.

"I'm sorry for how I acted towards you. I mean- at school it worked? I didn't think that you would be so against it, especially with how adorable you always looked-"

"Adorable," Jimin deadpans.

Jungkook rolls his lips between his teeth, eyes roaming all around the room, never settling on Jimin.

"You wanted to impress me. With that," Jimin concludes and is only met with a shrug of shoulders from Jungkook.

"I mean, you looked interested when we met for the first time, so I assumed you liked that kind of attitude."

Jimin's cheeks heat up. What kind of logic is that, it's absolutely stupid.

"I was also scared shitless," Jimin replies and Jungkook bursts out laughing. Some of the tension in the room disappear with the laugh. 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you feel so uncomfortable."

Jimin has a lot of questions but decides to leave them for later now that this giant mess has been untangled.

"I was thinking, that, maybe we could start over? If you want to?" 

Now Jungkook is looking at him and his doe eyes are large and hopeful and he indeed does look younger without the constant glare of his. 

"No gross flirting," Jimin says. 

"Was I that bad?" 

Jimin stares at the man in front of him. This dude. 

He needs a minute to compose himself. Meanwhile, Jungkook is watching him genuinely concerned. 

"That's not the point." 

"But I want to know-" 

"Jungkook." 

Jimin can't say he doesn't enjoy Jungkook being all confused and bratty, wanting to banter like a kid. 

"The point is, if you want to start over, you do it right. Just- Don't try to impress me anymore." 

Jungkook is dead silent for a couple of seconds, fingers picking at the fabric of his sweatpants.

"So you're really not interested...?" 

He asks in such a tiny voice that Jimin unconsciously tightens his hold around Milkshake, feeling his heart doing backflips in his chest. 

And the way Jungkook looks at him from under his eyelashes, unkempt bangs falling over his forehead, certainly doesn't help his irregular heartbeat.

"I wasn't -" Jimin hears his voice quivering, "I wasn't interested in that." 

He feels Jungkook staring at him and when the gazes meet, the younger man is smiling. Full-on smiling with his eyes crinkling in crescents and wrinkles forming around his eyes.

"Well, that has been solved, so I think I'll be going now." 

With that, Jimin stands up, once again holding his cat in his embrace and aims for the front door. He hears Jungkook padding after him and he opens the door for Jimin. 

"I can make you an iced caramel mocha, so you don't waste your money at cafés." 

"I'll keep that in mind. Have a nice day, Jungkook." 

"Yeah. Uh. Have a nice day too, Jimin." 

Jimin has to physically force himself to walk away. Because if he stayed there for a second too long, he might've done something stupid. 

How ironic it is, that Jungkook is now somehow sweeping him off his feet to the point he doesn't trust his rational thinking. 

One thing is sure though, when Jimin comes back to his own house and lets his cat free, he finds himself smiling like some goddamn lovestruck teenager.