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Jimin plopped down on the couch with a sigh as heavy as a hundred elephants.
“I’m doomed,” he moaned. “My eomma is going to murder me. And then bring me back to life so that my appa can do the same.”
He threw a dramatic arm over his eyes and groaned loudly.
“Stop being a drama queen. You just have to make a little money and pay it off!” his best friend Hoseok said. The older boy reached over and threw a couch cushion at Jimin’s prone form.
Shoving the cushion off his face, Jimin sat up to glare at his fellow dancer. “Have you seen my house right now? We practically had to saran wrap a wall!”
“It was just a window, silly. And it’s a tarp, Jiminie. It’s there to keep the bugs and stuff out until the window is replaced.”
“Yeah, the window I broke. That I now have to pay for. Me, a broke-ass loser who doesn’t have a single set of skills that would encourage a person to hire them.”
Hoseok shrugged in mild agreement. “They’re at least giving you till the end of summer to pay them back. We’ve got, like, two months left before we head back to school. That’s plenty of time.”
Jimin just flopped back down on the couch and shoved the pillow over his face with a groan. By the time he found a job willing to hire him, summer would be over.
Hoseok sat up and grabbed the cushion from Jimin, pulling the younger boy off the couch to flop onto the floor. He grabbed a napkin and a spare pen from the coffee table and set it down in front of Jimin.
“Come on, let’s think about it. What are some things you know you’re good at? We can make a list and then think of some jobs that correlate.”
He pushed the pen into Jimin’s hand, and the younger boy reluctantly started writing. Surely they’d find something he could do.
“There is nothing I can do!”
Jimin tore up the final napkin. That’s eight little squares wasted, and he and Hoseok hadn’t been able to find a single job Jimin was qualified for. Most of them weren’t even because Jimin lacked the skills, a large part of them were knocked out because Jimin couldn’t drive. He had no way to get to work every day. And with his phone taken away as part of his punishment, it made him a pretty poor choice of employee.
Hoseok looked down at the scraps of napkin in despair.
“Yeah, man, you’re kinda out of luck. It’s too bad you don't have a car.”
Jimin sighed and began to clean up the mess. “It’s not like I’d have been good at any of them anyway. I’m the clumsiest person I know when I’m not on the dance floor.”
Hoseok started to nod before his whole face lit up and he straightened from his position slumped over the floor.
“That’s it! That’s your best skill! You can dance.” he exclaimed excitedly.
“What? Hobi-hyung that’s not a job it’s a sport. You don’t get paid to dance.”
“But what if you did!” Hoseok scrambled to his knees and leaned forward to clasp both hands on Jimin’s shoulders. His beaming face was inches from Jimin’s own. “Jiminie, you’re the best dancer I know—besides myself, of course—people would totally pay to see you dance! You could go down to the park and do a performance every day! Like a busker but, like, dancing not music.”
Jimin stared wide-eyed at the older boy practically vibrating in front of him. Hoseok looked so excited by his idea, but the only thing Jimin could think of to do was laugh.
“Me? Dancing for money? Come on, hyung. That’s ridiculous.”
The other dancer shook his head rapidly.
“No, it’s not! I think it could actually work.” He paused and sat back on his heels, looking at Jimin contemplatively. A mischievous grin stretched across his face. “Tell you what, I bet the last of my birthday money that if you went to the park tomorrow during lunchtime and put on a dance performance, people would pay you at least $10. That’s more than minimum wage.”
Jimin just blinked in shock.
“Hoseok! I am not just going to randomly start dancing in the middle of the park! People eat lunch there. And take walks. It’s peaceful.”
“Perfect! Then it’s just your type of dancing,” the elder responded. He nodded sharply like his mind was all made up. “You’ve got nothing to lose, Jiminie. You’ll get some money either way. Might as well try, right?”
“Nothing to lose, my ass. I got a whole lot of pride to lose,” Jimin grumbled. In his head though, he was turning the idea over, and it was actually starting to sound not-terrible.
He was certainly no stranger to performing. He’d practically grown up on a dance stage. He’d go dance for a few minutes, someone would probably yell about him disturbing them, and he’d take Hoseok’s money and leave. No harm, no foul.
“Okay, okay, why not. I’ll do it,” he declared. Hoseok cheered and swept in to pull him into a hug. He bounced around in a circle with Jimin in his arms.
“Yay, yay, yay! I did it! I am officially a genius!”
Jimin just smiled at his friend’s antics and let himself be tugged around. Let the older dancer have his moment. He’d be proven wrong come tomorrow anyway.
---
“Oh my god, that was incredible!”
Jimin slouched over and put his hands on his knees to suck in some air, waving a hand in thanks to Hoseok as he came bounding over.
“Totally one of your best performances yet!”
Jimin wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand and smiled at his friend.
“Think so?”
“Know so!”
Hoseok reached down to grab the little kiddie pail off the ground. The bright red bucket had initially been used because Jimin didn’t have anything else that first day at the park, and now it felt too symbolic to replace.
“Come grab a drink of water and I’ll count this up for you,” Hoseok said. He tugged lightly on Jimin’s elbow to steer him over to the little lemonade stand a few yards away.
Hoseok and Jimin had been coming to the park for almost seven weeks now. They had their own little section of the park where Jimin would set up, and they had carefully scheduled times when the park was busiest. He typically danced twice: once at the end of lunch hour and once more in the evening. That way he maximizes the number of people who watched him perform.
The afternoons were filled with families and kids playing and eating lunch, and the evenings were filled with picnic-goers, couple dates, and joggers looking for a cooler part of day. Both times worked around a typical worker's schedule so that he wasn’t performing when most people were busy inside.
Jimin would set up his bucket and his speakers and for about an hour each time, he would dance. Hoseok, on the other hand, would set up their repurposed little-kid lemonade stand to sell snacks and cold water to audience members, joggers, and bikers.
“What’s your count?” Jimin asked. He was greedily gulping down a fresh bottle of water from their stand.
“Forty-three, sixteen. Combined.” Hoseok picked up a twenty-dollar bill and waved it in front of Jimin’s face. “Your secret admirer again?”
“Mmm, yeah. Saw him around lunchtime like usual.”
“Psh. That man practically paid for that window himself. He really should introduce himself one of these days.”
Jimin and Hoseok’s efforts had already paid off the window a few weeks ago. While they didn’t always make much in a day, they made enough that, combined with the odd lawn-mowing and dog-sitting jobs, they were able to give Jimin’s parents their money back.
Jimin would never be able to repay his friend for helping him out so much. He let Hoseok keep whatever the stand made, but that was only after they stopped needing the money for the window. Prior to that, the older boy had refused to take more than a few single bills as his payment.
“Maybe you should go over and offer him a drink or something tomorrow,” Jimin said.
He was talking about his ‘secret admirer’. Or so Hoseok liked to call them.
About a week into his “job” at the park, Jimin started noticing the same guy watching his performance every lunch hour. He had bleach-blonde hair and was short and slim in build. Jimin couldn’t really tell you much else than that because he was always wearing a cap and mask.
He’d stand silently near the edge of the trail and watch Jimin dance for about 15 minutes. Then he’d drop a single bill into the bucket and leave. He made sure to leave before Jimin took one of his breaks, and he never stopped by the stand to say hi to Hoseok.
He wasn’t the only ‘regular’ Jimin had. A couple of families and joggers who frequented the park had come to know Jimin by name. There was Soobin, the boy who loved to watch Jimin in the afternoons while he ate lunch with his parents. And Yeji, the sweet little girl who begged Jimin to teach her dance moves when she came on Saturdays. There were Doojun and Leo, the soccer-loving duo who grabbed snacks at Hoseok’s stand. And Minhyuk, the runner who used the stand as his two-mile break for water.
The difference, however, was that the rest of those regulars would drop a normal amount of money in the bucket. A couple of dollars on generous days, and no more than the few coins in their pocket on lighter days. But Jimin’s ‘secret admirer’ never failed to drop a single twenty-dollar bill. Every time. All without ever so much as introducing himself.
“Nah, I like the mystery. If he wants us to know who he is, he’ll speak up at some point,” Hoseok said. The older boy finished collapsing the stand and handed one of the handles to Jimin. “Now come on, we’ve got to haul this all the way back to your house before dinner. And I call dibs on first shower.”
Later that evening, Jimin and Hoseok were flipping through Netflix trying to settle on a movie to watch. Or, Jimin was selecting a movie. Hoseok was a bit busy trying to clean up the crumbs from their impromptu food fight earlier. Jimin had made him do the cleaning as punishment for upending an entire bucket of popcorn on his freshly washed hair.
“Hey, Hobi-hyung? You want to do another duet this weekend?” Jimin spoke up.
Every now and then, the two dancers would perform together. Not too often. Hoseok didn’t like it as much because they made more money when they could have the stand going as well.
“Sure. We can try and choreograph something tomorrow if you want.” The older boy tossed a popcorn piece into the air and deftly caught it in his mouth. He grinned at Jimin, who just rolled his eyes at him.
Typically, Jimin improvised most of his routines. He didn’t have time to choreograph something different for each day. So instead, he just put on some music and danced whatever he felt like. On duet days though, they would usually have a more structured piece so they didn’t look so uncoordinated.
"We'll have to make it extra special. Your secret admirer will be there."
Jimin blushed lightly at the other boy's words. "You need to stop calling him that," he protested. Jimin would never admit it out loud, but hearing his friend say the words 'secret admirer' every time, brought a feeling to Jimin's chest that he'd rather not think about.
"That's totally what he is, though. I mean, he just stands there and stares at you! It would be creepy if I didn't know exactly how good you look when you dance." Hoseok shot Jimin a wink and burst out laughing at the scandalized look on the younger boy's face.
"Ugh, hyuung. Now you've gone and made it weird!" Jimin's face was almost bright red by this point. Hoseok just cackled, laughing so hard he almost fell over.
The thing is, Jimin did know what he looked like when he danced. For as much as he kept things strictly PG in the park, he'd watched himself in the mirror enough times to be able to appreciate how good his body looked when he moved like that. And....there might be a small--really small!--chance that Jimin made sure to put just a little more effort into it when he knew his mystery man was watching.
If anyone were to ask, Jimin kept dancing after he paid off the window because it was fun and he could use the extra cash. Deep down, however, he knew that he just didn't want to lose the opportunity to finally be able to introduce himself. There was something impossibly intriguing about this mystery person, and one day, Jimin promised he'd gather the courage to go talk to him face to face.
That Saturday, both boys were dressed in dance outfits and giving it their all on the grass. When the third song came to an end, they got a brief break to catch their breath.
Hoseok nudged Jimin in the side. “Hey, isn’t that him? Looks like he brought a friend today.”
Jimin looked over where Hoseok was indicated and, sure enough, there he was. Dressed in black like usual, but this time he was standing with someone else. This new guy was much taller and broader, with lavender hair and a pair of sunglasses on. His hands were tucked into his pants in a way that was probably supposed to be casual, but Jimin could sense that both men's gazes were locked on the pair of dancers.
Despite his simple outfit, this new man seemed to just scream wealth. His shoes were one of those luxury sneaker types that all the boys drooled over, and Jimin could read the Supreme label on his shirt from here. A fancy watch flashed in the sun from his wrist and a messenger bag was thrown over his shoulder.
“Is this the first time he’s had someone with him?” Hoseok whispered. The boys were in position for their next song and were trying not to make it too obvious that they were watching the men just as much as the men were watching them.
Jimin just nodded as the music started and the dancers started to move.
As they made their way through three more songs, he watched the pair out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t until the final song ended and Jimin’s typical short break began that they moved. This time, after dropping a bill—most likely a twenty—into the red bucket, the pair walked by the little stand set up by the edge of the path. Whenever Hoseok danced, he left a jar and the snacks on the counter. The taller man dropped his money into the jar and grabbed two bottles of water from the cooler. He handed one to the shorter man and the pair walked off towards the park exit.
“Great,” Hoseok mumbled in his ear. “The one day he stops by the stand, I wasn’t there to say hello.”
Jimin was still watching the pair leave and answered distractedly. “Yeah, I mean, that was probably on purpose.”
Throughout the rest of the day, part of Jimin’s mind was stuck on the pair of strangers. He didn’t know why his ‘secret admirer’ was so interesting to him, but a part of Jimin wanted to know who he was so bad.
Why did he keep coming back? Why did he never introduce himself? Why did he leave so much money every time?
He didn’t know who this man was, but he was determined to find out.
---
“Ow!”
Hoseok winced slightly at his friend’s shout, whispering a short “sorry!” Into the air. His fingers continued their light probing of Jimin’s left ankle. After a few more minutes of poking and prodding, he sat back and clapped his hands once.
“Well! The good news: it’s not broken. Not even sprained I don’t think. The bad news: you probably twisted it good when you landed wrong. So…no dancing for at least a few days.”
Jimin groaned heavily and threw a fist to the floor.
“What now? I already missed a few days while I was sick. I hate not being able to perform.”
As much as Jimin had been wary of his ‘busking’ career in the beginning, he’d grown to really love it. He loved getting to show off his dancing and enjoy doing the thing he loved most in a way that let others appreciate it. Plus, he’d made a number of friends with the regular park goers who always watched him perform.
“The summer is almost over, and then it’s back to school and no time for dancing in the park.”
Despite Jimin’s plan to find out his mystery person’s identity, he hadn’t been to the park in several days. He’d fallen sick and been unable to go dance.
Hoseok had gone to set up the stand like usual, explaining to the regulars that Jimin was unwell. He’d reported back that Jimin’s admirer wasn’t there anyway. Instead, he rambled on about a new guy who’d showed up.
“His name was Seokjin. He came up to the stand and said his friend sent him to watch you dance. Seemed pretty disappointed you weren’t there. He was really funny though! Had a hilarious laugh.”
Jimin had complained that he had missed out on greeting a potential new fan, but Hoseok had said he was lucky it appeared he and his admirer got sick at the same time.
“Guess I’ll have to go by myself again,” Hoseok’s voice broke through Jimin’s thoughts.
The younger boy struggled to get himself up off the floor, Hoseok’s hand reaching out to help steady him.
“What? No. I can still come. I just can’t dance,” he protested. “How about you dance, and I can watch the stand? Yeah, that would work!”
But Hoseok was already shaking his head. “People come to see you perform, Jimin. Not me. And besides, I have tennis practice on Saturday, I can’t dance anyway.”
“Yeah, alright.” Jimin let out a light sigh. He admired his friend’s ability to keep up with two sports and come to the park with Jimin all the time.
“You could always do something other than dance instead,” Hoseok suggested.
“Like what?”
“Like….sing or something. You have a decent voice. And isn’t that what most buskers do anyway?”
“Have you lost your mind?” Jimin asked incredulously. “I think the last time I sang something was at my brother’s birthday party. And all I did was ‘Happy Birthday’.”
“But it was a good ‘Happy Birthday’,” Hoseok said with a teasing nudge. “Oh, come on! It would be fun! You didn’t think the dancing thing would work either.”
“Yeah, but I’m actually good at dance!”
“You’re good at singing too!”
“Says you!”
“Exactly!” Hoseok shot him a victorious grin. “I’m good at this kind of stuff, remember? And I’ve still got that speaker of Jungkook’s from the time the little brat needed help with his project.”
“Ugh, whatever,” Jimin grumbled. What was the point in arguing? Hoseok always won anyway. It was impossible to say no to him.
“I’ll do one song. That’s it. And if it’s horrible, then that’s all you’re ever getting.”
“Perfect! I’ll get the stuff ready tonight!”
With a great sense of deja vu, Hoseok tugged Jimin into a hug and started bouncing them in little circles. Jimin hopped clumsily on one foot and tried to suppress his grin at his friend’s excitement.
Just one song. What could possibly happen?
Jimin blinked in shock as the sound of clapping erupted from around him. He’d gotten so lost in the song he hadn’t even realized the crowd he’d drawn. Over by the stand, he could spot Hoseok staring at him with his jaw dropped open.
Was he really that good?
“That was amazing!” Soobin, the little boy who ate lunch at the picnic tables, bounded up to Jimin’s side. “Jimin-hyung, I didn’t know you could sing like that!”
“I, I didn’t know either,” Jimin said, still a little dazed. He watched in awe as people dropped bills into his bucket left and right.
He’d barely been at the park five minutes, and he’d already made half his usual amount of money!
As the crowd started to disperse, he realized he should probably go pick another song. He hadn’t thought he’d be singing another, so he didn’t have anything planned. Before he could leave, movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
His breath caught in his throat. His mystery man was making his way right towards him!
Jimin was frozen to his spot, eyes tracking the man’s approach. He was wearing blue today, and his usual mask was pulled down under his chin. His hat was missing, but his hair was now a startling shade of mint green.
And, oh my god, he was attractive. Like, Jimin had never actually seen his face before, and now that he had, he couldn’t stop staring. He had soft cheeks and pale skin and cat-like dark brown eyes. He was practically idol-level gorgeous. And totally Jimin’s type.
He stopped in front of Jimin and met the younger boy’s eyes.
“Hey. You’re a good singer.”
His voice was low and raspy. Jimin was obsessed with it already.
“Oh, um, tha-, thanks! I, uh, yeah. I don’t usually sing,” he stuttered out. His cheeks filled with embarrassment, and his hands fiddled nervously with the end of his shirt.
“You should do it more often. You’ve got a pretty special gift,” the other guy said. “You’re a great dancer too. I’ve watched you perform a few times.”
“I’ve noticed. I mean! I’ve just, um, I’ve seen you around before. Watching me. Not in a weird way! Just in a-, a normal way. Like everyone else. Hehe.” Jimin’s whole face was beet red by this point. God, he sounded like an idiot.
But the other man just laughed lightly. Even his laugh was pretty.
“Yeah, I tend to come by here during my lunch break. Hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not! I mean, um, that’s why I do it right? For people to watch?”
The other man tilted his head slightly. “You asking me or telling me?”
“Uh, t-telling?”
“Mmm. So, you like performing? Like dancing and singing in front of people?”
“Uhhh, yes? I mean, yeah! I love it. I’ve been dancing my whole life really. The singing thing is just a one-off cause I twisted my ankle the other day.”
Those cat-eyes were staring at Jimin so intensely he was pretty sure he was going to melt under their gaze. He fidgeted nervously, embarrassed and flustered.
The man suddenly looked down and pulled a small business card from his pocket. He held it out to Jimin who took it carefully from his hand.
“Well, if you ever want to try that ‘singing thing’ a little more, give me a call. I work for BigHit Entertainment, and we could use some talent like yours.”
Jimin was speechless in shock. An entertainment company?? Like, the ones that produced idols? An idol entertainment company wanted him?!
Before he could figure out something to say, the man reached over and flipped the card in Jimin’s hand. On the blank side, a series of numbers were scrawled in purple ink.
“And that, is my personal number. In case you want to call about something else.” The mint-haired man shot Jimin a wink, and then turned, stuck his hands in his pockets, and started towards the exit.
Shaking himself out of his stupor moments later, Jimin shouted a hasty, “Wait!”
The other man--his no-longer-secret admirer—turned around so he was walking backward.
“My name is Jimin! Park Jimin!”
A lazy smile. A nod of acknowledgment. “Nice to meet you, Jimin. I’ll see you around.”
And with that, the man turned back around and walked off.
Jimin was left staring after him in shock and wonderment. Did that just happen?
He looked down at the seemingly-innocuous piece of paper in his hand.
“Min Yoongi, producer,” he read aloud.
He could see Hoseok running towards him in his periphery. A slow smile stretched across his face.
“Min Yoongi, huh. I’ll definitely be seeing you around.”