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“hyungs, i’m so fucked”
jimin stalks towards the slytherin table, plopping down across from yoongi and hoseok. he grabs a biscuit from the table, biting a piece off and chewing sadly. yoongi shoots him an uninterested look before returning his attention to his breakfast.
“what did he do this time?” yoongi asks, impassive.
“ nothing !” jimin whines. “that’s the problem! he’s just there being so pretty and lovely and i’m left here staring at him while he most definitely has eyes from someone else. have you seen all the people he talks to? all the people that stare at him? how the hell am i supposed to ask him?” he pushes his plate out of the way and puts his forehead down against the cool wood, pouting.
“there there, jiminie,” hoseok says comfortingly, patting jimin on the head a few times. “i think you’ve got a good shot. he doesn’t dislike you, at the very least. if worst comes to worst you could just go as friends, right?”
jimin sighs, sitting back up and resting his head in his hands. yoongi huffs, shaking his head and setting his fork down.
“just do it, dickwad, what’s the worst that can happen?” yoongi supplies helpfully.
“he could say no,” jimin pouts. “hyungs what if he doesn’t like me?”
“i don’t know about that jimin…” yoongi smirks, glancing towards the entrance of the great hall. jimin turns and sees none other than taehyung, making his way down the long tables.
his silvery-gray hair is slightly tousled and just long enough so that reaches eyes. his uniform is fitted perfectly to show off his beautiful proportions, long yellow and black robe accentuating his already mile-long legs. an assortment of silver jewelry decorates his ears—pretty hanging earrings, small little hoops, glittering studs.
over their years at school, taehyung and jimin have made themselves relatively friends. in jimin’s humble opinion, they’re closer to acquaintances—not best friends, not hanging out with each other on a regular basis, but not strangers either.
they’ve gotten to know each other a bit in the various classes that the hufflepuffs and slytherins have had together. they’ve shared shy glances across the classroom, helped each other out in potions and care of magical creatures, have mutual friends. if jimin were stuck at a social event and the only other person he knew in the room was taehyung, he would have no problem sticking to him and having a good time.
well, not no problem , if he’s being honest. jimin thinks he might have a bit of trouble bypassing his relatively large—fuck it, huge —crush on taehyung.
ever since their first lesson together, jimin’s always had a bit of a soft spot for the hufflepuff. taehyung always managed to capture his attention, whether it was his gorgeous face, his charisma and confidence, his lovely personality, or his love for all things magic.
he remembers taehyung leading a nervous, wide-eyed first year towards the hufflepuff basement during their third year, soft voice and strong hand comforting the teary eleven-year-old. he remembers taehyung softly petting a unicorn foal during a care magical creatures lesson in their fourth year, love for the creatures abundantly clear in his whole aura. jimin remembers all the loving gazes, selfless actions, shy smiles he gives to everyone around him.
god, he’s whipped.
yet, now in his fifth year, jimin’s made no attempt at furthering any relationship he might have with taehyung. although taehyung sticks to his relatively small group of close friends, he’s a social butterfly; he knows everyone and everyone knows him. in addition to knowing him, pretty much everyone seems to have some sort of infatuation with him.
jimin can’t lie—he notices all the lingering stares and wishful gazes that taehyung gets from both girls and boys alike. in jimin’s mind, no one as sought-after as taehyung is could ever end up with him.
the hufflepuff has so many options, why would he ever choose jimin?
the yule ball was fast approaching and was the main reason for his current mental state. three weeks until the big event, and jimin still hasn’t found the courage to ask taehyung to be his date, let alone any ideas on how he would do it. ever since the announcement of the ball, jimin’s spent most of his time worrying about whether or not taehyung would even want to go with him, as a date.
maybe, just maybe, if worst comes to worst, they could go as friends. the thought makes jimin want to cry.
unless, of course, taehyung already has a date. espite jimin’s constant worrying, hoseok has sworn up and down that taehyung doesn’t have one.
( “he’s turned three girls down, jiminie,” he hears hoseok telling him again, “he’s not just gonna go with anyone.”
“that just means he has no problem saying no,” jimin remembers arguing back, “he’s not gonna pity me if he doesn’t like me.”
“but he does like you,” hoseok had said, softly, seriously. “i’ve seen the way he looks at you. i’ve heard the way he talks about you.”)
jimin mentally slaps himself. every time he thinks about getting turned down by taehyung, he thinks he might cry. realistically, he knows he needs to get out of his head and just get it done before it’s too late. he’d honestly rather ask taehyung and learn that the feelings aren’t mutual than to see his crush go to the ball with someone else.
he meets taehyung’s eyes as the latter reaches where jimin is sitting.
“hi hyungs,” taehyung says in that soft, deep voice that jimin loves so much— fuck jimin, snap out of it . “hi jiminie,” he says, a soft smile gracing his face as he shifts his full attention to jimin. there’s a pretty, natural pink flush to his cheeks that complements his tanned skin, still honey-golden even in the midst of december.
pretty . everything about taehyung is pretty.
“hi tae,” jimin smiles back, heart pumping rapidly in his chest, “morning.”
taehyung looks away briefly, brushes some hair out of his eyes and tucks a strand behind his ear. “g’morning. walk to potions with me?”
jimin beams at that. “of course, see you in a bit?”
he revels in the way taehyung’s smile grows a bit bigger, the light in his eyes a bit brighter.
“see you then,” taehyung replies, turning away to hurry off to the end of the hall where jeongguk waits for him at the ravenclaw table. jimin openly stares as he walks away, heat rising on his cheeks.
“fuck, you’re oblivious,” yoongi huffs, shaking his head. jimin ignores him in favor of looking longingly in taehyung’s direction.
taehyung sits down across from jeongguk and looks up to meet jimin’s eyes across the hall. a hesitant smile crosses the younger’s face before jimin looks away, embarrassed.
he’s so in love.
-
potions has been jimin’s favorite class ever since he came to hogwarts. he’s always been mesmerized by the way that seemingly out-of-place ingredients could come together in a certain way to make something completely different. not to mention he’s pretty good at it, too—spectacular, maybe, but jimin doesn’t want to get too ahead of himself.
being almost halfway through fifth year, his o.w.l.s are fast approaching, and jimin has every intention of getting an “outstanding” on potions one. he has no idea what he wants to do when he leaves hogwarts but he’s pretty damn sure it’ll involve potions.
oh, and of course, taehyung is in that class, too—but that’s just an added bonus. the two have always walked together to certain lessons every few days, the frequency increasing as they got older and closer—but it’s become an exceptionally frequent occasion recently.
in fact, jimin’s pretty sure the two have walked together to potions every single time for the past two months. at this point it’s a given, but jimin still loves the taehyung asks him every time.
he feels almost like a child every time he talks to taehyung, his crush having become so large over the past years that it overtakes all his senses until all he knows is taehyung taehyung taehyung —constant flushed cheeks and butterflies in his stomach until he’s almost numb with numb with love and longing.
and god, all he wants is for taehyung to be his. he can’t help it—taehyung’s just the loveliest boy he’s ever met.
these near-daily walks with taehyung have turned into one of jimin’s favorite parts of—well, life. at least his life at the moment, that’s for sure. the two have gotten to know each other even more through stories, jokes, and even just simple small talk. no matter how close they grow, however, the shy giddiness remains.
(jimin doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but deep down some part of him feels like even if he were lucky enough to be with taehyung, it would still be there, forever and ever.)
the two met back up after finishing their breakfasts, ten minutes to spare until potions. jimin had received a pointed look from yoongi and a few more words of encouragement from hoseok when leaving the table.
walking down to the dungeons, jimin couldn’t help but notice that taehyung was quieter than usual. he was normally pretty talkative when accompanying jimin, chatting about everything from the dream he had last night to the different candy he wants to try in muggle london. jimin didn’t want to think much of it, but he couldn’t help but wonder why taehyung was so silent.
he chewed on his bottom lip in thought— is he just tired? does he not want to talk to me? he wouldn’t have asked me to walk with him if he didn’t want to talk to me though. is he feeling okay? is he nervous about something? what if he —
“have you ever thought about, just like, throwing a bunch of random shit into a cauldron and seeing what it makes?” taehyung asks him suddenly.
jimin whips his head towards taehyung, his worried thoughts screeching to a halt. taehyung is staring at him with a dead serious look on his face, waiting for a response.
but jimin is somehow at a loss of words—blame it on taehyung’s, you know, everything . “like…?” he trails off in confusion, not knowing what to say.
taehyung shrugs. “like, i don’t know, fuckin’—potions without a recipe.”
“i—no, i’ve—i’ve never thought about it i guess,” jimin admits. he gives it a thought before his head snaps up in realization. he turns to taehyung and gives him a light, playful smack. “do you realize how dangerous that could be? it could like, i don’t know, make you grow a third arm or melt your liver or something!”
taehyung laughs and shakes his head. “but isn’t that the fun thing about it? you never know what you're gonna get!” he smilingly widely, surprisingly very enthusiastic about this idea.
he’s holding himself back from laughing and jimin feels his heartbeat picking up with the way taehyung is looking at him. “if something disastrous happens, well, it is what it is!”
jimin loses it at that, nearly folding in half from the force of his laughter. taehyung giggles, boxy smile wide. jimin attempts to gather himself, straightening back up and running a hand through his hair, placing the other on taehyung’s shoulder.
“no, tae!” jimin scolds, but with no real malice to his voice as he’s still laughing a bit. “that’s literally so risky, what if you died ?”
taehyung shrugs innocently. “if i die, i die.”
that sends the both of them into a fit of laughter, jimin holding on tighter to taehyung’s shoulder as he throws his head back. a few people in the hall could give them confused and pointed looks, but jimin ignores them.
“i can’t, i literally can’t with you,” jimin says, giggling.
needless to say, jimin’s cheeks hurt from smiling by the time they reach the potions dungeon.
-
jimin wipes the sweat from his brow, steam rising from the dozens of cauldrons scattered throughout the classroom. his sleeves are rolled up to above his elbows, outer robe long discarded on the floor.
they’re brewing a draught of peace, meant to relieve anxiety and agitation. it’s a difficult—maybe even o.w.l. level— potion, requiring careful attention to the detailed instructions, which jimin thinks is a bit ironic.
some of the less avid potion makers seem to be having a bit of trouble around him—green sparks have already shot out of one student’s concoction, while another’s turned to a cement-like consistency after adding a bit too much powdered moonstone.
jimin, in contrast, is in his zone. he adds in his ingredients precisely, stirring and simmering each as the mixture shifts through different colors—green, blue, pink, purple, orange, turquoise. he lets his second addition of porcupine tails simmer, preparing his powdered unicorn horn while waiting for the potion to turn purple. he takes a deep breath, rolls his shoulders a few times, and cracks his neck.
he brushes a hand through his hair and chances a glance up at taehyung, who’s working across the classroom. he finds that taehyung is already looking at him, staring up at him through his pretty bangs.
he too, like jimin, has his sleeves rolled up above his elbows and has a sheen of sweat on his forehead from the heat in front of him. there’s a beautiful pink flush on his cheeks that deepens when jimin makes eye contact with him.
jimin feels his heartbeat pick up in his chest and his breath catches in his throat—he’s mesmerized by taehyung’s beauty. taehyung offers up a small, hesitant smile that jimin flashes back at him, albeit with more a smirk as a way of teasing taehyung for getting caught. the two refocus their attention on their respective potions, jimin’s having now turned purple.
he adds in his powdered unicorn horn, turning the potion pink.
like taehyung’s pretty face , jimin thinks.
-
despite thinking obsessively about it, jimin still has no concrete plan for asking taehyung to the ball. maybe he just gets too caught up in thinking about taehyung himself instead of the plan, but who could blame him?
( “just fuckin’ do it, man,” yoongi tells him one night in the common room, “i’m serious. i doubt he’d ever say no to you, from what i’ve seen. i believe in you.”
“hyung, thats so nice of you. did you hit your head or something?”
“yeah, yeah, whatever kid.” )
it’s been three days since that potions class, and since then jimin has tried to seriously think about what he wants to do. he’s past the time of just incessantly worrying (though the worrying has definitely not stopped), much to the delight of his friends.
however, jimin’s had to put the planning on hold due to the transfiguration exam that’s currently looming over his head like a dark cloud. jimin isn’t particularly bad at transfiguration (not bad at all , he thinks to himself), but the exam is going to be purely theoretical and he can’t seem to fully grasp the concept of the inanimatus conjurus spell.
jimin doesn’t normally have to worry about these things, but it’s probable that his mind was on other, more interesting things—or people— the day they learned about it.
he’s currently holed up in the library, his textbook and (very minimal) notes spread out in front of him as he tries to piece together the concept. it’s starting to get late, but the perfectionist in jimin won’t let him leave until he’s confident in it.
theory is mind-numbing to jimin. he’d much rather physically do magic, like he gets to in potions, than just read and write about it. in fact, jimin can think of a lot of things that’s he’d much rather do than study. like hold taehyung’s hand. or wrap his arms around taehyung’s waist. or kiss taehyung. or run his hands through taehyung’s hair. or—
jimin put his head on the table, groaning. fuck the perfectionist— he might just have to give up the studying for tonight, since his mind clearly has other ideas. he’s weighing the pros and cons of packing up his things and leaving when he hears what might as well be the voice of an angel.
“you okay there jimin?”
jimin turns his to the side to see taehyung standing in front of him, an amused look on his face. he feels his cheeks heat up, embarrassed.
“i’m attempting to study,” he supplies helpfully, “but this shit sucks. i hate theoretical stuff.”
taehyung tilts his head curiously— cute, what the fuck —and sits down next to jimin.
“what exactly are you studying?”
“transfiguration— inanimatus conjurus spell,” jimin explains, hint of a whine in his voice, “i think i’ve got it, but at the same time, it makes no fucking sense. like, how the fuck can stuff just appear out of nowhere? i know it’s magic and all that but still— how ?”
taehyung giggles.
“my distress is not funny,” jimin pouts.
“no, no, of course not,” taehyung says, not at all convincing. “but,” he continues, a bit shy all of a sudden, “i think i understand it pretty well. you could, i don’t know—tell me what you know and we can see if there’s anything you’re missing?” he ends it like a question, shrugging and tucking a strand of hair behind his ears.
jimin finally sits up at that.
“that sounds— great , actually. tae, that’s—i think that exactly what i need right now, thank you, what the fuck,” he rambles. he might be just a little tired and a lot drunk on his love for taehyung.
taehyung looks relieved, small smile returning back to his face. he scoots his chair closer to jimin and looks at him expectantly.
“so, you wanna tell me what you know?” taehyung asks softly.
“yeah,” jimin nods, “yeah, for sure.” he takes a moment to gather his thoughts, since he’s finding it hard to think with taehyung so close to him.
in another world, if jimin was more confident, overthought things less, maybe he’d take this opportunity to make some sort of move. maybe grab taehyung’s hand—his pinky twitches at the thought—or ask him out, or even kiss him.
but he isn’t that jimin. jimin in this world feels endless swarms of butterflies in his stomach and a happy buzz throughout his whole body from just being this close to taehyung, alone, secluded from any other students.
jimin doesn’t want to give to much weight to the idea, doesn’t want to have too much false hope, but the thought strikes him—his seat isn’t exactly obvious or very easy to spot. he had holed up near the window of one of the furthest rows of bookshelves specifically for the quiet and isolation.
did taehyung just happen to be in the library right now and see him, or—maybe, just maybe, did he come here specifically to be with jimin?
he mentally shakes his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts before he spirals too far down into them. he takes a moment to gather himself, remembering what he should be doing.
jimin takes a deep breath and launches into an explanation of what he knows about the spell. taehyung’s looking at him intently, but jimin finds it hard to hold his gaze for any longer than a few seconds without looking back down at the table or his lap. he gets more confident as he goes along, taehyung smiling and nodding with every sentence.
-
after about twenty minutes, the two decided it was time to pack up and head back to their respective dorms. taehyung assured jimin that he knew everything he needed to know and that “the textbook is just full of stupid fluff that doesn’t matter, jiminie.”
jimin had offered to walk taehyung down to the hufflepuff basement, since he didn’t want to stop talking to taehyung just yet, and it isn’t too far from the slytherin dungeon (though he would definitely still do it even if the two dorms were on completely separate ends of the castle).
taehyung had been hesitant at first, not wanting to make jimin “go through the trouble”, but jimin had insisted that it wasn’t any trouble and that he really wanted to.
“please, tae.” he had said cutely, pouting. taehyung then agreed, pretty laughing filling jimin’s ears.
the two are now nearly to the kitchen corridor and jimin’s beginning to dread having to say goodbye to taehyung. he loves his house, loves being a slytherin, but at this moment he feels like he would give anything to be a part of hufflepuff so that he could spend even more time with taehyung.
(he’s heard that students get better sleep in hufflepuff since their dorms are so far underground. he thinks that he wouldn’t mind sharing a bed with taehyung down here, sleepy and content with the warm boy. maybe, if all goes well, he’ll find himself sneaking in here one day to do just that.)
taehyung takes the lead as they reach the kitchen corridor and jimin finds himself once again wanting to reach out and grab his hand. he’s been lost in his thoughts the whole way down here, senses still overflowing with taehyung taehyung taehyung taehyung .
the corridor is broad and brightly lit, several cheery paintings of food decorating the walls. after a few minutes, they come upon a stack of barrels in a nook against the right wall. taehyung stops before the barrels and taps the one two from the bottom, middle of the second row a few times. the lid swings open, revealing a passageway that he assumes to be leading to the common room. taehyung turns back to jimin.
“thanks for walking me, jiminie,” he says softly, small smile on his face.
“yeah, of course tae,” jimin responds.
he feels like his heart is almost going to burst. the torches lining the walls are casting a pretty glow on taehyung, illuminating the rosiness that’s emerging on his cheeks. his long eyelashes are casting a shadow on his cheekbones and his smile is intoxicating—to jimin, he looks like an angel.
a air of boldness suddenly comes over him.
“would you—” he sucks in a breath, the nervousness washing over him and squeezing at his lungs, “do you wanna go to the ball with me?”
he did it, he said it, it’s out there— fuck , he did it. the fear comes almost as soon as the words leave his mouth, but he did it . there’s no going back now. if taehyung says no, jimin might just die on the spot. at least he’ll finally get confirmation that, no, sorry, but i don’t like you like that . and then he’ll have to pretend that everything’s fine, that his heart wasn’t just broken by the boy that might as well be the love of his life at this point.
taehyung bites his bottom lip, the corners of his lips tugging up.
“i— yes , i’d—i’d love to, of course,” he says, words all rushing out in one breath.
relief fills jimin’s entire body and lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in.
“okay— okay , that’s—that’s amazing , wow, i—” jimin says in low voice, almost disbelieving.
taehyung laughs at that, cute, deep giggles breaking the tension and making jimin smile.
“what, did you think i was gonna say no ?” taehyung asks, bewildered.
“well, i don’t—i don’t know, you’re just so you and everyone loves you and i had no idea if you’d even want to fuckin— be my date,” and then, because this jimin overthinks things and he feels like this may be too good to be true, “you do want to go as my date, right? if you want to go as like— friends , or something, you can tell me. you don’t—you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, i was just—”
taehyung steps forward and press a soft kiss to jimin’s cheek, effectively cutting him off from his nervous rambling. he grabs jimin's fingers as he steps back, rubbing his thumb comfortingly over them.
“of course i want to go as your date,” he says softly, seriously.
“okay,” jimin nods, tongue darting out across his bottom lip, “okay. sorry, i just—i dunno, wanted to be sure, i guess.” he ends his sentence sheepishly, heat rising on his cheeks.
“s’okay,” taehyung says, lightly squeezing jimin’s hand, “i really, really wanna be your date though, alright? i’m sure.”
jimin nearly melts into the floor, smile spreading across his face at those words. taehyung wants to be his date. no—he doesn’t just want to, he really, really wants to. he nods, at a loss for words.
taehyung sighs. “i should probably get going, though. i’m surprised the door has stayed open this long.” he laughs, turning his head to look back at the door.
“i guess so,” jimin says pouting. he doesn’t want to leave taehyung so soon.
taehyung laughs again when he sees jimin's face. “look, i don’t want to say goodbye either, but i’m pretty sure the rest of these barrels are getting suspicious and they might douse us in vinegar if we stand out here any longer.”
jimin giggles, cheeks squishing up and turning his eyes into little half-crescent moons. “gross.”
“not the most pleasant,” taehyung agrees. he sighs. “let’s eat breakfast together tomorrow? maybe we can plan something out about the ball…?” he suggests.
“that sounds great, tae,” jimin says. he tugs taehyung in for a hug, wrapping his arms around the taller’s neck and pulling him closer. his heart races as his presses his cheek to taehyung’s shoulder. taehyung’s arms wrap around his waist, holding him delicately.
the hug lingers for bit longer than it probably should. taehyung pulls back and makes eye contact with jimin, whispering, “bye jiminie.”
jimin’s lips tug into a smile, heart fluttering. “bye, tae.”
taehyung turns reluctantly, climbing through the door and into the passageway, lid swinging shut behind him.
jimin lets out a deep exhale.
fuck, he did it.
-
a week later, jimin enters his dorm a while after his last lesson to find a note on his pillow.
jimin,
meet me by the barrels at 5.
i have a surprise for you.
— taehyung <3
(p.s., don’t wear your outer robe. just trust me)
jimin smiles to himself. he folds the note up and puts in the top drawer of his bedside table before shedding is outer robe and throwing it unceremoniously onto his bed. he quickly glances at the rarely used wristwatch lying on top of the table.
jimin had spent a while doing homework in the common room, and the clock now reads 4:50 pm. he decides to head for out of his dorm now—better to be a bit early rather than late.
the butterflies that ever-present when it comes to taehyung return to his stomach, fluttering increasing as he descends into the common room and towards the exit.
-
when jimin reaches the barrels that mark the entrance to the hufflepuff common room, he finds taehyung already waiting for him, leaning against the wall and looking off in the other direction. taehyung doesn’t seem to be expecting him just yet, head whipping up in surprise when he hears jimin approaching.
a smile spreads across his face as soon as he realizes it’s jimin. he doesn’t have a sweater or outer robe on, just his neatly tucked in button-up shirt and black and yellow tie. he pushes off the wall to stand up straight and face jimin.
“hi, jimin,” taehyung greets. he looks (and sounds) a bit nervous, which only makes jimin more excited to find out what this “surprise” is.
“hey, what’s up?”
in lieu of responding, taehyung turns to the barrel that’s two from the bottom, middle of the second and taps it a few times. as the lid swings open to reveal the passage to the hufflepuff common room, jimin looks at taehyung in confusion.
taehyung grabs jimin’s hand. “c’mon, jiminie,” he says, nodding towards the opening.
“i—are you sure?” jimin asks nervously, “i don’t want to get you in trouble.”
taehyung squeezes his hand lightly. “yeah, it’ll be fine. there’s barely anyone in the common room right now and i don’t really think too many people will really care.”
jimin tilts his head. “but some people will care?”
taehyung looks down at this shoes. “they might... say some things about me, but—” he looks back up to meet jimin’s eyes, “i don’t care, really. besides, that’s why i told you not to wear your outer robe. now it’s a bit harder to tell you’re a slytherin.”
taehyung’s eyes widen. “shit—i mean, not that being a slytherin is a bad thing, i just—i just meant not a hufflepuff, because your stuff isn’t yellow but—if you don’t have it on it’s harder to see that you aren’t wearing yellow and—”
“hey, no, it’s fine,” jimin cuts him off. “i didn’t think you meant it like that, don’t worry. it’s a good idea, tae.” he squeezes taehyung’s hand, smilingly internally at the thought that taehyung was so concerned with making sure that jimin knew his intentions. “let’s go, yeah?”
taehyung nods firmly and leads jimin into the passageway. he takes jimin through the tunnel and into the common room, only a few people scattered throughout the room. none of them pay the two any attention as taehyung leads him to the round door off to the side of the room. he pushes it open to reveal another tunnel, one that jimin assumes leads to taehyung’s dorm.
the room is empty when they enter it and taehyung leads him over to a bed with its curtains drawn. he takes a deep breath and lets go of jimin’s hand.
“okay, you can—you can think this is dumb and you can say no if you want to, i just—” he sucks in a breath, “i wanted to show you this in case you’d maybe be interested. but it’s—it’s okay if you’re not.”
jimin’s really interested now, and he finds taehyung’s rambling cute. taehyung pulls aside the yellow curtain, and on his bed lies a plain tuxedo. jimin tilts his head in confusion and looks up at taehyung expectantly.
taehyung takes out his wand. “i’m—i’m pretty good at multicorfors , so i can change the color and style of outfits. so, if—if maybe, we wanted to coordinate for the ball, we could—we could do that?” he ends it like a question, unable to meet jimin’s eyes.
“thats—i’d really like that, tae” jimin says softly, “do you wanna show me?”
taehyung nods, pointing his wand at the tuxedo and muttering multicorfors . the fabric shifts before jimin’s eyes—intricate silvery-gold designs appear on the jacket as the tie and shirt turn to smooth black silk. the lapels have transformed into a pretty black velvet with no indication of what had been there just second ago.
jimin stares at the clothes in astonishment. “tae, that’s—that’s amazing , it’s beautiful, i—” he looks up at taehyung in a loss for words. “how—how did you get so good at it?”
taehyung pulls at the cuffs of his sweater, embarrassed. “i like clothes and fashion a lot so it’s fun to practice with it,” he shrugs. biting his bottom lip, he asks, “do you maybe wanna do it? it’s—it’s okay if you think it’s dumb, i just thought—”
“tae, it’s okay,” jimin cuts him off, laughing. “i think it’s a great idea, i’d love to do it.”
taehyung exhales, relieved. “okay, good, because i had an idea in mind for yours and i really wanted to use it and i think i might’ve cried if you said no.”
-
jimin stares at himself in the mirror. his black silk shirt is buttoned all the way up, grey ruffles accentuating the collars. beautiful, intricate silver paisley patterns take up most of the jacket. his dark hair swept off his forehead, a few strands falling artfully over the left side and covering a bit of his eye. silver hoops hang from each of his ears and various chunky rings adorn his fingers.
he had spent a probably inordinate amount of time getting ready, meticulously styling his hair over and over again until he deemed it just right. there are perfectly smoky streaks of eyeshadow across his lids and a pretty clear gloss on his plump lips.
jimin turns around to get a look at his outfit from the back. his pants hug his thighs and ass just right—something he’s pretty sure taehyung did on purpose. the younger had transformed jimin’s clothes into the suit he’s wearing now, slightly different from taehyung’s but still similar enough that they would look good together.
he glances towards the grandfather clock sitting in the corner of the dorm. 6:45 pm . the two had agreed to meet at the entrance hall at 6:50 pm. he grabs his wand and tucks it into his inner pocket, checking his appearance in the mirror one more before heading down to the common room.
dozens of students are milling about the room with dates or friends, but jimin pays no attention to them as he makes his way to the exit. he hurries up the numerous flights of stairs leading up from the dungeons, not wanting to be late for taehyung.
he makes his way into the entrance hall after a few minutes. the hall is crowded and noisy, full of students waiting for the ball to start, and the commotion is only adding to jimin’s nervousness. he heads around the giant marble staircase towards the kitchen corridor, hoping to make his search for taehyung easier. as the entrance to the corridor comes into sight, he sees a familiar head of gray hair emerging from the doorway.
taehyung spots him almost immediately, eyes lighting up as makes a beeline for jimin. he’s wearing the same suit that he had transformed in his dorm, buttoned up and accentuating his small waist, and has a bit of brown eyeshadow smoked out across his lids. there’s a small hoop in one of his ear and a few pretty dangling chains in the other. his hair is parted off his forehead, a couple strands falling delicately over his eyes and every so slightly curling at the ends.
jimin sucks in a breath. taehyung’s so, so pretty (and jimin’s so, so gay.)
“hi, tae,” jimin greets, a bit of a nervous lilt to his voice, “you look really, really amazing.” taehyung grins, boxy smile all but blinding jimin.
“thanks jimin-ah,” he smirks, “you should see yourself, though. i think i nailed the fit of those pants.”
jimin opens his mouth but no words come out, caught off guard by taehyung’s bluntness. one moment he’ll be shy and flustered, cheeks pink and biting his lip, and the next moment he’ll be the one shamelessly flustering jimin. fucker.
taehyung giggles, grabbing jimin’s hand and leading him towards the entrance to the great hall. “c’mon, they’re opening the doors!”
-
as the applause filters out, a light and slow-paced song starts up and throngs of couples emerge to join the champions on the dance floor. jimin nudges taehyung with his shoulder.
“dance with me?” he asks, biting his bottom lip.
taehyung gives him a small, soft smile and grabs his hand. “let’s go.”
he pulls jimin onto the dance floor and settles a hand on his waist, raising the other, already joined hand to the side. jimin’s hand is entirely engulfed by taehyung’s, a fact that both annoys and endears him. he places the other on taehyung’s shoulder, pulling him a bit closer.
the other students around them melt into the background as jimin looks up to meet taehyung’s gaze. taehyung is staring intently at him, soft smile gracing his pretty lips (pretty, pretty lips that jimin so badly wants to kiss) and cheeks naturally flushed a lovely pink.
he feels his heartbeat pick up the longer he keeps eye contact. his cheeks are quickly heating up to match taehyung’s and he darts his tongue out to lick at his lips.
jimin’s been contemplating the next step over the past few days. he really, really likes taehyung and wants so badly to be his boyfriend. he wants to be able to hold his hand throughout the castle, kiss him whenever he feels like it, and sneak into the hufflepuff dorm to cuddle with him. he wants to spend lazy sundays lounging by the great lake and hogsmeade weekends strolling through the city together.
he exhales shakily and the corners of taehyung’s lips twitch up just a bit more.
“what?” jimin asks quietly, slightly amused but also nervous. taehyung lightly squeezes jimin’s waist and rubs a thumb over his knuckles.
“nothin’,” taehyung murmurs, “i just think you’re really pretty.” his gaze is so soft, so affectionate.
jimin ducks his head, heart pounding increasingly louder in ears. he winds his arm loosely around taehyung’s neck, bringing him even closer and lightly brushing his fingers through the strands at the base of his neck.
“thanks, tae,” jimin says quietly, a little breathless from the proximity. they’re nearly chest to chest now, and taehyung’s moved his hand further onto jimin’s lower back. “i think you’re really pretty, too—the most pretty, in fact.”
taehyung smiles, shy but fond. jimin’s getting lost in taehyung’s big brown eyes, brain not even registering the hundreds of people around them or the music playing throughout the hall. he briefly thinks back to the girls that hoseok said had asked taehyung and been rejected.
checkmate, bitch.
taehyung bites his lip, suddenly hesitant. “can i—can i kiss you?”
jimin’s breath catches in his throat. this isn’t real. it can’t be real can, it? no, this has to be some sort of elaborate dream because there is no way that taehyung just asked him that. he’s half expecting to suddenly wake up and find out that the past few weeks have just been a figment of his imagination.
but no— taehyung’s in front of him, and he’s real, and he’s got a hand on jimin’s waist and is asking jimin to kiss him. the proximity is intoxicating and jimin can feel himself gravitating even nearer with every millisecond that goes by.
he gives a small nod, but is already pressing closer on instinct, eyes trained on taehyung’s lips and heart pounding loudly in his ears.
jimin leans in and tilts his head up, taehyung leaning down to meet him in the middle. he presses his lips softly to taehyung’s, eyes fluttering shut. it’s chaste and gentle, but it still makes jimin feel as if he’s just melted into the floor. he pulls away, a bit breathless, but face still mere centimeters from taehyung’s.
fuck. fuck fuck fuck fuck . that just happened. jimin blushes but doesn't look away from taehyung’s eyes.
“i liked that,” he whispers, hesitant, afraid to break the little bubble they’ve created.
the corners of taehyung’s lips twitch up at that. “yeah, me too.”
his raised hand slips from jimin’s to join the other around his waist. jimin winds his arm around taehyung’s neck, pulling him so that their chests are pressed flush against each other.
“i’d really like to kiss you again,” taehyung whispers, “but i’m pretty sure that a girl i said no to going with is glaring at us over there.”
jimin laughs, whole body shaking as he leans his head on taehyung’s shoulder. taehyung’s deep giggles follow, a sweet melody filling jimin’s ears.
i want to hear this all the time , jimin thinks. he opts to keep his head on taehyung’s shoulder even as his laughter dies out, pressing his cheek into the soft fabric.
jimin takes a deep breath to try and ground himself. he’s sure that taehyung can feel how his heart is practically leaping out of chest with the way they’re pressed together.
“she wishes she was me,” he murmurs. taehyung huffs cutely, giving jimin’s waist a light squeeze.
“thanks for inviting me, really,” taehyung says seriously, leaning his cheek on the top of jimin’s head. “i—wow, i just—i really like you. a lot. and i know we’ve been friends but i never thought anything would come out of it. i’m just—i dunno, i’m happy.”
fuck, he’s so cute .
“i’m happy too,” jimin says, trying hiding his smile in taehyung’s neck, “i could never not like you, i think. if i’m being honest.”
he can ever so slightly feel the pound of taehyung’s heart in his pulse. jimin’s sure his matches—his heart feels just one moment from bursting with all the emotion he’s feeling.
“well, in that case, would you maybe wanna—i dunno, go to hogsmeade with me? when we have our next visit?” taehyung asks hesitantly, like he’s afraid that, despite the mutual confession they just had less than ten seconds ago, jimin will reject him.
jimin couldn’t imagine ever doing that. he pulls back just enough to be able to look taehyung in the eyes, bodies still pressed impossibly close. taehyung’s biting his bottom lip, nervousness clearly written all over his face.
he feels almost dizzy again with his own face mere centimeters from taehyung’s, heart pounding rapidly in his ears.
“i’d love to,” he whispers, staring directly into taehyung’s eyes despite having every instinct to look away from the pure, overwhelming emotion surrounding them. it feels wrong to break this moment, like speaking any louder might shatter the little world they’ve created around them.
a pretty smile spreads across taehyung’s face, eyes holding jimin’s gaze. “then it’s a date?”
the song slowly fades out as couples leave the dance floor, migrating to other areas of the hall to begin their meal. jimin doesn’t pay any mind to them—his eyes are on taehyung and taehyung only.
“it’s a date.”
