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Day 1
00:01
Jimin is walking down the beach. It's dark and windy, and he's only wearing a thin tee. It's far too cold but Jimin's far too caught up in looking at the wave patterns to care about the fact that his feet are stepping on broken shells or the that he can't seem to feel his own face anymore.
He continues his walk on the sand until he comes across tents. A lot of tents. He can't understand why people would even choose this beach to hold events in the first place. It's usually a deserted place at night, and even borderline creepy, with no buildings and landmarks for miles.
The tents are out in the middle of the beach; light and warmth radiates outward in midst the darkness and Jimin can hear people gathering and whispering amongst themselves.
He immediately quickens his pace and passes by the crowd. Finally, he is met with the peaceful sound of waves crashing against the shore once again.
He's too caught up with looking at the footprints he's leaving behind that he doesn't see a man come up to him.
"What's someone like you doing here?" Jimin hears a voice chiming in, a perfect addition to the serene sound of splashing water. Like the water out there, the voice dances in tune with the wind.
He looks up from his toes to see a man with a bottle of alcohol in hand. His eyes are kind of red around the edges and his speech is a little slurred. Jimin stops in his tracks.
"And what's someone like you doing here?" jimin hides his shock well enough and retorts, narrowing his eyes. "Why is Jeon Jungkook out here in the middle of the night? All alone?"
jungkook smiles, his cheeks red from the raging wind. He looks youthful and innocent. Jimin isn't sure why his heart is picking up its pace when he stares at the man for too long. It must be the surprise and anticipation taking over. This is Jungkook after all. A Superstar and Korea's sweetheart. He's the most famous person right now, and Jimin must be feeling inferior standing so close. That must be it.
The man takes another chug at the liquid in the bottle, and uses his thumb to point to the tents behind them. From here, you can barely see the lights.
Jimin can already piece things together before Jungkook even opens his mouth. "That's for me. It would be extremely rude of me to not even show up to my own party."
Jimin hums. Respectable. "Why are you alone then?" He can't help but ask. He really shouldn't be talking to a stranger, especially someone like Jungkook. He's dangerous in more than a few ways. Jimin knows it's best to just keep a distance. He debates on just turning around now, and pretending like this run-in never happened.
"I could be asking you the same question." He hears Jungkook as he's about to turn on his heel. It puts him to a stop. He finds the question oddly appropriate to ask to someone like Jimin. He looks out at the sea of stars and can't help but think it gets too blinding sometimes.
"Life is hard." That's Jimin's answer. It's simple and to the point. He doesn't expect anything from the other, because what he just said is a pretty serious claim, and it should take a decent amount of thinking from someone sober to come up with a proper response to that, but Jungkook answers almost immediately, without much thought.
"I agree."
13:04
"Let's have fun before the week ends." Jimin's on Jungkook's his chest and the two are naked in bed.
Strangely, Jimin doesn't feel any sense of discomfort. Maybe it's because this is Jungkook they were talking about.
"It's not a good idea," Jungkook replies, staring right back. There's no holding back, but his tone of voice is still soft, and there's no bite to it. His breathing is even and controlled, and Jimin feels a sense of calm drifting throughout his body as he listens to his heartbeat. Jungkook radiates a sense of calmness and security that Jimin would gladly get drunk on.
"The whole night was a bad idea. Look where we are now." Jimin isn't someone to do this type of stuff. Jimin doesn't want to toot his own horn but he likes to think that he's someone relatively smart. Smart enough to recognize a bad decision. But there's just something special between the two of them that has Jimin aching for more. One night stands arn't Jimin's thing, but Jungkook is an exception. This exception can't really be explained. Jimin doesn't know why Jungkook is so special. It makes Jimin lightheaded the more he thinks about it. So he chooses not to think.
"By the end of the week, I'll-"
"Then let's have some fun before your vacation ends." Jimin cuts Jungkook off because he doesn't want to hear it, doesn't want him to spoil the fun. They're having a great time in the present, basking in one another's warmth.
Jungkook gives Jimin a toothy smile that makes Jimin's heart pick up, but he blames it on the warm morning that's making him too excited for no reason at all.
Everything about to happen is just for fun. Nothing as stupid as falling in love is going to happen. That's only for movies and Jimin hates romcoms like that. It's unrealistic and too coincidental to actually happen.
Love is overrated, so sticking with Jungkook is a safe option, because Jimin is Jimin and Jungkook is Jungkook. The two would never in a million years work, and Jimin has fully accepted this fact with pride. That's why he doesn't have to be careful regarding anything about love when it comes to Jungkook.
Never in a million years.
Day 2
06:33
"Why are you still up?" Jimin hears Jungkook whisper from his side of the bed. They're at Jimin's apartment. It's bare and there are no decorations.
"Thinking." That's all Jimin can breath out as he looks up at the ceiling.
They're naked again, and they've done it too many times to count but Jimin finds that he doesn't feel even the slightest bit tired. Jungkook seems to have that effect on him.
"About what?" Jungkook asks after a beat. Jimin looks at his face from the corner of his eyes. The room is dark, but Jungkook is somehow glowing.
Jimin finds himself opening up to Jungkook too quick. He's strangely not annoyed at Jungkook constantly poking himself into his personal business, much to his surprise. He might even be a little excited at the fact that someone was actually here and willing to listen to him rant about his life and misfortunes.
That night, Jimin talks about a lot of stuff. Somewhere along the way, the two turned their heads to face each other, faces only inches apart as they talk on and on about themselves. That close, Jimin can only smell Jungkook. It's a smell of detergent with a sweet undertone. It goes perfectly with everything about Jungkook because that's what he is. Sweet.
Jimin talks about his worries, and Jungkook gives his imput. His way of thinking is so fresh and different from what he's used to that Jimin finds it hard not to admire his point of view on life. It's mature and realistic, he easily tells Jimin the truth without sugarcoating anything. Yet, he delivers the news in a way that has Jimin respecting his thoughts, even if he doesn't always agree with them.
When it's Jungkook's turn to talk, Jimin listens more than he speaks. That's because Jungkook is definitely more experienced. He's seen more and gone through more than Jimin can even imagine. So Jimin can only give the boy his undivided attention as Jungkook talks his worries away as well.
The sun is rising when they finally fall asleep. When Jimin wakes up after a few hours of sleep, his eyes open up to an empty half of his bed.
Despite being alone all his life, he finds that he's never been so lonely.
Day 3
15:46
Jungkook is at the front of Jimin's apartment. The older opens his door to find the superstar with flowers in his hand.
"They reminded me of you," is what Jimin gets as an explanation. The flowers are in his hand before he can even say his thanks, and he takes a wiff of the scent and drowns in delight.
The flowers look so unbothered and natural, as if they could blossom all on their own. Jungkook had correlated these flowers to Jimin. That thought alone puts a big smile onto Jimin's face. The past few days, he's been smiling a lot lately. It might have something to do with Jungkook coming into his life.
"Thank you."
Day 4
22:11
Jimin and Jungkook are spending the day out. They decide to go somewhere lowkey, because if Jungkook is seen, it'll surely cause trouble and result in the ugly formation of crowds.
To be honest, Jimin doesn't mind where they go, because if it's with Jungkook, he knows that he'll be having fun. Plus, Jungkook had told him multiple times that he doesn't really mind getting recognized with jimin. Despite all that, they both agree it's better to be safe than sorry.
He knows that Jungkook doesn't care about his image and materialistic things like fame and recognition. And even if he does, nothing changes. But somewhere in his heart, he wonders why his chest feels heavy whenever he entertains the idea of Jungkook being embarressed of him.
23:21
They arrive at Jimin's favorite food stand. It's not extravagant at all, and the food there is way too oily to eat for someone as high and mighty as Jungkook. But the thing is, he doesn't seem to mind. Jungkook probably doesn't mind anything.
Jimin tries to order the prettiest dishes, the ones that might look better in appearance. But Jungkook, to his surprise, orders the most oily and fat-filled meals on the menu.
Soon, Jimin is stuck with a poor excuse of a salad, and he has to hold his breath whenever he takes a bite.
When he excuses himself to use the bathroom, probably to throw up in the toilet, he returns to Jungkook and the sight of something strange. At first, he can't tell what changed, but as he walks closer, he realizes that Jungkook is eating his serving of salad, and in front of his own chair, is Jungkook's original order of pork cutlet.
When he goes to sit down, Jungkook seems too engrossed in the salad to even look up at Jimin to see his reaction. The two eat in comfortable silence, and neither address what Jungkook has done.
But when Jimin lays back on his chair and groans in satisfaction, rubbing his stomach happily, he accidentally catches Jungkook looking his way, sneakily observing him with a gentle smile on his face.
Day 5
08:23
Jimin opens his eyes to the bright and shining sun. Everything seem good and dandy at first glance.
But then he looks to his side and sees Jungkook. The man is still in his pajamas, hair all over the place from tossing and turning all night. He's crouching over on the edge of the bed. His phone is in his hand and he's on a call with someone. He's whispering as quiet as he can, probably in an attempt to not disturb Jimin from his slumber.
"I-" he seems to be cut off. He waits a beat for the other to finish. Jimin can faintly hear a deep voice at the other end.
"I've just been busy, okay?" he's secretly staring at Jungkook's side profile from where he's laying on the bed. Jungkook doesn't seem to know he is awake yet, so he takes this chance to freely observe his pretty face. Jungkook, for once, isn't smiling or laughing or teasing Jimin. Instead, there's an ugly line in between his eyebrows. Jungkook is frowning. Nothing feels right. Jimin feels as grossed out as Jungkook looks.
"I know I have to be there, and I will be. Stop worrying so much."
Jungkook gives a brief glance towards Jimin and finally realizes that he's awake. "I have to go," is all Jungkook says. He hangs up without waiting to hear the response from the person at the other end of the line.
In a blink of an eye, Jungkook is all smiles and sweet voice again. "Sorry, did I wake you up?" He smiles apologetically and strokes Jimin's hair.
Jimin mirrors his smile, "'s okay." Then, after a moment, "...was that..."
He doesn't need fo finish the sentence because Jungkook already knows what he's trying to say. He always does. It feels like a taboo talking about this, but Jimin has to know.
"Yea."
Jungkook's answer is what Jimin expected, but it doesn't mean the pain in his chest or the ugly feeling growing from deep within is eased. In fact, everything in him is boiling, urging to edge over and explode.
Jimin expected a lot to come out of this week. He expected fun getaways and a cool story to tell his friends after all this was over.
Feelings, however, were the one thing Jimin would never have imagined to come out of this.
Day 6
19:47
The two of them are on Jimin's couch. There's a movie on, but neither of them are paying attention. Jimin is on his laptop and typing away. There's a paper due tomorrow and he can't slack off now that he's so close to his goal.
Jungkook, on the other hand, is busy solving a jigsaw puzzle on the coffee counter.
Jimin is so focused on his work that he almost misses what Jungkook says. "There's only two more days left."
Jimin stops his clicking and suddenly all the letters and words he's typed up so far suddenly doesn't make any sense to him. He's staring at a screen and it's too bright but he can't bother to turn his face away. "Yea." What else is there to say?
"Then, it'll be over."
"Hm." Jimin feels his eyes burning. Why are they burning?
"I'll miss this." Jungkook is saying all this stuff and Jimin doesn't know why. What's the point? "I'll miss you."
Jimin finally manages to turn his head to face the other man. He sees that Jungkook is already looking at him. The man's eyes are glossy, and there's no doubt his own aren't just as wet.
They stare at each other for a moment and Jimin is suddenly punched in the gut with a foreign feeling. This feeling is pushing him to do something, anything. To try everything he can just to stay with Jungkook for a little bit longer.
This feeling is making it hard for him to even breath properly. Suddenly, the memory of Jungkook talking on the phone is flashing before his eyes. The ugly feeling is starting to return. Everything is overwhelming and the need to be with Jungkook grows stronger the longer his gaze lingers. He can't help but feel a little helpless. That's because he knows that nothing he can do will be enough to change the outcome of this story.
The realization that Jimin needs with Jungkook knocks the breath right out of his lungs. He doesn't know who starts moving first, but the two are quickly moving their hands to unbutton each other's clothes.
That night is different, because that night is the night Jimin found out just how important Jungkook had become to him in just five short days.
That night, they make love. It's slow and filled with the blabbering of sweet nothings. There are little caresses here and there, and Jimin feels high throughout it all.
That night, Jimin realizes that somewhere along the way, he had fallen hopelessly and utterly in love with Jungkook. He also finds out that his feelings don't go unreturned.
Day 7
23:55
It's the end of the very last day.
Each day has felt like a whole new journey to Jimin, and he's so thankful to jungkook for allowing him to experience such a story. He's thankful that Jungkook was the one beside him throughout it all.
The two of them are sitting on the beach again, where it all started, but this time, there are no tents and the usual clear sky is filled with dark clouds. This time, it's not excitement that's filling Jimin up to the brim, but dread that fills his veins.
"I love you." Jimin finds his mouth moving on it's own before he even realizes what he's doing. He's still looking down at his palms by the time he finishes spelling out the last syllable.
He finds a gentle hand coming into view and grasping his own. "I love you too."
Day 8
14:33
Jeon Jungkook and Kim Taehyung, famous celebrity couple, finally gets married at a private resort in Busan by the ocean!
–Excerpt from Seoul New Magazines
18:21
"Good evening, my name is Park Jimin. I just recently came from Korea, and I'm so thankful to have this opportunity to study here at Harvard."