Archive of Our Own

They hired him because he doesn’t talk much, Yoongi knew. He doesn’t have that many people to talk to which made him perfect for the job. He’s witnessed many things, heard gruesome stories, but he never said a word.

“Repeat it,” Seokjin, the hotel manager, had asked back then.

“Assist the clients with whatever they need, clean their messes, but never utter a word. I don’t see what happens here, I don’t hear what happens here and I don’t know what happens here.”

Seokjin had provided him with a fake name tag. Safety, he said. Whoever laid eyes on him would assume his name was Suga. His real name was never to be spoken; he didn’t want to end up like the last person who was in his place. Whenever someone walks in, they’re always bruised up or covered up. They always take off their masks when they come inside though. They always eye Yoongi suspiciously. Yoongi notices, of course, but he never says anything. He just silently gives them a key, a room number and a buzzer in case they need assistance.

The day someone came bursting in as if he were being chased, Yoongi knew something bad was bound to happen. If not immediately, then soon.

“Fucking calm down, Tae. What happened?” They were screaming at each other, two clients from their room. Their voices were muffled, but still understandable. Because of this, Yoongi had unintentionally learned both their names. Vante and RM or Taehyung and Namjoon.

“It’s Minnie. He’s a fucking psychopath, look what he did to me!” When he ran in, Yoongi caught a glimpse of Vante’s face. A nasty cut just below his right eye. From the looks of it, that wasn’t all he walked away with.

“How does he know it was us?”

“Fuck if I know, but, right now, we’re at the top of his list. We have to get the fuck out of here.”

“We can’t! What the fuck do we do about him?” Yoongi remembers, a few days ago they came in with someone tied up and unconscious. He remembers how delicate that person looked. Must have been easy to capture.

“Dispose of him, he’s the reason we’re in trouble with Minnie.” Muffled screams came after that. “Shut up!”

“We can’t do that; you know Jeon wanted him alive.” Yoongi also knows of Jeon. Specifically, Jeon Jeongguk. He has come by the hotel a few times before. He’s the most intriguing to Yoongi out of all his clients. He comes in, usually at early hours of the day, battered and bruised, but he leaves looking like any regular college student, not a scratch on him, almost unrecognizable.

“Well we can’t wait for him here anymore. Just call him and set up a new meeting place.”

“Alright, let’s move quick. Knock him out.” There was a loud thud after that.

When the keys and the buzzer come back to him at his desk, they’re almost always bloody. Yoongi always takes care of cleaning and disinfecting them.

-=+=-

A few days later, as Yoongi had predicted, it happened. Someone busted through the door. Someone who has never been in there before.

“HOSEOK HYUNG?” The man was about Yoongi’s height. He had dangling earrings shaped like little swords, a single pastel pink painted nail on his ring finger and a 13 tattoo on his wrist. As they locked eyes, the man didn’t hesitate to walk towards Yoongi and pull out his dagger, pointing it towards him over his desk. “Where is he?”

Yoongi didn’t speak.

“Where the fuck is he,” his voice seemed to shake with rage. He leaned over the desk, his dagger now slightly touching the underside of Yoongi’s chin.

Yoongi shifted his eyes from the man’s hand back to his eyes. Silent. Seokjin did warn him this would happen back when he had just been starting out. He said to hit a specific button, and he would come help him. So that’s exactly what Yoongi did. It took a while for Seokjin to diffuse the man’s anger, but he managed. Yoongi learned this was the Minnie Vante was talking about. Jimin, as he introduced himself. And things were about to get much more difficult since he refused to leave.

-=+=-

It wasn’t long until Yoongi found himself tied to a chair in one of the hotel rooms. It happened as he was cleaning it out. He had left the door open, perfect for anyone to slip in unbeknownst to him.

“Hello,” Jimin said sweetly as soon as he saw Yoongi’s open eyes. He was sharpening his weapons. How horribly cliché, Yoongi thought. “Did you have a nice rest?”

Yoongi tugged at his restraints, testing them. He heard Jimin chuckle. They were secure. No chance of escaping them on his own.

Jimin adjusted himself before speaking once more. “Listen, I’m not interested in harming you. All I want is for you to tell me where Vante is.”

Yoongi tilted his head in fake confusion. It seemed to make Jimin a bit angry as he took a deep breath as if to calm himself down.

“He’s been here. You’ve seen him. I know you have. All you have to do is tell me where he went.” Silence. Jimin moved into Yoongi’s space. “You’re very pretty, I don’t want to harm you, but I will if I have to. I know you saw what I did to Vante, I won’t hesitate to do it to you too.” He pulled out a shiv. “From right here,” he touched the cold metal next to Yoongi’s eye, “until here.” and dragged it lightly over Yoongi’s skin in a diagonal line to his cheek.

It would, in fact, be similar to what he saw on Vante’s face, Yoongi thought. Only difference would be the side of the face.

“They took one of my friends, you know. All I want is my friend back. He gets frightened rather easily.”

They stayed in silence for a moment until Yoongi’s scream broke it.

“Oh good, you do have a voice. I was beginning to worry.” Jimin kneeled to see the damage he did. Yoongi wasn’t expecting him to attack his thigh. Jimin dragged his finger slowly along the cut, listening to Yoongi trying his best to bite back his pained noises. “I don’t want to keep doing this to you,” Jimin looked up at him innocently. “All you have to do is tell me where he is.”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about.”

Jimin hummed, pleased. “Your voice is beautiful, keep talking maybe we’ll get somewhere.”

-=+=-

By the end of the day, Yoongi had cuts and bruises everywhere while Jimin had gotten absolutely no information. The next morning, Yoongi was still tied to his chair, but Jimin was nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, Seokjin found him and immediately untied him to treat his wounds.

“I should’ve known something was up when I didn’t see you at the desk yesterday.” They were having breakfast together, sat at the bar.

“It’s nothing, hyung.” Yoongi rubbed at his neck. “I didn’t tell him anything.”

“Namjoon called the desk yesterday. Said Jeon was going to need room 328. To get it ready for Wednesday.” Yoongi nodded. 328, he thought. The most luxurious room in the entire hotel.

“I know Minnie was looking for his friend. Joon said he’s with Jeon.” Seokjin moved around his food on his plate. “Pretty sure Minnie won’t follow the hotel’s rules if he finds Jeon here with his friend. And you’ll be on the receiving side of his anger.” Yoongi only nodded, unsure of where Seokjin was going with this. “You’ll have to assist Jeon on Wednesday, but I’ll give you the rest of the week off after that. You come back Monday.”

Ah, Yoongi wasn’t sure that was the best idea, but he took it anyways.

-=+=-

As expected, Jeongguk came in a few days later, holding hands with a very scared boy. The same one who was unconscious when Vante and RM brought him in. Hoseok, Yoongi remembers. He must be tired of being brought to this hotel.

As usual, Yoongi silently handed him his key and a buzzer.

He didn’t hear any screams that night like he was expecting to. In fact, a few hours later, Hoseok was the one to show up at Yoongi’s desk asking for an extra blanket, heart shaped smile bright on display.

Yoongi didn’t question it.

-=+=-

The next time Yoongi saw Minnie was when he was on one of his days off, walking home. He noticed someone walking behind him, he took four lefts, going in a circle to confirm if this person was following them. They were.

He wasn’t paying much attention to where he was going as most of his focus went to figuring out how to lose the person following him, he ended up bumping into some drunken stranger.

“Watch it, fucker,” the stranger burped, gripping Yoongi’s arm tightly. Great. “I’ll have you know I bought myself a black belt in taekwon-fu,” the stranger pushed Yoongi back with little force and began jumping in place, hands balled into fists in front of him like a clumsy boxer.

Yoongi could have easily walked away, but someone came up behind the stranger, successfully taking him out. His eyes followed the stranger falling to the floor unceremoniously, then back up to his attacker who was smiling sweetly at him. He sighed, dropping down to his knees to check if the drunken stranger on the floor still had a pulse. He did not.

“Wasn’t he bothering you? Threatening you?” Yoongi slowly looked up towards the owner of that soft voice. “See? I can be useful to you!” A pause followed where they only stared at each other. “Oh, and I’m sorry about those scars… if it’s any consolation, you look great with them.”

Yoongi silently stood up and began walking away.

“Hey! Wait! I’m not going to hurt you again, I promise!” The man walked closely behind him. “My name’s Jimin~ I’m sure you remember… What’s your name?” Yoongi didn’t answer. “Oh, come on!” Jimin whined. “I’m being nice, see?” he smiled widely and pointed to it. “I’d love to see you smile too; you know. Bet you’re reaaally cute when you smile.”

Yoongi stopped walking, Jimin followed. “What are you doing?” Yoongi snapped.

“I’m being friendly!” he swayed his arms around like a child.

Yoongi searched Jimin’s eyes through the darkness of the night to find any sort of deception, none to be found.

“Friendly?” Jimin nodded cutely. “You murdered a guy because he bumped into me.”

“Well…” Jimin pouted. “Yeah but I think you’re missing the point, the point is I can help! I’m in your corner.”

“I don’t want you in my corner.” Yoongi began walking again.

“Come on, I can protect you! I can be a great friend, an ally! Maybe even a boyfriend, doubt you’ve had one of those in a while, am I ri-”

“Okay, shut up, will you?” Yoongi interrupted.

“Did I hit a nerve? I probably hit a nerve, I’m sorry… kinda. But hey, really, what else can I say to convince you? There’s no limits, you know, I can literally do anyth-” Yoongi pushed Jimin backwards until his back hit a brick wall.

“I’m going to say this once because you’re clearly not understanding me,” he said lowly. “You cannot convince me to help you. No amounts of bribery will work on me.” Jimin looked upset at Yoongi’s rough tone.

Yoongi had expected him to be angry. He was prepared for an attack that never came. Instead Jimin just whispered. “They took someone who’s very important to me. I just want to find him and bring him back home.” They stared at each other in silence until Jimin spoke up again.  “Don’t you have someone you care for? Wouldn’t you do the same for them?”

Yoongi took a few steps back. Jimin’s eyes were littered by desperation.

He shook his head. “I can’t help you.”

Jimin let out a sound between a sigh and a groan. “Fine,” he pushed himself off the wall. “We’ll do this a different way then.” He moved too quickly, Yoongi couldn’t register what happened until all he saw was black.

-=+=-

“Again? Really?” was the first thing Yoongi mumbled when he noticed he was once again tied to a chair. This time, only his chest and his thighs and his ankles were bound while his wrists were handcuffed in front of him.

Jimin wasn’t anywhere within his field of view, so he took in the environment instead.

The house he was in looked fairly humble. A few odd paintings hung up of which he couldn’t decipher the signature. He noticed Jimin’s weapons laying out in the open on a little table. He couldn’t reach them, but he noticed it. Behind him, he heard a door close, followed by footsteps. Jimin came from behind him and settled himself on a much more comfortable looking chair in front of Yoongi.

“Oh, good you’re awake.”

Jimin’s hair was damp and his face looked fresh. Yoongi could faintly make out the scent of grapefruit coming from him.

Yoongi cracked his neck on both sides, glaring at Jimin.

“Do you want some tea?” Jimin fiddles with his fingers. “Coffee, maybe?” Yoongi wore confusion on his face. “Pinky promise I won’t poison it. I’ll even drink from it first if it’ll make you more at ease,” he giggled nervously. To Yoongi’s silence, Jimin only stood up, walking towards the kitchen. “You seem like more of a coffee guy, so I’ll… I’ll go do that.”

He came back with two cups of coffee and let Yoongi choose which one he wanted. It was easy for him to take the cup since his arms weren’t tied to anything besides each other. He waited for Jimin to take a sip from his coffee before taking a sip from his own. Some tasty coffee…

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Jimin set his cup down on the table next to him. “I just need you to understand me.”

“I understand your issue just fine, Minnie. You’re not understanding mine.”

“You can possible get killed for disclosing of any information, I understand, but I’m promising you 100% protection from absolutely anyone.”

Yoongi scoffed. “How desperate are you right now?”

“Please help me out just this once and I’ll-” Jimin’s phone rang. His facial expression turned sour. He stood up to take the call. “The audacity you have to fucking call me,” Jimin spat through the phone. He paused, Yoongi presumed whoever was on the other end of the line was speaking. He scoffed suddenly. “I don’t give a fuck how much Jeon payed you. We were a team, Taehyung. A team! I went through so much to keep you safe and you turn on me because Jeon payed you?” Jimin’s hands balled into fists at his sides. Yoongi wondered if he would be at the receiving end of Jimin’s anger once the phone call ended. “You know exactly how important he is to me, I’ve never- - fuck his position you know I never cared he’s the son of the-” Jimin laughed. “Oh, and Jeon is truthful? I fucking doubt that. He could be taking him apart limb by limb as we speak.” Jimin now had his back completely turned to Yoongi. “If anything, and I mean anything, happens to him. I will personally come after you and Namjoon.” He paused. “No, that’s a fucking promise.”

He hung up, still staring at the screen after it turned black. He was holding onto it so tightly, Yoongi could see it shake from where he was sat. He watched Jimin run his free hand through his hair before chucking his phone onto a nearby couch.

He turned to Yoongi as if he only just remembered he was there. He walked quickly towards him and dropped right down to his knees in front of him. He trembling hands were resting on Yoongi’s knees. Yoongi couldn’t see his face as Jimin was looking down at the floor.

“You have to help me,” Jimin whispered. “You have to. Please. I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I’ll be your personal guard dog. I don’t care, just please tell me what you know. Anything helps.”

“If I tell you what you want, you’ll kill me right after. I know your your kind works.”

Jimin shook his head quickly. “No,” Yoongi felt his heart shatter. “I promise, please.” Jimin’s voice was trembling, threatening to break at any second. He wondered what it would be like to have someone care about him the way Jimin cared about his friend.

“Hoseok is safe.”

Jimin snapped is head up to look at Yoongi with glassy eyes. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes.

“So, you saw him? He was there? Was he hurt? Did they hurt him?” Jimin took Yoongi’s coffee cup and set it aside so he could get closer to Yoongi, his hands now clutching at the ropes at his sides.

“I saw him first with Namjoon and Taehyung, unconscious. He looked hurt back then. But more recently he was with Jeongguk, and he looked… happy.”

“Happy? Happy how? Was it drugged happy or was it normal happy? Forced happy? What did he look like?” His eyes were wide open looking up at Yoongi as he spoke.

“He… I don’t know, he seemed pretty normal genuine happy to me?” Yoongi thought back to the days he had to assist them. “I heard them laugh together? They came in once with a bag full of bath bombs and rubber ducks, uh I think one of them asked if the TV had decent movies?” He looked at Jimin’s furrowed eyebrows. “I honestly think Hoseok was being spoiled.”

“A-are you sure?” Jimin spluttered. “You’re sure that was Hoseok?” Yoongi nodded reassuringly. Jimin began tugging at Yoongi’s restraints. “And… would you know where they are now?”

“Uh… I wouldn’t know the only thing they said before they left was something like ‘Let’s go home.’ They looked like any regular couple on a date.”

Jimin paused. “A couple?” He looked perplexed. “What about Vante? What about when he had Hoseok?”

“That… that was clearly a hostage situation. I heard Hoseok scream a lot. They were there for a few days. Cuts, bruises, rope marks, he had it all.”

“I’ll fucking end him.”

-=+=-

Days passed without Yoongi seeing Minnie at all. And then it happened.

Someone busted through the doors with another person squirming around in their arms. Of course, it was Minnie coming in with Vante. One day those doors are going to break if people don’t stop kicking it open. Yoongi was fairly surprised Minnie was able to find Vante in only a few days, then again, he didn’t really know Minnie at all. Perhaps this was normal, and he shouldn’t be surprised. Vante had his arms tied behind his back and a piece of cloth in his mouth attached to the back of his head.

“Hello there,” Jimin said, bright smile adorning his face as he looked towards Yoongi.

Yoongi didn’t speak. Only wordlessly gave him a room number, a key and a buzzer.

Only a few minutes passed until Yoongi received an assistance request from Jimin’s room. Muffled screams became louder and louder as he approached the room. He knocked three times before hearing Jimin’s voice asking him to enter.

Vante no longer had the piece of cloth in his mouth and his arms were no longer restrained. Minnie had pinned him down on the floor, sitting on his stomach each leg on either side of Vante’s body as he held down his wrists above his head with one hand, the other covering his mouth.

“How may I assist you?” Yoongi asked, closing the door behind him.

“Could you get my knife for me, please? It was knocked over that way,” Jimin pointed to his right with his chin. Yoongi began walking over to it when he heard Jimin yelp. “The fuck did you bite me for?”

“I told you, Chim, I don’t have him!”

“I know you don’t fucking have him. This is about you betraying me AND hurting him.” Minnie looked like he was about to punch Vante in the face, but he didn’t. “If you needed money, we could have worked something out.”

Yoongi bent down slightly. “Your knife, sir.”

Jimin snatched his knife from him. “You better stop calling me sir and start calling me Minnie or Jimin before I throw this at you,” he twirled his knife between his fingers before stopping it at Vante’s throat.

The boy wriggled around, instinctively trying to get away from the metal. “Stop! Minnie, come on. You don’t have to do this. I can help you find Jeon.”

“This isn’t about Jeon it’s about you,” he paused. “And Namjoon, but I’ll get to him later.”

“Don’t you dare touch him,” Vante scowled. Namjoon must be fairly important to him, Yoongi concluded.

Jimin chuckled. “Doesn’t feel great when someone threatens to take away someone you care about, does it?”

“This isn’t the same, Jimin, you know that.” Taehyung seemed to have tears beginning to form in his eyes, but his expression let off nothing but anger.

He cooed cruelly. “What is it? Did you expect me to care about your pathetic crush? You know what? Maybe I’ll get rid of him before you get to confess and say goodbye! And you’ll get to live with the agony of knowing it was entirely your fault. Wouldn’t that be productive?”

Taehyung blinked away a few tears. “Stop. Please. I’m sorry, okay, I did wrong by you. I didn’t think-”

“You didn’t think I’d find out it was you, huh?” Jimin hummed. “Why don’t you beg for your life some more and we’ll see how I feel about letting you go.”

The way Jimin glared at Taehyung reminded Yoongi of his first encounter with Jimin. He’s ruthless. He’s certain Vante isn’t leaving this hotel room with at least a few scratches. Yoongi turned around to leave the room, assuming his job was done, but Jimin’s voice stopped him.

“Hey!” He looked over his shoulder to find Jimin frowning at him. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Yoongi blinked. “My desk?”

“No! You have to stay here. I pressed the buzzer.” He looked around. “Sit there.” He pointed to the bed with his knife.

“Jimin, my job requires-”

“Sit!” Yoongi didn’t argue further. He just moved to sit on the bed. He knew Taehyung was questioning him with his worry-filled eyes, but he paid him no mind.

“Min, listen. You know how Jeon can be, right? He’s unpredictable. What if he killed me for not doing what he asked?”

“I don’t see an issue with that.”

Next thing Yoongi heard was a sharp scream. He looked away, uninterested in watching Taehyung writhe in pain. There was heavy breathing, pleading, and then more screams.

“Hey.”

Jimin was calling him, but when Yoongi turned to look at him his eyes couldn’t leave Taehyung’s. He tried to ignore the stains on the carpet. He tried not to think about how he’s going to have to clean it later.

“What do you think?” He let go of Taehyung’s arms, sitting up on his stomach, a smile on his lips. He must have seen the confusion on Yoongi’s face. “Y’know, does it look equivalent to what he did to Hoseok?”

Ah, now he understood why Jimin wanted him to stay. Yoongi nodded. Taehyung weakly brought his hands to Jimin’s thighs probably to try and push him off. Jimin laughed.

“You had Hobi hyung here for days. I’m not done with you.”

-=+=-

Yoongi ended up checking up in them daily since Jimin would press his buzzer rather frequently. He would always see approximately the same image; Taehyung tied to the bed and Jimin paying no mind to him. Today however, when Jimin used the buzzer he was sitting next to Taehyung, touching his face and hair with the upmost gentleness while Taehyung glared and shouted profanities at him.

“Hello, pretty,” Jimin smiled. “I’m expecting a guest, when he comes by please tell him to come here quickly.” Yoongi nodded. “Oh, and don’t enter this room until after he comes in.”

He’s probably going to trap the door, Yoongi assumed. He nodded once more and bowed before leaving.

The guest was RM. Yoongi was right, the door was trapped for when he told Namjoon which room number he should enter, he heard a door click and immediate shocked screams.

Jimin didn’t use the buzzer after that and Yoongi wasn’t interested enough to try and listen in on their conversation.

-=+=-

The day Taehyung and Namjoon left, they were both badly bruised, but they looked happy to be leaving. Only moments later, Jimin came down, smiling brightly and stopping to lean himself over Yoongi’s desk.

“I was wondering,” Jimin started, setting the key and the buzzer down on the desk. “You’ve seen Jeon before, haven’t you?”

“I’m not helping you again.”

“Oh c’mon, I’m not gonna ask you for much, just a teeny tiny favour.”

Yoongi took the key and the buzzer and began cleaning them in hopes that Jimin understands he’s done with the conversation. When he didn’t leave, Yoongi spoke up.

“Have a nice day, sir.”

Jimin groaned. “Really?” He reached over the desk to grab at Yoongi’s collar, effectively pulling him closer. “Isn’t boring working here, not saying anything ever? Aren’t you lonely?”

Yoongi’s hand made its way to Jimin’s wrist, the one with the tattoo on it. “No,” he replied flatly, trying to push Jimin’s hand away, unsuccessful.

Jimin pulled him even closer. Their noses almost touching. Jimin smiled. “Are we about to kiss? Is that what’s happening?”

Yoongi looked away quickly, a sour expression on his face. “Absolutely not,” he slapped Jimin’s wrist. “Let go of me.”

Jimin huffed. “Fine.” He crossed his arms, turning around to lean his back on the desk. “Be boring then,” he muttered. He heard Yoongi scoff behind him.

“I see what you’re doing and it’s not enticing in the slightest.”

Jimin hummed in response. “Then what?” He looked over his shoulder to catch what Yoongi was doing. “Favour for a favour? Maybe you need to get rid of someone?”

“No.”

He turned back around to face him. “Maybe you want something?”

“No.”

“Maybe you want some… one?”                                                                                     

Yoongi looked up to meet Jimin’s piercing gaze. Bad idea. Yoongi cursed himself in his head.

“Oh?” Jimin grinned. “Someone, huh?” He jumped over the desk to be in Yoongi’s space.

It took Yoongi off guard. He stumbled backwards, bumping into the wall behind him. There was definitely not enough space behind this desk for there to be a comfortable distance between two people.

“Specific someone in mind?” No matter where Yoongi moved his gaze, Jimin would follow. He hummed, pensive. “Clearly not someone specific… Maybe, ah! You ARE lonely. Maybe you wanna get laid?”

Yoongi let out an involuntary offended scoff. “Oh please, I’m not that simple minded.”

“Oh, you wanna go out on a date with someone, huh? Romantic boy, are you?”

Yoongi sighed, annoyed. Yes, he wanted to go on a date with someone. That’s what he’s been wanting to do for ages, even before he got this job. But he was always alone. And anyways he wouldn’t want to endanger someone he cared for, so it was pretty hopeless, and he made his peace with that a while ago.

But he wasn’t going to admit that. So, he shouted. “Seokjin h-!”

Jimin slapped a hand over Yoongi’s mouth. “Why would you do that!?” he whisper-shouted at him. “Did I hit a sore spot?” Yoongi raised a hand to Jimin’s chest to push him away. He used the wall behind him for leverage. “Listen, I’m sorry, but if you help me, then I’ll help you back, okay? Mutual helpage.” Jimin’s words were rushed.

“That’s not a word.”

“See, if we spend more time together, you could teach me what is and isn’t a word, yes?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“No!”

“I’ll stop pestering you if you help me out just this once.”

“You’re so annoying!”

“Come on. Please, please, please, please!”

“Fine!” Yoongi shouted. They both froze, eyes wide in shock. A smile grew slowly on Jimin’s face while panic settled onto Yoongi’s. “I didn’t mean-”

“Too late,” Jimin clapped his hands together quickly three times. They both whipped their heads to the side hearing loud fast footsteps making their way towards them. Jimin looked back at Yoongi, holding him by his collar. “I’ll be back soon and then you’ll help me find Jeon.” He pressed a quick kiss to Yoongi’s nose. “Byebye! I’ll find you someone really cute to date, promise!” And he left before Seokjin could step foot into the room.

-=+=-

Jimin was true to his word as the next day he was inside Yoongi’s house when the eldest came back at around 6AM after his shift.

Yoongi did have the scare of him life opening his door and seeing someone in there already, but that’s besides the point.

“How the fuck did you get in my house?”

Jimin crossed his legs in Yoongi’s reading chair, taking out his lock pick from his little pouch tied to his thigh. Yoongi looked at his door lock, back to Jimin, before closing it.

“Fine, can we please do this later? I sleep at this time…”

“Are you an owl?”

“If you haven’t noticed, my job requires me to work from 11PM to 6AM. So, yes.”

Jimin stood from his chair, looking at the various things Yoongi had in his house. “I’ll wait,” he said, touching the spine of an old looking book from Yoongi’s shelf. “How long to you usually sleep for?”

“You think I’m going to let you stay in my house while I’m sleeping?”

“I’ve been here for a while already and nothing bad has happened yet. Besides, you don’t have much of a choice, do you?” He smiled at him before pulling the old looking book from its place on the shelf. “I won’t steal anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Yoongi watched him thumb through the pages of the book stopping on one that had a few of Yoongi’s handwritten notes on it.

“I won’t kill you in your sleep either, Yoongi.”

Yoongi’s eyebrows shot up at the mention of his name. Jimin pointed to the table on which was laying his laptop with a pretty sticker of Yoongi’s name typed in cursive. He sighed, defeated.

“Fine, just don’t mess things up.”

-=+=-

Yoongi was shocked he had a rather peaceful sleep. He had, out of precaution, tied a bell to a piece of string and taped it to his ceiling just in front of the door as a sound alarm if ever Jimin decided he changed his mind about killing him in his sleep, but it seemed the bell was useless.

In fact, Yoongi was even more shocked that the first thing he noticed when he woke up was the scent of… cookies? Maybe?

The clock read 1PM when Yoongi was standing on his chair trying to get this bell off his ceiling. His hair was still slightly damp from the shower he took before sleeping, but he changed anyways and left his room to go towards the sweet scent. Turns out it wasn’t cookies, it was muffins. Jimin had gotten his hands on Yoongi’s mother’s old cookbook and it was flipped open to the muffins page.

“Afternoon,” Jimin greeted, flour on his shirt. Yoongi took a closer look at the open cookbook. Jimin had pressed a sticky note onto it. Something about natural sweetener. Yoongi couldn’t quite read it upside down. “Try it.” Jimin pushed a muffin in front of Yoongi’s face.

“What did you do to it?” Yoongi inspected it closely.

He heard Jimin stomp his foot. “Give,” he rolled his eyes, taking the muffin from Yoongi’s hands and biting into it before giving it back. “Try it now,” he said with his mouth full.

“Demanding,” Yoongi grumbled before taking a big bite. It was phenomenal.

“Good? Yes? Is it okay? Disgusting?” Jimin was fidgeting around.

“You realize you tasted it yourself?”

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Answer.”

“Yes, Jimin, it’s good.”

Jimin nodded. “I’m going to bring one for Hoseok when we find him. He likes muffins”

Yoongi set down the rest of the muffin. “I still don’t know why you need me for this.”

“Jeongguk has this thing he does where he’s completely unrecognizable when he’s not on duty. No one knows what he looks like, not even… his father.” Jimin had a look of distaste when he spoke of Jeongguk’s father, Yoongi made a mental note. “And I have reason to believe you’ve seen him off duty.”

He wasn’t wrong. “Maybe you haven’t been looking hard enough.”

Jimin ignored Yoongi’s comment. “I have a few places marked down,” he said as he pulled out a map with scribbles on it. “And we’re going to go there together and you’re gonna look for him, and I’ll look for Hoseok.”

“What’s in it for me?” Yoongi raised. “This seems like it’ll only benefit you.”

Jimin stomped his foot again. Yoongi found it endearing that this was what he did when something doesn’t go the way he plans. “I’ll give you whatever you want, okay? Money, drugs, plushies, I don’t care, just help me.”

Yoongi chuckled earning him a glare from Jimin. “Plushies?”

“You have a stuffed bear with a graduation hat on it,” Jimin muttered, pointing to the top of Yoongi’s bookshelf.

“Oh…” Yoongi cleared his throat. He forgot that was up there. “When should we do this?”

-=+=-

Jimin made him change his clothes before leaving the house, and now that there’s a slight breeze, Yoongi was much colder without his jacket.

“Could you stop whining for two seconds and listen to me?” Jimin whacked Yoongi on the head with his map. “There are a few places I assume Jeon thinks of when he says home. The first-”

“Jimin. It’s really fucking cold. If you think I can concentrate, you’re severely mistaken.”

“Yoongi!” Jimin groaned. “You’re the worst!”

“No, I’m cold,” he pointed. “There’s a difference.”

Ever since Yoongi figured out that Jimin wouldn’t kill him, he took pleasure in bickering with him. It became one of his favourite things. His goal was always to make him stomp his foot or jump in place angrily. Jimin would always get defensive when he saw Yoongi smile after he did one of those. He would threaten him, but Yoongi knew the threats were mostly empty. He did wonder, however, if after he helped him find Jeon and Hoseok, Jimin would deem him useless and be rid of him.

“What about him?” Jimin kept pointing at various strangers in casual outfits and black hair.

“That doesn’t look like Jeon at all, Minnie.”

He pouted, desperate. “But you’re sure that doesn’t look like… off duty, daytime, light mode Jeon?”

“I’m sure.”

At the end of the day, Yoongi had to go back to work and they weren’t even a step closer to finding Hoseok. Jimin had suggested staying at the hotel until Yoongi gets off work again to repeat the whole process and ignored Yoongi when he said it wasn’t a good idea.

“Maybe Jeon will come by again,” was his argument. Anyways, there wasn’t much Yoongi could do about it because Jimin was going to be paying for a room and he wasn’t allowed to deny.

“Come wake me up an hour before your shift is over,” he winked once Yoongi gave him his room.

-=+=-

Only three hours into his shift, Seokjin came marching down to talk to Yoongi, undecipherable expression on his face. “Yoongi.” By the tone of his voice, it sounded like whatever Seokjin was about to say wasn’t going to be pleasant. He must know about everything he told Jimin. Its Seokjin. He knows everything. How? Yoongi had no idea, but somehow Seokjin finds out everything.

“We’re in trouble.” Seokjin let himself behind the desk with Yoongi at a somewhat comfortable distance. “Too many people are looking for that guy and they all know he’s been here.”

Seokjin looked back at the hallway where the rooms begin and then to the main entrance. “I’ve been getting a lot of calls,” he lowered his voice to a whisper. “A lot of people are going to have the same instinct as Minnie when he first got here.”

Ah… fantastic. Why is this Hoseok guy so important? Yoongi’s life is in danger because of him and he’s just on a really long date with Jeon Jeongguk.

“Something else is that they’re also looking for Jeon,” Seokjin continued. “Some of them want him dead, others are trying to get him home safely. Which means double the amount of people.”

“I can take it.”

“No.” Seokjin passed a hand through his hair roughly. “Minnie may have stopped after one night, but these guys are ruthless. They will keep going for weeks if they have to. Trust me.”

“I knew this job was dangerous when I took it,” Yoongi argued.

"Yoongi. Namjoon and Taehyung are on the run.” Seokjin walked into Yoongi’s space. “People found out they’re the ones who took the guy in the first place. I don’t know if they’re still alive. There’s too many people involved in this now, and you,” he pressed his finger to Yoongi’s chest. “Are the one with the information.”

Yoongi scowled. “So, what am I supposed to do now?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Yoongi, move to Alaska?” Seokjin suggested sarcastically. “You’re going to leave until this whole thing blows over. There’s still a chance for you, no one besides Minnie knows what you look like.” He grabbed the logbook from a locked compartment of the desk.

“I looked through this yesterday, I didn’t see any familiar names related to these people, besides of course Minnie, Namjoon and Taehyung, but you have to leave now and don’t come back until I tell you to.”

Seokjin walked to the doors of the main entrance as he finished talking, taking a peek through the windows. “Leave through the back door. Now. Do not argue with me.”

Yoongi didn’t stay to find out who was on the other side of the main entrance, but he was fortunate enough to pass by Jimin’s room before heading to the back door. His frantic knocking must have startled Jimin because he heard a loud thud coming from the inside and only then did Jimin open his door. The noise must have alerted whoever was at the main entrance because their voices and footsteps were getting louder. He could hear Seokjin trying to pass it off as a normal occurrence. Jimin reacted better than Yoongi, because while Yoongi was frozen looking at the end of the hallway, Jimin took his hand and made a run for the back door.

“Not these bastards,” Jimin growled as they were running down a flight of stairs. “I know what they’re here for, but if they see me here, they’re gonna have a new objective in mind.”

Once they got outside behind the building Jimin spotted new cars coming in. He recognized them right away and cursed. Looking around he found a sole motorcycle parked behind the neighbouring building and ran to it.

“Please, please, please…” Jimin whispered as he felt around the motorcycle. “Yes,” he managed to find a key hidden in the wheel.

A voice shouted from the distance. “Go around, see who that is.”

“Fuck. Okay, get on quickly,” Jimin pointed to the back seat of the motorcycle as he twisted the key in its slot. Yoongi obeyed.

“It’s Min!” A woman’s voice shouted.

The engine roared to life seconds before Jimin hopped on. “Hold onto me.” He rode as fast as he could.

“Jimin…” Yoongi’s grip on Jimin was so tight he was afraid he would end up bruising him. “Jimin, I think we’re safe.”

“We’re not.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe.”

Jimin only slowed down once he turned onto a dirt road, nothing but trees and shrubs surrounding them. “Now, we’re safe.”

Yoongi’s grip did not loosen once Jimin killed the engine. “Yoongi,” he had to tap his hands a few times to get him to let go.

“Where are we?” Yoongi asked, looking around cautiously. “Did we steal this motorcycle? Who were those people?”

Jimin chuckled at Yoongi’s rapid fire questions. “This is an abandoned place I come to when I want to…” he paused, thinking of his next words carefully. “Escape reality… and impending doom.” He noticed how close Yoongi was staying as Jimin walked further into the woods. “The bike is mine. I left my keys in the hotel, but I keep a spare hidden in the wheel.” He turned to face Yoongi who still had concern written all over his face. “And those people, uh, you’ll find out eventually.”

“Jimin,” Yoongi whispered. “I really don’t think it’s safe here. Someone must have followed us.” He wasn’t exaggerating. Yoongi did feel like there was someone else with them in the woods, but Jimin assured him they weren’t followed. He stayed close until he laid eyes on what looked like an old abandoned town. A few wooden run-down houses reclaimed by nature. It was fascinating, but he felt even less at ease. As if he had just walked into something extremely dangerous.

“Are you trying to kill me?” he blurted out.

Jimin gaped at him. “No!” he crossed his arms defensively. “How could you think that?” he seemed extremely upset. “I show you something that means a lot to me and you think I’m trying to kill you?”

“I… I’m sorry,” he stuttered. “I just, I don’t feel safe.” A wave of guilt washed over him.

“Well,” Jimin turned on his heels, looking away from him. “Then I’ll go take a look around.” He waited for Yoongi to ask to come with him.But he was met with no answer. Yoongi wasn’t behind him when he turned back around.

-=+=-

“If I knew you worked for Minnie, I wouldn’t have left you alive.”

Yoongi was thrown onto the wooden floor of a large house. He got up quickly as whoever took him from behind was coming closer to kick him.

He backed up to make distance between them. Ah, its Jeongguk. Why was he here? Had he followed them? But Jimin said … No time for contemplating. He dodged quickly under one of Jeongguk’s punches and pushed him back with force he didn’t know he had. He ran for the door in hopes of escaping, but found it locked. Jeongguk came up behind him, his arm around Yoongi’s neck slowly cutting off his airflow until…

“Jeon Jeongguk you let him go right now!”

Yoongi dropped to his knees, not held up by anyone anymore, coughing loudly.

“How many times have I told you I don’t want any more fighting?” It was Hoseok. Yoongi recognized him. “Run away with me Hoseok, you said. Run away with me and we don’t have to associate with them.”

Jeongguk looked down at his feet. “I’m sorry, hyung…”

Yoongi had to suppress his laughter as the scolding continued.

“You told me! You said you would stop fighting people! And look at what I wake up to! You fighting someone!” Hoseok knelt down in front of Yoongi, a gentle hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry! but I saw him with Minnie, and I thought well, they must be here for you…”

“We are,” Yoongi croaked. He cleared his throat before continuing. “Jimin… Well we didn’t think you’d be here.” His eyes met Jeongguk’s. “But we… Jimin was and is still looking for Hoseok.”

“Where?” Hoseok rose to his feet. “Where’s Chim?”

Right on cue they all heard a voice in the distance call out Yoongi’s name. Hoseok was the first to jump up to remove the piece of metal keeping the door locked and bolt out the door.

-=+=-

When Jeongguk and Yoongi finally reached them, Hoseok and Jimin were in each other’s arms rolling on the floor, giggling.

“If hyung didn’t stop me I would’ve loved to kill you, you know?” Jeongguk muttered loud enough for only Yoongi to hear.

Yoongi grinned. “Hoseok! Did you hear what he said?” Jeongguk tackled him to the ground. It was evident to Yoongi that Jeongguk was holding back as to not hurt him too much. At least not in front of Hoseok, because all he was doing was shoving a hand over his mouth and repeatedly telling him to shut up.

“Okay! Everyone! Stop!” Hoseok was the one to shout. He sat down on the floor, fixing his hair waiting for everyone to settle down.

Immediately, Minnie and Jeon began glaring at each other. Tension was thick in the air.

“No fighting,” Hoseok was quick to scold them for it.

“Hyung,” Jimin said, incredulously. “He’s not- He’s the enemy. Its… we have to fight him.” He pointed at Jeongguk.

“No, we don’t.” Hoseok turned his body towards Jimin. “I wanted to tell you about this, but someone got impatient and I left earlier than I was supposed to.” Jeongguk shifted uncomfortably.

“It just doesn’t feel right not fighting him.” Jimin side eyed Jeongguk.

“You’re not allowed to physically hurt each other while I’m alive.”

Jimin huffed. “Fine.” He crossed his arms. “For the record, Jeon, I think you look stupid in your casual clothes.”

“Jimin!”

Jeongguk scoffed. “Well, I think you look stupid all the time. Remember when you dyed your hair pink?”

“Gukkie!”

Offended, Jimin jumped on him, ignoring all of Hoseok’s previous warnings.

“Get the fuck off me!”

“I looked fucking fantastic with pink hair unlike you with your Todoroki wannabe look.”

Hoseok sighed watching them fight. He did nothing to stop them as if he knew it would’ve happened eventually. Instead, he turned to Yoongi who had a slight smile playing at his lips. “So, what’s your name?” Hoseok scooted closer to him.

“I’m not supposed to say it, but you seem harmless so… Yoongi.”

“Yoongi,” he tested out the name. “That’s cute.”

“Thanks, it was a birthday gift.”

Hoseok laughed. “So, are you two together? Dating, I mean.” He pointed at Jimin and Jeongguk fighting and shouting at each other some weak insults.

“Hm? Me and Jimin?” Hoseok nodded. “No, no… we’re not. I was just, helping him find you. That’s all.”

“Really?” Hoseok seemed confused. “That’s odd.” Yoongi tilted his head, silently asking Hoseok to explain. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon,” Hoseok smiled, patting him on the thigh.

“… the most reckless person I’ve ever met! You’re going to get him killed!” Jimin shouted right before Jeongguk pushed him off of him just to get back on him. Jimin kicked at his side with his knee repeatedly.

“That’s rich coming from you! At least I actually know what I’m doing!”

“Oh, please, you don’t know what you’re doing in the slightest. You never have!”

Jimin managed to kick Jeongguk off of him, but just as he was about to trap him down, Jeongguk grabbed his wrist and pushed it between his shoulder blades. He let out a sharp cry of pain before tilting his head back, hitting Jeongguk square on the nose. He cursed, letting go of Jimin’s wrist by shoving him down to the ground on his stomach. Jimin was about to turn around to deliver a kick to Jeongguk’s abdomen, but Hoseok came too sit on Jimin’s legs as soon as he was on his back.

He faced Jeongguk but had his hands on Jimin’s tibias. He pursed his lips. “Can you be done fighting each other now?”

Jeongguk nodded, leaning in slowly to kiss Hoseok, but was met with the back of a hand. Jimin had sat up and covered Hoseok’s mouth, but he quickly removed it when Jeongguk bit him.

“Alright, okay, that’s enough.”

-=+=-

“…And then Jeongguk’s father killed Jimin’s father out of jealousy and that’s when we all got separated. So even if I liked Jeongguk, I couldn’t follow him because my mom, the leader, had a crush on Jimin’s mom and didn’t want to leave her. You with me so far?”

“No. Not at all.”

Hoseok has been trying to explain their story to Yoongi, and so far, he has not been successful.

“Basically, Jeon’s team is filled with dickheads!” Jimin shouted from his corner of the room.

“No, basically Minnie’s team is just clueless!” Jeongguk shouted.

Hoseok had tied Jimin and Jeongguk to either corner of the room while he and Yoongi sat comfortably on a couch in the middle. He didn’t want to have to break up another fight, so he figured it was best to keep them separate.

“So, wait, you all once worked together? As part of the same team?”

“Yeah, until papa Jeon decided to be a possessive bitch.”

“You hate him as much as me Min, stop glaring at me before I break these restraints and then break your neck.”

“Jeongguk,” Hoseok scolded.

“Sorry.”

“What about Vante and RM?” Yoongi asked. “If they were on your side, why did they beat you up.” They heard Jeongguk sigh.

“Because SOMEONE was impulsive and instead of waiting for me like he said he would, he paid people to kidnap me and didn’t tell them for what.” Hoseok crossed his arms as he turned to face his boyfriend. “Tell Yoongi what you told them.”

Jeongguk looked down. “Just go get him I don’t care who you have to hurt in the process.”

“That’s right, and what did they do?”

Jeongguk clicked his tongue. “They hurt you…”

“See?” Jimin exclaimed. “This is why-”

“Shut up, nobody asked you,” Jeongguk spat.

“Okay… so, you’re the son of the leader?” Yoongi asked to which Hoseok nodded. “and Jeongguk’s father is the leader of the other side.” Yoongi was met with another nod. “and you used to be one whole group but got separated because Jeon’s father killed Jimin’s.”

“Yep, because he liked his mother.”

“Nearly killed me too, by the way!” Jimin interjected. “Let’s not gloss over that detail.”

“And so… you and Jeongguk, stupidly in love, ran away together because you hate being a part of that, and you hope no one will find you because if they do they would endlessly torture you both for betrayal?” Hoseok nodded again. “Well that’s kinda fucked up. I’m not going to lie to you,” Yoongi concluded.

-=+=-

“…and then they both tumbled down the hill into the river!”

Hoseok had spent the past hour telling Yoongi anecdotes of Jeongguk and Jimin’s past, and of course, Yoongi was giggling along with him while the two others, still tied up, stayed sulking in their corners.

“So, after that we stopped playing king of the hill because it would always end with these two fighting,” Hoseok laughed as he recalled the memory.

“Hyungie, how do we know if this guy is trustworthy?” Jeongguk whined, but his question was serious. “You’re telling him our life story without knowing him.”

Jimin scoffed. “You think I’d work with someone who isn’t trustworthy?”

“I think you’d work with someone who’s against me, gremlin.”

“Stop it,” Hoseok scolded. “I think he’s trustworthy because Jimin likes him.”

“What?!” Jimin shrieked. He began pulling at his restraints frantically. “Untie me so I can come kick you.”

“C’mon Jimin,” Hoseok rolled his eyes. “Why else would you bring him here? Of all places you know, you brought him here.”

Jimin shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “We were just… trying to get to safety.”

“Ew!” Jeongguk exclaimed. “Jimin has a crush, this is disgusting!”

“Whatever, this place doesn’t have as much meaning to me as you think it does, hyung,” Jimin huffed. He would cross his arms if he could. “Things change and I haven’t even known Yoongi for that long so…”

“Eww… Jimin really does have a crush. Look at him blush!” Jeongguk faked a gag.

“Yoongi, when Jimin brought me here for the first time, he told me all about how he would want to live here with his partn-”

“You know, hyung, I was going to bring you a muffin when I found you, but suddenly I don’t want to anymore.”

Hoseok rolled his eyes with an amused smirk on his face. “He used to tell me that he’ll only ever bring someone he likes here!”

Yoongi held Jimin’s gaze for a moment before looking down silently.

-=+=-

The entire day consisted of back and forth bickering between Jimin and Jeongguk, Hoseok telling stories to Yoongi and Yoongi exploring the area.

He found there was a total of 6 wooden houses all somewhat similar to each other, but a good distance away from each other.

There was one he particularly liked; it was surrounded by pretty flowers. 13 to be exact. He wasn’t able to go inside since it was locked, but he took a liking to it. Near it, there was a pond with a few small fish swimming around, and even further away, through some trees and down a small slope, there was a little river. He looked around, spotting a large flat rock that poked out of the water and decided to take of his shoes to go sit on it. The bottom of his pants got wet, but he didn’t quite mind it. He just watched as the water streamed by, occasionally splashing against the rock he sat on.

He thought of the hotel as he watched the sunset. Was Seokjin alive? Was he safe? Was Yoongi allowed to feel this relaxed when others aren’t?

He thought of Jimin and how he saved his life. How adorable his threats are when they’re empty. How scary he could be, yet how soft he could be.

He thought about how flawed he is, how perfect he is, how imperfect he is.

How melodic his voice is, how gravely his voice can be.

“What are you doing?”

How fierce he could be and how shy he could be.

“Thought you ran off.”

Suddenly, a pair of bare feet were dangling next to Yoongi’s in the cold water.

“This is where I come to when I want to be alone with my thoughts.”

It seems they have something in common, then.

“I was just talking to Hoseok hyung. Said I should bring you home soon. If you… want to, of course. You could always stay here.”

Jimin sounded uncertain.

“But uhm, you don’t have to. Stay here, I mean. You don’t have to stay here, obviously. It’s an option. Open for you to take.”

What would it mean to Jimin if he stayed, Yoongi wondered. Had all of Hoseok’s stories been true? And if so, had Jimin brought someone else here before him?

“I, uh, promise its safe here. I’ve said that before, but, if you still dont feel safe that’s… that’s okay. I understand.”

Was Jimin upset that Yoongi had felt unsafe upon walking in here. If what Hoseok said was true, did Yoongi break his heart by telling him he felt unsafe? Guilt washed over him once again as he recalled the memory. His eyes hovered over Jimin’s hands, watching him fiddle with his rings. Was he nervous? Was he hoping for Yoongi to stay? Or was he hoping for Yoongi to leave? Yoongi thought about his words carefully.

“Thank you.” He remembered reading somewhere that instead of saying I’m sorry, he should say thank you Jimin stared at the side of Yoongi’s head. “For bringing me here,” Yoongi clarified. “Thank you for showing me this place and for keeping me, hm, relatively safe.”

Jimin nodded even though Yoongi wasn’t looking at him.

They stayed silent for a while until he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Jimin inching his hand closer and closer to Yoongi’s.

He thought back to Hoseok’s story regarding Jimin and what this place meant to him. Does Jimin like him?

Yoongi held his hand out in front of Jimin while keeping his eyes trained on the moving river. After a while of no contact, Yoongi was about to retract his hand, but Jimin quickly interlaced their fingers together. He kept both of their hands in his own lap, as if he was afraid Yoongi would forcefully pull his hand away from his grip. It was cute, Yoongi thought, how Jimin used both his hands to keep one of Yoongi’s completely engulfed and close to him.

It was almost like Jimin was claiming Yoongi’s hand.

“Why are you laughing?” Purely by the sound of his voice, it would sound like Jimin is scolding him, but Yoongi doesn’t need to turn around to know he is actually pouting. Yoongi just shook his head and chuckled a bit louder. “If you…” Jimin took him harshly by the collar, forcing eye contact. “I will throw you into this river if you keep laughing at me. Do not test me.”

And he was true to his word as Yoongi physically could not stop himself from laughing.

It wasn’t very deep, and the current wasn’t so strong as to sweep Yoongi down with it. He just stood there looking up at Jimin who had his lips downturned in a frown. In any other context, Yoongi would have thought Jimin looked menacing. But right now, he just looks beautiful.

“The water’s cold, Jimin.”

“This is what you deserve.”

Yoongi chuckled. “Is it?”

“It is! Because I’m being friendly with you when I could easily just rip you to shreds.”

“Yeah?” Yoongi smiled as he walked closer to Jimin, placing his soaked hands on his knees. “Then what are you waiting for?”

It was Jimin’s turn to stay silent. He watched Yoongi hoist himself out of the water. He stood up abruptly once he saw Yoongi walk towards him with a playful grin. He backed up one step for every two steps Yoongi took forward.

“Don’t you dare- Yoongi!"

“Unfortunate that you don’t have your weapons with you at this very moment, isn’t it?” Yoongi held him in a tight, wet hug.

“Let me go! Now!”

Yoongi obeyed, stepping back to admire his work. Jimin was now almost as drenched as Yoongi is.

“You’ll pay for this,” Jimin glared.

“I bet I will.”

Jimin removed his jacket to throw it at Yoongi. “Now we have to wait until we dry off before I bring you home. You’re not allowed on my bike until you’re dry.”

“Fair point, guess I’ll just stay here for the night.” Yoongi held Jimin’s jacket in the air, examining it before looking back at a wide-eyed Jimin. “Thanks for the gift,” he said before fast walking away.

“Wait- That’s not-! Yoongi!”

-=+=-

As the sun rose, Jimin and Yoongi were already saying their goodbyes to Hoseok and Jeongguk.

“When we come back, I’ll bring those muffins!” Jimin waved from his seat on his bike. “Not for you, though,” he squinted at Jeongguk which earned him a frustrated huff from the youngest.

Yoongi’s grip on Jimin was just as tight as the first time they rode together. It made Jimin smile. He looked down at the arms around him, remembering the events of the previous night. After their time at the river, Yoongi had made Jimin chase him around for a while before letting himself get caught. It was relieving, knowing that even if Jimin jumps on him and uses a sharp ended branch as a weapon, Yoongi isn’t afraid Jimin will hurt him. In fact, Yoongi was teasing him the whole time!

“Oh? What is it? Big bad strong boy can’t scratch me with a twig?” he mocked. “Baby Jiminie isn’t fast enough to catch me?”

Jimin had dragged him to his little home surrounded by exactly thirteen flowers and made him sleep on the floor as revenge for all his teasing. However, he did let him borrow his comfiest clothes. And he got to keep Jimin’s jacket. The one that Jimin threw at him back at the river. That’s what he was wearing now. Jimin’s jacket over Jimin’s clothes. It was cute.

“Yoongi?” Jimin poked at his hands once he stopped his bike in front of Yoongi’s house.

The grip slowly loosened until Yoongi abruptly jumped off.

“You could learn to drive this thing slower you know!” Yoongi shouted.

Jimin cocked an eyebrow. “Any slower and we would’ve been at walking speed.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled, fumbling his pockets for his keys. “That thing is horrible.”

“It’s practical for getting in small spaces where enemy cars can’t follow you,” Jimin said as he walked through Yoongi’s open door. “Besides, it’s not like we have another option. So, you’re not allowed to complain.”

He missed the way Yoongi rolled his eyes before closing the door behind him.

Yoongi watched as Jimin sauntered towards his fridge, taking out the box of strawberries and placing it on the counter.

“Make yourself at home…”

Jimin raised his eyebrows in response as he bit into the small fruit.

The truth was, now that they found Hoseok, and now that he brought Yoongi home, Jimin was afraid Yoongi would kick him out of his life. Once he walks out Yoongi’s front door, is that it for them?

He kept munching on strawberry after strawberry.

-=+=-

As time passed, Yoongi began noticing Jimin acting stranger by the second.

“Really, Jimin, I don’t need my kitchen knives sharpened. You don’t have to do that,” Yoongi tried.

Jimin pointed the knife at him. “You said! You’re the one who said you could barely cut your vegetables properly! You should be thanking me!”

-=+=-

“Where did you get that?”

“This?” Jimin smiled, spinning around like a ballerina. “Found it on your couch. Cute, no?”

“That… that’s my jacket.”

Jimin nodded. “You took mine; I take yours. Law of equivalent exchange.”

-=+=-

“What are you doing?”

Jimin was on his knees, looking through every single one of Yoongi’s cupboards while the elder typed away at his keyboard.

“Hm? Me? Nothing. Just curious, why?” he swiped his hair back.

Yoongi tilted his head in visible confusion. “Did you misplace something?”

Jimin blinked a few times before slowly nodding.

-=+=-

Once again, Yoongi found himself trying to get out of ropes that tied him to a chair, but this time it was in his own house. It was Jimin, of course. Yoongi was already sitting in his chair when Jimin came behind him with a rope that he must have found in his cupboards.

Yoongi groaned. This may have been the tightest Jimin has ever tied him up so far. “Are you joking?” Jimin didn’t reply, only took the back of Yoongi’s chair to drag him in the center of the room. “Minnie?” For a second Yoongi let himself believe that Jimin would actually hurt him now. That now, Yoongi has become useless to him. He let himself think he was a fool to take a liking to Jimin. But it was only for a second.

He scolded himself for that second.

Jimin sighed. “It isn’t a joke,” he sat on the floor in front of Yoongi. “but you’re not in any danger… yet.”

“Okay, what’s going on?”

“I want to ask you about something, but I don’t know how to do it,” he looked up at Yoongi only to find confusion written all over his face. “So…” he fiddled with the zipper on Yoongi’s (now his) jacket. “So, um…” Jimin sighed harshly, taking his head in his hands. “About the, y’know,” he gestured vaguely with one of his hands while the other stayed over his eyes. “About the houses in the woods…”

"They were cute, Jiminie, I liked them, I liked your place, your house, but I don’t really have plans on moving out any time soon,” Yoongi said.

Jimin’s posture deflated. “What if I threaten you hard enough?” he asked, hopeful.

Yoongi chuckled. “You don’t need to do that, I’m sure we’ll find a compromise…”

Jimin jumped to his feet. “But it’s more fun with threats!”

Yoongi tried to stop him as he waltzed over to the kitchen to grab one of his previously sharpened knives, but he was unsuccessful. Jimin came back, bright smile on his face as he twirled the kitchen knife like a microphone in his hand. He straddled Yoongi, letting the blade lightly graze his skin.

Yoongi wasn’t worried. He trusted Jimin.

“I’ll do it! I swear I will!”

“Yes, Jiminie, I’m very scared.”

-=+=-

Their compromise ended up being that Yoongi would spend a week at Jimin’s house in the woods, then Jimin would spend a week at Yoongi’s and then they would be in their respective homes for the remaining two weeks of the month.

But then, Yoongi gets a call from Seokjin saying he can start working again, and of course, Yoongi accepts. He’s back at the hotel with a brand-new fake name. 'Gloss.' Seokjin told him that he would be safe if clients thought he started working after Hoseok and Jeongguk had passed by.

He’s back to being the silent boy behind the counter, handing keys and buzzers to various clients who eye him suspiciously and Jimin hates it. He hates it because on the two weeks where he gets to see Yoongi, he’s never there during the night, when he comes back he sleeps and worst of all he started being quiet again! The day they were baking a cake together to celebrate Jeongguk and Hoseok’s 'we found out we like each other' anniversary, Jimin finally had enough. Yoongi hadn’t spoken at all! The entire day went by and Yoongi hadn’t uttered a single word! Not even a hum!

Jimin’s occasional “Hyung, can you help me with this?” was met with nothing but Yoongi walking closer to him and wordlessly helping him do whatever task Jimin was most likely able to do on his own.

When he asked “Hyung, where are the kiwis?” Yoongi only pointed to them.

“Hyung, how do I use this?” Yoongi would gently take the tool out of Jimin’s hands and demonstrate how it should be done.

Jimin was tired of it. He just wanted to hear Yoongi’s voice again. So, he did what any normal person would.

He went to the hotel when Yoongi wasn’t there, tied Seokjin up in one of the rooms and began threatening him.

-=+=-

“Fire him!”

“Why would you ask him to stay quiet?”

“Make him quit!”

“Make him talk!”

At first, Seokjin thought Minnie was still after information, which is why he got himself out of his ropes and attacked him.

It was simple, really, Seokjin always wears a ring that, when activated, has the ability to turn into a small blade. It was a gift from a lovely criminal who thought he looked 'too pretty not to have a dangerous weapon on them at all times.'

Needless to say, Seokjin ended up on top of Minnie in an instant. He had his hand pinned firmly above his head, waiting for him to quit squirming around under him. It took time, but eventually Minnie tired himself out with a desperate expression on his face.

“Don’t think for a second that I’ll hesitate to hurt you,” Seokjin said, watching the desperation on Minnie’s face mix with a look of distaste. “Now listen closely,” Seokjin whispered directly into Minnie’s ear. “You’re going to stay away from my employees and my hotel. Do you understand me?”

Jimin couldn’t stop himself from growling at Seokjin and biting down harshly at his exposed neck. He felt the grip of his wrists tighten before hearing the hiss. It looks like he drew a little bit of blood. He grinned at Seokjin’s reaction, but his expression quickly changed to one of pain as Seokjin brought his knee up to Jimin’s stomach in a swift kick before bringing it back down to the ground.

“Many past clients that have showed up to this hotel would love to know I have you here. So, if I were you, I’d play nice,” Seokjin warned, smiling at Minnie’s attempt to keep his pained whimpers in. “In fact,” Seokjin continued, “What if I kept you here, tied up and gaged to ensure that you won’t be bothering my employees?”

“No!” Jimin shouted as he shook his head. “You can’t!”

“I can try,” he whispered, “and I think that’s exactly what I’m gonna do.”

“No!” Jimin’s voice cracked. He won't be able to see Yoongi anymore if Seokjin actually goes through with this. “We can negotiate this! You can’t keep me here forever! I can easily escape.”

“Then let’s see you try.”

-=+=-

The days passed by slowly as Jimin stayed chained up in the room furthest away from the lobby. It was spacious, which meant that, since Seokjin tied him up in the middle of the room, Jimin had access to absolutely nothing besides the bed and the bathroom. The chains around his wrists linked up to a metal bar on the ceiling, which meant he could move around freely, but certain things were out of reach. Like the door. Or the window.

He felt like a dog. Put aside the fact that he was unable to make any noise. Seokjin came in daily to give him some food. That’s the only time his gag was off. Even if he made an ungodly amount of noise during those times, Yoongi wasn’t around to hear him. Sometimes, he hears Yoongi cleaning rooms near him. He knows its him because he always hums the same melodies.

“That’s day 7 and you still haven’t escaped yet,” Seokjin feigned concern as he walked in. “What’s the matter? Skills lacking?” Seokjin approached him with a small key to unlock the gag. He had secured it with a lock since Jimin would’ve been able to remove it otherwise.

“Fuck you!” Jimin spat. “Let me go!”

Seokjin clicked his tongue. “Are you ever going to greet me with something new? Maybe I’ll leave your food just out of reach today.”

“I won’t come back here I promise, just let me go!”

“I’d love to believe you but you’re not exactly very truthful, are you?” Seokjin brought his finger up to boop Jimin’s nose condescendingly. “Anyways, you’re on-”

He was interrupted by the sound of his ringtone. Seeing the name on the screen, he quickly secured the gag back in Jimin’s mouth to answer it.

“What is it?”

Of course, Seokjin wasn’t expecting Namjoon’s voice to come from Yoongi’s contact.

-=+=-

“Joon-ah. Why would you do that? There’s literally no point. If you want Minnie and you know he’s here, then just come get him. I wouldn’t fight you over this. You didn't have to kidnap my lobby boy.”

“This sucks!” Namjoon shouted through the phone so loud Seokjin had to take the phone away from his ear. “I promised Tae we would befriend Jimin again, but now this happens!”

This caught Jimin’s attention.

“Hyung, I don’t know what to do without him,” Namjoon confessed shakily. “and I know where they’re keeping him, but I’m not the action guy! I’m just the tracker. I can’t go get him I feel so useless, hyung.”

“Calm down, Joonie. Come get Minnie, bring my lobby boy and you’ll be on your way to finding Tae. Okay?”

At this, Jimin began trying to speak from behind his gag, moving around to get attention. Seokjin seemed to understand the message. He warned Namjoon he would mute himself before removing Jimin’s gag.

“I can help.” Jimin stated. “Tell him I can help. I can get Taehyung from wherever he is... semi-safely. Tell him. You get Yoongi back, Namjoon gets Taehyung back, and you let me leave.”

“How do you know Yoongi’s name?”

Jimin blinked. “Lucky guess?”

Seokjin wrapped a hand around Jimin’s neck, making him gasp. “Don’t fucking play games with me, Minnie. I’ll destroy your bloodline-”

“Hyung? You still there?”

He took his hand away harshly. “This conversation isn’t over,” he grumbled before un-muting his phone. “Yeah, Joon, I’m still here. Listen, Minnie’s offering you a deal…”

-=+=-

The next day, Jimin and Seokjin were waiting patiently in a hotel room for Namjoon to come in with Yoongi. He was untied, but Seokjin promised that if he tried anything 'funny' it’ll be his life on the line.

Jimin jumped up to his feet when they heard the doorknob rattle. It didn’t open. There was a loud groan on the other side of the door followed by a snicker that Jimin knew belonged to Yoongi. His heart rate picked up.

“The key’s upside-down,” Yoongi’s muffled voice explained.

There was a bit of grumbling and more doorknob rattling from the outside before the door was finally opened. The first thing Jimin noticed was the big smile on Yoongi’s face. Namjoon must have not posed much of a threat. The second thing he noticed was Yoongi’s hands. They were cuffed behind his back.

“I’ll be honest with you, hyung,” Namjoon started as he closed the door and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I can’t find the… keys to this.”

He turned Yoongi around to show the handcuffs. If looks could kill… Jimin was sure Seokjin was trying to make Namjoon disintegrate with his glare. They began bickering.

Meanwhile, Jimin stepped closer to Yoongi to inspect the handcuffs. Standard, easy to unlock. All Jimin needed was something like a bobby pin. He’d usually have some on him, but Seokjin took them away before locking him in here.

Deep in contemplation, Jimin barely felt the hand that made its way around his wrist.

“Where have you been?” Yoongi whispered.

“I… It’s a long story, I’ll tell you if Seokjin lets me live. You don’t happen to have a hair pin on you, do you?”

Yoongi shook his head before looking at Seokjin who was still shouting at Namjoon. “He has one.”

Seokjin must have felt their eyes on him since he swiftly turned towards them. “What?”

Jimin pointed to his hair. “Can I borrow that?”

Seokjin eyed him suspiciously as he brought his hand up to his hair pin. When he took it out, he noticed Yoongi’s hand delicately placed around Jimin’s wrist, not to mention how close they were to each other.

He did not like what he was seeing.

-=+=-

“Turn left on the next one and then it’s straight until we reach the place.”

They were all in Seokjin’s car. Namjoon was in the front with his equipment, giving directions to Seokjin while the other two were at the back. They didn’t dare talk to each other since a certain someone in the driver’s seat kept glaring at them through the mirror, but their hands met sneakily on the middle seat.

To Jimin’s surprise, Yoongi was the one to inch his hand closer in the first place. They only interlocked their pinkies together, but it was better than nothing. They only let go of each other once Namjoon announced that they should walk the rest of the way.

If they were being honest, Yoongi and Seokjin should have stayed in the car since they have no business being there, but Yoongi suggested they go a bit further together and only then leave Namjoon and Jimin to their own devices.

They walked surrounded by woods and bushes when Seokjin pulled Yoongi back by his shoulder.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he posed sternly.

“What do you mean?” Yoongi’s eyes wandered anywhere besides the elder.

“You know exactly what I mean. Don’t you remember? Never meddle in a client’s business. What do you think you’re doing following Minnie around like a lapdog?”

“I haven’t— hyung, aren’t you meddling in Namjoon’s business?”

“That’s different.”

“Is it? Namjoon’s a client, isn’t he?”

Yoongi didn't miss the way Seokjin glanced Namjoon's way before answering him. “We’ll talk about this later.”

-=+=-

Once Namjoon deemed them close enough, he gave Jimin an earpiece so he would be able to communicate where Taehyung is. He stretched his limbs out a bit before cracking his neck.

“No one’s patrolling the outside of the building, but that doesn’t mean you can go in there unnoticed,” Namjoon started, tapping away at his tablet. “There are surveillance cameras. Once I disable them everyone will be alerted so you’ll have to move quickly and quietly.”

Jimin smiled as he nodded. He seemed to be enjoying this.

“I could turn the power off momentarily for you to enter through the front, but you’d be at the same disadvantage as everyone else, darkness.” Jimin tilted his head at that. “Not ideal, I know.” Namjoon examined his tablet for a while before continuing. “Another way is the roof, but it’s heavily guarded, at least seven people there. Last thing I can think of is this window over here,” he pointed to a section of his blueprint, showing it to Jimin. “Two guards, as far as I can see, the only issue is getting up there and getting the window open.” Jimin hummed satisfied. “Once you get inside, Taehyung is on the second floor in a room labeled 'versatile'”

“Creative.”

“They’ve been giving him sleeping pills or whatever. He looks extremely drowsy and weak,” Namjoon mumbled as he showed what looked like a live video of Taehyung trying to stand up and immediately falling down. “He’s been like this since the second time he almost successfully escaped.”

Jimin groaned at that. “This is going to be more complicated than I anticipated.” He passed his hand through his hair. “Not impossible, just complicated.”

He walked over to Yoongi sat on a tree stump. “Hold this for me, will you?” He handed him a long thick rope and his switchblade as he went to tie his hair back in a bun.

“Are you sure about this?” Yoongi asked, ignoring Seokjin crossing his arms in the corner of his eye.

“Please, this is my specialty. Of course I’m sure Yoon- uh bro.” They both visibly cringed. “I’ll… I’ll just go do the thing,” Jimin pointed backwards before taking back his rope and switchblade and leaving the area.

-=+=-

“Are you out of your mind?!” Seokjin would have shouted, but Namjoon’s proximity limited him to a whisper. “You’re hooking up with Minnie?”

Yoongi looked appalled. “No! We’re friends!”

“After he almost killed you?!”

“In his defense, he never had any intentions of killing me, he was just very desperate for answers.”

Seokjin rolled his eyes. “So, what now? You have sleepovers ever weekend and talk about how vast the universe is?”

“No…” he looked away to fiddle with his fingers.

“You fucking do don’t you…”

“Maybe.”

“Yoongi, the reason I kept him for a whole week was because he wanted me to fire you and make you speak to him. He still wants information from you!”

“I don’t have any information left! I’m clueless. He probably just wants to- oh,” Yoongi screwed his eyes shut. “Ah, hyung. I’ve been giving him the silent treatment without knowing! I’m such a bad friend!”

“I can't believe you. You fucking like him.” It was shattering; the look of disapproval and disgust on Seokjin’s face. “You fucking like him, don’t you?” Yoongi stayed silent, but it was enough of an answer for Seokjin. “You know I have to fire you now, right?”

Yoongi stared up at him with wide eyes. “But-”

“He’s using you, Yoongi. Can’t you see? He gave you affection in exchange for information. He’s playing with you. With your emotions. And you fell for it.”

Yoongi looked down, disappointed with himself. Unsure who to believe.

“Tae!”

They both whipped their heads in the direction of the voice. Jimin came back, slightly bruised and cut, but he had Taehyung on his back. He gently sat him down next to Namjoon before wiping sweat off his brow. After he caught his breath, his gaze zeroed in on Seokjin and Yoongi. He marched towards them, angrily.

Seokjin was ready to attack him, but all Jimin did was yank Yoongi’s hand until they were completely face to face.

“Push me away now if you don’t want me to kiss you.”

Neither of them moved.

Jimin kissed him.

It was odd, Yoongi thought. It was rough and hungry, but it was also soft and sweet. Almost as if Jimin didn’t know which one to do and kept switching between the two options. It was hard to keep up with, but Yoongi tried his best.

“I am not using you,” Jimin said before going back in for another kiss.

He brought his hands up from Yoongi’s hands to his collar so he could break the kiss and still keeping him close. “Listen to me and only me. I don’t care what you talk to me about. You don’t have to tell me anything that goes on at the hotel. I don’t need that. I don’t care. I just want you.” He glared at Seokjin standing right next to them before connecting his lips to Yoongi’s once again.

“Let’s go to the car.” Seokjin muttered. “I’ll carry Taehyung.”

-=+=-

They ended up at Seokjin’s house since it was deemed too dangerous to have RM, Vante and Minnie in the hotel all at once.

So, while Minnie and RM were watching over Vante, Seokjin pulled Yoongi into the kitchen.

Yoongi was the one to speak first. “You can still trust me with the job, I haven’t said—”

But Seokjin was quick to shut him up. “I can’t blame you for falling for Minnie. He’s… well you know. Yoongi… I never had the intention of firing you, but you pushed me in a corner.” Yoongi’s eyes downcast. Seokjin was using his hyung voice, not his hotel manager voice. “You’re smart. And if you trust him, then great, but Yoongi, he will put you in danger if you keep working at the hotel.”

He leaned against his counter before continuing, knowing that Yoongi was listening to him.

“It happened before… someone who worked at the hotel tried to date a client. It didn’t end well. Hearts were shattered and lives were taken. I don’t want that to happen to you.”

“You’re talking about yourself, aren’t you?”

It wasn’t Yoongi asking the question. It was Jimin.

They stared at him, leaning against the door frame.

“Your ring,” Jimin pointed. “I recognize it. I know who gave it to you.”

“Then don’t talk about it.”

Jimin pushed himself forward, putting himself in between Yoongi and Seokjin. “I made a promise with Yoongi. I told him I would protect him.”

“You did?” Yoongi whispered from behind him.

“Yes, I did. In the very beginning. Now shut up, you’re ruining my speech— as I was saying, I promised Yoongi I would protect him. Whether he accepted or not is irrelevant, but the point is that I would never let anything happen to him.”

Seokjin hummed. “You swear to that?”

“Yes,” Jimin answered, overflowing with determination and confidence. “You can trust me.”

“No,” Seokjin chuckled. “No, I can’t. Not yet anyway.”

Jimin opened his mouth to protest but he was interrupted by Namjoon clearing his throat.

“Um,” he waved awkwardly. “Minnie, Tae wants to um, talk?”

Jimin looked from Seokjin to Namjoon before nodding. He noted the way Seokjin kept his gaze away from Namjoon as he left.

-=+=-

Jeongguk had his chopsticks pointed at Jimin as he defended himself from another one of his accusations. “I only seriously injured people. I’m no murderer.” They were all having a meal together since Yoongi claimed he made too much for just him and Jimin.

“Nearly had Hoseok killed,” Yoongi starkly remarked, earning him a groan from the youngest.

“By mistake! How many times am I going to apologize for it?” he slammed his chopsticks down to cross his arms. “How was I supposed to know they would hurt someone of their own team?”

“It was a bit startling, but Namjoon being there, I knew I would be alive in the end,” Hoseok smiled, bringing his hand up to ruffle Jeongguk’s hair. “It’s okay baby.”

“What makes Namjoon so trustworthy?” Yoongi posed.

“Ah!” Hoseok started. “He lost his older brother. Last thing he told Namjoon was 'someone else’s life is not yours to take. Don’t seek revenge.' Lives by that.”

“That’s why he became a tech guy instead of an action guy,” Jimin supplied. “He’s pretty good at it.”

Yoongi hummed. “Namjoon’s brother sounds like a great guy.”

“He was,” Hoseok agreed. “A fantastic fighter. He looked exactly like Namjoon too, especially now that Joon grew up.”

“How did it happen?” Yoongi started to get engaged in Namjoon’s story. “How did his brother pass?”

Hoseok shrugged.

“He had a weakness.” Jeongguk sighed. They all stared at him. “It was cruel, but they said he was too dangerous to be left alive. One of the main reasons I was looking to leave that place.” He moved around his food on his plate, remembering what had happened that day. “My team… they all thought love was a weakness. Having someone you care about. Many thought his weakness was Namjoon.”

Yoongi suddenly remembered some of the first questions Seokjin had asked him when he was interested in taking the job.

“How many loved ones do you have in your life?” he had asked back then.

“None.”

Jeongguk hugged Hoseok from the side as if he needed the support. “He had a boyfriend. He cared about him more than anyone in the world. Sacrificed himself to save his boyfriend’s life. Ah, you must know of him, Yoongi hyung, you work at the same place as him.”

Oh.

-=+=-

“I can’t believe it!” Yoongi gestured up towards the ceiling as they laid down on Jimin’s bed. “I knew there was something about him and Namjoon.” Jimin stayed silent, nuzzling into his neck as he spoke to the ceiling. Yoongi brought one of his hands down to play with Jimin’s soft hair. “It must suck, right? I mean Seok said Namjoon looks exactly like his brother.”

“Yeah…”

“It must hurt; being reminded of him so frequently. What if he never had time to heal?”

-=+=-

It almost became a fight when Jimin paid them a visit at the hotel. He pretended not to know Yoongi as he passed him at the front desk and sat down on one of the many couches in the lobby. Seokjin took him by the collar, hissing at him, telling him he never wants to see him in his hotel, but Jimin was unfazed. He calmly asked to talk to him to which Seokjin refused at first, but Jimin is persistent. He whispered something in Seokjin’s ear.

Yoongi watched as Seokjin took him by the wrist and dragged him to his office.

-=+=-

It was when they met back up at Jimin’s place that Yoongi decided to ask about it. Jimin only hummed innocently.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He didn’t push Jimin for answers. He didn’t need to. “Seokjin hyung trusts me now,” Jimin’s voice came out muffled since his face was buried in Yoongi’s neck. “We’re friends now.” he backed up a bit to look directly into Yoongi’s eyes. “We’re gonna talk about you behind your back.”,

Yoongi scoffed at Jimin’s attempt to tease him. “Yeah?” he played at Jimin’s earring. “What would you say about me?”

Jimin brought a finger to his chin and looked up in fake contemplation. “How easy it is to get you tied up against a chair,” he smiled. “Maybe I should do it again. You look good with ropes around you.”

“Oh, is that it?” Yoongi squinted. “I look good with ropes around me.” Jimin nodded. “You know what I think?”

“I don’t care what you think.”

“I think you’re asking him for advice on me because you don’t know how to handle me.”

Jimin scoffed, offended, but he still leaned in to give Yoongi a quick kiss. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

-=+=-

“He wasn’t wrong, but it doesn’t make him not annoying!” Jimin huffed dramatically as he sprawled himself over Seokjin’s office chair.

“Minnie, Yoongi already likes you. Just ask him out like a normal person, will you?”

“How? I’ve never done this before.”

At that, Seokjin’s curiosity piqued. “You haven’t?” Jimin only shook his head.

“He doesn’t have any enemies he wants gone so I can’t do that either. He also said he doesn’t want me to steal anything for him,” Jimin frowned. “What am I supposed to do?”

“I can tell you how I asked out Namkyu if you want,” Seokjin proposed. “Maybe it’ll help you get ideas?” Jimin adjusted his posture to stare at him, eyes wide with interest. He nodded. Seokjin chuckled. “It all started a few days after Kyu gave me his ring…”

-=+=-

There was something off, when Jimin returned home from the hotel. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but it was as if something was waiting for him. He knew Yoongi was safe because he was supposed to be working tonight, but something was definitely off.

He knocked on Hoseok and Jeongguk’s door receiving no answer. Odd. Switchblade in hand, he quietly made his way to his own home, keeping his eyes open for an unusual face. The closer he got to his home, the quicker his heart began to beat. What was happening?

He kicked the door open. Nothing. Slowly, he creeped up the stairs, trying his best to step where he was sure the floorboards wouldn’t creak.

The second he reached the top, his blade was kicked out of his hand and he was tackled to the ground. The hands holding him down felt familiar, but he was unable to turn around to confirm anything. He began kicking and flailing around only for another set of hands to aid in holding him down. He felt rope tie around his wrists and a piece of cloth secure itself over his eyes. He cursed.

In the end, the rope around his wrists ended up linked to his ankles, and he ended up on his knees, unable to move unless he wanted to fall to the side.

What he found odd was that they didn’t move him. They just left him there. In his own house. Either this was a horrible prank or whoever just went through the effort of tying him up was just inefficient. The door opened and closed, letting Jimin know someone has entered the house. The footsteps up the stairs were undeniably Yoongi’s. He just knew.

“Yoon!” The steps came to a halt. There was silence… and then there was laughter. Jimin squirmed around a bit hearing the footsteps approach him.

“I’m sorry, Jiminie,” Yoongi was very obviously holding back laughter as he passed his hand through Jimin’s hair.

“Why are you laughing?” Jimin sulked.

“I wanted-” he stifled his laughter. “I was going to ask you something important when I came back from the hotel.” Jimin felt two fingers push his chin up. Yoongi cooed. “I asked Jeongguk and Hoseok to make sure you’d stay here before my arrival. I didn’t think they’d tie you up like this though.”

Jimin groaned loudly. This is embarrassing. He struggled a bit, nearly falling over. “Untie me. I have to go beat their asses.”

Yoongi hummed. “Remember when you said I looked good with ropes around me?” Jimin scoffed. “I think you pull of this look pretty well too.”

“So, what now? Hm? What are you gonna do?” Jimin challenged. Yoongi heard the amusement behind his voice.

“Calm yourself.” He lowered himself to his knees in front of Jimin to remove his blindfold. “That’s not what I was planning today. I wanted to ask you… will you be-”

Jimin’s eyes grew wide in panic. “No! No! Shush! I wanted to ask! I was going to be the one to ask, you’re not allowed to ask!”

“Well, I started first, so I’m the one who’s asking. So, Park Jimin, will you-”

“LA LA LA LA, I can’t hear you! You can’t ruin this for me, Min Yoongi! I had everything planned, you know! I asked Seokjin hyung for help and everything! You can’t take this away from me!” Yoongi rolled his eyes before clasping his hand over Jimin’s mouth. He, of course, made sounds of protest, but he eventually stopped, opting to glare at the man in front of him.

“Park Jimin. Be my boyfriend,” Yoongi grinned. “Notice how I didn’t say will you be my boyfriend,” he retracted his hand to reveal the scowl on Jimin’s lips.

He huffed, looking off to the side. “Fine. I’ll be your stupid boyfriend,” he muttered. “But only if you untie me and let me take you out on a date.”

“Deal.”

-=+=-

“I’ll see you in a few hours,” Yoongi kissed Jimin on the forehead. “Don’t over-do it, whatever you’re planning.”

Jimin only smiled sweetly as he watched him leave for his shift at the hotel.

He thought back to what Seokjin told him the other day as he walked towards the river.

“He had called to book our largest room in advance. So, when I went to prepare it, I made sure it was extra special for him.”

He hid everything he needed in one if the empty houses where he was sure Yoongi would never find them. It wasn’t much, he thought. Maybe it was a little but pathetic, but he never had the chance to date.

“I didn’t know if he was a big romantic, so I didn’t go overboard with it, I just did a few little things to let him know I appreciate him.”

He set down little fairy lights around the rock they sat on the first time Jimin introduced Yoongi to this place.

In the movies, lovers always go back to the place they first met. It’s supposed to be special, but there was nothing special about their very first meeting, Jimin concluded. In fact, their first meeting location holds a lot of hurt.

But this place, this little river, this is where everything started.

“Hey?” Jimin whipped his head around, startled. “What’s all this for?”

It was Jeongguk.

“Hoseok hyung didn’t tell you?”

Jeongguk shook his head. “He’s been giving me the silent treatment.” Jimin questioned him with his eyes. “He caught me this morning… going back to see my father for his birthday.” Jimin clicked his tongue in disapproval. “I know, okay, hyung already gave me the speech, I don’t need to hear it from you too. I know it was dangerous, but I got out of there safely,” he sighed. “So anyways, what’s this?” he pointed to the lights surrounding a little basket.

“I’m… trying to ask out Yoongi hyung.”

Jeongguk’s head tilted to the side like a confused puppy. “Oh, I thought he asked you out yesterday already. What did I tie you up for then?”

“For nothing!” Jimin shouted. “You could’ve just asked me to wait in there for him, you know!?” he crossed his arms. “Yes, he asked me out yesterday and we’re technically already together, but I wanna do it to. And the blindfold was too far, by the way.”

“Hey, don’t blame me for that, that was hyung’s idea. Said you’d look sexy with it.”

“Did I?”

“No.”

“Whatever. Why are you still here?”

“Oh, I found this on the ground outside your door. It has your name engraved on the side.”

Jeongguk reached for his back pocket to retrieve what looked like nothing but a black hilt of a dagger.

Jimin took it from him, feeling around to find a button that, when activated, pushes out a double-edged galaxy blade. Nothing he’s ever owned before looked like that, but Jeongguk was right; there was his name there on the handle written so prettily.

Jimin.

Not Minnie, but Jimin.

He moved the blade around to watch it reflect the little light that surrounded them. “Thanks, Jeon.” Jeongguk took that as his cue to leave Jimin alone with his thoughts.

-=+=-

A branch cracked behind him causing him to look away from the river.

“Tried to scare you,” Hoseok giggled as he approached Jimin sat on the decorated rock. “I can never sneak up on you, can I?”

Jimin huffed. “You did yesterday. Hate you for that by the way.”

“To be fair, I wasn’t the one who jumped you, Jeongguk was,” he lifted a finger to prove his point. “You seem down. What’s on your mind, Jiminie?”

Hoseok began massaging Jimin’s thigh as if to relax him. “I don’t know,” he answered looking down. Hoseok stayed silent to let him gather his thoughts. “I’ve never done this before. It’s hard to know when you’re doing the right thing when you don’t know anything.”

“Ah, Jiminie,” Hoseok practically sang. “There’s no right or wrong with these things, hm?” he patted his knee a few times before resuming the massage. “You’d think that, with so little experience myself, I’d never betray my family and run away with the supposed enemy, right?” Hoseok chuckled to himself. “It’s okay not to know things, Jimin. Not everything can be in your control. What are you really worried about?” he whispered.

“Maybe he’ll stop liking me. Or worse I’ll stop liking him. What if this doesn’t work?”

“You’re worried about the future,” Jimin nodded. “Well, Jimin-ah, the future is bullshit anyways.”

Jimin scoffed. “Hyung, be realistic-”

“I am!” he stood up. “I’m having a fight with Jeongguk right now,” he hummed. “What if he stops liking me because I’m being dramatic. What if I never forgive him? Hm? What if he decides I wasn’t worth it, and he goes back to his family?” Jimin stared up at him. These are real concerns, but Hoseok still has a beautiful genuine heart-shaped smile on his face. “Jimin, the 'what if' questions are the worst questions you can ask yourself.”

“But you always need to think about all outcomes, and you need backup plans if the main one fails!”

Hoseok kneeled back down. “You’re treating Yoongi like a mission.” Jimin kicked at the water beneath his feet. He isn’t wrong. “If in the future things don’t go as you thought, then yea it sucks, but that’s just how things are sometimes.”

“Makes me feel great, Hoseok hyung.”

He chuckled at Jimin’s bitter tone. “But you can’t let something as uncertain and as flimsy as the future stop you from doing something good in the present.”

Jimin stayed silent.

“I threw a banana at Gukkie this morning,” Hoseok suddenly said, earning him a burst of laughter from Jimin. “But he still loves me,” he smiled. “He’s been picking up flowers and leaving them on my side of the bed. Wouldn’t be able to enjoy it if I were worried about whether or not he’s gonna leave me for… you know.”

Jimin’s smile slowly faded as his head hung low. “I just don’t want to fuck this up. I really like him,” he mumbled. “And I wanna like him for a long time.”

He heard Hoseok shift around a bit before sliding himself off the rock. Hoseok’s hands made their way to Jimin’s nape with another massage in an attempt to have him relax a bit. After a while, the hands halted. Hoseok leaned to whisper in Jimin’s ear. “Yoongi hyung is smitten by you. You don’t have to worry about fucking things up, whatever you do, he’ll love it”

“I heard that,” Yoongi’s voice sounded from behind them. He cleared his throat before continuing. “You’re not wrong, Hoseok-ah,” he went to scratch behind his ear in embarrassment. “but it is a bit rude to expose me like that…”

Hoseok only chuckled, moving away from Jimin to pat Yoongi on the shoulder twice. “Have fun!” he exclaimed before making a swift exit.

-=+=-

Jimin still has yet to turn to see Yoongi, but he doesn’t flinch when he feels his cold hand on his shoulder. He immediately reached for Yoongi’s hand in hopes to warm him up. He’s already made a horrible choice! Yoongi’s cold! The river water is cold! Yoongi’s going to be even more cold!

But… he’s smiling. It gives Jimin hope.

“Hi,” he said as he pulled Yoongi down to sit next to him.

“This is cute,” Yoongi took in the little fairy lights and the blanket. “You’re cute too.” Jimin rolled his eyes.

He let go of Yoongi’s hand momentarily to grab the basket he had hidden at his side, taking out a few rice cakes carefully wrapped in a delicate looking leaf. He held one out in both of his hands for Yoongi to take. He did. He looked at it closely for a second before looking back at Jimin who suddenly wore worry on his face.

“This kinda looks like you,” Yoongi chuckled.

The worry on Jimin’s face quickly morphed into an exaggerated frown. “I hope you choke on it,” he grumbled before taking one out for himself.

He was about to take a bite when he heard Yoongi hum in satisfaction. “Tastes familiar.”

“I stole your recipe book from your house.”

Yoongi snorted. “What else did you steal from me?”

"Your heart.”

“Disgusting. Look at you being all corny.”

“Shut up, okay, I was testing it out. Tell me I’m disgusting again and I’ll literally carve out your heart and steal it from you.”

They ended up finishing the rest of Jimin’s rice cakes as they laughed and bickered together until Yoongi started feeling around himself as if he had lost something. He cursed under his breath, searching his pockets one last time before laying down on his back in despair.

“Jiminie…” Jimin met his gaze, but Yoongi slung his arm over his eyes. “I’m sorry… I had a gift for you but I- I guess I dropped it somewhere,” he sighed. “I worked really hard to get it for you…”

“Yoon…”

“Seokjin hyung was the one who showed me where I could get one, but I didn’t wanna just buy something and give it to you, so I engraved your name in it and- ow!”

Yoongi quickly moved his arm from his eyes, blinking a few times to take away the blurriness it caused to look down to where Jimin had poked his side with a sharp object.

“Talking about this?” he wiggled around the blade Jeongguk had given him a while ago.

Yoongi sat up quickly. “What?”

“Jeongguk said he found it on the floor.”

“Liar,” Yoongi pouted. “I bet he stole it from my pocket.”

Jimin giggled. “Maybe,” he put it away. “Or maybe you’re just clumsy and you drop things a lot.” Yoongi huffed. “You’re so cute when you’re upset.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” he huffed.

Jimin slug both his legs over Yoongi’s and hugged him tightly, burying his face in his neck. “It’s beautiful. I love it. Thank you. Promise I won’t hurt you with it,” he kissed at Yoongi’s jaw.

Yoongi only hummed in response while his hand soothed Jimin’s back.

That’s when Jimin felt the blade slip out of his pocket. Yoongi had pressed it against his side.

“But what if I hurt you with it?” He was smiling hard, gums on display. Jimin giggled. “I’m serious! What if I seriously injure you with it. On purpose!”

“Do you want me to act scared?”

“No,” Yoongi set the blade aside. “But because I do want revenge,” he pulled Jimin onto his lap only to push him into the river before backing up so Jimin couldn’t pull him in by his legs.

“Hyung!” Jimin shouted once he stood back up, hair dripping water droplets onto his face.

Of course, he couldn’t stay mad; Yoongi’s smile made his lips want to curl up involuntarily.

“There. Now we’re even.”