Work Text:
WHOMP
Jimin groaned again and shoved his face in his pillow as the loud bumps from the apartment upstairs rattled his ceiling. He’d been in his new apartment for less than two days and he was already about to go rip his neighbor a new one for keeping him up until midnight again. His new job at the elementary school started tomorrow and he refused to go in looking like the zombie apocalypse and frighten all his new students. He stretched his legs and winced at the ache in his limbs, it was already snaking through his muscles from all the lifting he had done earlier during the move-in. Namjoon and Jin had been there to help out, but no amount of extra hands could prevent the soreness that repeatedly climbing three flights of stairs could bring.
BOOM
Jimin took his pillow from under his head and whipped it up at his ceiling like that would do anything to help the noise. “Shut up, pleeeease,” He whined, but it came out muffled with the way his face was now smushed into the mattress.
He wondered what his neighbor was even doing up there. It couldn’t have been house work, because who even does that every night at midnight? Definitely isn’t sex, Jimin knew what that sounded like after living in an apartment complex for three years in college. His neighbor suddenly let out a grunt that rumbled through the ceiling and Jimin found himself taking back that last statement. Okay, maybe it’s just very…passionate…sex? Another thump came just then followed by a louder grunt and Jimin sighed, pulling his sheets over his head at the seemingly obvious confirmation. Well, at least someone’s having a good night, he thought bitterly, rolling over and attempting to fall asleep one last time.
As he did so, he glanced over at his small corgi, Peach, fast asleep at the foot of his bed. Jimin inwardly cursed his inability to sleep through anything like his sweet girl could. When the noises eventually halted an hour later, Jimin hummed in relief and finally found sleep.
At least four hours of shut-eye was better than nothing.
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As predicted, Jimin woke up tired. And sore. And grumpy.
And if that hadn’t been enough to brighten his morning, his breakfast smoothie exploded all over his perfectly planned first-day-of-school outfit after the lid to the blender decided to fly off and boomerang into the vase of flowers on his kitchen counter.
As Jimin sulked back into his bedroom to change, Peach glanced at him sadly from her favorite spot on his bed. He took a detour from his closet to ruffle her ears, smiling fondly at the way her eyes closed in satisfaction. Peach was three years old now, but still tiny as ever. Jimin had gotten her from his very first art professor in college, the very one who’d gotten him into pursuing an art career full-time. Granted, he was only an art teacher, but he loved kids so much and combining that with his even bigger love for art was a no-brainer. Peach became his motivator through his final years of school until his graduation, as well as his frustrating job-search journey. She was his best friend, besides Hobi, Joon, and Seokjin of course, and he was hers as well.
Once Jimin finally slipped on a new pair of jeans and fluffy blue sweater, he grabbed his things and wished Peach goodbye, promising her he’d be back in just six hours to take her to the dog park next door to their apartment complex. The dog park had been a huge reason Jimin had even picked this complex, since with his new job, he had no idea how much free time he’d have to take Peach twenty minutes across town so she could burn off some energy. As a corgi, she had little legs but a lot of energy. The dog park next door was the perfect cherry on top to his new quaint and affordable one bedroom apartment.
As Jimin made his way to the bus stop, he thought of his loud and rude upstairs neighbor, hoping his day was starting off just as exhausting as Jimin’s was.
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“MINNIE!” A squeal echoed through the halls of the elementary school and Jimin turned just in time to catch a glimpse of Hoseok’s bright, sunny smile before he launched at smaller and tugged him up into a hug. “It’s so good to see you finally! How was the move? Did you get settled in okay? Was the bus crowded?” Hoseok rambled off the questions in quick succession, brow furrowing as he pulled away from the hug and smoothed out the wrinkles in Jimin’s sweater.
Despite his bad mood, Jimin smiled fondly at his friend before answering. “Hi hyung, no need to worry about me, the move went great and Peach and I are all settled.”
Hoseok studied Jimin for a moment and frowned. “What’s with the dark circles, Min? Were you nervous for the first day or something and couldn’t sleep?”
“Uhm, I guess you’re half right?” Jimin yawned after managing to get the words out and resisted rolling his eyes at his friend’s concerned look. He knew Hoseok meant well, of course, but Jimin couldn’t shake his bad mood as hard as he tried. Hopefully meeting his kids for the first time would be the turn-around he needed. “My upstairs neighbor was doing the dirty until like 1am so I had to listen to the uh…sounds. Took me forever to finally fall asleep.”
Hoseok made an exaggerated grossed out face that almost managed to get Jimin to break out into a laugh. Almost. “Nasty. If it keeps happening you should go talk to him, I’m sure he’d understand?”
Jimin hummed and turned to continue on his way to his new classroom, knowing Hoseok would trail along behind him. “Yeah I may have to, at this point I swear I’ll start hearing those weird grunts in my dreams.”
“Kinky,” Hoseok giggled from behind him and Jimin’s cheeks reddened.
“Not like that, hyung,” Jimin turned his focus to unlocking his classroom door so his friend wouldn’t see his blushing cheeks. His mood would not allow him to put up with more teasing and the last thing he wanted to do was snap at one of his closest friends.
Thankfully, Hobi acquiesced, seemingly sensing the younger’s foul mood. “Go paint something while you wait for the kids to show up, I’m sure it’ll clear your head before the day officially starts.”
Jimin smiled gratefully at his friend for the suggestion and finally let out a giggle as he leaned over to ruffle Jimin’s blonde hair. “That honestly doesn’t sound like a bad idea, I’ll see you for lunch?” Hoseok nodded his approval and gave a small wave to his friend before turning to head to his own classroom.
Jimin had known Hoseok all throughout college, the two met in their first year communications class and had been attached at the hip ever since, not a surprise to anyone who knew them. They were known as the “sunshine duo” and, as education majors, everyone knew they’d be excellent at their careers come graduation. Hoseok had managed to snag a teaching job in Seoul before Jimin could, however, and he left Jimin behind in Busan the month after they’d been handed their diplomas. Jimin had gotten a basic teaching assistant job at his alma mater, but what he really wanted was to move to Seoul and teach art alongside his best friend. Soon enough, the school year had ended when Hoseok called Jimin up to tell him that the art teacher at his school had been fired for drinking on the job (yikes) and that he had referred Jimin. Two interviews later and the job was his.
Getting comfortable in his new classroom, Jimin sighed. Hoseok had been right, he was nervous about the first day but he was mainly excited. Teaching college students was not nearly as enjoyable as young children, their imaginative minds not yet hindered by the weight of the real world. He couldn’t wait to see what they’d come up with in his class.
Setting up a blank canvas, Jimin pulled out his supplies and breathed out a deep breath before getting to work. Today would be a good day, he’d make it one.
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As soon as Jimin managed to lug himself back home, he collapsed face first on his bed and groaned. He didn’t think he’d ever been so exhausted in his entire life.
The day had managed to start looking up at first, but as soon as one little boy in his mid-morning class dumped his entire cup of paint on the girl sitting next to him, all hell broke loose. A trip to the principle’s office, a discussion with some parents and an extremely late lunch later, Jimin’s temper was on the brink of exploding. He knew it all stemmed from his lack of sleep, he wouldn’t usually be so high strung over some disobedient students. Honestly all he wanted to do now before he crashed was go upstairs and give his neighbor the biggest whack on the head that his small fists could manage.
A small whine pulled him from his thoughts, however, and he realized that wouldn’t happen. Peach had been patiently waiting all day and Jimin wasn’t about to deny her her daily visit to the dog park. Pushing a smile on his face, Jimin leaned down to rub behind her ears. “Let’s go get some fresh air, hm girl? I think it’ll do us both some good.”
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Someone was staring at him. Jimin could feel the uneasy burning of eyes on the side of his face and he didn’t like it.
He was sitting on a park bench, watching as Peach ran around the grassy field as fast as her little legs could take her, occasionally sniffing and pawing at other dogs who were excited enough to approach her. As soon as he was about to turn and gift some sharp words to the culprit who clearly couldn’t keep his eyes to himself, Jimin heard someone clearing their throat.
“Uh hey.” Jimin turned to look at a young man about his age standing above him, gentle smile on his face and black fluffy hair blowing in the light wind. He was admittedly handsome, so Jimin shoved down his irritable mood the best he could once again that day and offered up a smile in return.
“Can I help you?” The man’s eyes widened, like he wasn’t prepared for a response, and Jimin felt his heart seize a bit in his chest. Oh no, he was cute.
Seeming to have overcome his initial blunder, the man gave another easy, confident smile. “Do you mind if I sit? The other benches are sort of full.” Jimin nodded gesturing to his left, and the black haired man took a seat, immediately turning towards Jimin again.
“Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before and I feel like I’d have definitely remembered you,” A smirk slid its way onto the man’s face and Jimin paused for a moment. Was he flirting? This was definitely flirting. Jimin internally deflated, knowing he didn’t have the energy for this right now but also didn’t want to give off a bad impression.
“Uh yeah, I actually just moved in a few days ago.”
The man’s face lit up in recognition & he nodded. “Oh wait yeah, are you on floor 3? I think I saw some guys moving things up there the other day.”
“Yeah that’s me, 304. How about you?” Jimin realized soon after he probably shouldn’t have given his exact apartment number to a literal stranger, but it was out of his mouth before he could stop it. Now he just hoped this man wasn’t a creep.
“Nice, I’m actually right above you, 404. I guess you could say you’re my bottom neighbor?” The man chuckled at his dumb joke, but Jimin just froze and stared at him. Realization setting in that this man was the reason he had been kept up all night. The man noticed Jimin’s silence and his laughter trailed off, his brows furrowing. “Are you alright?”
“You kept me up until 1am last night,” Jimin blurted, the irritation he’d tried so hard to pack away was threatening to bubble to the surface. “And since I moved in.”
The man’s eyes widened, but it wasn’t as endearing as Jimin found it to be earlier. “Oh uh, I’m sorry. I have a hard time sleeping sometimes so night time is when I weight lift and do some exercising, it wears me out so I can fall asleep easier.”
Jimin’s eye twitched. “So…this is like an every night type of thing then?”
The man shrugged weakly, “Pretty much, but you gotta do what you gotta do right?”
Jimin frowned and looked away, hoping that ignoring his neighbor and simply watching Peach running in circles to chase her own tail would calm him down. It did the opposite however, when he saw a brown fluffy Pomeranian nip at Peach’s ear and her resounding yelp had Jimin on his feet in an instant.
“Peach!” He called out, rushing over to his little corgi who looked nothing if not just a little tired from running around for the past thirty minutes.
“Tannie what are you doing, huh? Playing a little too rough?” Jimin heard his neighbor’s stern voice behind him and turned to see the man picking up the Pomeranian in his arms, petting a hand over its head with a fond look on his face. And suddenly all the irritation, exhaustion, and anger that Jimin had managed to shove down the whole day came exploding to the surface, his face immediately flaming red with his frown.
“This is your dog?” He asked the taller man, tense.
As soon as the man saw Jimin’s face he lifted a hand as if Jimin was a skittish wild animal that he had to tame. “Listen, I’m sorry, Yeontan’s just a little overexcited. His nips don’t hurt though I promise, he does it to me all the ti—“
“So first you keep me up until almost the ass crack of dawn with your stupid weight lifting and grunts so I have possibly the worst first day at work and then you let your wild dog attack my Peach?! Who do you think you are…”
“…Jungkook,” The man supplied helpfully, standing stock still at Jimin’s sudden outburst.
“Jungkook,” Jimin glared at him, noting the way several bystanders were watching on with keen interest. Face still flaming red, now in embarrassment that several of his new neighbors had to witness this, Jimin plucked an unbothered Peach from the grass and carried her from the park, refusing to glance back at his rude, handsome neighbor or his dog.
Jimin knew that technically it wasn’t a big deal, he knew that Peach was completely fine, just like how he knew kids misbehaved all the time in school as his student did today. Neither of those things should be irritating him so much but Jimin just couldn’t help it, he’d managed to force a smile on his face all day and that final straw had been his tipping point.
Jungkook.
His neighbor’s handsome face came immediately to mind and the blonde frowned. What an asshole, and he didn’t even tell Jimin that he’d try to be quieter with his exercising? Only offered a “gotta do what you gotta do”?
“What an asshole,” Jimin echoed his thoughts under his breath. He pushed his way into his apartment, fed Peach her dinner and drew himself a bath, adding some lavender bath salts.
Now he could only pray things got better from here. But with Jungkook as his upstairs neighbor, he somehow doubted it.
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The next morning had Jimin feeling much better and it had taken him until halfway through eating his breakfast when he realized.
Jungkook hadn’t done his weight lifting last night.
Feeling somewhat smug (and admittedly a little guilty, though Jimin’s pride refused to acknowledge that), he grabbed his things and left for work, giving Peach a soft pat on the head as he walked through the door.
He’d just slipped through the elevator doors into the lobby when a practically shirtless, sweaty Jungkook came strolling through the front door of their building heading straight towards Jimin. His AirPods were shoved into his ears, phone strapped into a band stretched around his sweaty bicep, clearly coming back from a run. Jimin tried his best not to stare, kept repeating to himself in his head how much of an asshole Jungkook clearly was. His eyes wouldn’t listen though, and Jungkook smirked when he noticed the smaller standing there ogling. He appeared completely unbothered by the way Jimin had yelled at him the day before.
“Hey, did you sleep better last night?” Jungkook asked as he approached with wide eyes, tone innocent. It didn’t match what Jimin was looking at at all and it made him flustered. Jungkook’s tank top stuck to his chest with sweat, his arms glistening, and—holy shit—how was this guy real? He forced an unimpressed frown on his face before replying to the taller.
“Yes I did actually, how kind of you to sacrifice your much needed work out regime for my measly sleep schedule.”
Jungkook just laughed like Jimin was the funniest person he’d ever met and Jimin’s frown deepened. “You know I’d love to call that pout of yours cute, but I just realized I don’t even know your name. That’d be a bit weird wouldn’t it?”
“It’s Jimin,” The blonde crossed his arms and popped his hip, trying to come off as stern and angry but it just seemed to make Jungkook more amused, his smug grin stretching even bigger.
“Ah, Jimin. Well yes, I felt bad that you clearly had a bad day yesterday so I’ve taken to weight lifting in my living room instead so it wouldn’t be right above you. Obviously Tae now hates that all my free weights are stacked up next to his rom-com collection but anything for my sweet and friendly neighbor,” Jungkook crossed his arms in return and Jimin managed to avoid glancing at his biceps again. The mention of another individual living with Jungkook quickly ran through Jimin’s mind and struck a bit of a cord in him, though he ignored it in favor of rolling his eyes.
“I don’t have time for this, you’re gonna make me late for work,” Jimin couldn’t tell what game Jungkook was playing here, and he really didn’t have time to figure it out.
Jungkook stepped aside easily and nodded. “Yes of course, wouldn’t want you to have another bad day because of me, yeah?”
Jimin just glared at him as he passed, shrugging his bag higher up on his shoulder. Who was he kidding, of course this asshole couldn’t be anything else besides an asshole…and hot. A hot asshole. Who cares? Jimin didn’t, not at all. Nope.
“Jimin,” Jungkook called out just as Jimin approached the front doors of the lobby. He turned and raised a brow at the black haired boy in question. “You know I’m just messing with you right?” He smiled easily and stepped back into the elevator as the doors opened, waving at the blonde. “Have a good day at work.”
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Jimin’s second day in his classroom had gone infinitely better than the first, mainly aided by the fact he’d finally gotten his full night of good sleep. He mentally patted himself on the back for not having to put up with any kids dumping paint on each other today, definitely a win. Instead the kids were well behaved and excited to get creative, motivated by Jimin’s praises and bright smile.
By the time he was taking Peach back to the dog park that afternoon, he had a little bounce in his step, his students’ drawing assignments tucked under his arm for him to grade. Technically as an elementary school art teacher he didn’t really give grades, just comments on how each student was doing with their art, where their strengths and weaknesses lied. It was his first official time ‘grading’ as a teacher though, so he was actually excited to sit on his favorite bench in his cozy pale yellow sweater and enjoy the fall weather with Peach.
The park was fairly empty today, Jimin noticed, so he was happy to see his favorite bench vacant. He’d only been coming to this dog park for a few days but there was one bench situated under a huge oak tree that Jimin loved, its leaves only starting to change colors with the season. He unleashed Peach, smiling softly as she took off towards the few other dogs playing out in the field, and made himself comfortable with his feet tucked under him and papers stacked on his lap.
He’d only gotten through about four drawings before someone approached him. Jimin sensed who it was immediately and was left confused at the rapid jump of his heart in his chest. Jungkook did nothing but infuriate him but for some reason, Jimin couldn’t stop thinking about him the entire day. His warm eyes, his biceps, the way he called Jimin’s pout cute. It shouldn’t have brought a flush to his cheeks as he had thought about it for the tenth time over lunch hour, but it did. And Jimin didn’t know what to do with that realization.
Then he’d try to keep his head in check by telling himself how Jungkook didn’t genuinely apologize for keeping him awake, that he was an asshole for messing with him like he had been. But, his head would remind him finally, the thought that Jungkook had changed his workout routine anyway…yeah it didn’t matter how hard Jimin tried, he knew he wasn’t mad anymore. Or even a little bit irritated. Jungkook didn’t have to know that, though.
“Jimin,” Jungkook made his way over slowly, as if gauging Jimin’s mood before committing. At Jimin’s hesitant nod, he sat down next to the blonde and remained quiet for a moment, fiddling with the zipper on his jacket. “What are you working on?” He finally asked.
Jimin paused in his writing and looked over at his neighbor, trying to determine whether the question was genuine. Jungkook’s eyes were wide in curiosity, his hair soft and fluffy like it’d just dried from a shower. He didn’t seem to be playing around, so Jimin relaxed. “I’m grading assignments…well, sorta. I teach elementary art.” Jungkook’s eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Wow really? That’s cool, I never would’ve guessed you taught kids.”
“Why?”
Jungkook hesitated this time, frowning. “Ah you’re just a bit…feisty? I guess is the way to put it.” Immediately after he spoke, Jungkook looked away as if he was nervous about Jimin’s reaction and Jimin felt his chest squeeze in guilt, much like he’d felt the morning after his outburst. As he was thinking of a way to respond, Jungkook spoke up again. “Sorry, I don’t actually know you that well, I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay,” Jimin said softly, eyeing the taller. “I guess I haven’t really given you a reason to think otherwise of me, have I?”
At that, Jungkook chuckled and seemed to relax, sitting more comfortably on the bench, facing Jimin. “Yeah, not really, though I am a bit to blame as well.”
“A bit?” At Jimin’s eyebrow raise, Jungkook burst out laughing. His eyes squeezed shut and his head thrown back, Jimin couldn’t help but giggle along with him.
After a moment they lapsed into silence, Jungkook glancing over to look at Jimin’s face and eyeing him for a long moment. Jimin flushed and ran his fingers through his blonde bangs. “Is there something on my face, or?”
Jungkook nose scrunched adorably as he tried not to smile, reaching a hand over and running a finger down Jimin’s flushed cheeks gently. “Yeah actually, you’ve got some pen ink righttt here.”
“Oh,” Jimin’s flush deepened as Jungkook pulled his hand away and just kept watching him with this soft look on his face.
“Yeah.”
A loud bark from a dog a few feet away made the two of them jump, cutting off the tense staring contest they’d gotten themselves lapsed into. Jimin cleared his through awkwardly and looked back down at the drawings in his hands, shuffling them to keep his hands busy.
“So, uh, what do you do? Like your job.”
“Oh! I’m a video editor for a production company. Our clients are mainly looking for advertising, so I do a lot of commercials.” As Jungkook continued to talk about his job, especially the more creative aspects of it, Jimin found himself relating to his neighbor. He seemed extremely passionate for his art and his creative process, and Jimin realized that the two of them actually had a lot in common on that front. In Jimin’s free time, he painted. He painted whatever he wanted and whatever inspired him. Jungkook explained that he did the same with his videography, filming his friends and loved ones whenever an idea struck him.
“I’d love to see one of your video projects one day?” Jimin mumbled out softly, trying to not come off as invasive. He knew how private some of his paintings were to him and he didn’t want to offend Jungkook by seeming too nosy.
However, Jungkook only smiled boyishly, still hanging off the bit of adrenaline he clearly felt while talking about his passion. “Only if I can see one of your paintings?”
Jimin nodded in approval and giggled when Jungkook stuck his hand out for Jimin to shake in agreement. His heart thumped in his chest when he noticed how Jungkook’s hand engulfed his almost comically. “Deal,” Jungkook nodded in return.
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“So let me get this straight. You literally wanted to punch him in the face because you hated him two days ago…and now you’re crushing on him?”
Jimin groaned and buried his head in his arms where they were resting on the table. He and Hoseok didn’t have classes the hour after lunch, so they’d made themselves comfortable in the empty teacher’s lounge. The blonde had awoken in such a good mood from he and Jungkook’s conversation the day before, that he had practically skipped into his best friend’s classroom that morning to deliver some coffee, a “special treat” Jimin had called it.
Hoseok called it bullshit. “Okay, what’s got you so happy that you’re leaking fairy dust?”
Jimin had managed to weasel his way out of succumbing to the red-head’s invasive questioning, but the hour after lunch was just them and Jimin knew he couldn’t avoid it for long. Hoseok had sat there just the day before listening to Jimin ramble on and on about how irritating Jungkook’s teasing was that morning (along with his sweaty biceps) so he was unsurprisingly smug when Jimin admitted that he might’ve had some…feelings towards his upstairs neighbor.
“Called it,” He cackled, slapping a hand down on the table. Jimin just groaned even louder.
“Come onnnn,” Hoseok teased. “This is a good thing, it’s about time you let yourself like someone. He seems sweet, plus willing to put up with your endless amounts of sass, so it’s perfect really.”
Jimin snorted and raised his head, resting his chin in his hand instead. “Yeah I guess. It’s just been so long since someone’s been on my mind all the time like this. He drives me crazy but like…in a good and a bad way? I don’t know how to explain it. He’s annoying.”
“You’re annoying. Just ask him out.”
“WHAT? No way!”
“Why not?”
Jimin sighed. “Wouldn’t it be sorta weird that I’m asking him out after being so rude to him the past two days?”
Hoseok shrugged and took a sip of his chai latte. “Would it? I mean, you said you had a nice conversation yesterday, right?”
Jimin hummed in thought. It was true, and Jungkook had seemed to always see through his irritation. No matter how hard he tried to act angry, Jungkook only ever looked entertained. “Yeah…”
“So do it. The worst he can say is no and then you just have to avoid the dog park for the rest of your life.”
Jimin giggled and threw his head back, eyes squeezing into crescents. “The dog park was one of the main reasons I signed my lease. I’ll have to literally move apartments.”
Hoseok rolled his eyes fondly and leaned across the table to flick at Jimin’s forehead. “You’re so dramatic, no wonder you said Jungkook’s sweat looked like holy water. Absolutely no one’s sweat looks like holy water.”
“Shut UP!”
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Jimin was struggling. Part of him had wanted to ask Jungkook out as soon as they'd met up at the dog park that afternoon, but he'd chickened out when Jungkook started teasing him about how small his hands were, Yeontan cuddled up in his arms peacefully.
He'd texted Hoseok in frustration when he'd made it back to his apartment and his friend simply responded with a chicken emoji, so not much else needed to be said from Jimin's end. He'd ended up going to bed snuggling up next to Peach, almost wishing to hear the ruckus from Jungkook upstairs, but knowing he wouldn't. He hadn't heard so much as a thump from the room above his since that night before his first day.
The morning came once more and, thankfully, the kids had school off that Friday so Jimin was blessed with a long, free weekend. He'd originally planned to do some painting but he'd also entertained the thought of asking Jungkook to grab coffee. Would that be weird? Jimin had no idea and honestly his head was starting to hurt with all the overthinking he was doing.
As he was setting up his painting supplies by his large living room window that overlooked his street, a knock sounded at his door. Jimin stood, still in his sky blue pjs, and made his way to the door to pull it open.
"Hi, you must be Jimin!" A handsome man with sandy brown hair was standing at his doorstep, dressed impeccably in grey slacks and a matching vest, white button up shirt underneath. What caught Jimin's eye, however, was the Pomeranian in the man's arms.
Jungkook's dog.
"Uhm, hi," Jimin greeted, which sounded more like a question. He was confused, what was this man doing with Yeontan?
The man reached a hand out for Jimin to shake and Jimin did so, brow still furrowed. "Sorry, you have no idea who I am do you? Jungkookie probably hasn't mentioned me much." The man laughed, a boxy smile taking up his face. Wow, he really was handsome.
Also, wait. Jungkookie?
"I'm Taehyung, Jungkookie and I live together upstairs? Listen, I know this is so sudden but he and I have to go away this weekend for something and I really need you to possibly watch Yeontan for us?" Taehyung pouted at Jimin apologetically, most likely trying his best to persuade Jimin to take the brown ball of fluff in his arms. Jimin, however, felt his heart stop in his chest. He wasn't...Jungkook's boyfriend, was he?
"Ah, yeah, I guess? I'm sorry I just wasn't expecting this, like at all."
Taehyung ran a hand through his hair, seeming embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, seriously. It was sorta a last minute thing and Jungkookie would've come down instead since he knows you obviously, but he's busy packing. A neat freak, that one is," Taehyung chuckled, a fond look on his face. Jimin wanted to vomit. "Anyways, he told me that you've met Yeontan and that you have a dog of your own so you'd be the perfect person! Only until tomorrow night, promise."
Jimin tried to give a reassuring smile, but it must've looked like he was in pain because Taehyung's grin faltered as he watched Jimin carefully. "No worries, I can take him until then. You guys have a fun weekend okay?" Jimin just wanted this conversation to end. He wanted to go bury himself back in his covers and embrace his loneliness.
Taehyung handed over Yeontan, thanked Jimin once more and was off in a flourish back towards the elevators. The blonde closed his front door and sat on his couch solemnly, looking over at the two small pups who were now eyeing him curiously.
"Well, shit."
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Jimin was convinced that this had to be karma. Karma for yelling at Jungkook, karma for calling innocent Yeontan a 'wild' dog. Just karma.
"Minnie," Hoseok sighed sympathetically. "Baby, I'm sorry but can you please get out of bed? It's been an entire day, Jungkook and his boyfriend will be here soon to pick up Yeontan."
Jimin just rolled over in bed and groaned. "I'm just so embarrassed. What was I thinking? I thought he was flirting with me, but it was probably just friendly teasing this entire time! I'm humiliated!" He thought back to all the comments Jungkook had made towards him, calling him cute, complimenting his outfit. Had it been flirting? Or was Jimin imagining it the entire time?
"I mean from what you said, it honestly sounded like flirting. Maybe you should go ask him why he's hitting on guys who aren't his boyfriend," Hoseok grumbled, reaching a hand over to rub Jimin's back consolingly.
The younger rubbed his eyes and sat up, pouting at his friend. "Well, Taehyung never actually said he was Jungkook's boyfriend. He just sorta made it glaringly obvious."
Hoseok stared at Jimin with a dumbfounded look on his face, jaw slack. Then he grabbed Jimin's pillow and whacked him upside the head with it.
"Ouch! What the hell was that for?"
"Jimin, you dummy! I thought you said that Taehyung was his boyfriend!"
Jimin ripped the pillow out of Hoseok's grip and whacked his friend back, only harder. His friend stumbled off the bed with a satisfying oof! Deserved.
"He is! He has to be. He called him Jungkookie and said they lived together and he was like, gushing over him it was gross."
"Jiminie I speak fondly of you all the time," Hoseok explained exhasperated from his spot on the floor. Jimin leaned over the bed to look at him and giggled when he saw his friend starfished across his carpet staring at the ceiling fan. "I also have nicknames for you, friends do that you know?" He turned to Jimin and raised an eyebrow.
"I-I guess..." Jimin frowned at Hoseok's logic, thinking. "It makes sense."
"Of course it does. I think you're just nervous and overthinking this Minnie. Jungkookie very clearly likes you, from what you've told me at least. I can't imagine he'd say no to getting coffee or something."
JImin slid off his mattress and crawled over to Hoseok, laying his head on his stomach. His friend's hand immediately came down to run through his blonde hair. The two were silent for a few moments before Jimin finally broke it.
"I guess I should make myself look presentable then, huh?"
Hoseok cackled in response and patted Jimin's head like he would a child. "That's my boy!"
❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎
As soon as Hoseok left with an encouraging "don't chicken out again", Jimin rushed to make himself look nice on the off chance Jungkook was the one picking Yeontan up. He pulled on black skinny jeans and a grey oversized, knit sweater, the sleeves falling below his hands. He tamed his blonde hair the best he could and then applied just a bit of lip gloss on his lips. By the time the knock on the door sounded, Jimin had been pacing for so long he'd just about worn a hole through his carpet, both Peach and Yeontan watching him in what probably was concern.
Jimin felt his heart drop to his stomach as he approached the door and pulled it open, revealing a windswept, yet smiling, Jungkook.
"Hey," He breathed out. Jimin didn't miss the way his eyes dropped to take in his outfit. "Long time, no see?"
"Uhm, yes hi," Jimin stuttered out, cheeks flushed from Jungkook's intense gaze. He was so handsome, it was criminal. "Come in." He opened the door wider for the taller man and he made his way inside slowly, taking in Jimin's apartment. It wasn't much, simply decorated with a few homey touches. His main decor was his artwork. Jungkook greeted an excited Peach and Yeontan sweetly before continuing his trek into Jimin's living room.
"These are beautiful," Jungkook awed at a trio of small, square canvases behind his couch, displaying the journey of a dandelion seed as it's blown by the wind. "Did you do all of these?"
Jimin stood frozen by the door, nervously wringing his fingers together through his sweater sleeves. "Uhm, yes I did. Do you like them?"
Jungkook turned to him and Jimin was struck by the wonder in his wide eyes. "I love them, you're so talented, Jimin."
The smaller's blush deepened and he looked down at his feet, shy. "So, uh, how was your weekend?" He wasn't sure how many more compliments he could take, no matter how much he secretly loved them.
"Oh, it was great! There was this one venue I've been dying to shoot Tae at since he's an actor, he'd been wanting me to shoot some things for a portfolio, and this place had been booked up for months but they called me up yesterday morning and said it was open. So we sorta dropped everything and went," Jungkook chuckled and shrugged. Jimin's heart seized at the mention of the other man. "But hey thank you so much for watching Yeontan, I know Tae appreciates it a ton."
Jimin smiled weakly, trying his best to stay positive. He hadn't called him his boyfriend yet...
"Of course, your boyfriend seems really nice. It was no trouble at all."
Jungkook paused immediately from looking at a picture frame of Jimin and Hoseok and turned to the smaller male in clear confusion. "Boyfriend? What are you talking about."
"Is Taehyung not...your boyfriend?" Jimin felt like his legs were going numb.
Jungkook suddenly blushed, shaking his head and making his way over to Jimin, who was starting to internally panic. What was he doing?
"Jimin, Tae is just my friend and roommate. We aren't dating at all, I-" He let out a disbelieving laugh and looked up at the ceiling before facing Jimin once more. He reached out and took one of Jimin's clammy hands, untangling his fingers from his sweater sleeve and intertwining them with his instead. "Yeontan isn't even my dog, Jimin, I only kept taking him with me to that dog park as an excuse to see you."
Huh?
"Huh?"
Jungkook giggled at the lost look on Jimin's face and the blonde felt like his heart was gonna burst at the sound. "You're so cute, seriously. I was flirting like crazy, even after you yelled at me. I just couldn't get enough of you for some reason. Was it really not obvious?"
Jimin covered his flaming cheeks with his free hand. "I thought at first but, then Tae came to my door and the way he spoke about you...I guess I just sorta assumed things from there."
"Uh, yeah. Majorly assumed. He's been teasing me this entire week about you, I couldn't shut up about our pretty, feisty, blonde neighbor apparently." Jungkook took Jimin's other hand and pulled it away from his face, stroking his wrist with his thumb. He smiled fondly when Jimin's eyes finally met his and Jimin practically melted.
"So?" Jungkook questioned softly, hands still holding Jimin's gently.
"I like you too, of course. I tried to be mad at you, but I just couldn't, which was also probably obvious," Jimin giggled at himself in embarrassment, Jungkook joining in as well.
"Yeah with the way you were ogling me in the lobby the other day, not subtle at all." Jimin punched Jungkook in the chest weakly in protest, grumbling, but happy. So happy. There was no way this was really happening. A week ago, Jimin would've scoffed at the thought of crushing on his rowdy neighbor, but now?
"So you gonna keep pouting all cute like that or are you gonna kiss me?" Jimin looked up at Jungkook's adorable smirk, rolling his eyes despite the way his heart pounded in his chest.
"Shut up," He whispered, leaning in.
~fin ❤︎