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It had been raining cats and dogs and Jimin was very thankful for the umbrella hidden in the bottom of his backpack. He arrived to his building already planning to heat some milk and make some nice hot chocolate to ward off the cold he was feeling. Under the awning was a guy he had never seen before and as he started punching in the code to open the door, the stranger touched his arm.
“Hey, sorry to bother you, but I’m new to the building,” he said, pushing his dripping hair from his face. A beautiful face, Jimin noticed. “I was just getting some things from the car when it started raining and the wind closed the door. Now I’m stuck here, because I don’t know the password yet and my phone is inside the apartment. Could you - I mean...”
“Hi, I’m Jimin. What’s your name?” He smiled and the guy’s eyes widened.
“Um, I’m Jungkook. Jeon Jungkook. I’m moving to 12B.”
He smiled wider. “Oh, I’m in 12A,” he mentioned as he opened the door. They cleaned their shoes on the carpet and Jungkook tried to dry off as best as he could. They rode up together, his new neighbor thanking him profusely for his help.
“I don’t know how long I would have stayed there if not for you. I don’t think anyone would be out in this downpour.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Jimin giggled. “You should dry off, though. You could catch a cold.”
They each went to their door and Jimin shivered when he removed his shoes at the door. The floor was cold and he went straight to the living room to adjust the thermostat. He removed his cardigan and went in search of a large sweater to swallow him up and warm him.
As Jimin prepared his hot chocolate, he remembered Jungkook’s striking face and decided to make double and take some to his new neighbor. A gesture of kindness, if you would have it. He chopped some more milk chocolate and a little dark chocolate to add the richness he craved and poured it in the hot milk, turning off the stove. He mixed until he had creamy perfect and poured it on two mugs with a stick of cinnamon.
He knocked on Jungkook’s door softly, as he was holding two mugs and waited while he heard some shuffling and the sound of a box being kicked.
The door opened to Jungkook pulling a shirt on and the most impressive abs Jimin had ever seen. He blushed and averted his eyes.
“Jimin-ssi, hi.”
“Hey. I thought you might be cold and a little hungry, I brought you some hot chocolate.” Jimin offered the mug and took a sip of his.
“Cool. Thanks. Do you want to come in?”
The apartment layout was the same was Jimin’s, but the decor couldn’t be more different. Jungkook had a dark wall with a huge sound system and a lot of photographs on the walls already. There were a few boxes next to the stairs and Jimin almost missed the dark leather couch where Jungkook was offering him a seat.
Jimin sat down with a smile and his new neighbor took a sip of the hot chocolate, eyes going comically wide.
“Fuck, I think I love you.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “This is the best thing ever.”
And that’s what solidified their friendship. Jungkook always says that his heart actually sits on his stomach and all it took was a sip of that hot chocolate for Jimin to become someone whose door he was always knocking on. Jimin was only 2 years older than him, yet was already a retired dancer who had become a professor at the Korean National Ballet. At 27, Jungkook was an in demand music producer. They usually met on the weekends, when their schedules combined and their love of food, music and art galleries brought them together.
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A year later, Jungkook was fishing out the keys to Jimin’s apartment from the pocket of his jeans. The eldest had traveled with the ballet to Russia for a presentation and had bribed JK into watering his plants. At first, JK had been shocked to enter the apartment and realize there were plants everywhere, but he was soon fascinated by Jimin showing him a dancing plant, the leaves going up and down despite no apparent wind. He even accepted the tiny succulents Jimin dropped all over his apartment, telling him they required almost no effort and brought so much life.
So it was with exasperation that he realized some of the plants had dry leaves, even if he was watering them more religiously than his own. The huge alocasia on the corner looked like it was about to die, so Jungkook forgot about the timezone and called his friend to explain what was going on.
“Jungkookie, hi. Did something happen? Are you well? Did you forget my windows open again?”
“Jimin-ah, hey, are you busy?”
“No, I’m on my lunch break, lucky coincidence.”
“Um, I don’t know to tell you this and I swear I’ve been watering them diligently, but it seems your plants don’t like me and some of them are like dying.”
Jimin’s laughter rang through the phone and Jungkook could almost see it: his head thrown back, eyes squished shut by the huge smile, a hand on his belly and knees going a little weak. He would always fall to the floor when he was laughing really hard.
“Oh Jungkookie, they don’t hate you. You just have to talk to them. I always talk when I’m watering them, they can hear it, you know?”
“OK, I draw the line at talking to plants. I’ll water them, give this weird nutrients to the orchids, air out your apartment, but talking to your crazy garden is too much. You talk to them, I’ll put you on speaker phone.”
Jungkook could hear people talking on the background.
“I don’t have time, you know that. Our schedules are so packed, one of the girls cried yesterday because she was so tired. Do this for me, please? You know how much I love my babies, they can’t die.” There was silence on the line. “I’ll cook for you everyday for a week?”
“Gimbap?”
Jimin giggled. Food could get you anywhere with Jungkook. “Yes, all the gimbap you want. And kimchi-bokkeumbap too.”
“Ah, you’ve got me.”
They said their goodbyes and Jungkook went to the kitchen to fill the watering can. As he came back, he looked around the room and started talking.
“So, you guys miss your papa? I miss him too, you know.” There was a smile on his face as he moved from one plant to the next. “He’s been gone such a long time too. I haven’t seen him in, I don’t know, 8 days? We didn’t get to hangout before his trip, because I was stuck in the studio until late. He likes to sleep early, right?”
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Jungkook would never admit it, but talking to the plants was actually soothing. He wasn’t very good at speaking, not articulated like Jimin, but here he was rambling and the plants weren’t dying anymore. There was even an orchid blooming, so he must have been doing something right.
“So I think I finished the song. I recorded a raw version yesterday. It had been so long since I wrote a song, but RM heard my recording and he was really into it, said we could offer it to V, because it would fit his voice. But I don’t know, it’s so personal and if Jimin heard I was the composer, he might connect the dots.”
He kneeled, caressing the white lilies he had given to Jimin and started humming.
“I think I love you
Who would’ve thought
Those first few words
Could be so true?
I think I love you
No, that’s a lie
‘Cause I don’t think
I know I do
And if you let me
I’ll show you how
I’ll bring you flowers
I’ll give you love
I’ll take the pain
I’ll make it mine
I’ll keep you warm
I’ll give you love”
He was so focused on his task that he didn’t notice the door opening and the person standing there hearing him with a soft smile.
“Well, if you sing to them, they’re going to love you more than they love me. That’s not fair.”
“Heeeeey,” the younger man squeaked. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Not long,” Jimin answered, lowing his eyes. “How have they been? Any casualties?”
“No, but look, this orchid is blooming.”
Jimin rushed to his side, holding his biceps. “Oh baby, did you like Kookie’s songs that much, huh? You wanna give him flowers?” Jungkook flushed. “Go on, keep singing. I want to hear your magic powers.”
“I’m no singer.” He ran his fingers through his hair, hoping Jimin hadn’t heard much of anything.
“I’ll keep you warm, I’ll give you love,” he sand back in the softest of voices. “So you’ll sing for them, but not for me? At least tell me the name of the song. Is it Troye again? I really have to listen to his work more.”
“I, I have to go. You must be tired. Take a shower, I’ll order something and bring it over for dinner, if you want. Text me.”
Jimin watched him leave, closing the door softly with a pang in his heart. It seemed to be happening quite often lately, Jungkook going all weird and finding an excuse to leave. Maybe Jimin was being too obvious, but he had been trying to flirt covertly with his neighbor for some time, seeing if Jungkook got a hint, but he seemed as oblivious as always. Or he just wasn’t interested, said the voice in the back of his head. He pushed the thought away and headed to the bathroom. He deserved a long soak after all this traveling.
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They had just finished dinner and Jimin was in the kitchen putting containers in the garbage when he heard Jungkook talking on the phone.
“I said no, RM. No fucking way.” He pushed away from the table and the soju bottle almost toppled over. “What? You had no right to show him. It’s my song, my work.”
He didn’t mean to overhear the conversation, but he was curious. Jungkook headed to the balcony saying “I wrote it just to get it out of my head.” He headed back to the kitchen, getting another bottle of soju, because it looked like they would need it.
Jimin was sitting on the couch when he returned 5 minutes later, hair in a way that suggested he ran his hand through it during the entire conversation.
“Sorry about that.” He plopped himself on the couch, arm naturally on the back of Jimin’s head, who turned around to face him.
“Do you wanna talk about it?” He rubbed his fingers on Jungkook’s long sleeved t-shirt.
“It was nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing. You can tell me anything, you know?” Jimin pushed closer, their thighs touching and his face showing concern.
“RM did something without my permission. I guess I got angrier than I should. I’ll probably apologize tomorrow.”
“Did he... I know you guys collaborate regularly. Did he take your work? I heard you talking about your song.”
Jungkook looked like a deer caught in headlights and that's when his brain filter failed him for the first time that night.
“I wrote a song,” he blurted out. “He showed it to an artist, V, who now wants it on his next album.”
Jimin sounded excited. “But that’s amazing, right? Even I know V and you know I live under a rock, musically speaking.”
“It’s, um, kind of personal. I don’t really want it out there.”
Jimin used his best puppy face. “Can I see it? Even just the lyrics.” He came closer and really played his cards, making his eyes look bigger. “Pleeeease?”
And that was the second time his brain filter failed him. Jungkook smiled like a goof, pulled his phone out of his pocket and played it to Jimin, not really thinking about the consequences.
It wasn’t until Jimin was looking at him with his eyes glowing that he realized he could lose his best friend.
“Is this about someone specific?” Jimin looked down. “It seems really... honest.” He played with his sweatpants, not daring to meet Jungkook’s eyes.
He was going to hell anyway, he might as well fly first class. “Can’t you tell?” He touched Jimin’s chin, bringing his eyes up. “I thought it was kind of obvious.”
Before Jungkook could say anything else, Jimin was kissing him. It was soft and it felt like they fit perfectly against each other, Jimin’s soft lips leaving him dazed and going forward even as Jimin pulled back.
“So the part about bringing me flowers everyday, did you really mean it?”
Jungkook gave a full out belly laugh, making the cutest face as he looked at Jimin. “That’s the part you’re worried about?”
“Well, yeah. It’s a big promise.” He smiled coyly as Jungkook showered his face with kisses.
“I’ll turn your apartment into a garden. Well, more than it is currently.”
Jimin climbed on his lap, returning his kisses fervently. “Kookie,” he keened as Jungkook pushed him away, holding his face tenderly and whispered “I love you” between soft kisses. He felt it.
For the next week, Jimin woke up to flowers on his doorstep everyday and when he arrived from work. For their first anniversary, Jungkook filled the apartment with so many flowers he could barely walk. They ended up donating plants to each of their neighbors, Jimin brimming with so much love that he wanted to spread it around.