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What a wild couple of days they had. This was, by far, the most difficult time they had ever had since their debut. And it’s never been easy. They still had a lot to prove to the world until people started taking them seriously.
And now they were in the US and had the language barrier and the cultural shock to stress over.
It’s not like any of them had it easy at any point, but Taehyung had it especially hard ever since the whole American Hustle Life had started.
Not only did they dismiss him as too soft and feminine, but also kept mistreating him because of his bright personality and the way he always took everything with a smile. For them, he was just a pretty face.
And it was getting on Jimin’s nerves. Jimin, who was also misunderstood and underestimated, but gave his best to put on a mask and please everyone – be what they wanted him to be.
But the final stroke was when one of the American guys, whose name Jimin was sure he had memorized but it never came out of his mouth right, called Taehyung the dumb blond of the group. Initially, none of them understood what he meant and Namjoon looked constipated as Jimin looked at him with questioning eyes. And then one of the interpreters explained it to them with an awkward laugh, and Jimin saw the light in Taehyung’s eyes fade as he kept smiling.
Taehyung never let the other members figure out that something was wrong. He took the mission they had seriously and helped Jungkook pick up a few girls for their music video. Everyone praised him and his skills despite not speaking the language, but apparently girls found him cute. And how could they not? He was absolutely adorable.
Jimin knew better, though. He noticed him being quieter than usual. Jimin wanted to tell him not to pay attention to these people’s words. What did they know about him? Couldn’t even pronounce his name right. But even though he gave the impression that nothing could get to him, Jimin knew his best friend’s gentle, fragile heart inside and out. After all, he was the one to wipe away his tears every time he cried.
Six boys slept in the main room, and there was one bed upstairs that the members took turns using. Taehyung called it a night earlier than the others and called dibs on the single bed. The others took it that he was too tired from the mv shoot today. They were all tired – more from being embarrassed in front of the girls rather than the shooting itself.
Jimin was restless. He could already hear the other members snore around him but he couldn’t doze off no matter what. He wanted to check on Taehyung. He had tried to talk to him earlier in one of the bathrooms but they didn’t have much time and Taehyung probably didn’t want to get him worried.
Jimin felt his face burning hot with frustration. He couldn’t just leave things be.
He slowly sneaked out of the room and when he was about to head towards Taehyung’s room, he heard Tony and the other guy chatting in the kitchen.
He didn’t care that they were sent to this place to learn from these guys, or that they had a contract or something. No one called his Taehyung dumb.
“Hey, Chimchim, why are you up so late?” Tony asked him.
Jimin barely paid him much attention. He sneered at the other guy and tried to find the words.
The other guy glanced at Tony, confused.
“Why is he staring at me like that?”
“Chim…” Tony started putting his hand on Jimin’s shoulder but Jimin pushed it away, his eyes still on the other guy.
“Tae-...V…V not dumb…,”he tried again. ”V is no dumb blond!”
Tony and the guy exchanged a look.
“Understand?” Jimin tried again. “Next time…Uhh…I hit you!”
“A’right, man,” the guy lifted his hands up in self-defense. “I got it. Not gonna pick on the pretty boy.”
Jimin nodded and left the room just as fast as he had entered.
“Jiminie?” Taehyung scrunched his nose without opening his eyes, when Jimin slid under the covers next to him. Of course, he didn’t have to look to know it was Jimin. “What are you doing here?”
“Felt cold downstairs and Joonie-hyung refused to cuddle,” Jimin said dramatically, spooning Taehyung and burying his nose in his neck.
“Cold?” Taehyung mused but Jimin heard the smile in his voice. “It’s L.A….?”
“Shut up, silly, and turn around,” Jimin tickled his tummy.
Taehyung whined but obliged anyway.
Now that their noses were almost touching, Jimin could see Taehyung’s wet eyelashes.
“Has my dummy been crying?” Jimin asked with fondness and brushed his thumb under Taehyung’s eyes.
“Jiminie pabo,” Taehyung smiled with his eyes closed.
“Yes, I am,” Jimin pressed his lips over Taehyung’s eyes, one of his hands covering the back of the younger boy’s neck.
Taehyung closed the distance between them and their lips melted into each other. Jimin gasped and deepened the kiss burying his hand into Taehyung’s hair pulling him closer.
Taehyung’s soft moans filled Jimin’s heart with blissfulness. They were so close that they had basically turned into the same person – the same gentle warmth engulfing them until the outside world had become a distant memory.
Jimin let Taehyung tangle his limps around him like tentacles and trace his spine with his gentle fingers.
“My Jiminie is so good to me,” Taehyung spoke into his lips.
Jimin caressed Taehyung’s cheek with his hand and leaned back an inch to take a better look at him.
“Because my Taehyungie is the best,” he kissed his bottom lip and brushed his nose with his own.
“Thank you,” later Taehyung murmured against his neck and Jimin knew exactly what he meant.
Eventually, the two relaxed against each other, sleep finding them with their hearts beating in the same rhythm.
Early in the morning, when Jimin was tiptoeing outside of Taehyung’s room to go back to his bed before the staff started filming, he bumped into Tony.
Jimin froze for what seemed like forever, until Tony nodded and Jimin mirrored him. The two moved on to their initial destinations.