Work Text:
I
“Are you ready for your dance collab with Jongin?”
Jimin knew the moment the offhanded words slipped past their manager’s lips, she’s screwed.
Minjeong’s hand stilled, the chopsticks in her grip momentarily shaking before it was gone in a second. It’s subtle, one who doesn’t know Minjeong well enough wouldn’t even notice it. But Jimin does. Jimin always does. She tries to catch Minjeong’s gaze but the younger girl doesn’t even bat her a glance as she continues nibbling on a gyoza.
“Ah.” Jimin smiles awkwardly, finally flitting her attention towards their manager, “Yeah. Kind of.”
“Are you nervous?”
“I guess anyone would be.”
“Don’t be. Jongin’s nice. You’re going to do great, you tell her, Minjeong.”
Minjeong shrugs, a somewhat overly saccharine smile stretching her lips to be considered sincere, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t be able to tell her because I literally had no idea about this not until you mentioned it like five seconds ago.”
“What? When were you going to tell them? You should be proud of this!”
“Yeah, when were you going to tell me?” Minjeong’s eyes finally lands on Jimin. The taller girl winced internally at the sharp edge coloring the younger girl’s tone despite the smile gracing her features. And Jimin knows she shouldn’t be thinking about how adorable Minjeong is with her scrunched eyebrows and jutted bottom lip. It’s almost embarrassing how Jimin wanted to kiss it off her girlfriend’s face. Thankfully, their manager seemed oblivious.
“I was going to tell you.” Jimin’s voice was soft, her tone laced with guilt as she pressed a warm palm against the blonde’s knee. It softens Minjeong’s stance a little, her whole body deflating but there was a fire in her eyes. Albeit a little subdued, it seems to say we’ll talk about this later.
Jimin squeezed the pliant skin in her palm, silently offering an okay before they continue eating.
The ride back to their dorm was silent aside from the song blasting from their shared earphones. Minjeong was silent, her eyes were glued to the window but her body was leaning towards Jimin, their shoulders brushing and she’s tracing absent patterns against the skin of Jimin’s inner wrist. Unbeknowst to her, the taller girl was sending a silent thanks to the Gods for that because she knows Minjeong’s still upset, but at least it’s not directed at her anymore. If Minjeong was still mad at her, they wouldn’t even be sharing the same space or earphones right now. Minjeong wasn’t upset at her but something was still bothering the girl.
When they finally get home, she finds Yizhuo and Aeri bickering which Netflix show they should watch at the couch but as soon as Minjeong stepped in and went straight to her room without even bothering to spare them a second glance, both of them stopped. Aeri arched an amused eyebrow at Jimin while Yizhuo’s gaze followed Minjeong until she disappeared into her room.
Jimin could only offer a helpless shrug, then she lifts the plastic in her grip, “We got you guys some chicken, if you haven’t had dinner yet. Help yourself I’m just gonna...” Jimin trails off, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to where Minjeong had been.
Aeri rolled her eyes but there was a fond smile grazing her lips as she mouthed go to Jimin. Yizhuo was already rummaging through the plastic as she gave Jimin a thumbs up.
When she gets in, Minjeong has already change into a loose shirt and cotton shorts that she looked so comfortable in that Jimin wants nothing more than just to curl up in bed with her. Minjeong grabs the scrunchie around her wrist before tying her hair in a loose bun.
God, she looked so gorgeous like this. Candid. Perfect. Just for her.
“Minjeong-ah.” Jimin calls out softly, can’t help the desperate tone leaking through her voice.
Minjeong’s eyes meets hers through the mirror and before Jimin could speak again, she whips around and gently pushes Jimin on the bed. Jimin’s lips moved to speak again but the younger girl deftly places a delicate finger on her lips, effectively silencing her, “Stop. Me first. I’m sorry of how I acted back at the restaurant. And all the way home.”
Jimin blinked. What?
Minjeong rolled her eyes, as if annoyed with herself, “I know it’s stupid and I know that I shouldn’t be getting jealous over something you don’t have control over. And it’s not like I don’t trust you, I do. It’s just... you know how I get stupidly jealous sometimes.”
Jimin’s heart melted at the sight of her girlfriend pouting, she really does resembles a puppy sometimes. She pulls Minjeong by the waist, gently urging Minjeong forward and the younger girl didn’t wasted any time as she straddled Jimin’s lap, her arms automatically wounding around the taller girl’s neck. Jimin hummed in approval as she nosed under Minjeong’s jaw, inhaling the scent of her lavender perfume that she knows Minjeong stole off of her dresser, “I like that you’re jealous.”
Minjeong snorted, “Most people would find that annoying.”
“Well, I don’t. You’re really cute.”
“Hey.” Minjeong breathes out softly, cradling Jimin’s cheeks in her palm, “You know I’m really proud of you for this collab, right?”
God, Jimin just wanted to kiss her.
“I know.”
“Good.” As if reading her mind, Minjeong plants a quick peck on her lips, “So, Jongin, huh?”
“Baby, you have nothing to be worried about.”
Minjeong was back on full sulking mode, but there was a glint in her eyes that wasn’t quite there before, “He has abs.”
Jimin pulled back, laughing lightly at the words, “So? I have abs too.”
Minjeong bit her lip to keep herself from grinning as she snakes a hand under Jimin’s shirt, stopping just above her stomach, “You totally don’t. But I still love you.”
“Yah. I’m working on it. And I love you, too.”
“Whatever you say, babe.”
Minjeong’s shriek was the last thing they both heard as Jimin tackled her on the soft bed.
—-
II
“I hate this choreography.” Were Minjeong’s first words to her as she handed her a water bottle.
Jimin flops herself down beside Minjeong on the dance floor, “Hm? Why? I like it. It’s easier and way more chill than Black Mamba.” When she was met with Minjeong’s glare, she amends uneasily, “Orrr should I hate it?”
Minjeong sighs, plucking at the seams of her sweats, “No. You’re right. It’s good.”
Jimin caps the water bottle in her grip, giving her full attention to Minjeong, “What’s wrong?”
“You’re gonna laugh at me.” Minjeong mumbled grumpily.
Jimin nudged their shoulders together, “I won’t. I promise.”
The younger girl heaved a long sigh, biting her bottom lip as she glances around the dance practice room. Aeri was chatting with the choreographer while Yizhuo was scrolling through her phone. She turns her head towards Jimin, and ever so softly she whispered, “I just hate that I feel like I’m third wheeling between you and Aeri in this choreo when I am the real girlfriend.”
Jimin couldn’t help the stupidly huge grin baring her lips upon hearing the confession.
Minjeong rolled her eyes, “See? You think it’s stupid.” She made a move to stand up but Jimin was quick to pull her back down by subtly grabbing her hips.
“I don’t think it’s stupid.”
“Liar.”
“Am not.”
“You are.”
“Stop pouting.” Jimin suddenly fires back.
“No, why?”
Jimin leaned forward as her face got nearer, “Because it makes me want to kiss you.” She whispered against Minjeong’s ear under the guise of plucking a dirt from her hair.
“Oh my god, shut up.” Minjeong was pretty sure her face was burning red as she swats at Jimin’s arm. Her eyes immediately darted towards the other three occupants of the room. She breathes a little easier once she sees them still minding their own business. “You can’t say things like that in public.”
“Why? It’s okay. Aeri and Yizhuo knows.”
“Yes, but she doesn’t.” Minjeong gestured with a vague flourish of her hand towards their choreographer.
Jimin’s smile turned smug, “Well, maybe now she’ll realize that you are the real girlfriend.”
Minjeong’s jaw dropped, “You are insufferable. I hate you.”
“Hm. You love me.”
“Unfortunately.” Minjeong says, but there wasn’t a bite in her tone as she casted a playful glare towards Jimin.
The choreographer claps, signaling the end of their break. Jimin offers her a hand that she gladly took as they returned to their positions.
Later on, Minjeong could only stare in shock when Jimin suggested to the choreographer that Minjeong should take her hand when she stands from her seat to walk upfront.
“You’re crazy.” Minjeong would hiss through gritted teeth halfway through their song, when she’s reaching for Jimin’s hand, but the smile on her face couldn’t get any bigger as Jimin tossed her a playful wink.
—-
III
Jimin should’ve seen it coming.
The moment she pulled out the Olaf airpods case from her drawer that’s already dusting from being unused, she knew she screwed up. Big time.
“Oh.” Jimin immediately whips her head, knowing full well that the presence of her girlfriend was just lingering behind her.
Ah, crap.
Minjeong was just standing there, staring at her with her arms crossed. Her whole stance seemed to be waiting for something. Expectant. Probably an explanation on why Minjeong’s gift to her from her last birthday was left inside her drawer. Unused and dusting already.
Jimin swallowed past a lump in her throat, and she calls out gently, “Minjeong-ah.”
Minjeong doesn’t even budge from her position.
“I—“ Jimin starts, but the words got stuck in her throat. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
Minjeong finally sighs, her shoulders sagging, “It’s fine if you don’t like it. You’re free to change it whenever.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Okay. It’s not a big deal, Jimin.”
“Minjeong, please.” Jimin clasps at Minjeong’s wrist, but not hard enough so the younger girl could pull away if she wants to.
Minjeong sighs again and she looked actually upset this time. There’s a crease in the middle of her brows that Jimin wants to soothe, “But you still use the wallet Aeri gave you. Do you not like my gift?”
The admission was so quiet Jimin wasn’t sure if it was even meant to be heard.
Jimin puffs out an air, she knew that was coming. She steps forward as she carefully cradled Minjeong’s cheeks, unsure if Minjeong would pull away from the touch and when she didn’t, Jimin relaxes, “I do. I do like it very much. It’s just that I don’t even bring mine most of the time.”
When Minjeong threw her a puzzled look, she continues.
“I rarely use mine because we always share yours.” Jimin mumbled, hoping that the younger girl would understand. And it’s not like she’s lying, it’s true. They would always share the same earphones in the van and use Minjeong’s instead of hers. Her own airpods are probably growing mold inside her bag right now.
“Okay. Fair point.” Minjeong nods her head but there was still a pout donning her lips.
Jimin allows herself a small smile, “I’ll bring this for our what’s in my bag filming tomorrow.”
Minjeong rolled her eyes, although there wasn’t a bite in her tone when she speaks, “You really don’t have to.”
“Nope. I’ll bring this too. And this one, and this one, and this too.” Jimin says as she puts the two lipstick, an eyelash curler, the vitamins that Minjeong’s mom gave her and a bunch of other random things from Minjeong in her bag.
Minjeong snorts out a laugh, “Okay now you’re just pulling my leg.”
“I am not.” Jimin puffs out her chest proudly, “I want everyone to know how you take care of me.”
Minjeong’s gaze landed on her lips, and it took every ounce of Jimin’s willpower not to just lean in, “I think that goes without saying. Everyone’s pretty much aware that we call each other jagiya already.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to be sure.” Jimin smiled dorkily.
“You’re unbelievable.”
And then Jimin’s laughter was silenced by a pair of lips.
—-
IV
“What?” Minjeong splutters out.
Jimin’s leg was bouncing up and down upon hearing her girlfriend’s voice. Yizhuo widens her eyes, as if in silent warning as Aeri placed a hand atop her restless leg. They were currently at SM headquarters when Minjeong was “summoned” by their manager inside the office.
They heard a few more murmurs, and then finally, Minjeong was emerging from the double-glass doors. Her arms were crossed and she looked mad. Although it still looked adorable in Jimin’s eyes. Kind of like an angry maltese. Jimin was quick to spring up from her seat, meeting Minjeong halfway.
“Hey.” Jimin offers lamely, “What’s wrong?”
“They want me to do a photoshoot.” Minjeong says once she’s near enough, a frown encasing her features, “Said it was a last minute thing and they only want me. I don’t even know what brand. They were pretty vague about it.”
“O-oh? Like right now?” God, Jimin was so bad at lying. She can basically see Yizhuo and Aeri facepalming themselves right now. “That’s good, then.”
Minjeong’s face darkened as her eyes met Jimin’s with a fiery passion, her tone almost bordering into a helpless whine, ”It’s my birthday and I want to spend it with you guys. We had plans.”
Jimin pulls her girlfriend into a hug, and Minjeong immediately melted to the warmth, “I understand that, but this is really important. We can still celebrate once you get home. We’ll be waiting. I promise.”
“I hate this.” Minjeong mumbled against her shoulder, her voice muffled.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
“This is stupid, aren’t we supposed to be doing things as a group?”
“Maybe they only want you because you’re the cutest.”
Minjeong glared.
“Okay.” Jimin immediately clamps her mouth shut, “Not the time for compliments. Got it. We’ll just make up for it later, okay?”
“I’m so jealous of Aeri and Yizhuo right now.”
“Why?” Jimin pulled back slightly.
“Because they get to spend the day with you.”
Jimin snorted, “Later, babe. I promise.”
Minjeong sighs heavily, “Fine.”
Their manager pulls them apart, albeit reluctantly, Minjeong finally allowed herself to be pulled away from Jimin’s arms. When the younger girl was out of sight, Jimin slumps her shoulders, releasing a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding as she turned to face Yizhuo and Aeri who were silently watching the scene with smug smiles on their faces.
“God, you're the worst at lying.” Aeri says, a devious glint in her eyes.
“I know right, thank God Minjeong was super distracted or else she would’ve found out.” Yizhuo quips, a mischievous smile on her face.
Jimin threw both of the girls a weak glare, “Hey. At least I got the work done. Besides I could never lie to Minjeong.”
Yizhuo makes whip cracking noises that Aeri couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
“If you guys are done laughing we actually have a birthday party surprise to arrange here.” Jimin grumbles as she made her way to get the supplies they’d need.
Aeri’s laughter subsided into a fit of giggles as Yizhuo mimes zipping her mouth shut.
—-
V (+1)
Jimin was never a jealous person and she prides herself for that.
She had always been rational with her thoughts. Calm, cool, and collected. Never plunging headless into situations. That’s her life motto.
So, for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why she can’t stop sulking over Minjeong leaving her side and basically ignoring her for the rest of the day the moment they stepped into the filming set to gush over the staff’s puppy.
It goes without saying that Minjeong was very fond of animals. She would even bring snacks to feed the stray cats outside the salon they would frequent.
And whatever, it’s not like the dog was cute. He was messy and he drooled over Jimin’s boots earlier so Jimin was upset over that. Yes. That’s the only reason she’s glaring daggers towards the dog and definitely not because she’s jealous for stealing her girlfriend.
“Hey, where’s your other half?”
Jimin didn’t need to turn her head to confirm there’s a teasing smile on Aeri’s lips.
“She’s with the dog.” The words came out way more grumpily than she intended to but it was already too late to take it back.
Aeri arched an amused brow as she waved a hand towards Jimin’s crossed arms and stiff shoulders, “I’m sensing a lot of hostility there.”
Jimin allowed herself to slump as she threw a weak glare to Aeri, “She left me.”
Aeri snorted. Actually snorted before breaking into a fit of giggles, “Oh my god, you’re making it sound like she left you for another woman.”
Jimin’s gaze hardened.
Aeri snaps her mouth shut at that, “Are you seriously getting jealous over a dog?”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Aigoo.” Aeri cooed like Jimin’s some sort of adorable child who lost her candy, “Our poor whipped leader.”
Before Jimin could fire a retort, she sees Minjeong rounding the corner. She’s laughing at something the staff had said, throwing her head back before handing the dog back to its rightful owner. She gives a longing gaze towards the puppy as the staff took him away. Finally. When Minjeong catches her gaze, she finds herself a little out of breath. Minjeong’s cheeks were flushed and she’s dusting off the fur from her shirt as she approached Jimin and Aeri. Jimin couldn’t take her eyes off the younger girl even as she heard Aeri snickering beside her.
“And that’s my cue.” Aeri sing-songs as she traipses away to where Yizhuo was lounging by the snacks table.
“Hi, you.” Minjeong chirps once she’s near enough, hooking one of her arms through Jimin’s. “What were you guys talking about?”
“Nothing. We were just going over the script.”
Minjeong definitely didn’t need to know about her conversation with Aeri.
Minjeong raised an eyebrow, and for a second, Jimin was scared she’s going to call her out on her lie. Jimin had never really been able to lie to the younger girl. But maybe Minjeong was feeling a little generous that day because her grin only grew bigger.
“We should totally adopt.”
“What?” Jimin found herself blinking at the sudden words. Her mind still pre-occupied after staring at her girlfriend. Adopting? Minjeong wants that with her? She does too. But definitely not now when they’re barely out of legal age.
“I meant dogs, babe.” Minjeong chuckled softly upon Jimin’s stunned silence, “I can basically see the gears whirring inside that pretty head of yours.”
“Oh.” Jimin flushed beet red. Of course she meant that!
As if sensing her inner turmoil, Minjeong was quick to stave her worries off, “But maybe that too. In the long run? If we’re still on the same page, that is.”
“Yeah.” Jimin says, a little breathless, “Of course.”
Minjeong hums, “Sooo, dogs?”
Jimin wants to say no, after what I’ve witnessed today, no way, but the glint in the younger girl’s eyes stops the words from coming out. Instead, Jimin found herself uttering softly, “How many would you want?”
Minjeong scrunched her nose adorably, as if in deep thought, “Maybe two? So they wouldn’t get lonely.”
“Okay. Do you have a specific breed in mind?”
“Not really. I’m not picky.”
“Okay. We’d have to talk to the other girls about it if we’re going to bring them in the dorm.”
“Really? You’d do that?”
And Jimin wants to tell her yes, that she would probably swim across the sea, pluck the stars and hang the moon for her if Minjeong would ask, “Of course. Whatever makes you happy.”
“But are you?” Minjeong laces their fingers together, subtly looking around for prying eyes.
Jimin only has her eyes on Minjeong, “Am I what?”
“Happy?” Minjeong says, finally meeting her gaze.
“You make me happy.” Jimin wants to lean in. Crash her lips with Minjeong.
Minjeong bit her lip, a shy smile tugging the corner of her mouth as she nuzzled her face on Jimin’s shoulder instead, “I thought I told you not to say things like that in public.”
“Hm. Why?” Jimin’s voice was soft as her eyes fall shut and she can smell the flowery scent of Minjeong’s shampoo up this close. Wants to bury her face in it.
“Because it makes me want to kiss you.” Minjeong groaned softly, throwing Jimin’s words to her from last time they were in their practice room.
“Now you’re just being unfair.” Jimin huffs with a wistful sigh.
Minjeong pulled back, but not before planting a chaste kiss on Jimin’s neck, just below her jaw, “When we get home.”
Home. Such a vague concept. But Jimin knows she has hers, right here, in the shape of a five foot tall blonde, and Jimin realizes she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jimin knocks their heads together.
“Home.”