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Jimin had the audacity to look a little embarrassed as he twisted his upper body, showing Taehyung the handcuffs on his wrists. There was a blanket thrown haphazardly over his lap and Taehyung had a feeling that if Jimin squirmed a little more, it would slip right off his body.
Now you might be wondering: how did Kim Taehyung - archaeology major with a focus on maritime archeology, saxophonist, and out and proud aroace - end up in a situation like this?
Well, that was a long story.
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Jimin and Taehyung met, like a lot of college students, through their friends. Taehyung had known Yoongi since he was little and Jimin was best friends with Jeongguk. When Yoongi, a nursing student like Jimin, started dating Jeongguk, who was just starting his engineering degree, they were bound to run into each other. Taehyung couldn’t remember the very first time they met but it was probably one of the ‘friend dinners’ Yoongi liked to host to make sure that all of his friends were getting fed well.
They became friends fast, mainly because Jimin was so easy to be friends with. Their majors were very different so they didn’t have any classes in common but they still made time to meet throughout the day - be it for a quick chat at the coffee cart on campus or a lunch date at a nearby café.
Jimin was kindness personified, an angel if you will. Taehyung had never met someone who was simply so good. Of course, he had flaws, he wasn’t perfect. But Taehyung failed to find anything that he hated about Jimin; anything that annoyed him. Well, he never really looked for something to dislike but with other people, there was usually something that jumped out. Jimin was special to him.
“Why is someone as handsome and perfect as you single?” Jimin asked once when they were out at a bar.
Taehyung cocked his head. “This is flirting. You are flirting.”
For a moment, Jimin seemed to be taken aback before smiling cheekily. “Maybe.”
“I didn’t know you were interested in me like that,” Taehyung replied cautiously and reached out for his drink. He didn’t always enjoy having these types of conversations but he trusted Jimin. This was fine.
Laughing, Jimin raised an eyebrow. “It’s not like that. I just don’t think there’s any harm in flirting. Why? Are you interested in me like that?”
“No.” Taehyung smiled in the hopes that it didn’t offend Jimin as much as it offended other people sometimes. “I’m not interested in anyone like that. Or interested in general.”
Jimin looked at him, really looked at him, and smiled this perfect smile of his. “Me neither.”
“Are you… aromantic?” Like me? Taehyung wanted to add but didn’t. Maybe he didn’t need to. Jimin understood him without words after all.
Pursing his lips, Jimin shook his head and took a sip of his drink. “No, I’m attracted to people, I just don’t wanna act on it.”
This was something they bonded over; their feelings about relationships. Taehyung didn’t want to date anyone because he didn’t feel the attraction ‘needed’ and Jimin… Well, Taehyung didn’t know why Jimin wasn’t into dating and that was alright. Jimin didn’t need a reason.
He did know that Jimin liked kissing though, enough to find strangers in bars and clubs to kiss and hook up with. Sometimes Taehyung thought that he might like that too, the kissing, but not with strangers, not with the pressure of seeming alloromantic.
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Taehyung was in his last year of college when he decided that he needed to move off-campus. Coincidentally, Jimin came to a similar conclusion around the same time. It only took them a short conversation to agree to move together - it was the perfect solution after all. Or so he thought.
When they had finally found a good apartment and were only waiting to sign the lease, Jimin pulled him aside. “There’s something you should know,” he said quietly, even though it was just the two of them. “I should’ve told you earlier but I… it’s not something I like to make public.”
Taehyung frowned. “What’s up?”
“I, uh, I make money with live streams and content like that.” Jimin shifted in his seat and looked at Taehyung as if he was afraid he was going to run away any second. “I’m a cam boy. So I get naked and I-”
“No, yeah, I understand,” Taehyung interrupted him gently and nodded. This was unexpected. But somehow Taehyung had a feeling there were worse things Jimin could’ve revealed. “So, um, you do that at home?”
Jimin nodded. “I know you’re ace and you’re not really comfortable with sex, so if you want out that’s totally okay. I really should’ve brought it up earlier and it’s not that I’m ashamed of it, I like doing it. I just- I really like you and sometimes being truthful with the people you love is hard.”
“I get that.” He took a deep breath, trying to collect his thoughts. He loved Jimin. He didn’t think anything less of him. But Jimin was right; a lot of things surrounding sex made him uncomfortable. Usually, it was more about his own relation to sex but Jimin going live in the room next to him… well that did relate to him as well, right? Nevertheless… “If you let me know beforehand and get me some noise-canceling headphones, I think I should be fine.”
With wide eyes, Jimin grabbed Taehyung’s hands. “Really? Of course, I’ll give you my schedule. You’re the best.” Jimin hugged him so tightly, that he thought he might suffocate.
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They made it work. Jimin had a strict schedule for his live streams and never did any private sessions outside of the schedule. Whenever Jimin was supposed to go live Taehyung would go out, meet up with friends or watch a movie in his room. He thought he’d be really uncomfortable with Jimin camboying just on the other side of his wall and okay if he thought too much about it, his brain got a little fuzzy around the edges, but he didn’t really need to think about it. It was Jimin’s life. He didn’t think or know about what his other friends did in their bedrooms either.
All he knew was that Jimin went by Eros online and that he never showed his face. He didn’t even know on what website he went live, which was good in case anyone ever tried to corner him about it. Because Jimin had told him that Taehyung could never tell anyone about it unless Jimin gave him permission. Taehyung would’ve never said a word anyway but he understood why Jimin felt the need to clarify. Privacy was important, they both knew that.
“Ugh.” Jimin dragged himself to the couch Taehyung was sitting on. His hair was still a little wet from the shower he just had. Half an hour ago, he had messaged Taehyung to let him know that ‘the coast was clear’ as he usually did when his live streams were done, so Taehyung had moved from his bedroom to the living room to watch a drama on the tv instead. Jimin fell head first onto the couch, grumbling as he curled up next to Taehyung. “Why do I always feel like this?”
Taehyung reached out to card his fingers through Jimin’s hair. “Like what?”
“Every time after lives I just feel so… I don’t know, exhausted and empty inside and-” He pressed a hand down on his chest. “Don’t get me wrong, I love that job. I love the attention and I love to make myself feel good but sometimes I feel so weird afterward.”
With a hum, Taehyung took his hand out of Jimin’s hair, after his fingers got stuck between the wet strands. “I’m no expert on this but maybe it’s the lack of aftercare?”
“It’s not like that, though I’m not…” Jimin went quiet, one of his hands gently brushing over his ribs. Taehyung waited patiently for him to find the words he wanted to say. “Maybe, you’re right.” He sat up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Would you…?”
Taehyung turned to him and opened his arms a little. “What do you need?”
It didn’t take Jimin long to crawl into Taehyung’s embrace and place his head on his chest. “This. This is all I need.”
“I’ll take care of you,” Taehyung whispered and pressed a soft kiss to Jimin’s head.
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Jimin had the audacity to look a little embarrassed as he twisted his upper body, showing Taehyung the handcuffs on his wrists. There was a blanket thrown haphazardly over his lap and Taehyung had a feeling that if Jimin squirmed a little more, it would slip right off his body.
A minute ago, Taehyung had been dozing off in his bed, his noise-cancelling headphones under the hood of his jacket. Then he had received Jimin’s ‘SOS’ message. Looking at him now, Taehyung wasn’t even sure how he had managed to send a message at all.
“I’m supposed to be able to open them myself,” Jimin whined and wiggled his hands in the cuffs. “But I think they’re stuck or something.”
Sighing, Taehyung sat down on Jimin’s bed and reached out for the handcuffs. They seemed to be made out of cheap material, so he simply pulled on them roughly a few times until they snapped apart. “You should get proper ones with a key.”
“Yeah, because I can unlock those so well without hands.” Jimin laughed and shook out his wrists once they were finally free. “Maybe I’ll just demand more money if they want to see me tied up.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He looked so exhausted. There was glitter stuck to his skin and sweat and no doubt other fluids.
One hand cupping Jimin’s cheek, Taehyung leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He couldn’t remember anymore when they started kissing. Some time between when he started taking care of Jimin and now. They never talked about it, but sometimes Jimin would ask Taehyung to kiss him and sometimes Taehyung would ask him to not kiss him. “Do you want to take a bath? I could draw you one?”
Jimin kept his eyes closed. “I don’t think I have the energy to wash myself.”
“That’s alright,” Taehyung whispered. He moved his arms around Jimin’s waist and under his knees and carefully picked him up. He might not be as buff as some of his friends but he could carry Jimin if he needed to - at least to their bathroom. He placed him down on the closed toilet seat and let hot water run into their bathtub. On the way, they had lost the blanket that Jimin had draped over himself but he didn’t seem to mind and Taehyung didn’t either.
Without saying much, Taehyung prepared Jimin’s bubble bath. He got out their favorite bath salt and grabbed a couple of clean towels from the cupboard. Then he went to his own closet and picked out a few clothes for Jimin to wear after the bath. He knew that his roommate loved stealing his clothes since they were already baggy on Taehyung let alone Jimin. By the time that the bath was ready and the water was at a good temperature, Jimin was almost asleep, curled up on the toilet seat - he truly did have the talent to fall asleep anywhere.
Laughing quietly to himself, he gently picked Jimin up again. “Let’s go, my little mermaid.” He was very glad that he had taken off his jacket earlier as he lifted Jimin into the bathtub. Jimin instantly smiled as he got comfortable in the bathtub, stretching out his legs. “Good?”
“Perfect,” Jimin replied, tipping his head back to grin up at him. “Thank you.” When he puckered his lips, Taehyung leaned down to kiss him.
He brushed Jimin’s hair out of his face. “I’ll let you soak for a few minutes. Call if you need me and don’t fall asleep, okay?”
Jimin hummed and nodded, blinking slowly. Taehyung pressed one last kiss to his lips before leaving the bathroom. In the kitchen, he prepared two cups of tea for them. As he waited for the water to boil, he ran his hands over his face and allowed himself a couple of seconds to breathe.
If you had told him a few years ago or maybe even just one year ago that he’d have this relationship with Jimin… well, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. He loved Jimin and in some way he had always loved Jimin from the moment they had first talked to each other at Yoongi’s dinner table. When he had come out as aroace, he never thought- Well, he actually hadn’t believed that he could or wanted to be intimate with anyone. His view on intimacy had also been a lot different than what it was now. He thought that intimacy had to mean sex and he didn’t want that so… he thought he would never be intimate with anyone. He thought he didn’t want intimacy.
“Taehyung-ah!”
Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Taehyung perked up when he heard Jimin’s voice. “One moment,” he called back as he took the tea bags out of the cups and left them to cool down on the kitchen counter. Quickly, he made his way back into the bathroom.
“You called?”
Jimin smiled, his head still tipped back. “I missed you.”
With a quiet laugh, Taehyung walked up to him and gently ran his fingers through his hair. “Do you want me to wash your hair now?”
“Yes, please,” Jimin replied in the sweetest voice that immediately made Taehyung’s heart melt. He scooted forward in the tub, sitting up a little when Taehyung went to kneel next to him. “You should take your shirt off so that it doesn’t get wet.” He smiled cheekily at his roommate.
Taehyung tightened his grip on Jimin’s hair and teasingly pulled on it a little. “Don’t,” he said, grinning when Jimin immediately turned putty in his hands. Jimin was the only person who was allowed to tease him like that. He was uncomfortable with a lot of things that involved other people looking at his body in a certain way but with Jimin, he knew it was all bark and no bite. Jimin knew his boundaries and he’d never overstep them.
Humming quietly to himself, Taehyung gently massaged Jimin’s shampoo into his hair. Over the last few months his hair had grown a lot and Taehyung was almost tempted to hide the scissors in their apartment if it meant that Jimin wouldn’t cut his hair short again. If anyone would look absolutely gorgeous with long hair it was Jimin.
“So what are your plans for the weekend, darling?” Taehyung asked as he tried to wash the shampoo out of Jimin’s hair with handfuls of water, careful not to let the water drip into Jimin’s eyes.
Jimin peeked up at him through his lashes. “Seokjin hyung wants to use me as his guinea pig again and try out a new makeup look on Saturday. He said something about glitter eyeliner. I don’t have plans for Sunday though.”
Taehyung pressed a kiss to Jimin’s nose as he leaned over him to grab Jimin’s loofah sponge and their body wash. Giggling, Jimin lifted his wet arms to pull Taehyung in for a proper kiss. Even as the water trickled down the back of his shirt, Taehyung didn’t move away. “Well,” he mumbled against Jimin’s lips. “How about we take a trip to the beach on Sunday? Just the two of us.”
When Jimin let go of him again, he was beaming. “I would love that, Taehyung-ah.”
“It’s a date then.” He wrapped his fingers around one of Jimin’s wrists and kissed his arm before running the sponge over his skin. Jimin quietly let Taehyung move his limbs as he cleaned his body, melting into his touches. They didn’t do this a lot but Taehyung could tell that Jimin savored the attention he was giving him.
Once Jimin was squeaky clean and the water was starting to get a little cold, Taehyung helped him up and wrapped him in a clean towel. Huddled in a fluffy towel, Jimin leaned into Taehyung’s embrace and pressed a kiss to his neck. “Let me take care of you now, yeah?” After putting on the clothes that Taehyung had prepared for him, Jimin gently pushed Taehyung to sit down on the edge of the bathtub. “Can I sleep in your room tonight?” Jimin asked as he squeezed a dollop of toothpaste onto Taehyung’s toothbrush.
Taehyung nodded and smiled when Jimin’s fingers caressed his jawline. “Sure.” As he let Jimin brush his teeth for him, Taehyung realized once again how lucky he got in life. He loved taking care of Jimin and Jimin loved being taken care of - but even more important they were equals. Jimin never bat an eyelash before taking care of Taehyung. Years ago, Taehyung had thought he’d never find a love like this. He hadn’t known this type of love existed. And maybe it didn’t for other people. Maybe this was just JiminAndTaehyung.