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If anyone would ask Jimin which he’d prefer, “Rest or food?” He’d choose to rest in a heartbeat. With extended hours at university and piles of schoolwork pending, even taking a nap sounds like a luxury he can’t afford. So when exams week finally ended, Jimin couldn’t be happier that he was about to head home to catch a well-needed break.
Yes, Jimin would choose rest over anything at this point.
Except for one thing.
More specifically, one person.
After numerous attempts to get Taehyung to hang out with the group for a quick bite or drinks, the day had finally come when he finally said “yes.”
Oh, this is definitely worth the exception.
It’s an understatement to say that the whole group was shocked when Taehyung accepted the invitation. Most of the time, Taehyung would almost always decline any group hangouts outside of university. But they would always ask him out of respect and inclusivity.
“Really? Am I hearing this right Taehyung-ah?” Seokjin asks.
“Oppa, am I dreaming? Did he say yes?” Aera says.
Taehyung rolls his eyes, a smile creeping on his face. “Ha ha ha. Very funny.”
“Come on; we’re just joking around.” Namjoon pats Taehyung’s back and places his hand on the younger’s shoulder. “We’re so used to getting rejected, so it feels a bit foreign to get a yes finally.”
“Hyung, you’re being overly dramatic,” Jimin adds.
“But it’s true, though! With a face like this, it’s infrequent for me to feel the bitter feeling of rejection.” Seokjin retorts, living up to the nickname (he gave himself) “World Wide Handsome.”
“Incredibly rare to feel rejection, my ass, Seokjin Hyung. You almost got kicked out of Mr. Lee’s class because you were on the edge of failing it.” Yoongi laughs.
“Almost, Yoongi. Almost.” Seokjin wiggles his eyebrows.
Even though Jimin and Taehyung both belong in the same circle of friends, they don’t get to spend time together or talk to each other as frequently as Jimin would like compared to their other friends. Jimin recalls that the only times they’d speak were at university or through instant message. Their conversations would mainly consist of questions about whether there were classes or if there were any deadlines that needed to be paid attention to.
It would suffice to describe their relationship as mere “acquaintances” and not really “friends” per se. So Jimin doesn’t remember how and when he started developing a tiny crush on Taehyung.
Maybe it’s because of Taehyung’s innate intelligence. Always knowing the correct answer to their professors' questions in class, ace every practical and exam in each subject, inarguably one of the brightest students in their batch. But despite those, he remains humble and always says, “Ah, but I’m still not sure, okay.”, paired with a chuckle at the end. (Surprise, his answer is almost always correct)
Or maybe it’s because of how kind he is. Like that one time, Taehyung offered Jimin his notes because Jimin missed Biology that day because of a fever. Or Taehyung would always leave food for stray cats or dogs whenever he spotted one. “I’ll go back home to get lunch. It’ll make me feel worse knowing I didn’t give them anything.” Jimin overheard Seokjin and Namjoon’s conversation about why Taehyung didn’t join them for lunch.
Maybe it’s because of how witty and naturally funny he is? Surprisingly enough, Taehyung isn’t the talkative type. So when he has something to say, it’s either incredibly clever, hilarious, or maybe even a mixture of both.
Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because of how gorgeous the boy is. Jimin can’t help but admire Taehyung’s piercing, alluring eyes paired with sharp eyebrows, square-shaped jaw, and lips Jimin would almost dream of every night.
Jimin may not find the root of why he likes Taehyung. And honestly, Jimin doesn’t mind. But hey, as long as he’s not hurting anyone, and as long as he’s happy with little things such as Taehyung passing by him and giving him a smile and a nod, then that’s enough… or so Jimin thought.
Look, Jimin knows he's a social butterfly. That he can mesh well with different types of people and other types of groups within the class, he knows he's the type of person you could place in any circle of people because you know he can charm his way into their hearts with pure, blown confidence.
This is why Jimin doesn't understand why he feels like a paper being folded whenever Taehyung's proximity is near him.
That's because you like him, idiot.
The night was filled with great food and company at Yoongi’s place. Jimin’s delighted that the group finally came together after numerous attempts to hang out amid a hectic schedule at university, and tonight’s, even more special because the whole gang is complete with Taehyung around. Nothing beats the feeling of being buzzed up on champagne, surrounded by board games, random conversations, and Namjoon and Yoongi’s constant bickering on who’s right as they discuss their answers in the exams they took earlier that day, which would ultimately lead to them being both wrong, in the end, making everyone laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.
Jimin’s glowing. He can barely open his eyes, and his stomach hurts from all the laughter. Maybe it’s the alcohol, maybe not. But there’s just something about meeting up with friends that makes one feel like perhaps the world isn’t so bad after all. Tonight’s definitely going into Jimin’s journal.
After everyone bid their goodbyes, Jimin was about to grab his coat and bag when he felt a finger poke his shoulder.
“Hi, Jimin.”
Jimin’s breath hitches in the best possible way. “Hey, Taehyung. What’s up?” He keeps his cool as he tries to maintain eye contact.
“You live near our uni, right?”
Hmmm… how does he know where I live?
It seems like Taehyung read Jimin’s mind, making the boy’s eyes widen, the slightest hint of pink blooming on his cheeks.
Is he.. blushing?
Taehyung clears his throat, “Oh, Da-Woon mentioned that you live around there. I do, too, by the way. So I thought maybe we could carpool on the way home? Is that okay? We’re heading the same way anyways, and it’ll help us save a couple of bucks. Plus…”He scratches his head, knuckles turning white as he grips the strap of his backpack. He nervously chuckles, “Plus, it would be safer for you with someone around.”
Jimin can’t help but chuckle at Taehyung’s rambling, and he’s pretty sure that this time, he’s the one blushing, his cheeks red as a tomato.
Who is Jimin to turn down such an offer, right?
He quickly texted Da-Woon, flooding her inbox with omg and thank yous.
“I got you ;)” Da-Woon replies. “Besides, I think it’s about time something happens between you two, right?”
And now, Jimin finds himself sitting at the back of a taxi cab with Taehyung sitting on the furthest corner of the seat. Just as the cab was about to leave Yoongi’s place, the only sound surrounding Jimin and Taehyung were raindrops hitting the vehicle’s rooftop, the sound of the air conditioner, and the faint sound of the radio playing in the background. Great, this will be such a quiet and long drive home.
Maybe this was such a bad idea.
“That was fun,” Taehyung says, stopping Jimin’s thoughts.
“Yeah, it was.” Jimin smiled, biting his lips as he found it difficult to continue the conversation. But surprisingly, Taehyung followed it with another sentiment.
“I should’ve hung out with you guys more often.”
Jimin shifts his posture, his body facing Taehyung this time. “You should have! What’s up with that, by the way?”
Taehyung copies Jimin’s posture, feeling more open to the boy in front of him. “I don’t know; maybe it’s because I like staying home? And you know, just being by myself and playing video games. But after tonight, I guess I’m wrong.”
Jimin shoots his chance, thanking the alcohol in his system. “It’s great to have you join us, by the way finally. Our friends were delighted that you came.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Jimin smiles.
“Even, you?” Taehyung’s eyes glimpsed. I was hoping to hear the answer he wanted to hear.
“Especially me.”
Taehyung’s left eyebrow raised, a playful smile creeping on his face “And why’s that?”
“Because we never get to hang out compared to our other friends, dummy!” Jimin softly punches Taehyung’s arm.
Wow, where's the courage coming from, Jimin?
“What do you mean? We do hang out!” Taehyung exclaims.
“Nope. Like the two-of-us kind of hangout. There’s always someone from our group of friends that’s with us.” Jimin explains. “So nope,” Jimin says. Making the “p” pop, I don’t consider that a hangout between us.”
Taehyung waves his hand in defeat. “Alright, alright, point taken.”
“Thank you very much.” Jimin smugs, crossing his arms. But his calm demeanor got shattered the moment lightning struck.
Taehyung scoots closer, his shoulder only a few inches away from Jimin. “You alright there, Jimin?”
“No. I fucking hate lightning.”
“Me too.”
“Really?” Jimin says, eyes finding relief that maybe he’s not the only one with this weird phobia of getting hit by lightning.
“Yup. But that was when I was still a kid. You don’t happen to get undercovers still when there’s lightning, Jimin?”
“Are you making fun of me? Getting hit by lightning isn’t funny, Taehyung-ah!”
“It’s only a 1 in 15,300 chance, Jimin.”
Jimin’s eyebrows form into a knitted form, and lips in a pout. “But, still! Ugh, whatever, I'm not talking to you!” He jokes, turning his head away from Taehyung, facing towards the window as he sees other vehicles passing by with the sky, a mixture of black and gray, as the background.
Jimin senses that Taehyung moves from where he’s sitting. He thought the boy would move further, but much to Jimin’s surprise, Taehyung closed the gap between his shoulders, making Jimin turn to the other side, making him startled at how close Taehyung was.
“I’m sorry, Jimin-ah.”
“You have a mole under your eye.” Is the first thing that Jimin said as he stared into Taehyung’s eyes.
The corner of Taehyung’s eyes crinkles. “Yes. I have other ones too, one in my nose….”
Jimin followed Taehyung’s voice; it almost sounded like an instruction which Jimin followed obediently as he shifted his eyes to Taehyung’s nose. He spots the tiny beautiful mark on the tip of Taehyung’s nose, which almost tempts him to poke it gently with his finger. But thankfully, despite the alcohol in his veins, he still has some degree of self-control.
But Jimin almost lost it when Taehyung pointed out the next one.
“And in my lips too,” Taehyung said, like a whisper, like a secret he wants Jimin only to know.
Jimin gulps as he looks at Taehyung’s lips.
“I never knew you had one on your lips.”
“Well,” Taehyung finally breaks the close distance between them, making Jimin take a deep breath as he’s grounded back into reality. “It can only be seen when a person’s close to my face.”
Taehyung’s comment undeniably left Jimin’s cheeks hot, and Jimin couldn’t even hide it at this point. “Oh- I’m, I’m sorry then?”
“Oh no, no. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”
BOOM!
Jimin gets frozen in place, his breath suddenly quickens, and his knuckles white from gripping the top of his thighs, prompting Taehyung to move closer to him as his warm, big hands envelop Jimin into comfort.
Then Taehyung gets an idea, he doesn’t know whether it’ll work, but he pulls out his phone and earphones, offering the other bud to Jimin.
Jimin gladly accepts, placing the bud in his ear as Taehyung opens his Spotify.
“Now, if there’s anything good paired with this type of weather, apart from a good cup of joe, it’s music.” Taehyung scratches the side of his head. He presses play, and soon the melody takes over both of them, easing the exhaustion in their bones from the long day they had.
Jimin closes his eyes and exhales, visibly loosening up from the bundle of nerves that he was in state in a few seconds ago. Taehyung notices this and smiles softly at Jimin.
“I love this song,” Jimin says.
Taehyung stays silent as he allows his eyes to explore Jimin’s pretty eyelashes that go along with his lovely eyes, soft puffy cheeks which are the antithesis of his sharp jawline, and a tiny button nose.
And lips.
His lips are so full and red that it reminds Taehyung of berries.
Taehyung blinks rapidly, aware that he’s too close to Jimin’s face, and moves back to where he's seated. He coughs, trying to scratch the itch at the back of his throat as he focuses on the road ahead of them. He replies, “Yeah, me too. Hey, Jimin-ah?”
Jimin hums.
“Speaking of rainy days, music, and… and coffee. Would you like to have one with me?”
“What?” Jimin says, and this time his eyes are looking back at Taehyung. Not sure if he’s in reality or dreamland. “You, you want to grab a coffee with me?”
“Yes.’
“Of course,” Jimin replies, happy that Taehyung will join the group for another hangout.
“Just you.”
Jimin’s eyebrows meet in the middle. “What do you mean?”
“Just you. Just us.” Taehyung clears out whatever confusion Jimin has at the back of his mind.
Oh.
Is this happening?
Jimin nods. Cheeks burning and he lost for words as he bites the insides of his cheeks to prevent himself from squealing. Taehyung notices this and almost wants to pinch Jimin’s cheeks and shower the boy with compliments.
“So… may I know which day and time are the most convenient for my date?” Taehyung asks.