Work Text:
“What was the hardest part about releasing this song?”
Jungkook was so, so tired. He glanced at the clock.
4:48 am.
“Probably the second verse. It’s a lot faster paced than my usual flow, so I had to re-record a few times. I love a challenge though, and I definitely feel like it fits well with my style of rapping. I’ll probably try and incorporate it into future songs as well.”
He looked back at the clock.
4:50 am.
He just needed to make it until 5 am. Then he could sleep, like every normal person in Korea was currently doing. He wasn’t lying when he said that the second verse was difficult, but the hardest part of releasing his new song was the insane schedules he was always subjected to during the promotional periods. It’s the reason he’s awake at such an ungodly hour of the night - his company wanted him to do a Weverse Live broadcast for Western fans.
The comment section was a mixture of heart emojis, foreign languages, and poorly translated compliments and questions. It was mostly a whirlwind blur, but there was one comment in particular that caught his eye.
“What did you think of Park Jimin’s new single?”
Jungkook knew that name. Park Jimin was a rookie idol, but he was originally a dancer with a big following. Jungkook had seen a few of his performances at music shows, but had never met him personally.
“I wasn’t aware he had released a new song, but I’ll play it right now. You guys can get my live reaction,” he said, before pulling up the music video and sharing his screen.
He let his eyes close as a soft guitar melody started playing in his ears. Jimin’s voice came in soon after, honey-like and ethereal, so Jungkook looked back at the video. CGI angel wings were appearing on his back, and the soft yellow colour scheme made the ambience cozy. The candle Jungkook had lit an hour ago was flickering and warm, and his eyes were starting to droop with immense speed.
When the music quieted down, he sat still for a moment to recall the question and think of an appropriate response.
“It’s a really cute song. It’s not my personal style, but I honestly do enjoy it a lot, and I will be listening. But if I had one thing to say specifically to Jimin-ssi about this song? Something I don’t like is the idol culture where artists don’t write their own music. I don’t like the culture where a company pushes certain aesthetics for monetary gain and popularity instead of what would showcase the singer’s talents. Now with that being said, I think—”
His phone rang, an obnoxious sound in the stillness of the moment. He picked up, only to hear something along the lines of, “Oh my god Jungkook oppar, I’m your biggest fan!! If you don’t marry me, I’ll kidnap your firstborn child,” so he hung up almost instantly.
“These fucking sasaengs have no chill. Kidnapping my firstborn child? Isn’t that a bit extreme? I don’t even have kids, what??”
5:00 am.
“Alright my precious bunnies, it was a long day today and it’s 5 am in South Korea right now. It was a pleasure getting to chat with you guys, and I’ll see you later. I’m going to sleep for a long time.”
As soon as the livestream was off, his head was on the pillow and his eyes were closed.
The clock hit 5:01. And then the internet exploded.
It turns out that the internet is a cruel place to everybody, but especially towards popular people. Park Jimin, rookie idol, dancer, and all-around celebrity has always known this. He’s an openly gay man in the spotlight, so he’s woken up to several negative headlines throughout the years.
This was his first time waking up to being in the headlines for somebody else’s misfortunes, much less his celebrity crush’s misfortunes.
At around five o’clock this morning, Jeon Jungkook listened to Jimin’s song and looked bored, disgusted, and uncomfortable while watching the music video, then proceeded to accuse him of not writing his own music, along with being untalented, and only following the company’s aesthetic for money.
It was around 8:00 am at this point, and Jimin’s day was already going terribly. It was just one of those dreary summer mornings when everything was too hot and the bedsheets were sticking to his skin and the air conditioner was buzzing too loud. He woke up with a headache an hour before his alarm went off, to what seemed like his seventh missed call from Taehyung, and an obscene amount of texts from his manager telling him to get to headquarters as soon as he could. Jeon Jungkook, his celebrity crush, and arguably the most well-known rapper in South Korea, insulted his music — which was like a child to him — and his talents. In an attempt to get his shit in order, he tried to make coffee but missed the cup and poured boiling water into his bowl of cereal instead. Suffice to say, things were not going too well.
His latest song, Wildflower , meant a lot more to him than his past music had. A lot of healing needed to be done to be able to write that song, and then release it to the public.
Taehyung has been spamming him with texts for a while, urging him to not go online for fear of seeing bad things written about him. He only realized he was shaking when Yoongi woke from his slumber to send him some semblance of moral support, a miracle for how early it was.
In the end, he decided a coffee stop on the way to headquarters would be a better idea, so he grabbed his bag and made his way out the door.
It was nearing two in the afternoon by the time Jungkook arrived at Jimin’s company headquarters. Apparently, the younger man had slept like a rock, which wasn’t unexpected considering how overworked he was with all the promotions. He had woken up to his Twitter notifications on overdrive and his text messages going crazy. As soon as he had texted his manager, Jiwon, that he was awake, she let him know she’d be picking him up soon. Jungkook had just enough time to wash his face and get dressed before Jiwon was outside his apartment.
Jimin’s headquarters building was tall, but looked modern. The large gallery windows displaying a chic interior felt slightly menacing, but it’s not like Jungkook had a choice about entering. He was mostly confused about the whole scenario. Jimin’s song had been good, and he thought he had said as much on the live stream. From what Jiwon had told him, people thought he insulted Jimin’s music, and he still wasn’t sure about how the misunderstanding occurred. Jiwon had told him that she was disappointed with the situation they were in, so the elevator ride up to the office was full of tension.
Jungkook was led through the halls into a room, and took a seat across from Jimin. Jimin’s eyes were downcast, and his blonde hair was ruffled as though he had been running his fingers through it constantly. His expression was settled into a pouty sad look, and Jungkook felt a pang of guilt — although he wasn’t sure for what, because he still hadn’t fully grasped the circumstances. Jungkook wanted to observe the other man a bit more, but the moment had been cut short by Jimin’s manager clearing his throat.
“I’d like to introduce myself as Suh Baekho. I’m Jimin’s manager, and I’ll be the main correspondence between your team and our PR team,” Baekho looked at his notes before continuing, “Okay, so obviously it’s only been a few hours since the incident occurred, so we have only come up with a few rough ideas of how to move forwards. Jungkook-ssi, do you understand why we asked you to come here?”
Jungkook shook his head, “I listened to Wildflower last night on Weverse Live. I was falling asleep though, so I went to bed right after. I’m not really sure how this all turned into a big deal, if I’m being honest. I thought the song was good, and I said as much.”
Baekho continued with his explanation, “Last night you said some things about Jimin’s music, but your closing remarks about the song were very misinterpreted by netizens and so we need to do some damage control to make sure this doesn’t get out of control and damage both your reputations.”
“Of course, we are primarily concerned with our artist Jimin, but we understand that you are another person involved in this ‘scandal’ and we don’t know your side of the story yet. We are worried that Jimin will be subject to hate because you are incredibly influential, and you essentially accused Jimin of not writing his own lyrics and prioritizing money over music. We also want to try and keep public relations between the two of you as positive as possible.”
“We discussed several options with our PR team and Jimin, and if both of you agree then we can go forward with the plan.”
Jimin and Baekho shared a prolonged, vague glance that set Jungkook’s nerves on fire.
“It’s a bit of a fake relationship situation. If you aren’t comfortable with it, then we understand and a publicly open friendship would suffice, but may not be as convincing. The second major part of this plan is a documentary detailing the behind-the-scenes of the writing process for a collaborative song. We have put lots of thought into most aspects of this plan, so if you have any other suggestions or any questions, please do not hesitate to bring those up. The optimal contract time is three months, unless either individual becomes uncomfortable or there is a mutual agreement to not end the contract. In either case, we can discuss it when we get there.”
Baekho finally took a deep breath and looked up from his papers, “Do either of you have anything you want to go over right now?”
Jungkook let his head fall into his hands so he could take a moment or two to process everything. He genuinely liked Jimin’s song, and could not process how his words were so badly misinterpreted that a fake relationship would be needed. However, the last thing he wanted to do was harm another person’s livelihood.
“If my agreeing to this fake relationship means that neither of our reputations are damaged, then I’d be willing to do so if Jimin-ssi consents as well. I genuinely did like Wildflower, so I apologize for all the inconveniences my words have caused.”
Jimin chimed in with, “Thank you for apologizing, Jungkook-ssi. I know this situation is definitely not ideal, and I’m not exactly happy that this even needs to happen in the first place, but I don’t really mind going forward with this. We’ll be able to clear both of our names and put this behind us.”
Jimin’s eyes looked suspiciously watery as he said all this, but Jungkook simply chose to look away. He instantly felt like a shittier person for it though.
Baekho grinned once both of them had agreed to his plan, and produced the contracts that needed to be signed. A joint Weverse Live broadcast was quickly scheduled for the next day, so Jungkook and Jiwon were sent on their way back down the elevator.
Jungkook had one foot in the car door when he heard footsteps behind him, and then felt a light grip on his arm. When he turned around, Jimin stood there with a determined expression, “I just wanted to let you know that this doesn’t have to mean anything. We just have to act like we like each other more than strangers. I’ll see you tomorrow Jungkook-ssi.”
Jungkook didn’t really know what to make of Jimin’s comment, seeing as he was still coming to terms with how the next three months would play out for him. He settled for a, “Sure thing, Jimin-ssi,” and watched the other leave before getting into the car.
Jungkook spent the car ride back to his apartment staring out the window, lost in thought. It wouldn’t be his first time needing to do damage control for accidental scandals, but it would be his first time doing a fake relationship.
Jungkook was back at Jimin’s headquarters the next day, this time in the older man’s personal office. It was a cozy little room, with a plush couch that Jungkook sank into almost immediately. There was still an hour to go until the broadcast, but they had decided it would be a good idea to at least somewhat coordinate a fake backstory before going live.
They spent the next forty-five minutes getting to know each other better. Jungkook discovered that Jimin’s favourite season is winter, because he loves seeing the snowfall. And despite his awkwardness, Jungkook found himself telling Jimin about all his favourite video games. He’d only just started explaining the Overwatch lore when Baekho interrupted them so they could start getting ready.
They had just enough time for the makeup artists to do light touch-ups and grab water bottles, and then were being ushered behind a table to start talking.
“Is this thing working? Are we both in the frame?”
Jiwon gave them a thumbs up.
As they waited for more viewers, the nerves started hitting Jungkook in full force. They were provided with “scripts,” which were really just sheets with bullet points they had to hit at some point during the live stream. Jungkook trusted himself to look smitten with Jimin, but he was afraid his inability to speak without being misunderstood would betray him once again, or that he would accidentally make it obvious that he and Jimin barely knew each other.
It was evident when Jungkook’s fans figured out Jungkook was on Jimin’s channel, because the number of viewers grew exponentially within a matter of minutes.
“Holy shit,” Jimin’s jaw had dropped wide open, “I’ve never had this many people watching my Weverse Live before.”
His wide eyes connected with Jungkook’s for the briefest of seconds, and then the whirlwind began.
“So… you guys are probably wondering why both of us are on the same Weverse Live broadcast. Especially when this doofus,” Jimin nodded at Jungkook, “apparently thinks I’m a talentless idol and that my music is shit.”
“Oi, I never said that!”
If Jimin wanted to play dirty, Jungkook was fair game.
“I said you’re a talentless idol and that your music is poop . I don’t swear in front of fans,” he wiggled his eyebrows at the camera for emphasis.
His peripheral vision told him that Jimin was rolling his eyes, and he couldn’t help but grin at the sight.
“Okay, enough,” Jimin had started giggling when Jungkook wiggled his eyebrows and winked at the camera. “We thought it was a good idea to let you guys know about something pretty big after the whole fiasco that went down a few days ago.”
“Yeah, we don’t actually hate each other at all. In fact, I’d like to hope that we like each other a lot more, considering we’ve been dating for quite a while now.”
Silence.
“See, that wasn’t as hard as we thought it would be,” Jimin said. “Uhhhh. I really don’t like the lack of comments in the chat. There are millions of you, someone please say something.”
“We know this is sudden, but we thought it was time to tell you. It’s so hard fake-bullying my boyfriend and having people think I’m being genuine.” Jungkook really, really hoped that the camera couldn’t pick up how shaky his entire body was when he said boyfriend, but he continued, “Does anyone have any questions? When we met, how we started dating, who farted around the other first, y’know, all the regular dating questions.”
“For the record, Jungkook was the first one to fart. And it was a really stinky one.”
Jungkook fake glared at Jimin, but the other was clearly holding in laughter, and he looked adorable while doing it. Jungkook’s heart skipped a beat, and he had to look away.
Somebody finally asked about their backstory, so they gave their completely made-up “love-at-first-sight-and-we’ve-been-dating-for-eight-months” story. They even remembered to hold hands halfway through.
Somebody asked why Jungkook didn’t know Jimin released Wildflower if they were dating, but Jungkook had been ready for this question since the broadcast was planned.
“I lied.”
Jimin punched him (lightly) in the arm.
“All you had to do was tell them you liked it when your friend played it to you and we wouldn’t be in this situation, but nOoOo , Jungkookie wants to make trouble for us,” Jimin said it so earnestly, Jungkook genuinely felt bad for getting them here. Nevertheless, he had to move them along, so he asked if anybody else had questions.
They spend the rest of the hour answering comments and talking to the audience, and then the broadcast ends with smiles plastered over both of their faces.
Once they’ve had their moment to recollect themselves, Jiwon and Baekho sit across the table from them.
“Well. There’s no going back from here, at least for the next few months. How about you guys start working on the collab for a few weeks,” Baekho said, “and you can use our recording studio, or your homes, as long as you vlog the whole thing. Any ideas for the first date?”
They made a list of date ideas for the upcoming months, and decided to meet at the amusement park on the weekend.
Jungkook’s leg wouldn’t stop bouncing as Jiwon drove him home, and he couldn’t tell if it was from anxiety or excitement. Jimin was very, very cute, and their banter came naturally during the Weverse Live. Whatever it was, Baekho was right. They could only move forward with the plan and hope for the best.
Saturday finally rolled around, and Jungkook was practically bouncing out of his skin as he waited for Jimin to join him at the fair. The broadcast earlier in the week had gone well, but Jimin made him nervous. The older man was mature but clearly had a soft side. Jungkook had a growing desire to see that part of Jimin.
Jungkook’s train of thought was interrupted by the appearance of Jimin himself. He was wearing an oversized orange t-shirt and baggy mom jeans, and the ensemble combined with fluffy blonde hair radiated comfort.
Jimin hugged him as a way of greeting, and Jungkook convinced him to go on the rollercoaster he’d been eyeing while waiting.
Great idea.
Jungkook loved roller coasters. Jimin, as it turned out, did not share the sentiment. He screamed at every little turn, every small hill, and the loops were wonderful because he clung onto Jungkook’s arm as though it was the only thing keeping him in his seat.
When Jimin is saved by the ride ending, Jungkook can’t help but laugh maniacally.
“Jungkook,” Jimin gasps, “I am going to kill you. That was horrendous .”
“I don’t know Jimin, I definitely had a great time. There was a cute koala bear hanging onto my arm the whole time though.”
Jimin pouts at this.
“It was so scary, Jungkook. There’s got to be something here that trips you up, right?”
Jimin took Jungkook’s hand and guided the pair through a smaller roller coaster, a spinning ride, and a haunted house before slumping onto a bench in defeat.
“Jungkook, seriously, what the fuck. How are you okay after all of those? Is it just me who feels nauseous after the haunted house?”
Jungkook just grinned. “Afraid so, hyung.”
Jimin pouted again , a move that sent butterflies straight to Jungkook’s stomach. And then Jungkook saw the moment the gears in Jimin’s brain started turning, a mischievous grin lighting his face.
“Jungkook,” Jimin said, “I challenge you to a game. Whoever loses more rounds has to pay for dinner.”
“I wasn’t aware we were going out for dinner after this, Hyung,” but Jimin looked so serious that Jungkook felt bad immediately, so he rushed to cover it up with, “But I’m glad you’ve offered to pay. I’m most definitely going to win.”
Jimin protested, but Jungkook is nothing if not competitive. He won every round of the game Jimin had led them to. He gave the little chick plush he won to Jimin, because “it looks just like you, Jimin-hyung,” and Jimin’s face turned redder than a tomato.
A crowd had started to gather around them as people noticed who they were, so Jungkook led them to the Ferris wheel line. The sun is setting by the time they get a seat, and the sky is painted with vibrant pinks and oranges as they reach the top.
You know, Jimin-hyung, this has been on my mind since I first met you at your headquarters,” Jungkook looked apprehensively at Jimin, gauging where his mind was. The older man was looking at the sunset, his face glowing and eyes shining golden.
You are the sun , Jungkook thought.
Jimin nodded for Jungkook to continue, so he did.
“I’m really, very truly sorry for causing this situation. I never got to fully explain the misunderstanding to you, and I don’t want it to hang between us. Even outside of this fake relationship, I still respect you a lot, hyung.”
Jimin’s eyes widened like he wasn’t expecting an apology, but Jungkook kept talking.
“I meant to say that you didn’t follow that stereotype of artists being forced to follow their company’s direction instead of doing their own style. Except, a sasaeng called me and threatened to kidnap my kid, and it was late so I completely forgot to finish the sentence.”
Jimin stared at him. “Jungkook. You have a kid?”
Jungkook stared back at Jimin. “Hyung. That’s all you got from my big apology?”
Jimin laughed.
“I’m just kidding with you, Jungkook. I won’t lie, it hurt waking up to one of my favourite artists openly insulting one of my songs. But I’m thankful for your explanation, and I definitely don’t hold it against you.”
The conversation wound down after the reassurance, and they opted to head to a convenience store for ramen.
Jimin, of course, paid for the meal.
They’ve gone on several more dates since the fair by the time they need to start working on their collab song. Coffee shops, restaurants, and arcades had brought them closer to each other. Jungkook, at least, felt as though Jimin was opening up.
They’re back in Jimin’s office, a video camera taping their thought process. They had mutually decided that having a staff member with them might hamper the creative process, at least until they started working with the producers.
“Okay, just to recap, our main idea for the theme is love. Especially since we’re supposed to be dating for this song,” Jimin looked down at the scribbled sheets scattered over the table, “but we could also talk about issues we’re passionate about. And if we do a love song, we should try and focus on our story.”
“Yes, but that could be hard since our story is fake,” Jungkook argued. “We could also talk about discovering our identities or about overcoming past relationships.”
Jimin looked as though he was having an internal debate, and then he began to speak in a quiet voice.
“Jungkook, let me tell you what Wildflower was about. It might make more sense as to why it hurt so much to see you accidentally insult it.”
Jimin was looking at his hands, his fingers twitching in his lap.
“My last boyfriend. He was a gorgeous man, always polite and well-mannered in public. Always outwardly supporting me and making sure everyone knew he loved me. But our home life was rough. It was all a show on the outside, because at home he always made sure I knew I needed to do better.” Jimin’s voice was shaky as he continued reliving his past, “My dancing was never enough, and if my dancing wasn’t enough, how could I ever expect to be a successful singer? Jungkook, I had millions of fans at this point in my dancing career, but he insisted I was failing at my craft. He would point out small mistakes I made, he made me watch my weight, how I dress, how I interacted with other people.”
Tears were starting to pool in Jimin’s eyes, so Jungkook took one of Jimin’s hands into his own, caressing his palm with his thumb.
“The most fucked up part was that, despite all of that, I really and truly loved him. I knew it wasn’t a healthy relationship. But his comments were never frequent, and they were always implied through his actions. I would tell myself I was making things up. And he was a perfect gentleman outside the house. I think that’s why it hurt so much when he did make comments about my dancing. Breaking up with him was one of the most emotionally painful things I’ve ever had to do.”
The room is quiet and warm, and the air is still and Jimin’s breath has slowed down from the panic it rose to during the height of his emotional retelling of his past.
“ Wildflower is about growing free from that abhorrent man’s expectations of who I needed to be. It’s about letting myself become more vibrant than he would have ever allowed me to become.”
Jungkook let the silence sit for a minute while he collected his thoughts. Wildflower obviously held a lot of meaning for Jimin, and he was honestly just grateful that Jimin felt comfortable enough to tell him.
“We don’t have to write about our past then, Jimin. I’m truly touched that you trust me enough to tell me about Wildflower ’s meaning,” Jungkook was still holding Jimin’s hand as he said this.
“How’s this for a song?” Jungkook offered.
They went with Jungkook’s idea in the end. A song about the feeling that comes with finding someone you can trust. The feeling that comes with finding someone who loves you unconditionally, and who you can trust to help guide you in the right direction when your eyes are closed.
After their first song session, they make a point of meeting twice a week. The first meeting is to write their song. Their second meeting, over the weekend, is to check another date off their list.
This continued for well over a month, until—
“How do you know if somebody hates you?”
Jungkook was lying on Hoseok’s bedroom floor. Namjoon’s head was on his lap, while Jin and Hobi were in the midst of an overly aggressive Mario Kart race.
Jin and Hobi can’t hear him, but Namjoon can.
“What do you mean, Jungkookie? I don’t think anybody hates you except for losers on Twitter.”
Namjoon looked genuinely confused, as though nobody ever could hate Jungkook.
“Jimin has been really distant on our past few dates, and I’m worried he still thinks I hate his music. I mean, I’ve apologized to him multiple times, but we haven’t seen each other for a couple of weeks now and I’m really worried, Joon-hyung,” Jungkook began to explain his reasoning for his original question, “And we were in such a rush after our last songwriting session that we didn’t plan anything, and then we just never reached out to each other.”
“With Lia, back when we dated in high school, we were always a happy couple. The only reason we broke things off was because we were graduating. I don’t know how to deal with things being awkward in relationships— I mean I know Jimin and I aren’t technically dating, but we basically are,” Jungkook said. “Things were going so well, and then Jimin closed back up and we haven’t talked in weeks and— I really do like him, and I’m so scared that’s what ruined things, even though I didn’t tell him.”
Jungkook took a sip of his banana milk and then continued with the other major thing.
“There’s also the fact that apparently, I like men. Jimin is out, so it’s not as big a deal for him to be dating me. But I’ve only ever dated femme people in the past. I don’t have a problem with liking guys at all, but it’s still a big adjustment and my parents haven’t mentioned anything about the whole publicly-dating-a-man thing yet, so I’m scared of what they might say.”
Namjoon just sits up, and tugs Jungkook into an awkward hug.
“Jungkook, things have always worked out for you. I don’t think this will be any different. I think you just need to talk to him and keep an open mind while you’re doing it.”
Jin pauses the Mario Kart to yell back at Jungkook,
“Just don’t be an idiot, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
They have just over a month until their song and documentary are set to be released, so Jiwon forces Jungkook to set up a meeting with Jimin. The week leading up to their meeting has Jungkook’s mind cycling through an endless loop of what if’s and oh god oh fuck’ s.
Finally seeing Jimin in person again is somewhat underwhelming. The older man shoots him an awkward smile, but their producer walks in before they can start talking. Their lyrics were finished in previous sessions, so it was time to start recording.
They had decided that Jungkook would rap the verses, and Jimin would sing the bridge and choruses. Considering how fast their deadline was approaching to turn in the video footage to the editors, they started recording almost immediately.
The first break they got occurred after Jungkook finished rapping the second verse.
“Yo, Jungkook-ssi. I think for this verse, it would be great if you started lagging behind the beat a bit to give the flow a heavier feel, since it’s a more emotional set of lyrics. How about we re-record after an hour-long lunch break?”
Their producer’s suggestion was taken with enthusiasm, so Jungkook headed to the other side of the room to grab his water bottle. He’s laughing at a senseless cat video when Jimin approaches him, all soft in a big hoodie.
“Jungkookie, is there anything I can do to help you out with the verse you need to re-record?“
Jungkook took in Jimin’s appearance. The bags under his eyes showed he hadn’t been sleeping well, and his hair was disheveled. There was both a sadness, and a genuineness behind Jimin’s eyes that made Jungkook’s heart hurt.
He really needed to clear the air around their situation.
“I’ll be fine with the verse. I do have something else to ask you, though,” Jungkook took a deep breath before, “Hyung, do you hate me?”
Jimin looked at him with an unreadable expression on his face, and Jungkook began to panic, so he continued with his train of thought.
“I mean, hyung, it’s not like you’ve done anything wrong. But I’m really scared you don’t like me because you were so distant the last few times we met. I know I should have talked to you earlier but I was so nervous you hated me because maybe you still thought I don’t like Wildflower ? Or maybe you think my singing is shit— or maybe I smell bad and you were afraid to tell me? But hyung, I really cherish our friendship so please tell me if you don’t like me.”
Jungkook watched as Jimin’s facial expression morphed from one of confusion to laughter, and now it’s his turn to be confused by the situation.
“Jungkook,” Jimin’s speech is interjected with cute little giggles, and Jungkook finds himself starting to smile too.
“Jungkook, I don’t think I could hate you. Every molecule in my body would protest if I did. I was struggling mentally on the last few dates, but I’m really sorry that it came across as though I didn’t like you, when that’s truly farthest from the truth.”
Jungkook’s mouth goes dry, because he thinks he knows what that last bit means.
“I have so much fun on these dates, because as much as they’re all for promo, I’m still getting paid to have fun with someone I like spending time with.”
Something about the assuredness in Jimin’s voice brought tears to Jungkook’s eyes. As silly as it was, he was scared that Jimin didn’t like spending time with him.
And then Jungkook is pulled into Jimin’s arms, head held into the crook of his neck.
“Why are you crying, my Jungkookie? I’m sorry I hurt you, but next time you should talk to me first before beating yourself up.”
Jungkook couldn’t help the word vomit that fell from his mouth as he snuggled up to Jimin.
“I’m really sorry for crying hyung, but I like you so much and I’m so happy to know you don’t actually hate me. I was so sad even thinking about it, I guess my insecurities just got the best of me,” Jungkook wiped his tears, and looked at Jimin, who had a funny expression on his face.
“Jungkook, what if I really like you too? Then what, you idiot?”
Jungkook’s heart soared.
“Then I suppose we should end the contract.”
Jungkook hip-checked his utensil drawer closed, having retrieved a spoon to stir his special hot chocolate with. Jimin was waiting on his couch, bundled in a blanket.
“Jungkookie! There are only five minutes until the music video for trust fall. is released, get your ass over here and get comfy.”
Jungkook sighed as he topped his concoction off with marshmallows, but couldn’t help the grin that made its way onto his face. Being around Jimin meant that he was smiling more than he thought was humanly possible. Since they had decided to end the contract, they’d started seeing each other outside of their prescribed dates, and they didn’t always have to meet in public. They hadn’t started dating officially though, because they wanted to make sure their feelings were genuine, and not just a by-product of their unique workplace situation.
He made his way over to where Jimin was sitting and set the tray with the hot chocolate on the coffee table. Jimin patted the space next to him, and Jungkook happily obliged, snuggling into Jimin’s side.
Jungkook clicked the video link as soon as it popped up on the TV, and a few seconds later, the soft piano they had become accustomed to over the past months filled the room.
“I know it’s a bad idea to check what Twitter thinks, isn’t it?” Jimin said once the music finished, “But I’m really happy with how it turned out. How about you?” He turned to Jungkook.
“I’m also really happy with how it turned out, it was really beautiful,” Jungkook turned to Jimin and began to caress the elder’s cheek, “I think you were the prettiest part of it though.”
Jimin’s eyes widened ever so slightly, and the faintest smattering of a rosy pink graced his cheeks as he leaned towards Jungkook.
“It’s crazy, Jungkook,” Jimin said, mere millimeters away from his face, “but I could have sworn the prettiest part of the video was you.”
Jungkook could feel Jimin’s breath hot on his lips and had enough sense in him to take the hint.
Jimin tasted like peppermint hot chocolate.
Jimin tasted like Jungkook was falling in love.
Jimin tasted like home.