Chapter Text
Jimin walks into his shared dormitory apartment with a wide smile on his face. It’s been a long week full of classes and assignments, with lectures so long he contemplated dropping out several times. However, it’s Friday night and Jimin’s ready to just wind down and curl up on the couch with his roommate that’s grown into one of his best friends.
He's found himself falling into this crazy loop with his roommate where the lines between friendship and relationship blur. It's just at that point where a relationship has the potential to blossom. They aren't quite there, but there's enough chemistry between them to eventually form into something more than study partners and flat mates.
“Jungkook! I’m home, are you here?” Jimin yells from the entrance as he throws his school bag to the side and makes his way to the kitchen with a handful of other groceries.
On his way, he takes note of the light coming from the bathroom as he passes. He deposits a few bags filled to the brim with snacks that he picked up on the way home for their movie night on their cluttered counter with a soft thump.
At the sound of the elder’s voice, Jungkook casually strolls into the living room with a small smile. “Look who finally decided to show up. Didn’t your last class end at 3?” The brunette replies as he plops down unceremoniously on their slightly worn couch. The younger appears comfortable as ever in plain sweatpants and a loose white t-shirt, with his freshly washed and messy brown locks sticking to his forehead.
Something warm bloomed in Jimin’s chest at the simple sight. There just resting on the couch and completely oblivious to the way the elder is gawking at him, Jungkook sat in all his glory. God, he was beautiful.
"Where'd you go?" The brunette asks while strolling through the apps on his phone, not even bothering to make any eye contact.
“You know, I do have a life outside of the endless textbooks and daytime naps.” The elder jokes lightly, smiling at the loud chuckle Jungkook gives in return. “I stopped by the store to pick up some snacks on the way. I was um, waiting for someone but they never showed so that took up some extra time.” The blonde haired elder says, unloading various chips and treats for the nighttime venture ahead of them with a sullen tone.
The younger hums and nods in response, missing the way Jimin’s face falls towards the end of his sentence. Jungkook just turn towards the tv and starts setting up Netflix for the perfect set of films. It remains silent for a short while with Jimin putting things away and Jungkook attempting to find a movie to watch. Everything is moving in quiet unison, a bubble of solace, until a small, unexpected problem bursts through.
“Uh… Jimin? None of the streaming sites are working.”
The elder grabs the snacks and shuffles over to the couch with a confused face. “What do you mean none of them are working? Is it our internet connection?” He grumbles, checking their internet router seeing it's still connected with an affirmative blue light.
Jimin’s heart kicked into gear as he snatched the remote, and starts flipping through each streaming platform and trying to log in. With each site that declines his entry, the more panicked he becomes because if they aren’t working then it can only mean one of two things. Either their internet company needs to be switched or…
“Nope. Look it says the password is incorrect.” Jungkook points out from his position, leaning against the elder’s side. “Besides, I was just on the computer before you got here, and it was working fine.”
Jimin raises a brow and immediately pulls out his cellphone, dialing the only person who could be behind the sudden change. His suspicions are only confirmed by the way he’s immediately sent to voicemail each and every time he attempts to make contact. “You know what? Can we take a raincheck for our movie night? I need to go somewhere.” The elder grits, already pushing himself up and grabbing his keys.
“Okay, sure. Go ahead. Just let me know if you’re coming back tonight or not!” Jungkook yells as the front door opens and slams closed.
The young male deflates a little at the way the elder rushed off, but he waves it off, turning to his animations instead. There will always be another night for spending time with his crush, there’s no need to sulk about the little things.
-
Jimin’s knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel with barely contained anger. The word ‘betrayal’ claws its way to the forefront of his mind, while the bitter taste lingers on his tongue. He lets out a ragged puff of air as he feels the ache caused by being stabbed in the back without a single consideration for his wellbeing. And the worst part? It was a conscious decision to take the bluntest object they could find, just to dig it so far into his chest to have him agonizing.
That alone can cause a level of pain that’s beyond comprehension. He never thought his best friend, his soulmate, his partner in crime since toddlers -his everything- would be the one to be holding the knife with a dazzling smile.
Yet here he was thoroughly fucked over and fuming as he pulled into the driveway that he knows all too fucking well. He’s taken this same ten-minute drive for the past 7 years since he was barely learning to drive and endangering the wellbeing of all on the road. God knows 16-year-old Jimin could barely make it down the street sometimes, however, today feels like it’s the real start to the end.
Jimin takes one last calming breath, before getting out of the car and marching up to the entrance. It’s a door he’s passed through countless times, but there’s not an ounce of warmth as Jimin turns his spare key in the lock and stomps in. It takes no more than three seconds to be greeted by a familiar, friendly face. “Munchkin? Jimin, baby, we didn’t know you were coming over for dinner!!” The backstabber’s sweet vivacious mom, Nikki, welcomes him warmly. She pauses and gives him a bear hug before continuing to move past the entry way on her way to the kitchen.
Jimin feels the tension in his shoulders slightly drop at the motherly embrace, not enough to quell the raging storm but a sprinkle of control washes over him. “Babe, do I hear Jimin?” A soft voice yells from the kitchen, hidden from his view. Of course she doesn’t wait for a reply, instead Mama Soyeon suddenly peeks her head out to see for herself. Upon seeing Jimin her face brightens with a big smile on her face. “Baby bear!! You’re just in time, dinner’s just about done. I made this new recipe, so hopefully it’s good!”
Despite the raging storm, Jimin can’t help the beaming smile that spreads across his face as the pair fuss over him and the details of their mystery meal. However, he has business to take care of, and dinner is not his priority. “I’d love to stay, but I really need to see Tae right now. Is he upstairs?” Jimin asks, already making his way to the staircase. He’s already ascending the steps two at a time when he receives gentle ‘yes’s and head nods from both parents with shared confusion at his abrupt departure.
It takes another solid minute before the fuming male finally is glaring at the door of his personal betrayer. ‘Go in there and have a calm conversation! Talk to this fucktard like an adult -even though this asshole is a child- because you’re a grown ass man. So, go in there and handle your shit!!’
One breath.
Two breaths.
Three…
“Have you lost your fucking mind?!” Jimin storms in after nearly kicking in the wooden barrier, making the other flinch at the loud outburst. The door swings open so hard it slams into the wall, bouncing back with an audible swoosh. In any other instance, on any other day, the loud banging of the door against the wall would have the blonde recoiling, but today? Oh, that sound spurs him on.
Taehyung just gives him an unimpressed glance from where he was once looking at his phone screen. “Why did you just kick in my door? If there’s a hole in my wall, you know dad’s gonna beat your ass for that.”
“I kicked in your fucking door because you’re a backstabbing, selfish prick!” Jimin screams, towering over the unamused male lying in bed. He stews in his anger for a second before images of an upset Kim Seokjin flash before his eyes, then he tacks on a quiet, “I’ll apologize to him later.”
Jimin then jabs his finger into the brunette’s chest as he rambles on about how much of a backstabber Taehyung is. The other allows this to happen with little to no reaction until the blonde slaps his phone away. As nonchalant as Taehyung can be, even he has his breaking point, so with an aggravated huff he finally stands up with a matching glare. “You need to get the fuck out of my face, pretty boy. I’m not in the fucking mood today.”
The air is overly charged, the tension is suffocating, and both men know they’re seconds away from letting it all snap. “Pretty boy? Are you fucking kidding me?!” The blonde asks incredulously, getting impossibly closer to the taller brunette. “Taehyung don’t make me…” Jimin starts to threaten, only to be interrupted by the crowd of onlookers now gathering at the open door.
At some point during the two’s heated dispute, the bedroom door across from Taehyung’s room swung wide open from the commotion, with a curious head peeking out. As their voices grew louder, the sound of thundering footsteps up the stairs were drowned out as everyone made their way towards the room. They all remained silent as the two went back and forth up until the carefully veiled threats of violence started going around. Only then did they intervene, in the form of a very pissed off Papa Kim making his presence known with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. “What the hell is going on in here?!”
Jimin turns his head to the booming voice with burning tears in his eyes. “He changed EVERYTHING!! He changed all of the Netflix, Hulu, Disney, AND anime streaming app passwords. He changed the fucking passwords, Pa!”
“You forgot Spotify.” Taehyung snickers, as the latter’s eyes widen and the room lets out a deep collective sigh.
“Taehyung.. just why?” Namjoon pipes in, rolling his eyes at his younger brother’s tactics. It’s enough to see the two banter on a regular basis, but when it’s something this petty he can’t help the annoyance crawling under his skin. He can’t believe his peace was shattered by the noise of these two hooligans fighting over passwords.
“He broke up with me. He loses the privilege of using my accounts.” Taehyung simply states, looking to his stunned family.
The entire room goes silent. No one breathes a word, and everyone sits with wide eyes. Jimin’s face drops as he takes in the look of devastation the family he loves wears like a second skin. “You what?” Nikki asks lowly with a confused face.
“Baby bear…” Soyeon starts, only to be cut off by her son’s shake of his head.
“Frankly, I don’t know why he’s here.” The brunette continues, glaring holes into the shorter’s face as he continues to watch the family assess the crumbling situation.
“Tae…” Jimin solemnly whispers, turning to the taller who’s face is stone cold. There’s not an ounce of the usual spark hidden under the surface. It’s just a wall and for once, Jimin doesn’t know if he can penetrate that block. Jimin’s being shut out and suddenly, a change of passwords doesn’t seem like such a betrayal. Not when everyone in the room is looking at him like he just ripped the rug out from beneath their feet. The true motive behind the actions is loud and clear: Hurt people, hurt people.
“Moms, Dad, Joonie… can we please have a minute? I’ll be down for dinner in a little bit and Jimin…” A humorless laugh cuts through the air like a sharp blade. “…well he’ll be gone soon. I just need a minute, okay?” Taehyung quietly asks, waiting until everyone clears out of his room. The pair sit in complete silence, barely even daring to breathe.
It’s not until the fading footsteps descend down the stairs, does Taehyung turn to the now sulking blonde. “Now… Why are you here?” The taller asks with his arms crossed and hard eyes.
“Baby..” Jimin tries, reaching towards the younger who evades the movement like the other’s touch would burn on contact. It stings.
“Don’t touch me. Just talk. Why are you here?!” Taehyung yells, slamming his bedroom shut, making the elder flinch at the loud bang. “It wasn’t enough to break up with me through a text, no you had to come to my family’s house to fucking cry over some subscriptions YOU don’t even pay for?!” The younger ranted, pacing his bedroom and dodging each of Jimin’s attempt to grab him.
“Baby, that’s not..” Jimin tries again only to be cut off again with the other rambling and shouting.
“STOP CALLING ME BABY!” Taehyung screams, pushing Jimin away.
The elder doesn’t even blink or hesitate as he pushes the younger and taller man against his bedroom door with a little more force than he was aiming for but enough to get the younger to stop. “Taehyung, listen to me. You’re going to calm down and allow me to speak! Okay? Please, baby?” Jimin lets out a low sigh, “I wasn’t breaking up with you, but I needed you to know that this might not be able to work anymore.”
Jimin can see the hurt and confusion fighting to take the spotlight, while the brunette tries to process his words. Anger wins over.
“It all of a sudden isn’t going to work?! We’ve been together for almost two years and today out of the fucking blue I’m suddenly not enough for you?!” Taehyung demands with an icy glare. Jimin has his body blocking any chance of walking away and Taehyung has always felt pinned by the elder in these situations, despite their height difference.
It’s always been this way with the two, Taehyung was always the live wire without regard and Jimin was the spontaneous firecracker who could also crack the whip when necessary. So, it doesn’t feel fair to Taehyung when they have disagreements because Jimin always has the upper hand. No matter how upset he is, the blonde always ends up on top. Jimin’s always been his weak spot.
“It’s not like that.” The elder sighs, cupping the upset male’s face to level their gazes.
“Then what is it like, Jimin? Because right now, it feels like you decided to just throw me away and pretend like things were all good. The only reason you’re even in my face now is because your dumbass tried to log into my Netflix account. You don’t give a shit about me, so get the fuck out.” With that Taehyung brushes past the other and sits on his bed with a huff of annoyance.
“I tried calling you, don’t act like I haven’t been trying to reach you all day. I was giving you the space that you clearly were begging for. I know you. When you’re upset you want space, so don’t act like I didn’t try and talk to you before now. You changed the passwords to be petty, not because of anything else. So don’t talk to me like I just dumped you and then left you. It’s been less than a fucking day since I sent you that text and if you weren’t being so fucking stubborn you would’ve read that I wanted to talk to you about it!!” Jimin argues, sitting on the floor below the younger with his hands on his soulmate’s thighs to keep himself grounded.
“…Why? Just why? I thought this was working and that after all this time that we had something unbreakable, but here you are sitting in my bedroom where it all started getting ready to tell me it’s over to my face.” Taehyung whispers, his larger hands tracing patterns on his boyfriend’s soft hands like he’s never going to be able to touch him this intimately again.
“I don’t want to end anything, but there is someone who is in my life that I might want to pursue. I didn’t want to wait until something did happen between me and this person for you to find out.” Jimin softly responds, hands tightening against the soft muscles of his lover’s legs.
“Who is it?” The younger sighs.
“Jeon Jungkook.”
“Your roommate that I’ve never met?” Taehyung asks with a perked brow, waiting for the answer to the rhetorical question. He’s been asking to meet his boyfriend’s roommate for the past three months when the elder started mentioning the mystery male who shared a space with his lover a bit more frequently than usual. He was always brushed off; there was always a reason not to.
“Yes, Tae that’s him.” Jimin lowers his eyes to the carpet.
There’s a silence that settles over the couple. The heat has simmered, but the emotion is still thrumming in the space between them. “What makes him so special? What makes him worth breaking us up? We already have discussed having this relationship where we belong to each other, but we can date whoever else we want. I didn’t leave you when I was dating Alissa for those three months, our relationship didn’t change not even a bit so why is HE the breaking point?”
“Because he might not be okay with this or with ‘us’ being together at the same time that I want to be with him. I know the whole polyamorous relationship doesn’t bother you, but not everyone is open to that, and you know that, Tae. I don’t want to lose you, baby, but I also don’t know how I’d feel if I pass this opportunity up.” Jimin confesses, sitting up on his knees.
“Then where does that leave me?” The younger asks, looking down at his boyfriend. Their eyes meet and Taehyung finds himself getting lost in the other’s swirling brown eyes. His entire world is encapsulated by those beautiful eyes, losing Jimin would be like losing his universe. “I don’t want to give this up. I don’t want to give you up. I can’t Jimin.”
Jimin straightens up and brushes hair from the younger’s face. “I don’t either, so how about we forget about all of this and go have dinner? I didn’t mean to hurt you with my text. I just didn’t want to hurt you later down the line, but if there ever is a time where Jungkook and I step into that territory…” Jimin trails off, before looking directly into his boyfriend’s eyes. With a shrug he continues, “Well he’ll just have to understand I have a boyfriend that I love and will always have a place in my heart.” He smiles sweetly, thumbs brushing the apples of Taehyung’s cheeks.
“What if he doesn’t accept that?” The sulking male asks, running a hand through the elder’s blonde hair.
“Then it’s just me and you, Pooh Bear.” Jimin smiles, pressing a soft kiss on the other’s lips. “Now let’s go eat before one of your moms drag us down the stairs by our hair.” He pokes with another light kiss.
“Okay, yeah let's go.” Taehyung smiles helping Jimin stand to his feet before kissing him long and hard, sucking on the full lips of his shorter lover. They pull away with matching smiles, their spat over just like that. Their tempers tampered just as quickly as it spiked, because sometimes they ventured too close to the sun and their only option was to burn. Nonetheless, the storm is finally over.
Soon the two are heading down the stairs to the anxiously waiting family for dinner. “Hey, what did you change the passwords to?” Jimin asks just before they pass the dining room’s threshold.
“Suck my dick.” Taehyung laughs, rushing to the table before Jimin can get a good grip on his arm. “What? It’s genius!”