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“...Tae,” Jimin says as he stares at his computer, an eerily calm expression on his face. There are colorful lights dancing in his eyes from the bright orange of the fire and the green of the grass on his screen. Of course Taehyung, currently in the kitchen trying to wrestle with a pot of rice, does not seem to hear him.
A reload icon pops up on Jimin’s window and he slams both of his hands down on the table, hard. “TAE!!!” he screams, his voice an octave lower than usual and much, much louder than anyone who knows him would have expected.
“WHAT?” Taehyung replies with an equal vigor from the kitchen.
“HE BOMBED ME!!”
“WHAT? WHO?”
“I died!” Jimin hisses, slowly rising from his chair. “I was so close--I…” he trails off, one hand going to cradle the back of his neck in mock pain. It’s not really false; he feels the pain alright--in his heart, that is. He can hear the other swear as he tries to hide a chuckle, loud footsteps approaching before Taehyung pushes him back down and settles his chin onto his shoulder. The two peer at the screen, one in despair and one in amusement.
On the computer, although partially shielded by the reload popup, is Jimin’s beautiful baby, his main character on the MMORPG that he and Taehyung had picked up a few months ago only to have it become their biggest devotion within a week of playing. The character lays on the grass, artificial red coloring the screen as a symbol of blood. The level on the side stares back mockingly at him. 99. Fuck his life, big time.
“Holy shit,” Taehyung says, but Jimin has no time for the growing laughter in his best friend’s voice. “Who was it?!” He reaches over the other and clicks a button on the keyboard to pull up the chat screen.
‘You have been bombed by SugaD3993!
You have been killed! Please reload to start over’
“What kind of name is SugaD?” Taehyung mumbles, and Jimin only whines.
“That’s not the problem! He killed me! What have I ever done to this person? All I do is take quests and grind, I never go character-hunting! This game sucks! Who reverts a person all the way to level one anyways? This was as bad as that one time you tried to get me to play Maplestory and I had to sit through like ten minutes of backstory except I actually poured my heart and soul into this one--” Jimin pauses to punch his friend in the arm.
Taehyung yelps. “I was listening!” he scowls, and the other scoffs at this.
“Of course you were.”
“Okay, you’re right, I wasn’t. But hey, I was thinking! Jiminie, are you angry right now?” Taehyung asks with a glint in his eye that Jimin is only all too familiar with.
“Y...es….” he says warily, not sure what the other is up to. His suspicion is confirmed when Taehyung leans in close to him whispers into his ear with a sinister tone in his voice.
“I propose… revenge.”
And Jimin turns slowly to face the other, his expression slowly darkening to match the mischevious smile that Taehyung is currently sporting. “I am going to bomb the shit out of this guy,” he says.
From far away, a small explosion can be heard (it’s Taehyung’s rice that he forgot about, they later learn).
--
“You’ve gone completely ballistic,” Taehyung tells him one day with a worried look in his eyes. Well, Jimin thinks it’s a worried look judging by the sound of his voice. He hasn’t taken his eyes off the screen for almost a day already, and if he does now he’s not sure he’ll get the ability to see again for a while.
“I’m completely fine,” he counters, and his best friend whines at his side.
“You are not fine!” Taehyung cries. “You haven’t left that seat in ages, Park Jimin! All you do every day is follow this guy on his maps and jot down notes about what skills he likes to use during battle. You even made me follow him for two days straight. You’re obsessed!”
“Look, Tae, I’m not obsessed, just angry. All I need to do is kill him and this whole fiasco will be done with.”
“That’s the problem, don’t you see? You can’t kill him!” Taehyung speaks the truth with this. No matter how hard Jimin tries, he probably will never be able to take down someone at level 148 with a level 71 thief and willpower alone. If Jimin’s right about his observations (which is that since he’s been gaming the whole past week, he’s only seen the other log off for a few hours a day, probably when the other goes to sleep), that would mean his opponent is also an avid gamer like he is. Meaning the chances of catching up to the other’s level is probably...nada.
“You don’t even like playing as a thief! You’re a warrior in and out! You probably couldn’t steal a pack of chips from my desk if you tried! You only chose a thief because they have that tracking skill--”
“That’s because you eat everything right when you buy it, okay?” Jimin hisses as he cuts his friend off, fingers not stopping for even a short break. “Look, Tae, trust me. My plan is almost complete. All I have to do is carry it out, and then everything will go back to the way it used to.”
Taehyung sighs in resignation. “I regret the proposal for revenge,” he says with a pout.
--
The real mission starts around a week later, after Jimin has finished planning meticulously by himself late at night about the exact way to piss off a very high level player without making his presence known. He’s alone in his mission, as Taehyung had to return home for the summer to his parents, where constant gaming was an almost impossible task.
Jimin works meticulously through the screen. By now, he knows that Suga (his full username’s a pain in the ass to say) is a fan of mainly three different bosses and a couple of mini-dungeons, one of which had been Jimin’s character’s death spot, apparently also the habitat for some monsters that gave rare drops. He still drops a flower on that exact same area every time he logs on, you know.
He waits until his skill announces that the other is disconnected from the game, before heading carefully to the dungeons where Suga likes to hunt (he’s lucky he’s a thief, because thieves, although weaker in the offensive stats, are gifted with a bunch of useful abilities in order to make up for their disadvantage. Their skill to hide from unsuspecting predators, for example, is a blessing in this situation where all the monsters are at least 60 levels above him).
The setup is weary and repetitive, with Jimin planting hidden mines around the resting spots that monsters cannot venture into. He plants five in every area, before teleporting back to the closest city and repeating his actions in other maps. And then, he waits.
Jimin waits until an unsuspecting Suga comes walking into the hunting grounds. It is uneventful for the first hour or so, and he almost finds himself falling asleep before a small exploding noise makes him snap his head up towards the computer, and he cheers.
Success!
The other player seems to be in a frenzy as it tries to walk in the opposite direction only to be met by another mine exploding in his face, and Jimin laughs as he watches the character fumble around the map, trying to dodge the mines and monsters alike.
They don’t do significant damage of course, looking at the barely noticeable hit to the other’s HP bar, but what Jimin’s sneak attacks lack in power they make up for in annoyance, and in the end Suga finally disappears from the map altogether, probably having to teleport away from the area to catch a breath.
Jimin smiles at his accomplishment, squeezing his hands into fists for victory. He stretches for a bit, making sure to roll his shoulders back and straighten his posture, before leaning in close to the screen in determination.
Jimin repeats his activity for three days with major success before one day, he sees Suga purposely set off the seven mines he had lain on top of each other, before finally clearing the space to stand on. Jimin clicks his tongue, thinking the other’s just given up on the mines and decided to just clear one spot for safety before he receives a PM from the other, and his eyes widen.
SugaD3993
dude, stop it
i know it’s you who keeps setting up those traps
i always see u
Oh. Dang. He’s been forgetting to hide himself on the maps in his excitement, hasn’t he?
SugaD3993
theyre not rlly harmful, but theyre annoying af
i killed u by accident, ok?
ChimmyChimChim
YOU SHOULD BE SORRY
I WAS LVL99
SugaD3993
thats not rlly high
ChimmyChimChim
FITE ME
I WAS GOING TO HAVE AN ANNIVERSARY
SugaD3993
…
ChimmyChimChim
I WAS GOING TO BUY A REAL CAKE AND STUFF
SugaD3993
...
ur a little too invested in this game
ChimmyChimChim
Oh yeah says mr level 151
I KNOW U WASTED JUST AS MANY HRS ON HERE AS ME
SugaD3993
ok dude calm down
im not trying to fight you
you wouldnt even win
ChimmyChimChim
IS THIS HOW YOU APOLOGIZE QAQ
Jimin proceeds to unleash an onslaught of the meanest words he can find to this person (well, he still makes sure they’re PG-13, just in case his enemy’s actually a kid or something) as he charges his character towards the other’s in-game, wildly clicking on any of his offensive skills. He starts laughing a little as he watches Suga try and maintain a distance away from him.
SugaD3993
wait
stop
bro
The character pauses as Jimin catches up, the bubble on the lower section of his chat screen indicating that the other is trying to type something to him.
SugaD3993
i could kill u u no
but i wont bc im actually sry
gfdi
Jimin is about to stop his characters movements and reply when all of a sudden his summoned throwing stars actually seem to land in the environment instead of disappearing. “What the--” he calls out in the emptiness of his room. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
The map is unmoving for a second, and then the computer darkens as the screen switches to a cut-scene of some deadly monster rising from the trees, its camouflage coming to an end. The name of it flashes across the top, a level 200 glaring right back at him.
“Uhh…” Jimin drifts off, and as his screen drifts back to the previous bird's eye view he sees that the other has already started loading a lot of spells onto his character. And that is not a good sign. He looks at the chat window and gulps.
SugaD3993
wtf
u triggered the fuckin boss
whatd u do
ChimmyChimChim
i didnt do anything i swear
omfg
He is unable to write anything else because the dragon monster thingy suddenly blows fire right into his thief’s face, and damn because all that’s left of Jimin’s previously almost full health is a small dot of red in the corner. He immediately begins to spam click his potions in panic. Jimin is hyperventilating at this point, because damn if that dragon did not look scary. The glowing 200 underneath it doesn’t make it look any less intimidating, either.
omg idw be lvl1 aagain’ he types quickly, and the other doesn’t seem to answer him for a while, until something finally shows up in the chat box.
SugaD3993
#
ChimmyChimChim
???
SugaD3993
phone
gimme #
ChimmyChimChim
??????
y
SugaD3993
u wanna die again
fine by me
ChimmyChimChim
fnqiupeatg
Jimin smashes his fingers into the keys, too busy avoiding the dragon’s rain of fire to reply back coherently. Surprisingly enough, Suga sends a wave of ice towards its tail during this time, causing the dragon to divert its attention momentarily. Jimin takes this time to quickly type in his number with shaking fingers, having to backspace a few times due to clumsy messups.
There is no follow up message indicating that the other has looked at it, or even received it. Suga seems to be too busy fending off the monster to be focusing on other things. A few seconds later, however, his phone rings loudly in the silence of the room, clashing with the low rumbles from his computer and causing Jimin to jump.
Jimin fumbles to maintain his getaway on the screen (the dragon’s just been spinning around the two of them, seeming like it wants to take out the weaker one first, and he’s really running out of potions here) as one hand goes quickly to swipe at his phone. He manages to turn the thing on speaker and squeaks out a hello.
“Chims?” a deep voice, somewhat sleepy and scratchy from lack of use fills his room, and hits Jimin straight in the spine, shooting up to his nerves and sending goosebumps to protrude from his skin. Well, damn, he could listen to that voice forever.
“Uh,” it calls again uncertainly, “is it not?”
“I--uh, yeah, that me,” Jimin’s voice comes out a little strangled from shock, until his character takes a particularly nasty hit dead on. “Shit fuck damn,” he curses under his breath as he uses up the rest of his potions, the measly 189 dwindling still into a 77. Red flag right there, he’s gonna die! Goodbye, world. Screw this game, he’s never coming back if he dies again.
“Dude,” the voice calls, clearing his throat a little. “You still have any potions?”
“Uh--” Jimin is slightly panicking at this point, because the successful hit seems to have changed the dragon’s focus towards him fully. “Barely--” he stutters into the phone.
“I’m out of mana. I can’t attack.”
“Hoooly shit, I have, hold on, it’s trying to kill me help I don’t have HP potions,” he musters out as quickly as possible.
“Uhm,” the other replies. “Ok, wait, I’ll drop some, and you drop some mana potions for me, okay?”
Suga is surprisingly calm even though they’re both on the brink of disaster from a dragon 60 levels above his and with barely one-fifth of its total HP gone. Maybe that’s because the dragon is trying to kill Jimin first, he supposes. He sees the mage’s character attempt a weak hit at the dragon. It doesn’t do any damage. Jimin is laughing, until the voice from the phone rings out again.
“Stop fucking laughing at me, or I’ll just let you die, you ass.”
“You have no mana, you’ll die too,” Jimin counters, but his potion count hits zero right at this point and he almost wants to cry. “Okay, okay, I take it back, give me some potions please,” he whines. He’s really spent too much time on this game. His baby’s about to die again.
“Hey,” the man says soothingly (Jimin doesn’t know what tone the other had meant, but it definitely calms him down, whether intentionally or not), “calm down and I’ll head over to your side. Or, you go to the right too. We’ll meet in the middle, and I’ll drop some potions for you.”
Listening to the other, turns out to be a good choice. Really good, in fact, because Suga is a beast at strategizing. Jimin watches as the other proceeds to unleash a series of attacks upon the monster, letting out a few breathless “Wow”s as he watches the other set continuous spells around the perimeter of the dragon. He even finds himself lifting his hands off the keyboard at one point to applaud the other as the character unleashes a particularly cool looking ice spell upon the dragon.
From the other end of the call, the person seems to have heard Jimin’s amazement because he lets out soft chuckles every time he hears the boy whimper or squeal. Overall, the atmosphere in the room is comforting, despite the fact that Jimin has no idea who he’s currently talking to and that his fingers feel like they’re moving at the speed of light. In fact, it’s probably much more relaxing than if he was playing with, say, Taehyung, because Jimin’s sure the other would be on a screaming rampage by now as he slams the buttons on his keyboard. Taehyung’s more of the button-smash-yolo-player, after all.
Suga’s even managed to find a way to put Jimin’s measly level 75 to use. The hidden mine skill he had mastered for the sole purpose of pissing the heck out of the other is instead used to keep the dragon from moving too wildly in the map. Although Jimin’s probably not much help on the offense, Suga’s constant directions make him feel just as important.
So this is what it takes to become a level 150, huh. Jimin doesn’t have the gaming sense for this shit.
--
When the dragon finally dies, Jimin can feel all his muscles loosening at once as he allows himself to collapse back into his seat, sighing in relief. “Oh finally.”
He hears the other letting out a soft chuckle from the other end of the line. “Are you always this noisy when you game?” the man asks, and Jimin feels his face flushing in embarrassment.
“I-it was a reflexive action, okay?” he says, and the other hums in response.
“I think it’s cute,” the other muses with the same slow drawl in his voice that Jimin has become accustomed to. He clears his throat softly.
“I’m actually 95 kilograms and 193 centimeters tall, sorry to disappoint,” he replies as he tries to lower his pitch so that it comes out deep. The following laughter from the other end confirms that his lie has not been believed, but Jimin can’t really care at this point. He lets a smile slip onto his face as he hears the other’s laughter, loud and carefree as compared to the soft, lazy tone of his speaking voice.
Jimin’s not going to lie, he feels slightly accomplished at this.
“Is that so?” the other says, the mirth still in his tone. “Just my type, aren’t you?” And Jimin giggles back, allowing the blush to return to his face and his heartbeat to quicken. Never mind that the guy trying to flirt with him through the phone could be 50 years old and a serial killer--he’s just going to let himself believe that the person with the hottest voice on Earth also has the looks and age to match it. Yeah, that’s right, world, Taehyung, Jimin’s talking to the hottest guy on Earth right now. Heck, he probably looks just like...just like...T.O.P. Yeah.
“Hey,” the other calls softly, and Jimin jumps a little from having been brought back from his fantasies.
“O-Oh, yeah?” he says quickly, still a little breathless from the scare.
“This might be kind of weird, since I might never see you again, and you’re kind of too low a level to play on the same league as me--” Jimin scowls in response at this--”but I’m Yoongi. Nice playing with you.”
There’s a small silence that follows, and apparently it was long enough to have been perceived as awkward because the other--Yoongi--clears his throat. His tone comes out a little nervous when he speaks next. “You don’t have to tell me yours, I just wanted to--”
“Jimin,” Jimin finds himself replying softly. The other makes a confused sound, not having heard in the midst of his rambles, and Jimin repeats his name again with a little more confidence. There is a small silence as they both take in the shift of tone in the conversation, and when Yoongi speaks again, Jimin can hear the smile in his voice.
“It was nice meeting you, Jimin-ssi.”
--
“I got it, Tae, I’m coming back right now, just let me grab a drink first,” Jimin says as he walks into the store, the bell chiming softly to signal his arrival. It’s been a long week, with
“Wha-- no, I can’t buy you anything! Don’t you know I’m broke right now? I can barely buy myself five hours of energy,” he says, sighing into his phone. Taehyung really needs to go buy his own food someday. He listens as his friend continues to ramble on the other line.
“...I’m not playing that game anymore. I hate thieves,” Jimin says, shifting on his feet as he arrives at the counter. He says a quick goodbye before hanging up the phone and and lifting his eyes to look at the menu. The person working behind the table has his back turned, preoccupied with fiddling with the stuff in the counters, and he lets his eyes roam across the desserts display as he waits for the other to turn around.
The sweets displayed are nothing short of tempting, and Jimin gasps a little in awe as he takes in the designs and swirls of chocolate decorating the slices of cake each in a different design.
“Wow,” he breathes with a dreamy look on his face, before he has to snap his eyes closed and shake his head a little to clear his mind. Ever since that one unhealthy gaming streak he had around a month back, Jimin has been trying to get his diet together again and shape up before the next year comes around. That, sadly, puts extremely sugary goodness like cakes and other unnecessary sugars on his no-no list. Sigh.
Jimin straightens his back with a pout and promptly freezes when he sees the barista looking back at him with a confused quirk of the eyebrows. It doesn’t help that said main looks like the next cutest thing to the first time Jimin met a young Jeon Jungkook outside of his doorstep, still shy and innocent, and polite enough not to pat him on the head and throw him to the ground laughing (oh how he wishes that still was the case).
“U-um, I was just--” Jimin stutters, and he quickly clears his throat in an effort to regain his composure. “One iced coffee, please. No sugar and just a little milk. Uh, for Jimin. Thank you,” he says as he digs into his wallet for the appropriate amount of change. His hand comes up short one bill, and Jimin can feel the sweat starting to build on his forehead as he unzips the rest of his (very empty) wallet for any coins to save his predicament.
There’s a plethora of coins, in fact, that don’t add up to what he needs. Shit shit shit shit. Jimin lets out a whimper of despair as he lets his grip go limp. He can almost envision the man getting ready to run him out of the store.
“You really are as cute as you sound, huh,” the cashier says instead, and the signature lazy drawl that Jimin hasn’t forgotten from a month ago has him snapping his head up to look at the other, mouth slowly opening wide. The other chuckles at this, and then leans forward slightly with a soft smile on his face. “Didn’t think I’d ever see you again in the game, but real life isn’t so bad either, hmm?”
Jimin’s eyes flicker to the other’s nametag. Yoongi, it reads.
Holy shit.
As he starts to splutter for a response that won’t make him look like an idiot (which is now impossible considering the fish expression that dons his face), Yoongi lets out a another happy laugh. It sounds even better in person.
“Tell you what,” he starts, eyes shifting to his phone as he checks the time. “Since I get off my shift in around seven minutes, how about we make a deal?”
“Y-yeah?” Jimin manages to say, his voice squeaking a little, and Yoongi’s smile goes from teasing to fond in a split second.
“I’ll make you your coffee free of charge--” his eyes flicker over to the pastries--”and add in that piece of cake you were eyeing too--on the house…” Jimin blinks, nodding slowly at the offer, “...and you give me an hour of your time. How’s that sound?”
Jimin thinks he doesn’t nod fast enough.
--