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"Are you sure, Taehyung?" Jungkook questions.
"Obviously," Taehyung replies, eyes scrunched up in concentration as he grips the pen, carefully writing his details on the piece of paper pinned on the notice board.
"Suuuuure?" Jungkook says.
"Yeah," Taehyung rolls his eyes, clicking the pen and putting it back in its holder.
"Very sure?" Jungkook says.
"For Christ's sake, yes!" Taehyung says, louder this time.
"I really don't know about this," Jungkook says, "But that's your business,"
Taehyung doesn't say anything; he isn't even listening anymore. He stares, at Jimin, a junior of their school, and of the same age as Taehyung.
Jungkook sighs, escaping from a long rant about how perfect Jimin was by excusing himself. "I'm gonna go find Suji,"
"Yeah, have fun with your sister," Taehyung mumbles, eyes never leaving Jimin.
As Jimin turns round a corner, Taehyung could've sworn he glanced at him for a split second before the stupid wall obstructed his view. He snaps out of his daze, and hurries to his class, which just happened to be Economics. Great.
Taehyung speeds towards the third floor of the classroom block, brushing by the other students and muttering apologies as he looks at the time through the clock on his phone. Two more minutes. His teacher, Mr. Kim, was a stickler for time and he certainly didn't want to get detention today. So he broke into a run, dashing right past the doors of his classroom just before Mr Kim walked down the corridors, into the room.
Huffing as he collapsed onto the seat of his desk, Taehyung dropped his bag beside his table.
"What's got you worked up so early?" Sungjae, his deskmate, asked, just as Mr Kim strolled in.
"I signed up for a club," Taehyung says nonchalantly after they greeted Mr Kim. Their school allowed switches at the beginning of every semester, and that was what Taehyung was doing. He was going to chase the heart of his love!
"What? What club?" Sungjae asked curiously.
"Gymnastics," Taehyung replies.
And then they launch into a conversation about how Taehyung would give anything to talk to Jimin. Well, maybe more of a one-sided conversation.
-
A week later, Taehyung is staring at Jimin, who rocks back and forth on his toes as the club members introduce themselves to the two new members.
"Hi! I'm Park Jimin!" Taehyung almost swoons at the eye-smile he is punched in the gut with.
And then he introduces himself. "I'm Kim Taehyung!" He chirps just as enthusiastically, and suddenly all the other people in the hall fade away, for Jimin is looking at him. Taehyung thinks he can die happily now.
"Hello? Anyone home? Earth to Taehyung?" Someone waves a hand before Taehyung's blank eyes.
Taehyung snaps back into the real world, and when he does, he is left breathless. Park fucking Jimin is about half a ruler away from his face, and damn if Taehyung doesn't spontaneously combust this instant.
"Your face is red," Jimin says, leaning even closer. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Y-Yes!" Taehyung squeaks unnaturally high, scrambling away from Jimin. His heart can't take anymore.
"Okay..." Jimin eyes him skeptically. "C'mon, we gotta go warm up already,"
Taehyung follows Jimin meekly, suddenly intimidated by all the gym mats, parallel bars and vault rings.
"So...can you do splits?" Jimin says. "It's okay if you can't, I just need to know where you stand right now,"
"Uh, I can try?" Taehyung says hesitantly.
"Here, like this," Jimin says, and then he's sliding, spreading his legs one in front and one behind him.
In less than five seconds Jimin is splitting himself into half, and Taehyung watches in horror as Jimin supports himself with two hands on either sides. It's really hot, and Taehyung swears the entire room has become ten degrees hotter.
"Do you wanna try?" Jimin prompts, head tilted up to gaze at Taehyung, who has trouble looking Jimin directly in the eyes because he thinks he might get a boner if he did.
"Sure! I think I got this," Taehyung doesn't pay attention to what he's saying, but then Jimin is staring at him expectantly, and oh-shit, is he supposed to be able to do that too?
He lets his legs slip out from under his body, and fuck-is it just him or does it hurt like hell? The searing pain shoots up his thighs and he persists, not wanting to disappoint his big-time crush. But no matter what, Taehyung is stuck in this position, and his fingertips can't even touch the floor from where he is.
He hears giggling from beside him, and Taehyung would be pissed, seriously, if there was such a thing as getting pissed at the cutest boy in the entire big ass world. Jimin laughs with his entire body, Taehyung realises, and damn he's screwed cause he's staring at this beautiful boy who's clutching his shaking body from wracks of giggles. He is mildly offended, though, and pouts.
"Aw, c'mon cutie, it must hurt a lot," Jimin breathes when he's almost done laughing and helps Taehyung up.
Taehyung freezes. Did he just hear that right? Did Park Jimin just call him cute? Park Jimin, the one who Kim Taehyung has a crush on for about two years already?
His body is slack from the realisation, and he allows Jimin to pull him up. Holy fuck Jimin is touching him.
"We'll get you properly warmed up, okay? And then we can slowly work on the splits, bit by bit," Jimin says gently, gesturing for Taehyung to imitate him.
They start with upper body exercises, rolling their shoulders, neck, arms. Then Jimin teaches Taehyung how to properly stretch his muscles so he wouldn't pull them by accident. Taehyung watches as Jimin enthusiastically explains each exercise, and he looks positively radiant in his own element, talking about the things he loves.
Then comes the worst part. Jimin sits himself on the floor, and hugs his legs, every part of his chest and upper body in contact with his thighs. Taehyung tries to follow suit, but his eyes sting with tears as the feeling he can only describe as bitterness settle in his muscles and he isn't even halfway to his feet.
"You okay?" Jimin asks frantically once he sees Taehyung biting his lip so hard it turns white while trying to go down further. "Stop, stop, don't force yourself,"
"I'm sorry..." Taehyung says when they're sitting on the floor, taking a breather before going home. He feels as if he has let Jimin down.
"What're you sorry for? Everybody starts out like that, hell, even I did!" Jimin comforts, gathering Taehyung in his arms. "It's okay, as long as you've tried your best, You'll get there eventually. Everyone has to start somewhere,"
Taehyung burrows himself into Jimin's warmth, tears already gathering in his throat as he chokes out his thanks.
-
As Taehyung ambles home, he thinks of the things he likes about Jimin. He really admires the grit and passion the other has in him, how his eyes sparkle when he talks about gymnastics, the smiles he has offered Taehyung. Maybe watching from a distance is really the best. Jimin doesn't need a lost star like him.
-
The next day, Jungkook and Suji crowd him about his first day at the gymnastics club. Taehyung gives them a little smile, one of the ones without teeth, and changes the subject to whether they knew that chuseok was coming soon and how they were going to spend it.
The siblings exchanged glances. Jungkook shook his head, silently telling his younger sister not to bring it up.
That day, Taehyung skips club day for the first time.
-
When he returns the following day, Taehyung is all smiles, and gives his all and tries his very best to work his way towards the goal he has set for himself. To see Jimin smile and laugh.
And he feels a wave of satisfaction at the end of the day when he does make progress, however small, and Jimin does a little dance, clapping his hands and laughing himself silly. He manages to inch his way to touch his toes with his fingertips, and although he lays in bed at night, massaging his aching thighs, it's all worth it when he recalls Jimin's smile at the back of his eyelids.
He practices at home everyday so that his body remains loose and doesn't stiffen up. If he doesn't, Taehyung hears Jimin's warning in his head, he'll lose all progress and they'll be back to square one.
-
It has become Taehyung's #officialgoal2k16 to make Jimin smile. Or laugh. Or anything related to being happy.
It totally makes his day to see that cute face and pair of lips emit sounds you hear in heaven, and Taehyung begins to fall in love with gymnastics as well.
Slowly, like an unfurling rose, Taehyung begins to see the charm in gymnastics, to have fun with all eyes on him, to test his own limits and break through, and now he knows exactly why Jimin loves it too.
-
One month in and Taehyung can do both side and centre splits without breaking a sweat and he preens when Jimin praises him, grinning.
-
That's all until one day, they bump into each other in the mall, and Taehyung is shopping with Suji to look for a present for Jungkook's looming birthday.
Suji was shivering, what with the weather transitioning from autumn to winter, and Taehyung had shrugged off his jacket instinctively, holding it up so Suji could slot her arms in the sleeves. Out of the corner of his eyes, Taehyung spotted Jimin, his short figure facing them and Jimin with an unreadable expression on his face.
With his outward personality, Taehyung waved at Jimin, grinning from ear to ear as he smacked Suji in the arm for raising her eyebrows suggestively. (Hey! How can a guy hit a girl?!)
Jimin smiled back, although the movement seemed strange and foreign to Taehyung, as if it was the first time he saw Jimin smile.
"Uh...I'll be going first, Ineedtohurrybackhometofeedmypuppy," Jimin hurriedly said, turning in his heel and briskly walking away before Taehyung had a chance to reply.
Taehyung and Suji share a glance, before shrugging simultaneously and continuing to present shop for a best friend and brother.
-
Fast forward to two days later, when the weekend is over and Taehyung returns to school, he spots Jimin walking alone towards the multifunction hall they use for club time. Hurriedly, he follows him, but just as he's about to call Jimin's name, Jimin spots him and backs away, running. That's weird.
Taehyung attempts to chase the shorter, but as soon as he does, he loses sight of the wild mop of raven hair. Oh well. He'll find him during club time tomorrow.
-
Club time came around, but Jimin didn't. And by now, Taehyung is pretty much convinced that something is up. Why is Jimin avoiding him? Ever since they bumped into each other at the shopping mall, Jimin had acted nothing but strange. He wondered why.
Well, it was not like he could do anything about it but wait. And wait he would.
-
A week later, Taehyung was stretching on his own, left leg propped on a bar as he leaned toward it, arm smoothing along his calf, gripping his ankle so he wouldn't lose balance. He was alone, had been ever since Jimin stopped coming. He heard from the senior members that Jimin hadn't been absent since he came down with a twisted ankle.
It was slowly becoming unbearable for Taehyung. Even though he talked to the rest of the people in the club, Taehyung had never felt so empty in his entire life. It was as if he had lost an important part of himself.
Eventually, Jimin came around, and Taehyung attempted to confront him about what had happened, but the most he could get out of him was denial.
After a while, Taehyung stopped chasing for reasons, but their relationship has already become a little estranged. None of them mentioned it, and they slowly digressed into acquaintances, only talking if need be. The only time they actually talked to each other was during club time, as they continued working on getting Taehyung to be more familiar with the basics and the ropes of gymnastics.
With the yearly inter-school sports competition drawing near, Taehyung was practically brewing a cauldron of excitement in his belly, even more fired up to do well. He wanted to see that smile he hadn't seen in ages.
While Taehyung wanted to give the competition a try, what he wanted more was to watch Jimin go against the other schools. He had heard rumours that Jimin was legendary but he had yet to see it. All they had done up till now was practicing and basics, and Taehyung didn't think Jimin had started seriously training just yet.
So that day, Taehyung eggs Jimin on, coming closer than he ever has before, practically throwing himself onto Jimin. He basically begs Jimin to show him some of what he's working on. And soo, the entire team is cheering as Jimin's brows furrow, both arms holding himself up on the still rings.
Taehyung stares, in awe, as Jimin lauches into a series of twosts and turns, leveraging himself with his arms. From where he is, Taehyung can see the strain on his biceps and triceps, and holy shit those muscles.
When Jimin lands in a fancy aerial dismount, everybody claps, and Taehyung is proud to say he was the one that clapped the loudest. Jimin stumbles a little towards him, hands massaging his arms.
He giggles when Taehyung fanboys over him, and a light flush comes over his face. That must be from exertion, Taehyung thinks, as he holds his breath when Jimin peeks up at him through his lashes.
-
The competition comes and goes for Taehyung, and he has to admit, it was an eye-opening experience for him. He didn't win, obviously, but Jimin did, and now Taehyung watches as Jimin's eyes sparkle with the medal looped round his neck.
When Taehyung had finished his event, Jungkook and Suji lunged at him, drapig themselves over him. Jungkook had admitted Taehyung was good, which meant he was awesome, Taehyung knew that much.
But now, now was the moment he'd been waiting for. Once Jimin started towards the trio, gaze hardening at the mess of bestfriends, Taehyung had freed himself from the grouphug to throw himself at Jimin instead. Jimin's eyes widened in surprise when Taehyung did that, but hugged back nevertheless.
It was, of course, with great reluctance that Taehyung pried himself off Jimin, and out of the heat of the moment, he leaned forward and pecked Jimin slightly on the lips.
And then he was off. Cheeks burning, he pulled Jungkook and Suji away before Jimin could even react. All that was left was a dumbstruck Jimin and people hooting around him.
-
It was, in Taehyung's grand opinion, the best idea whoever-who-thought-of-it had to put the inter-school sports competition on a friday. He was situated on his bed, lying face first on the mattress, head buried in his pillow. Jungkook and Suji had long gone, both shaking heads at their best friend.
Taehyung's mind, without conscious control, had been playing the kiss scene in his head over and over for the past hour since it had occured. It also edited the moe moe scene from maid-sama in the background. God Taehyung shouldn't have watched that anime. Or kissed Jimin.
And-oh, shit, what would happen to the both of them now? God, Jimin must hate him for publicly embarassing him now. And then he'll reject Taehyung in front of everybody, and then he'll never talk to Taehyung ever again and then they'll never be friends forever! Taehyung groans.
No, of course that won't happen. But it will, the other side of Taehyung's brain argues, and Taehyung groans even louder. His brain is having a war with itself. Great.
He rolls over, staring at the ceiling. Then he contemplates what he was going to do on Monday. "Hey, Jimin, I like you, can I be your boyfriend?" He will say, and- oh, he'll do the serenading thing that Jungkook does to girls to make them like him. Wait-no, even Jimin sings better than him , he'll be a joke. Gah, he doesn't know what he should do.
-
Time goes fast when you don't want it to, Taehyung realises, as he stands before the school campus, bag slung over one shoulder and hands shoved into his pocket. Sigh, Plan A it is.
As he walks through the corridor, and whenever he spots a familiar head with a mass of dark hair, Taehyung ducks into the nearest whatever-he-can-find. The girls' bathroom, the huge communal dustbin, the freshman classrooms, anything to avoid Park Jimin. Why was it so hard to avoid Jimin? He was literally everywhere. Thank gods he doesn't have club today.
-
"I have club today," Taehyung groans into Jungkook's shoulder, dropping his phone in the younger's hand so he could inspect it.
"You do," Jungkook says, and laughs mockingly. Suji joins in, and then they're both gloating at him. What awesome best friends Taehyung has.
-
It's awkward, Taehyung thinks, as he and Jimin face each other, doing stretches. They glance at each other every so often, but look away instantly like they've been electrocuted just by looking at the other.
Finally, Jimin breaks the unbearable, ice-cold silence by saying, "You did well that day," softly, not daring to look at Taehyung.
"Really?" Taehyung perked up immediately, eyes visibly brightening up. Jimin giggles, finally meeting his eyes.
"Yeah," he says. Then he rubs the back of his neck. "Look, Taehyung, about the-"
"Pleasedon'ttell meyou'regoingtostopbeingfriendswithmeI'msosorry!" Taehyung says, bowing his head, causing him to wince slightly because of the tension caused in his thighs as he was in a split position.
Expecting a cold sentence ending their friendship, Taehyung raised his head in surprise when he heard a giggle come from Jimin. That precious giggle he loved to hear so much.
Jimin cutely tilted his head. “I was going to say…I like you, Taehyung,” Jimin’s eyes become little crescents.
“Pinch me,” Taehyung says then, not believing this for one bit.
When Jimin does just that, and leans over to pinch Taehyung in the arm, Taehyung squeaks, and then, then he believes this is actually reality. His eyes widen, and he takes in Jimin smiling lightly and maybe, just maybe, Jimin is the most perfect human being in the entire universe.
Then Taehyung breaks into a huge grin, the boxy one, and then they’re two idiots alone in their own universe, smiling so widely their jaws hurt but still not giving a fig. “I like you too,” Taehyung says.
“I figured,” Jimin replies, inching closer as Taehyung holds his breath tight.
A light, experimental kiss is pressed to Taehyung’s mouth, and a sigh passes through his lips before Jimin pulls away, face dusted scarlet. Taehyung takes a glance around them, and realises with a start that everybody else has left them alone.
So he brings Jimin closer again with a fist in his hair and kisses him, properly this time. Jimin crawls into his lap, thighs hooked over his own, hands grasping the cloth at the back of Taehyung’s shirt. Their lips mould together and Taehyung tilts his head to get better access to Jimin, smiling into Jimin’s mouth.
-
“Why did you avoid me for those few weeks?” Taehyung brings up the topic he’s been wanting to ask for so long.
“…” Jimin doesn’t say anything, just buries his head into the books more.
They’re at the library in their school, cramming for their finals for the year together. Their hands are clasped together underneath the table, Taehyung using his left hand to write; Jimin using his right.
“Tell me!” Taehyung whines. “Please! I’ll do anything!”
The librarian shoots them a dirty look. “Please,” Taehyung switches tactics, mouth curling into a pout and enlarging his eyes in one of his best puppy faces.
Jimin furiously avoids looking at him, for fear of caving in. Because really, no one, and no one, can resist Taehyung when he’s like this. Not even Yoongi. But all hope is lost when Taehyung leans over to crash their lips together, a hand stabling Jimin at his waist and the other in the fabric of his hood.
Wait for it…wait for it…and there it is. Taehyung pulls back, lips slick and leaving Jimin breathless. He attempts to reign Taehyung back onto him, but of course, to no avail. Jimin sighs in defeat.
“Okay…” He trails off hesitantly. Taehyung cheers.
“I…wasjealousofyouandSuji!” He spits it out, the words tasting bitter on his tongue.
“You were what?” Taehyung teased, that stupid hotshot smirk on his lips.
Jimin meets his gaze head on and leans in. “I was jealous, of you and Suji,” He whispers to Taehyung’s lips. Then he conects them again.
-
A year later, Jimin and Taehyung graduate and go to the same university, leaving behind a legacy for the gymnastics club as the legendary couple.