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Yoongi wakes up to someone poking his cheek repeatedly.
As sunlight streaks through the blinds he’s painfully reminded of how he forgot to close them after finishing in the studio late last night, only managing to pull off his jeans before he collapsed into a pile on his bed.
He puts a hand up to block out the light, accidentally hitting whatever creature is still consistently poking him (regardless of his mumbles to leave him the fuck alone).
One of his eyes peel open as the poking becomes more forceful and frequent – while he's unable to really make out anything at all past the sleepy blurriness.
His vision adjusts a little more and he can sort of see a wide smile on the face of his intruder – knows it’s not his mom, and if it isn’t his mom then there’s only one other person who’d purposely wake Yoongi up after he’d been working all night.
Faded orange hair comes into view and Yoongi’s reminded that it’s the end of summer, basically – remembering the vibrancy of the colour two months ago.
Remembers the dye not coming off of his own hands for a week, and declaring that never ever again will he help him dye it.
(He’s already agreed to help him redo it before school starts.)
“Jimin…” Yoongi groans as he pulls open his other eye, blinking hard. Feels that ache in his joints that makes him want to roll onto his side and sleep for another six hours at least.
Maybe pull Jimin down with him, blame it later on his exhaustion.
Jimin smiles wider at him.
“Your mom let me in.” He explains though he didn’t need to – his mom is always happy to have Jimin around and always happy to have Yoongi awake before noon. Of course she did.
Though Yoongi’s certain it has to be way before noon right now.
“What do you want?” He asks, letting his eyes slip closed again before Jimin shakes his shoulders enthusiastically.
“We’re going to the beach today remember?” Jimin’s voice is full of raw happiness and if it was coming from anyone else, Yoongi would find it ridiculously draining this early in the morning (Hoseok and Taehyung being Exhibits A and B).
But from Jimin, it just makes him wish he woke him up earlier.
“I remember,” Yoongi lies (he can barely remember his own name right now) as he raises himself to his elbows so he can talk to Jimin like a normal person and not a sloth.
Definitely because of that and not because he just wants to look at him.
No makeup, sunglasses perched on the top of his head, big room-illuminating grin.
Absolutely wishes he woke up earlier.
“What time is it?” Yoongi tries to reach for his phone, carelessly thrown on his nightstand, but his hand misses it twice and he gives up, falling back into the pillows Jimin propped up for him to make sure he doesn’t fall asleep on him again.
The younger boy averts his gaze away from Yoongi, smiling something almost sheepish now, checking his own phone as if he’d somehow forgotten the time.
“9 AM,” He says in a volume close to a mutter.
“Nine?” Yoongi echoes, tiredness suddenly flooding through his body at the thought of being up (or at least, waking up) so early.
Jimin nods, bursting into a theatric of justification, hands drifting to Yoongi’s shoulders as if he has to keep him still so he can explain.
“It’s the last day of summer!” Jimin clarifies, a small pout on his lips, “We’ve got school in three days!”
Yoongi’s spirit sinks significantly at the fact that he has to go back to university knowing full well that he’s not even satisfied with the project he’d wasted his entire summer on trying to perfect.
He’s also tragically reminded that Jimin is only going into his senior year now.
Namjoon and Hoseok are starting their first year at university, he and Seokjin are doing their second.
But Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin are seniors.
Yoongi has a crush on a high schooler.
Then, he’s made aware that said high schooler is still talking. Still trying to justify even though Yoongi was completely sold with the idea as soon as he opened his eyes and saw Jimin smiling at him.
“If we don’t go down early we won’t get anywhere to sit.” Jimin whines, having finally let go of Yoongi’s shoulders, instead looping their fingers together and pulling his hand lightly to try and encourage him to get up.
Yoongi feels kind of dizzy from the warmth of Jimin’s hand – realises how pathetic that is and tries to focus on their one-sided argument.
“But, nine,” Is the only coherent sentence he can form, afraid that if he tries to say anything else it’ll either be indecipherable or a straight-up confession.
“How are we supposed to nap together when we’re crushed between a family of eight and an elderly couple?”
Yoongi pretends that it was the mention of a nap that was appealing in that sentence and not the promise of ‘we’ giving him a knot of butterflies in his stomach.
He decides that he’s only feeling like this (more so than usual) because he’s tired.
Delirious.
Jimin isn’t that special.
Then his bottom lip juts out slightly when Yoongi rolls his eyes at him (although he’s really more rolling his eyes at himself for being so lovesick) and he wants to apologise to the universe for dissing its greatest invention.
“We could nap here instead,” Yoongi says, only half joking, tugging on their still interlocked hands to try and coax the younger boy to go through with it.
Jimin tilts his head at him with a disapproving gaze and suddenly drops their hands.
“No beach, no naps.”
Yoongi dismisses that, this time actually rolling his eyes at Jimin and says “What, ever?” one hundred percent confident that it’s not at all what Jimin means.
“Ever.”
Yoongi has to stop himself from immediately jumping out of bed.
--
The air is heavy with heat, and Yoongi regrets wearing a long-sleeved shirt.
The sand burns his feet as he walks on it, watching Jungkook and Taehyung challenging each other to see who can stand it the longest.
Jungkook wins, and Taehyung bounds off of the sand with a yell, jumping onto Jungkook’s back who instantly runs with him to the shade of the parasol Seokjin’s trying to make stand up properly.
It finally stays up until Namjoon tries to adjust it so it covers his deck chair – to which it pathetically flops back down.
Jimin sits crossed-legged on a towel beside where Taehyung’s had the bright idea of using wet sand to secure the parasol, and he kicks Jungkook’s thigh in an ‘onward’ motion towards the shoreline, trying to get him to transport him there, red plastic bucket in hand.
Jimin grins at Yoongi when he sees him coming back with Hoseok, and he pats the empty space beside him on the towel.
It melts Yoongi’s heart a little that he saved him a spot.
Although, that could be the heat (it's not.)
He hears Hoseok chuckle slightly and he gives Yoongi a look that him, Namjoon and Seokjin are all notorious for.
The classic “your intense love for Jimin is showing” look.
Yoongi glares at Hoseok as he goes to sit down with Jimin but it gets completely swiped off of his face without a trace when Jimin touches his knee and says “What took you two so long?”
“Yoongi refused to wait in traffic so proceeded to take a ‘shortcut’ around half of the city.”
“Okay, but-,"
“The drinks are kinda warm now, sorry.”
Hoseok throws Jimin one, who catches it in his hands and proceeds to shuffle backwards into Yoongi’s lap, lean back onto his shoulder and snap it open.
Yoongi avoids Hoseok’s eyes and puts his arms around Jimin’s waist – just for support, in case he falls over or something.
And he might rest his chin on Jimin’s shoulder too – who’s counting?
Hoseok, maybe.
For the “How many times has Yoongi been obvious but hasn’t told Jimin how madly in love with him he is?” list.
Which he isn’t. It’s just a little crush.
A small, four-year long, crush. Or, four since he admitted it to himself.
Yoongi tried to get over Jimin at first – mainly because he knew they were an unrealistic pair. That he’d never actually get around to telling him how he felt (although he’s pretty sure if they did, he’d be perfect for him).
Hoseok and him even dated for a while when they first met before Hoseok told him he was so into Jimin that it was painful to watch.
They’re best friends, now.
Taehyung and Jungkook come back with wet sand and begin scooping it out and patting it around the parasol, Taehyung blowing on it to try and dry it until his face gets all red.
“Hey, guys?” Yoongi hesitates, briefly wondering if he should tell them or keep watching in amusement with Jimin.
He’s kind of worried Taehyung might pass out.
“You know there’s a stand for that, right?”
Taehyung and Jungkook both stop dead in their tracks and Taehyung looks to Yoongi with wide, slightly betrayed, eyes.
“Jin-hyung said that it got lost when you two moved in together.”
Yoongi feels Seokjin staring a hole into the side of his head.
“It’s in the storage closet. Where the parasol was...” He says, glancing at Seokjin questioningly.
He shrugs his shoulder, tracing a circle in the sand to avoid Taehyung and Jungkook’s identical squints. “I didn’t see it.”
“They were attached together.”
Seokjin doesn’t say anything for a beat, looking at Yoongi with an uncomfortable expression.
“I didn’t think we needed it.”
All of them fall comically silent.
“Why would we not need it?”
He sighs and clicks his tongue, diverting his attention away from Yoongi with a frown. “I thought we could just stick it in the sand and then we’d have room in the car for the first aid kit.”
“The first aid kit,” Yoongi repeats, trying not to laugh at Jin’s usual parental concern showing.
“We’re at the beach,” Jimin says redundantly. “The most we’re gonna need is a plaster.”
Namjoon screws up his face in thought before saying “I’m not sure there are plasters in it, actually,” resulting in Seokjin shooting around to him with a glare and pointing at Jungkook and Taehyung.
“Look, Taehyung and Jungkook are having fun trying to put it up – they’re bonding.”
Taehyung groans from where he’s embarrassingly red-faced and short of breath, sprawled out flat on the sand, partially shaded by the slowly tilting parasol.
Jungkook glances at him, gets up, and goes to sit with Namjoon, taking out one of his earphones and sticking it in his own ear.
“Fun,” Yoongi says.
“Bonding,” Jimin says.
Seokjin sighs again, “Well, you could go get it.”
Yoongi raises an eyebrow at him, lifting his chin off of Jimin’s shoulder in puzzlement, “Why don’t you get it?”
“As the eldest, it’s important I stay here.”
Yoongi’s about to argue before Jimin leans back and tilts his head to look up at him with a soft smile.
“Ah, come on, hyung – we can get ice-cream while we’re out.”
Jimin wriggles out of Yoongi’s arms and stands up, holding out a hand to help him up.
“You’re coming too?”
He gives him a condescending look before chuckling.
“Duh.”
Yoongi likes the answer.
--
The nearest ice-cream place from Yoongi and Seokjin’s apartment is actually a counter in a convenience store, but Jimin swears it just so happens to be the best in the area.
“What one are you gonna get, Yoongi-hyung?” Jimin leans up against the counter, watching Yoongi’s face distort in indecisiveness.
“I don’t know,” He replies plainly, scanning over the (surprisingly considerable amount of) flavours.
“I think I’m gonna get chocolate. It looks good.” Jimin presses a finger to the glass and he’s right, it does look good – and it just makes it even harder to decide.
“One chocolate coming up!” The server suddenly appears, with a sly looking smile and pretty brown hair that makes Yoongi look at him with an inch of dread.
He doesn’t even glance in his direction.
When he goes to get Jimin’s ice-cream, the younger makes a suggestive face at Yoongi and wiggles his eyebrows a little.
“Cute, right?” He mouths to him. Yoongi shrugs, internally thinking yes but...
“There you go,” The server hands Jimin his order and their hands brush a little to which Jimin beams at and thanks him.
“You’re very welcome,” He replies, “I'm-”
“I’ll take mint,” Yoongi half-slams a hand down over the location of the flavour, with a forced smile and hopefully a fire in his eyes that’ll get the message across.
“Alrighty then," he says, confusion half-flickering onto his face as he goes to make it.
“How much?” Jimin asks, flicking open his wallet with one hand, ice-cream held securely in the other.
“It’s on the house,” The guy says in a pretty, lighthearted tone and everything about this boy is just pretty and Yoongi despises it.
“Really?”
“Least I can do for someone so beautiful.”
Yoongi scoffs.
“Oh. That’s-“
“Not necessary,” Yoongi interrupts, digging into his own wallet and taking out a couple of loose notes. “You don’t need to do that – it’s my treat,” He loops an admittedly over-protective arm around Jimin’s waist, pulling him a little tighter to him and Jimin makes a sound of surprise, turns his head to look at him even though Yoongi’s locked eyes with the server.
“I-“
“Here,” Yoongi pushes the notes further along the counter, “Keep the change,” and gently guides Jimin out of the shop.
They open the car door and get in, Yoongi puts the key in the ignition as Jimin says “What was that about?”
Yoongi checks the reflection of the backseat in the rear-view mirror, sees the parasol stand sitting there safely and then sees Jimin’s eyebrow arched upwards out of the corner of his eye.
“What was what about?” He asks, attempting to sound distracted as he reverses carefully out of the tiny space he wedged their car into.
“In there...” Jimin supplies, sounding a lot less than convinced, “With that guy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yoongi mutters, “Eat your ice-cream before it melts, 'Min.”
The nickname usually gets Jimin – he’ll chuckle and drop whatever lead he’s pursuing, and maybe the fact that Jimin only gives a small giggle shows that Yoongi might do that a little too often.
“Were you jealous, hyung?” He teases, poking Yoongi’s cheek like he’d wakened him this morning.
Yoongi tries not to sound overly flustered, but it’s hard when Jimin’s smirking at him so damn knowingly like that.
“What? I-“
“Don’t worry! You don’t have to admit it” He laughs brightly, patting Yoongi’s thigh with an endearing grin and it’s sort of hard to tell if he’s kidding or not.
Yoongi scoffs regardless and bites into his ice-cream so he doesn’t have to reply.
He doesn't even like mint that much.
--
Yoongi gets the promised nap a few hours later when the sun’s set and all of them have fallen silent around a small fire pit that Seokjin could fit along with the first aid kit.
The sea’s waves are loud, loud enough that nobody else can really hear each other speaking clearly when they do unless they’re up close.
For example, Yoongi can hear Jimin perfectly from where he’s lying on his chest, mumbling about school and summer and all the homework he doesn’t want to have to do.
He runs silent for a minute before he speaks up again.
“It’s my last year at high school.”
Yoongi feels a spark of optimism in his gut at the reminder.
“It is.”
“Hopefully, I’ll meet someone this year.”
The optimism pathetically flickers out.
“Oh?” Yoongi mutters, trying not to sound annoyed but it’s not an easy emotion to hide when you’re half asleep.
“My friends keep teasing me about you...” Jimin continues, and Yoongi becomes a little more awake then, raises his head from where it’s leaning on his arm to look at Jimin with surprise.
“They think I like you. Which is…”
“Weird?” It’s one of those questions where Yoongi doesn’t want to know the answer, isn’t even sure why he asked – because he knows it’ll hurt a little if Jimin agrees (a lot, maybe). He supposes he does wants to know, but only if it’s the answer he wants to hear.
“It’s not weird.”
His stomach tightens with anticipation. If it’s not weird then it’s something, right?
“It’s just…” Jimin huffs out a short sigh. “Unrealistic, I guess.”
Unrealistic.
Yoongi can’t really be surprised, that’s what he called it too.
It stings a bit, anyhow.
“Is it?”
Yoongi finds himself asking a question he never even knew he had. Isn’t really sure where the hypothetical situation went because the conversation suddenly feels a lot heavier, a lot more real.
Unlike them who are unrealistic.
Yoongi wants to punch realism in the face.
“Isn’t it?” Jimin flips the question around, makes Yoongi’s insides feel like they’ve been flipped around and he supposes they’re back to square one, without an answer.
Usually, Yoongi might say something like ‘I suppose’ and they’d move on and talk about something more fun and less heartfelt because they don’t really do heartfelt – they do teasing and cuddles.
They're idealistic, maybe.
But Yoongi doesn’t drop it.
“Why?”
Jimin shifts slightly - nuzzles his face into Yoongi’s chest a little more as if he doesn’t want to see his reaction.
“Well, you’re twenty, and I’m in High School for one thing.”
That was one of Yoongi’s reasons, too.
“And it just doesn’t make sense. You’ve got so many options, like, why me, you know?”
That, though, that was never one of Yoongi’s reasons.
He’s got so many options but it’s still Jimin – always has been Jimin.
But why him?
Yoongi doesn’t really know, himself. It’s easy to list off the things he likes about Jimin, but he’s pretty sure that wouldn’t answer it.
He likes things about a lot of people.
He likes Taehyung’s smile and Seokjin’s really awful jokes (secretly.)
But they’re not Jimin. He doesn’t like them, not in the same way.
“Because you’re you,” is what Yoongi comes up with.
Jimin’s entire body tenses up against his.
“What?”
It takes Yoongi about three seconds to process exactly what he just said.
And the hypothetical situation completely burns away, if it hadn’t disappeared already.
“Shit, wait I mean-“
“Did…” Jimin’s voice is surprisingly steady – much, much steadier than Yoongi’s is or ever will be again, probably – “Did you just admit you like me?”
Were you jealous, hyung?
It’s not the same teasing voice he had earlier. This is a soft, and if Yoongi’s feeling hopeful, then, bright tone that makes his heart swell a little – well, a lot.
“I... no, I didn’t.”
Honestly, Yoongi knows it’s no use, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.
Especially considering how mortified he is right now.
Jimin sounds so calm.
“I think you did,” And then there is a slither of playfulness in his voice, and a radiant sparkle to his face when Yoongi finds the willpower to look at him again.
“I didn’t.”
“But you did.”
He did. Both of them heard it. Yoongi knows that but his pride can’t accept it.
Jimin’s staring straight at him.
Something inside Yoongi explodes.
“So what if I did?!” He says it so abruptly that he jerks slightly and Jimin pushes himself up onto his knees, completely slack-jawed like he wasn't expecting him to actually admit it.
“Yeah, okay, I like you – I’ve liked you since I was in High School and maybe I should’ve told you back then so it wasn’t kind of strange now but I couldn’t and I still can’t – or at least I thought so - and it was completely accidental that I did but I’ve said it now, god damn it and I’m sorry for not saying it earlier but I like you, Park Jimin!”
Jimin’s expression clouds over as his mouth forms a thin, confused line and all that leaves the non-existent space between his lips is “Oh.”
All the blood in Yoongi’s body flushes into his cheeks. He sits up so quickly that he feels unsteady for a moment.
Jimin’s eyes focus behind him, out at the sea, instead of on him.
“Sorry,” Yoongi mumbles shamefully. “God, I made it awkward, didn’t I?”
Understatement.
“Don’t feel weird about this, please, I l-“
He catches himself so abruptly that Jimin’s eyes flicker to him, quizzically.
One confession at a time.
Jimin shakes his head.
“No, no it’s not weird.”
Yoongi hums in agreement, feeling lost for words after all of the wrong ones he’s said tonight. They’re not weird. They decided that.
“It’s just a hassle, really.”
Yoongi feels like someone kicked him in the teeth.
That moment of disorientation where your head can’t really process anything except the question of what the hell just happened?
He plainly apologises, nearly reaches out to touch Jimin’s hand but thinks that might be awkward.
Then Jimin looks away from him again and sighs in frustration, “Now I have to tell my friends that they were right and I do like Min Yoongi. And not just that: I’m actually dating him now too – you see the bother you’ve caused me?”
“What.”
Jimin’s smile is incredible.
“I like you too.” He says directly, “Date me?”
It’s not the most romantic approach.
But neither is the strange noise that comes from Yoongi’s mouth.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” He giggles, and Yoongi’s heart is so light he’s worried it might straight up float away.
Jimin reaches out and puts a hand on Yoongi’s shoulder, gripping just enough to make him look at him and not want to look away for anything in the world.
“Yoongi-hyung,” He asks with an astoundingly cool tone to it.
A pause.
“Do you want to kiss me?”
He does, Yoongi definitely, definitely does.
Namjoon will tell them later that they heard every word. And Jungkook and Taehyung won’t stop mocking them with kissy faces.
But Jimin’s lips are warm and homely.
And Yoongi never wants to let him go.