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“Welcome to JimJamsTries, where I try to play games for the entertainment of the Internet. I’m Jimin—”
“Baby Ji!” someone hoots.
Jimin ignores him. “And this is Dishonored.”
What the hell is Jungkook watching.
Jungkook recently started an official Let’s Play of this game himself what with the second one coming out soon, hardly the first time he’s played but definitely the first time he’s posted a video of it, and somewhere around his third episode he got that first, innocuous comment.
Hey, you should look up JimJamsTries! He just started a playthrough of this game and it’s hilarious
Which, yeah, okay, Jungkook gets comments like that all the time. He’s extremely popular, has been for a year or two, and gets plenty of recommendations and self-promotions. Sometimes he checks them out, sometimes they’re lost in a wave of other comments, but more often Jungkook just forgets.
The Internet will not let him forget.
He isn’t sure what happens, exactly, but suddenly there is a flood of comments yelling, requesting, demanding he check out JimJams. Usually when this happens, it’s a gamer that Jungkook is already aware of. He tries to keep an eye on who most of the popular Let’s Players are, the up-and-coming ones, too. Even if he hasn’t watched them, he knows their user. So usually when someone tells him to check someone out, he already knows enough to make a decision.
JimJamsTries has literally come out of nowhere and Jungkook doesn’t understand it but honestly, it’s getting annoying. He doesn’t even want to look this guy up. At first it was just on his Dishonored playthrough — Jungkook! Watch JimJamsTries please please please — but before long these comments bled over into his other videos. Even his vlogs. Even on his Twitter.
@GoldenSeagull have you checked out @JimTries yet??? i think you’d like him!!
Despite himself, Jungkook checks out the guy’s profile. He’s got a baby face, at least in his display picture, but he’s cute enough. Really cute, probably, in a better picture. His bio is simple (Stop trying to make Baby Ji happen @meforvictory, it’s never going to happen.) and all he seems to tweet about besides his channel is memes, retweets (mostly shit posts from @meforvictory, some of which Jungkook assumes are inside jokes), and the rare selfie. He doesn’t look annoying, nor does he even look like he has that many followers, on Twitter or on YouTube, which is surprising considering the sheer force of the commenters hassling Jungkook to check him out.
He types out a tweet before he can think about it too much.
@JimTries are you any good?
The answer, about an hour later, was interesting enough to make Jungkook reconsider.
@GoldenSeagull no.
No. N. O. Period.
So here he is.
Jimin hadn’t lied, though.
He’s not any good.
In fact, his entire schtick seems to be entirely based on how terrible he is. JimJams tries. He rarely succeeds.
It takes him a little over half an hour to get through what Jungkook managed to do in ten. There’s a lot more button smashing than Jungkook usually sees in Let’s Players (does this even count?) but the subscribers count is okay and honestly, Jungkook doesn’t really get it. But he still let’s the auto-play roll through when the episode is over, letting it be mostly background noise as he messes around on his phone.
And then, the first time Jimin dies in game, Jungkook gets it. He really, really does.
Because Jimin’s natural inclination at the face of adversity is to scream incoherently at the screen in a mad panic and slam his fingers on the controller. His entire face is twisted in distress, his eyes nearly closed and his cheeks scrunched up. And then.
And then.
Right when the Game Over screen pops up, Jimin’s body relaxes, his face relaxes, and he laughs.
Laughs.
Giggles even.
And Jungkook gets it.
“Ah, my hands are so sweaty,” he sighs, settling the controller down and presumably wiping his palms against his jeans, since his entire lower half is out of frame. He’s still laughing, his eyes crinkled up and his hand fluttering over his heart like he’s trying to make it calm down. “Taehyung-ah. How did I do?”
“Great, Jiminie,” someone sings from off-screen. It’s a guy, with a voice that’s deep and light at the same time. “A spectacular death. Worthy of a hero.”
Jimin snorts into the heel of his palm, fingers curling up in his shirt sleeve. “I tripped.”
“I feel like you should be better at stealth,” this Taehyung says, and Jungkook can hear the smile in his voice, “considering how much you avoid your problems.”
“Yeah, well,” Jimin says, taking a deep breath to compose himself. “My neighbor’s charming grandson isn’t trying to kill me. So it’s different anyway.”
“That could change.” Taehyung laughs. “You haven’t been on a date yet.”
Jimin shoots the other guy a look, or at least Jungkook assumes that the stink eye he’s giving is aimed at the other person.
“It’s only a matter of time, Jiminie. You’re young, cute, and single.”
Jungkook frowns at the screen, alone in his bedroom. “Isn’t this a Let’s Play?” he asks no one, quietly tapping his fingers against the mouse, about to click away.
“Isn’t this a Let’s Play, you ass?” Jimin says, swiping his hand. The smack makes it clear that he made contact and the noises Taehyung makes Jungkook think it might have hit him right in the face. There’s a cut in the video, Taehyung screaming profanity and Jimin looking into the camera, trying to keep the smug look off of his face.
Jungkook watches another.
And another.
And when he doesn’t feel like watching Jimin fail trying to play Dishonored, Jungkook clicks on Jimin’s user, goes to his playlist, and clicks on the first one that catches his eye.
Which just so happens to be Outlast, because Jungkook is cruel and Jimin seems like the sort of person who would scream through the whole thing and for some reason, Jungkook thinks that might be worth watching.
And it is. Jungkook is very happy with his decision.
There’s a montage of all of the times Jimin screams in the episode at the very beginning, masterfully and lovingly edited together, ending on an unsuspecting Jimin in the middle of a one-liner before something jumps out to kill him and he hits an extremely impressive high note. Jungkook eyes the glass of water by his computer, half expecting it to crack.
Jungkook can’t wait.
Surprisingly, it’s not the clusterfuck of failure that Jungkook appreciates the most.
It’s the hand cam.
Taehyung’s hand cam.
When Jungkook clicks on the first episode, there’s a tiny square of Jimin’s face like normal in one corner, and in the opposite corner is a slightly shakier video of Jimin’s profile, even though in the first one it’s obvious that Jimin is not happy with this arrangement.
He’s pouting, his lower lip jutting out. His eyes are focused as he fixes the game settings. “This is a stupid idea.”
“Jiminie, buddy, this entire channel is a stupid idea. This is a stupid idea to complement a stupid idea.”
“This is true.” Jimin spares a look into the hand cam out of the corner of his eye before doing his introduction. “Welcome to JimJamsTries, where I try to play games for the entertainment of the Internet.”
“This is TaeTae and Baby Ji!” Taehyung whoops. The camera shakes as Taehyung simulates a crowd cheering.
Jungkook has no idea what Taehyung looks like, but in his mind he’s picturing a friendly frat boy with his hat on backwards.
Jimin does not look phased. “This is Jimin and the dumbass.”
The Dumbass snorts. “Your fans are thanking me right now, Jimin. Now I can zoom in on your collar bone mole.”
Collar bone mole.
Jesus Christ.
Jungkook isn’t sure when he became very interested in Jimin’s collar bone mole, he isn’t even sure when he became a fan, but Jungkook is thanking Taehyung, and he’s pretty sure that means something.
“Jesus Christ,” Jimin mutters, but Jungkook thinks they might mean it in different ways, because Jimin looks significantly less excited than Jungkook feels. “They only love me for my body.”
The camera does a slow pan down, and Jungkook gets his first glance at Jimin’s lower half, clad in nondescript sweatpants. Laughing, Jimin lowers a hand down and pulls up the leg of his pants suggestively. He is wearing Christmas socks. The date the video was posted is in the mid-June range.
Jungkook’s stomach feels funny.
“My eyes are up here,” he says coyly, but when the camera pans up again, the look on Jimin’s face is more constipated than seductive, the corners of his mouth twitching as he tries not to laugh. “And with that, on to Outlast. I’m ready for death.”
One more cut of Jimin screaming, and then it’s the opening scene of the game.
It’s two in the morning.
Jungkook isn’t stopping until Taehyung reveals the collar bone mole.
He finally sees the collar bone mole in episode three. The neck of the baggy sweater Jimin is wearing dips down and Taehyung pounces with the camera, surging into Jimin’s personal space and ignoring the indignant squawks as Taehyung’s forceful cinematography causes Jimin to die viciously because he couldn’t get the locker open to hide.
The mole is worth staying up for.
Jungkook keeps watching.
Every episode starts with a montage of death and screaming, and Jungkook laughs so hard that he cries, probably because it’s much later than two in the morning now. It’s his favorite part, other than the hand cam that gets close ups of the faces Jimin pulls.
So he’s confused when the format gets mixed up and dramatic music starts blaring from his speakers.
Jungkook is honestly a little too tired to catch the words as they pass by on the screen, but he does see something about charity, and say goodbye to old Jimin, and Jungkook get a little nervous because it’s too late (early?) for the internet to be playing these sorts of games. There’s a slow motion clip of Jimin laughing into the camera, and Jungkook’s heart kind of hurts a little because it’s definitely too late for this, and then the screen goes black.
Jimin is blonde.
That’s all the Jungkook can compute when the music stops and Jimin’s face is plastered on his screen again.
Jimin is blonde.
He’s cute.
He’s really, really cute.
Jungkook knows that Jimin isn’t blonde now. The Dishonored playthrough is his most recent, and his hair is definitely black, but at some point, Jimin’s hair was blonde, a nice warm blonde that made him look extra soft, and Jungkook doesn’t know what to do with this information other than file it away to scream about later.
Blonde.
Wow.
Jungkook needs to go to bed.
One more.
Between the hours of three and six, Jungkook learns that Jimin is a dancer, has graduated college recently, is surprisingly great at rhythm games (a surprise to everyone except Jimin, who was clicking away with a smug expression), has the smallest hands that Jungkook has ever seen, and that the look on Jimin’s face when he finishes a puzzle makes Jungkook feel like everything is good in the world.
Jungkook falls easily, asleep and otherwise.
Jungkook talks about Jimin on his channel.
He doesn’t mean to, but Jimin took an entire episode to get through what he did in the first ten minutes of his, and he starts laughing and he can’t stop. He has to leave and grab a glass of water and then come back and catch his breath. He’s sleep deprived and smiling, almost melting in his chair.
“Okay, sorry guys. I just.” He snickers into the sleeve of his shirt and the runs a hand down his face, half groaning. “Some of you all have been doing the Internet equivalent of pounding on my door trying to me to watch JimJamsTries and…” Jungkook hesitates, just a moment. “I’ll put his link in the description. I stayed up way too late watching his videos, but they’re really funny. Check him out.”
The deed is done.
He hopes Jimin is ready for a sudden increase in viewership. “Be nice to him,” Jungkook adds in, staring at the game on his screen pointedly. Later, when he’s editing, he sees the bright red flush settling over his cheeks and trickling down his neck, and he wants to cut it out but, “Jimin seems really nice, so try not to freak him out.”
Jungkook covers his eyes when he hits upload. It feels an awful lot like he’s admitting to something.
A few days later, when Jungkook is checking through his subscriptions, there’s a new video from JimJamsTries, unscheduled and unexpected.
A Heartfelt Thank You from a Sleepy JimJams
It was probably recorded early this morning, because Jimin looks like he’s barely awake. His face is a little puffy, bare, and his lips are pouting just a little while he takes the deep breath to start talking. He’s wearing an old zip up, the hood pulled up and placed delicately on his head to hide his bedhead, his collar bone mole displayed nicely by the white tank top he’s wearing underneath.
Jungkook wants to hug him. Maybe even cuddle.
Just a little bit.
Jimin is filming from his bedroom, a brand new angle, his bed carefully made and the clutter that Jungkook assumes was on the floor pushed aside to give the semblance of cleanliness. It’s still oddly informal, compared to the darkened room where Jimin usually shoots his videos. The lights are on and Jimin is directly facing the camera and it feels more personal.
“Hello, everyone!” Jimin smiles, sleepy and soft, but his eyes still almost shut because his cheeks are so big. “Welcome to JimJamsTries. This is Jimin.” He holds his hands up and twinkles his fingers. “A lot of you are meeting me for the first time.”
Oh.
“I woke up a couple days ago with another thousand subscribers? Which is?” Jimin blinks rapidly, trying to think of a word. “It’s incredible. This is incredible. I don’t know what to do with myself.” He hides his face with his hands cutely, rubbing his eyes. “And now there are more. I’m so.” The noise he makes is slightly strangled and Jungkook laughs. “I’m really thankful. So I’m thanking you. Ah.” He laughs. “This is a mess. Taehyung usually edits but he’s out of town. But I’m doing my best.”
His hands are clasped in his lap, fingers fluttering. “This won’t be long—I’ll spare all of you having to put up with my bedhead for that long.” Which is silly because Jungkook kind of finds Jimin’s bedhead really endearing. “But I really just wanted to say thank you to everyone who subscribed, and also to Jungkook.”
When he hears his name, Jungkook freezes a little in his chair, a deer caught in the headlights.
On the screen, a little box pops up, a link to Jungkook’s channel with a picture of Jungkook’s face in it, and Jimin points to it with his baby hands, and Jungkook is beaming. “Thanks, Jungkook, for the promo! I’m sorry you had to put up with my bad gaming.” Jimin smiles. “Please get more sleep.”
Jungkook doesn’t know if he’ll ever sleep again with the way Jimin’s smile is plastered on the insides of his eyelids.
Jungkook is popular, but he doesn’t have enough subscribers to catapult Jimin into Internet fame the way he wants to, although he does give Jimin a head start.
He’s an avid watcher now, knows Jimin’s posting schedule like the back of his hand, and proudly watches as the average number of views climbs steadily upwards. He watches Jimin settle into himself on camera, watches the banter between Jimin and Taehyung, watches the way Taehyung tries to auction Jimin off to the highest bidder every time he gets the chance.
“I can’t believe my Jiminie is such a catch,” he’ll say, cloyingly sweet, as he sidesteps into frame and pulls on Jimin’s cheeks cutely from behind. “Someone needs to snatch him right up. He’s cute and hot and he always tips the waiter really well.”
Jimin will swat Taehyung away and try to continue on as he has been, and Jungkook is left to stare at the blush on Jimin’s cheeks until it slowly fades away.
Jungkook doesn’t have to admit anything to anyone, not even himself.
He already knows.
The Internet is a magical place, but nothing is quite so funny or strange as the real world.
Jungkook is on his way out of college, about half a semester to go before he has to face the real world, and coffee is the only thing that keeps him going. He doesn’t even like it that much, and Yoongi always makes fun of him for putting so much creamer in it, but if it keeps him going then Jungkook doesn’t think he deserves the mockery. He’s just in it for the caffeine.
His schedule today is weird. One of his classes was cancelled and the lunch meetup he has planned with Namjoon instead ended a little early and now Jungkook is slightly stranded before his bus comes and he’s too lazy to walk and he really wants coffee so he wanders until he finds a cafe that looks vaguely welcoming.
It’s warm, both in temperature and feeling, all creams and browns and some brick reds and soft lighting. The prices on the menu don’t look too expensive, and Jungkook just got paid and can splurge without guilt.
What a beautiful day.
There’s a little bit of a line, not too long, but a few people. The man in front of Jungkook is small, broad and sturdy but short, a good few inches shorter than Jungkook. His hoodie is unzipped, slipping off of one shoulder, and Jungkook must have a radar because the first thing he notices, after the fact that the man is shorter than him, is the stupid mole of the back of his neck.
Well.
It’s a cute mole.
Jungkook is a neck mole guy now. It’s a thing.
The man has his hands stuffed in his pockets, his shoulders drooping slightly, head tilted a little to one side, and Jungkook figures the expression on the other man’s face is probably not a happy one.
It’s not until they get to the front of the line and the man in front of him orders “one large drip coffee, please,” that Jungkook realizes exactly how strange his day is going to be.
“For Jimin,” the man says when the cashier asks who the order is for, handing over his debit card, and Jungkook can’t process anything except for neck mole and Jimin and what the fuck?
“—ir? Sir?”
He blinks.
Jimin has gone off to the side to wait for his coffee and then meandered off to sit down, alone, pouting for one reason or another, but the important thing is that he’s right there.
Actually, the important thing is that the cashier is now asking for his order, but importance is probably subjective.
Jungkook rattles something off, making sure it’s got lots of syrup and then, more important than his coffee order but less important than the fact that Jimin is right there: “And a brownie, too.”
He digs out his wallet and pays, leg jiggling nervously as he waits for his coffee, takes the plate with the brownie carefully when it’s place down on the counter for him, and stares at it for a moment, trying to decide whether he has the nerve to go over and give this to its intended recipient.
“This is a mistake,” he tells the barista firmly before turning abruptly on his heels and walking towards Jimin.
Jimin doesn’t look up from his furious texting until Jungkook puts the plate down on the table with a little more force than necessary. Jimin’s eyes go to the plate, then to Jungkook, and his eyes get comically wide. He’s surprised, clearly, and unprepared, which is fair, so it takes him a moment to properly react. “GoldenSeagull?”
Jungkook frowns. “No.” Which is kind of rude but Jungkook is doing this word by word so who can judge him? Baby steps.
“Ah—” Jimin pauses, collects himself, and then laughs. “Jungkook?”
“Better.” The tension leaves Jungkook’s shoulders and he smiles. He pushes the brownie towards Jimin. “May I sit?” But he’s already pulling a chair out because if he doesn’t keep moving forward he’s going to run straight out the door.
Jimin shifts, and Jungkook can see the mole on his collarbone in the real world, and all of the embarrassment Jungkook is about to put himself through is suddenly worth it. “Is this for me?” Jimin asks.
“You looked a little put out,” Jungkook says in lieu of replying.
For a moment, Jimin just looks at him, squinting, but then he smiles and it lights up his whole face. “I’m Jimin. It’s nice to officially meet you.”
“Hello, Jimin.” Jungkook’s leg is still jiggling beneath the table and he has to put a hand on his own knee to make it stop. “I’m a big fan,” he says with a smile, not as big and bright as Jimin’s but still a good one.
Jimin laughs. “When you tweeted at me that first time I didn’t reply for an hour because I was freaking out.” He taps his fingers on the lid of his coffee cup, and he’s smiling like he’s embarrassed, but his eyes don’t leave Jungkook’s face.
“I remember,” Jungkook says. “An hour, really? For the word ‘no.’"
Only then does Jimin look away, down at the brownie on the table. He hides his smile with the back of his hand. “I was excited. Don’t tease me.” He collects himself, pulling the sleeves of his hoodie down over his palms with jittery fingers. “It’s crazy, that we would meet here.”
It was probably fate. “I’m not usually in this area right now. I met up with someone for lunch.”
“Funny.” Jimin snorts, a little bitterly. “So did I.”
There isn’t anyone here with Jimin as far as Jungkook can see, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. He’s not here with Namjoon either. “With a friend?”
Jimin grimaces. “Nope.” He takes a drink.
Jungkook’s heart drops a little. “A date?” Was it his neighbor’s charming grandson?
The heavy sigh makes Jungkook think the date wasn’t so charming. “Let’s just say there won’t be a second one.” Jimin’s fingers flutter over the rim on the plate. “Thank you,” he says softly. He grins after a moment. “I needed a brownie.”
Good. Good decision, Jungkook. “I needed some company, so…” Jungkook coughs awkwardly into his shoulder.
Delicately, Jimin picks up the fork and takes a bite of the brownie. Jungkook watches Jimin’s mouth more closely than is probably necessary. “I’m surprised you came over, honestly,” Jimin says, licking his bottom lip.
Jungkook pulls himself out of it. He tilts his head to the side. “Why wouldn’t I come sit with you?”
Jimin tilts his head, too, raising his eyebrows. “We’ve interacted minimally via the Internet?” He laughs. “We don’t really know each other.”
“We could.” Jungkook directs it to his coffee but Jimin probably knows what he means.
When he looks at Jimin again, they’re both smiling. “We could,” Jimin agrees.
It feels like a promise.