Chapter Text
When Jimin decides to jump on the bandwagon and head for the big city when he’s done with highschool he does think about Jungkook, but it’s not like he wishes to meet him again anytime soon, or at all.
Jimin jogs under the nearer bus stop, bag bouncing on his back as he hunches over a little trying to shield himself from the rain.
"It doesn’t ever stop does-" he mindlessly voices towards the stranger on his side when he arrives, already focused on planning to look at the bus’ schedule to know how much time he’ll have to lose before reaching the warmth of home and a cup of ramen when it hits him, so he stops in his track, takes a look to his side to double check.
"-it ?"
Dressed in all black, hood over his head and hands in his pockets, Jimin can still recognizes that anxious silhouette standing against the glass of the bus stop. He surprises himself but there’s no doubt about it.
Well shit. It’s been two years and yet Jimin feels 18 all over again, but in the split of a second, barely letting Jungkook enough time to maybe emerge from his headphones and look away from his feet to realize that it’s Park Jimin talking to him, hello ??, a honk whirs through the wet hustle of the streets and a pretty expensive looking car stops by. A no less handsome man who doesn’t look anything like Jungkook’s brother steps out of it and rushes to the bus stop with a wide dark umbrella. By the time Jungkook has his headphones off he’s pressed by handsome’s side and they hurry back to the car. Handsome makes sure to cover Jungkook while he climbs in on the passenger side, then goes back to the other side. The door slams shut and off they go.
At home the cup of ramen isn’t that exciting anymore even though Jimin still diligently pours the right amount of water to boil while he reminisces of the good old times™, moping at the counter in his kitchenette, staring at the steam forming and blaming his poor short sighted highschool self who dared imagining himself lasting more than a stupid month with Jungkook two years ago. To think that he left Jimin like that through text message to find himself now settled with mister handsome and his fancy car, wow progress Jungkook, good job.
- I didn’t wanna leave like that... -
Jimin stirs his broth, telling himself not to dwell on memories while he wonders what would have happened if the car never arrived, if Jungkook looked up at him instead.
- I didn’t know what to do. -
The bitter taste of something that never really had a closure lingers on his tongue. It’s Jungkook’s lips ghosting on his own again, the sound of his breathing floating in the air and the dull pain of their parting that emerges again on this rainy day.
Jimin doesn’t talk about it around him. It was just a coincidence. This story belongs to the past and he intends on letting it sleep in the back of his head, but the box keeping the memory safe and away was cracked now and once in a while something would resurface without prior notice. It’s Jungkook’s broad felt tip black marker tracing lines on his arm when Jimin goes shopping for art supplies, the red flannel tied around his waist when some fashionable guy in the streets passes by or the lemon beer when he and Taehyung go pick some drinks at the convenient store tonight.
"Coke, coke, coke~" Taehyung raps with motions before opening the glass door. It’s always coke. Jimin smiles looking at him.
"You ?" Taehyung looks over his shoulder.
There’s a ton of cans lined there and the yellow lemon of the orangina standing there is the one who triggers the memory. Jimin hums, resting his chin on his friend’s shoulder.
"Pick for me."
Taehyung lightly bobs his head to a track he’s surely playing in his head right now, scanning the multiple rows before settling on a choice
"Sweet cherry ? Sweet cherry for Jiminie," he announces brightly.
Jimin cackles, "seriously what’s with the coke addiction ?"
"Thought you liked it ? You don’t like it ?" He follows, almost shocked with a pout in the voice.
"I’m good let’s go," Jimin wraps an arm around his shoulders.
He wants to pay, but so does Taehyung and they end up racing to the cashier, pushing each other gently enough so that they don’t actually knock out the stalls there, giggling before Taehyung manages to impose himself at the counter. He picks up a pack of maltesers and smiles proudly as he unsheathes the credit card. Jimin avoids eye contact with the cashier, a girl of their age he’s guessed from the short look he got when they entered and greeted her, she who’s probably judging them silently for acting like 5 years old right now.
At home they realize that one single pack of these delicacies won’t be enough to meet their need of chocolate for the night. They catch up on How to get away with Murder on netflix and the pack empties tremendously fast. Jimin loses the last ball at rock paper scissors but Taehyung still bites into it so that he can give him half of it, no, the crumbles of what was supposed to be half of it actually.
"Sorry," Taehyung hands them to him, eyes still focused on the screen.
"No thanks," Jimin chuckles.
"Sure ?"
"Yes," Jimin gets up to go and see if any snacks remained somewhere in their small kitchenette.
"Must be some chips in there or something..." He mumbles to himself.
Taehyung thanks him from the living room.
When Jimin comes back he’s managed to find a pack of onion cream chips and flops back on the couch.
He’s watching yeah, but he’s not really there. He drifts far back in his thoughts and his gaze loses focus as time passes. Everything turns blurry around him, like a decor in a dream, ready to evaporate any moment. He doesn’t know why seeing Jungkook hurt him this much, and feeling like this without knowing why is the real problem here. Jimin hears Taehyung speaking by his side and the blurriness around shift back into focus at this moment. Jimin hums and tries to concentrate on what’s happening on the screen.
"Hm what ?"
"Huh ?"
"You’re not listening."
"Ah... No sorry..."
"Is something wrong ?"
Jimin sighs dramatically as he lies down while grabbing on a cushion, "no ? Yes ? I don’t know ? It shouldn’t be..." he voices annoyed, "you remember Jungkook ? Saw him again."
"Oh, did you talk ?"
Jimin scoffs, "no... He was with someone else, didn’t see me..."
Taehyung looks at him silently, "are you angry ?" He asks softly and Jimin crumbles.
Is he ? Right now it’s hard to tell. He doesn’t know why a part of him is sad. He doesn’t want to acknowledge it. He should be angry yeah, but it’s just sorrow running through his veins, something he thought was buried deep and away for good, a mistake to be forgotten. Yet everything is cold and blue and Jimin can’t denies the empty spot left in his chest.
"I don’t like seeing you sad," Taehyung shakes him off his thoughts."He’s a prick, his loss, please don’t dwell on this."
Jimin hums and leans onto Taehyung laps, face into his cushion.
"No don't cry Jimin please," Taehyung says but Jimin's shoulders are already shaking in his hold. He gives up trying to get Jimin to face him and ends up stroking his hair and back in comfort.
"What did I do wrong ?" Jimin sobs.
"You did nothing wrong," Taehyung sighs wiping his friend's tears, "he really doesn't deserve you. You should come with me at Kibum’s party," he says, "you need to meet new faces."
Jimin isn’t particularly ecstatic at the idea of spending the whole night with tall and handsome models, some of them famous at that. Taehyung’s bunch is something else, those dorky yet classy people who can effortlessly fit into any clothes no matter their shape, those who don’t look like kids who borrowed clothes from their big brother when they wear oversized sweaters.
"Seriously..." Jimin mutters.
He’s pretty sure oversize is the trend nowadays, but sweaterpaws ? Not so sure anymore... He wouldn’t have thought about it on another day, his sweater is comfy but tonight Jimin is feeling a little more self-conscious about his look. If only he could grow a few inches taller maybe ? The whole outfit would look a lot more put together.
Suddenly Taehyung head pops at the door and Jimin nearly jumps.
"Ready ?!"
"Damn it Tae you need to stop doing that !"
"Sorry~" He says poking his tongue out, "are you done ?"
"Yeah coming."
The party is held in a small club downtown. They go up a few stairs and reach the main room. A trendy trap track from the States and a purplish dim light are setting the mood in a big space with white walls, it’s chill and most people are talking to each other from what Jimin can see from the doorstep. Taehyung jams to the beat as soon as they step in and turns to Jimin, mouthing the unknown lyrics silently with hands motions. Jimin battles against his shyness and sketches a few moves as well when the voice of a girl calls out for Taehyung. Taehyung’s gaze lits up when he looks around and recognizes her, then he’s back on Jimin and brings him to her.
"Hey !" She waves, "brought a friend ? Hello," she smiles to Jimin while she hugs Taehyung.
She has a DSLR hanging around her neck.
"Jimin, my roommate," Taehyung introduces. "Jimin, this is Seola, we met at school for a project."
"Photography major," Seola adds, "nice to meet you Jimin."
"Nice to meet you too," Jimin returns smiling and slightly nodding , "I’m uh, I’m in fine arts."
"Yeah I heard about you, you are indeed really cute !"
Jimin chuckles out of embarrassment, "ahh... thank you," he smiles.
"See !" Taehyung exclaims, "told you."
"Sure that !" Seola nods while fidgeting with her camera. "Can I snap you both real quick ?"
"Sure come on," Taehyung grabs Jimin’s shoulder so that they pose beside each other against the wall.
Taehyung does it so naturally, chin up and hands in pockets. He’s facing upfront, full of confidence while Jimin struggles to find something he thinks actually looks cool and not try-hard or silly. So that’s the model life huh ? Hard.
He ends up pretty much mimicking Taehyung to keep that chic vibe going and as soon as the shutter clicks he feels relief rushing through his veins and drops the pose when Seola looks up from her camera and asks for another one before Jimin can walk away.
"Let’s do something silly this time," Taehyung suggests, "like, overly posed."
"Hm, okay," Jimin nods.
This has to be the last one right ? Jimin takes on the most dramatic pose he can imagine, hands on his waist, back arched outward and a leg stretched in front of him. Taehyung hides his face mysteriously and folds his body weirdly. Seola giggles. The shutter clicks again for a few more pictures. Jimin hopes they’re done.
"Aah, you have really nice features Jimin, good gaze," Seola says as she reviews her shots before looking up.
Jimin rubs the bridge of his nose and thanks her bashfully, not knowing what to add, if there’s anything to add after that. Taehyung stares at him with a big grin and pokes at him playfully.
"Stop that !" Jimin chuckles.
"I mean it, you’d be a good model I bet. Call me if you need anything," Seola slides him a card, "I would love to take some shots for you ! New guests, gotta go !"
"Yup," Taehyung nods.
Jimin waves back and she bounces away towards her next models. Despite the oddness and embarrassment Jimin realizes that this little improvised shooting did boost his confidence and suddenly the night seems a little more promising and fun than what he imagined when coming.
Taehyung friends are nice and easy going. Jimin doesn’t catch all their names as laughs burst out here and there through the conversation. Drinks don’t run out after a few somehow Jimin finds himself dancing in the middle of a small crowd. There’s this other boy that he haphazardly ends up competing with as the people around them cheers after each of their moves. The electric blue hair makes him stand out in the crowd even more and his sharp gaze enhances the determined look in his eyes as he nails down all his spins, drops and b-boy moves. He’s good, but it only makes Jimin go harder as well.
The night flashes like this and the next day Jimin wakes up kind of hazy. He doesn’t remember drinking that much but he feels like a slump and that must be an indicator that yes, he did drink a little too much. His body feels heavy and he’s not even out of bed yet. Under his blanket, for a long minute he wishes he hadn’t signed up for the morning session of his dance class.
It’s not that early but without a real good night of sleep, waking up at 9 isn’t really different from waking up at 5. Jimin groans and fights against drowsiness to get up. He skips breakfast and heads to the bathroom directly to wash up, thankful to avoid the scolding he’d surely get if Taehyung was up.
If he doesn’t feel better at least the cold water chases the sleepiness away. Jimin shivers under the stream and quickly washes up so that he can go pack his bag.
He’s sitting down lacing his shoes at the door when Taehyung wakes up and shuffles his way to him.
"Where’you goin’ ?" He asks still groggy from his sleep.
"Dance class."
"Wh-what ? Is it not morning anymo-"
"Took the morning one too."
"What do you mean too ?" Taehyung crouches by his side.
Jimin bites his tongue, trying to avoid his gaze. He can’t lie for shit so all he does is give him a sorry smile hoping that he’ll get away with that.
"Jimin what the fuck ? Did you really stack up two sessions ? That’s almost 8 hours !" Taehyung snaps out of his sleepy state right up.
"No it’s more like 6 actually. I really gotta go though, I’m okay don’t worry !"
Jimin hurries to the door and closes it before Taehyung can ask him more.
"Did you even eat ?!"
Jimin rushes through the stairs and out. He hates making Taehyung worry over him for nothing. Jimin is fine, perfectly fine.
At the workshop Jimin tries hard to overcome the heaviness of his muscles to perform sharp and clean moves but he’s always behind, out of beat or moving around sloppily. He gets frustrated and when anger takes over he starts to lose the track of the beat little by little. It’s like his body doesn’t wake to cooperate with his brain and nothing works out anymore. Jimin in on the verge of tears when Hoseok thankfully marks the first pause of the session after an hour.
He’s out of breath and it’s embarrassing cause really, what has he done beside fucking up since he got there ? Jimin clenches his teeth and walks towards his bag like the other students to take a sip on his water bottle. He tries to calm himself not to break down in the middle of the room like a loser when he feels a hand landing on his shoulder gently.
"Hey are you okay ? Noticed you were kinda out of it earlier."
It’s Hoseok, sun number two, and oh no Jimin doesn’t need sweet and overly-caring people right now it just makes him want to give up and cry his heart out.
"I-uh, I think I didn’t warm up properly," he lies in a smile "I’ll fix that."
"No worries, remember that stretching is super important hm ?" Hoseok taps his shoulder, "I don’t want you guys to get stupid injuries. Okay ?" He smiles so bright it hurts.
Jimin nods.
Five minutes later the music is playing again and the session resumes its course. Jimin pushes himself to the limits until he can do something somewhat satisfying. It’s not actually, he feels like a inflated balloon man on the side of the road, limbs flying all over the place.
When he gets back home around 5:47 pm he's exhausted and the downward spiral only goes further and further. He remembers a project due this Thursday that he didn’t even start yet even after digging through his mind for ideas since last week. He has to express an emotion without words, that’s it, but he’d rather not fall into the cliché angry paint smash on canvas or the sad single tear rolling down the cheek of a pristine youthful figure. Jimin settles on his bed a minute. He needs a shower, he needs to eat, he needs to sleep and he needs to find an idea, but he sure can’t do everything at once, and when he battles against himself on what to do first he slowly drifts into sleep. It’s okay he tells himself, just a few minutes.
The sweet smell of fried chicken blows into his nostrils and waking up has never felt any better, wait what ?
When Jimin opens his eyes there’s a piece of fried chicken over his face and Taehyung on the other side blowing over the plate to accentuate the smell surrounding him.
"You’re lucky this was the last attempt for the gentle way..." Taehyung says.
Jimin’s stomach growls at the sight.
"I was ready to jump you. Take it."
"Oh my god thank you so much," Jimin grabs on the chicken piece and bites on a big chunk of it.
He hums in content and rolls to his side to hug Taehyung from the position he is right now. He’s so happy he could cry.
"Hey hey I’m still mad at you, don’t-" Jimin’s hand ends up on Taehyung’s shoulder, and he drawls another thank you and apologizes into his sheets. "There’s rice too, hurry up and take a shower."
"Yes~"
Jimin feels fresh again after his meal and shower so he comes back to his room to try to get some work done. It’s not that late but he’d rather go sleep instead. Raking his mind for some ideas he sees waves crashing on the shore endlessly, slowly reshaping the coasts along the years. That could lead somewhere, maybe... It just reminds Jimin that he needs to get an appointment for his tattoo.
He spends his Sunday working and goes through his Monday’s lectures on zombie mode but still manages to get some notes down in between two pencil strokes as he sketches his new idea for the swirling sea on is right side. After his classes Jimin rushes to the tattoo shop so he can schedule his next appointment with Namjoon. Pushing the door he doesn’t expect Yoongi to be the only one at the counter but he is, flipping the pages of a magazine quietly.
"Hi hyung !" Jimin chirps happily.
"Hey there, what’s up ?"
"Is Namjoon-hyung here ? I wanted to schedule another piece."
"Oh yeah he just cut himself with a sheet of paper from the agenda, said it stung like hell. He should be back in a minute," Yoongi snorts.
"Typical," Jimin chuckles. "I wonder how he can do so well with a needle."
"Let’s... not question that. I think it’s beyond our knowledge," he flips another page. "Joon-ah you’re favorite client’s here," he calls a little louder than his spoken voice.
"What ?" Namjoon says from downstairs before he comes up, securing a sort of gauze around his index.
He sees Jimin when looking up and immediately gazes at Yoongi, squinting a judging glare for being exposed like this. Yoongi pays no attention to him whatsoever and Jimin stands there smiling bashfully at the news.
"Anyway, don’t you have anything to do ?" Namjoon slips behind the counter as well to pick up his agenda.
"I do. There’s another guy who called for an interview, and I am in charge," Yoongi brags with one of those exaggerated cocky faces of his.
Namjoon laughs, "you know hyung hates this part of the job so he lets you do it."
"Whatever," Yoongi shrugs, "you keep on with the illegal work while I take care of the human resources management."
Namjoon smiles and shakes his head in disbelief and beckons Jimin to follow him downstairs when he passes by him again. Jimin grins and follows silently as Namjoon still mumbles about Yoongi down the stairs.
"So what brings you in today ?" Namjoon sits down on the couch at the mini salon.
"Yeah," Jimin reaches out for his sketches in his backpack to lay them down the coffee table in front of him, "I wanted to add waves-"
"Hokusai ?" Namjoon leans to rest his cheek on his knuckle.
"No ! No I’ll draw them myself, I want them from my side to the shark," he hands his sheet to Namjoon who observes it carefully. "And maybe a boat ?"
At this Namjoon looks up at him, "a boat ?"
Jimin nods, "I want it to tell a story..."
"Sure," Namjoon says staring back at the paper. "Can I sketch you something quickly ?"
"Yeah," Jimin nods again.
With another sheet laying there and a pencil from his agenda Namjoon starts sketching a more polished idea and Jimin’s mind returns to what Yoongi said earlier.
"Is it true ?" He says once curiosity gets the best of him. Namjoon hums wondering, eyes shifting from Jimin’s sketch to his own.
"That I’m your favorite client ?" Jimin asks smiling, he can’t help it.
He feels all fuzzy inside, and when Namjoon smiles at him it just makes everything better.
"You’re my first, of course that makes you special."
Jimin feels small in his seat. Never ever would he have thought that this kind of words would make him feel that good. The smile on his face won’t disappear and he eventually giggles nervously.
"Oh was that awkward ? It was right ? Sorry," Namjoon also chuckles. "I mean it though. Not in a weird way of course."
"I know. Thank you hyung."
"Don’t thank me," he shakes his head, "if anything I should thank you for trusting me with your first tattoo. That was..."
"Bold ?"
"No, stupid," Namjoon corrects him.
Jimin snorts. True, it was indeed. Namjoon was barely 21 when he tattooed Jimin’s shark in the secrecy of his room one afternoon, both knowing that what they were doing was illegal in many ways. Jimin remembers the closed curtains and the warmth of the light pointing at his bare skin while Namjoon prepared his material. He had got it online, through the salon he was learning at with Yoongi at the time. The owner had refused Jimin’s request, of course, and that was pretty much the end of it until Namjoon and Jimin met by chance in a convenience store near the shop. They talked and after making sure Jimin was really into it, Namjoon ended up telling him he could try it himself and would do it for free. Despite the risks Jimin had decided to trust him and go for it.
"But you’re so talented, it was worth it."
"No Jimin it was dumb, but I was serious so you were lucky. Never do that again."
"Yes," Jimin answers cutely.
"Here look," Namjoon turns the sheet when he’s done. "I think it’ll look nice if we start them a little lower than the shark and move up to the ribs," he explains retracing his lines, "but it has to look light as well, you don’t want just waves plastered roughly there right ?"
Jimin hums, "I better rework on the design then."
"Yeah, don’t rush it. We can meet sometimes, if you wanna talk about it," Namjoon stands up.
"Sure," Jimin packs his stuff back, "I’ll call you."
"Yup, see ya."
"Bye hyung," Jimin waves.
"Don’t forget to salute mister HR manager on your way out," Namjoon says loud enough for Yoongi to hear upstairs.
"Do I smell jealousy ?" Yoongi acts out as soon as Jimin passes back in front of the counter.
"Ah seriously..." Jimin snorts and waves as he quickly leaves the shop to let the two bicker at will.
Tonight he thinks he’ll spend his time on his sketchbook to find a clean design for the waves as soon as possible before getting back at Namjoon.
The winds rises as the day ends, looks like it’s about to rain again.
Jungkook hurries on the sidewalk as soon as he steps out of the bus. He knew he should’ve taken the subway instead. He still has a good 15 minutes ahead of him to reach the building but he feels so fidgety that his heart is beating faster than it is required to, and he’s going to looks all flushed and not composed once he steps in. He doesn’t need th at, not with such a big opportunity shining bright right under his nose.
Clenching on his portfolio Jungkook pushes the door of the tattoo shop. It doesn’t looks like it from the outside but Jungkook did his researches online well. A little bell rings over his head and a blond man at the counter greets him nonchalantly.
Jungkook bows slightly, "hello I have an appointment with Yoongi ?" He says as confidently as his trembling voice can let him do.
"You’re Jungkook right ?"
"Yes," he walks to the counter.
"I’m Yoongi, nice to meet you."