14 Chapter 13: Shib sam ? (1/2)
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
His heart was threatening to jump out of his chest as he headed towards the old building. He was going to his first therapy session – it was Yoongi's recommendation so he knew he could trust whoever he was going to spend the following hour with. The only problem was that he didn't really want to talk to anyone. He knew it was for the best and he knew he promised he will try his hardest but anxiety filled his brain at the thought of sharing his deepest secrets with a stranger.
So he stopped in front of the massive door and stared at the polished wood for a few seconds before turning around and almost running away. His breathing was hitched when he decided to enter a nice-looking cafe, his lungs burning with the shame he had to bear. He failed once again and he was so scared of the outcome that he turned off his phone, taking a seat at the smallest table he could spot and ordering the first drink he saw on the menu.
The rest of the day has been stressful, nervousness cascading over him whenever he received a new message from Jungkook. For the first time ever he was glad that his boyfriend had a full day at work because he couldn't have looked at him after working so hard in order to avoid a serious conversation. He had dinner with Taehyung and Bunny and fell asleep on his best friend's bed, their fingers intertwined in between their bodies.
”Wake up, princess.” The whisper had him moaning in disapproval and he buried his face further into the soft pillow. ”I've made you breakfast!” The offended tone was the one that convinced the pink-haired boy to open his eyes sleepily.
”Thanks.” He mumbled and petted the black cat curled by his side.
They watched cartoons until they had to head to uni and Jimin decided to dress prettily as he was going to meet Jungkook in the afternoon. He put on one of his favourite baby blue sweater that was a little too large and kissed his best friend's cheek before they parted with the promise that they will message each other.
He wanted to surprise the tattoo artist so around seven o'clock he headed to the parlour, hoping his boyfriend would agree to have dinner together. The closing time was flexible because it depended a lot on the clients they were last facing but he could wait if that was the case so he entered the place, his cheeks pink because of the cold weather. Jungkook was in his usual corner but he was not dealing with a client, instead focusing on a very tall man who was sporting sleeve and neck tattoos. He had purple hair and glasses and his huge grin caused for deep dimples to appear on both his cheeks, innocent being the only word with which Jimin could have described them.
He didn't want to intervene so he bit on his lower lip until Yoongi looked up from the utensils he was cleaning and noticed him.
”Jungkook, visitors!” The pink-haired boy waved shyly at the elder and looked at the brown-haired man who forgot all about his conversation in order to detect the newcomer. His doe eyes lit up as he studied the familiar face and a bunny grin mirrored a small smile, his legs finally carrying his body towards the smaller one.
”Hi.” The tall man watched them from his place, awkwardly leaning against the large black tattoo chair. ”What a surprise.” Their lips met in a chaste but sweet kiss for a few seconds, a big hand caressing white skin.
”Are you free?” Jimin felt too nervous to look around the room because they were in public so he focused on the other's face, cinnamon orbs filled with hope.
”We done for today, I was just helping Namjoon-hyung out with some things.”
That was the name of their new-coworker; Jungkook told him he was an old friend of Yoongi who just came back from the United States so curiosity got the best of him and he dared to look at the kind-looking giant once again, his cheeks flushing when their eyes met. His boyfriend intertwined their fingers before guiding him towards his corner with the obvious intention to introduce him to the stranger.
”Hyung, this is Jimin, my boyfriend.”
”It's nice to meet you, Jimin-ah. I'm Namjoon.” The student had no idea why but once they shook hands he felt like the elder was the type of person he could have trusted. He didn't know how to start a conversation, though, so he was glad that Jungkook took over and began to talk about the tattoos they executed, grabbing his phone to show him pictures of them. Namjoon was really good at his job and he understood that he was an expert when it came to dotwork because the results were absolutely amazing.
His compliments were minimal compared to Jungkook's overflowing praises so he felt a little out of place because he has never seen the elder so impressed by someone else. It was cute but also slightly worrying because he knew nothing he could do would ever cause such a strong reaction. His thoughts were interrupted by Yoongi who was having a conversation on the phone, most likely with Hoseok.
”Dinner?” His question came out rather awkward but he focused on Jungkook's face, waiting for a reply that could get him out of that place. He needed time to feel at ease around new people and he wasn't ready to try to get accustomed to the new guy's presence. He sensed things were not going to go his way when his boyfriend's eyebrows furrowed above his eyes so he prepared himself for a refuse.
”I promised I would go out for drinks with the guys.” Jungkook was obviously regretting that he couldn't grant his wish. ”I'm sorry, baby. Do you want to tag along?”
Going to a bar was not on his wish list because he was tired and all he wanted was to end the day quietly but there was still a hope for him.
”Will Seok-hyung come too?”
”Hobi spent the entire day at the dance studio, he'll probably spend the night watching dramas.” Yoongi intervened and stretched his arms, resembling a cat. ”You could go to our place and join him if you want.” That sounded a lot more tempting so he made sure everyone would be alright with the concept before deciding to accept.
”Sounds fun.” Jungkook sighed and wrapped his arms around him. His bright mood was obvious because he wasn't holding back from PDA. ”Next time I'll join you.”
”I don't know if you'll be allowed, though.” The pink-haired boy grinned and was quick to pull away when he felt agile fingers slipping under his sweater in order to tickle his sides. He giggled and grabbed his boyfriend's hands so they would stay in place before raising on his tiptoes and kissing a button nose.
”You're such a brat.” Jungkook chuckled but didn't move away. ”Let's have lunch together tomorrow.”
”It's a deal.”
He began to feel nervous as soon as he communicated the foreign address to the taxi driver so he wrapped his arms around his body and looked outside the window at the frame of his boyfriend who was making sure he was safe and sound. He wanted to spend time with Hoseok but a part of him was still hoping he would somehow end sleeping in Jungkook's arms. It was selfish of him so chased the thought away, looking at the car was passing by, wondering how far away Yoongi and Hobi's apartment was.
It took the cab 20 minutes to park in front of an old building so he paid and headed towards the front door, hoping his memory was not going to betray him. Thankfully, Hobi was already waiting for him and pulled him into a tight hug as if he was trying to glue all his pieces back together. It was incredible how well they got along so he knew his friend was aware that he needed this type of comfort, especially that his romantic relationship has been bumpy lately. It didn't matter that they kissed and hugged, he was aware there was a possibility of them never going back to what they had before and maybe that was what made him feel so anxious. Jungkook was doing perfectly fine without him, he found an interesting person to fancy and occupy his time with.
”Welcome, Minnie ~” He smiled widely at the nickname and hurried to untie his shoelaces, curious to enter the flat. He couldn't imagine their friends' tastes combining because they were so different but the mix turned out better than he expected. It was a tad smaller than Jungkook's apartment but it was tastefully decorated. Hoseok has been baking cookies so they ended up eating some while watching dramas and he would have lied if he would have said that he was paying attention to the tv screen.
He was curious about Jungkook's evening. He was probably having fun, not sparing him a thought.
”Are you okay?” He nodded but Hobi could see right through him because he muted the k-drama and turned so they would face each other. ”Is it about Gguk?”
”Kind of.” He scrunched his nose, not sure if he should share his thoughts. ”I'm just... worried, I guess.” They have both been busy so they didn't have the physical time to rebound and it hurt him to know they could lose it all because of a stupid misunderstanding. He wanted to gain Jungkook's trust and he wanted the man to trust him. ”What if we only grow further apart from now on?”
”And why would that happen?”
”Because we –” They didn't properly kiss, they didn't go on a proper date either, they didn't make love, as cheesy that could have sounded. Maybe the tattoo artist was trying to give him time and respect his boundaries but he felt lonely. ”It's not the same.”
”It's not supposed to be, baby. It was your first serious fight and you have both been hurt so it's only normal for things not to go back to normal right away. You're both maturing.”He didn't want to mature if maturing meant straying away from each other. ”You should tell him how you feel.”
”But he hasn't done anything bad, I'm the one being problematic and I don't want to worsen the situation.” Hobi's eyes widened in surprise at his choice of words. He didn't really understand what was going on until his friend moved closer and pulled him into a bear hug, barely allowing him to breathe for a few seconds.
”Gguk loves you and I know he'd love to hear what bothers that pretty mind of yours.”
The redhead was right – he needed to trust that his boyfriend would never find his thoughts annoying but that was such a hard thing to do when all your life you've been taught to keep your problems for yourself. He's been told countless times that his existence was a menace so he tried to speak about what was bothering him as little as he could so he wouldn't irritate the people around him. But Jungkook was not like everybody else, he was always trying to nudge his ideas, absorbing his every word like it was the most important thing in the world.
They spent more than an hour cuddling and Jimin's mood improved because of all the silly things the elder told him – from how well Yoongi could fake annoyance to silly old stories about their group of friends. Hoseok knew Namjoon too because he was one of the few people his boyfriend has been corresponding with ever since they started dating. Midnight came without them sensing the passing of time so the student was invited to spend the night there only for their conversation to be interrupted by a phone call.
Jungkook was drunk so the teal-haired tattoo artist called Hobi to ask if he could pick them up.
”Do you want me to bring him here?”
”I think it would be better if you would drop us off at his place.” Jimin replied without thinking twice, curiosity filling his brain. He was wondering how his boyfriend would act when intoxicated so in about an hour he figured he was the affectionate type of drunk because a beer-tasting mouth searched for his before the elder could sit on the backseat properly.
”You're awake!” Jungkook sounded suspiciously enthusiastic so Jimin nodded and smiled amused as Yoongi occupied the passenger seat. ”I would have messaged you but I thought you already fell asleep. It's late, baby boys should be sleeping.” The tone was low and even if the words were slurred, Jimin couldn't ignore the innuendo so he felt his cheeks heating.
”Kookie!” He tried to admonish but it was futile.
”It's Daddy for you, kitten.” The pink-haired boy wanted to believe that Yoongi accidentally turned on the radio at the perfect time but something was telling him that he was tired of hearing their borderline indiscreet conversation. ”Fuck, you're so pretty. I want to eat you up.”
It was clear that he consumed way too many drinks and Jimin was thankful that the ride didn't last long because he couldn't have looked into his friends' eyes again if things would have progressed. By the time they got out of the car Jungkook managed to leave hickeys on the side of his neck and he decided it was for the best because the elder's provoking words would have only done worst.
”Up you go.” Jimin whispered and helped the tattoo artist out of the car but not before thanking Hobi for the ride.
”Good luck, Min!” The redhead chuckled and caused for his face to heat further. It took thrice the normal time for them to reach the apartment and once that happened Jungkook tripped and they both fell on the ground, the man bursting into laughter. Their heads were resting on the carpet and the younger would have tried to get up if it wouldn't have been for the strong arms to wrap around him like their owner was a koala.