Chapter Text
The water stopped running, and Jimin tugged on the towel that hung from the sliding door, patting his body with it a couple times before wrapping it around his waist. He slid the door open, and he carefully stepped outside onto the small rug he had bought a few weeks ago. Turns out that slipping in —or outside of— the shower is a very common accident, but it is heavily avoided by owning a small rug to stand on after finishing a shower. Jimin wished he’d known that information three weeks ago—because he still had a fading bruise on his left butt cheek.
He safely walked toward the sink, preparing to start with his skin care routine and with his hair. He plugged in the blow dryer and got to work after his face was all plump and pampered.
He was in the middle of putting his pants on when he heard his phone ringing from the kitchen. After his morning runs, he usually dropped everything wherever was available before he went to take a shower, never taking the time to put stuff in its place. Either way, he didn’t believe there was a correct spot for his phone. What even was it? His nightstand? His desk? His front pocket? His hand?
Doing his best to pull his pants up and button them while he walked, he walked over to the kitchen counter, where his phone was dancing every time it buzzed. He furrowed one eyebrow quickly, wondering why Jeongguk was calling him before noon—that guy never did unless it was urgent; he always texted otherwise.
He took the phone and answered curiously.
“Gguk, what’s up?”
Jimin was startled by the furious response he received from the other line.
“Jimin, thank god you picked up, I’m sorry, I don’t have time to explain—I’m on my way to your place, and I—shit, I can’t—just go with me on this, okay? Please, Jimin.”
“Jeongguk? What are you—?”
“I have to hang up, I’ll see you in ten minutes, oh god—please please please, just play along Jimin, I’m begging you.”
“Jeongguk?”
But he hadn’t given him the chance to ask what he was so affectedly talking about, because he had already hung up, and Jimin was left talking to himself.
That had been one extremely weird and unexpected phone call, and Jimin suddenly had no idea how to move inside his own apartment, feeling terribly confused. He knew that his friend was sometimes a very weird person, adventurous and spontaneous, and he liked to entertain whatever mad ideas he came up with; cheering him up and encouraging him to continue being a fifteen-year-old trapped inside the body of a man who was almost a decade older—
—which was why, he was only five out of ten levels disturbed.
There was nothing left to do other than to put his phone down and continue getting ready for his day, waiting for whatever craziness would enter his door in ten minutes.
Jimin went back to his bedroom, where he had three shirts lying on his bed. He had been trying to figure out which one would be better for his day at work—it was a Friday, which meant it was the most hectic day at the boutique, and he’d always believed that the correct clothes could help to feel strong enough to deal with whatever madness the store hosted; just like the wrong clothes could inevitably set the tone for an awfully uncomfortable shift.
He hung two of the shirts back inside his closet, as he finally picked one to wear; a denim and slightly loose dress button up shirt, keeping the top button fashionably undone. He took one lengthy look in his full-body mirror, adjusted the collar of his shirt, added a black belt over his fitted black jeans and gave himself an eyebrow of approval.
The door to his apartment flung open when he was in his kitchen making his coffee. He heard a set of two different voices coming into his home—Jeongguk’s, which he recognized right away, and someone else’s, whom he didn’t recognize.
Jeongguk had had a copy of Jimin’s apartment keys for a couple of years, ever since the guy had been too drunk to get to his own home and only managed to arrive to Jimin’s. He’d knocked on the door many times, but Jimin had been on his own Saturday-distressing-session at a bar with Hoseok and Taehyung, so nobody opened the door for him. Jimin arrived home a little after three in the morning and found a sleeping Jeongguk at his doorstep. Jimin then had a copy of his key made for Jeongguk, and insisted that he’d just get in if he needed to and Jimin wasn’t there to answer the door.
But now he was using it to welcome strangers into Jimin’s apartment, and he was ready to have a serious conversation about it once he knew what that was about. Jimin walked to the open door that was the entrance to his kitchen and walked out to meet whoever was in his home.
There was Jeongguk—wearing sweatpants and sandals that matched the big, puffy jacket he was taking off. His dark hair was a long, hot mess, true to the look Jeongguk wore when he didn’t have any big plans for the day. However, the man next to him was dressed more intuitively, with dress shoes and a dress coat that upped his pants and shirt to a smart casual—completely opposed to Jeongguk.
His younger friend caught him looking, threw him a panicked stare with the widest eyes he knew Jeongguk could possibly sport, and not even a second later, he changed it for a more natural smile, and he walked up to Jimin.
“Hi, baby.”
It was safe to say that Jeongguk never called him baby. He never held him by the waist. He never kissed his cheek, so Jimin was definitely confused when he did those three things.
In the midst of his disorientation, he looked down when he felt Jeongguk’s hand on his, shakily holding him, and he watched as he quickly slid a small ring into Jimin’s finger—his ring finger. He instantly recognized it, it was a ring Jeongguk wore a lot in his pinky, but why he was putting it on Jimin while hiding their hands and holding him by the waist—he didn’t know.
“This is my fiancé, Jimin.”
Excuse me, this is your what?
“Babe, this is Arthur Fontaine.” He squeezed his waist tightly while he introduced him to the stranger in front of them. The older man gave him a polite smile and held out his hand for Jimin to take, which he instantly shook.
“Nice to meet you,” Jimin replied with courtesy, suddenly remembering one thing Jeongguk had said over the phone—to play along. Whatever that meant.
“Pleasure is mine,” the guy answered with a thick French accent.
Jeongguk turned to look back at him, still clinging around his waist, cautiously pushing him to the side as if trying to tell him something telepathically. Jimin stared back at him, trying to read his mind and understand what Jeongguk wanted him to say, or what to do—but there was little he could get from the panicked look the guy had while also managing to keep his cool.
To the outside, Jeongguk did look natural and put together, so the man in front of them was probably not catching onto what Jimin was seeing, but he knew him well enough.
Jeongguk kept pushing him slightly, like he wanted to trip him, so Jimin held up his arm to wrap around Jeongguk as well, because he swore he was going to fall if he didn’t. Jimin didn’t miss how Jeongguk almost sighed in relief—
—and Jimin understood what he was doing.
“Babe, Mr. Fontaine runs the best modelling agency in America,” Jeongguk started to speak, and Jimin noticed the smug smile on the man’s face. “He was telling me about the opening for photographers in a new project he’s supervising,”
“Ooh,” Jimin reacted, impressed. “That’s—great.”
“I’m sorry for coming unannounced. I met Jeongguk in the parking lot and we got to talk, and I asked if we could sit down and talk further, more comfortably,” the French man spoke with his hands while explaining. Jimin had to concentrate extra hard on his voice to be able to understand what he said. Jimin could speak English well enough, but it was sometimes hard for him to understand it when other people spoke, especially if they had an accent—and oh, the man surely did.
“Not a problem,” Jimin answered with the most nonchalant tone he could pull off. “Sit down, make yourself comfortable. Coffee?”
“Yes, thank you.” The man smiled with gratitude and instantly made his way to the living room, adjusting his pants before he sat down. “So, Jeongguk—”
Jimin had intended to ask Jeongguk for help so he could drag him into the kitchen and interrogate him, but the French man inside his apartment had already called for him, so maybe he’d remain on the sidelines and not interfere. He could talk to him later.
Jeongguk smiled at Jimin one more time, and Jimin let go of him and busied himself inside the kitchen. When he was alone, he took a second to wrap his head around the scene taking place in his living room. For some odd, twisted reason, Jeongguk was pretending that he and Jimin were together—and not only as a couple, but as an engaged couple, as in—husbands-to-be.
What was going inside Jeongguk’s mind?
Still, now that he was alone in the kitchen as he poured the coffee he had already made into a cup and proceeded to make more, he understood why Jeongguk had sounded so distressed over the phone. He had no idea why, but he had asked Jimin to go with it and play along—and he was going to do just that, because it looked important enough for his friend; he could tell by the panic in his eyes and how tightly he was holding onto him.
It was—perhaps the disastrous and chaotic thing he could see Jeongguk doing to himself, so he wasn’t too surprised.
Jimin took a tray from the inside of his oven, because he barely ever used it and it mostly served the purpose of storing the dishes and cluttery he, also, barely used. He put the three cups of coffee on the tray, and then decided to add his sugar container and the coffee sweetener that he liked, as well as three tiny spoons and a few napkins. He held the tray tightly as he made his way back into the living room, where Jeongguk and the other guy were already consumed into conversation, and he placed the tray on the center of his coffee table. “Here it is,”
“Thank you, how nice.” The man scooted forward and started helping himself to his cup of coffee.
“Thank you, baby.” Jeongguk thanked him as well, and Jimin dared to make a funny face when he knew the man wasn’t looking.
Instead of sitting down, Jimin went back to the kitchen and pulled out another tray. He stretched out and opened one of his cabinets, where he had saved a big package of a mix of popular cookies just a few days before. It had been a treat from Seokjin, who usually received gift baskets and ended up splitting it up and sharing it with his friends out of fear that he’d eat everything in one sitting.
He opened the box and placed some of the cookies nicely onto the tray, making it look nice and fancy, and then he took them to the table, next to the cups of coffee.
“Please, help yourself,” Jimin spoke as he walked in front of Jeongguk so he could sit next to him on his couch.
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” The man said dramatically with his hand already over the chocolate cookies. “I can’t control myself when there’s pastries.”
Jimin and Jeongguk laughed politely.
“Please, go ahead. We’ll eat them all otherwise.” Jimin leaned forward and grabbed his own cup of coffee—the only one that wasn’t taken yet. He grabbed his coffee sweetener and poured it into the cup, already knowing how much was necessary without measurement. He added two spoons of sugar, and he leaned back as he stirred. He didn’t miss the way Jeongguk was looking at him as if he couldn’t believe he knew how to prepare his own coffee, but he didn’t comment on it right away—he’d do that later.
“Jimin,” the man spoke after a while of chatting with Jeongguk only. “Jeongguk told me you work in the fashion industry, and that you have experience with promotional modeling?”
Jimin was taken aback, definitely. What the man was saying was true, but said in fancier words. He had a boutique, after all, but he had not designed anything in a few years—it was mostly Hoseok who provided him with the goods, because the guy was a motivated machine who designed clothes in his sleep. Jimin did all of the administrative and behind the scenes stuff, and yeah- whenever he needed to get promotional photos for online ads or for the boutique’s walls, he organized that, too, but calling it ‘experience with promotional modeling’ sounded far too professional.
“Yeah, that’s what I do,” Jimin answered, trying not to look at Jeongguk.
“He told me that he’s taken the photos for your sessions,”
“Oh, yes.” Jimin nodded and added a smile. “I mean, he is the best photographer I know, and I’m not just saying that because I’m biased—he really is the best.”
Jimin spoke truthfully—about Jeongguk being the best photographer he knew. To be fair, he didn’t know millions of photographers to be able to say that, but he’d worked with a few others, and none of them delivered the same magic that Jeongguk did. The thing about being his partner, though—he thought he’d embrace his role and perhaps entertain Jeongguk’s plan a little further.
The man smiled and laughed, squinting his eyes when Jeongguk duck his head in embarrassment.
“Do you think I could see some of your work?” The man asked, facing Jeongguk.
“Uh,” Jeongguk looked conflicted. “I’d love to, but I don’t usually bring my portfolio home, I keep it in my studio.”
The man seemed to understand, as he slowly nodded, taking another cookie from the tray and sipping his coffee.
Jimin looked at Jeongguk after watching the French man leaving crumbs all over his table and his floor, and he noticed a hint of disappointment in his face.
“I have a few photos in my computer,” Jimin intervened. “From the work he’s done for me, if you’d like to see that.”
Jeongguk smiled brightly at him.
“Yeah, that’d be great. Thank you.” the man spoke, and that was Jimin’s cue to stand up, watching the gleam in Jeongguk’s eyes, like he was about to cry, laugh, and faint at the same time. Once again, he said nothing.
While the two continued to talk, Jimin walked into his spare room, which he used as a makeshift studio and storage room. It was a big mess, but Jimin knew there was little he could do with the amount of stuff he had to accommodate; tons of fabric, a couple of sewing machines, boxes filled with documents, laundry baskets that he used to keep scraps. Somewhere in the room he had managed to put a desk where he could work with his computer, and that’s where he was headed to.
He turned on the machine and waited until everything loaded. He navigated through his folders, trying to remember where he kept those photos he was looking for.
The thing was that—although Jeongguk did provide excellent photography work and always forced Jimin to take a very generous discount if they worked together, Jeongguk often liked to have photoshoots with him, as in—with Jimin as his model.
Jeongguk was a man with many talents and various interests; which meant that he wasn’t only dedicated to photographing people modeling clothes and promoting a certain brand; he liked doing different things and experimenting with specific styles, lenses, backgrounds, sceneries, themes—and Jimin was his one trusted model he could practice with and no money was exchanged at all.
Let’s just say—Jimin wanted to open the correct files there in his studio in case an inappropriate photo popped up in front of the French man sitting in his living room.
When he finally found the pictures he was looking for, he held his computer with both his hands, and he travelled back to the living room, where the two guys met him expectantly. Once again, Jimin walked in front of Jeongguk and sat down on the couch, gently placing his laptop on the coffee table at an angle where they could all see.
“This is not his whole portfolio, but these photos are great.”
For the next twenty minutes or so, the three of them sat there as they watched different photos that Jeongguk had taken for different lines of clothing Jimin and Hoseok had worked in together. Mr. Fontaine asked Jeongguk questions that he answered with a lot of passion and pride in his voice. The conversation barely ever took a turn to comment on Jimin’s work, but he didn’t take offence as the guy was there to talk to Jeongguk about his photography, not to Jimin.
At some point, Jimin offered a second round of coffee, which both Jeongguk and Mr. Fontaine accepted. Jimin skipped the second cup as he usually only drank one, and he knew that Jeongguk did, too, but he seemed to be in a particular jittery state of growing panic at the moment. He probably hadn’t noticed he had been eating just as many cookies as the man had, and the tray was nearly empty.
“I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but—” the man started, successfully catching both Jimin and Jeongguk’s attention. “Can I ask about your engagement ring?”
Jimin had almost forgotten that he was sitting there as Jeongguk’s fiancé, because the conversation had mostly taken a serious undertone with the two men talking business and Jimin casually listening while being next to Jeongguk. He looked down at his left hand, where Jeongguk had mischievously slid one ring that Jimin knew was nothing close to an engagement ring.
Jeongguk liked rings, just as much as Jimin did, and he had a big collection, although Jimin knew well that there were a few that forever sat unused inside a box, and there were some that Jeongguk wore all the time, with every possible outfit. This was one of those.
It was a silver, thin hoop with black diamonds incrusted all around it. It had been one expensive investment, but there was something about its quirky design that Jeongguk loved so much. It was not something Jimin would’ve chosen for himself, nonetheless.
Jimin turned to look at him after staring at the ring, trying to find an answer from his eyes that he was clearly not going to get.
“What do you mean?” Jimin asked, turning to look back at the man.
“It’s very nice. Black diamonds are very rare,” the man spoke. “Why did you choose that?”
Jeongguk was going to be the one to speak, but Jimin put his hand on his knee, making his attention drop as he swallowed his words. Jimin decided he could answer that question; both because he knew the answer to it, and because it would probably make it look more like they were in an actual relationship, and that was what Jeongguk wanted, for whatever reason. Jimin had somehow forgotten he was supposed to go along with Jeongguk and he started to wonder if he had begun to fuck it up for him.
“It’s uhm—” he turned to look at Jeongguk one more time and smiled at him. “Jeongguk thinks that black diamonds look like doors that lead to space,” Jeongguk immediately smiled with him. “And he really likes everything related to the universe and—sometimes, when the light hits the diamonds in the right way, it’s like you can see the stars inside them.” He held up his hand above him while speaking, although the light was not hitting the ring correctly for it to happen.
“And, I am a stars enthusiast as well, so, it fits.” Jimin added that last part for good measure, even if that little fact wasn’t part of the original story.
Jeongguk continued to stare at him, and Jimin caught a glimpse of tenderness in his eyes. The guy placed his own hand on top of Jimin’s, as if he was praising him for doing a good job.
“That’s nice.” The man spoke. “My wife wanted a ring with a big, clear diamond, and she said she wanted that because it was easy to see and would let everybody know that she was engaged.” The guy’s hoarse laughter had them laughing, too. “Ah,” he sighed while sipping more of his coffee. “When are you getting married?”
Oh no. That was when Jimin started to feel the panic. He had thought that he would’ve been able to smoothly ease his way into that makeshift pre-breakfast, but if these questions would keep on coming and he’d have to start lying through his teeth, he’d start sweating in no time. Jimin wasn’t a very good liar.
Fortunately, Jeongguk knew about that specific trait, so he took control immediately.
It was his big fat lie and his own ass he had to save, after all.
“In November,” Jeongguk lied, and Jimin only nodded.
“Oh, that’s—in five months, wow.” The guy’s eyes widened and he started nodding as well. “How’s the planning going?”
“It’s going well. Our wedding planner—he takes care of everything.”
“That’s good. It’s good you hired someone to help you with it. You don’t know how much really goes into planning a wedding until you have to plan a wedding, am I right?” The guy laughed.
“Yeah,” Jimin and Jeongguk returned the laugh, pretending to relate to what the guy was talking about.
“I used to believe it was just the ceremony, the party, food and cake.” The man’s accent was prominent in every word. “But there was so much more that I almost didn’t want to get married.”
Jimin’s laugh came out breathier than he’d intended.
“That was a joke,” The man sighed. “I love my wife very much, and I’d plan that wedding all over again if I could marry her one more time, but you must know all about that,”
Jimin didn’t know how to respond to that, and neither did Jeongguk apparently. Therefore, Jimin settled for smiling and rubbing Jeongguk’s knee affectionately to save the moment.
“But, anyway,” the man wiped his hands on his pants before standing up.
Jimin and Jeongguk stood up as well, mirroring the guy and following his movements carefully. “I’m leaving tomorrow so I’m going to go and pack. I still have to go and get my suit for my meetings in my trip, and I’m running out of time.”
“Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Fontaine.” Jeongguk blurted out. “I’m—I’m sorry if I’m very forward, I just—really hope I can work with you soon.”
“Your work is good, and I’m very interested in you. I’ll give you a call when I return from my trip next week.”
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
“Thank you for letting me into your home, and for introducing your fiancé to me.” The guy started grabbing the stuff he had left behind, ready to leave Jimin’s apartment, which he believed was Jeongguk’s, too.
“It was very nice to meet you,” Jimin spoke as he walked next to Jeongguk, ready to wave and smile through the guy’s departure.
“Likewise,” Mr. Fontaine returned the formality with a polite smile. “I’ll be on my way. You make some good coffee, and the pastries were nice, too.”
Jimin stayed on his spot, watching only as Jeongguk guided the older man to Jimin’s door. They stayed by the doorstep as they exchanged their final goodbyes, and when the man was gone, Jeongguk entered the apartment once again, closing the door behind him. Jimin waited until Jeongguk turned around, although it did take him a few seconds.
“Baby,” Jimin said ironically, walking closer to Jeongguk once he was looking back at him. “Care to explain?”
Jeongguk gave him a crooked and guilty smile as his shoulders raised. “Yes, but we’ll need wine, or beer—or whatever you have.” Jeongguk started making his way inside Jimin’s kitchen, giving himself permission to snoop around the cabinets.
“Pass. I’m heading to the boutique,” Jimin followed him and sat down on one of his kitchen stools. “But you can drink if you need to.”
Jeongguk pulled out a bottle of red wine that was half-empty. If Jimin remembered correctly, the last time he had drank from that had actually been with the man himself.
“Okay,” Jeongguk turned around and opened another cabinet, grabbing a glass and bringing it along with him.
“I went to the company in the morning, I was just going to deliver copies of some documents I was asked to take,” Jeongguk poured a generous amount of wine into his glass. “And when I left the office and walked into the parking lot, I see fucking Arthur Fontaine getting into his car. Jimin, I swear I almost tackled him. This guy is a big deal, and I had only heard about him and seen him in photos but I’d never had a one-on-one with him.” He drank the whole thing.
Jeongguk’s lips smacked each other a few times, taking in the taste of the wine, and then he took the bottle to pour himself another one; all while Jimin stared at him.
“Anyway, I’m basically attacking him, and he recognizes me from the company and asks about what kind of photography I like to do, and then he mentions this upcoming project he has with this new product he’s being paid to promote, and I’m like—about to beg if he has any open spots for a new photographer, but he starts talking about how it’s difficult to trust new photographers because they can get too comfortable with the models.”
Jeongguk took his glass and the bottle and sat down on the stool next to Jimin, swinging in circles.
“You know how the industry is sometimes—some photographers try to get handsy with the models,”
Jimin nodded. Jeongguk had told him a few horror stories about people he knew or heard of in the company he worked at, and Jimin would’ve never guessed stuff like that could happen if Jeongguk hadn’t told him.
“And this guy tells me that he tries to only hire photographers who aren’t single because at least that way maybe they’ll be more likely to keep their hands to themselves, and, Jimin, here I am, pathetically trying to fit my non-existent boyfriend into that conversation. And then,”
Jeongguk drank again.
“He asked me if I’d ever photographed for events, and he starts going on and on about how the photographer in his wedding did such a terrible job that he wanted to reenact his own wedding and get someone who could do it better, and there I go—telling how I wished I could photograph my own wedding because I’m that good of a photographer and I know no one would make it justice.” Jeongguk rubbed his hands over his face, and Jimin had to laugh. “So he asked me, 'oh, you’re getting married?' and there I was—pushing my luck because of the whole ‘not hiring single photographers’ thing, and I thought ‘well, engaged is definitely more sustainable than just taken’ so I said yes and I went with it.”
Jimin couldn’t blame him for having lied that way. Jeongguk was very passionate about his work, and if he saw an opportunity, he’d take it, no matter how crazy or difficult.
“And then, I asked him if we could meet, but he told me he was not going to have time later in the week, and that if I was up for it, he’d meet with me right then, and Jimin, I couldn’t say no,”
“I get that,” Jimin replied with a small laugh.
“And then he asked if he could come to my apartment and meet my fiancé and I panicked,” Jeongguk dropped his head onto the table, keeping his hands over it while they muffled his words. “I’m sorry if I immediately thought about you, but I have your key and I knew you’d be awake and that your apartment would be clean and nice and that you’d look good like you always do—it was so easy,”
Jimin didn’t know if he should take the time to feel flattered by Jeongguk’s compliments. Usually, Jimin would not let a comment like that slip away if he had the chance to tease Jeongguk about it. However, Jimin was still more curious about the guy pretending to be his husband-to-be, so he let Jeongguk get away with that one for the time being.
Jeongguk threw his head back and finished another glass of wine, Jimin watching him with his wide eyes and an amused expression.
“Thank you so much,” Jeongguk stepped out of the stool, and Jimin suddenly felt his strong arms wrapped around him, hugging him tightly. He hadn’t been prepared for that so he stumbled a bit, but Jeongguk was holding him, so he wouldn’t have fallen, either way. With a choked laugh, Jimin returned the hug lightly, patting his back a few times.
“You were perfect, I was so scared he would catch on and call me on my bullshit, but you were perfect, oh wow.”
Jeongguk pulled apart. “I think I might actually have a chance on this. I—I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up—you know how things are sometimes—but I feel like I might actually have a fucking chance.”
Jimin smiled and nodded approvingly, showering Jeongguk with pride. “He looked pretty interested.”
“Oh my god,” he brought his hand to his forehead and ran his fingers through his long hair. “I can’t believe I met him today, when I look like this,” he pointed at himself. “I didn’t even shower.”
Jimin knew that Jeongguk cared a lot about the way he looked. Many times, he would facetime Jimin while selecting his outfits because he knew Jimin had a sharp eye for fashion and he would always have or take the time to give him advice. Sometimes Jimin believed that Jeongguk knew exactly what he wanted to wear but was just calling him so Jimin would tell him he looked good.
But Jeongguk always looked good. Even when he didn’t shower and his hair was naturally falling like that—with no effort and not a smidge of product. Even the most basic shirt, pants and sandals looked good on him.
Jimin decided he was not going to praise Jeongguk with that compliment at that time, though. “You met him by accident in a parking lot, I don’t think he was expecting to find you in a suit and tie.”
Jeongguk gave him a thankful and gentle smile, and then he grabbed the bottle one more time.
“Why bother with the glass if you’re just gonna drink the whole thing?” Jimin teased him, earning a muffled laugh from the younger guy.
Jimin stood up and fixed the fit of the sleeves of his shirt. “I’m going to the boutique. It’s Friday and I don’t want Hoseok dealing with everything alone.”
“How compassionate.”
“I know,” Jimin nodded. “We have a new employee, so we have to train her. Mason met her when she came in for the interview and I swear he wants to eat her alive.”
“You might have to fire him.”
“I hope not.” Jimin laughed. “I really like him, but if he starts getting weird or handsy I will have a talk with him.”
“You can leave it to me, I will make sure he doesn’t.” Jeongguk punched his own hand once, and Jimin laughed with him, knowing he was joking. Jeongguk had never punched anyone in his life and Jimin doubted he ever would.
“Okay. I’m gonna go now.” Jimin walked out of the kitchen and started gathering all the stuff he needed to bring with him. Jeongguk followed behind him with the bottle of wine in his hand, and like Jimin had jokingly-advised, he left the glass behind on the kitchen counter. The guy sat back down on the couch in Jimin’s living room, somewhere in the middle.
“You might want to stay here if you’re gonna drink the whole bottle.”
Jeongguk lifted the bottle up in the air, giving him a smile.
Jimin huffed at him and shook his head while he left his apartment.
“Can you do it one more time so I make sure I remember everything?”
“Sure.” Jimin swallowed his own sigh. He returned to the home screen and started going through all of the steps one more time, tapping the computer screen with care as he explained the process.
He’d been right. As soon as he stepped into the boutique, he rushed to the back room to keep his stuff safe and went back into the store and got to work. He’d found Hoseok with a disturbed expression that he was trying to mask with his wide, bright smile. There were about eight customers inside—a couple of them were browsing and staring at the photos on the wall, a few others were going through the catalogues Jimin had designed, but there were also some who wanted assistance. His employee, Mason, was young and well-spoken, and he always treated the customers with care, but there was so much he could do when he was only one person. Hoseok usually went to the store on Fridays only, just like Jimin —perks of being the owners—. They only showed up a few times a week and sometimes for a few hours and then they would leave to have lunch together and leave their employees to care for the boutique.
However, a few weeks ago, one of their employees gave her notice because she was going back to school, and although Jimin tried to be a good employer and supported her through her decision, he definitely wasn’t looking forward to initiating the process of searching, interviewing, hiring, training, and all the shenanigans he’d rather not have to deal with.
Therefore, that day, Hoseok had been trying to juggle assisting the customers, working the cash register and teaching Olivia the way things worked around the store. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to ask her to start her first day on the busiest day of the week.
But there they were, and Jimin had showed up right on time to offer a helping hand.
“I’ll let you do it for the next paying customer, okay?” Jimin asked, leaving the spot behind the computer. He asked Olivia to take the seat on the stool and wait until the next person came up. He told her that he’d keep an eye out and approach her when one of the customers was ready to be rung up.
“Oh my god, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.” Hoseok leaned back on the wall and sighed. The store was finally empty after hours of continuous work. They tried to enjoy it even though they knew that could change at any second.
“You can breathe right now,” Jimin said from the other side. “But make it good because we might have another hoard coming in.”
Hoseok sighed. “As long as there’s business.”
“Yeah, as long as there’s business.” Jimin agreed.
“Though I really want to go for a milkshake right now. I’m very tempted to leave them here and just go.”
Jimin laughed. “Me too,” he said with a pout. “Do you think they’re ready to be on their own?”
Hoseok tilted his head and stared at their employees for a second with a thoughtful expression. “Well, Mason can handle stuff pretty well, and Olivia has survived her first four hours, so—”
“—so they’re ready.”
Hoseok gave a nod of approval.
“You don’t think he might scare her away if we leave them alone?” Jimin asked.
Hoseok turned to look back at the younger ones, once again wondering.
“Nah,”
Jimin turned around to look for himself. Olivia was making herself busy with reorganizing the clothes that some customers left misplaced, picking up the arrangement of the store pretty quickly. Mason was sitting behind the cash register keeping to himself but his eyes were minutes away from popping out of his skull from turning to look at the girl so many times.
What Jimin had said before, about him getting handsy, was an exaggeration. He had known the kid for almost a year, and he knew he was as shy as a panda and would take him weeks to even talk to the girl without it being related to their job, so everything would be okay in that department.
“Let’s go.” Jimin turned to Hoseok. The guy threw him an instant wide and mischievous smile, and they both took it as a cue for heading out of their store.
“We’ll be back soon!” Hoseok yelled as they were walking out.
Jimin turned around briefly, and he was met with two rather calm-looking faces—one more than the other, though, but enough to make him feel okay with leaving them alone.
Again, perks of being the owner.
Jimin and Hoseok walked next to each other, rather slowly, around the mall until they reached the food area. There were many, many, things that Jimin didn’t like to eat and many that he did, but was picky about the way they were prepared in some of the restaurants around. However, he still loved the smell of combined foods as they walked. Sometimes it smelled like fried, guilt-filled but delicious food, then it changed to roasted goods, cooked pastas, popcorn and candy, well-mixed alcohol, fancy spices, not-so-fancy spices… it was a good walk.
They ordered their milkshakes and a shared serving of French fries, which Hoseok would sometimes dip inside his milkshake and eat like that. Jimin had long ago stopped giving him crap about it when he realized it was something he actually enjoyed and wasn’t doing it to spite the younger. When Jimin’s name was called, they took their food and found a free table to sit at—a difficult task on a Friday.
“Ugh. Please don’t mention cake right now.” Hoseok rolled his eyes and took a sip of his strawberry milkshake.
“Why?” Jimin asked while laughing at his friend.
“Namjoon’s clients —for the wedding next month— have been changing their minds about the flavor of their cake like ten times already. Namjoon has been going crazy about it, and I promise you, I had never had so many conversations about cake before, and it’s weird. I mean, I get it! But, it’s not that important, you know?”
Jimin hummed while nodding a few times. “Are they that kind of couple?” he raised one eyebrow. “The ones who think every detail is more important than the actual marriage?”
“Yep.” Hoseok answered unaffectedly, and Jimin laughed while shaking his head. “They’re so difficult about everything. I had never seen Namjoon this exhausted.”
“Aw. Sounds like we need to go out.” Jimin raised his eyebrows suggestively, and Hoseok slammed the table dramatically.
“Yes!” He yelled with a hoarse voice. “We need that so bad. You know what we should do? We should go to that new wings buffet near Taehyung’s place. He said it’s good.”
“Wings buffet?”
“Yeah, you pay for one round of wings and drinks and you get free refills.”
“I love that word.”
Hoseok laughed. “Me too—oh,”
Jimin watched as Hoseok reached for his front pocket and took out his buzzing phone.
“It’s Mason.”
Jimin stared at his friend carefully as he took the call. Mason didn’t always call when they were away from the store, but he still reminded himself not to jump to any conclusions. Mason could be calling because he was having issues opening the cash register or because the back door was stuck. It didn’t have to mean that the place was on fire or that they’d been robbed.
“Mhm, okay.”
Hoseok’s calm answer told him that he hadn’t needed to worry that much.
“What’s his name, again?”
Jimin raised his eyebrows when Hoseok stared at him directly.
“Arthur Fontaine? Is he French?”
Jimin’s eyes widened even further. That was the guy—the guy that had just been in his apartment a few hours ago.
“Okay, we’ll be right there.”
Hoseok hung up.
“What?” Jimin asked broadly—waiting for Hoseok to explain.
“Mason said that this guy came into the shop and immediately asked for you.”
“Why me?”
“Said he needs a nice-looking-suit, but he wants you to assist him.” Hoseok started to get up. He wrapped the remaining fries up and kept them safely in the container they were delivered in. Jimin grabbed his plastic cup and took it with him as both guys started walking.
“Do you know him?” Hoseok asked.
Jimin sighed heavily. “Well, no, not really.” He answered truthfully, although he knew Hoseok would have questions about it. “He is the head of a modelling agency, I met him this morning because Jeongguk wants to work with him.”
“Oh?” Hoseok looked surprised. “Should we be trying to impress him?”
“I don’t think so.” Jimin continued drinking his milkshake. “He saw some of the photos that Jeongguk took for us last season and he didn’t look that interested in the store.”
“How nice.” Hoseok fake smiled.
They both walked with a steady pace for the remaining of the way until they reached the open glass door of their boutique. From the outside of the store, he could see the French man sitting down with Mason standing in front of him while they talked, and before he even entered, his younger employee had already spotted him.
“Here he is,” Mason called and pointed at Jimin, sounding relieved that he wouldn’t need to entertain the older man anymore.
Mr. Fontaine quickly turned to the entrance of the store, automatically seeing Jimin as he walked next to Hoseok and welcomed him with a smile.
“Mr. Fontaine,” Jimin spoke as he approached him. He skipped the handshake since it seemed unnecessary after having seen him less than a day ago. “How unexpected to see you here.”
“Jimin,” the man stood up and met with Jimin eye-to-eye. “I hope it’s not an inconvenience. I remembered the name of your shop from the photos you showed me earlier.”
“Not at all,” Jimin offered him a smile. “Mr. Fontaine, this is Hoseok, my partner.”
Hoseok gave him a polite smile with a short nod and offered him a handshake, although the man took his time to lift up his arm, turning to look at Jimin with a hint of confusion in his expression.
“My business partner.” Jimin corrected himself.
The man quickly relaxed his face and nodded as he understood. It looked like he was mentally scolding himself for having thought anything other than Hoseok and Jimin being business partners only.
“He’s the designer of most of the stuff you see in here.”
“That’s impressive. A pleasure,” the man finally shook Hoseok’s hand.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I know I took a big chance. I didn’t know if you would be here today.”
“Well, you found me,”
“Yeah,” they laughed. “It’s good I did.”
Jimin would be lying if he said he wasn’t feeling somewhat awkward. The man had arrived, asking to see him. He was still wearing the same jeans and coat that had been catching crumbs of cookies in Jimin’s living room, and he was standing in the middle of the store trying to make small talk.
“How can I assist you? I was told you were searching for a suit?”
“Ah, yes.” The guy used his hands to explain. “I have an important trip next week and I’m leaving tomorrow, so I started packing as soon as I got home, and—this is embarrassing to admit, but I may have gained a few pounds since the last time I wore my well-trusted and lucky suit.”
The three of them laughed after the guy rubbed his stomach in circles.
He was a strange man. Jimin believed he was quite intimidating, which was probably as a result of his high position in his company and his tough, foreign looks. However, he was clumsy and silly, and it was conflicting inside Jimin’s head.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, I am flattered that you came here, considering—you could’ve gone anywhere else.”
“Don’t be so humble.” The man quickly answered. “I’m very much impressed with your fiancé’s work, but don’t think I wasn’t admiring yours as well,”
Jimin smiled shily, and it wasn’t because he couldn’t take compliments—
—but because he could feel Hoseok’s eyes burning into his skin.
Luckily, the guy didn’t say a word.
“Well, thank you.” Jimin ignored his friend with determination, scared that it would blow Jeongguk’s cover and consequently, his opportunity to work with the man. “Please,” Jimin signaled him to walk farther into the store.
The man explained to them what he liked and appreciated in a good-quality suit, and Hoseok showed him to a few options that fit the description. Mr. Fontaine turned out to be exactly how Jimin had anticipated; tediously picky and opinionated, but he hadn’t expected anything else from a guy who’d probably worked in the industry for a long time. Jimin could see the frustration in Hoseok’s eyes, but his friend was good at putting up a good front and offering people beautiful smiles to cover up his pain.
The man’s attention eventually landed on a beautiful two-piece dark red-patterned suit, and because it was one of their most expensive pieces, Hoseok offered to make any necessary adjustments right then and there, which the man accepted with no hesitation.
“Thank you so much—Jimin, Hoseok.”
Mr. Fontaine was ready to go a little over an hour after he arrived. His bag was in his hand and his money in the boutique’s bank account— Jimin’s patience in the toilet and Hoseok’s sanity about to jump out the window.
“Thank you for the visit. Please, come back any time.” Jimin said politely, feeling Hoseok’s rage vibrating out of him.
“I think I will.” The man nodded. “I’ll be on my way—so much to do and such little time, like the Americans say.”
The two friends laughed together, ready for the man to leave but still keeping their composures.
Mr. Fontaine turned around and took a few steps toward the exit’s direction, but he stopped cold and turned back to look at Jimin. Hoseok must’ve been fearing that there was something else he wanted from them, and Jimin definitely felt sympathetic.
“Can’t believe I didn’t say this earlier, but—congratulations. Jeongguk and you make a lovely couple. I wish you all the best.” He gave both guys a fond, grateful smile, and he waited—he waited for Jimin to reply.
Jimin could feel his heart beating faster. He wasn’t a good liar—never had been, and he had managed to forget that the man still believed he was going to marry Jeongguk.
He tried his best, though. “Thank you. That means a lot to us.” He forced out another smile, and he could only hope that it seemed genuine and not like he was having an internal crisis.
“Okay, I’ll go now.” The guy turned around and started walking. And then he turned back one more time. “I do hope I’ll get to see photos of the wedding!”
With one forced nod and a nervous smile, he waved the man goodbye as he finally walked out of the store.
After that, Jimin let out a breath, feeling the tension in his shoulders finally liberated.
“Now I really need a drink,” Hoseok sighed loudly, getting Jimin’s attention. Jimin smiled sympathetically and followed him to the backroom when he started walking.
“Why didn’t I know you were marrying Jeongguk?” The guy asked once they were out of sight; each of them starting to pack up and gather all their things. Jimin could practically taste the teasing energy—like Hoseok knew what was going on. “I mean, I’m not surprised, but—”
Jimin huffed and pushed him by the arm. Hoseok barely stumbled and recovered quickly.
“I’m not.” Jimin slid his arms inside his coat. “Jeongguk just told that to Mr. Fontaine because he doesn’t trust single photographers —for the models’ safety— and Gguk really wants to work with him, so he made up that we were engaged.”
Hoseok pursed his lips together and stared at Jimin—like he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. “That kid is—sneaky.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Jimin laughed. “Ready?”
Hoseok packed up a few more things inside his bag with speed. “Yeah, ready”.
Jimin walked first; he opened the door to the backroom and stepped back into the store with Hoseok following behind him. He waited until his friend closed the door before they started making their way across the place.
“We’re leaving!” Hoseok yelled. “Call if you need anything, and if things slow down by seven, you can close up early.”
“If there’s children, hide the catalogues, please!” Jimin added to the instructions.
“Okay, sure.” Mason agreed with a smile. “Uh—Jimin?”
Jimin had to stop so he could give his attention to his employee. Hoseok stopped walking as well. “Yeah?”
“I didn’t know you were getting married.” Mason smiled greatly. “Congratulations.”
Jimin’s eyebrows went up to the sky, and he turned to look at Hoseok when the guy laughed, trying to keep himself on his feet.
“Oh, yeah, congratulations!” Olivia said after her co-worker with a nervous laugh.
Jimin didn’t want to have to explain the situation again; not when he was a few feet away from leaving a lot of hours of stressful work behind him. He breathed, and with the small smidge of prudence he had left, he spoke; “thank you.” Jimin smiled at them. “Have a good weekend.”
Hoseok continued to make fun of him for a while longer, but then they walked into the parking lot of the mall, and they each parted ways to get inside their own cars. Before they did, however, they talked about how they were meeting later.
Somehow, even though they hadn’t settled for a date or made any real plans to go out, the meeting with Mr. Fontaine had made the decision for them, and now they were both in need of a night out to eat and get drunk with their friends, which is why they decided to drive back to their apartments and leave their cars in the safety of their homes, and then they’d call their friends to open the invitation.
When Jimin arrived to his apartment complex, he slowed down mid-stairs when he heard loud noises coming from his apartment. It didn’t sound like anything scary nor alarming, so he quickly discarded the idea of calling the police. He rolled his eyes at himself and ran the rest of the way up to his apartment when he figured out what was really happening.
And yeah—
When he opened the door, he was met with Jeongguk, still wearing his baggy sweatpants, with his feet up on Jimin’s coffee table, his Play-Station remote control in his hands, and an empty bottle of wine resting on the other side of the couch. Jeongguk’s fingers were skillfully working quickly and his eyes were not even blinking as he continued to play his game.
Jimin closed the door behind him and kicked off his own shoes, hoping none of his neighbors would complain about the blasting music or the dramatic video-game noises coming from his apartment.
Walking on his socks, he walked straight to his couch and sat down next to Jeongguk, kicking his own feet on top of table.
“Are you still drunk?” He turned to look at the guy beside him.
Jeongguk huffed with a smile, and his eyes were still glued to the screen. “Not anymore.”
Jimin smiled, even if Jeongguk was too busy to look at him. He readjusted himself on his couch, and he dropped his head back with a heavy sigh, enjoying the sensation of his fluffy cushions hugging him and taking the tension away.
“What? Busy day?” Jeongguk asked.
“Chaotic.” Jimin answered simply.
“Did Mason jump the new girl?”
Jimin let out one breathy laugh. “Fortunately, no.”
“That’s good.” Jeongguk moved his fingers quickly to gain some advantage against his competitors inside the game. “Do you think he will?”
“No, not really,” Jimin replied lazily, stretching out his arms above him—letting one of his hands land behind Jeongguk’s head and run his fingers through his soft hair a couple times. He watched the way Jeongguk smiled at the touch, and Jimin unconsciously smiled as well. “He’s very respectful. He won’t do anything she doesn’t want him to. And he’s super shy, too—he barely speaks to her.”
“You should teach him how to flirt,” Jeongguk smiled suggestively. “You’re very good at it.”
“I’m not teaching my nineteen-year-old employee how to flirt with my eighteen-year-old other employee.”
“Just give them your golden rules.” Jeongguk pushed the same button repeatedly. “Step one; stare at them with soft but sensual eyes,” he started to tease him with a lower and breathier voice, and Jimin had already burst out laughing.
“Step two; smile softly and give them a compliment. ‘You look good with those pants,’”
“Once. I said that once.”
“Step three—take them home cause they’re already in love.” Jeongguk turned away from the screen and offered Jimin a small and cute smile, earning an embarrassed one from Jimin and a delicate slap on the thigh.
“Am I wrong?” Jeongguk asked while starting to log off the video-game and shutting everything off.
“I wouldn’t know,” Jimin tried to play it cool. “I haven’t used those golden rules in a very long time.”
“Mhm,” Jeongguk hummed.
The screen went black, and the guy stood up to put the control away, leaving everything messily in place. Jimin saw it but decided it didn’t matter—he’d fix it later. Without being able to move because he was too comfortable, he only let his eyes follow Jeongguk as he returned to the couch, sitting down with his back facing Jimin, a few inches of distance between them.
But Jimin knew what Jeongguk was going to do, so he placed one ankle on top of the other to make it easier for Jeongguk’s head to fall comfortably on his lap. The guy shifted and adjusted himself a couple times until he found the spot he liked, and then he let out a pleased sigh as he closed his eyes.
Jimin automatically moved his hand upward a little bit, and he started to play with Jeongguk’s hair—like he often did. Jimin understood the pleasure and the comfort of having his scalp scratched and his forehead caressed; feeling soft fingers slowly running against the skin, and he knew that Jeongguk loved it, too. Perhaps when Jimin touched Jeongguk’s head just a minute ago, he had given the guy a few ideas.
“Something interesting happened today,” Jimin started, his fingers traveling to touch Jeongguk’s forehead lightly, and then bringing them back to his hair.
“Yeah?” Jeongguk spoke lazily, with his eyes still closed.
“Mhm,” Jimin hummed as a response. “This guy came in and had us trying suits for him for over an hour.”
“That sucks.” His answer was still slow and quiet.
“He really was something,” he stroked Jeongguk’s hair specially firmly, but still careful—and Jimin thought he heard the younger gasping. “He congratulated me for my wedding.”
Jeongguk’s eyes opened slightly, looking a bit confused.
“Said we make a lovely couple.”
The younger’s head rolled up slightly, so he could look up at Jimin. “What?”
“Arthur Fontaine bought a suit at the boutique today, because he saw the name of the store in the photos we showed him—” Jeongguk’s eyes widened, and he started shifting on the couch, although not enough to leave his spot on Jimin’s lap.
“He wants to see photos of our wedding day.” Jimin nodded in amusement, still pulling on the guy’s hair softly.
Jeongguk pouted, but then he brought his hands to his face and growled. “I’m sorry. I feel so bad.”
Jimin didn’t say anything to him; he only continued to stroke his hair and to smile sympathetically. It wasn’t a big deal, really—not anymore. If anything, it was a funny story they’d get to tell later on.
“I thought about it when you were gone—I shouldn’t have done that—I’m sorry.” Jeongguk slid his hands down to his chest, making his pouty face visible again.
“No, it’s fine.” Jimin reassured him softly. “You had a good reason to, and it might work for you. It won’t kill me to play along whenever I see the guy—if I ever see him again.”
Jeongguk’s expression softened even more, and he stared at Jimin like that for a few seconds. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
“You’re the best. You know that?”
Jimin let out an amused breath. “I know that, thanks”. He gave him one final scratch at the top of his head, and then he took his other hand and slapped his thigh. “Now get up. We’re going out.”
Jeongguk caught Jimin’s hand to prevent it from hitting him again, refusing to get up.
“Where are we going?”
“Hoseok wants to try the wings buffet by Taehyung’s. Free refills.”
“Ah,” Jeongguk whined. “That sounds good.”
“Then get up.”
“But I have to shower, I didn’t shower today.”
“Then go shower, hurry up.”
“I’ll need to borrow your clothes.”
“You can grab whatever you want—your black jeans and your black cargo pants are in my closet, I found them in my laundry.”
“Great.”
Jeongguk smiled at him widely, and Jimin started to push him away from his lap because the guy wasn’t moving at all. “Okay, go! Take a shower!”
Jeongguk groaned a few times, turning his body rigid so Jimin would have a hard time getting him off his lap and off the couch, but he eventually gave in and stood up in the midst of their laughter. Jimin watched him walk away and into his bedroom as he continued to sit on his couch.
He brought his feet back to the ground, and then he left his seat to get his phone, which was inside the pocket of his coat. He unlocked it with one hand and his thumb directed him to his contact list, scrolling down a bit until he found Hoseok’s name. He tapped his friend’s contact and took the phone to his ear.
It rang a few times, and Jimin waited patiently.
“Jimin!” Hoseok’s voice came from the other side. “You ready?”
“Almost.” Jimin answered vaguely, because he still wanted to change his shirt and his shoes, and Jeongguk still had to get ready. “What did Namjoon say?”
“Oh, he already has one foot out the door,” Jimin laughed with his friend. “Taehyung asked me to call him when we’re heading over there, Seokjin was busy but said he’d call me back later, and I’m about to call Yoongi and Jeongguk.”
“Perfect.” Jimin paced around the living room. “Don’t call Jeongguk, I already told him—he’s getting ready.”
“Okay, awesome. Then you call Yoongi and I’ll wait for Seokjin to call me back. I say we meet there in an hour, so we can still get a good table.”
“Okay, yeah, that sounds good.” Jimin heard the water from his shower running, so he made his way to his bedroom. “Talk to you later, then.”
After hanging up with Hoseok, he called Yoongi, as he’d been told, putting the call on speaker as he rested the phone on top of his drawers inside his closet so he could get changed.
While he spoke to Yoongi, whose voice sounded like he had just woken up from a two-hour nap, he roamed around his closet, going through his clothes, and decided what to wear for the night. They weren’t doing anything fancy at all—if anything, they were headed for a potential disaster of sauces and oil stains, so Jimin decided to go with something casual. His first option had been his well-trusted white T-shirt that he knew always looked good on him, but then he thought—maybe a black one would be better. At least that way, if he were to drop wing sauce on himself, it wouldn’t be too noticeable. He grabbed his white sneakers and put them aside so he could wear them later, and he finally chose one of his denim jackets to go with the whole outfit.
Jimin sat down on the edge of his bed, and a short while after he started texting Taehyung, Jeongguk made it out of the shower. He walked across the bedroom, only wearing Jimin’s white towel around his waist as he made his way to Jimin’s closet.
Jimin also took the opportunity to stare at his friend’s naked torso with no shame, knowing that if the roles were reversed, Jeongguk would be doing the exact same thing—because they had long ago established that yes, they were both beautiful and hot—and yes, it was difficult to look away—and no, neither of them was uncomfortable with the other’s eyes on them. So, there was one of their agreements.
Jeongguk asked about the arrangement of their outing—who was going, were they taking a taxi or were they calling an uber? Help me find a shirt that goes with these pants.
After they were both fully dressed and ready to go, they closed the door of Jimin’s apartment and he locked it, making sure if was safely sealed before they left. They waited next to the tall, nicely-cared-for magnolia tree that everyone always used as reference, keeping an eye out for when their uber arrived to pick them up. Jimin had been looking down at his phone to check on the driver’s route the whole time, anyway.
By the time they arrived, Hoseok and Namjoon were already outside the place, waiting for whoever arrived first while publicly making out in front of the rest of the people who wanted to walk through the doors, but Jimin knew they were beyond the point of caring or feeling ashamed, so not even a few stares would make them break apart from each other—not like they’d notice, either way.
Jimin and Jeongguk stepped out of the car, thanked the driver and made their way to their friends. Before the couple noticed them, Jeongguk left Jimin’s side and sprinted toward Namjoon and Hoseok, interrupting their moment by wrapping his arms around the both of them.
Jimin laughed to himself as he continued to walk, watching as Namjoon and Hoseok hugged Jeongguk back. He was definitely not the shy teenager who got flustered at everything, but he was still treated like the same child he had been when they met.
“Should we get a table?” Namjoon asked when Jimin met up with the three of them. “Or do we wait until we’re all here?”
“I’ll text Taehyung.”
They watched the older guy for a while as his quick fingers started typing.
Namjoon raised his hand and placed it on Jeongguk’s shoulder, gripping tightly. “I have a job for you, if you’re interested.”
Jeongguk threw him a calculated smile, probably knowing that a work offer from Namjoon could either be—fun and entertaining, or a total joke. Jimin remembered the first time Namjoon asked Jeongguk to work with him because the photographer that the family he was planning an event for quit on them a few days before, and Jeongguk had been so excited that he hadn’t been able to sleep that night, but he was utterly disappointed when he arrived and he saw a makeshift photobooth and a digital camera already set on a tripod. Jeongguk had sat down for five hours, clicking on one single button and nothing else. The guy had been devastated.
But there had been that other time—where a very nice couple that Namjoon was working with told him they wanted to have two couple photoshoots; one where they acted cute and lovey-dovey in front of a railway station like most couples did, and another—more intimate one. However, they’d had issues finding a photographer who would do both, and Namjoon told them he’d ask someone he knew to see what he thought.
If Jeongguk had been excited and ecstatic before the photoshoot, it was nothing compared with the buzz raging out of him after they were done.
“Tell me what it is first,” Jeongguk laughed.
“A couple with their one-year-old. They want a small photo session and someone to photograph the birthday party.”
“A birthday party for their one-year-old?”
Namjoon nodded knowingly.
“How is the baby going to enjoy that party?”
“She’s probably going to be asleep for the most part. We all know it’s a party for the parents, not the baby.”
“To celebrate one year of pain!” Jeongguk ironically jumped with excitement.
“Yeah!” Namjoon laughed with the rest of them. Hoseok was still looking down at his phone but was clearly listening—always good at multitasking. “What do you think?”
“When is it?” Jeongguk asked, not sounding very convinced.
“Next month, in June.”
Jimin watched as Jeongguk’s lips turned into a faint smile. “Ah, I don’t know—maybe.” He looked down at the ground for a second, but then he brought back his eyes to Namjoon. “I could have a big gig next month, but I don’t know yet.”
Namjoon’s eyes shot up. “Really? Wow, that’s great.”
“And you’ll never know what he had to do to even stand a chance,” Hoseok intervened, grinning widely while keeping his phone back inside his back pocket. “Taehyung says we should ask for a table and save them their spots.”
The four of them walked inside, all while Hoseok revealed Jeongguk’s master plan. Namjoon had been more than confused in the beginning, but after Jeongguk explained what had happened, he actually thought it was hilarious.
As soon as they sat down at their assigned table, taking the time to take in how busy and packed the place was, a waiter rushed in and asked if they wanted to look at the menu or if they knew what they wanted to order. None of them had been there before, so perhaps looking at the menu would be the best choice—
—which is why they didn’t. Hoseok told the waiter that they were fine and asked for seven wing buffets.
Yoongi was the first one to arrive. He greeted everyone and sat down—plenty pleased that they had already ordered and the food would be arriving shortly. Seokjin didn’t take much longer. He rushed into the place and apologized for being late, looking around and asking where Taehyung was.
“I thought you’d order the spicy ones,” Jeongguk told Jimin. He took one boneless wing from his plate as soon as the waiter put it down on the table.
“I thought about it,” Jimin started eating, too. “But if I’m drinking, it’s not a good combination for me.”
After almost an hour of drinking, eating, talking and laughing, Taehyung finally showed up. Everybody booed him despite the stares some people gave them, and the younger approached his friends, looking like he was doing the walk of shame.
“Don’t tell me I’m the last one to arrive.”
“Taehyung! You live like five minutes away!”
The guy sat down between Yoongi and Seokjin, eating from both of their plates as he waved for a waiter to pay attention to him, because his own plate had been long ago eaten by the rest of the guys.
It was easy after that—easy to feel relaxed and lose track of time in the presence of his friends, and—in a way, the people he cared for the most. Although he loved his profession and the career path he had chosen for himself, it still felt like just work sometimes. He did get to find release every so often and get his mind off how routinary his life was slowly becoming, but finding the time to be with his friends while allowing themselves to act like the dumbasses they really were—that was one of the times when Jimin felt the happiest.
There always came a point where they would burst out laughing after solely staring at each other, and that night hadn’t been the exception. Something about each other’s faces seemed to be overly amusing and they couldn’t keep it in.
They ordered round after round—passing the tipsy stage and entering a drunk phase. However, they decided to call it a night and head home before they could reach the wasted point. Jimin didn’t mind it if he ended up at that level; as long as he was still able to find his way home somehow, everything else was acceptable.
Taehyung asked if somebody needed to crash with him, since he lived so close and they could make it over there safely; to which Yoongi and Seokjin accepted the offer. Namjoon and Hoseok helped each other get into their own cab, and Jeongguk —didn’t ask, he informed— Jimin that he’d stay with him for the night.
“You’ve been at my place all day. It’d be irresponsible of you if you went home right now.”
Jimin told Jeongguk that he was going to shower before going to sleep, already taking off his clothes and—noticing that he had still been wearing Jeongguk’s ring. He slid it off his finger and left it on his nightstand, not wanting to risk losing it somewhere in his bathroom; all while Jeongguk dropped his whole clothed body on top of Jimin’s bed. He reminded him that he needed to take his clothes off before going to bed, and Jeongguk just hummed without moving a single muscle.
Nonetheless, after Jimin came out of the bathroom already wearing his boxer-briefs, not bothering with actual pajamas since the nights were pretty hot at that time of year, he found Jeongguk lying in the exact same position he had been in when Jimin went into the shower. Without saying a word, he walked over to his bed, and with only a light amount of force, he lifted his arm and dropped it, smacking the guy’s ass. “Get up,”
Jeongguk only grunted in response.
“Are you not going to brush your teeth?”
“Mh-mh,”
“Go wash your face,”
“Mmmmh,”
“You won’t sleep in my bed if you’re wearing all your clothes,”
Jeongguk whined. And he was still not moving.
Jimin stood on the guy’s side—he placed his hands on his side and used them to push Jeongguk, rolling him over until he was facing the ceiling with his eyes still closed. Jeongguk let him do it pretty easily, without resisting nor putting up a fight.
“Do you want to sleep on the couch?” Jimin asked him in a scolding tone.
Jeongguk didn’t open his eyes, but his lips turned into a cute pout as he answered; “no.”
“Then clothes off.”
Jimin knew Jeongguk wasn’t going to get undressed on his own, so he took the liberty to help him out—one final thing they had to do before they could finally crash for the night and wake up into a beautifully relaxing weekend.
Jeongguk hummed in affirmation when Jimin started unbuttoning his own shirt off the younger’s chest. His fingers worked carefully, one by one until his shirt was fully open. He slid the fabric off his shoulders, and he had to pull on Jeongguk’s wrist to make him sit up and take the shirt off.
After leaving it on the side of his bed, Jimin reached out and continued to unzip Jeongguk’s pants, which if Jeongguk managed to forget one more time in Jimin’s bedroom, they would end up in his laundry basket once again. He carefully got rid of his pants, pulling from the legs after sliding them off his hips.
He set the pants away as well, and then he easily gripped the guy’s socks, which were also Jimin’s, and let them fall on the ground after he took them off.
Jimin grabbed Jeongguk’s clothes and stood up to leave them somewhere that wasn’t the plain floor and he’d be able to find them easily. He came back to his bed and pulled the blankets off one side only, because Jeongguk was still lying like a starfish on the other.
“Come on, get in,” Jimin started pushing Jeongguk’s dead weight to the other side, where the blankets were open, waiting for him. Fortunately, Jeongguk somewhat complied and started dragging himself to that side, with Jimin pushing him and pulling the blankets from underneath so Jeongguk could lay on the exposed side and be able to wrap himself up with the covers if he wanted to.
Jeongguk sighed and started shifting around the bed, getting comfortable while he hugged one of Jimin’s pillows, finding a spot where he’d feel complacent to stop fidgeting. As Jimin slid into the covers of his own bed, he noticed the moment Jeongguk settled down, and the slow rising of his shoulders told him that he was probably already asleep.
And when Jimin’s head touched his pillows, he felt the weight of a heavy sleep crashing down on him right away, and it didn’t take long for him to stop feeling any consciousness altogether and fall asleep as well.
⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯
Jimin woke up to the fresh air of the morning through his bedroom’s open window. The headache was pretty instant—pounding his head insistently at the sight of the morning light.
Those were the moments when Jimin wanted to swear off drinking forever, because the discomfort of a hangover was so persistent that it didn’t feel worth the hassle, knowing that it would probably get worse through his morning. Of course, he’d forget all about it by the next time he was out, but for the moment, it was hell.
He rolled on the bed with an arm over his eyes, hating the way he felt. He was already thinking about going into his kitchen and taking a blowfish to ease the growing hangover, but he’d need to get up for that —and walk—, and he hated that thought, too.
He spread out across the sheets of his bed, as if the movement of his arms and legs would make him feel better—and that’s when he noticed that Jeongguk wasn’t there with him. He turned to look at the side, where he had put Jeongguk’s clothes the night before, only to find them there—exactly where he’d placed them; so, either Jeongguk was still somewhere in his apartment, or he’d stolen clean clothes from Jimin and left. None of those would be the first time that they happened, so he considered both to be possible.
But he knew that Jeongguk was still there, because after a while of lying on his bed wishing the headache away, he heard the sound of his voice coming from his living room, along with the sound of the door and someone else’s voice.
With more curiosity than pain, Jimin dragged himself out of bed, and without bothering to put any clothes on, he opened the room to his bedroom and walked outside. A few steps later, he met with Jeongguk, likewise only wearing his underwear, staring down at the white plastic bag on top of the kitchen counter and taking out the food containers.
“What is that?”
Jeongguk turned to look at him—his hair was a mess, his morning face still a little puffy. “I ordered breakfast when I woke up, because I feel like shit.”
Jimin huffed. “I feel like shit, too.”
Jeongguk continued to take the food out, and Jimin forced his feet to walk over to the cabinets, opened the little door and grabbed two cups. He reached out for another cabinet and took his box of blowfish packages.
“Do you have a headache, too?” Jimin asked as he filled the cups with water.
“I feel like my head is being squeezed by two very large hands.”
“It’s not my hands, then.” He dropped two tablets inside each cup, listening to Jeongguk laughing in pain. Jimin handed him one of the two cups.
“Thank you.”
Jeongguk accepted the drink from Jimin’s hand, and then he sat down on one of the stools of Jimin’s kitchen’s counters. Jimin followed suit.
“Thanks for the food,” Jimin didn’t particularly love the smell of food when he was painfully hangover, but he knew it always helped.
Jeongguk hummed while already taking the first bite. “I used your card.”
Jimin huffed.
“Of course.”
They ate slowly, feeling like they wouldn’t handle it well if they went too fast. They drank their blowfish and talked lightly while they waited for the headache to subside. After breakfast, they washed their dishes together and put everything in order. They got dressed, Jeongguk definitely scratching the clothes he wore the night before because they smelled like alcohol. Instead, he went for the other pants that belonged to him but were clean and folded inside Jimin’s closet. Then, they went to the living room and sat down in front of the TV. It took them about ten minutes to choose something to watch, but they eventually decided for one of the comedy movies they had already watched many times.
They let the lazy and quiet morning fix them up as best as it could.
“Do you have plans today?” Jeongguk asked when the credits of their movie started rolling.
“Yeah, my plan is to stay on this couch all day.” Jimin answered as he stretched his arms.
“Okay, scratch that,” Jeongguk shifted on the couch, changing his position and sitting closer to Jimin. “Come to my apartment today.”
Jimin took his time to decipher the look on his friend’s face. There was that small smile, shiny eyes and a slightly suggestive wave of energy radiating from him—like he had an idea in mind.
“What for?”
Jeongguk’s smile grew wider. “I want to take photos of you today.”
Jimin was only surprised for a couple seconds. Because he wasn’t, really. He already knew that Jeongguk usually got flashes of inspiration very randomly and out of the blue; and Jimin was Jeongguk’s favorite model, after all.
“Photos as in—” Jimin started, not quite discarding Jeongguk’s idea just yet. “Me posing in front of the sun and looking pretty for your Instagram page? Or—”
The way Jeongguk’s smile turned to the side mischievously was already an answer for Jimin—the kind of photos Jeongguk was talking about, but he still continued to ask; “you taking photos that are not polite—for your Instagram page?”
“Yeah, I was thinking about that kind of photos.”
Jimin only laughed because Jeongguk had thrown in his shy, bunny smile at him. And it wasn’t like Jimin was going to say no, anyway.
“Okay.” Jimin smiled, and then he sighed while contemplating that he had to get up, looking down at his feet. “I have to shower.” He rolled his head over the backrest of his couch to look at his friend, who had been staring at him with his smile still there.
“Can I come in with you?” The guy rolled his hair back onto the couch as well.
Jimin looked at his lazy eyes.
“Yes,” he stared quietly for a while longer. “You’ll have to carry me,”
Jeongguk laughed as Jimin lifted his arms into the air wearily while pouting as well.
“Done.” Jeongguk sprung to his feet, and much to Jimin’s comfort, the younger slid his hands underneath Jimin’s body, one hand on his back and the other under his knees, and carried him to the bathroom with ease.
“Can you help me get rid of the coffee table, please?” Jeongguk asked him as soon as they closed the door to Jeongguk’s apartment behind them. Jeongguk was already rushing into his bedroom, running fueled by a sudden splash of inspiration. “I’ll start setting everything up.”
Jimin smiled at his friend and did as told. They’d spent the whole ten minutes in Jimin’s car on their way to Jeongguk’s apartment talking about what they could do for their impromptu photoshoot. Jeongguk said from the beginning that he wanted to capture the essence of the lazy, comfortable and laid-back Saturday they’d woken up to, and Jeongguk had brainstormed ideas for how to set it up, asking Jimin what he thought.
Jimin grabbed the coffee table with both hands and started to pull on it to set it aside from the living room. After dragging it all the way to the opposite wall, Jeongguk appeared next to him with a few blankets and duvets folded on his arms, and he offered them to Jimin, who took half of them and accepted them with no question. “Let’s spread these around the floor, and then I’ll put pillows scattered on top.”
“Do you want them looking lean and organized, or—?”
“More like—spread out but looking messy, like they’ve been slept on.”
Jimin started to stretch one of the blankets onto the floor. “Slept on by you? So like—twisted and rolled up?”
Jeongguk let out a huff and a laugh as he worked with another blanket. “No, not like that.”
Jimin helped the guy set everything up, watching him as he knelt on the floor and stared carefully at the mess of blankets in his living room, trying to decide if it was good enough like that. Jimin knew what his concentration face looked like; widened eyes and a small, involuntary pout on his lips; barely blinking and muttering to himself.
“What do you think?” Jeongguk turned to look at him. Jimin looked down at the ground. The carpet of Jeongguk’s living room wasn’t visible anymore, and the way that the different-colored blankets were scrunched up in some areas, but still spread out across the whole area really did look like a cozy invitation for a lazy Saturday. He almost laid down and asked Jeongguk to take a nap with him instead.
But he didn’t. Because he was also looking forward to helping Jeongguk with his improvised project.
“It’s good. I think this is fine.”
Jeongguk breathed out loudly once. “Okay.” He stood up. “Now the pillows. I think they should just go around, and we can arrange them later depending on the shot,”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
They spent the next ten minutes throwing pillows and cushions around the floor and over the blankets, keeping in mind that it really didn’t matter where they were, since they would change and fix them up along the way. Jeongguk asked Jimin to sit on the couch while he set up his camera and took a few test shots to check how the lightning of the room worked, or if they’d need to change it up more.
Jimin had asked Jeongguk what he should wear for the photos before they left his apartment, but Jeongguk had given him an impish, playful smile, and said that it wouldn’t matter, in the end.
“I’m all set.” Jeongguk called while he looked down at the last test photo he had taken. “You ready?”
“Ready.”
“Let’s start on the couch, okay? And then we’ll move down to the floor.”
Jimin nodded, recognizing the strength and confidence in Jeongguk’s voice as he assumed his role; saying what he wanted and speaking his mind out loud like the artist he was; commanding his art to be assembled the way he needed.
“Put your head down, don’t look at me—yeah, like that—bring your leg up—your arm, yeah—exactly like that.”
Jimin heard the sound of the camera shutter again, letting it build his confidence up while he started to grow more comfortable with the camera.
“Now, look at me.”
Jimin did. He knew that when Jeongguk asked him to look at him while taking photos meant to look at the camera, and Jimin always interpreted it as if Jeongguk felt like his camera and him became one when he started to work it.
“I love that.” Jeongguk praised him with a smile when Jimin pulled a rehearsed look, which made him break character and bust a laugh. He was surprised then he heard Jeongguk taking another photo, because he hadn’t really been posing—but he didn’t comment on it; wasn’t going to question Jeongguk’s process. After all, that was Jeongguk’s art, and Jimin was just the compelling subject.
After a few more photos like that, Jeongguk asked Jimin to slide down and sit on the floor they’d carefully decorated. At first, he simply sat down with his legs stretched forward while his back rested on the couch, and he followed Jeongguk’s directions before each photograph he took.
“Bring your arms forward, put your hands on the floor—the other one on top, yeah.”
“Look to the side and look down, please.”
“Look at me, give me that smile I love so much.”
“Put your arms behind you and lean back, please.”
“Now—throw your head back and close your eyes—yeah, that’s perfect.”
“Okay, now look down to your chest—” Jeongguk took a step closer and moved to the side, changing his angle. “—and I want you to start unbuttoning your shirt—just the top button—go slow.”
Jimin obliged without saying a single word. He reached down and brought the fingers of both his hands down to his top button, careful not to make any rushed and quick movements that would keep the guy from taking a clean shot.
“Jimin, that’s perfect—” Jeongguk took a few photos and smiled behind the camera. “Hold it open like that—yeah, just like that.”
“Okay—now I want you to slowly unbutton the rest, but I need you to look at me while you do it. Is that okay?”
Jimin gave him one tiny smile and gave him a soft nod to let Jeongguk know that he was going to begin. He brought his own hands back down to his shirt and started to work on his buttons, all while looking at Jeongguk’s camera with a serious, but sensual and relaxed expression—turning his head slowly to the sides and parting his lips on a few occasions.
He knew what it did to Jeongguk.
He knew he wasn’t just seducing the camera for the sake of a nice and sensual photoshoot. He was also looking to charm the photographer, like he was secretly begging for.
Neither of them spoke during the time it took Jimin to open up his whole shirt. The only sound that was heard was the shutter of the camera and the quiet clicking of Jimin’s fingernails around the buttons. Jimin focused, and he never took his eyes off Jeongguk’s camera. Not even once.
“That was honestly really hot.” Jeongguk said softly, causing Jimin to smirk.
“Did you get good photos of it?”
Jimin watched as Jeongguk opened his mouth slightly to reply, but he shut his lips back together after a nervous laugh.
Jimin felt a sense of satisfaction at the flustered response.
“Yeah—I got them.”
The rest of the shoot was more of the same. Jeongguk gave Jimin directions and Jimin delivered the best he could; always keeping in mind that acting the way he did was causing a reaction from Jeongguk.
Because it wasn’t a professional session. Jeongguk wasn’t supposed to keep his cool, because Jimin was not paying Jimin to take his photos, and Jeongguk wasn’t paying Jimin, either. So, if Jimin wanted to push Jeongguk by delivering slow movements, exposing his neck and caressing his own skin while parting his lips and closing his eyes—he could do it. He could shamelessly provoke Jeongguk because there was no professionalism barrier between them. There never was.
Jeongguk asked him to take off his pants the same way he had opened up his shirt—slow and carefully, but that time he didn’t ask him to look at the camera, and Jimin tried his best to do it smoothly and the best way he could, because taking off his pants while sitting down was a little bit more challenging that doing it standing up.
When Jimin was left with his underwear and his flannel shirt open, but still around his shoulders, Jeongguk stepped out of the safety of the camera zone, and he joined Jimin on the blankets to start playing with the position of the pillows. He’d said he didn’t want Jimin to take off anything else, and that now they’d just play around with different poses.
And Jimin continued to enjoy the way Jeongguk seemed to fluster and lose his focus more than a couple times, but he didn’t say anything—he didn’t use his voice that much. He only allowed his body and his face to do the work for him.
He knew it was enough to get Jeongguk where he wanted him.
“Do you think I could use some of these?”
“Use them for what?”
“For my other portfolio.”
Jimin only gave him a side smile, looking up at him.
“Can I see them?” He asked Jeongguk, who had been standing on the blankets, staring down at his camera and clicking slowly to look at the next picture. Jeongguk always did that—he always stared at Jimin’s photographs and smiled, all while keeping them to himself. Jimin always took it as a compliment—a nice stroke to his ego as he watched Jeongguk’s expression.
“They’re very nice.” Jeongguk walked the couple steps he needed to reach Jimin.
He lifted up his arms to take Jeongguk’s camera, since he was still sitting down on the sea of blankets, duvets and pillows. He gripped the camera with both hands, knowing it was heavier than it looked, and stared at the first photo on display—the one Jeongguk had been staring at.
There he was, most of his skin exposed with his flannel hanging loosely down his arms. One of his legs was bent upward to his chest, his arm resting on it while he lightly bit one of his fingers. He had such a serene yet strong expression in his face, looking like he was trying to seduce the man behind the camera by knowing he didn’t have to do much.
He looked at the next photo—contemplated his own body and the sensual softness in his eyes. He skipped to the next one and stared at the smoothness of his skin—appreciating every part of his improvised work as a model.
Next photo, and he felt Jeongguk sitting down behind him.
By the next one, Jeongguk was shifting and pulling himself closer. Jimin’s body welcomed Jeongguk’s warmth and strength that came with the contact of his skin on his, and he couldn’t help but lean into his touch.
Next one, and Jeongguk’s left hand slid behind him, settling on Jimin’s hip and gripping tightly.
“These aren’t just nice,” Jimin spoke softly. “They’re some of your best, I think.”
Jeongguk’s right hand found its way onto his back, slowly—carefully caressing his skin.
“You were really good.”
Jimin let out a single breathy laugh, and he felt Jeongguk’s smile touching his skin, as he pressed his lips on his upper back, just underneath his shoulder.
Jimin was already feeling lighter—like he needed to breathe in deeper if he wanted to stay alert. Jeongguk’s hot breath against him was more provoking than he could understand.
“You can use them if you want to.”
He pressed the button to pass to the next photo, and Jeongguk’s hand slid down his back, and his large, warm palm started caressing the length of Jimin’s thigh—shamelessly going up and down, and the higher Jeongguk went—the slower he brushed his hand against his skin, the harder it was for Jimin to keep his cool—
“Or maybe I’ll keep them to myself.”
—he’d been trying, but when Jeongguk’s other hand made its way to touch the low of his stomach, strongly holding him—Jimin couldn’t keep the breathy moan inside his throat—it was out in the open for Jeongguk to hear.
And it had been all that the guy needed.
“Can I touch you?” The guy spoke in his ear, and Jimin was not going to refuse, because there was nothing that he wanted more in that inciting moment.
“Yes, please.” Jimin replied with more breath than voice.
Although he couldn’t see him directly, he could feel Jeongguk’s smug smile widening victoriously, and it only made Jimin return the same smile, carefully leaving Jeongguk’s camera on the side.
Jeongguk’s hand touched him over his underwear first—moving around the already-existing hardness inside them. He gripped his bulge and squeezed lightly a few times, insistently touching the fabric with strength—and the touch had been warm, addictive, inflaming, familiar—
“Touch me,” Jimin spoke, getting impatient because he knew he could be feeling more. He trusted that Jeongguk could make him feel more.
Jeongguk always complied.
His soft hand ran upward. He held the elastic of Jimin’s underwear and lifted it just a little bit, enough for his hand to be able to come inside and confidently grip his cock. Jimin gasped at the sudden contact, because the feeling of another hand on himself that wasn’t his own was always surprising. Even Jeongguk’s—the person who touched him the most.
Jeongguk stroked him a few times inside his underwear, working slowly but with determination and sending instant butterflies to his stomach. Jeongguk held Jimin’s cock and pulled it out, moving his briefs down just a bit to give them both more space, and he continued to stroke him up and down.
Jimin’s breathing became heavier and louder, but it wasn’t something he could control. It was a thrilling sensation to have Jeongguk’s thumb rubbing the tip of his cock every time his hand came up while his other hand gripped his hip tightly. Just by doing that, Jimin was feeling hot—everywhere. His legs kept trying to find support from all the sensations going around his body; his arms trembled and his head was becoming numb—unable to focus on anything else than the way Jeongguk was touching him.
“Does it feel good?” Jeongguk asked the moment Jimin’s head rolled back and landed on his shoulder.
Jimin swallowed and tried to nod with his mouth falling open despite his attempts to keep it closed. “Really good.” He breathed out and allowed a small, whispery moan escape his lips.
He sensed Jeongguk’s smile once again as he continued to jerk him off with a steady rhythm that made his blood go crazy. “I like making you feel good.”
Jimin laughed with another breath, and another moan left his mouth—louder and longer.
They stayed like that for a short while—perhaps no more than a minute. Jimin realized his breaths were all completely audible, and his moans were more continuous and harder to control. He was reaching a dangerous point where he was close to losing all restraints and handing himself to Jeongguk completely—
—and Jeongguk started pumping faster, gripping more tightly, and Jimin had to leave Jeongguk’s shoulder and lean forward in an attempt to control the insane bundle of sensations starting to appear inside his stomach.
“Stop, stop—stop,” Jimin whimpered and lightly smacked Jeongguk’s tight with the little force he could gather.
Jeongguk stopped stroking him immediately, although his hand was still there—at the base of his cock without wanting to let go.
“What’s wrong?” Jeongguk asked, staring at him from the side.
“I—I don’t want to come yet,” Jimin breathed out, trying to force himself to regain his composure—but Jeongguk always left him a mess, and it was a harder task than he liked to admit.
Jimin scooted forward on the blankets and released himself from Jeongguk’s hands, painfully so, dramatically missing the warmth of his body as he turned around to look at the guy.
He locked eyes with the younger, whose dark, wide eyes were searching for his through their shared arousal. Jimin looked down to his sweatpants—Jeongguk was definitely hard. He’d been able to feel it behind him, but seeing it was even better.
“Do you have a condom?” Jimin asked after a few more breaths. “Do you want to—?”
Jeongguk’s eyes widened immediately, and his hands were already pushing on the floor—getting ready to get up his feet.
“For real?”
Jimin thought the impatience in Jeongguk’s face was almost endearing, but completely motivating as well. Jimin knew that Jeongguk wanted him like a mad man—just as much as Jimin wanted him. He nodded quickly and breathed out a smile.
“Yeah, okay,” the guy quickly stood up, almost tripping over himself but managing to keep his balance. “Stay here.”
Jeongguk left his living room with Jimin still sitting over many blankets of different colors and an abundance of pillows and cushions that didn’t belong to the same set. His cock was still out and silently begging for attention against his stomach, and Jimin himself—slowly catching his breath but feeling an insistent amount of neediness—the thought of having sex with Jeongguk being always so inviting.
The guy sprinted back to the living room, suddenly without his shirt, but now with a condom and a bottle of lube in one hand, and he quickly put them down, next to Jimin.
“Take your pants off,” Jimin demanded as he himself started to strip off the little remaining clothes he had left. He slid his briefs down his legs and put them away—not really seeing where they fell because the sight of Jeongguk’s impatient hands getting rid of his jeans and his own boxers altogether was emotionally captivating. He finally dropped the flannel that was clinging to his arms and threw it somewhere into the living room.
When Jeongguk was completely naked, he sat down in front of Jimin, both of them scooting forward until they met somewhere in the middle.
Jimin stared at Jeongguk as he gasped at the sole sight of him. “I want this so bad,”
“I know you do,” Jimin spoke as he grabbed Jeongguk’s legs and used them as support to adjust himself around the guy. “I want this, too.”
“Let me,” Jeongguk lifted his right leg, bending it at the knee and using it as support to pull himself closer and scoot toward Jimin until their bodies were practically touching. His left leg was around Jimin, but still on the floor, because he was planning on bringing both of Jimin’s legs on top, and Jimin knew, recognizing the way his hands and his brain worked before he even touched him.
He then took Jimin’s left leg, and he lifted it a little, letting it fall on top of his own while Jimin wrapped his other leg around the guy, making a tangled web of limbs, but it felt like the perfect position for Jeongguk to have better access.
Jimin grabbed the bottle of lube, and Jeongguk lifted his hand to accept a generous amount. He then proceeded to spread it around his fingers, rubbing his hands together for a painfully long time.
“What? I don’t want it to be so cold.” Jeongguk laughed when he looked at Jimin staring him down. He didn’t know what kind of face he’d been making, but he knew the guy had been able to read his impatience.
“That’s sweet,” Jimin wrapped an arm around Jeongguk’s shoulders. “But just do it already.”
Jeongguk smiled at him and did as told.
His right hand bent down, and without breaking eye contact, Jimin felt the strong tip of Jeongguk’s finger caressing his hole—which had him practically sweating in anticipation. The simple touch alone was already sending gentle shivers up his body, and Jeongguk took his quick gasp as a sign that he could start.
Jeongguk’s finger slowly slid inside him, and Jimin continued to gasp a few more times. The intrusion had made his body feel alert, but he was also overwhelmed with a delicious sensation of his physical emptiness being taken care of.
“Good?”
Jimin had to swallow again, bringing himself to feel more in control of his own body, and he nodded confidently. “Yeah, I’m good.”
With confirmation, Jeongguk started the thrust his single finger into Jimin, careful not to stimulate him too much because he knew Jimin didn’t like to be at a disadvantage.
Jimin was grateful he was having sex with someone who knew him so well.
Jeongguk started moving his finger in smooth and careful circles, and Jimin knew that he did it to get an idea of how stretched Jimin already was.
When Jeongguk slid his second finger, Jimin had to grip Jeongguk’s shoulders more tightly, and the first few thrusts had him gasping for air and trying to catch his own thoughts—but Jeongguk knew how to relax him with the touch of his other hand against whatever skin he could find.
He moaned at the way Jeongguk’s fingers brushed against his prostate, feeling a rush of electricity inside all of him, and a few more relentless moans came out when Jeongguk continued to purposely rub against that spot.
“Stop it,” Jimin smacked his shoulder lightly, laughing in the middle of a few gasps.
Jeongguk laughed shily at him—and it was a dangerous combination for Jimin. He didn’t handle it well when Jeongguk looked cute and adorable while radiating sex from every corner of his body. “I like hearing you moan,”
“Later,” Jimin breathed out.
Jeongguk stopped teasing him and settled for scissoring his two fingers inside Jimin, opening him up slowly.
Eventually, when Jimin was starting to feel tired of holding himself back, he asked Jeongguk for a third finger, and when he gave it to him, that was when Jimin started moaning uncontrollably.
He wasn’t going to lie—it was a little painful. It always was. But it was the trust and the promise that Jeongguk’s cock was worth it that made him push through it easily. He’d learned to embrace it, making the slight sting be a part of the experience.
Not every man was worth it.
Jeongguk was.
Besides, whenever Jimin fucked him, he kept the same thing in mind as well, and he’d always make it a goal to try to reduce the pain as much as he could to ensure that Jeongguk could become a happy mess in his arms like he loved to do.
When Jimin felt like he was ready, he let Jeongguk continue fucking him with his fingers as he reached out for the condom next to them. Jeongguk watched him do it and grinned with approval.
“I’m ready,” Jimin breathed out as he carefully opened the small package with his fingers. He took the condom out of the bag and aligned it over Jeongguk’s cock. Then, he started rolling it down, loving the way Jeongguk moaned as he barely touched him.
The guy’s fingers slid out of Jimin, and Jimin tried not to focus too much on the emptiness inside him as he poured some more lube on his hands and stroked Jeongguk’s cock a few more times, savoring the younger’s moans one by one.
“Ready?” Jimin asked with his chest rising strongly.
Jeongguk’s head was rolling back and his mouth was hanging wide open, letting out a series of pretty moans as Jimin stroked him, trying to ease the disadvantage he was in by working Jeongguk up.
“Yes, yes, I’m ready.” Jeongguk breathed out.
Jimin scooted forward a little more. He lifted himself up, one arm around Jeongguk’s shoulders securely, and the other gripping the guy’s leg for support.
Slowly, he situated himself on top of Jeongguk’s hard cock, searching for the perfect spot where he could smoothly come down to take him. As he did, Jeongguk held Jimin tightly by the waist—both of his arms wrapped completely around his torso. Jimin loved the way both their moans harmonized while Jimin slid down to take him entirely.
When he could sit down comfortably on Jeongguk, both of their grips loosened up as they caught their breaths. Jimin saw Jeongguk’s smile as Jimin panted a few times.
He felt Jeongguk’s hand slide against his forehead, tucking in stray pieces of his dark hair behind his ear, even when some of them just came right back to his face. Jimin pulled apart a bit when he felt like his breathing had evened out, and he did the same to Jeongguk, grabbing his head with both of his hands and running his fingers through the guy’s long hair, combing it back and behind his ears with loud breaths serenading the moment.
“Kiss me. Please, kiss me,” Jeongguk’s voice came out as an insistent whisper, and Jimin had to lean in and capture Jeongguk’s lips in his like there was not another viable choice.
It was safe to say that Jeongguk never called him baby. They didn’t call each other that.
He never held him by the waist. Never in public.
He never kissed his cheek. He kissed his lips, and only when they were having sex.
Jimin and Jeongguk proceeded to devour each other’s mouths in a sloppy kiss, because in that moment—it didn’t matter how clumsy and carelessly their lips and tongues met with each other, they just needed to feel one another’s presence, and that was one of Jimin’s favorite parts—when they kissed that way because they couldn’t handle how overwhelmed with arousal they made each other feel.
Jimin didn’t warn him—he lifted his hips upward, and brought them back down slowly, wrapping the tightness of Jimin’s ring along Jeongguk’s cock.
Jimin swallowed Jeongguk’s moan inside their kiss, welcoming the pleasure of having his large hands roaming all over him.
And he did it again—slowly rocking his hips a few times to earn some more of those beautiful moans from the guy beneath him, and then rising and lowering his body to fuck himself on Jeongguk’s cock repeatedly.
They continued to kiss messily all the way through it—Jimin’s hand liked to ruffle the guy’s hair as he used his other arm to wrap himself around Jeongguk as his mischievous fingers painted invisible lines behind his back, all while Jimin continued to ride him.
Jeongguk put one hand down, gripping the blankets to find support as he started to push his hips upward to match Jimin’s rhythm, starting to thrust into him instead of letting Jimin do all the work.
Jimin appreciated the help, because it only made everything feel so much deeper and more pleasurable. The heat inside Jimin’s body and outside his skin was perspiring from every little piece of himself, enjoying the electricity roaming inside him and wrapping around his bones—loving the way Jeongguk’s skin felt while smacking against his and finding the sweat as arousing as the sounds escaping their mouths.
“Faster. Can we go faster?” Jimin whined with his head tilted to the side.
Jeongguk squeezed his thigh firmly. “Anything you want.”
Jimin let Jeongguk take control of the pace; since he was the one with more support and could easily guide Jimin once he found the speed they wanted.
Jeongguk started to move his hips considerably quicker, and Jimin had to hold on to him by the shoulders to be able to match the same rhythm. “Oh—h—h—h—h,” he immediately felt the change inside of him; every sensation becoming more prominent. “Oh god.”
Jeongguk started whining and moaning more as well, and every noise was like fuel that encouraged Jimin to feel more.
“Yes, yes, like that—oh god,”
“Feels good?” Jeongguk asked breathily.
“Feels amazing.”
Jimin threw his head back, and Jeongguk immediately took the chance to capture his neck with his mouth—planting open mouth kisses and biting the skin lightly, which only made Jimin go even crazier.
“Jimin,” Jeongguk whined. “I’m not gonna last like this,”
“N-no,” Jimin moaned again. “Don’t come yet, you have to wait for me. Hold on.”
“I’ll try,” Jeongguk spoke, but was cut off when Jimin came down to kiss him again, fiercely— messily, filled with want.
There came a point where they were unable to kiss properly because their moans took too much space inside their mouths and they were demanding to be heard. “I can’t—I won’t last,” Jeongguk whined, still fucking Jimin fast.
“Then make me come, touch me,” Jimin took Jeongguk’s hand, snatching it away from his chest and guiding it back to his own cock, already leaking with pre-cum, welcoming Jeongguk’s hand that made Jimin gasp again.
Jeongguk proceeded to stroke him hard and fast, making Jimin a mess of sensations as he took in the conflicted expression in Jeongguk’s face, like the guy was having trouble holding himself back—and it was pushing him more toward the edge—the fact that he had the power to do that to Jeongguk; to be the one who could make him moan and whine like that.
“I’m close—really close, Jimin,” Jeongguk was frowning, and Jimin could feel the movements of his hips and his hand becoming sloppier, but it wasn’t like Jimin could do anything about it—his own body had started to tremble, and he had already lost the little control he had managed to recover from Jeongguk jerking him off.
“Okay, okay, me too.”
Jimin still pushed himself to find as much strength as he could, and he rode Jeongguk as fast and hard as he could—sending multiple waves of pleasure around his body, taking them in and allowing the sensation to wreck him.
Jeongguk came first with a series of loud moans that Jimin loved, and Jimin took the opportunity to continue riding him through his orgasm. Jeongguk’s head dropped onto Jimin’s chest as he panted—his heavy breathing taking the best of him, but still managing to continue stroking Jimin hard and fast—even when his movements were not consistent at all—and it still worked.
It didn’t take more than that. Jeongguk gave him one especially hard squeeze, and Jimin fell apart over him, coming all over Jeongguk’s hand and both their chests. Jeongguk stroked him slowly, the way he knew Jimin liked it while he was lost in his own high.
Jimin’s head dropped on Jeongguk’s shoulder, gasping for air and panting heavily as he tried to recover, but still enjoying the remains of the pleasure and the rush running inside of him.
He felt Jeongguk’s arm wrapping around his back and holding him loosely as he guy’s heavy breathing matched his own—sweaty skin over sweaty skin as they held on to each other, trying to get their senses back.
“That was so good,” Jeongguk let out in a muffled breath, still breathing against Jimin’s chest and leaving a warm sensation that was still sending shivers along his sensitive skin.
“So good,” Jimin agreed, still beathing heavily.
They stayed like that for a good minute or two, holding and providing each other the physical support they needed to recover, which was another thing he liked about having sex with the younger—Jeongguk always stayed with him, and Jimin always stayed, too. They always stayed until they were back to their calm, recovered-selves.
And Jimin believed it was the most convenient thing.
When they started doing that whole thing, they had freaked out right after. They didn’t speak to each other for three days straight, and Jimin hated that he had let himself lose himself so much that he gave in and let Jeongguk touch him like he did—that Jeongguk had begged him to touch him, too. Because it had resulted in their friendship taking a weird turn to a point where they were not comfortable with each other enough to even see one another face-to-face.
He wished he could take it back.
He missed Jeongguk.
But he hadn’t thought about how the other was probably feeling like crap as well—he had only sat to think about how bad it was that he had managed to create a distance between his friend and him.
That was until Jeongguk texted him first, almost at midnight, and told him that he wanted to talk. Jimin had been both relieved that there was some sort of communication there, but he was also scared that he had ruined everything with him. Jimin texted him back asking if he’d come over right away, which he agreed to.
Jimin hadn’t even gotten out of bed—he stayed under the safety of his blankets, knowing that Jeongguk had a key to his apartment and that he’d use it.
He heard when his front door opened, and his heart started beating out of his chest. Still not moving, Jeongguk opened the door to his bedroom, and Jimin had to laugh when he saw the guy wearing his comfy pajamas and his hair a mess—he walked straight to Jimin’s bed, lifting the blankets and allowing himself to get under them, next to Jimin.
That same night they came to the conclusion that they’d just let themselves go with the moment and that nothing had to feel awkward between them. It’d been a one-time thing, and it was never going to happen again—and it was enough for them. Things were fixed. They pretended it hadn’t happened, and they continued talking and hanging out like they were normal friends who liked being around each other—
—until it did happen again.
Jeongguk and Jimin had been hanging out at Jeongguk’s apartment late at night. Jimin had complained about a new clothing store settling in the mall because it was definitely trying to steal their loyal customers. Jeongguk had been there to listen because Jimin had done the same—offering a comfortable shoulder for him to talk about all the things that were stressing him and made his head ache every day.
And then Jeongguk leaned in, without warning, and kissed him harshly.
Jimin was surprised, but he immediately returned the hungry kiss and let his own hands wander around Jeongguk’s body as the kiss deepened inevitably.
They stopped before anything else happened—
—only to admit that they wanted something to happen and that they didn’t want to stop.
Jimin fucked Jeongguk that night hard and fast, his moans driving him crazy and the amount of pleasure in that room had been too much to ignore. So, they had to talk about it. They couldn’t just ignore it and pretend that it hadn’t happened, not when Jimin already knew that having sex with Jeongguk was better than hooking up with random strangers he’d bang for the purpose of sticking it solely and searching for his own meaningless release.
That was the beginning of an unconventional arrangement—a series of favors.
They knew each other. They trusted each other. They felt comfortable around each other enough to talk freely about what they liked and what they needed, when to stop, when to slow down, and when to shamelessly ask to speed up. They quickly learned how and where to touch one another, also discovering the best ways to make the other feel the most amount of pleasure. It was—
—convenient. Jimin believed it was the most convenient thing.
Jimin was still trying to regain his composure fully, but he knew that Jeongguk was already close to landing from his trip to the clouds. He knew this because Jeongguk’s hands had started to roam around his body once again—slower, with more care and purpose; gentle fingertips caressing his back and his arms as it worked for soothing both of them.
Jeongguk also started pressing gentle kisses on his chest—soft lips against his hot and sweaty skin, and Jimin was amazed by how magically it worked to bring him back down to reality as well.
When Jimin was calm enough, he brought his left hand behind Jeongguk’s head, and started to pat it softly—running his fingers through his hair and enjoying the way the soft strands felt across his skin—always so gentle yet electrifying.
And Jeongguk knew, too. He knew that Jimin was back to himself. He knew that he knew.
“You okay?” Jeongguk asked softly, looking at Jimin as he stared down at his brown, curious eyes, touching the back of his neck as the guy continued to hold him.
“I’m okay,” Jimin brought his other hand to touch Jeongguk’s chest.
There was no shame in putting their hands wherever they wanted.
“Was I too rough?”
“No. You were great.”
“I missed this.” Jeongguk whispered. “It’s been a while.”
Jimin had to smile. “It’s been like a week,”
“Too long.” Jeongguk grinned back at him.
They stared at each other for a few seconds—taking the liberty to gaze into each other’s eyes with no repercussions, no questions asked. Jimin knew he had the opportunity to do whatever he wanted in these moments he had with Jeongguk, so he leaned in and pecked his lips lightly, instantly feeling the soft pressure of the guy’s lips returning the kiss. Because they never kissed outside of their sexual meetings, and if he wanted to feel those lips again, he’d need to do it right then.
When they pulled apart, that was it.
“Do you want to go have lunch?” Jimin asked, completely recovered.
“Yes. Let’s go,” Jeongguk replied, dropping his hands to the ground as Jimin let go of him as well. “Let me pull out, first.”
⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯ ⋯
Two weeks passed, and Jeongguk had not heard a single word from Arthur Fontaine. Jimin knew, from what the man had said, that he’d been on a business trip and had been more than busy, but he had allegedly returned a week ago, and he still hadn’t called Jeongguk.
His friend had tried hard not to let everyone know that he was deeply disappointed—shrugging every time any of their friends mentioned the super amazing gig he was sure he was going to get. He would tilt his head and scratch his forehead while he looked at the ground. He would smile, and maybe others would be fooled, but Jimin wasn’t.
Jeongguk wouldn’t straight out admit it, though, not even to him. Jimin understood what it felt like to grow thirsty over the anticipation of a project and what it’d do for the future of his career, and then have to be okay with the opportunity flopping and slipping through his fingers like it didn’t mean anything in the first place. And it sucked.
Jimin was more of an open book and had trouble keeping things to himself, unlike Jeongguk, and he accepted people comforting and helping him whenever he needed. However, Jeongguk wasn’t like that—not that he didn’t like to feel comforted, because of course he did, but he’d never bluntly ask for it.
So, Jimin ended up ambushing Jeongguk into what he believed was a free dinner with a movie, but was actually Jimin’s way of getting him to talk about the troubles inside his mind.
Jeongguk wasn’t hard to crack when he was with Jimin, and that’s how he ended up cuddled up in Jimin’s arms, failing at trying not to cry.
“I was foolish, wasn’t I?” Jeongguk asked with tears in his eyes, holding onto Jimin while he hugged him, caressing his arms and his back, stroking his hair and speaking to him softly.
“No, you weren’t.”
“It’d be the biggest thing I’ve ever done. I thought I was going to get it.”
Jimin cuddled Jeongguk for as long as he wanted and needed to be cuddled, which happened to be—a really long time. A lot of that hadn’t even been talking, it was Jeongguk clinging onto Jimin and Jimin consoling him if he cried.
They did, however, actually end up having dinner and going to the movie theater late at night, and Jeongguk thanked him for giving him attention. Jimin had laughed at the choice of words, but Jeongguk assured him that they were, in fact, the correct words to use.
Jimin drove Jeongguk home and practically tucked him into bed—gladly taking care of his friend, because Jeongguk was no longer swallowing his disappointment and his tears, and he had opened up enough for Jimin to know that he would be okay. He would recover from that one fall, and Jimin wanted him to know that he’d be there if he needed him.
One especially busy week, Hoseok and Jimin agreed to actually go into the boutique because Mason and Olivia would need all the help they could get. It was, in fact, a very important, but hectic week for the both of them and their brand.
Every year since they opened the store together, they managed to open a space in the calendar with pulled strings and investments in promotions to snatch an opportunity to fabricate their own fashion show.
It was nothing like a 2014 Jean Paul Gaultier expensive and extravagant runway, but it was enough for the both of them to burst into proud tears at the end of every show. It always took a lot of time, money, connections, and brain power to pull it off, but he trusted that they always managed to do an outstanding job. Besides, they were lucky enough to have friends who were always down to help and make things easier on them.
Seokjin and Taehyung were always two of their stunning models who, every year, convinced Jimin and Hoseok that they didn’t need to be paid; that being there and having the privilege, as well as being tagged in a few photos, was more than enough. Namjoon always helped with the arrangements, but Hoseok always managed to convince him to model as well, to which he’d refuse in the beginning because he’d be shy and awkward, but he’d ultimately deliver and pull off the runway walk like that was his bread and butter.
Yoongi and Jeongguk were their discernible assigned videographer and photographer, who just like Seokjin and Taehyung, never accepted any sort of revenue for the service. It was definitely difficult to accept their friends’ unconditional support like that, but neither of them could deny that any penny they could save was of huge help.
Therefore, Hoseok and Jimin used every second they could find to move along with their planning, while managing to attend their store at the same time. If things worked out for them, they could soon manage to expand, hire more employees and maybe a manager so they could leave their boutique somewhat unattended while focusing on bigger projects. That was Jimin’s closest goal, and he wished he could make it happen soon.
“Can you come over here for a second?” Jimin called for his two employees when the hubbub of the store quieted down for a while with only a few customers browsing and looking around.
“We want to ask you—” Hoseok started carefully. “—and we don’t want you to feel pressured or anything, you can totally say yes or no, whatever you decide—”
Jimin wanted to laugh at the look the two younger ones had in their faces.
In the beginning of the week, Hoseok had asked Jimin what he thought about having Mason and Olivia in the show as well, since they were both hard-working young adults who coincidentally happened to look like they belonged in the cover of a magazine.
“Are you serious?!” Olivia made a tiny jump in her spot after Hoseok voiced the question, and Jimin instantly knew by both of their faces, that they were into the idea. “Of course—I mean, yes—yes, yes!”
Olivia turned to look at Mason, who was even happier the moment the girl grabbed his arm and started yanking at it with excitement.
“Yeah, I’d love to,” the younger guy agreed as well.
“And, don’t worry, we won’t take too much of your time, and, of course, you’ll be paid fairly,” Jimin explained.
“Are you kidding?” Olivia squealed excitedly. “I would pay you to be in your show, oh my god!”
“Oh,” Jimin laughed and looked at Hoseok, feeling flattered but well knowing they wouldn’t take another person’s work for free.
Before Jimin had the chance to continue explaining further and telling them all the details they already had about the upcoming event, the figure of a person running into the store caught his attention. The four of them turned to look at the sudden rampage.
It was Jeongguk.
Jimin rose from his slouching position over the counter and got ready to meet the guy who was quickly making his way to him.
“Hi,” Jeongguk greeted them, looking at everyone as he breathed faster and louder than normal. Jimin wondered if he had run from the parking lot all the way through the mall and into the shop.
“Gguk, what’s going on?” Jimin asked.
“This is Jimin’s fiancé.” Jimin turned to look at Mason, who was speaking to Olivia with soft eyes, still bright with excitement from the previous news.
“Ooh,” her eyes widened. “I’m Olivia—I’m new.” She said with a smile, and Jeongguk greeted her back with another grin. Jimin still hadn’t disproven the belief the younger two still had about them being together for real, and he made a mental note to do it another time.
“Hey, can I steal Jimin for a minute?” He directed the answer to Hoseok, also looking at Mason and Olivia interchangeably.
“Of course!” Hoseok exclaimed brightly. “He’s your fiancé, go, take him!”
Jeongguk didn’t comment on it, either.
“Thanks,” he gave Hoseok a smile, and then proceeded to grab Jimin’s hand and lead him to the backroom of the store, walking faster than he normally did.
“What’s going on?” Jimin asked as he closed the door behind him. Jeongguk was smiling brightly at him, showing all of his front teeth like he did when he was excited and just—overly happy.
Jeongguk didn’t answer; he was just there, smiling at him widely with his shoulders rising in a cute way, so Jimin asked again; “what’s going on?” adding a laugh he couldn’t hold in at the sight of his friend.
“He called me. Arthur Fontaine called me like twenty minutes ago,”
“He did? What did he say?”
“Not a lot,” Jimin had to smile at how Jeongguk was still speaking excitedly. “That he was still very busy but he wants to chat, and asked If I could do dinner with him today,”
“Wow, that’s awesome, Gguk.”
“You think?” Jeongguk sighed. “Right, yeah—he wouldn’t—have asked for dinner just to let me down, would he?”
“Yeah, that’d be pretty cruel—and weird.”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk agreed. “Anyway, you have to come with me, please.”
Without saying a word, Jeongguk grabbed the fingers of his right hand, taking out his silver and black ring, and he put it back on Jimin’s ring finger.
“You have to be my fiancé again, for tonight. His wife is going to be there, and I think he meant he wants to talk to me as in—with you there as well, me and you, because he thinks—” he spoke quickly, and Jimin cut him off before he could start rambling. Jimin knew he would.
“Yeah, okay.” He laughed. “I’ll go with you.”
“You will?” Jeongguk asked with disbelief, as if he had expected Jimin to refuse.
But Jimin didn’t refuse, and Jeongguk was wrapping his arms around him to pull him into a very tight hug.
“Thank you, thank you.” Jeongguk started swaying excitedly with Jimin in his arms. “I owe you so much. I literally cannot do this without you.”
Jimin’s hands started to caress the guy’s back slowly, trying to make him calm down. It worked to some degree, as he heard the guy release a loud, heavy breath, and the side-to-side swaying stopped, although he was still clinging to Jimin like he needed to keep him in place.
Jeongguk didn’t speak for a few seconds, but Jimin still hugged him back.
“I don’t know if I should get my hopes up or not,” Jeongguk started to speak again, his voice softer by then. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. What do I do?”
Jimin curled the fingers of his hands to give Jeongguk a comforting scratch on the back as they hugged. “What does your heart tell you?”
Jeongguk sighed again. “That he wants to work with me—that he wants me in his team, but—I could be wrong,”
“I say don’t think about it. We just go and—whatever happens, happens. You either end up with a job, or you don’t—but if you have a good feeling about it, then—”
“You’re right.” Jeongguk breathed out, each time speaking more calmly and his overall presence becoming more relaxed.
“What time are we meeting with him?”
“At eight,”
“What time is it right now?”
Jeongguk took his phone out and held it behind Jimin so he could look at the time without breaking the hug.
“Quarter past seven.”
Jimin did break the hug, though—abruptly and taking hold of Jeongguk’s arms tightly.
“Jeongguk! Why didn’t you say so before? We have forty-five minutes, and we still need to get changed.”
“I already have my suit in my car. I’ll get changed at your place.”
“I won’t have time to shower.”
Jeongguk frowned. “It’s fine—you smell good. You don’t have to shower.”
“I’ll trust you.”
Jeongguk smiled at him.
“Come on, let’s go.”
Jimin grabbed his jacket, his bag, and all the stuff he had arrived with, and then he guided his friend out of the backroom.
“We have to go, something came up.” Jimin stopped at the counter with Jeongguk next to him.
“Everything okay?” Hoseok asked with a tad of concern.
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I’ll tell you about it later—we have to go right now.”
They ended up leaving the mall in record time, walking quickly next to each other, until they separated in the parking lot so each of them could take their own car. However, they drove one behind the other, and they managed to make it to Jimin’s apartment with some time to spare.
They quickly got dressed inside Jimin’s room, helping each other with the buttons of their sleeves and anything else that needed fixing. Jimin had spent a while looking at himself in the mirror, but Jeongguk assured him that he looked good, and that it should be Jeongguk who was obsessing over his appearance, not him.
They debated between which of their cars they should take to the restaurant without coming to any decisions because—whichever car they took, they’d still have to come back to Jimin’s apartment—either to drop Jimin off or to pick up Jeongguk’s car.
They ended up taking Jeongguk’s, just because they had to make a decision or else, they would’ve never left Jimin’s place.
Jimin tried not to be intimidated by the fancy restaurant’s cold energy and its tasteful clicking of cluttery against dishes and glasses smacking the table over the slow, jazz dinner-time music.
You can be classy, shut up. You can take it.
He felt completely stupid, however, when he turned to look at Jeongguk while they waited by the entrance, waiting for the host to assist them, as they couldn’t just walk in and snatch whatever table they wanted.
Jeongguk had been jittering and rubbing his hands together for a while—looking around the place and letting out one heavy exhale after the other. Jeongguk had a right to be nervous, and Jimin didn’t.
“Hey,” Jimin grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at him. “It’ll be fine.”
Jeongguk’s eyes searched for Jimin’s as he breathed out one more time, looking hopelessly nervous, but also dangerously sexy in his fitted suit.
“Sorry,” Jeongguk let out a breathy, nervous laugh. “I can’t help it.”
Jimin smiled sympathetically, understanding that he couldn’t just tell him ‘don’t be nervous’, because that wouldn’t magically make him stop shaking. Instead, he took the same hand that had been holding his arm, and he brought it behind his back in an attempt to soothe him.
“You’ll be alright.” He spoke when Jeongguk seemed grateful for the reassuring touch. “And if you get too uncomfortable, just step on my foot and we’ll get out of here.”
A minute later, the host arrived to his spot behind the podium, and he asked if they had a reservation. Jimin was so weirded out by the question because he normally went to diners and bars—never taking the opportunity to actually splurge into a fancy meal, so reservations were a step he usually skipped.
“We’re in Arthur Fontaine’s table,”
The man checked inside his logs, and he smiled at them when he found the guy’s name. While they walked behind him, Jimin thought about taking Jeongguk’s hand—maybe it’d be good if they showed up looking like they were a real couple. He didn’t really know. Maybe real couples also walked next to each other without holding hands.
Either way, he still did it, and Jeongguk didn’t hesitate to grab his hand as well.
The moment the host approached their table, the French man spotted them and stood up immediately, grinning at them and asking the elegant woman beside him to do so as well.
“Jeongguk! Jimin!”
They walked closer so they could take their stretched-out hands and shake them politely.
“This is my wife, Emille. Ma belle, this is Jeongguk, and his fiancé Jimin. Please,” Jimin smiled politely and remembered he needed to pay close attention to the way the man spoke, because it’d be easy for him to get lost in the thick accent and end up having no idea what the conversation was about. They took their seats across the married couple and accepted the menus from the host.
“Jeongguk, I want to start off by apologizing for not calling earlier—it’s been more hectic than I anticipated, and I just found the time. I hope I didn’t keep you waiting.”
Jeongguk smiled, managing to pull off a nonchalant shrug, like he hadn’t spent hours in Jimin’s arms crying for the man. “It’s okay, I’m glad you did call.”
A waiter showed up by their table and offered them some red wine, and Jimin assumed that Mr. Fontaine had ordered it before they arrived.
“Ma belle,” the guy took a sip, as he had been the first to be served. “Have you seen their engagement ring? It’s very interesting.”
“No, I haven’t seen it,” she answered with curious eyes, searching between Jeongguk and Jimin, who took it as a sign that she wanted to see the ring, so he took his hand from under the table and rested it somewhere in front of her so she could look at it.
“Oh, it is very interesting.”
Jimin fought the urge to try to pronounce very interesting in a French accent.
“You look young to be getting married.” The woman blurted out. “How old are you?”
Jimin turned to look at Jeongguk, silently asking if he should be the one to answer or not. However, the guy seemed to be too nervous still to even ask for help.
Therefore, Jimin pushed his luck and decided that was the night where he put his bad lying-skills to work. He had to push through it and sound believable. He had to do it for Jeongguk or—he didn’t know what would happen to his friend’s career.
“I don’t think we’re too young.” Jimin took over. “I’m twenty-six, Jeongguk’s twenty-four. My parents would actually say it took us long enough.” He added a laugh for good measure, impressed with the way his voice never cracked.
“Oh really?” The woman asked. “How long have you been together, then?”
Don’t panic. “Five years.” Fuck, Jimin. Why five years? Now they’ll be expecting five years-worth of stories.
“That’s nice. Still surprising. Many young people don’t want to get married nowadays.”
“Yeah, well.” Jimin felt Jeongguk putting his hand softly over his knee, and he looked up at him, wondering what it meant. Maybe he wanted him to shut up, or to divert the question and change the topic, but the soft smile on his face wasn’t telling him either of those things. “We’re really looking forward to it.”
Jeongguk gripped his knee.
It was relief—and gratitude, maybe. And Jimin felt like he could breathe properly. He hadn’t fucked it up.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the photos of your wedding.” Mr. Fontaine pointed his glass at Jeongguk. “Speaking of, have you found someone to be your photographer yet?”
“Uhm—no, not yet.” Jeongguk spoke up, perhaps feeling less jittery than before, now that Jimin had his back if he tripped over his own words. “I can get very picky about that.”
Mr. Fontaine gave him an understanding, accomplice laugh. “Wasn’t expecting anything else. I’ll be happy to recommend someone. Hm—“ he drank up from his cup. “Scratch that. I’ll pay for your photographer; as my wedding gift to you. I’ll get you one of the best,”
“Oh, no—you really don’t have to do that,” Jeongguk refused immediately, and Jimin only nodded in agreement.
“Please, don’t deny me the pleasure. Leave it to me, I’ll make sure you have the best team on your wedding day.”
Jimin could feel how Jeongguk was going to speak again, possibly about to refuse one more time, but Jimin stopped him by carefully bumping their knees together so he’d stop.
“We wouldn’t like to feel like we’re taking advantage of you,” Jimin said instead, wishing that Jeongguk could read his mind somehow. “We’d love to accept your offer, but—”
“You’re not taking advantage of anyone. You’re just accepting your wedding gift. Now, please—no more trying to make me change my mind, because it’s not happening.”
Jimin and Jeongguk looked at each other. Jimin wished he could tell Jeongguk what he was thinking about. They could deal with that later—Jeongguk couldn’t blow his cover at that moment. They’d find a way a fix it somehow.
“Thank you,” Jeongguk said instead, and Jimin wondered if he had actually read his mind or not.
Blink twice if you can hear my thoughts.
Jeongguk didn’t blink.
The couple ended up asking a few more questions about their relationship, and they took turns making things up and twisting the truth in some occasions to build the story of their unconditional love story. Jeongguk talked about how excited his parents were about their son finally marrying the love of his life, and how Jimin’s parents had already gifted them their honeymoon trip. They ended up telling a real story about his friends that somehow still fit into their being-engaged-narrative, among other things they were able to handle well enough.
When the conversation started to shift, feeling thankful because he wouldn’t need to use so much brain-power just to be able to carry a chat anymore, Jimin started to feel somewhat curious, instead, because Mr. Fontaine had asked Jeongguk if he had any upcoming projects or events, and Jimin predicted that he might be close to talking about something more important.
Jeongguk mentioned a couple family events and a few projects with some models who were working on building their first portfolios, and he also mentioned Jimin’s fashion show, which had called their attention more than any of his other projects.
Jimin felt bad about suddenly becoming the center of topic, when they were supposed to be there for Jeongguk, but even the guy himself talked about it excitedly and continued to hype him up, like he was trying to sell him to the best bidder. Somehow, Jimin ended up asking the French couple to attend his show, expecting they’d refuse and pull some excuse about how they lived too busy and fancy lives, but they caught him off guard when they actually accepted.
Maybe Jimin should learn how to be more reserved and keep his thoughts to himself before he made things harder for himself—and for Jeongguk.
“I’m asking you this because—”
Jimin noticed the sudden seriousness in the guy’s voice.
“I just closed the contract with the company—they were difficult because of the list of requirements from the sponsors. I have to admit that the whole thing almost didn’t happen at all—”
Jeongguk and Jimin listened carefully as they all helped themselves to their food.
“But I was given the final green light a few days ago, and now it’s just—prepare, prepare, prepare.” The guy took his fork to his mouth, and stopped speaking to chew his food. “I have an opening for ten different photographers, and I was thinking—I would love for you to be one of them.”
If Jimin felt like he had stopped breathing, he couldn’t imagine what was going on with Jeongguk. When the guy didn’t respond right away, Jimin had to look at him.
Jeongguk’s eyes were wide, but it looked like he had been shocked frozen, and Jimin had to hold his hand for him to react.
“You’re serious?”
“Very.” The man continued to eat. He definitely did not know how big of a deal it was to Jeongguk that he was saying what he was saying. “I think your work could be one of the key puzzle pieces for this project—so, I’m asking. Do you want in?”
“Uhm—I—this is—wow,” Jeongguk ran his fingers through his hair as he stuttered, unable to speak properly. Jimin thought it was adorable, and he couldn’t help but feel proud of him. That was what he had wanted—more than he’d wanted any other job before. “I don’t—”
“Baby, just say yes.” Jimin squeezed his hand and gave him an affectionate laugh, which, along with Jeongguk’s growing smile and stunned expression, made the married couple laugh as well.
Also, Jimin tried not to react at how easy the pet-name had rolled off his tongue.
“I, uh,” Jeongguk swallowed, and stared at Jimin with a smile before turning to look back at Mr. Fontaine. “Yes, yes. I would love that, yes.”
The man gave them a vibrant nod of approval before digging into more of his large dish, having his wife rub his arm affectionally, as if Jeongguk accepting the spot had been a win for him as well.
Jimin took the opportunity to bring Jeongguk’s hand to his lips, and he kissed his knuckles softly as he looked at his friend with affection and pride. He was happy that things had ultimately turned out for him, and as a friend —a friend who was encouraged to act as affectionately as possible—, he wanted to support him through the good times, too. Not just the disappointments.
Jeongguk smiled widely at him, and the conversation resumed.
Jimin unlocked the door to his apartment. He stepped inside and kicked his shoes off to the side. Jeongguk did the same after he closed the door behind the both of them.
He walked the steps it took to get to his living room, and he heavily dropped his things on the couch, feeling the weight of a long day crashing down on him, but the relief of finally being home made him feel relaxed.
Before he could turn around, though—before he could offer Jeongguk a drink, a snack before bed—ask him if he was leaving or he was going to stay the night—before he could say anything to him—the guy had already leaned in and grabbed his neck firmly, and his lips were fast to land on his.
It took him a second to reciprocate, only because Jeongguk had taken him by surprise, but the truth was—that after having spent over an hour with the guy by his side, holding his hand and being overly touchy, which was a different kind of rush of its own because they never did that in public, speaking to him like they were in love—it was all a bit too much. Too much for his body to keep to himself. And if Jeongguk was there, kissing him like that, it was physically impossible to think about anything else.
Jimin kissed him back in no time, letting his hands reach out and wrap around the guy’s waist.
Their lips moved with each other hungrily and with force, with tightness and coordination. It didn’t take long for their lips to part and both of their mouths to open so their tongues could meet.
“Good day, huh?” Jimin teased him, taking the opportunity to speak when their lips pulled apart for a second, only to be recaptured by each other right after he spoke, in no time.
Jimin’s shameless hands started to move and roam around Jeongguk’s body. He started from his back, running up and down—holding, caressing, gripping—then he slid them across his body and let them land on the guy’s front. His hands touched his waist, his abdomen, his chest—all while kissing Jeongguk like he needed to touch his skin to be able to breathe.
“The best,” Jeongguk replied when he found the chance. Jimin’s hands were still on his body, and then he felt Jeongguk doing the same to him, although that time, Jeongguk took it even further by sliding his hands under Jimin’s shirt—and Jimin couldn’t contain the gasp that he let out against Jeongguk’s lips at the sudden contact of his hands on his bare skin.
Jimin loved it. He loved feeling Jeongguk’s hands on him when there weren’t any clothes acting as a barrier between them. He let the tips of the guy’s fingers send warmth and shivers all around him, and it was encouraging enough for Jimin to want to do the same for him.
With his tongue against Jeongguk’s, Jimin’s skilled hands worked with speed to unbutton the guy’s shirt, managing to do it fast but carefully enough not to rip his shirt open, like he’d been guilty of doing once in the past. Once he worked the last button, he brought his own hands directly to Jeongguk’s chest, and he started to touch him—anywhere he could find, savoring the sound of Jeongguk’s loud breathing and their lips smacking against each other.
“You know what—would make it even better?” Jeongguk asked while bringing his hands back to Jimin’s face, gripping his hair and ruffling it while making out with him.
“What?”
It took Jeongguk a while to answer again, because the pull they felt toward each other was way too strong to ignore or divert it. Jimin felt like he physically couldn’t stay away from the younger; like if he broke the kiss and stepped aside with his hands to himself, he’d just bounce back into Jeongguk’s arms.
It was only when Jeongguk started to pull on Jimin’s shirt, skipping the unbuttoning process and sliding it out of Jimin’s body at once, that they had to break apart for a moment. Jimin helped while he raised his hands into the air and Jeongguk got rid of his shirt for him—and there was an instant where they held onto each other again, like magnets that couldn’t stay away, but Jeongguk spoke before recapturing Jimin’s lips into another hungry kiss.
“If you fucked me right now—on your bed.”
Jimin’s hands slid all the way over Jeongguk’s shoulders, and with a confident and determined touch, he got rid of the guy’s shirt as well, letting it drop onto the floor because the correct placement of their clothing was not even a possibility nor a concern at the moment.
“Mhm,” Jimin hummed against Jeongguk’s mouth, his hands already working on Jeongguk’s belt. “I can do that.”
While still making out like they were touch-starved, Jimin quickly unzipped Jeongguk’s pants, and the guy lifted his legs impatiently as he slid out of them.
Jimin heard a whine inside the guy’s mouth—his breathing heavy and loud. Jeongguk’s hands touched him like they would never have another chance to map out Jimin’s body and he’d have to take it all in one day.
“Please, fuck me.” Jeongguk whined as he began to unbuckle Jimin’s belt as well. “I need you.”
“You need me?” Jimin breathed inside the rough kiss, letting Jeongguk unzip his pants and pull them out of him. “How much do you need me?”
“So much. I need you—I need everything from you.”
Needy Jeongguk was a different Jeongguk.
A Jeongguk that still made him crazy, nonetheless.
He leaned down to take off his socks, and the younger did the same—a habit they picked up another time they’d gotten horny while being outside, and all of their clothes had been torn off right there by the front door.
However, Jeongguk had asked Jimin to fuck him on his bed, and he was fucking whining and telling him that he needed him, so Jimin was already signing up to giving him the complete treatment instead of flat out fucking in his living room, live they’d done a couple times already.
“It would make my day better, too.” Jimin started walking, pushing Jeongguk to move backwards as they kissed and touched any way they could.
Jeongguk seemed to understand—because he started backing out and walking directly to where he knew Jimin’s bedroom was, all while still managing to kiss Jimin and hold onto him.
Jeongguk stopped walking when they reached Jimin’s bed, and he felt him pulling himself away from Jimin’s hands, slowly breaking the kiss. However, he started pressing his lips against Jimin’s jaw, leaving open-mouth kisses along his skin and occasionally using his teeth and his tongue, making Jimin roll his head back as a result of the hot sensations that came from Jeongguk’s mouth.
Jeongguk’s mouth came down to Jimin’s neck, where he left a trail of bites and kisses that made Jimin deliver his first audible moan.
And apparently, that had been the reaction the younger was looking for. Jimin immediately missed the pressure and the warmth of Jeongguk’s lips when he sat down on Jimin’s bed, and looking up at him with dark, lustful eyes and a sly, inviting smile, he started backing away, crawling onto the bed until he sat near the center. Jimin hadn’t let Jeongguk do it alone, though—he had crawled on top on the guy and followed him down until he settled down on a spot he liked.
One more hungry smile, and Jeongguk took Jimin’s face in his hands, bringing him down into another kiss. That time, Jimin made sure that, although his head was already feeling hazy, his lips still moved steadily and with coordination, immediately taking the lead as he felt Jeongguk starting to give in slowly and let himself go underneath him.
There had to be a balance—if Jeongguk was giving up control, Jimin had to take it.
With their bodies pressed together as they continued to kiss, Jimin lowered his hips and pressed them firmly over Jeongguk’s. He applied force and grinded on him once; making the guy groan breathily at the friction—so Jimin did it again, loving the reaction he got from him.
With the control in his hands, Jimin slowly began to drag his hands across Jeongguk’s body and his lips to Jeongguk’s neck, getting to work on a specific spot to make the younger guy fall apart even more. Jeongguk rolled his head to the side to give Jimin easy access, and started to let out quiet and breathy moans every time Jimin’s teeth bit his skin lightly.
Satisfied with the result, Jimin moved on from Jeongguk’s neck and started kissing the rest of his body with his mouth trailing down his collarbone, his chest, his nipples, his abdomen—savoring each and every one of Jeongguk’s gasps and moans.
His hands found Jeongguk’s hips and the waistband of his underwear, and when Jeongguk’s own hands met him, encouraging to help him get rid of his briefs, Jimin gripped the fabric with both of his hands, and he slowly slid them down the guy’s legs. Jimin knelt up to work more easily, smiling down at the view of Jeongguk holding himself up on his elbows and grinning widely at Jimin.
He threw Jeongguk’s underwear down to the ground, and he started touching and caressing his legs, admiring the view of the beautiful naked man on his bed and the way he was looking back at him—like he thought Jimin was beautiful, too.
“What do you want, Gguk?” Jimin asked him using a soft voice, rubbing his hands against the skin on Jeongguk’s legs—from his calves, his knees, his thighs, to the low of his abdomen, and all the way back down to his ankles.
“Everything,” Jeongguk answered with a weak voice full of breath—his head tilted to the side as Jimin’s hands continued to roam around his body. “I want your hands, your mouth, your fingers—I want your cock—I need everything.”
Jimin was taken by surprise, if anything, but he didn’t let it get him out of the mood. He had never seen Jeongguk acting so needy and handing himself completely to Jimin like that—he could be submissive, that Jimin already knew, but Jeongguk laying down and asking for everything—that was new.
But it was also exhilarating and if Jimin hadn’t been turned on and feeling hot before, now he was definitely going to evaporate.
“Okay,” Jimin whispered with his hands dangerously high over Jeongguk’s thighs. “Lay down.”
Jeongguk bit his bottom lip, looking straight into Jimin’s eyes, and then he complied. He dropped his elbows back to the bed slowly, and he fell back on the mattress entirely, lying flat out on the bed, ready for Jimin to do whatever he wanted.
Jimin loved that Jeongguk trusted him that way—leaving his body out in the open like that for Jimin to look at, to touch, to kiss. Jimin wondered if Jeongguk felt something similar when he took photos of him; like he was in control over him, and if the pure knowledge that he was free to put his ideas into action was arousing enough—because that was exactly how Jimin felt.
“You’re beautiful,” Jimin said softly as he reached out to take Jeongguk’s cock in his hand, loving the way he reacted immediately. He began stroking him gently and at a slow pace, enjoying the gasps and quiet moans that matched the way his hand worked. Jeongguk’s eyes were closed, and Jimin was staring at him shamelessly. “I’m lucky a beautiful man like you wants to have sex with me,”
Jeongguk laughed in between his audible breathing. “I think about having sex with you every day.”
Jeongguk wasn’t even touching Jimin, but he still managed to work him up.
“Me too,” Jimin stroked him faster, searching for his reaction. Jeongguk let out a long moan and Jimin felt him tense up a little, so he worked his other hand in soft touches across his leg to make him relax again.
Jimin shifted as best as he could without letting go of Jeongguk’s cock, moving his own legs so there was some distance between them and there was available space for what he wanted to do. Eventually, he had to stop stroking him so he could move and bend down properly.
“Why d—oh—” Jeongguk had risen just enough to look at Jimin, about to ask him why he had stopped, but his head dropped back to the bed and let out a loud groan when Jimin held him again and ran his tongue across the length of his cock.
He started sucking him off the way he knew Jeongguk liked it, earning a series of loud moans from the guy. Jeongguk’s hands were tangled in Jimin’s hair, gripping, pulling, and ruffling it gently, keeping Jimin doing the job with confirmation that he was delivering nicely.
Jimin felt Jeongguk tensing up—his legs getting rigid and his torso starting to curl up forward as his hands gripped tightly, and Jimin knew that was his sign to stop. He gripped the bottom of Jeongguk’s cock and held firmly as he gave him one final lick.
“You fucker,” Jeongguk laughed, dropping back onto the bed with his eyes still closed, panting lightly.
Jimin laughed with him. He got up from the bed, letting Jeongguk stare and smile at him while Jimin opened his drawer to get what he needed. “You said you wanted everything,” he teased as he came back to his bed. He put the condom on the nightstand and brought the bottle of lube with him as he sat down next to where Jeongguk was lying.
“I do.” The younger answered softly while staring at him, and Jimin only returned the smile without saying anything else.
Jimin pushed the lid of the bottle open, and he poured a generous amount of lube on his right hand. He used his other one to help spread it around evenly, paying special attention to his right-hand fingers and feeling Jeongguk’s anticipation steaming out of him with every passing second.
For a moment—Jimin allowed himself to stare back at Jeongguk, locking his eyes on his as he continued to rub his fingers together. There was something there that Jimin hadn’t seen before; a hint of affection, or perhaps gentleness—a wave of unconditional trust that gave him the idea that Jeongguk could blindly let Jimin do with him what he wanted.
Jimin didn’t know why he liked the idea of having that responsibility in his hands so much. He loved pleasuring Jeongguk to a point of delirium—he enjoyed making him fall apart with his touch and being the motive of the pretty sounds that left his mouth, but that was it. That was the silent arrangement—to have sex and pleasure each other because they’d know it’d be good. Physically, it would be good.
So why was Jimin getting all emotional about it?
Regardless—whatever the answer to that question was, there was no time to dwell on it when Jeongguk was already reaching out for him to bring him closer.
Jimin slowly laid next to him, using his left arm as support while staring down at the younger. Jeongguk’s left hand touched Jimin’s arm, and it travelled slowly across his shoulder, eventually landing on his neck, and his fingers gently caressed Jimin’s cheek.
Why was Jimin so emotional all of a sudden?
Jimin’s lubed hand reached down and patted the inside of Jeongguk’s thigh. “Open,”
Jeongguk gave him a smile, and with no questions asked, he moved a little bit to his right so he could face Jimin more easily, and slowly, he raised his left leg and brought it over Jimin, giving him easy access. With a clear passage, Jimin carefully brought his hand down to Jeongguk’s hole, squeezing his fingers between his cheeks and tracing the inside space gently, spreading some of the lube on the outside and searching for the moment where his muscles felt more relaxed, all while staring into Jeongguk’s eyes.
When Jimin started pressing his middle finger into Jeongguk’s hole, the guy’s mouth opened progressively as Jimin slid in deeper, letting out a loud gasp—and he had never looked so delicate in Jimin’s eyes.
Before he started moving, Jimin leaned down easily and kissed Jeongguk again—slower, softer and with more purpose. “Is this okay?”
Jeongguk nodded against the kiss. “Yes, it’s okay.”
Jimin fingered him while they kissed softly, carefully pushing his middle finger in and out and swallowing every gasp and whimper the other gifted him. Unlike Jimin, Jeongguk was perfectly fine with having his prostate massaged as many times as the other wanted—never minding the disadvantage of being led near the edge of an orgasm while the other was at a very different level. Besides, if it hadn’t been already obvious to Jimin, that night was not about him—it was all about Jeongguk and how crazy Jimin was about him that way.
When he pressed a second finger inside, Jeongguk was having a hard time kissing Jimin with all the heavy breathing and occasional moans escaping his lips, and Jimin was okay with letting their open mouths touch with no kisses being exchanged.
By the time Jimin was three fingers in, Jeongguk’s moaning wasn’t just low and occasional, it was loud, consistent, and fucking beautiful. His body moved with his breathing, and Jimin could feel him shaking inside their half-embrace. He kissed his jaw, his cheek, and his neck whenever Jeongguk rolled his head to the side.
Jimin could feel Jeongguk getting ready around his fingers, already stretched enough after a long session of fingering him with care but a good amount of determination, but he still continued to push his fingers in an out, purposely curling his fingers against Jeongguk’s sweet spot to ensure the most amount of pleasure he could give.
But he should’ve known—Jeongguk would start getting impatient when he himself felt like he was ready for Jimin’s cock as well.
“Please, please, Jimin.” Jeongguk breathed out his name, which made his own already hard cock ache with anticipation.
Jimin continued to finger him, paying attention to the whines coming from Jeongguk’s throat. “Do you want to come like this?”
“N-no.” Jeongguk answered right away. “I want you to fuck me,” he managed to answer over his heavy breathing and his trembling limbs.
Jimin gave him one final especially firm push into his prostate, making Jeongguk let out a desperate cry, and he slipped his fingers out. The guy released another whimper, and his eyes followed Jimin as he set himself free from Jeongguk’s hold so he could sit back up.
Jimin turned around and stood up, grabbing the condom from the nightstand. He got rid of his own underwear, enjoying the way Jeongguk stared at him while his chest moved dramatically with every breath.
He sat back down and started to roll the condom down the length of his cock.
“I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna last.” Jeongguk whispered next to him, still staring at his cock without even trying to hide it.
“It’s okay.” Jimin grabbed the bottle of lube, poured more of it on his hand, and he started to stroke himself a few times over the condom.
“I’ve been trying to hold it—but I’ve been close—twice already.”
“Don’t flatter me too much,”
Jeongguk laughed breathily, watching as Jimin continued to touch himself.
“Or I might get cocky,”
If he was honest, the sole sight of Jeongguk already a weak mess across his bed was motivating enough to have him starting the race toward his own release at a further point from the starting line, but Jeongguk was more important to him at the time. He couldn’t wait to see his face the moment he finally came—to hear his moans and his cries when he couldn’t resist any longer.
“Please get cocky,”
Jeongguk accepted him contentedly as Jimin situated himself over him with a breathy laugh. That time, Jimin used his right arm for support beside Jeongguk’s head, because he had been relying on his left side before, and he didn’t want to get too tired or be in pain later on. That is—if he lasted long enough. The younger had already spread out his legs for Jimin to settle down between them, so he used his left hand to hold the guy’s leg and pull it upward, encouraging him to wrap himself around him for better access.
“I just want to make you feel good.” He leaned down and kissed him one more time, relishing the way Jeongguk’s lips clung onto his own, and how his arms circled his waist and held him closer. “I want to hear you moan—I want to see you come.”
Jeongguk’s lips stretched out in a smile, and then he kissed him again.
Without breaking the kiss, Jimin lifted his hips, and using just one hand, because Jeongguk had him tightly trapped, he pulled on the guy’s hip to adjust it to a better position.
“This is it.” Jimin spoke. “You ready?”
Jeongguk gasped and nodded eagerly. “I’m ready.”
Jimin used his hand to help himself align before Jeongguk’s stretched and awaiting hole, and it was like Jeongguk wanted to push down to wrap himself around Jimin’s cock, because he started to suck it in as soon as he started to push inside him—groaning at the delicious sensation of tightness clinging around him.
Jimin slid his thumb across Jeongguk’s cheek and kissed him again once he was fully inside. “How fast do you want me to go?”
Jeongguk kissed him. “Slowly at first—and then go fast—and hard.”
So Jimin did.
He pulled out slowly, but not all the way out, and he pushed back in with care. Jeongguk let out a full-on moan that Jimin wished he could’ve captured somehow, and he started thrusting into him steadily and keeping Jeongguk’s request in mind—slowly at first.
Lost and drowned in their moment, Jimin believed there was nothing better than the sound of Jeongguk’s moans filling the empty space in his bedroom; the way his fingers were digging into the skin of his back, and how his other hand was gripping his ass and pushing it forward in synch with Jimin’s thrusts to make him go deeper.
“Jimin,” Jeongguk whined.
Jimin could only hum as a response, because trying to keep his focus wasn’t as easy as it always was. He continued to fuck him, keeping his head in the rhythm he was working hard to maintain.
“I need you—I need more,” Jeongguk brought both of his arms to Jimin’s shoulder blades, his fingernails digging into his skin. “Faster,”
Jimin nodded and complied, instantly feeling the strain in his muscles at the bigger effort, but it was completely worth it when he could listen to Jeongguk’s moans in his ear and feel his body trembling against his.
He continued to fuck him like that for a while, savoring every touch, every scratch, but hoping that it wasn’t becoming too much for Jeongguk. After all, he had been close to coming already and he was probably already overstimulated. He looked up, and he almost stopped when he saw a tear threatening to drop from the corner of Jeongguk’s eye, but the guy beat him to it—
“Harder, please, harder—harder—harder,”
“Are you sure?” Jimin’s voice was nothing more than a breath. “I don’t want to hurt you,”
“You won’t,” Jeongguk brought one of his hands to Jimin’s face, where it would stay for the remaining time they lasted. “Please.”
Jimin could do nothing else but to give in. He thought he was in control.
He pulled strength from anywhere inside his body he could find, kept himself secured with his arm readjusted on the bed, and he gripped the outside of Jeongguk’s thigh to have more support when he put everything of himself into every hard thrust.
The way Jeongguk screamed and moved underneath him could’ve been obscene any other time, but for Jimin and that specific moment, it was intoxicating and bewitching. Jeongguk captured Jimin into every moan—every cry— every touch, and Jimin had nothing else inside his mind other than Jeongguk.
Jeongguk. Jeongguk. Jeongguk.
It’d be weird. How nothing else existed.
But Jimin wouldn’t have known—because nothing else existed.
Jeongguk had barely had the chance to warn Jimin that he was close before he let out a series of cries and trembles as he came between their bodies pressed together. Jimin had almost wanted to stop and neglect his own orgasm so he could hold Jeongguk in his arms and kiss him slowly while he rode his high—but he had asked him to keep going until he came.
And Jimin’s body won.
He continued to fuck into Jeongguk, hard and fast, chasing his orgasm with the help of his friend. He allowed his sight to go blurry and the sounds around him to fade as he focused on feeling and letting go.
There was a buzzing and a ringing in his ears the moment he came, letting an overly-intensified orgasm fill his whole body.
Breathing hard and with difficulty, he fell on top on Jeongguk, although he was still careful not to crush him —not that he would—, and he allowed himself to feel comforted by Jeongguk’s hands touching his arms and his back lightly.
There was a long period where they didn’t speak—because they couldn’t. Jimin had tried more than once, but the words were not coming out. Instead, he stayed on that spot— half of him on his bed and the other half on Jeongguk, and listened to the way the guy breathed heavily, working to recover.
When he felt like he could speak, he wasted no more time.
“That—that was intense—are you okay?”
Jeongguk smiled lazily with his eyes closed, his chest still rising and sinking irregularly.
“I’m okay,” he nodded. “I feel amazing.”
Jimin couldn’t describe the wave of relief washing over the concern and the guilt that had started to eat him slowly. He’d started to think that he hadn’t taken care of Jeongguk the way he was trusted to—like he’d overstepped and let his own want and horniness take the better of him—
—but he wanted to believe it when Jeongguk said he was fine.
“I didn’t hurt you?”
“No.” Jeongguk shook his head. “I swear you didn’t. You took care of me.”
Jimin blinked a few more times than needed.
He wanted to elaborate and say something else, but he didn’t want to have Jeongguk thinking he was annoying if he kept going on about the same thing for longer.
“Let’s take a bath.” Jimin gazed up and stole a kiss from Jeongguk’s lips. “I’ll put salts in it.”
Jeongguk gave him a small laugh, and he let him go without putting up a fight. “Okay.”
That night, he went to bed with Jeongguk peacefully sleeping in his arms, but now that his head was back on the ground and that he could think somewhat properly, he started to wonder what Jeongguk had meant when he kept saying that he needed him—that he needed more. It wasn’t something that either of them normally did.
He went to bed knowing that mostly nothing of what they had just done was part of their normal.