Drop Like Confetti

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/27754993.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Relationship: Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin
Characters: Jeon Jungkook, Park Jimin (BTS), Kim Taehyung | V, Jung Hoseok | J-
Hope, Min Yoongi | Suga, Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kim Namjoon | RM,
Minatozaki Sana, Myoui Mina
Additional Tags: CEO Jeon Jungkook, University Student Park Jimin (BTS), Strangers to
Lovers, Aged-Up Character(s), Age Difference, Age Swap, Friends With
Benefits, Explicit Sexual Content, Top Jeon Jungkook, Power Bottom
Park Jimin (BTS), Light Angst, side vhope, side Yoonjin, these tags are
suspiciously normal who even am I, anyways I wrote this in a month so
good luck to me!!!!, Tags Are Hard, Additional Warnings In Author's
Note
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2020-11-29 Completed: 2020-12-20 Words: 110,992
Chapters: 8/8
 Drop Like Confetti
by annie_vi

Summary

Park Jimin is hellbent on celebrating a breakup with his cheating ex while juggling his final
semester at university. What he didn't expect was a one-night stand with Jeon Jeongguk, a
successful CEO much older than Jimin with no interest in a relationship but much to offer.
 finally free
Chapter Notes

HELLO, I'M ALIVE. Skip the notes if you don’t want to read my rambling methods of
self-protection. Otherwise, please bear with the following notes because I am already
anticipating two things and I’m gonna do my best to stop them from happening real
quick, so forgive the rant:

FIRST THING: LITERALLY IDC IF YOU LIKE AGE GAP/AGE SWAP OR NOT.
don't leave a stupid comment telling me you don't like it, JUST DON’T READ IT!
“Annie that’s really mean stop being aggressive omg” OK!!! But I’m not dealing with
comments like “ew I don’t like JK being older it’s weird” because I’m tired of getting
rude messages, quite frankly. Also, please don’t come to me with your ageism shit. “36
is oooooold” no it sure isn’t so quiet, please!!!!

SECOND THING: this relationship starts out as a fuck buddies relationship. That
means, very obviously, there’s a lot of sex that happens between them, and I wrote a lot
of it out. Scroll if you don't care for it, but make sure not to miss the parts where they’re
talking and there’s actual plot happening. And don’t leave comments like “tHeRe’S tOo
mUcH i cAn’T rEaD tHiS” because I’ll just delete them.

“jfc Annie are you OK what is all this” I'm great and if you’re offended, it’s probably
because you want to leave a mean comment! tbh I’ve seen too many people get shit for
writing what they want because people think we must cater to their tastes. NOT HERE!
I'm writing this fic for me because I wanted to.

...OK so! hahaha I came up with this idea mid-November and, like, word vomited it all
out in maybe a month and I love it, so I hope you do, too! This chapter is 15k so please
enjoy, I love y'all! <3

TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

[moodboard by cata]

~~~

Every hour on the hour, confetti fell from the ceiling of MAGENTA, a nightclub along the
busiest strip of road in Itaewon, South Korea. Party bells would sound, lights would flash,
and an explosion of colors would rain down on the patrons until the floor was a rainbow
mosaic by closing time. And the confetti, amongst other cathartic perks, was exactly the
reason why Park Jimin was at MAGENTA.

“Now, listen.” Jimin held out both arms, and on either side of him, his two friends bumped
into him and stopped. Jung Hoseok, on the left, slung one arm around Jimin’s shoulder with a
grin, his blonde hair trapped in his eyelashes. On his right, Kim Taehyung lifted Jimin’s arm
and pretended to walk under it, immediately backing up and turning to stare at his best friend
expectantly, as if he couldn’t believe they had stopped walking to do something as ridiculous
as listening.

“What could we possibly have to hear in a time like this?” Taehyung asked, raising his
eyebrows underneath his messy black hair.

“This is my first night out since my shitty break-up,” Jimin said, and Taehyung’s facial
expression said that he understood the point in an instant. “My first night as a single man in
ten months. So I’m taking full fucking advantage, and I need you both to just cheer me on.
I’ve been wound up for weeks, and I’m done with all the crying and feeling like a loser.”

“Exactly. You had your time to cry about it. Now it’s time to forget about that asshole and
play the field like a seasoned pro, like single Jimin does so well,” Hoseok said supportively
as they stepped further into the club. The floors were silver and reflective, the wall opposite
the entrance was vibrantly magenta, the other walls were the palest shade of lavender, and the
flashing lights were white and bright. This was the place to be, one of the most popular and
inclusive clubs in the greater Seoul area. This was a nightclub where Jimin could be Jimin
without fear of retribution, a place where he could let loose and drink his weight in alcohol
(which he could hold like a champion) and forget all about the wasted ten months of his life.

“And we’ll make sure that we look gross and in love so that all the hot guys will flock to only
you, since you look like a fucking eleven out of ten,” Taehyung promised Jimin, and Jimin
rolled his eyes with a smile. He could freely admit, though, that the outfit he had chosen was
his “I want you to take me home and fuck me” outfit. He was wearing skin tight black jeans
that made his ass look great (he wasn’t ashamed to admit it), paired with a pink sheer short-
sleeved button-up shirt where he had neglected the top few buttons. He was wearing his
favorite Chanel necklace, which was his most expensive and prized possession, and he had
rings on all of his fingers, his blonde hair parted to the side and styled back off his face.

“Aren’t you two always gross and in love?” Jimin asked wearily as they made a beeline for
the bar. He had made the grave mistake (a lie—it was the best choice he’d ever made) of
introducing extroverted and whimsical Taehyung—his lifelong best friend—to Hoseok, the
bright ball of sunshine Jimin had met in his philosophy class two years ago. Despite being a
year ahead, Hoseok had clicked with Taehyung instantly despite his Aquarius tendencies
(Jimin never wanted to explain Aquarius tendencies to anyone and expected it to just make
sense), and Taehyung had flirted to a point of near exhaustion just to get Hoseok into his bed.
They had been dating for nearly two years, and sometimes Jimin wondered if he would ever
find someone to love him the way that Hoseok loved Taehyung.

He’d had Sungwoon until just recently. Ha Sungwoon, just one year older, and so charming.
He and Jimin had shared so many of the same interests, had flirted endlessly with one another
for so long, had fucked several times, and had gone on countless cute dates before finally
making it official. And Jimin had sworn, sworn , that Sungwoon had the potential to be “the
one.” That with just a little time, as they both matured, he and Sungwoon would become a
permanent item.

It had taken only five or six months for Jimin to realize that something was wrong. Jimin was
studying business and worked as a barista with big dreams, leaving him very little free time.
He had given all of his free time to Sungwoon, leaving him exhausted at the end of every
night. But then Sungwoon had started acting strangely by month five of the relationship,
making excuses, leaving things around his apartment that made no sense, given that he was
Jimin’s boyfriend. And two weeks ago, Jimin had finally gotten his lies and his timing right,
walking into Sungwoon’s apartment and catching him with another man. Jimin had promptly
dumped him, but he hadn’t missed the way Sungwoon had defensively laughed and called
Jimin a horrible boyfriend, called him inattentive and selfish, taunted him by saying that he’d
been sleeping around for months behind Jimin’s back.

So now, after spending almost two weeks feeling worthless and despondent (and,
unfortunately, selfish), Jimin needed to have the best night of his life. He needed to convince
himself, more than anyone, that he deserved it.

“I mean, yes, we’re in love, but we can be grosser,” Taehyung replied as they reached the bar.
“Can we not be?” Hoseok asked tiredly, and Taehyung stifled a laugh. Hoseok was not one
for intense public displays of affection, and Taehyung loved to milk it. “We’re here to get
Jimin laid, not be gross and scar him for life.”

“God, yes. I need to get laid,” Jimin groaned, throwing his entire upper body on the empty
bar top as the three girls to his left shot him a collective look of surprise. Jimin blinked with
his head sideways, noticing the way one of the three girls was eyeing him, and he added,
“I’m gay, look somewhere else.”

The girls immediately scowled and scurried off, and Taehyung snorted with laughter as the
bartender came around to open a tab for them while Jimin straightened up. As three
university students, they had to keep the cost pretty low, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t
drink until the hourly confetti looked like a blur. They took a round of three shockingly
strong shots each first before going for a full drink. With a grin, Jimin accepted his drink
from Taehyung and held it up, waiting to toast. Taehyung drummed his fingers impatiently
against the bar top, bobbing his head along to the music that was playing, and then the
bartender slid the other two drinks towards him. Taehyung handed one to Hoseok, and then
he lifted his drink and turned towards Jimin.

mood: “break up song” by little mix

“Drink every time a song uses the word ‘love,’” Taehyung suggested, and Jimin snickered.

“We’ll need to call an ambulance to take us out of here,” he replied. “How about we drink
every time I think of what an asshole Sungwoon is?”

“So I’ll call the ambulance now,” Hoseok recommended as the song changed over, and they
both laughed underneath the ever-changing lights and walked down the three wide stairs into
the large floor space where all the dancing was taking place. In every corner of the dance
floor were platforms where aerialists and hired dancers were entertaining the crowds, and the
deejay was underneath a disco ball and white flashing lights with a few girls up on the
platform, laughing and dancing without a care in the world.

“We’re dancing!” Jimin declared as the beat of the song changed to something that he could
feel in his very bones. Taehyung seemed to feel it, too, because he immediately swayed and
held his drink up, turning around himself in a circle as Hoseok laughed and grabbed for his
boyfriend to dance together. But they were accustomed to Jimin being the third wheel, so
Taehyung immediately roped Jimin in so they could all dance without anyone being the
outlier.

It was cathartic to Jimin, downing his drink and dancing with his eyes closed as the music
permeated his skin and the crowds shuffled around him merrily. For weeks leading up to the
break-up, Jimin had been so anxious and stressed by his suspicions that he hadn’t been able
to enjoy a single night out, had hardly slept in fear that Sungwoon would catch on and would
try to hide it all. But the moment he had had proof that Sungwoon was sleeping with other
men, Jimin had let him go in an instant. Now he could release every worry he had been
holding in his body and just be free.

“AY-Y-Y-Y-Y!” Taehyung hollered excitedly along to the music, and Jimin laughed, finishing
the last of his drink. Hoseok noticed, so he kissed Taehyung on the cheek and disappeared
into the crowds to grab another. With Hoseok gone, Taehyung turned and grabbed Jimin
around the waist.

“I’M DOING NOTHING BUT DANCING AND DRINKING TONIGHT. THAT’S IT,”
Jimin shouted, and Taehyung threw his head back and laughed.

“But are we finding you a hot guy?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“No, no, no,” Jimin said, shaking his head and patting Taehyung on the chest. “No, we let the
hot guys come to me. And if they don’t, fuck them all. I have you and hyung!”

“God, I love single Jimin,” Taehyung said with an elated grin.

“So do I!” Jimin agreed as the song changed again and Hoseok returned. The three of them
toasted once again, and the dancing continued. Jimin knew it was damn obvious that
Taehyung and Hoseok were the couple of out of the three of them, but he was chugging his
drink and he didn’t give a fuck. One guy then approached to dance with him, and Jimin
accepted without even analyzing the situation, didn’t even bother to overthink it and instead
chose to enjoy the physical contact. He danced for one song, and then he turned and waved
goodbye, sucking on the ice from his drink with a grin as he backed away.

“Wait, he was hot!” Taehyung complained, and Hoseok smacked him playfully on the arm.
“What? He was! Jimin-ah!”

“I’m worth more than that!” Jimin decided, and Hoseok burst out laughing, but Taehyung
raised his eyebrows and pointed. Jimin turned around, and there was yet another cute guy
standing by with a smile. So Jimin accepted his free hand and let himself be spun into an
intimate hold for another dance. But this guy, albeit cute, was far too handsy. Jimin couldn’t
get comfortable, but he gave the guy two dances without bothering to ask for a name. Then
he turned and bowed theatrically with a twirl of his wrist, backing away towards his friends
again as the guy gave him a weird look and disappeared into the crowds.

“What was wrong with him ?” Hoseok exclaimed, aghast at Jimin’s audacity.

“I’m pretty sure he’d be open to jerking me off on the dance floor,” Jimin said. “God, why
aren’t there any guys to flirt with? Good, old-fashioned flirting. The original game. I need to
play to my strengths, and none of these morons are strong enough to handle me at my best.”

“The balls on him, I swear to God,” Taehyung said to Hoseok, and Jimin stifled a laugh.

“I’m kidding. I need another drink, I’ll be back. Maybe I’ll find the love of my life while I
weave through the crowd,” Jimin said. “Isn’t that how it happens on television shows? In
movies? I want my slow-motion moment with the right song playing.”
“Is he hearing himself talk?” Hoseok asked Taehyung, and Jimin reached forward and
smacked them both jokingly, his vision swimming just a little. The three shots before the
drinks must have started to take effect, because Jimin was very good at holding his alcohol.
But now he was headed towards that floaty headspace where he knew he’d forget a few
conversations. Determined, he turned and began his pursuit for the bar, dancing his way
through the crowds instead of pushing or shouting. He walked up the three steps and
surveyed the bar, trying to figure out the best place to sneak in. He found his opening when
two girls walked off with their drinks, and he took it.

“Four tequila shots!” the bartender called out cheerfully in passing, setting down four shot
glasses and pouring the top-shelf tequila, setting a tiny wedge of lime on the edge of each
glass. Jimin eyed them with raised eyebrows, knowing that they weren’t for him, but then he
looked up to see who had ordered shots with tequila from the top shelf.

“Big spender,” Jimin commented, leaning one elbow on the bar and waiting. Then the man
who was standing beside him turned, and victory bells began to ring in Jimin’s head instantly
before the game had even begun. The man was wearing black jeans that looked painted onto
his legs, and his black and white tiger print button-up was halfway unbuttoned, sleeves
unbuttoned as well to show off a few tattoos on his arms that Jimin couldn’t quite make out.
His black hair was longer and parted to the side and off his forehead, a few strands hanging in
his left eye. With his sparkling eyes and pink lips and jawline that could cut glass, he was the
closest thing to sex on legs Jimin had ever seen.

Target acquired.

“For the birthday girl,” the man replied with vagueness.

“Girlfriend?” Jimin asked conversationally.

“Not interested,” the man replied right away, and Jimin checked another box on his mental
list.

“Boyfriend?” he asked, and the man visibly laughed, even though Jimin couldn’t hear it over
the music.

“Smooth,” he said. “No. Is there something you want?”

Jimin said nothing, instead just glancing down at the tequila shots and then back up to the
gorgeous man whose attention he had. Now he could flirt properly; very few men had ever
been able to resist Jimin when he was on top of his game, and this man… this was a man
Jimin was willing to go the extra mile for, the extra mile being down the road to his
apartment.

“Is it your birthday, too?” the man asked, raising one eyebrow. He had a mesmerizingly calm
aura to him that Jimin could not possibly match, almost like he wasn’t at MAGENTA with
the intention of drinking his feelings away.

“Not at all, but I just dumped my ex-boyfriend. He was cheating on me for, like, six months.
That deserves a tequila shot,’” Jimin reasoned, cocking his head to the side slightly in hope.
The man rubbed his lips together and glanced over his shoulder, possibly at the
aforementioned birthday girl or whoever was in his party. Then he turned back to Jimin.

“You’re right. It does,” he agreed. Immediately, Jimin reached forward, grabbed one shot,
plucked the lime off, and tossed back the tequila. He stuck the lime between his teeth
instantly and sucked, and then he dropped it into the empty shot glass. Before the man could
say a single word, Jimin grabbed a second shot and drank it quickly, sticking the lime
between his teeth again and grinning.

mood: “confetti” by little mix

“...Okay. That’s how it is. Got it,” the man said, and Jimin stifled a laugh. “A man who can
hold his alcohol.”

“You have no idea,” Jimin teased, spinning and leaning both elbows on the bar behind him
and turning his head to the left to look at the man, blinking a few times to steady his vision.
“I’m Jimin, by the way.”

“Jeongguk,” the man replied, and Jimin almost sighed like a lovesick puppy. The name fit the
man. And maybe his dick would fit inside Jimin. Focus, Jimin, focus.

“Will you come dance with me, Jeongguk?” he asked sweetly. Jeongguk chewed his bottom
lip for a moment, eyes slightly narrowed as Jimin gave him puppy dog eyes, working his
magic. Once the cute act worked, then he could really turn up the heat. All Jeongguk needed
to do was cave. And Jimin couldn’t hear it, but he saw Jeongguk click his tongue and look
over his shoulder again, this time for a few seconds longer, like he was weighing his options.
When he turned back to Jimin, his bottom lip was between his teeth, a telltale sign that he
was contemplating a dance.

“How old are you?” he asked bluntly.

“Twenty-two,” Jimin replied, taken aback. “Is that relevant to you coming to dance with
me?”

“I’m celebrating a co-worker’s thirtieth birthday,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin raised his
eyebrows. Thirtieth? Maybe he was tipsy, but surely that meant Jeongguk was older, maybe
somewhere around thirty. And Jimin wanted to be like everyone else and actively care, but he
almost laughed out loud when he realized that he didn’t give a fuck. Jeongguk was goddamn
gorgeous and he was playing Jimin’s game. Age be damned. It was nothing but a number to
Jimin.

“That sounds fun, and also highly irrelevant to what I’m asking. Are you saying you don’t
want to dance with me?” Jimin asked airily.
“I should probably be with her to celebrate,” Jeongguk evenly replied like he was testing
Jimin. Jimin chuckled, trying to mask his disappointment as the bartender came back over
and slid a drink towards Jimin, having prepared it just upon seeing Jimin waiting.

“I’m almost positive you could tell her that you want to dance with the cute guy you just met
over at the bar who’s very interested in you, but we’ll do things your way,” he replied as he
pulled the drink towards him. “I’ll be on the dance floor if you change your mind. I’m
counting on it, actually. Don’t keep me waiting.”

“Check out the mouth on this one,” Jeongguk joked with a one-dimpled grin, and Jimin
almost fell to his knees to beg, but he restrained himself.

“My mouth could be on you instead, but have fun celebrating,” he fired back without missing
a beat. “You know where to find me. It was nice to meet you, Jeongguk-ssi. Thanks for the
tequila shots.”

Jimin slowly bit the tiny straw in his drink with a flirtatious grin, and then he turned and
walked away, knowing damn well that Jeongguk was watching him, and it made him feel
momentarily immortal. He wove through the crowds again until he found Hoseok and
Taehyung in each other’s arms, laughing and exchanging kisses like they weren’t surrounded
by dozens of other patrons.

“Hey!” Taehyung exclaimed the moment he spotted Jimin. “You were gone forever!”

“Sorry. I met someone at the bar,” Jimin replied, sipping his drink through the straw
absentmindedly as he scanned the club. It took a moment, but his eyes finally fell on one of
the booths in the left hand corner, where there was indeed a woman in a black dress laughing
with a few other friends, and moments later, Jeongguk slid into the booth with his own drink,
brow slightly furrowed.

“Oh?” Taehyung linked elbows with Jimin as Jimin turned away from where Jeongguk was
seated. “Was he hot? Did you ask him to dance?”

“I asked him to dance with me and then take me home with him, but he was a little hesitant,”
Jimin sighed, and Hoseok choked on a laugh as Taehyung grinned. “I think he’s older than I
am, but whatever. He was hot as fuck. He’s in that booth, look. The guy on the end in the
black and white shirt.”

“Where…? Oh. Holy shit, that guy? Hyung, are you seeing him?” Taehyung asked, whacking
Hoseok’s arm.

“I see him,” Hoseok said. “I definitely see him. He didn’t want to dance?”

“I think he did, but that girl at the table has a birthday, so he felt obligated , I think,” Jimin
said dramatically. “Doesn’t matter. I told him to come find me when he wanted to dance.
Fuck it. His loss.”

“HIS LOSS!” Taehyung exclaimed, and right on cue, the next song began. Jimin decisively
turned and put himself right into Taehyung’s arms, very comfortable with dancing down and
dirty with his best friend from the countless times they had done it before. When he opened
his eyes, the lights blurred and he saw double for just a moment, but then he steadied himself
and grinned, still dancing perfectly to the beat of the music, feeling untouchable. He was
right on the edge, right in that sweet spot between properly tipsy and flat-out drunk. After the
first song, Jimin purposely glanced over to the booth, and right on cue, Jeongguk looked to
the dance floor and caught Jimin’s eye. Jimin just winked and grinned, closing his eyes again
and dancing closer to Taehyung.

His loss.

Not that Jimin wasn’t ready to crawl over to Jeongguk and beg for something, anything.
Because he was. It had been a solid month since he’d gotten laid, and he’d only slept with
one man since he’d broken up with Sungwoon—the very night he’d dumped Sungwoon,
actually. And the sex had been subpar. So if Jeongguk, a virtual stranger, wasn’t the first one
to properly rail Jimin into next week post-break-up, then Jimin wasn’t sure he wanted to try
again so soon.

“Oh, shit, is that him?” Taehyung suddenly said in Jimin’s ear. “Is that the hot guy? Is he—is
he coming over here? Jimin-ah, he’s coming over here.”

Jimin hummed in a questioning tone and opened his eyes, and then his heart swooped into his
stomach excitedly, the alcohol coursing through his veins, his skin buzzing already at the
very thought of being close to Jeongguk. Jeongguk was parting the crowds easily as he
walked towards Jimin, and Jimin felt Taehyung and Hoseok move away from him
immediately to give him space to shoot his shot.

“Hello. Are you here to dance with me?” Jimin asked, cocking his head to the side and eyeing
Jeongguk head to toe shamelessly as Jeongguk stopped in front of him.

“Yeah. I am. But I need you to consent to this,” he said, and Jimin let out a bark of laughter.

“Wait, what?” he said, amused. “Are you serious?”

“I’m dead serious,” Jeongguk said with a straight face. “I’m not about to dance with you if
you’re too drunk to consent to anything. The other assholes in this club might just go for it,
but humor me. Maybe I’m old-fashioned.”

“Any particular reason for your concern in the middle of a nightclub?” Jimin wondered.

“I’m older than you,” Jeongguk stated simply. “A lot older.”

“I don’t care.”

“You should.”

“Well, I don’t,” Jimin replied breezily.

“I’ve got over a decade on you,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin blinked a few times, trying to do
the basic math in his head like an inebriated idiot. “And you’ve been drinking and are
currently dealing with a recent break-up. That’s a bad combination.”
“And?” Jimin challenged, resting one hand on his hip with his drink in the other hand as he
raised his eyebrows. “Are you comparing me to every other emotionally unstable man you’ve
met in your life?”

“Potentially,” Jeongguk replied, his lips twitching in a hint of a smile. “There’s a

precedence.”

“Then let me be the exception,” Jimin said firmly.

“When you sober up, you’re going to care a lot more than you do now about this,” Jeongguk
warned, and Jimin snorted with laughter.

“Please. You’re sexy as fuck and I want to dance with you. It’s as simple as that. Don’t
complicate things,” he said, and Jeongguk raised one perfect eyebrow at him.

“That’s it? You just want to dance?” he asked, sipping his drink. Jimin almost laughed in
glee. Jeongguk sounded almost… disappointed.

“No. I definitely want you to fuck me, but we’ll get to that later,” Jimin said, waving his
drink to dismiss the petty concern as Jeongguk choked on his gin and tonic (had to be) and
coughed a little, turning away as Jimin grinned victoriously.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little straightforward?” Jeongguk asked in a teasing
tone, and Jimin shrugged, still grinning. “Look at me and tell me you’re consenting to this.
I’m not coming near you if you don’t.”

“Do I need to sign a prepared document, Your Honor?” Jimin teased back in a singsong voice
while widening his eyes on purpose to stare at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk rolled his eyes. “I
fully consent to this. I wouldn’t be here asking you to take me home and fuck me in the
middle of a club if I didn’t.”

“Yeah? That’s really where this is headed?” Jeongguk asked, taking one step closer to close
the distance between them. Jimin was in the state of mind where he knew that the alcohol
was mildly influencing his decisions, and he was acutely aware of it, but he wasn’t willing to
censor himself. He wanted this. Fuck, he really wanted this. Jeongguk was the winner. Jimin
had a gut feeling about it. The confetti was about to fall in celebration, anyways.

“If this night doesn’t end with you taking me home, I’ll be very disappointed,” Jimin said,
and he didn’t miss the spark that ignited in Jeongguk’s eyes. He nodded, and that was all
Jimin needed for permission. He reached for Jeongguk’s hand, used it as an anchor point as
he spun himself around, and then he pressed his back to Jeongguk’s chest, getting as close as
possible and wrapping Jeongguk’s right arm around his waist, drink and all. To Jimin’s
surprise, Jeongguk wasn’t shy about it. He pulled Jimin closer and grabbed Jimin’s left hand
with his own left hand, lacing their fingers together. Jimin held his drink in his right hand and
melted back into Jeongguk, and then he began to move to the music.

It started off innocently, Jimin sipping his drink until it rapidly disappeared, his mind trying
to grapple with the oddly formal way Jeongguk had approached him. But then he let the
alcohol do its job, and he stopped overthinking. Instead, he pushed his hips back against
Jeongguk’s and let his head fall back in a state of drunken bliss.

“Tell me something, though,” Jeongguk said in Jimin’s right ear, and Jimin shivered with a
small smile. “Why was your ex cheating on you? Because usually, there’s a very specific
reason.”

“A very specific reason being that I’m absolutely crazy,” Jimin supplied, grinning. “That’s
the kind of scorned man you usually meet, isn’t it?”

“Typically,” Jeongguk agreed, guiding their intertwined left hands until Jimin’s arm was
wrapped around his own waist in a makeshift hug, which only drew him closer to Jeongguk.
This was absolute paradise. Jimin had to be in heaven. “And that’s the kind of man I actively
try to avoid.”

“The kind of man who’s too hung up on his ex but likes to go out to try to pretend that he’s
over it. The kind of man who makes your life a mess,” Jimin added, and Jeongguk snickered.

“You seem to know the type.”

“I do. Because I’m not that type,” Jimin replied, fearing he was slurring his words together
and hoping desperately that he was coherent. “My ex was too needy and couldn’t stand that I
was busy with university and my part-time job to spend every waking moment with him.
That’s why he cheated on me.”

“University, huh?” Jeongguk’s lips brushed Jimin’s ear, and Jimin thanked the universe that
the music was loud enough to mask his desperate little whimper. “What year?”

“About to start my final semester,” Jimin replied. “Thank fuck. Now shut up and dance.”

He heard Jeongguk laugh, but there were no more questions. Jimin purposely leaned his head
back and exposed his neck, and Jeongguk responded accordingly. He bent and pressed his
lips to Jimin’s neck, dragging them as Jimin’s hips stuttered slightly, losing the beat of the
music for a moment when he felt a spark of arousal ignite in the pit of his stomach. He
reached up and snaked a hand behind Jeongguk’s neck, and Jeongguk’s free hand moved
until it was splayed across Jimin’s abdomen. Jimin sighed happily and immediately downed
the rest of his drink like it was water. Then the bells sounded, and a cheer rang out over the
music.

“Holy shit,” Jimin laughed in sheer delight as rainbow confetti fell from the ceiling like snow.
As it rained down, he abruptly turned and faced Jeongguk, straddling one of his thighs with
ease, wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s waist.

“You dance with every guy like this?” Jeongguk asked, draping one arm around Jimin’s
shoulders, drink dangling in the other hand as confetti landed in his hair and fluttered down
his face. Jesus, he’s so fucking pretty, Jimin drunkenly thought, staring right at Jeongguk’s
lips.

“No. Just you.” Jimin said as Jeongguk cupped one hand behind his neck. “Kiss me.”
Jeongguk drew Jimin in instantly, kissing him as the last of the confetti fell. There was
nothing polite or sweet about it. It was downright filthy, and Jimin moaned right into
Jeongguk’s mouth as Jeongguk took Jimin’s bottom lip between his teeth momentarily.
Jimin’s chest was pressed to Jeongguk’s as they kissed, Jeongguk’s hand was tangled in
Jimin’s blonde hair, and Jimin had both hands underneath Jeongguk’s shirt, fingernails
digging into the skin of his lower back. They kissed until Jimin was gasping for air, but still,
he wanted to use his last breath to ask for another kiss. It was so fucking hot, the way
Jeongguk was taking control but letting Jimin have whatever he wanted, the way he was
tugging on Jimin’s hair as they made out on the dance floor like no one else existed.

“Fuck, you’re so hot,” Jimin whined the moment Jeongguk moved to leave rough kisses
down his neck. “Bet you’d fuck me so well. Is that true? Would you?”

“You wouldn’t be able to walk in the morning,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin let out a little gasp
when Jeongguk bit at his bottom lip again and tugged. He was drunk off both pleasure and
alcohol, a dangerous combination given how badly he wanted to see Jeongguk naked.

“Gonna—” Jimin whimpered when Jeongguk kissed him again, so deeply and intentionally
that Jimin was nearly knocked off his feet. “Gonna fuck me into the mattress until I’m
begging? Tell me what you want to do to me. Tell me.”

“It would be much easier to show you,” Jeongguk said, his lips still against Jimin’s. “Isn’t
that what you wanted?”

“Mm,” Jimin hummed, eyes closed as he kissed Jeongguk again, his own lips swollen
already, his shirt a bit askew, but who the fuck cared? He was this close to getting laid. He
needed this. He needed Jeongguk, wanted Jeongguk. “Want to see you naked. Want to see
your face when you come. God, I just want you to fuck me. I need you to fuck me. Take me
home. Please take me home.”

“Yeah? Don’t feel like staying and dancing for a little longer?” Jeongguk asked in a low
voice, sending a shiver down Jimin’s spine. His hands trailed down Jimin’s back, his drink
suddenly gone, and then he gripped Jimin’s ass purposefully once before moving his hands to
Jimin’s waist. But it was enough. Jimin had had enough.

“Absolutely fucking not,” he gasped. “Take me home with you.”

“Give me your phone first,” Jeongguk declared. Jimin didn’t even give a fuck why. He just
fumbled in his pocket and pulled out his iPhone, smacking it into Jeongguk’s palm. Jeongguk
turned it and held it up to Jimin’s face to unlock it, and then he went right to Jimin’s
messages. “Who needs to know where you’ll be?”

“Oh, aren’t you responsible,” Jimin teased, wrapping his arms around Jeongguk’s neck and
trailing kisses down his perfect jawline. Jeongguk turned his head into it willingly, still
navigating Jimin’s phone. “I like you already. Doesn’t matter. Kim Taehyung. He’s here
somewhere.”

“Got it,” Jeongguk murmured, turning his head and kissing Jimin multiple times, his eyes
still trained on Jimin’s phone as Jimin nipped at his bottom lip playfully.
“I could’ve done that, you know,” he whispered, and Jeongguk snickered and held up Jimin’s
phone. Jimin could see a text message, could see Taehyung’s name on the screen, but he
didn’t care to read the message.

“I know you could have. But I texted Kim Taehyung with my name and my address and my
phone number, so he can come track you down if need be,” Jeongguk replied. “Sure you
don’t want to think this over?”

“I want you over me. Or me under you. Or both,” Jimin replied. “I’ve thought it over plenty.”

Jeongguk slipped one hand up to Jimin’s cheek, the other arm around his waist, and kissed
him firmly, so perfectly that Jimin sighed and nearly melted, body feeling limp as he let
himself be swept up in the feeling of finally being kissed the right way. He was kissing
someone who knew what the fuck he was doing and seemed to appreciate Jimin, and that was
all that mattered. Jeongguk took Jimin’s hand, and Jimin gripped his arm and followed him
off the dance floor, feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket. Surely it was Taehyung cheering
him on.

“My apartment’s only ten minutes from here,” Jeongguk said, keeping Jimin close as they
wove through the crowds towards the exit. “You okay with a taxi?”

“More than okay,” Jimin said, practically buzzing with excitement as they finally exited the
club and stepped onto the street, Jeongguk with his phone in one hand as he ordered a taxi.
Once he did, he wrapped Jimin up again and kissed him fiercely, and Jimin whined in a
shamelessly needy display.

“You talked a big game in there,” Jeongguk whispered against Jimin’s lips. “Are you gonna
follow through?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jimin replied, feeling his phone vibrate again as a reminder. He
held up one finger to Jeongguk and reached for his phone to see the text message:

TAETAE [11:56:43PM]

GET THAT DICK, PARK JIMIN, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU, HONEY!!!

Jimin snickered and shoved his phone back into his pocket where it belonged, and a taxi
pulled up to the curb. Jeongguk held open the backdoor, and Jimin slid in first, Jeongguk
following. The driver said absolutely nothing as he pulled away from the curb, and Jimin
buckled in, choosing the middle seat, to Jeongguk’s amusement.

“It’s only ten minutes,” Jeongguk said, but then he turned his head and kissed Jimin again
without protest. Jimin reached his hand over, tugged at Jeongguk’s shirt, and untucked it from
his pants. He slipped his hand under as Jeongguk inhaled sharply into the next kiss, and then
Jimin gripped intently at Jeongguk’s belt, tugging as they kissed.

“Want you so fucking badly,” he whispered. “Fuck, I’ve never wanted anyone this much.”

“That’s the alcohol talking,” Jeongguk joked, but Jimin shook his head and slid his hand
down, pressing his entire palm onto the outline of Jeongguk’s half hard cock beneath his
pants as Jeongguk choked on his next breath. Jimin gripped Jeongguk through his pants,
whimpering when he realized that even halfway aroused, Jeongguk was big. He was going to
follow through on his promise to make sure Jimin couldn’t walk properly in the morning.

“No, it’s not,” Jimin whispered.

“Fuck, he needs to drive faster,” Jeongguk breathed, and they both laughed as they
exchanged quiet but biting little kisses, Jimin never removing his hand. Finally, after what
felt like an eternity, the taxi pulled up to the curb of an apartment building. Jimin and
Jeongguk both tumbled out, and Jeongguk took Jimin’s hand and tugged him towards the
lobby as Jimin followed obediently.

“Oh, shit, this is nice,” Jimin noticed, hearing his words running together as he spoke. They
walked into the lobby, Jeongguk turning to walk backwards while drawing Jimin into his
arms. Together, they approached the elevator while kissing like they had just discovered each
other’s lips.

“In,” Jeongguk said, and he kept a firm grip around Jimin’s waist and backed him into the
elevator carefully, never taking his lips off Jimin’s neck as he reached and pressed the button
for the top floor.

Jimin faintly remembered all the one-night stands he’d had in the past, how he had stumbled
and staggered into the strange man’s apartment while giggling like a teenager. This time,
however, Jeongguk had him up against the mirrored elevator wall, and it felt entirely
different. This wasn’t a hasty one-off fuck where Jimin would forget the guy’s name the next
morning. Maybe Jimin wouldn’t remember the details thanks to the alcohol, but he was
bound to remember the pleasure that Jeonguk was about to give him. He could feel it in his
bones.

Or his dick.

“God, can’t this go any faster?” Jimin complained as the elevator continued to rise, and
Jeongguk laughed, still leaving biting kisses down Jimin’s jaw that had him shivering. “I like
marks and bruises, by the way. Don’t be shy.”

“Mm,” Jeongguk hummed, and then he brought his lips back to Jimin’s as Jimin hungrily
reciprocated. He licked into Jeongguk’s mouth eagerly, bucking his hips against Jeongguk’s
thigh in search of friction. Jeongguk immediately grabbed Jimin’s right thigh and hoisted it
up by his waist, and then his lips latched into Jimin’s neck as Jimin moaned, fingernails
dragging down Jeongguk’s back through the thin shirt. The elevator came to a stop and
opened, and Jimin didn’t even have to open his eyes. He gripped Jeongguk’s hair as Jeongguk
backed out of the elevator to the one locked door, and he kept his lips on Jimin’s as he
pressed in the code.

“Follow me,” Jeongguk whispered, because his apartment was dark, but Jimin trusted him
fully. He stumbled over Jeongguk’s feet with a small laugh, never losing his lips for more
than a moment, until they were in a bedroom, and Jeongguk flicked on a dim lamp for some
semblance of lighting.

“Undress me,” Jimin demanded breathlessly, and Jeongguk wasted no time. He pulled Jimin’s
shirt off overhead without bothering to unbutton it, and then his large hands wrapped around
Jimin’s bare waist as he laid Jimin back on the massive bed. Jimin lifted his legs and wrapped
them around Jeongguk’s waist to pull him down, and Jeongguk fell forward, bracing himself
on the bed with both palms, caging Jimin in.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous,” Jeongguk breathed, and then he gripped Jimin’s hips and
began to kiss down his body. Jimin had no idea where to put his hands, but his entire body
bowed, back arching off the bed as Jeongguk’s lips trailed fire down the center of his chest.
He then took one of Jimin’s nipples into his mouth, rolling the bud around his tongue as
Jimin writhed, one hand grabbing Jeongguk’s hair roughly as he gasped. Jeongguk,
encouraged by Jimin’s response, moved to the other nipple, and Jimin whimpered.

“I said undress me,” he breathlessly said. “Undress me and fuck me. W-Want you to—ah—
want you to fuck me so well that I can’t walk in the morning. Want to fucking feel you inside
me for days after this.”

“Fuck, I will,” Jeongguk said, removing Jimin’s belt and working on his pants immediately.
Jimin lifted his hips to help, and suddenly, he was in just his boxer briefs, and it was glaringly
obvious how hard he was. He propped up on his elbows and cocked his head to the side,
watching the way that Jeongguk just stood at the foot of the bed and stared, eyeing Jimin
from head to toe.

“Now, see, this would be a great time for me to use the ‘do you like what you see?’ line on
you,” Jimin said, snapping Jeongguk out of his daze. Jeongguk snickered and crawled onto
the bed, and then he reached into the drawer of his bedside table, fumbled around for a
moment, and emerged with a condom and lube. He dropped the condom to the side and used
a thumb to pop the cap of the lube.

“Worst line ever,” Jeongguk said, scooting closer to Jimin.

“Am I allowed to call you ‘hyung,’ or is that a no?” Jimin wondered, arching one eyebrow.
The corners of Jeongguk’s mouth turned up in a smile.

“Fine with me,” he agreed, tilting the lube towards his fingers.

“I can do it myself,” Jimin offered, even though he knew he was too drunk to prep himself
properly. Luckily, Jeongguk shook his head.

“Absolutely not. I want this,” Jeongguk declared. “Off.”

Jimin immediately lifted his hips and pulled his boxer briefs off, tossing them to the floor
carelessly. He then bent his knees just a little, legs falling open as Jeongguk blew out a
breath.

“I’m going to lose my goddamn mind with you,” he muttered, but Jimin heard it and swelled
with pride. “Stay on your back. Legs open. Take the pillow.”

Jimin’s heart was pounding so hard that he feared his ribcage would break. It had been a long
time (maybe never) since a man had given him orders in bed, and it was such a turn-on that
Jimin was willing to do just about anything. He slipped the pillow underneath his hips and
opened his legs again, and Jeongguk moved in, still fully dressed. That was the hottest part of
it all—Jimin was completely naked, and Jeongguk hadn’t removed a single stitch of clothing.

“Don’t be gentle,” Jimin said as Jeongguk lubed up his fingers and rubbed them together.
“I’m not made of glass. I won’t break. I like it rough, so don’t be shy.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jeongguk said, and then, while still rubbing his fingers, he bent and
started to kiss the inside of Jimin’s left thigh. Jimin’s cock twitched against his stomach as he
closed his eyes and squirmed a little when Jeongguk started to suck on the skin to leave
marks, traveling higher and higher. He then moved over to the other thigh and did the same,
kissing and sucking at the skin to leave bruises in his wake as Jimin sighed in pleasure.

“God, you’re amazing,” he complimented.

“Haven’t even done anything yet,” Jeongguk replied.

“Christ, it doesn’t even matter,” Jimin said with a laugh, hips lifting slightly when Jeongguk
left another biting kiss.

“Stay still,” he murmured, and then Jimin felt Jeongguk’s slick fingers circling his rim. He
drew in a sharp breath, and then he exhaled, forcing himself to relax.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” Jimin gasped the moment Jeongguk slipped one finger in. The
effect was instantaneous. “Fuck, y-your fingers are so long, oh my God.”

“Feel good?” Jeongguk asked, trailing kisses down Jimin’s chest, his free hand pressed into
Jimin’s hip to hold him down as he pumped his finger steadily. Jimin writhed against the
mattress regardless, lifting his hips and exhaling as his head fell back again.

“Feels fucking incredible, just—fuck, add another. Don’t care if it hurts,” Jimin pleaded.
Jeongguk removed his middle finger, and when he pushed back into Jimin’s hole, it was with
two fingers, and the moan Jimin let out was absolutely obscene.

“Jesus, you sound so hot,” Jeongguk said, fucking Jimin intently with his fingers, reaching
far deeper than Jimin’s own fingers ever had. “Hips up, baby, let me just…”

Jimin choked on his next breath at being called “baby,” and he obediently lifted his hips a
little. Jeongguk angled his fingers, and the moment he did, Jimin let out a loud cry, his entire
body trembling. Jeongguk refused to relent, stroking the same sweet spot with his fingertips,
pressing into it and watching Jimin’s every reaction.

“Oh my God,” Jimin choked out, fisting the sheets. He hadn’t even bothered to touch himself,
because the way Jeongguk was working his fingers was like magic. His cock was leaking
mercilessly onto his stomach, twitching with every stroke of Jeongguk’s long fingers.

“Gonna make you come like this,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin gasped, nodding frantically.
“God, look at you. So fucking gorgeous. Tell me where, Jimin-ah.”

“Right… ah, just a little bit— fuck, right there, right there, oh my God, ah, fuck,” Jimin
babbled as Jeongguk’s fingers searched him, scissoring and stretching to open him up. He
found just the right spot again, and when he did, he took it and ran with it.

“Louder, baby, go ahead,” Jeongguk encouraged as Jimin panted, legs shaking and wide
open, hips lifted as the best kind of tears burned his eyes. He was gasping for breath, had
never felt so aroused and so out of control in his entire life. He’d been prepped like this by so
many different men, but it had always felt so clinical. Yet here was Jeongguk, determined to
make Jimin come from his fingers alone, and surely it was going to happen. Jimin had never
come just from being fingered before, so this was going to be a first.

“Hyung, please,” Jimin whined in a high-pitched tone, breathless. “Make me come, make me
come, I need to come.”

“Whatever you want,” Jeongguk whispered, and then he leaned in and pushed his fingers just
a little further, fucking them into Jimin with deep, smooth, hard strokes. Jimin’s entire body
nearly lifted off the bed as he fought it but chased it simultaneously, panting still, feeling the
orgasm in the pit of his stomach ready to rip through him.

“G-Gonna come, don’t touch me, I’m—I’m gonna come, gonna come,” Jimin warned, his
legs shaking again. “Gonna—I’m coming, I’m coming, I’m—” He choked on the last word,
and then his body tensed as he came all over himself with absolutely no control. It shot up his
stomach and chest, and Jeongguk only relented when Jimin let out a cry of overstimulation
and tried to instinctively shove Jeongguk away. Then he gently removed his fingers.

“I think you’re ready,” he whispered in Jimin’s ear. Then he bent down and started to leave
open-mouthed kisses along Jimin’s stomach and chest, lapping up the mess Jimin had made
along the way as Jimin shivered, his cock still painfully hard.

“W-Wait,” Jimin insisted, scrambling to prop up on his elbows. “Wait, you need to undress.
Come on. Wanna suck you off. Take your pants off.”

“Shit, okay,” Jeongguk instantly agreed. He rolled off the bed and removed most of his
clothing as Jimin hungrily watched, licking his lips and catching his breath. He wrapped one
hand around his own cock as he watched Jeongguk strip down to just his black boxer briefs,
and then he sighed. Jeongguk was a walking wet dream. He had broad shoulders and a
defined chest with a small waist and muscular thighs. There were tattoos all up his right arm
and one on his chest, but Jimin didn’t have the coherency to make them out. He was just
naked on the bed, visually drinking in the most gorgeous man he’d ever (almost) fucked.
“Come here,” Jimin said again, and then he rolled Jeongguk onto the bed and knelt between
his legs. In one fluid motion, he pulled down Jeongguk’s briefs, and then he actually laughed
in disbelief, not sure if the alcohol was making him see things or if Jeongguk was real. “Fuck,
you’ve got to be kidding. Is there anything you aren’t?”

“Bored. I’m not bored,” Jeongguk replied, sounding rather smug that Jimin’s eyes were wide
at the sight of his cock fully hard against his stomach.

“Well, let me entertain you regardless,” Jimin decided, and then he bent and took Jeongguk’s
entire cock into his mouth and down his throat, relaxing every muscle and breathing through
his nose.

“Jesus fuck, oh my God,” Jeongguk cursed, almost flailing in surprise. “Holy shit.”

Jimin hummed proudly and tightened his lips around Jeongguk’s cock, using his tongue as
best as he could and bobbing his head rhythmically. Moments later, Jeongguk’s hands found
Jimin’s hair, and Jimin moaned.

“Feels so fucking good, Jimin-ah,” Jeongguk choked out. “God, keep going. Keep going,
feels amazing. You’re amazing, keep— ah—keep going.”

Spurred on by Jeongguk’s raspy voice giving approval, Jimin continued, enjoying the way
Jeongguk’s grip tightened on his hair, the way Jeongguk would lift his hips to fuck into
Jimin’s mouth and then apologize but do it again, the way he gasped so prettily.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Jeongguk finally said. “Fuck, I don’t want to come yet. Want to be
inside you. Hold on.”

Jimin used one thumb to wipe the spit and pre-come from his bottom lip as Jeongguk grabbed
the lube and a condom, and he rolled the condom on and drizzled more lube onto himself. He
wiped his hand messily on the towel that seemed to have magically appeared, and then he
pulled Jimin over and hitched one of his legs up towards his shoulder. Jimin scooted closer
and moved his leg, and Jeongguk took the hint. He pressed Jimin’s leg closer to Jimin’s chest,
kneeling on the bed.

“You’re an absolute fucking dream,” he said, and then he pushed the tip of his cock against
Jimin’s slicked hole. Jimin let out a little breath and wiggled his hips, and Jeongguk gripped
Jimin’s leg and pushed his cock slowly all the way into Jimin, bottoming out with his hips to
Jimin’s ass.

“Fuck, you’re still so tight,” he gasped, thrusting shallowly as Jimin adjusted.

“You love it,” Jimin breathed, and then he moaned again as Jeongguk pulled nearly all the
way out and thrusted back in smoothly. “Fuck, hyung, just like that. Fuck me like that, come
on. Just like you promised.”

Jeongguk took his instructions very seriously. He fucked into Jimin roughly, fingers digging
into Jimin’s skin, and Jimin gripped the sheets, back arching, a trickle of sweat dripping
down his neck, vision swimming still from the alcohol in the best way.
“Shit, the way I can just pick you up,” Jeongguk said in awe, grabbing Jimin’s other leg to
throw over his shoulder, Jimin’s hips now off the bed. The new angle was absolutely fucking
incredible, given the way Jimin cried out and let out a stream of curse words.

“Just fucking do it,” he gasped out. “I don’t care what you do, just fucking ruin me, fuck,
feels s-so good, I’m—ah, r-right there, right there.”

“Look so beautiful,” Jeongguk said, breathless. “You can touch yourself, baby, go ahead.”

“Want you to touch me,” Jimin panted. “Wanna ride you, flip me over. Flip me over, hyung,
hurry up.”

Jeongguk scooped Jimin upright into his arms and lowered Jimin further onto his cock, and
Jimin moaned and grabbed Jeongguk’s shoulders, head dropping forward.

“God, I’m so full,” he whined in sheer pleasure, fingernails leaving crescent marks on
Jeongguk’s skin. “You’re so fucking big, I can’t stand it, fuck, just—”

Jeongguk held tightly and rolled, settling onto the pillows on his back with Jimin straddling
him still. This angle sent Jeongguk’s cock even deeper, and Jimin took a deep breath.

“Okay. You just sit back and relax,” he said, and he heard Jeongguk’s musical laugh in the
dimly lit room. Jimin reached behind and pressed his palms into Jeongguk’s knees, and then
he eagerly began to fuck himself on Jeongguk’s cock, rolling his hips slowly and
rhythmically.

“God, look at you,” Jeongguk moaned, fingers digging into the meat of Jimin’s thighs.
“You’re a fucking vision. Keep going, feels so fucking good.”

He then lifted one hand and wrapped it around Jimin’s cock, squeezing slightly and stroking
him with a deft hand, and Jimin damn near lost it. He felt frantic, chasing a second orgasm
that he could feel burning in the pit of his stomach, desperate to see Jeongguk come. Every so
often, Jeongguk would lift his hips and trigger a sharp cry from Jimin, but it only encouraged
him to go faster until he had Jeongguk moaning and cursing breathily.

“That’s it, doll, keep going,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin inhaled shakily and pitched forward,
hands smacking Jeongguk’s chest, breathing heavily.

“I like that,” he whispered, Jeongguk’s face swimming into view. “Fuck, call me that again.”

“Yeah? It suits you. You look like a doll,” Jeongguk said in a low voice full of lust and
affection simultaneously, gripping Jimin’s hips. “So pretty, so perfect. Come here.”

Jimin barely had to move. Jeongguk wrapped his arms around Jimin’s slim waist and sat up
halfway, pressing repetitive kisses to Jimin’s chest as Jimin’s eyes rolled back and closed,
cock still hard between the two of them as Jeongguk’s free hand found it. They stayed close
together for just a moment, Jeongguk stroking Jimin gently, Jimin rocking his hips with little
whimpers, Jeongguk’s lips all over Jimin’s hot skin.

“Wanna come,” Jimin said, and Jeongguk laughed.

“Yeah? Again?”

“Keep touching me and I will,” Jimin said, and Jeongguk seemed to take that as a challenge.
He laid back again and started to jerk Jimin off like he had already memorized Jimin’s entire
body. Jimin hated that Jeongguk was better than his own hand, but at the same time, it drove
him wild.

“Move your hips just a little,” Jeongguk said. “Back a little, just—right there,” he said as
Jimin gasped, head falling back. “Right there, baby, go ahead. I’ve got you.”

Jimin found a messy but steady rhythm, his entire body on fire, every little breath of pleasure
from Jeongguk’s mouth like fuel for him. It didn’t take long at that point. Jeongguk continued
to jerk him off, speeding up when he heard Jimin choking on incoherent words.

“I’m—I’m g-gonna—I’m gonna—hyung, I-I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” he damn near sobbed,
feeling the earth-shattering second orgasm building.

“Yes you can,” Jeongguk said over Jimin’s heavy breathing. “Come on, Jimin-ah. Come all
over yourself again. Show me how good you feel. Come on, gorgeous. C’mon.”

“I’m…” Jimin trailed off, and then he completely froze, gripping Jeongguk’s thighs, eyes
closed, head falling back as the orgasm slammed into him. If the first orgasm was great, the
second was other-worldly. It consumed Jimin’s entire body like a wildfire, burning hot as his
legs shook helplessly and his arms nearly gave out on him. Never in his short life had he
experienced such unadulterated pleasure before, pleasure that lingered and refused to leave
his system.

“...Jimin.”

“Shit,” Jimin gasped, opening his eyes when Jeongguk slowly dropped his hand. He drew in
a breath, and then he leaned in just a little. “Your turn.”

“Can I…?”

“You can do whatever the fuck you want,” Jimin said, and before he even finished speaking,
he was on the move. Jeongguk flipped Jimin over hastily, Jimin’s back hit the mattress, and
then Jeongguk took both of Jimin’s hands and pinned them above his head by the wrists to
the pillow with just one hand. He hovered over Jimin and stared down, and Jimin, his head
spinning, nodded and let his legs fall open again. Jeongguk held the back of Jimin’s thigh and
sank back into his slicked hole, and Jimin moaned, wrapping his legs around Jeongguk’s
waist. Jeongguk bent down and kissed Jimin softly at first, but then he pulled Jimin’s swollen
bottom lip between his teeth.

“Careful what you wish for,” Jeongguk whispered.

Shit.

Absolutely nothing about what happened next was polite or gentle. Jeongguk fucked Jimin
like he was completely feral, Jimin’s entire body moving on the sheets, the entire bed
shaking, headboard hitting the wall. Jimin couldn’t figure out where to grab or hold, couldn’t
make sense of his surroundings, could hardly keep his legs around Jeongguk’s waist as
Jeongguk chased his own orgasm.

“Jeongguk, fuck , oh my God. Feels so good, I’m—J-Jeongguk, Jeongguk, please, I—oh-h-h,

right there. Jeongguk, Jeongguk, Jeongguk, fuck—!”

Jeongguk stopped only to lean down and press his lips to Jimin’s neck, and when he did,
Jimin cried out, panting. Jeongguk moved and found another spot where he could leave a
mark, and then a third as he roughly thrusted into Jimin every few seconds. Then his lips
traveled up towards Jimin’s ear.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, and Jimin shivered. He was overstimulated and near
exhaustion, but he wanted Jeongguk to come so badly that none of that mattered.

“I’m good, I’m good. Keep going,” Jimin confirmed. “Fuck me hard, hyung.”

“Shit,” Jeongguk breathed out, and then he pressed his palms into the pillow near Jimin’s
head and snapped his hips forward. Jimin’s body lifted off the bed for a moment, and then his
eyes rolled back for what felt like the thousandth time as Jeongguk fucked him. “Fuck, Jimin,
you’re so—so… God, I’m gonna… I’m… fuck, I’m—I’m— ah.”

With one final, rough thrust, Jeongguk choked back a moan and stilled, exhaling heavily and
opening his eyes. Jimin stared up at him in the dim lighting, and his heart almost stopped.
Jeongguk’s once lust-filled eyes had softened significantly, and he was so fucking gorgeous
that it took Jimin’s breath away.

Fuck, I want to remember this, he thought to himself, but there was very little hope of
remembering all the details. Jeongguk, still inside Jimin, leaned down for a kiss, and Jimin
granted it to him, his body spent.

“Hyung,” Jimin whispered hoarsely, but Jeongguk shushed him with another soft kiss.

“Stay here. I’ll clean you up,” he whispered back.

“So tired, hyung,” Jimin murmured, eyelids heavy, but he kept kissing Jeongguk because he
didn’t want to miss a single moment.

“I know. I’ll be right back. Let me pull out, hold on,” Jeongguk promised, kissing Jimin again
and then gingerly pulling out. Jimin let out a soft cry and a whimper, feeling a headache
coming on, and Jeongguk immediately soothed him with another kiss. “Sorry. Give me a
minute.”

Jimin wanted to give him more than a minute, but the moment Jeongguk rolled off the bed,
Jimin’s eyes fell shut. He could hear the sink running, but he could also feel the world
spinning as he lay on the bed. He felt the mattress dip, vaguely heard Jeongguk’s voice
whispering his name, felt a warm washcloth on his body. But his strength and his coherency
had diminished so rapidly, and he couldn’t find the words. He felt a few soft kisses on his jaw
and cheek.
“You can sleep.”

That was the last thing Jimin heard before he drifted off.

***

The first thing that Jimin noticed when he stirred and came to in the morning was the
headache. If he so much as moved his head a centimeter on the pillow, it felt like an
avalanche across his forehead down into his eyes. His mouth was a little dry, and his stomach
was uneasy—all the normal symptoms of an astronomical hangover. Then he dared to open
his eyes.

There was a moment where Jimin comically froze, eyes bugged, body still as he analyzed his
surroundings, because this was not his bedroom, and it certainly wasn’t Taehyung’s or
Hoseok’s bedrooms. The sheets were soft and breathable, the pillow felt like it was made for
Jimin’s head, and sunlight was streaming through the windows.

Jimin hurriedly sat up, but then he groaned and clutched his head, hunching over with his
elbows to his knees, blankets stuck between his torso and thighs. Squinting, he glanced to his
left and saw a bedside table, and then saw several things there—a glass of water, two pills, a
brand new toothbrush, some toothpaste, and a small note:

You fell asleep and I didn’t want to wake you or kick you out. I’ll be in the kitchen when you
wake up. Feel free to leave, or you can come have coffee or something to eat.

There was no signature, and that was when Jimin clutched the covers to his chest and
continued to analyze his situation.

He was wearing boxer briefs—he even lifted the covers to look. But they weren’t the cheap
kind he normally wore. They were Balenciaga and most certainly not Jimin’s property. He
could see bruises and marks on the insides of his thighs and on his hips, and that was when
fragmented memories flooded back—all the kissing, all the touching and moaning and
marking, and Jimin could distinctly remember having two very memorable and intense
orgasms. As his hand flew up to his neck, he recalled the sinfully sexy voice that had
whispered sweet nothings in his ears, the way he’d been so full, so consumed by the pleasure
for what had to be half of the night. He could remember tattoos, pretty doe eyes, black hair,
large hands. And fuck, he’d had the best sex of his entire life last night.

Jimin gingerly peeled back the covers and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and then
he peered around the bedroom. There were large windows on just the left wall where sunlight
was pouring in. The wall with the windows was paneled wood, and the rest of the walls were
navy. The massive king-sized bed had a dark brown fake leather headboard, and the sheets
were cream. There were plants in the room, a door leading to a walk-in closet and another to
a bathroom, a desk, paintings on the walls… this was most certainly not a university student’s
apartment.

“Okay,” Jimin whispered to himself, slowly reaching over to grab the pills. He tossed them
back and drank the entire glass of water, and then he grabbed the toothbrush and toothpaste,
marveling at how it had just been provided to him like a hotel. Quietly, he padded across the
soft carpet to the bathroom, and he laughed to himself. The bathroom was white tile with
matte grey cabinets, a walk-in shower, a massive bathtub, and more plants. Jimin had never
seen anything like it. Amazed, he finally glanced into the mirror.

“Shit,” he whispered, leaning in and checking his neck. The hickeys, marks, bruises,
everything was visible, and Jimin shuddered. He looked exactly like he’d been fucked well
and personally hand-delivered two mind-blowing orgasms. Was it too much to say that he
was glowing? Jimin ruffled his messy hair and vigorously brushed his teeth, one palm
pressed into the countertop.

After washing up, Jimin tiptoed back into the bedroom and noticed that his clothing from last
night was folded nicely at the foot of the bed. But he ignored it and instead went for the shirt
that was on the floor, picking it up and staring at it. It was black and massive, and in the top
left corner were the words be nice . It smelled good, too, so Jimin shimmied into it and
snickered to himself when the bottom hem nearly reached his knees. He would’ve felt seedy
stepping into last night’s clothing, so a shirt that smelled like fabric softener was much more
comforting.

Jimin carefully opened the bedroom door, and then he blinked a few times. Now he was
staring at a massive open floor plan apartment. The living room area had leather couches and
a huge television with multiple gaming systems visible. There was a closed door that
probably led to another bedroom or a study. And then there was the kitchen, and that was
why it smelled like coffee.

“Hi,” Jimin said in a hoarse voice, and then he stopped and stared, arms by his sides as he
pulled at the hem of the t-shirt. From behind the countertop, the man he’d clearly slept with
looked up from the newspaper he was reading, and Jimin almost fell to his knees.

Jeongguk. His name is Jeongguk.

“Good morning, Jimin,” he said in a gentle voice, and Jimin damn near burst into tears.

“Um, I don’t…”

“I’m Jeongguk,” Jeongguk replied, sensing that Jimin needed some kind of validation.

Jeongguk, fuck, oh my God. Feels so good, I’m—J-Jeongguk, Jeongguk, please, I—oh-h-h,

right there. Jeongguk, Jeongguk, Jeongguk.

Jimin felt his face flush when he remembered the way he had moaned Jeongguk’s name
countless times last night. Now it was all coming back to him.
“Sorry,” Jimin apologized awkwardly. “I, um… I drank a lot last night. I remember you. I
just… needed a minute.”

“I know,” Jeongguk said, his eyes sparkling in amusement. “It’s fine. Would you like some
coffee? Hot or iced?”

“Yes, please. Iced,” Jimin said, suddenly feeling small. Jeongguk didn’t look like a university
student, nor did he live like one. He was wearing dark grey fitted slacks and a white button-
up, sleeves rolled, and there was a matching dark grey blazer draped over a chair. Jimin
checked the massive clock on the wall—half past ten in the morning, and it was Friday.

“Here you go,” Jeongguk said, pushing a cup of coffee toward Jimin that he had clearly just
mixed. Looked like Dutch coffee. Jimin pulled the little glass tumbler towards him and took a
careful sip, and it was like being brought back to life. “You, uh… you didn’t have to come
into the kitchen. You could have just left. You’re more than welcomed to now, if you’d like.”

“I’m hungover as fuck and starving, and you have coffee,” Jimin said tiredly, shuffling
forward towards the barstools and hopping up onto one. “And my whole body hurts.”

“Oh. Sorry, I—was that…? Sorry,” Jeongguk apologized hastily, and Jimin sipped his iced
coffee again, glancing over the rim of the cup at Jeongguk. Fuck, he was so handsome. His
soft black hair was just long enough to brush his cheekbones, parted deeply to the side. His
skin was porcelain smooth, and he had beautiful and luminous eyes with a chiseled jaw. His
mouth was a little smaller but his lips were pink, and he had a tiny mole underneath his
bottom lip. Both of his ears had several piercings with hoop earrings.

“It was you. But I don’t mind,” Jimin said, suddenly feeling a bit more comfortable when he
saw Jeongguk squirm at the very thought of what they had done together last night. “I mean,
I was drunk, but I’m pretty sure I came twice, so I forgive you.”

Jeongguk cleared his throat and stifled a laugh, ears turning pink as he reached for his own
coffee. Then he said, “Well, I should be in the office right now, but here I am, entertaining my
one-night stand. Happy Friday to me.”

“Oh, shit. Sorry,” Jimin apologized, guilt flooding his body. “I—You could’ve just left me
here, left a note. I would’ve found my way out. I—What even are you? Who are you? Where
am I? I have a few questions.”

“I’ve noticed,” Jeongguk said with a tiny smile. “You’re at my apartment. Several people
know where you are for accountability’s sake. And I’m Jeon Jeongguk, the guy with a full-
time job who was dragged to MAGENTA for a thirtieth birthday celebration last night. The
same night you were there celebrating dumping some guy who was cheating on you, and I
quote, ‘for, like, six months.’”

“Well, it was six months,” Jimin argued. “That asshole went back to wearing a condom and
gave me a medical excuse. Am I dumb for believing him?”

“Nah. He’s just a dick for cheating on you,” Jeongguk replied.

“Well, lucky for me, you were there to soften the blow,” Jimin joked. “Right, you were
celebrating a birthday last night. Your friends are old.”

“Ouch.” Jeongguk let out a short laugh. “I’d pay good money to celebrate my thirtieth
birthday again.”

Jimin almost choked on his coffee, and he coughed a few times, smacking his hand to his
chest. Jeongguk, however, was very calm, and that was when Jimin figured that somewhere
in the chaos of the night, they must have discussed their ages. Unfortunately, that had all
slipped Jimin’s mind.

“You’re—wait, how old are you?” he demanded, and Jeongguk pursed his lips for a moment.

“Thirty-six.”

“Oh. I…” Jimin swallowed heavily, panicking in an instant. Fuck, I slept with a thirty-six-
year-old. I slept with a grown-ass adult and I’m a poor university student. Shit, why did
drunk me think this was a good idea? What was I thinking? Oh my God, he probably thinks
I’m a child. “Um, I’m… I’m twenty-two.”

“I know. You told me.” Jeongguk blinked a few times. “Guess it’s a good thing this was just a
one-night stand.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s… that’s good,” Jimin agreed awkwardly, white-knuckling his coffee cup.
“I… I guess that would explain why you have such a nice home.”

“That might explain it,” Jeongguk said gently.

“And why you’re so pretty.”

“What?”

“I mean—sorry, I didn’t—you just—you clearly take care of yourself,” Jimin stammered,

wanting to die of embarrassment. “You’re very… you’re really handsome.”

“Oh. Thank you,” Jeongguk almost whispered, and then he eyed Jimin up and down. “You
didn’t put your own clothes back on.”

“My clothes were gross,” Jimin argued. “This smelled nice.”

“It looks good on you,” Jeongguk said lightly, reaching over to fold up his newspaper. Jimin
downed the last of his coffee and hopped off the barstool, and then he walked around the
island countertop, feeling a little too bold. If this was truly just a one-night stand, then there
was absolutely no harm in doing something that he could remember, right? Something that
wasn’t a drunken fragment of his memory.

“Are you going into work?” Jimin asked, approaching Jeongguk.

“I was planning to once you left,” Jeongguk replied.

“Are you trying to kick me out?” Jimin teased, and he stood in a position that forced
Jeongguk to put his back to the countertop. Jimin crawled his fingers up Jeongguk’s chest
playfully, and Jeongguk didn’t stop him.

“Not at all. I’m a gentleman. I’ll wait until you’re ready to leave,” Jeongguk said, sounding
slightly breathless. Jimin expected him to cave or succumb, but he turned the tables so fast
that Jimin gasped. In one fluid motion, Jeongguk grabbed Jimin by the hips with two strong
hands and hoisted him up, spinning and setting Jimin onto the countertop. Jimin instantly
wrapped his legs around Jeongguk’s waist and draped his arms around Jeongguk’s neck.

“You know what I remember from last night?” Jimin whispered, shivering with Jeongguk’s
hands settled on the insides of his thighs and began to travel upward. “How pretty you
sounded when I was riding you.”

“Fuck,” Jeongguk breathed, dropping his head for a moment before picking it back up until
they were nearly nose-to-nose. “God, you’re so sexy. Fucking you was like a dream.”

“I haven’t left yet, you know,” Jimin whispered, and Jeongguk let out a little laugh.

“You’re insatiable,” he said, but his next words were cut off, because Jimin leaned in and
kissed him. He assumed that Jeongguk would pull away, but Jimin was greatly rewarded for
what could have been stupidity. Jeongguk kissed him back, and it was off to the races.

“God, I remember now,” Jimin moaned in between kisses, breathless. Jeongguk didn’t let him
speak again. He captured Jimin’s lips in another kiss, and Jimin melted into it. Jeongguk
kissed like he knew Jimin’s body inside and out, like he was inside Jimin’s mind. His tongue
was inside Jimin’s mouth, but that was beside the point. Jimin’s entire body was trembling,
legs and arms still wrapped around Jeongguk’s waist and neck, and fuck. This was a kiss.
This wasn’t the sloppy making out that Jimin had been used to before. This was a man who
fucking knew how to kiss. He licked into Jimin’s mouth repeatedly, large hands gripping
Jimin’s thighs and hips with confidence.

“Look so pretty like this,” Jeongguk breathed against Jimin’s lips, and Jimin rocked his hips
forward with a whimper, begging silently to be touched. Jeongguk wasn’t an amateur—he
picked up on the signals. Immediately, he wrapped his left arm around Jimin’s waist to pull
him closer and slipped his right hand beneath the boxer briefs Jimin had on. The moment his
hand wrapped around Jimin’s hard cock, Jimin let out a lewd, gasping moan, head falling
back as he held onto Jeongguk for dear life.

“Fuck, your hands are so big,” he whimpered, bucking up into Jeongguk’s fist and wiggling
on the countertop. But Jeongguk held him nearly still, thumbing over the slit of Jimin’s cock
to gather the pre-come, making the slide much easier as he steadily jerked Jimin off. It wasn’t
sloppy by any means. It was well-practiced and deliberate, and he was watching Jimin’s
reaction, watching Jimin come undone.

“Feel good?” he asked, squeezing slightly as he continued. Jimin whined and dug his
fingernails into Jeongguk’s shoulders, wishing desperately that the shirt wasn’t there. Here
was Jeongguk, fully dressed and ready to go to the office, and he had a handful of hungover
and whiny Jimin with his shirt halfway off. But Jimin hardly cared. Not when being touched
felt this good.

“Fuck, feels amazing,” he gasped. “J-Jeongguk, please.”

“Be polite,” Jeongguk whispered, and Jimin let out little moan, dropping one hand to press
his palm into the countertop behind him, bracing himself so he could fuck up into Jeongguk’s
hand with more vigor.

“Hyung, please,” Jimin tried, and it seemed to work. Jeongguk drew him closer and kissed
him again, but it wasn’t really kissing. It was Jimin gasping and whimpering as Jeongguk
kissed his open mouth, smiling. “P-Please, feels so good I’m—fuck, I’m close. Gonna make
a mess.”

“Good. Look so beautiful,” Jeongguk whispered. “Come all over yourself. Make a mess.
Doesn’t matter.”

Jimin pitched forward and threw his arms around Jeongguk’s neck again, legs falling open
weakly, his forehead against Jeongguk’s as the orgasm threatened to destroy him. He couldn’t
find words anymore, only little gasps and breaths of pleasure. His entire body began to tense,
and Jeongguk felt it.

“Go ahead, doll,” he said, and Jimin swore he saw stars. He inhaled sharply as he came
harder than he had intended to, all over Jeongguk’s hand and the front of the black t-shirt.
Jeongguk steadily stroked him through the entire orgasm, slowing down and gently swiping
his thumb over the head of Jimin’s cock a few times as Jimin came down from the high. He
pecked Jimin on the lips once and used one hand to tuck Jimin back into his boxer briefs, and
then he reached over to the sink and washed his hand off without a word as Jimin caught his
breath. Then he returned and stood between Jimin’s legs.

“God, you’re so…” Jimin started, but Jeongguk slowly pulled on the t-shirt, so Jimin lifted
his arms up without a word and let Jeongguk take it off and toss it aside.

“I have to go to work now,” he whispered, running his hands along Jimin’s bare shoulders.
Jimin licked his lips, skin still thrumming excitedly, and then he nodded.

“That’s fine. I’ll get dressed.”

“You can just wear something of mine,” Jeongguk offered, and then he threaded his fingers
through Jimin’s hair, gripped tightly, and kissed him with a calm but firm confidence that
made Jimin weak. “Come with me.”

Jeongguk stepped away and walked off towards his bedroom while humming to himself, and
Jimin hopped off the countertop onto shaky legs, steadying himself and taking another sip of
coffee before following Jeongguk back to the bedroom. When he walked in, Jeongguk was
already in his closet.

“Hmm… yeah, this will fit you. Here.” Jeongguk offered up a pair of black jeans, and then he
pulled a sweater off a hanger—cream colored with a red Chanel logo on the top left corner, a
bit off-the-shoulder. Jimin stared until Jeongguk shook the clothing in his hands and thrusted
it forward again, so he accepted it.

“Uh, this is Chanel,” Jimin said, stating the obvious.

“Yes, thank you for noticing,” Jeongguk said with a small smile, flicking off the light in the
closet and stepping out. Jimin followed him like a lost puppy, clutching the clothing.

“Okay, well, I’ll just—I’ll wash it and bring it back,” he said.

“No need.” Jeongguk walked over to his dresser, grabbed a watch (definitely Gucci, and
Jimin was floored) to strap onto his wrist, and as he fastened it, he looked up and caught
Jimin’s eye, and Jimin inwardly shivered. Jesus fucking Christ, this gorgeous man had just
given him three incredible orgasms in twelve hours. Thirty-six-years-old and rich as fuck, it
seemed, and Jimin was utterly floored at the predicament in which he found himself.

“No, I’ll bring it back,” Jimin insisted, removing Jeongguk’s t-shirt and placing it onto the
foot on the bed.

“Keep it,” Jeongguk replied, shrugging. “I’ve never worn it. Doesn’t suit me. Not my style.
But it looks great on you,” he added as Jimin shrugged into the sweater and held his arms out
to show it off. “Just keep it. Seriously. Better that someone wears it. Otherwise, I’ll donate
it.”

“ Donate a—you’re insane,” Jimin said with a laugh, shimmying into the black jeans and
then bending to cuff them at the ankles twice, because they were a little long on him. “Thank
you, Jeongguk-ssi.”

“Oh, now you’re polite?” Jeongguk teased, and then he strolled back into the kitchen as Jimin
followed yet again, his own clothing from last night in his arms, as well as his phone, which
had been charged overnight thanks to Jeongguk.

“I have my moments,” Jimin fired back, watching Jeongguk slip his blazer on and button it
with one hand as he checked his phone. God, he’s so sexy. He’s so fucking sexy, I can’t believe
he willingly dicked me down last night, Jimin thought to himself, weak in the knees.

“Alright. Do you need me to call you a cab, or are you okay?” Jeongguk asked. Jimin held up
his phone.

“I can call one.”

“There’s a bus right outside my building, too,” Jeongguk added, but Jimin had already
ordered a taxi.

“Thank you. Um, thanks for—like, looking out for me last night,” Jimin added awkwardly.
“Charging my phone and dressing me and all that. The ibuprofen and water this morning.
Sorry for falling asleep so fast. I wanted to stay awake, but…”

“It’s totally fine,” Jeongguk gently said, waving one hand as he grabbed a black leather Gucci
bag to sling onto one shoulder. “It was nice to meet you, Jimin. Thanks for making my
Thursday night interesting.”

“No problem,” Jimin said with a grin. “I’ll just, uh… go wait on the curb for my taxi.”

“I have to head to the office. Sorry,” Jeongguk apologized, and then he grabbed a pair of
sunglasses from the countertop and slipped them onto the bridge of his nose, and that was it.
Jimin was a goner. He had scored so majorly last night that it was laughable. Jeon Jeongguk,
whoever this rich fucker was, was genuinely the sexiest man Jimin had ever met in his life.
And Jimin, Jimin , had been railed within an inch of his life last night by this man.

“It’s fine. Have fun being an adult,” Jimin teased, and Jeongguk rolled his eyes and held open
the door. Jimin walked into the hallway and pressed the down button for the elevator, and the
two of them stepped in together, Jeongguk picking the basement floor instead of ground floor
so he could likely get to his car.

“Have fun getting over your hangover,” Jeongguk replied as the elevator soared down, and
Jimin rolled his eyes all the same as the doors opened to the ground floor. When he was
halfway out, Jeongguk grabbed his wrist and turned him around, and Jimin paused. “Thank
you,” Jeongguk added gently. “I had a great night with you.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Jimin said, and then the elevator doors began to close. He stood and
watched, and then he sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose, the dull headache
still there.

That was it. The best sex of my life and the best one-night stand I’ve ever had, over just like
that.

Jimin stepped out into the chilly March early afternoon air, glad that he was wearing
Jeongguk’s sweater but hating that he didn’t have sunglasses. His phone alerted him that the
taxi was right around the corner, but then he heard the gate of a parking garage opening,
followed by the sound of a car engine. Jimin glanced to his left, and then he watched as a
black Mercedes Benz GT63S pulled out into the street and sped away. Right on cue, a 2011
Hyundai pulled up to the curb—Jimin’s taxi.

“I hate it here,” Jimin muttered to himself, and then he hopped into the car and let it take him
home.

Jimin lived in a high-rise apartment building on the edge of Gangnam, and he was a student
at Seoul National University. The hour-long public transport journey didn’t bother him, so
long as he got a decent education. He’d thought about moving closer to the main campus, but
it would have taken him away from his friends and the nightlife in Itaewon and the other
suburbs of Seoul, something he hadn’t wanted.

Jimin’s apartment was on the seventeenth floor. When he walked in, he was immediately in
the small kitchen with three cabinets, a single burner cooktop, a large sink, and a small fridge
all in a row. To the right was his bathroom with its open shower that made the entire small
room wet, and off the kitchen was his bedroom, where he had a little table for two or three
people where he could eat with guests, as well as a desk, his bed, and a chest of drawers, the
small closet against one wall. He was just one person, after all, so what did he need a large
living space for? This was perfect for his needs.

“Oh—there you are,” Jimin said, crouching down and running both hands gently along
Sammi’s fur. Sammi was his grey and white short-haired cat, only a year old. Jimin had
rescued Sammi when she was a newborn kitten meowing for food and shelter in the alley
behind his apartment. Jimin had brought her some food once, and the second time he had
returned to feed her again, she had rubbed up on his leg and followed him towards the
building doors. Jimin had shooed her away, but the third time he had returned with more
food, Sammi had meowed pounced on Jimin’s shoelaces, swatting at them and rolling over
helplessly. Jimin had decided right then and there to scoop her up and take her into his
apartment.

“Have you been good?” he asked Sammi rhetorically. Sammi crouched and then leapt up onto
Jimin’s desk as Jimin reached over to pet her again. She immediately flinched and began to
swat at the sleeve of Jimin’s sweater, leaping around and attempting to grab at it as Jimin
chuckled. “Stop, it’s just a sweater. I’ve given you, like, three of mine to destroy.”

Jimin’s phone then vibrated, and he checked—Taehyung.

“Hey, Tae,” he said tiredly.

“Are you home?” Taehyung asked. “Hoseok hyung’s in class. Where are you?”

“At home,” Jimin confirmed.

“Good, let me up.” And then a little bell sounded in Jimin’s apartment, indicating that
Taehyung was downstairs waiting to be buzzed in. Jimin rolled his eyes and hung up, and
then he walked into his kitchen and buzzed Taehyung in, going straight to the fridge. He still
had a headache, so it was time for some spicy ramen. He put the kettle on to boil the water
and grabbe a container of ramen from the cabinet, and then his front door beeped.

“Ooh, are you making ramen? I’ll have some,” Taehyung said, because he often let himself
into Jimin’s apartment. Jimin wordlessly grabbed a second container, and then Taehyung
reached forward and grabbed the front of Jimin’s sweater. “What the hell is this?"

“A sweater.”

“From Jeon Jeongguk? That probably cost tens of thousands of won?”

“Uh, yes?” Jimin said questioningly, raising one eyebrow. Taehyung grinned.

“Did you get laid?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Jimin said as the water finished boiling. He poured it up to the
line in each ramen cup, and then he put the lid back on each cup and set a wooden spoon
overtop each so the ramen would cook.

“That’s what I’m here to talk to you about, actually,” Taehyung said, strolling into Jimin’s
bedroom and flopping onto the bed. “Because the man behind the good dick you got sent me
a text last night from your phone.”

“What’d it say?” Jimin asked, reaching for his phone. “I never actually read it.”

JIMIN [11:53:21PM]

Hi, Taehyung - Jimin is coming home with me. My name’s Jeon Jeongguk.

He had then sent a second text with his phone number and his address, and he had even
shared Jimin’s location with Taehyung.

“Christ, he really went all out,” Jimin murmured as he stopped sharing his location with
Taehyung.

“Yeah, well, that’s what happens when you fuck a responsible adult,” Taehyung said,
scrolling through his own phone. “And like a good best friend, I decided to do a Naver search
on him. You know, see if I could find a social media profile or anything. Just out of
curiosity.”

“Did you find one?”

“Uh, I found something better,” Taehyung said, raising one eyebrow. “Did you know that he’s
thirty-six-years-old?”

“Yes, he told me.”

“And did you also know that he’s one of the one hundred richest men in South Korea?”

“That… would… make sense, given the way his apartment looked,” Jimin slowly said,
absorbing the information and wishing that he wasn’t so hungover so he could appreciate it
more. Taehyung then turned his phone, and Jimin stared at the screen.

“He’s the CEO of Golden Co. Publishing House,” Taehyung said as Jimin drank in the white,
black, and gold modern website design. “Top company in the country that publishes all sorts
of shit. Manga, comic books, graphic novels, plain old literature, all by some pretty famous
authors. It’s literally one of the most respected companies in the country with, like, crazy
high levels of employee satisfaction. And Jeon Jeongguk, the guy who fucked you last night,
is the CEO. He’s been in charge for almost six years. One of the youngest CEOs of a major
company in South Korea.”

“Holy shit,” Jimin muttered, eyes flying across the page as he read the little blurb about
Jeongguk (graduated from SNU as well with a master’s degree in business and a second
degree in fine arts, keen eye for detail, fantastic businessman, enjoys drawing and likes house
plants) and took in the charming professional photograph. Taehyung took back his phone
quickly.

“So I thought, ‘hey, I’ll look up some more info about him, dig up some dirt, find a scandal.’
There’s no fucking dirt, Jimin,” Taehyung said, still scrolling. “There are former employees
who have left online reviews about working at Golden, and all of them are like, ‘oh my God,
Jeongguk is the best.’ No joke.”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m dead serious. This one guy—hold on, let me find it… okay, here it is,” Taehyung
said eagerly. “This one guy worked there five years ago, and he said that Jeongguk barely
talks to anyone at the office or in meetings, but that he’s definitely in charge and he’s super
nice and gives to all kinds of charities and donates books to schools and kids in need. And
this one girl who worked there two years ago said that he employs, like, anyone. Doesn’t care
about your gender or sexuality. He’s open to anything.”

“Are you a private investigator?” Jimin asked.

“I’m bored, is what I am,” Taehyung replied. “This is what happens when Hoseok hyung
doesn’t put out in the morning before he goes to class. Gave him an open invitation to fuck
me this morning, and he just ran out so he wasn’t late to class. His loss. So I stayed in bed
and researched your fuck buddy.”

“Okay, well, this is way too much information. I’m still hungover,” Jimin complained,
padding back into the kitchen with tired feet to grab the ramen. He set one container down on
the little table for Taehyung and ripped the lid off his own, stirring the noodles and soup with
his chopsticks. Taehyung came over and sat curled up on the chair.

“Was he nice like this random ass guy said?” Taehyung wondered.

“He dressed me when I was half asleep and left me ibuprofen and water and a toothbrush and
toothpaste when I woke up. And he charged my phone overnight,” Jimin listed. “And then he
gave me coffee.”

“So he’s a saint. And how was the sex?”

“Tae.” Jimin set down his chopsticks and folded his hands, and Taehyung stifled a laugh in
anticipation. “When I tell you that it was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life, I’m not
exaggerating at all.”

“Amazing.”

“I came twice in one night.”

“Love that for you.”

“He made me come just from fingering me.”

“What a man.”
“He jerked me off on his kitchen countertop this morning.”

“So he made you breakfast,” Taehyung casually said, and then he and Jimin burst out
laughing, leaning in towards each other. They had been best friends since grade two, so there
were absolutely no secrets, no limits, and no boundaries between the two of them. They’d
been each other’s first kiss at age fifteen. They’d lost their virginity to each other in a fit of
laughter when they were both eighteen because they wanted to explore and get it over with,
switching back and forth between who topped and who bottomed so that they knew just
about everything. And they had done it all without catching feelings, which had been a major
accomplishment for them both. Taehyung was the other part of Jimin’s soul.

“I don’t know. Is it bad that I want to see him again?” Jimin asked, and then he slurped up a
bunch of noodles and let out a huge sigh and a happy groan, slumping in his chair as he
chewed.

“I mean, I don’t think so. But I have a few questions,” Taehyung said. “Like, first of all, what
possessed him to be totally cool with taking you home to have sex?”

“He asked me about ten times if I was consenting to it,” Jimin said, and Taehyung raised his
eyebrows, looking slightly impressed.

“Okay, he wins that one,” Taehyung said. “Why was he interested in a one-night stand? I
mean, he’s obviously single. But has he had relationships before? Is he a workaholic? Did he
just want to get laid?”

“It was one night, Tae,” Jimin said in exasperation, slurping up more noodles.

“And you just said you want to see him again, so these are valid questions,” Taehyung
replied. “I mean, why exactly do you want to see him again?”

“Uh, so that he’ll fuck me again and I’ll remember it all,” Jimin replied. “The fact that sitting
down right now is uncomfortable tells me that I deserve to have sex with him again. Plus, he
said he had a great night with me.”

“So it was good for him, too.”

“Apparently.”

“Shit. I don’t know, Jiminie,” Taehyung sighed. “Maybe it’s better to just leave it alone. He’s
a rich CEO, and he’s fourteen years older than you.”

“I don’t really care if he’s older than me,” Jimin said.

“You’re in your final semester of university, you just broke up with your cheating ex, you
have a whole fucking small business that you want to start, and you work part-time,”
Taehyung listed. “Look, I’m not trying to discourage you. If all you want is to get laid, then
cool. Get yourself a fuck buddy. But you’re both kind of in different parts of your life, and
you barely know each other.”
 ‘I’m not looking for a relationship, Tae,” Jimin said with a laugh. “Fuck, I just got out of one.
I don’t want another boyfriend. I’m literally just saying I want to see him again for sex. And I
doubt he wants a boyfriend, either. But maybe he’d like to get laid regularly, too.”

“Is this going to be like Taemin hyung all over again?” Taehyung wearily asked.

“What do you mean, ‘again’? Taemin hyung and I had an excellent fuck buddies
arrangement,” Jimin emphasized. “Straight up sex, no feelings. We had it down to a science.
Shame he moved away.”

“You know what? I surrender. Do what you want to do. Just be careful,” Taehyung said. “At
the risk of sounding preachy but also sounding like five-year-old, he’s… an adult. Much
more adult than we are, I mean.”

“Noted,” Jimin said, lifting his cup to his mouth to slurp some of the soup. “Now what’s this
about Hoseok hyung not putting out for you? Do we need to have a chat?”

Chapter End Notes

Please leave a comment! Kudos are super appreciated <3

OK I feel like maybe it's a slow start? Or maybe it's chaotic who knows but!!!! I promise
you there's so much more that's going to be happening so STAY WITH ME PLEASE.

Also this entire fic, title and all, came to me after I heard Little Mix's new album
Confetti so I decided to structure the whole fic around songs from that album. AKA I
will use every opportunity I get to subliminally make all of you love Little Mix like I do
so please enjoy ;) I love writing this fic I love it I love it I love it I LOVE IT.

Many, MANY more fics to come in 2021, I have like 5-6 WIPs and many planned so
STICK AROUND!!!!

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Chapter Notes

hi, I'm SO OVERWHELMED by the response to this fic so far, I could seriously cry. I
was so nervous about this one and really unsure, but y'all always make me feel right at
home. Thanks for showing it so much love already! I will do my best not to disappoint. I
am always excited about my fics, but this one has me so hyped, and I'm having a blast
writing it. I'm smack dab in the middle age-wise with this Jimin and this JK, 7 years
either way. So I can relate to both of them a lot!

I love reading all the comments and I love seeing how invested y'all are already, I'm
really honored. THANK YOOOOOOOU please take 9.2k as my way of saying thanks
<3333

NOTE: this chapter contains kink negotiation/setting terms of a fwb arrangement. If

you don't care for that kind of thing, just scroll. And please remember that it's FICTION.
Fictional characters. F I C T I O N ok bye!

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See the end of the chapter for more notes

moodboard by cata

~~~
Since he was a teenager, Jimin’s dream had always been to open his own small business. The
ideas had changed over the years, but two years ago, he had finally settled on the idea of a
hybrid coffee shop-used bookstore business called The Nook. He wanted people to be able to
donate used or rare books, wanted people to come in and read for a little, come in and study,
meet with friends, have some coffee and small snacks, come for open mic night, attend little
events for artists of all kinds around Seoul, even book signings and read-alouds.

Jimin’s father had always bragged proudly about how smart his son was, how his son had the
ability to become a lawyer or public prosecutor. But when Jimin had approached his father
four years ago to say that he was both gay and hellbent on studying business at school and
starting a small business instead of joining the office grind or suffering through law school,
his father had hugged him and promised to support him through it all.

But owning and running a small business was often a fruitless endeavor. Jimin knew so many
people who had tried and failed, and he was not willing to be one of them. He was an astute
student, an extroverted go-getter, and seldom gave up on things due to his perfectionist
nature. He didn’t want his dream to fall through the cracks, and that was exactly why he
pushed himself to be independent, self-sufficient, and focused. And if anyone (like
Sungwoon) found his dreams to be a hindrance or an annoyance, Jimin cut them out of his
life.

“...Go, go, go,” Taehyung chanted, and Jimin clicked with haste, eyes glued to the computer
screen at the PC café. They were creating their timetables for the new term, and registration
opened at nine o’clock sharp in the morning. Jimin was well-practiced and already knew the
days and times of the classes he wanted. He’d completed an internship last summer and could
just finish his course load now. He hastily selected his last risk management course, his
advanced marketing strategies course, his accounting and finance course, and his final
Mandarin language elective course—a necessity for business, since he already was fluent in
Japanese and knew enough English to get by.

“Fuck yeah, got them all,” Taehyung said. He was studying agriculture and life sciences, so
his courses were vastly different, but he was victorious. Jimin chewed his bottom lip and
stared at the screen, and then he saw all the green checkmarks as his timetable came up.

“Shit, got mine, too,” he sighed in relief. “Classes are Mondays and Thursdays, and
Mandarin is online.” He then pulled out his phone and texted his timetable to his manager at
Chatty, the coffee shop where he worked.

“Alright, well, it’s nine o’clock. Too early to order food,” Taehyung complained. “I think I
might go back to hyung. He did his timetable at home.”

“See you later, then,” Jimin said with a small smile as Taehyung gathered up all his
belongings with haste, planted a kiss to the top of Jimin’s head, and left the café. Jimin leaned
back in his swivel chair and slouched, checking his phone.

Two weeks. It had been two whole weeks since his encounter with Jeon Jeongguk, and not a
day had gone by where Jimin hadn’t thought about that night. Five days ago, he had caved
and found Jeongguk’s Instagram profile, where he had tens of thousands of followers
thirsting after him even though all he did was post pictures of him on bike rides with some
hot guy named Namjoon and going out to eat with friends and playing with a dog named
Holly that didn’t belong to him. He also posted pictures of his daily life at work and offered
business advice and publication advice through his Instagram story. People followed him
likely because he was rich and came across as a decent fucking man, and Jimin could see the
appeal.

Jimin had heeded Taehyung’s warning, and even Hoseok’s warning about the age gap. The
happy couple, though, had also told Jimin that even if Jimin decided to pursue a fuck buddy
relationship or tangle himself up with Jeongguk despite their many differences, they would
support it. And Jimin was nothing if not audacious.

Ambitious. I also need to be ambitious.

Jeongguk himself had even put on his Instagram story two days ago, in response to a
question, that he was a big fan of people who took calculated risks in search of reward. So
maybe Jimin needed to be his most authentic self and take said calculated risk.

Jimin rushed home and burst into his bedroom, and then he threw open his closet and pulled
out the black jeans and the underwear that Jeongguk had given him. He’d said to keep the
Chanel sweater, so Jimin left that hanging. But he had laundered the jeans and underwear, so
that gave him an absolutely perfect excuse. He could just walk right into Jeongguk’s office
under the guise of an innocent acquaintance returning borrowed clothing.

Maybe it wasn’t the best choice. Jimin could have easily just called or texted Jeongguk and
asked to meet again, could’ve given him the name of a nightclub so they could find one
another. But texting would have given Jeongguk an easy out, the excuse to ignore Jimin. And
Jimin didn’t want to be ignored. He wanted to face Jeongguk and gauge for himself if
Jeongguk was even remotely interested in another night together. If Jeongguk showed no
interest, Jimin could easily forget about it and move on, no harm done. But he couldn’t do
that over the phone.

Golden Co. Publishing House was in the heart of Gangnam and surely required fancier dress.
So Jimin, in order to blend in with the best of them, threw on a navy suit with a white button-
up and brown shoes, forgoing a tie in favor of a more business casual look. He combed his
hair back off his forehead, and then he grabbed a bag and threw the clothing in. Then he
grabbed a face mask, called a taxi, and took off.

GCPH occupied two floors of a pristine high-rise building in the business district. The logo
was plastered to the outside windows on the top left corner, and outside, there were dozens of
people roaming the sidewalks, all dressed for an office setting. Most of them, Jimin noticed,
looked tired. That had to be common amongst paper pushers, and that was the life Jimin was
trying to avoid.

“Floor… Floors nine and ten,” Jimin murmured to himself, and then he turned and took one
of the six elevators alone, removing his mask and tucking it into his pocket, still clutching the
bag. The doors opened, and Jimin turned and walked towards the circular front desk, where a
secretary in a grey pantsuit with a sleek high ponytail was at her computer. When she saw
Jimin, she rose to her feet.
“Hello, welcome to Golden Corporation Publishing House,” she said with a bow. “How can I
help you?”

“Good morning. I’m here to see Jeon Jeongguk,” Jimin replied with all the confidence he
could muster, making sure to sound like he had purpose, like he belonged. His heart skipped
when the woman’s brow furrowed slightly.

“I see. Do you have an appointment?”

“I do. For—” Jimin shook his sleeve and checked his watch. “Half past eleven. I’m right on
time.”

“Very well. Down the hall to the end. Mr. Jeon’s secretary will confirm if you have an
appointment in his schedule,” she said, and Jimin knew in an instant that she was suspicious.
Nevertheless, Jimin maintained his courage and nodded once, bowing in thanks.

“Thank you,” he said, and then he followed her directions and walked down the hallway.
Along the way, he used his peripheral vision to take in all the offices that he was passing, all
with closed doors but made of glass. In one office, there were three women (one with vibrant
turquoise hair) crowding around a computer, the woman with a blonde pixie cut laughing at
something. In a second office, one guy was on the phone with his feet kicked up on the
windowsill as he rolled a stress ball in one hand. Jimin continued his trek to the end of the
hall, where another desk was situated.

“Hello,” the woman at the desk said, rising to her feet. She was slender and stunningly
beautiful with muted blonde hair parted down the middle in a ponytail cascading down her
back. She was wearing high-waisted pinstripe black pants and a white top with large hoop
earrings in her ears, and her desk had a few plants on it.

Definitely Jeongguk’s secretary.

“Hi, good morning,” Jimin said with a polite bow, glancing at the gold nameplate. Myoui
Mina. “I’m here to see Jeon Jeongguk.”

“Do you have an appointment?” Mina asked in a melodic and soft but firm voice, sticking a
pen behind one ear that she had been holding.

“I do,” Jimin replied, and Mina raised one eyebrow, turning her swivel chair and glancing at
her computer screen. With a few clicks, she tutted and glanced back over at Jimin.

“Mr. Jeon doesn’t have any appointments scheduled for half past eleven,” she said.

“Call him,” Jimin insisted, keeping his shoulders back. “Call him and say that Park Jimin is
here to see him. If he says it’s untrue, I’m happy to leave.”

“Park Jimin?” Mina asked for confirmation, perfectly shaped eyebrows raised as she picked
up the phone receiver with gentle fingers. Jimin nodded, and Mina pressed a single button on
the phone and pressed it between her ear and her shoulder, fingers on the keyboard. “...Mr.
Jeon? Sorry to interrupt. You have a visitor… he says he has an appointment. Did you
schedule anything without telling me? I—well, you always make my job difficult, so I
wouldn’t be surprised.”

Jimin bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.

“Yes, his name is Park Jimin,” Mina said, and then she paused. “Yes, Park Jimin. What? Yes,
he has blonde hair. Why…? Okay. Are you sure? Okay.” Mina hung up the phone, and then
she blinked up at Jimin. “Mr. Jeon will see you.”

“Thank you,” Jimin said with a bow, wanting to laugh in victory. Mina came out from behind
the desk, glancing over her shoulder at Jimin, and then she reached forward and opened up
the office door for Jimin. Jimin bowed with just his head, and then he stepped into the office,
and Mina closed the door behind him.

Jeongguk had a corner office with windows lining the wall opposite the door. One wall had
bookshelves full of different books, and there were two black leather couches and a coffee
table. There was a large desk with an Apple desktop setup, and there were plants on the
windowsills and in the corners of the room. The dark wood floor was mostly covered with a
black and white area rug. This was undoubtedly the office of a CEO, given the décor and the
ambiance.

And then there was Jeongguk. He was seated behind his desk in a light grey suit, though the
jacket was draped on the back of his chair and his sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled to his
elbows. He looked just as gorgeous as when Jimin had seen him that morning in the kitchen,
maybe even more so today in the natural lighting.

“Good morning,” Jimin said with a small smile, and Jeongguk hummed, narrowing his eyes
slightly.

“Yes, good morning. What are you doing here?” he asked lightly, pushing his chair back
slightly and swiveling it a little, elbows on the armrests as Jimin stood before him, bag
loosely hooked on his fingers in front of him.

“I came to return your clothes to you," Jimin said, holding the bag up slightly. Jeongguk
lifted one hand and rubbed his bottom lip with his pointer finger a few times, and then he
arched one eyebrow.

“Two weeks later? I told you that you could keep the clothes,” Jeongguk reminded Jimin, and
Jimin held up a pointer finger.

“Ah, you said that I could keep the sweater,” he emphasized. “But you said absolutely
nothing about the underwear or the pants, and since I’m a gentleman, I thought I should bring
them back to you, all washed and folded.”

“You can keep them,” Jeongguk replied.

“I’m not your local charity,” Jimin fired back, and Jeongguk leaned forward, elbows on his
desktop, lacing his fingers together.
“Never said you were, but they look better on you than they do on me,” he said. “But if you
insist, you can just drop them off.”

“Right.” Jimin hesitated for a moment, but then he stepped forward and set the bag on
Jeongguk’s desk politely. Jeongguk took the bag and set it onto the floor underneath his desk,
and then he glanced up at Jimin expectantly.

“I see that the friend of yours I texted that night did a Naver search on me,” he said, and
Jimin tried not to laugh, amused at Jeongguk’s clever deduction.

“In his defense, he was just trying to find your social media profiles to stalk you like a good
best friend would. He just… found a little more than he bargained for,” Jimin replied. “So I
figured that maybe I would take advantage of knowing your workplace to give you back your
belongings.”

“Mm. Well, is there anything else I can help you with, or were you just here to give me my
clothes back?” he asked. Jimin bit the inside of his right cheek for a moment.

“I mean, of course there’s more. The clothing was just a ruse so I could get into your office,”
Jimin admitted shamelessly, and Jeongguk chuckled.

“You return clothes that I don’t need and get past the company secretary and my personal
secretary with all your charm,” he stated, shaking his head with a small smile. “And you have
the balls to lie about an appointment you never made.”

“You would know,” Jimin quipped, and finally, Jeongguk snorted with laughter. There was a
moment of silence, and then Jeongguk stood up and cracked his knuckles, stepping out from
behind his desk.

“Would you like a drink?” he asked, walking over to where he had a crystal decanter of some
kind of scotch or whiskey.

“At half past eleven in the morning? Absolutely,” Jimin agreed, because Jeongguk was
openly inviting him to stay longer. Jeongguk poured two small glasses of the alcohol, and
then he handed one over to Jimin and gestured to the couches. Jimin bowed and sat down on
one couch, and Jeongguk sat on the other.

“Why are you actually here?” Jeongguk asked, taking a small sip. Jimin did as well—scotch.
Damn good scotch.

“Because I was thinking about the other week,” Jimin admitted. “Thought about you. Figured
I’d come see you. See if you’d talk to me or let me into your office. Maybe ask if you wanted
to meet another night.”

“Bold of you,” Jeongguk commented, resting one elbow on the couch armrest. “I thought
classes started and you were busy. Am I wrong?”

“No. Classes start next week,” Jimin agreed. “I go to campus Mondays and Thursdays. Work
the other days.”
“Yeah? Where do you work?”

“Chatty. It’s a coffee shop. I’m a barista. And the assistant manager,” Jimin added. “I work
full days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and a half day on Fridays and Saturdays.”

“What are you studying?” Jeongguk asked.

“Business.”

“Oh? Where?”

“Seoul National University,” Jimin said, and he saw a flicker of recognition in Jeongguk’s
eyes. “I’ll get my bachelor’s degree, and then want to work towards my master’s degree. But
I also want to start my own small business while pursuing the second degree.”

“Your own small business?” Jeongguk asked, sounding interested. “You seem to have
something in mind.”

“I do.”

“So pitch it to me,” Jeongguk said, leaning back and taking another sip of his scotch. “Let’s
hear it.”

Any other sucker would have been entirely unprepared, caught off-guard, and nervous. But
Jimin had practiced his spiel so many times in hopes of being able to pitch to investors
someday that he was ready at a moment’s notice.

“Hear me out,” he said with a grin. “Because your job is to envision the ambiance, the
atmosphere. That’s important. I’m looking to start a hybrid type of business. I want to mix a
coffee shop with a used bookstore. Customers can donate their books to us in exchange for a
small sum of money based on the value of the books. Customers can also come in and read
for a little. They can study. They can meet with friends. They can grab coffee or a small
snack. Most importantly, there will be open mic nights, book signings, events, all kinds of
things. It will be called The Nook. That small, unassuming little place tucked away from the
busiest parts of the city where you can relax, reconnect, and rejuvenate.”

Jimin sat back and mirrored Jeongguk’s position, resting his elbow on the armrest of the
couch and taking a sip of his scotch, feeling his hand trembling a little. Jeongguk twirled his
glass in his hand slowly, and then he smiled at Jimin.

“You told me to envision the ambiance,” he said, and Jimin nodded. “I can see it. I’d invest.”

“Don’t fuck around with me,” Jimin said with a short laugh, and Jeongguk shrugged.

“Not fucking around with you, but okay. You seem to believe in your idea a lot, but that will
only get you so far. Do you have vendors? Food distribution companies in mind? A way to
appraise the market value of the used books you’d be receiving?” Jeongguk wondered.

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Jimin said, which was the truth. He’d been planning for years.
“A way to turn a profit instead of breaking even each month?”

“Promotions and word of mouth will be the largest factors,” Jimin said, and then he sat
forward. “And if someone with respect on his name vouched for my little business, or
suggested my shop as a place to participate in book signings or open mic nights and other
events.”

“Oh? Is that why you’re here? To use me?” Jeongguk asked, but his eyes were sparkling, and
he was grinning in amusement.

“Unintentionally,” Jimin replied. “The idea didn’t dawn on me until thirty seconds ago when
I remembered where I was and who I was talking to. But my post-school dreams are not the
reason why I’m here.”

“Then what’s the real reason?”

“I told you.” Jimin tossed back the last little sip of his scotch. “I want to meet up again.”

“For what, dinner?” Jeongguk asked warily, and Jimin snickered.

“No. Not unless you’re into wining and dining your one-night stand,” he said. “No, I’m
asking you to meet up again for sex. That’s all.”

“That’s all.” Jeongguk drank the rest of his scotch and set the empty glass on the coffee table,
and then he rested his elbows on his knees, folding his hands together. “You came here to my
office on a Monday morning to give me back clothes I don’t need and ask for sex.”

“That’s correct,” Jimin said, and then Jeongguk burst out laughing, throwing his head back
onto the back of the couch, resting his laced fingers on his forehead for a moment before he
sat forward again, crossing his arms.

“You really do have the balls,” he said vaguely, and then his eyes flicked over to his office
door before turning back to Jimin. “It was just one night, Jimin-ah.”

“Yeah, cool. And it was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life. What’d you think?” Jimin
wondered. Jeongguk blinked at him a few times, so Jimin added, "Come on. If you haven’t
thought about it, you’re lying. Or maybe I’m an idiot. Maybe you’ve already slept with five
other men since then. If that’s the case, I’ll see myself out.”

“I haven’t,” Jeongguk replied.

“So then what’d you think?” Jimin pressed.

“What, about the sex? It wasn’t bad,” Jeongguk said, and when Jimin narrowed his eyes,
Jeongguk cracked, his face splitting into a grin that had Jimin’s heart racing. “Look, I don’t
really know what you want to hear, Jimin-ah. I’ve thought about it plenty the past two weeks.
And I’m pretty sure you can guess how I felt about it.”

“You’re really not making this easy,” Jimin grumbled, and then he sighed. “Alright. Look, I’ll
just—” He pulled out his phone, and then he found Jeongguk’s number and fired off a quick
text. “I texted you so that you have my number. If you find yourself in the mood, call me or
text me. I wouldn’t mind another night, especially if I can remember it all.”

“You fit in well.”

“Huh?” Jimin tucked his phone away, brow furrowed.

“You fit in well. The suit. The look. You in a corporate office. You have this… thing about
you.”

“A thing?”

“Yeah. The way you present yourself. You’re very confident,” Jeongguk complimented. “I
like it. Takes balls to walk into a corporate office and ask the CEO for sex.”

“Well, in my defense, it wouldn’t be our first time, and I had no idea you were the CEO of a
major company and one of South Korea’s one hundred richest men when you fucked me two
weeks ago,” Jimin said, and Jeongguk let out a little groan, standing up and shaking his head.
Jimin stood up as well. “But I suppose those are just perks. Thank you for letting me meet
with you.”

“Thanks for showing up unannounced,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin thought it was sarcasm
until Jeongguk added, “It made my boring day much more interesting.”

“So you’ll think about it?” Jimin asked, heading for the door. “No strings attached. Seriously.
I know I’m way younger than you. I’m not about to intrude on your life or make things
messy or interfere with all that you have going on. Just sex.”

“Likewise,” Jeongguk said, slipping his hands into his pockets. “I’m too old for you. You
have a lot going on. Final term for university, your job, your dream business and all. So
you’re right. Just sex.”

“You’re not too old for me, but otherwise, yeah. I do have a lot going on,” Jimin said firmly,
and he saw the lack of trust in Jeongguk’s eyes, but he chose to ignore it. “So maybe I’ll see
you soon.”

Jeongguk pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he nodded, eyes fixed on Jimin.

“Maybe you will.”

***

mood: “nothing but my feelings” by little mix

Jimin couldn’t help but be immensely disappointed when the entire week faded into the
weekend, and he heard nothing from Jeongguk. He checked his phone religiously every
night, but Jeongguk never messaged him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone interested in having a second night with their one-night
stand.”

“Please stop talking,” Jimin sighed, and to his left, Minatozaki Sana giggled, ponytail
swinging as she continued to wipe down the countertops. Chatty was closed for the night, and
Jimin was closing with Sana, his favorite co-worker.

“No, seriously!” Sana said, eyes sparkling. She was like a little doll to Jimin. “Was it that
good?”

“It was phenomenal, thanks for asking,” Jimin said, checking his phone for the millionth time
since closing. “Are you okay cleaning up? I’ll go run the final expense report.”

“You know I’m fine, oppa,” Sana said in a singsong voice, tightening her ponytail with her
pinky fingers and then readjusting her gloves before resuming wiping down the surfaces
around Chatty. Jimin set a hand on her upper back as he passed by her, and then he
disappeared into the back office and sat down at the computer, checking the numbers he’d
written down on a slip of paper after counting the register. He plugged them into the
spreadsheet quickly, knowing that Sana would be pleased. She hated closing with anyone
who wasn’t Jimin, because the other assistant manager and even the manager weren’t as
savvy as Jimin was.

“...Looks sparkling,” Jimin commented when he returned with a zipped pouch filled with the
profitable money from the register that he had to deposit into the bank before midnight. “You
can go home.”

“I love and adore you,” Sana said with a radiant smile. “I hope your hot older man texts you
back.”

“Manifest it harder,” Jimin sighed, and Sana giggled. “Are you going to see Momo?”

“Obviously,” Sana said with a wink, and then she shimmied happily, hummed to herself, and
put her face mask on before skipping out the front door. Jimin blew out a breath, and then he
flicked off all the lights, money tucked safely into his bag, and exited the shop. He locked up
quickly, and then he hopped into his car (a secondhand 2014 Hyundai Sonata) and drove to
the appropriate bank to hastily deposit the profit from the day.

It was nearly ten o’clock by the time Jimin got home, and Sammi greeted him at the door.

“Hi, honey,” he said with a small smile, crouching down to pet her. “Were you good today?
Did you eat? I’m hungry. I’ll eat something quick.”

Jimin had leftover kimchi fried rice that he had made late last night, so he heated it up
properly, fried an egg quickly, and added some more kimchi (courtesy of his mother, because
mom’s kimchi was always superior), and then he sat down at his little table and began to
devour his meal, tiredly scrolling through social media but not really reading much of
anything. Right when he broke the yolk of his fried egg for another bite, a text message
appeared on the screen. Jimin promptly dropped his phone with a clatter, starling Sammi,
who had been curled up on the tabletop with her eyes closed. She leapt up and clambered up
Jimin’s chest and over his shoulder as he swatted her away, and she ran and hid underneath
the bed.

“You lunatic,” Jimin said breathlessly, and then he read the text message:

JEON JEONGGUK [10:23:42PM]

Do you remember where I live?

“Sammi? Sammi! It’s happening, come read this,” Jimin said, knowing damn well Sammi
wasn’t coming out from under the bed. Jimin often spoke to her like she could respond,
mostly so that he didn’t feel like he lived alone. With a racing heart, Jimin texted back.

JIMIN [10:24:09PM]

I quite literally have your address on my phone

JEON JEONGGUK [10:25:01PM]

Are you busy tonight?

JIMIN [10:25:53PM]

I’ll be there at 11pm

Jimin wasn’t even sure he tasted the final bites of his food. He tossed the dishes in the sink
carelessly, and then he tumbled into the shower and rinsed off, cleaning and prepping himself
properly and nearly slipping when he jumped out to get dressed. He threw on a pair of ripped
light wash jeans and a black t-shirt, opting for something simple instead of anything fancy.
He grabbed his phone off the charger, threw a few condoms and some lube into his bag just in
case, and then he yanked Sammi out from under the bed and kissed the top of her head.

“Bye, my baby. Be good. Sorry for running out again,” Jimin apologized. Then he grabbed
his keys and took the elevator down to the garage so he could hop into his car. It was late, so
he surely wouldn’t have to pay for any meter parking—at least, he hoped not.

Jeongguk’s penthouse apartment was in the nicest (wealthiest) part of Gangnam, and Jimin
had been right—there was a place for him to park without having to feed the meter. It was
two minutes to eleven o’clock, so he was right on time. With his bag slung over his shoulder,
he approached the intercom, and then he buzzed apartment 801, the only apartment on the
eighth and top floor.

“Come on up,” Jeongguk’s voice said, and Jimin yanked on the door as it clicked and
unlocked. He then rode the elevator up to the eighth floor, remembering the way Jeongguk
had pinned him to the mirrored walls to kiss him. The elevator doors opened, and Jimin
knocked on Jeongguk’s door. There was a pause, and then the door opened.

“Come in,” Jeongguk said, holding the door open further. Jimin stepped inside, noting the
soft lighting and a candle that was flickering in the kitchen. There was an empty glass on the
kitchen countertop, so it looked like Jeongguk had had a drink before inviting Jimin over.

“You caught me at a good time,” Jimin said. “Just finished work.”

“Good day?” Jeongguk asked, turning around to face Jimin with a small smile.

“Better now that I’m here. I’ll just need you to consent to this,” Jimin said with a shit-eating
grin, and Jeongguk rolled his eyes.

“Consent to what, exactly?”

“For lack of a better term, being my fuck buddy,” Jimin replied. “As in, you call me when
you want sex, I call you when I want sex. We meet up, we fuck, we go our separate ways. No
feelings, no committed relationship. Just sex. I’m busy, as I’m sure you are. I just got out of a
shitty relationship, too. So this might be the best arrangement for both of us, if you’re
interested.”

“I wouldn’t have texted you if I wasn’t,” Jeongguk replied. “You’re right. I’m too busy to go
out and play the field and date.”

“Alright. Well, we should at least set some ground rules and negotiate a little,” Jimin said,
still standing by the door with his bag and shoes, because he wanted to get the logistics out of
the way and set the groundwork first.

“Okay. Like?” Jeongguk leaned against the kitchen countertop.

“When it comes to sex,” Jimin said. “For example, I prefer bottoming. I’m good at it, and I
enjoy it a lot. I get the most pleasure from it, which is what’s important to me. However, if
you said, ‘hey, Jimin, I’d like to switch,’ I’d be open to it.”
“That’s fair,” Jeongguk replied. “I’ll follow your lead, then. I’m happy to switch, too, but if
you prefer bottoming, then I’m good with topping. Doesn’t bother me. I enjoy it more,
anyways.”

“Perfect. Any hard limits?” Jimin wondered. Jeongguk twisted his lips in thought, and Jimin
suddenly grinned. “Bet I can think of one.”

“What—? Oh, don’t you dare. Don’t even say it,” Jeongguk warned, but Jimin couldn’t help
himself.

“So if I call you ‘daddy,’ how quickly will you throw me out?” he asked, and Jeongguk
groaned as Jimin laughed. “Okay, okay, okay. That’s a big no. Anything else?”

“Uh…” Jeongguk ran one hand over his mouth. “I’m not really into much BDSM. Traditional
dominant and submissive dynamics are a bit lost on me. I’m open to exploring different
kinks, but nothing too outrageous.”

“Totally fair. What would be some kinks you’d be willing to explore?” Jimin wondered,
trying to approach it as clinically as possible without trying to think of all the things
Jeongguk could do to him.

“The simple stuff,” Jeongguk replied. “Edging, blindfolds, light bondage.”

“What’s light bondage to you?”

“Handcuffs. Tying wrists together, or to a headboard,” Jeongguk responded. Jimin was

equally as impressed at how even keel he was discussing such a topic. He wasn’t ashamed or
embarrassed, wasn’t shying away from it.

“Okay. I had a previous fuck buddy about two years ago who enjoyed tying me up and
blindfolding me, sometimes at the same time. I didn’t mind it at all, so just let me know. Or
let me know if you want that done to you,” Jimin emphasized, and Jeongguk nodded,
crossing his toned arms comfortably. “How do you feel about toys?”

“Be more specific.”

“Nothing crazy. Or, like, if I showed up with a dildo, what would you do?” Jimin wondered.

“Use it on you,” Jeongguk answered, and Jimin nodded.

“Perfect. As for me, I’m not a big fan of degradation or humiliation unless it’s done tastefully,
so I’d like to avoid that,” Jimin explained, and Jeongguk hummed and nodded. “I don’t like
being gagged very much, but I’ll do it if it’s not too compromising. Otherwise, I’m open to
most everything, so it sounds like I’ll be following your lead.”

“Sounds good to me,” Jeongguk said, seeming both relieved and pleased simultaneously.
“Any ground rules about the whole ‘fuck buddies’ thing?”

“Not really. This is the fourth time I’ve done something like this, so I try to be very open in
these kinds of relationships, because sometimes setting hard limits can be stressful. Basically,
we’re both going into this not interested in a serious relationship. That’s most important,"
Jimin said, and Jeongguk nodded in agreement. “Anything else can be negotiating along the
way. Do you need to set harder limits there?”

“No, nothing too extreme. I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but because I’m the CEO of
a major company, I guess it goes without saying that this is private,” Jeongguk said, and
Jimin nodded in understanding. “And anything public would be at my discretion.”

“Totally fine. I can respect that,” Jimin agreed. “Also, I tend to do my best to be exclusive in
these kinds of arrangements, so if you do sleep with someone else, just let me know.”

“I doubt I will, but that’s fine. Same goes for you,” Jeongguk requested.

“Done. So basically, privacy and no dating,” Jimin stated, and Jeongguk gave him a tiny
smile with a shrug.

“Sounds about right. Most men get turned off by the idea of dating me, anyways.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m the educated CEO of a successful company and I make good money,”
Jeongguk replied. “I’ve had three men tell me that I’m too intimidating to date in the past few
years. So I can’t say that I have a lot of luck when it comes to that kind of thing.”

“Well, luckily for you, I find all of that to be devastatingly sexy,” Jimin said dramatically, and
Jeongguk stifled a laugh.

“Good to know.”

“And I’m a poor university student trying to get my degree and start a business, but also
trying to get laid as consistently as possible.”

“Your honesty is refreshing,” Jeongguk replied, and then he rolled his neck in slow motion
with a sigh. Jimin finally kicked off his shoes and shrugged his bag to the floor, and then he
walked up to Jeongguk, drinking him in. He was wearing loose fitting black pants and a
white long-sleeved shirt, face bare, and he looked much younger than thirty-six standing
before Jimin. He also looked exhausted, but not in the sense that he needed sleep.

“Why’d you pick tonight to text me?” Jimin asked.

“I had a shitty day at the office,” Jeongguk said.

“It’s Saturday,” Jimin noted, and Jeongguk gave him a wry smile.

“Exactly why I had a shitty day,” he said. Jimin closed the gap between them, slipping one
arm around Jeongguk’s waist and lifting his hand, thumb brushing over Jeongguk’s bottom
lip slowly.

“Well, maybe I can help make it better,” he said, and Jeongguk hummed in agreement, his
eyes flicking to Jimin’s lips. That was all the encouragement Jimin needed, and there was no
time to waste. Satisfying his craving, Jimin leaned in and kissed Jeongguk cautiously, melting
in happiness when Jeongguk kissed him back and kissed him deeper. Jimin wanted to hate the
way he had sorely missed kissing Jeongguk even after just one night together, but who was
he trying to kid? He’d already jerked off a dozen times in three weeks thinking about
Jeongguk, so admitting to daydreaming about making out with him was nothing.

“Just so we’re clear,” Jeongguk said, accepting another feather-light kiss from Jimin. “I’m
not going to call or text you every time I have a shitty day. I can text you on good days, too.
And this works both ways.”

“Yeah? You’ll let me text you when I’m feeling super horny and just want sex?” Jimin asked,
grinning.

“Mhm. But don’t go overboard,” Jeongguk replied, lifting one hand to Jimin’s cheek, thumb
stroking over the apple of it once before he kissed Jimin again.

“I won’t. I’d invite you to my apartment, but my bed isn’t as big as yours, and it’s a little
crammed,” Jimin whispered.

“You can come here. I don’t mind,” Jeongguk murmured. Jimin kissed him again and again,
drowning in the feeling of how soft Jeongguk’s lips were, how he was confident enough to
press his tongue into Jimin’s mouth, how he held Jimin in a way that felt both protective and
possessive.

“You know how many times I touched myself thinking about you the last three weeks?”
Jimin whispered.

“Can’t be as many times as I did thinking about you ,” Jeongguk replied, and Jimin
whimpered.

“Fuck, are you serious?” he breathed between kisses, slightly awestruck.

“I told you that fucking you was like a dream. You didn’t believe me?” Jeongguk asked, and
Jimin swallowed all of his words with another fierce kiss, burying his fingers in Jeongguk’s
hair, forgetting his manners and everything else he knew about respecting his elders. He
pressed his body to Jeongguk’s needily, swiping his tongue over Jeongguk’s bottom lip,
kissing him like a starved man.

“Bedroom,” Jimin gasped out. “Bedroom, hurry up.”

Jeongguk bent his knees slightly and, in one fell swoop, scooped Jimin up into his arms as
Jimin wrapped his legs around Jeongguk’s waist, their lips still connected.

“You were saying?” he asked, and Jimin moaned.

“Okay, you can fuck me like this one day,” he said, and Jeongguk laughed, carrying Jimin
effortlessly towards his bedroom. He used a foot to kick open the already ajar door, and then
he gently laid Jimin onto the bed and crawled on after him.
After that, it was a complete flurry of undressing and clothes being thrown onto the floor.
Both of them completely naked, Jimin flipped the two of them, and then he laid overtop of
Jeongguk and kissed up his body hungrily, Jeongguk arching towards his lips and panting,
silently begging Jimin for more. In response, Jimin dropped his body with all his weight on
Jeongguk, his hard cock meeting Jeongguk’s as they both gasped at the friction.

“I love your tattoos,” Jimin breathed as he kissed along Jeongguk’s hot skin, admiring the
tattoos. The one on his chest was on his right pectoral, and it was a large butterfly. Down his
right arm he had a myriad of different flowers, birds, a tiger, and patterns all in black ink.
Jimin made out the words “rather be dead than cool” on his forearm.

“Thank you,” Jeongguk said, running his hands down the expanse of Jimin’s back. “Come
here, come kiss me.”

Jimin obeyed, lifting his head and meeting Jeongguk’s lips, smiling into the kiss. Jimin had a
lot of natural authority and liked to be in charge, but he craved being told what to do in the
bedroom, especially with such confidence. They kissed and kissed until time melted away,
until Jimin could feel how swollen and slick with spit his lips were, until he was leaking pre-
come onto Jeongguk and rutting against him in desperation.

“Want you to prep me,” Jimin requested. “Want your fingers.”

“Yeah?” Jeongguk grabbed for the lube, coated his fingers, and then twirled one finger in the
air. Eager, Jimin flipped over onto his stomach, and then he grabbed a pillow and shoved it
underneath his hips.

“Yeah. Thought about you every time I fingered myself,” Jimin said breathlessly as Jeongguk
spread him and slipped the first finger in. “ Ah , fuck, that’s it. So good, hyung. Fucking
thought about this all the time.”

“You ever been told that you have a great ass?” Jeongguk asked, and Jimin snickered, turning
his head.

“A few times,” he said. That was a lie. Every man he’d ever fucked had nearly cried over his
ass. Jimin knew it was one of his finest physical features, clothed or naked.

“Gonna fuck you from behind tonight,” Jeongguk whispered, slipping a second finger in and
stretching Jimin open as Jimin moaned, lips against his forearm. “You okay with that?”

“More than okay,” Jimin agreed, pushing his ass back onto Jeongguk’s fingers. He rutted
against the pillow helplessly the entire time, breathing through his nose, until Jeongguk
finally decided it was enough. Jimin offered to suck him off first, but Jeongguk declined,
already rolling on the condom.

“Want to be inside you,” he said, pulling the pillow out from underneath Jimin and pulling
him into a modified child’s pose. “Spread your legs a little, baby, come on.”

“Fuck, I love when you tell me what to do,” Jimin confessed, doing exactly as Jeongguk said.
Jeongguk lined himself up and circled the tip of his cock around Jimin’s rim teasingly.
“That so? You like when hyung tells you what to do?” he asked for clarification, and Jimin
nearly choked.

“Love it,” he confirmed, and then he moaned quietly as Jeongguk slowly pushed in, thrusting
shallowly until he bottomed out, hips against Jimin’s ass. He leaned in and pressed kisses to
Jimin’s spine, large hands gripping Jimin’s hips. “Come on, hyung. Want you to fuck me.
Fuck me right into the mattress.”

“Shit, I’ll never be able to keep up with you,” Jeongguk said with a breathy laugh, but then
he pulled out all the way before snapping his hips forward, sending his cock deep as Jimin
choed and pulled at the sheets.

“ Fuck , fuck, just like that. Keep doing that,” Jimin demanded, pushing his hips back again.
Jeongguk kissed the small of Jimin’s back once more, and then he planted his knees into the
mattress and set an absolutely grueling pace. Every thrust had Jimin whimpering and
moaning, and when Jeongguk angled his thrusts, Jimin swore he saw stars in his vision. He
wasn’t going to last very long.

“Want you to touch yourself,” Jeongguk said, pausing only to nudge the lube towards Jimin.
“If you need it.”

Jimin didn’t. He reached down and wrapped his hand around his cock, and then he started to
jerk himself off in rhythm with Jeongguk’s thrusts, his legs already shaking. He was so
consumed and lost in the pleasure of it all that he let out a yelp when Jeongguk suddenly
wrapped both arms around Jimin’s waist, rolled, and resituated the two of them. Suddenly,
Jeongguk was sitting up against the pillow, and Jimin’s back was pressed to his front,
Jeongguk’s cock still inside Jimin.

“Oh, fuck, oh my God,” Jimin gasped, steadying himself with his hands on Jeongguk’s
thighs. “Fuck, hyung, feels amazing.”

“Come here, doll,” Jeongguk whispered, and he wrapped his left arm around Jimin’s waist,
his right arm snaking around as well to grip Jimin’s cock. Jimin whined, his head falling back
as Jeongguk turned to kiss along Jimin’s neck, latching on to suck a fresh bruise. Jimin rolled
his hips and thrusted into Jeongguk’s fist, feeling utterly out of control.

“Shit, I’m gonna come,” Jimin warned. “C-Can’t hold it in, I’m—hyung, hyung, I’m g-
gonna… oh, God, oh my God.”

“You can come, baby. Go ahead. You come first, and then I’ll fuck you,” Jeongguk whispered
in Jimin’s ear. His voice alone was pure sin. Jimin let out a choked moan, and then he came
all over his stomach and Jeongguk’s hand, clenching around Jeongguk’s cock helplessly, his
limbs shaking. Before he even came down from the high, Jeongguk flipped him easily again,
pressed a hand in down between Jimin’s shoulder blades, spread Jimin’s legs a little, and
started to fuck him so hard that Jimin let out a dry sob, drenched in pure pleasure. He begged,
begged for Jeongguk to come, and Jeongguk delivered. He gasped out Jimin’s name with a
hard thrust, and Jimin fisted the sheets in happiness, perfectly content. Jeongguk immediately
rolled over again, still inside Jimin, and let out a short laugh, now lying on his back with
Jimin on top of him.
“Oh my God,” Jeongguk panted, Jimin slumped on his chest. “Fuck, that was incredible.”

Jimin hummed in agreement, eyes closed, heart still pounding. He could feel Jeongguk’s
heart racing against his, sweat sticking them together, legs tangled, Jeongguk’s cock slowly
softening inside Jimin the longer they lay together. Jimin slowly turned his head and pressed
his lips to Jeongguk’s sweaty skin, tasting the salt as he kissed along Jeongguk’s neck.

“Are you okay?” Jeongguk whispered, his hand landing on the small of Jimin’s back,
fingertips kneading the skin absentmindedly.

“I’m amazing,” Jimin murmured. “You just fucked the soul out of me. Give me a minute.”

“I’ll pull out.”

“I said to give me a minute,” Jimin reiterated as Jeongguk’s hips stilled. “Let me enjoy this.”

“Enjoy what, cock warming me?”

“Absolutely,” Jimin said, and he felt the vibration of Jeongguk’s laughter against his chest.
“God, this was the best decision I ever made.”

“Best? That seems like an exaggeration.”

“Not at all. You fuck like a god. I’ve never been so sexually satisfied in my entire life,” Jimin
said honestly.

“We’ve only fucked twice.”

“Which totally proves my point. We’re absolutely doing this again.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk sounded amused.

“What, you wouldn’t have sex with me again?” Jimin lifted his head just slightly, eyebrows
raised.

“I’d have sex with you again right now if I wasn’t so exhausted,” Jeongguk said with no
shame, and Jimin smiled, satisfied.

“Then this won’t be the last time I get to have sex with the hottest fucking man on the
planet.”

“Happy to be of service,” Jeongguk replied with a laugh, both of his hands drifting gently
down to rest on Jimin’s ass. He turned his head and pressed a few kisses to Jimin’s temple.
“You’re so pretty, you know that?”

“I know.”

“So good,” Jeongguk muttered, nudging Jimin’s head with his nose and chin until Jimin
glanced up. He scooted a little, and then he leaned in and met Jeongguk’s lips in a sweet kiss
that made Jimin’s heart stutter. They exchanged quiet kisses without a word, naked bodies
still stuck together, Jeongguk still soft inside Jimin. But Jimin was in heaven. Jeongguk
kissed him with a soft ferocity that Jimin had never experienced before. Exploratory, gentle,
but with a rooted confidence that appealed to Jimin greatly. It was the kind of intent that said
he wanted desperately to ruin Jimin, but he was savoring each moment and knew how to
exhibit self-control when the time called for it. Each kiss was different and so perfect.

“Yeah?” Jimin finally whispered back. “Am I good for you, hyung?”

“Best I’ve ever had,” Jeongguk murmured between kisses, likely not realizing the weight of
his words. Jimin pressed one firm kiss to Jeongguk’s lips, and then they both shifted.
Jeongguk pulled out and peeled the condom off, and then he padded to the bathroom in all his
naked, tattooed glory. He returned with a washcloth that smelled like lavender, and he knelt
on the bed and wiped Jimin’s torso with care. He then handed the washcloth so that Jimin
could clean himself up properly.

“Can we cuddle?” Jimin asked hopefully when he had his underwear back on. Jeongguk
locked his phone, dropped it on the bedside table, and rolled onto the bed, where he had just
put on new sheets and a blanket while Jimin was in the bathroom.

“Yeah, of course. Come here,” Jeongguk insisted, and Jimin happily crawled onto the bed and
into Jeongguk’s arms. He fit perfectly. It was bizarre.

“Can I ask you something personal? You don’t have to answer if you’re uncomfortable. I’d
understand completely,” Jimin said softly, resting his hand on Jeongguk’s chest right over his
heart. He was going to soak up every single second of the aftercare before he had to go home.

“Go ahead.”

“Have you had any serious relationships in the past?”

“I have,” Jeongguk answered right away, and Jimin’s heart skipped. “Two serious
relationships.”

“What happened?”

“My first serious boyfriend was when I was your age,” Jeongguk said. “His name was
Mingyu. We’d been friends all throughout school, and one night things escalated after we’d
been out at a club. We dated for a little over a year, but then we both graduated, and we ended
things. It was just… that natural kind of drifting apart. He wanted to move to Busan, I didn’t
want to go back there because I was working for Golden. We were at different points in our
lives, so we just… parted. It was amicable.”

“Busan? Is that where you were born?”

“Mhm.”

“Me too,” Jimin whispered. “I totally get it, though. About drifting apart from someone.
When your paths kind of…”Jimin used two fingers on Jeongguk’s chest and gently dragged
them across his bare skin, splitting the fingers apart to show the divergence. “There’s not
much you can do. You just accept it. Life goes on.”

“Exactly. We still talk sometimes. He’s very successful. He found a really great girl in Busan.
They’re married. Two kids. He’s pretty happy,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin hummed.

“What about the other relationship?”

“Eunwoo,” Jeongguk murmured. “We met just before I turned thirty. Hit it off right away. It
was… I don’t know. Magnetic. We were perfect together in a lot of ways. That was what I
thought, at least. We dated for a year, and it was… I mean, it was pretty intense. He started
asking if he could introduce me to his parents. About a year and a half into it, he asked me to
move in with him, so I did. But a few months later, right after I turned thirty, I was
recommended for and nominated as CEO of the company. Turned my entire life upside down.
And that was… yeah. That was the beginning of the end.”

“Why? Was he jealous of you?” Jimin wondered.

“He worked at a technology company. Same big office environment. But he was about
middle of the pack and working his way up the corporate ladder. So it didn’t really sit well
with him,” Jeongguk explained carefully. “He tried, but eventually, he started scolding me for
being at the office all the time, for not spending time with him, for prioritizing work over our
relationship. And the longer it went on, the more I realized that we weren’t really perfect
together. He’d also tried to stifle my growth. Never truly supported my dreams. I would
worry sometimes about my career, and his advice would always be to quit and find something
new.”

“That’s terrible advice.”

“Right. So when someone’s trying to hold you back and keep you at their level or stop you
from growing…” Jeongguk lifted one hand and mimicked a pair of scissors in a cutting
motion. “So right after our two-year anniversary, I called it off and moved out. And at first,
he panicked. Begged me to come back. Turns out he was getting used to the money and the
clout that came with dating a CEO. I haven’t seen him since the day I walked out on him.”

“Fuck. So you’ve had two intense serious relationships,” Jimin muttered, and Jeongguk
laughed lightly.

“Yeah. I try to avoid them. And I’m not exactly the most sociable person, so I don’t actively
seek out new relationships. I talk to nobody at the office so I can focus on my work.”

“Yeah? You speak softly and carry a big stick?” Jimin asked with a smile.

“Something like that. I don’t know. All those CEOs in dramas that are ruthless and
cutthroat… not my vibe. I’m the opposite,” Jeongguk admitted. “Those kinds of people rub
me the wrong way.”

“Understandable. Your ex Eunwoo sounds like my ex,” Jimin commented.

“Yeah? Was—what was his name? Sungwoon? Was he trying to stop your growth?”
Jeongguk asked.

“Well he was constantly complaining that I was a terrible boyfriend who never spent time
with him because I was too busy with school and working and my own dreams,” Jimin listed.
“And then he cheated on me for months. So, yeah. I cut him out. He called me selfish. I’m
still waiting to run into him so that he can come up with some horrible excuse.”

“Don’t give him the time of day,” Jeongguk suggested. “Your happiness comes from you at
the end of the day. You get rid of garbage like your ex and suddenly, you’re free. It’s a good
feeling when someone isn’t holding you back.”

“I like being free,” Jimin said quietly. There was a moment of silence that followed, where
Jimin closed his eyes tiredly and Jeongguk’s fingertips flitted up and down his spine and into
his hair every so often. Jimin usually cut his aftercare short, but with Jeongguk, he wanted to
stretch it out for an eternity. Jeongguk had this vibe , this thing about him that made Jimin
want to stay. But he couldn’t—he was just a fuck buddy. That was the arrangement. Jimin
couldn’t overstay his welcome.

“I should probably get going,” Jimin decided. Jeongguk’s fingers combed through Jimin’s
hair twice, and then he rested that hand on the small of Jimin’s back as Jimin propped up on
one elbow, pressing his hand to Jeongguk’s chest. “Thanks for inviting me over.”

Jeongguk rolled his head just a little to the left to look up at Jimin, blinking quietly. Then he
slipped his hand behind Jimin’s neck, pulled him closer, and kissed him. Jimin melted, his
hand still on Jeongguk’s chest as they kissed, and it felt like the breath was being stolen from
his lungs momentarily. Then Jeongguk scratched the back of Jimin’s scalp.

“Thanks for coming,” he softly said. “You need a taxi home or anything?”

“No, no. I drove here,” Jimin replied, rolling off the bed and away from Jeongguk’s warmth
to sit on the edge of the bed so he could gather his clothes from the floor. “Thank you,
though. Do you have a day off tomorrow?”

“Yeah, thank God. I’ll be sleeping most of the day,” Jeongguk replied, ruffling his hair, still
sprawled across his bed. “I assume you work tomorrow.”

“All day shift,” Jimin complained as he shimmied into his jeans. “Think of me dying over an
iced Americano while you’re lying in bed.”

“Happily,” Jeongguk said with a small smile. “Here, I’ll walk you out.”

“I’m a big boy,” Jimin said, holding up a hand to keep Jeongguk at bay and in bed. “I know
where the door is. I can see myself out. Thanks again, hyung. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk was sitting up in his bed cross-legged, elbows resting on his knees,
perfectly sculpted body and tattoos all still on display. Jimin inwardly sighed, and then he
gave Jeongguk a small smile and left the bedroom. He slipped on his shoes quietly, and then
he grabbed the handle of the door. When he glanced over his shoulder, he flinched in surprise
 when he saw Jeongguk standing at the doorway of his bedroom, both hands gripping the top
of the door frame as he leaned his upper body forward.

“Goodnight,” he said simply. Jimin pursed his lips, intent on keeping his mouth closed so he
wouldn’t drool or say something inappropriate.

“Goodnight, hyung,” he said quietly, and then he slipped out the door.

Chapter End Notes

*dreamy sigh* Sana and Mina... I love them so much. Since I've used up all my ITZY
babies I now have to go to my TWICE biases so HERE WE ARE.

OK SO! we're starting to flesh out these characters a little more ;) ch3 has some of JK's
POV which is very cool to see so STAY TUNED!

Also, please be on the lookout for ANOTHER new fic of mine that will be posted
around Christmas Day! I participated in a Secret Santa fic fest ahhhhh it was so stressful
but a lot of fun. So I have another little fic that y'all can look out for! It'll be posted
anonymously sometime between Dec 1-Dec 25 so keep your eyes peeled!

TWITTER
 clouding up the window
Chapter Notes

HELLO thank you for waiting a whole week! This is 16K as my way of saying thank
you! I think I've said it on Twitter, but I try not to update on weekdays because I work
full-time :( And can't interact with y'all if I post during the week. I know I'm so slow
answering comments I'M SORRY THERE'S A LOT OF THEM and I want to make sure
I answer everyone!!! So thank you for being patient with me!

I forgot to thank my baby Kat for looking over ch1 and also ch3 here, hi Kat I love and
adore you, thanks for being my second set of eyes <333

Also, I based most of this fic on Little Mix's album "Confetti," but I'm pulling some of
their songs from a few of their other albums too so LISTEN TO THEM ALL!!! I really
hope y'all like this chapter, it was fun to write so BUCKLE UP LET'S GOOOOO

Find me on TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

[moodboard by cata]

~~~
“Uh, we definitely said four tequila shots.”

“I’m aware,” Jeongguk said, setting down two tequila shots in front of Aerin, the birthday
girl. Aerin didn’t seem fazed, taking one of the shots and handing the other to a friend as
Jeongguk slid back into the booth.

“You were gone longer than you should’ve been,” Min Yoongi said, eyeing Jeongguk
suspiciously as he used his thumb to twirl a ring on his middle finger, a few strands of black
hair falling into his left eye.

“Sorry,” Jeongguk said shortly, sipping his drink. To Yoongi’s right, Kim Seokjin let out a
scoffing laugh, leaning forward on the table.

“Yah, you have no shame,” he said, amused. “What happened? Run into someone you
knew?”

“No. I ran into someone I didn’t know and now I’m regretting even being here,” Jeongguk
replied, and Yoongi nudged him with a knee.

“Don’t be so dramatic. Who’d you run into?”

“A guy who drank two of my tequila shots because I’m a sucker and I let him do it,”
Jeongguk said, and Yoongi raised his eyebrows in interest. “Said he deserved them because
he just dumped his cheating ex-boyfriend. I agreed with him.”

“Was he hot?” Seokjin asked.

“He was twenty-two-years-old,” Jeongguk said, and Yoongi whistled, elbowing Seokjin.

“We could be his father,” he said, and Seokjin scoffed indignantly.

“Oh, yeah, great, that’s fine,” he rambled, and Jeongguk fought back a laugh. “Tell that to
the guy who’s already over forty and stuck with you for life. I love being old, feels really
good. Great to hear that I could’ve had a kid when I was eighteen.”

“You willingly chose to be stuck with me,” Yoongi argued, but there was an amused lilt to his
voice, and Jeongguk recognized it right away. Seokjin and Yoongi had been together for
fifteen years already and had built a beautiful life together with several animals and a nice
home. They were quietly affectionate but eternally happy, and Jeongguk deeply envied them,
sometimes in an ugly way.

“Okay, well, so what if he’s twenty-two? He’s an adult. Was he hot?” Seokjin asked again.

“He’s right over there, dancing with his friends. Pink shirt, blonde hair,” Jeongguk said,
gesturing discreetly. Seokjin and Yoongi both looked, and immediately, Seokjin whistled as
Yoongi hummed.

“So he took two of your tequila shots and walked away?” Yoongi wondered.
“No. He did a hell of a lot of flirting, asked me to dance with him, and said he wanted his
mouth all over me. And then I walked away,” Jeongguk listed.

“You’re an idiot,” Yoongi instantly replied. “Fucking beautiful man asks you to dance, and
you just walk away from him? Absolute moron.”

“He’s fucking twenty-two-years-old,” Jeongguk fired back. “Kid’s got an entire life and a
future ahead of him. He doesn’t need to be flirting with me.”

“Oh my God, he’s really this stupid,” Seokjin said to Yoongi, and then he leaned over again.
“He’s cute, he’s young, he flirted with you, he wants to dance with you, I just — what more
do you need? Seriously, Jeongguk-ah, when was the last time you got laid? It’s been a month,
easily.”

“Month and a half,” Jeongguk grumbled. “And the last guy was fucking awful.”

“And you’re sitting here watching Aerin drink until she feels feisty enough to dance near the
deejay,” Yoongi said, gesturing to Aerin as she laughed with some of the girls. Admittedly,
Seokjin was the closest with Aerin, and Jeongguk was just attending on principle, being the
CEO of the company and all. Jeongguk pursed his lips and glanced over at Jimin again, and
that was when he saw Jimin staring back. Jimin winked, and then he went right back to
dancing up on his friend, eyes closed, drink in one hand.

“He’s too young,” Jeongguk quietly said.

“He’s not,” Yoongi argued. “You’re just basing that off of the societal stigma that age is
exclusively connected to maturity and that it’s the most relevant factor in any relationship. It’s
bullshit. If he was flirting with you like that and you’re interested, then for fuck’s sake, go
dance with the guy. If he turns out to be a whiny, immature little shit, then walk away. If he’s
good and he won’t ruin your life, then Jesus Christ, just take him home. Get laid. Put yourself
out of your own misery.”

“I hate when you both encourage me to do stupid shit,” Jeongguk complained.

“Well, we certainly can’t go play the field and pick a one-night stand,” Seokjin commented,
and Yoongi rolled his eyes as Seokjin laughed, repetitively nudging Yoongi for a reaction that
he didn’t get. “So we’ll live vicariously through you. Just give it a shot. Aerin won’t give a
fuck. She’ll cheer you on, truthfully. C’mon, Gguk. Go for it. What’s the guy’s name?”

“Jimin.”

“Excellent. Good, strong name. Go dance with him,” Seokjin said. “Seriously. You’ll thank
us later. Go.”

“This is a horrible idea,” Jeongguk said, but he pushed his drink away and shifted his
position in the booth.

“It’s not. Maybe you need to indulge an illusionary horrible idea. Get your head out of your
ass and go dance with him.” Yoongi used one hand to push Jeongguk, forcing Jeongguk out
of the booth, and he stood up and immediately twisted his torso to crack his back like it
would help prepare him. Then he glanced over his shoulder, hesitating.

“Will you just go?” Seokjin almost yelled, and Jeongguk fought back a smile as he turned
towards the dance floor, eyes on Jimin.

One dance wouldn’t hurt.

***

“So what we should actually focus on is the cost control for this publication.”

“Mm.”

“Right now, we’re not set to make much of a profit, given the marketing. So the marketing
team needs to identify some more key opportunities for pushing this project forward to
increase the revenues and reduce the cost that we’re burdening at the moment.”

“Why?”

“Why are we shouldering the burden of the cost? Because Cha Youngsuk is a brilliant author
who’s offering a lackluster science fiction novel at the wrong time.” Kim Namjoon, the Chief
Financial Officer of Golden Co. Publishing House, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes
tiredly. “The marketing team hates him. And we warned him that the public wouldn’t respond
well to a book published at the beginning of a school term, but they pushed it anyway, and
here we are.”

“Remind me…” Jeongguk spun his chair a little to the right, still twirling a pen between his
fingers. “Because I believe this is the same agent who put that book through three of our
editors and complained that we aren’t diverse enough for his client because we ripped the
manuscript to shreds every time.”

“Well, his client wrote a shitty manuscript, so that was a determination for the editing team,”
Namjoon said. “The design cohort is already getting an earful. And by design team, I mean
Yoongi-ssi.”

“Well, this is the first time we’ve published one of Cha’s works,” Jeongguk replied. “And if it
doesn’t start performing well, that goddamn agent will rip us to shreds, and we’ll be in the
negative for a profit.”

“This is why I hate taking on authors with stroked egos,” Namjoon sighed, pinching the
bridge of his nose. “But the fucking board had to have him, and when our stocks plummet
from one agent badmouthing us, I’m taking a day off.”

“You can’t,” Jeongguk said, still twirling the pen. “You’re the only person I talk to here.”
“Please,” Namjoon said with a short laugh, crossing one leg over the other. “You talk to
Seokjin-ssi and Yoongi-ssi.”

“They’re insufferable.”

“Speaking of insufferable, you seem pretty happy lately,” Namjoon commented, and
Jeongguk’s lips twitched in a smile as he leaned forward, setting the pen down and using one
finger to shift it until it was parallel to his keyboard.

“My happiness has nothing to do with being insufferable, but do continue,” he said, and
Namjoon grinned, lacing his fingers behind the crown of his head and rubbing his palms
against his short brown hair briefly.

“Nothing else to say. You just seem happier. Does this have to do with you getting laid?”

“One day,” Jeongguk started loudly, and Namjoon was already laughing, “Seokjin hyung will
stop talking. That’s the day that society will progress to flying cars and world peace.”

“Okay, but you can still tell me about it while I’m here. I haven’t been down here to your
office in a week,” Namjoon said, raising his eyebrows expectantly. Jeongguk chewed the
bottom right corner of his lip, eyes narrowed slightly. Namjoon was the closest thing he had
to an older brother, his best friend. Jeongguk was the one slated to plan his fortieth birthday
celebration.

“It’s really nothing,” Jeongguk insisted, resting his elbows on his desk with his chin set on
top of his knuckles comfortably. “I met this guy at the nightclub when we were out
celebrating Aerin-ssi’s birthday. We danced, I took him home with me. It was just supposed
to be one night, but… yeah. I saw him again over the weekend.”

“Saw him for a date?”

“No, just for sex,” Jeongguk replied, tilting his head forward until his lips kissed his knuckles
for a moment. Then he peered over his hands at Namjoon, who looked genuinely interested.
“He’s young. Way younger than me.”

“How old?”

“Twenty-two.”

Namjoon whistled. “He must have his shit together if you chose to see him more than once.
Or the sex is just that good.”

“Definitely that good. As far as having his shit together, I can only guess,” Jeongguk said
honestly. “But it doesn’t matter. He just dumped his cheating ex and doesn’t want another
serious relationship, and I don’t want a relationship at all. The arrangement was his idea.”

“Oh? Arrangement?” Namjoon raised his eyebrows again. “What, is he your fuck buddy
now? Just sex, no strings attached?”
“Yeah. It’s not like I haven’t done it before. And, I mean, we just started, but so far so good,”
Jeongguk tentatively said. “He’s, uh… different than me, but the same in some ways. If
there’s anything he has, it’s the fucking audacity. A lot of confidence. He’s studying business
at SNU.”

“Oh?” Namjoon’s interest piqued.

“Yeah. He wants to start his own small business, and he already has a pitch for it,” Jeongguk
replied. “And with the drive he has, he’ll have no trouble. I don’t know. It’s good. He’s easy
to get along with, and he’s not clingy. That’s a win in my book.”

“Wait until you catch feelings,” Namjoon said with a grin, hoisting himself up from his chair
with a grin. “Then we’ll see if it’s still a win.”

“Not gonna happen,” Jeongguk said in a singsong voice with a small smile as Namjoon
buttoned his suit jacket with one hand, pulling out his phone to check his messages in the
other.

“If you were just fucking him because he was hot, I’d say you’re right. But you already know
too much about him,” Namjoon pointed out, sounding gleeful. “I’ll see you later, Gguk. Want
to go for a ride this weekend?”

“Yeah, sure,” Jeongguk said. “My bike hasn’t been touched in almost two weeks.”

“We’ll fix that—”

“ Sajang-nim!”

“Shut up,” Jeongguk sighed, almost groaning when he heard Seokjin's voice. “I have a
headache already.”

“Yah, can you believe him? This is what I get for being polite,” Seokjin said as he breezed in,
entering the office as Namjoon exited. Namjoon snickered and walked out, saying hello to
Mina yet again and pausing to probably gossip about something.

“Just giving you the updated schedule for Bulletproof Boys,” Seokjin said, referencing one of
South Korea’s most consumed graphic novels. Seokjin was head of the production team,
meaning he supervised over a dozen people to manage production schedules for publications
to ensure release to the market in a timely fashion, amongst other duties.

“Cool, let me see it,” Jeongguk said, holding out a hand. Seokjin offered up the black folder,
and Jeongguk flicked it open and scanned the page quickly. Immediately, he set it down and
shook his mouse to wake up his computer, and then he squinted and checked his mess of a
calendar for the company. “...Push this back a week.” He picked up a pen and circled a date.
“We have another similar project being marketed that week, and I don’t want overlap.”

“No problem,” Seokjin said agreeably as Jeongguk shut the folder and handed it back with a
small smile.
“Thanks, hyung,” he said, and then he reached over and grabbed his coffee—an extra strong
Americano that was terribly made. He really needed to find a decent place to grab his coffee
in the morning, because he couldn’t always go out of his way to grab coffee at The Attic in
Itaewon. It always made him late to work with the morning traffic rush. There had to be a
better place closer to the office.

“How’s Jimin?” Seokjin asked casually, but Jeongguk was onto him fast.

“What part of ‘it’s not a relationship’ is difficult to understand?” he asked tiredly, and Seokjin
chuckled.

“The ‘not’ part,” Seokjin said plainly. “Have you seen him again like you wanted to?”

“Once,” Jeongguk stiffly replied. After that night at the club, he’d made the mistake of tiredly
telling Seokjin and Yoongi while they’d been burning the midnight oil at the office that he
wanted to sleep with Jimin again. Now, seeing that he’d had Jimin over again, Seokjin would
never let it go.

“Do you plan to see him again?”

“And if I do?” Jeongguk asked, raising one eyebrow as a challenge.

“Then I’ll happily keep my mouth shut,” Seokjin said, and then he gently tapped the folder
against the doorframe of Jeongguk’s office and departed. The moment the door was closed,
Jeongguk pitched forward with his face in his hands, eyes closed as he took a deep breath.

More than anything, he wished that someone had warned him of the stress that came with
being alone while sitting on top of the world.

***

Jimin didn’t want to push it or risk putting a rift in his newfound relationship with Jeongguk,
but the following Thursday, he couldn’t resist. When he sat down for his lecture, he sipped
his iced coffee and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his photos until he could find the
photo that he took of himself right when he'd gotten dressed this morning, since he'd been
pleased with his look. Feeling brave, he then sent a text right to Jeongguk.

JIMIN [08:56:32AM]
JIMIN [08:56:47AM]

Nothing like being that one rich asshole wearing Chanel in a 9am marketing class

Surprisingly, Jeongguk answered almost immediately.

JEON JEONGGUK [08:57:28AM]

I told you that it suits you better

JEON JEONGGUK [08:57:49AM]

Perhaps you’re just appealing to your target audience with a unique advantage.

JIMIN [08:58:36AM]

I could wear it tonight while you fuck me

JIMIN [08:58:53AM]

If you’re free ;)

JEON JEONGGUK [09:00:20AM]

Look at that, it’s 9am. Time to pay attention in class.

Jimin almost let himself be disappointed, but then the follow-up text came through.

JEON JEONGGUK [09:00:48AM]

10pm?

JIMIN [09:01:02AM]

I’ll be there

Jimin was there promptly at ten o’clock, still wearing the same Chanel sweater. And
Jeongguk sat him right on the kitchen countertop and fucked him there while Jimin kept the
sweater on, Jeongguk doing absolutely nothing to censor his aroused awe when Jimin held
the bottom hem of the sweater between his teeth to keep it clean as he came untouched all
over his stomach.

Jimin knew that he was a practiced professional at being a fuck buddy. This wasn’t his first
rodeo. He wasn’t promiscuous by any means, but figured himself a smart businessman in
many ways when it came to negotiating sexual relationships that didn’t involve dating.
Steady relationships had lost their luster when Jimin had seen Sungwoon grinding down on a
half-naked stranger. Being able to satisfy his horny needs without any strings attached with
an older man was fantastic , and Jeongguk seemed just as pleased with the arrangement.
When Jimin had left that night, Jeongguk looked completely at peace, almost relieved that
Jimin wasn’t begging to stick around or whining about extra aftercare or asking to sleep over.

“It’s a work night, after all,” Jimin had whispered against Jeongguk’s lips, kissing him
quickly. “Goodnight, hyung.”

But even then, Jimin couldn’t help but think of Jeongguk whenever he was alone. A lot of
people Jimin knew were ashamed of their high sex drives, but Jimin was not one of those
people. On Monday night, after using one of his dildos in the shower and quietly whimpering
Jeongguk’s name, Jimin stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist and immediately
texted Jeongguk to say that toys were not nearly satisfying enough. Jeongguk had texted back
saying that Jimin was out of his goddamn mind, but that if he wanted to be satisfied, he could
pick a day later in the week.

“Cocky son of a bitch,” Jimin whispered gleefully, pulling the towel off and walking around
his room naked while humming to himself.
On Wednesday, Jimin was slated to work a full day at Chatty, and he was rostered on as the
manager for the day. So just before seven o’clock that morning, Jimin clocked in, and then he
leaned over the counter and opened up the window, making sure to scoot the menu on its
stand closer so that patrons lining up outside for a quick to-go coffee could make their choice.
There was only a small area for seating inside Chatty—most of it was grab-and-go.

“Hey, good morning!” Sana called out, poking her head in as she tied her apron around her
waist, and then she tightened her ponytail. “Want me to wipe down or stock up?”

“Wipe down,” Jimin declared. “I’ll stock up. You wanna make drinks today or take the
register?”

“Doesn’t matter to me!” Sana called out. Wednesday was typically the quietest morning at
Chatty, so Jimin usually started with just one other staff member. Two other girls were
rostered on starting at two o’clock until close, which was when it often picked up because
school was letting out.

“You know what? You take the register this morning. Customers need to see your smiling
face,” Jimin said, and Sana smiled right on cue, holding the cloth and spray that she needed.
She then skipped out to start wiping down the displays and the tables as Jimin went to the
backroom refrigerator to grab the crates of milk cartons so he could stock up the fridge
underneath the front counter, stacking easily two dozen little cartons in one go. Ten minutes
later, Sana flicked on the OPEN sign, and it didn’t take long for customers to start
approaching with orders—brown sugar iced latte, iced Americano, green matcha latte, vanilla
latte. Half wanted a hot drink, half wanted a cold drink, a handful wanted a cherryade or
something unique.

Jimin was a well-trained barista, so he knew exactly what to do with difficult orders. He often
took on the harder ones for Sana when they were working together so that she didn’t get
nervous. Being assistant manager often meant that he didn’t get his hands dirty as much as he
used to, but he enjoyed being able to get into it every now and again.

“Two iced caramel lattes with milk foam,” Sana called over her shoulder around eleven
o’clock, knowing that Jimin liked to hear the orders verbally instead of having to read the
little receipts as they printed. Jimin’s brow furrowed, but he started making the familiar drink
as the music played softly overhead. Just as he was heating up the milk to create the foam, he
heard a voice that he could match to the drink, saccharine and sticky and rather unpleasant to
Jimin’s ears.

“Good to see you, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin tapped the stainless steel little pitcher against the countertop twice to loosen up the
milk foam, grabbing a long spoon with a clenched jaw. He’d been waiting for this moment
for almost a month, because somehow, his exes always managed to bump into him or
infiltrate his life again. He’d been waiting to hear the excuses, waiting to be confronted. Now
was his chance.

“Figured this was for you,” Jimin casually said as he poured the milk foam on top of the large
iced latte. As he grabbed the little bottle to drizzle some caramel on top for the finishing
touch, he glanced up and looked over the display at Ha Sungwoon, his most recent cheating
ex. Jimin would be lying if he said that Sungwoon wasn’t handsome. But now that Jimin
knew what he knew, Sungwoon’s overall appeal was at an all-time low, even as he ran his
fingers through his thick black hair. He looked relaxed and a bit lofty, which didn’t surprise
Jimin at all.

mood: "happiness" by little mix

“Well, you know this was always my favorite place to grab a latte,” Sungwoon said with a
charming smile. “Have you been well?”

“I’ve been great, actually,” Jimin replied conversationally, adding milk foam to the second
latte. “Classes are going well and all that. I’ve been happy.”

“You sure?”

“Why?” Jimin snapped the lids on both of the iced lattes with gusto, and then he turned and
grabbed two cup sleeves with the Chatty logo on them, as well as two red straws. When he
turned back, Sungwoon was still standing there expectantly, eyebrows raised.

“I’m just asking,” he replied. “It’s been a month. I was worried about you after it ended, you
know. I think about you often. Wonder if you’re still feeling sad.”

“Who said I was sad?” Jimin asked, withholding the lattes like a ransom even though
Sungwoon looked like he wanted to reach out and grab them. “Dumping you didn’t make me
sad. It made me free. Don’t kid yourself, hyung.”

“Made you free?” Sungwoon sounded amused. “Please. You acted like you were free for the
entire relationship.”

“I—?” Jimin cut himself off with a laugh, surprised when it came out as genuine and not as
total disbelief. “I acted like I was free when you were the one getting his dick wet whenever
convenient. Right. Make it make sense, hyung. I wasn’t sad.”

That was a lie. Jimin had been sad for days after breaking up with Sungwoon, but it hadn’t
even been because he was upset to be single—it had been because Sungwoon had openly
admitted to cheating on Jimin and had blamed Jimin for it all, like he had no self-control.

“Break-ups are always sad, Jimin-ah,” Sungwoon said with a sigh, as if Jimin was a child
who was misunderstanding.

“Not when you get to cut someone out of your life who was holding you back,” Jimin replied
with a smile, sliding one latte towards Sungwoon. Sana seemed to have recognized the
situation, because she was skipping around making a few drinks for the scarce customers
flitting through the line. “You must be extra thirsty today.” He slid the second latte towards
Sungwoon.
“No, not for me,” Sungwoon lightly said, picking up both. Then he held one up a little higher.
“This one’s for my boyfriend.”

“Ah, I see. That’s really good, hyung,” Jimin said, unable to believe that he was fighting back
laughter and that his heart felt light. The poor sucker, he thought. Always fun to get a cheater
as a new boyfriend .

“You don’t have to put on a brave face, you know,” Sungwoon said, and this time, Jimin
actually let out a laugh, leaning both elbows on the countertop with a grin.

“Unbelievable. You just want me to be miserable,” Jimin replied, almost speaking to himself
as the realization dawned on him. “When I’m actually feeling really happy. Been feeling the
most like myself recently more than I’ve ever felt before. You can continue to worry about
me if you want, but I’m good.”

You get rid of garbage like your ex and suddenly, you’re free.

“Nice of you to get yourself a new boyfriend, though,” Jimin additionally commented,
feeling slightly vindictive as he remembered Jeongguk’s words. “Can’t stand to be alone, can
you?”

“I had a lot of practice being alone when I was with you,” Sungwoon replied. “Hence why I
chose to look elsewhere.”

“Well, at least I found someone who can actually satisfy me in bed,” Jimin sighed. “You
really dropped the ball in that department. Or should I say, you never even touched them.
Goodbye, hyung. I have work to do. Tell your new boyfriend to enjoy my iced latte that I
made with love. Sana? Next order?”

“Two iced Americanos!” Sana called out, scooting back towards the register as Jimin got
back to work, watching Sungwoon chuckle like he had the upper hand. Jimin just resorted to
watching the coffee drip into the little cup, dazed as the door to Chatty closed and Sungwoon
disappeared.

“...Two iced Americanos,” Jimin said, sliding the drinks towards Sana with a small smile on
his face. Sana handed them to the customer, and then she turned and leaned against the
countertop with her arms crossed.

“You look rather happy for someone who just served his ex,” she said, ever observant. Jimin
kept smiling.

“You know what my new fuck buddy told me?” Jimin said, and Sana giggled. “That getting
rid of garbage exes makes you feel free. And that my happiness comes from me. He’s a smart
guy.”

“So you’re not bothered that your ex came to the register with some other guy’s hand on his
ass?” Sana questioned, and Jimin snickered.
“Not even a little. I love myself too much to care,” Jimin said, hugging himself gently as
Sana laughed again and turned, hearing another customer approach. Jimin scooted back over
to his spot, and Sana started calling out orders again. And Jimin made all of them happily,
because seeing Sungwoon again made him realize that he was so much better off.

Jimin liked to think that he exuded confidence at all times, and truthfully, he had always had
to. He wasn’t sure what it was about him, but most people in his life had always hinted that
he wouldn’t amount to much, and Jimin’s goal had always been to prove those people wrong
and surpass the expectations. His confidence was sometimes misplaced, and perhaps he
didn’t always think before speaking, but it was necessary so he could protect himself and his
endeavors and dreams. Sungwoon had almost cracked his strong armor while they were
dating, but Jimin had gotten out fast enough. He’d wondered for weeks if facing Sungwoon
would make him feel worthless again, but it was the exact opposite.

Maybe I can thank Jeongguk for that.

Jimin laughed to himself as he wiped down a small spill of milk from the countertop, because
how absurd was it that an older man he was fucking casually every so often had been the one
to help him get over the confrontation , the moment of truth with an ex? Jimin snapped the lid
carefully onto a vanilla latte and slid it to Sana, and then he disappeared into the backroom,
seeing that there were no customers, to send off a text message.

JIMIN [11:14:35AM]

Tonight?

To his disappointment, Jeongguk didn’t respond right away, so Jimin was forced to go back
to work. When it was two o’clock and he was relieved of working the frontline so that he
could take his break and the other girls could get to work (Sana left while singing to herself),
Jimin checked his phone.

JEON JEONGGUK [01:46:33PM]

Sorry, I was in a meeting

JEON JEONGGUK [01:46:58PM]

I may have to be at the office late. I don’t know if tonight will work.

JEON JEONGGUK [01:57:10PM]

You know what? Fuck it. I’ve been horny for 3 days.

JEON JEONGGUK [01:57:38PM]

11pm?

JIMIN [02:03:22PM]

11pm it is ;)

Jimin finished his double shift, dropped the money off at the bank, and then rushed home so
he could shovel down something to eat. He quickly cooked up some pork belly and grabbed a
bunch of little sides and some lettuce to make wraps, and then he ate at top speed while
Sammi sat in his lap, peering up at each wrap that Jimin made like she was judging his
execution.

“He said he’s horny, right?” Jimin said to Sammi, and Sammi sat at the threshold of the
bathroom, staring as Jimin undressed. “So that means I should prep myself thoroughly,
because if I don’t get railed into next week, I’ll be disappointed. Oh , oh, oh. I’m bringing it.
I’m totally bringing it.”

Jimin hopped into the shower and washed up, grabbing the lube to prep himself under the
stream of water until he was satisfied. He hopped out and rolled onto his bed, and then he
continued until he could comfortably slip three fingers in. Then he ambitiously grabbed a
plug from his collection, lubed it up, and slid it in until he was gasping and squirming
slightly, taking a few deep breaths to adjust.

“Okay, that’s good,” he whispered to himself, and then he grabbed his favorite dildo and
shoved what he needed into a bag. Then he hopped into his car and drove twenty minutes to
Jeongguk’s apartment (a very interesting experience, given the plug he was wearing), pleased
that there was a parking spot available. Jimin pressed the button, and Jeongguk didn’t even
say anything as he buzzed Jimin in.

mood: “a.d.i.d.a.s.” by little mix

“...You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Jeongguk said the moment he opened the door. He was still
wearing a pair of black fitted slacks and a light blue button-up shirt, sleeves rolled. “And you
look quite happy for a Wednesday night.”

“I have you to thank for that,” Jimin replied. “Can I come in?”

“Of course you can,” Jeongguk said, stepping aside to let Jimin in. He closed the door, and
Jimin stepped out of his shoes and held up his bag.

“I have a few surprises for you. Kind of hoping you’d be interested,” Jimin said with a grin.

“And what kind of surprises are they?” Jeongguk reached over to the kitchen countertop and
grabbed a small tumbler, tossing back what looked like that last sip of a glass of scotch. Jimin
walked up to Jeongguk, grabbed his glass, set it aside, and then wrapped his arms around
Jeongguk’s neck.

“Get me naked first,” he whispered in Jeongguk’s ear. Jeongguk immediately nudged Jimin’s
chin, and then he kissed Jimin hungrily, backing the two of them together towards the
bedroom, Jimin’s bag hitting his thigh. Once he had Jimin on the bed, Jimin scrambled
backwards with a grin, and then he knelt on the bed and started unbuttoning Jeongguk’s shirt
slowly.

“Thought I had to get you naked,” Jeongguk said, his hands on Jimin’s hips as Jimin’s fingers
worked. With every bit of skin revealed, Jimin leaned in and kissed down Jeongguk’s chest,
and then he pressed his lips to Jeongguk’s neck as he slid the shirt off to the ground.

“It’ll be way sexier if you do it without a shirt,” Jimin argued, and Jeongguk chuckled. He
then took the bottom hem of Jimin’s shirt and pulled it off, slowly leaning Jimin back onto
the multitude of pillows as they kissed. Jeongguk situated himself between Jimin’s legs and
gently sucked on Jimin’s bottom lip, and Jimin arched towards him as Jeongguk eagerly.

“Time for your surprises,” Jeongguk decided as he swiped his tongue along Jimin’s bottom
lip before stealing a few more kisses.

“I said to get me naked,” Jimin said, so Jeongguk did just that. He stripped Jimin down
completely, and Jimin scooted back a little more against the pillows. When he let his legs fall
open, he cocked his head to the side and watched Jeongguk’s reaction—worth it. Worth every
single second. Jeongguk’s eyes widened, jaw dropping slightly as he grabbed Jimin around
the waist, flipped him over, and spread him carefully, pressing his thumb against the plug as
Jimin moaned.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” he breathed.

“You said you were horny,” Jimin said, head resting on his arms as he grinned, pleased.

“You’re trying to kill me. What the hell have I gotten myself into? Shit,” Jeongguk said with
a small laugh, and then he started to have his fun. He twisted the plug carefully and pushed it
in just a little further before pulling it almost all the way out, and then he slowly pushed it
back in as Jimin squirmed and moaned again, breathing quickening.

“You can keep going, but I have something else, too,” Jimin said, already breathless as
Jeongguk slowly fucked him with the plug, his other hand massaging Jimin’s ass. “Give me
my bag. Get a condom and the lube.”

Jeongguk dragged the bag over, and then he grabbed a condom and the lube from his bedside
table and dropped them onto the bed. Jimin used one hand to rummage through the bag, and
then he pulled out his favorite light pink dildo, which he had cleaned specifically for tonight.
Jeongguk let out a steady stream of whispered curse words as Jimin rolled over onto his back,
grinning.

“You’re gonna fuck me,” Jimin declared, holding up the dildo. “With your cock and with
this. Please.”

If Jeongguk was intimidated by Jimin’s assertive strategy, he didn’t say so. He took complete
control, rolling Jimin over and putting him on his knees with his hands gripping the
headboard so he could be fucked from behind. Jimin was grateful that Jeongguk had the top
floor of the apartment building all to himself, because he was certain that he smacked the
wall a dozen times, cursing and moaning so loudly that neighbors would have been
scandalized. Jeongguk was deft and well-practiced, wrapping one arm around Jimin’s torso
while using the other hand to fuck Jimin with the dildo, kissing down his shoulders. His free
hand drifted to Jimin’s nipples, down to his cock, absolutely everywhere, and Jimin sank into
pure delirium.

“God, you’re fucking amazing,” he moaned, and then he let out a sharp cry when he felt the
tip of Jeongguk’s cock against his prostate instead of the dildo, feeling so full he could hardly
stand it. “ Fuck, oh God, r-right there. Right there, right there, I— oh-h-h-h. ”

“You’re a fucking dream,” Jeongguk panted, kissing harshly down the column of Jimin’s
neck. “Shit, I’m gonna come already.”

“Pull out,” Jimin managed to gasp, hoping desperately he was making sense, because he was
teetering on the edge of his own orgasm. Jeongguk did understand. He continued to fuck
Jimin with the dildo as he rapidly pulled out, ripped the condom off, and came all over
Jimin’s lower back. The sensation alone sent Jimin over the edge, and he came with
Jeongguk’s hand squeezing his cock, eyes burning with tears of sheer pleasure.

“Oh my God,” Jimin gasped, collapsed face first onto the pillows as Jeongguk let out a short
laugh, collapsing on the bed beside him.

“Hold on,” Jeongguk panted, rolling off the bed. “Give me a second.”

He disappeared into the bathroom and returned with a washcloth, and then he wiped Jimin
down and flopped onto the bed on his back, catching his breath. Jimin immediately swung
one leg over and straddled Jeongguk, both of them still completely naked, Jimin feeling
slightly dazed and fucked out but incredibly satisfied, skin still thrumming, head still floaty, a
smile still on his face.
“Remember what we talked about last time I was here?” Jimin said as Jeongguk’s large hands
found his waist, fingers slowly fluttering down Jimin’s thighs. That was one thing that Jimin
appreciated about Jeongguk—he never kicked Jimin out right away. He gave Jimin the
appropriate amount of aftercare and attention.

“I do. Why?” Jeongguk asked, lifting his chin slightly. Jimin reached forward and used a few
fingers to brush Jeongguk’s hair out of his eyes, and then he answered.

“When I was at work today, my ex came to order two iced coffees,” Jimin started. “And he
said that he was worried I was sad.”

“Oh, God.”

“He put the blame on me. Said that I acted like I was a free man the entire time we were in a
relationship.”

“Oh? The guy who cheated on you said you were acting like a free agent?” Jeongguk asked,
amused.

“Oh, it gets better,” Jimin said, grinning. “He ordered two iced lattes. One for him, and one
for his new boyfriend.”

Jeongguk burst out laughing, and Jimin giggled and scooted so that he could lie on top of
Jeongguk more, his elbows on the pillow, faces closer together in a more intimate fashion.
Jeongguk barely even moved, just adjusted his hands to hold Jimin carefully.

“So what you’re saying is that he wasn’t just coming to get coffee,” Jeongguk said. “He was
coming to rub it in your face and check up on you, and he was probably disappointed when
you weren’t miserable.”

“Immensely,” Jimin confirmed. “I told him how happy I was.”

“Good for you.”

“I may have told him I was also being sexually satisfied, something he couldn’t do for me
when we were together.”

Jeongguk blinked once, twice, and then he snorted with laughter, using one hand to
repeatedly tuck some hair behind Jimin’s left ear.

“Well, I’m really glad that you’re satisfied and happy,” he said, smiling. “I don’t know the
asshole, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t deserve you.”

“Thanks, hyung. Seriously. Thanks for all the advice,” Jimin said sincerely. “It helped.”

“Didn’t even know I was giving advice, but you’re very welcome,” Jeongguk said, amused.
“How are classes going?”

“So far, so good. First assignments have come back with top marks,” Jimin said. “Now all of
my teachers are asking where I’d like to work after graduation, where I’m applying, how they
can address their letters of recommendation.”

“So soon into the semester? That’s great,” Jeongguk said, but then he clicked his tongue, a
flash of understanding in his eyes. “Ah, right. You have The Nook.”

“You remembered,” Jimin said happily.

“Well, you pitched it pretty well,” Jeongguk complimented. “Is that what you want to pursue
after graduation?”

“Definitely,” Jimin confirmed. “If not now, then when? If I apply to a major corporation or
company and sign my life away, I’ll be working sixty to eighty hours a week for shit pay with
no time to pursue my dreams. Working at the coffee shop is enough to pay my bills and keep
me fed. So I’ll take the time after graduation to try my hand at being my own boss. Now,
surely it will work out, but in the very unlikely event that it doesn’t, at least I can say that I
tried.”

“You’re incredibly intelligent. Has anyone ever told you that?” Jeongguk asked, and Jimin
immediately leaned down and kissed him.

“Besides my father, no. Not directly. Thank you. Means a lot coming from someone as
successful as you,” Jimin whispered, kissing Jeongguk softly a few times. “I respect you a
lot, hyung.”

“Mm. Thank you,” Jeongguk said, but his smile was a bit sad, and Jimin noticed.

“Everything okay?” he asked, brow furrowing. Jeongguk sighed, cupping Jimin’s right cheek
in one hand and brushing his thumb over the apple of it gently.

“Sorry. It’s not your fault. I’m just thinking about work now,” Jeongguk said. “And I don’t
want to, not when you’re here.”

“Something going wrong?”

“Not exactly. We’re just in the middle of dealing with an agent who’s one breath away from
slandering us,” Jeongguk replied.

“Why?”

“Because he thinks we’re short-changing his famous client. Said we were malicious and
discriminatory towards the manuscript in the editing process and that we’re not promoting
the publication like we should be,” Jeongguk replied. “The last thing we need is a lawsuit,
but we’re hardly going to break even at the rate we’re going. We might report a loss because
nobody is interested in the book.”

“What is it?”

“ A Strike From Saturn by Cha Youngsuk.”

“Oh. The Korea Times ripped it apart,” Jimin recalled. “Said it was his worst work yet, called
it tone-deaf.”

“Right, and we tried to warn them, but they didn’t listen. And now they’re accusing us of
doing the bare minimum to promote his project, that we’re focusing too much on other
clients,” Jeongguk replied. “So I’m just… frustrated.”

“Well, you’re between a rock and a hard place,” Jimin figured. “You don’t want to promote a
project that’s bombing because it will look like overkill, and the general public will lose
interest, and your target market will balk at it. But you also don’t want to ignore it, because
then Golden gets the brunt of it when the agent retaliates.”

“...Yeah,” Jeongguk whispered after a moment’s contemplation. “Yeah, that’s—you’re spot

on. And now I’m banging my head against a wall trying to drum up some kind of solution.”

“I’ll think about it over the weekend,” Jimin offered. “See if I can come up with anything to
help you.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk raised his eyebrows. “Are you gonna save my ass from being publicly
crucified?”

“Don’t underestimate me,” Jimin warned, and Jeongguk smiled.

“I’m learning not to,” he said. Jimin leaned down and kissed him gently.

“I should get going,” he whispered against Jeongguk’s lips, pulling back slightly to see
Jeongguk’s reaction. He expected Jeongguk to just nod, kiss him again, and roll off the bed,
but he didn’t. He just surveyed Jimin with wandering eyes, and then he slipped both of his
hands behind Jimin’s neck and kissed him fiercely. Jimin responded with eagerness, pressing
his tongue into Jeongguk’s mouth, kissing him with vigor, hands buried in Jeongguk’s hair as
Jeongguk nipped at Jimin’s bottom lip.

“Don’t,” Jimin moaned, because he could feel his cock stirring to life again. He and
Jeongguk were both still naked, which didn’t help the cause. “Don’t, I have class early
tomorrow. Don’t tempt me.”

Jeongguk laughed into the next kiss, running his hands down Jimin’s back.

“Okay. Thanks for coming over.”

“Do you feel less stressed?”

“Significantly.”

“Then my work here is done,” Jimin said proudly, and Jeongguk snickered, smacking Jimin
on the ass playfully as Jimin swung his leg over to hop off the bed. Jimin let out a small yelp,
snatching his boxer briefs up off the floor and turning to face Jeongguk. “I mean, if you’re
into spanking, just say so.”
“Don’t tempt me,” Jeongguk teased, pulling on his briefs and ruffling his hair as Jimin
shimmied into his jeans and pulled on his shirt. “Goodnight, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin grabbed his bag with all his belongings, and then he stepped in front of Jeongguk and
kissed his cheek.

“Goodnight, Jeonggukie hyung,” he whispered, and then he laughed and tried to run away,
but Jeongguk grabbed him around the waist and threw him onto the bed.

“You really know how to push every limit, don’t you?” he asked wearily, though he was
smiling. Jimin hopped off the bed, grinning.

“Oh, come on. It has a nice ring to it,” Jimin said. “Think about it. Mull it over. We’ll try it
again another time.”

“Go home , Jimin-ah,” Jeongguk emphasized, and Jimin stifled a laugh and headed to the
front door to slip his shoes on. “Have a good weekend.”

“You too, hyung,” Jimin said, and with one last glance over his shoulder, he left Jeongguk’s
apartment, still smiling.

***

Jimin didn’t want to admit it, but as the semester got into full swing, he found himself
thinking of Jeongguk more and more. He, Taehyung, and Hoseok would go to a nightclub,
and if a stranger tried to dance up on Jimin to catch his interest, Jimin would turn him down
with a smile. Whenever he was at work, he wondered where Jeongguk got his coffee in the
morning. When he sat at home on his laptop at one in the morning collaborating with Hoseok
on a preliminary logo design for The Nook (Hoseok’s degree was focused in graphic design),
he thought about Jeongguk praising him.

They fell into a certain rhythm together, and very quickly. In the span on one month, Jimin
and Jeongguk texted each other for sex equally, and now Jimin was getting comfortable.
There had been three times when Jeongguk had declined due to being stuck at the office, and
Jimin had turned Jeongguk down twice because of school assignments. But whenever they
met, it was always electrifying, and Jimin couldn’t even look at another man the same now
that he knew what Jeongguk could do for him.

It happened sometimes when Jimin got into habits with a man that he rolled around in bed
with for fun. Usually Jimin was very careful about falling into the traps of domesticity. But
Jeongguk made it too easy. He had a toothbrush for Jimin now. He had cleared a spot on his
little shoe rack at the front door for Jimin to kick off his shoes. It was the tiny little gestures
that made it dangerous, but Jimin was too happy with how things were going to care. It was,
after all, a no-strings-attached arrangement, and they were both just looking out for one
another.
“Are you saying that his dick is that magical?” Taehyung asked. They had just finished eating
together, and now they were both completing assignments on Jimin’s bed with Sammi curled
up between them, occasionally pawing at a leg to get attention.

“It’s not even that it’s magical,” Jimin said, tapping his stylus against his iPad in careful
thought. “I mean, it is, but that’s not the point. We’ve fucked a total of fifteen times since we
first met at the club.”

“Fifteen times in two months?” Taehyung glanced over at Jimin, dark eyebrows raised. Jimin
rubbed his lips together as he absentmindedly scratched Sammi’s belly.

“Yeah. It’s just—like, it’s completely stress free, you know?” Jimin said, resting his head on
Taehyung’s shoulder. “And he’s so nice . All I do is show up to his apartment, have sex with
him, and then leave. I’m there for maybe two or three hours at most. But he’s always so
sweet about it. I don’t know.”

“So you like him?”

“Well, it’s kind of important to like your fuck buddy,” Jimin said, and Taehyung scoffed.

“I mean, like…” He shifted positions on the bed. “If you were both interested in dating,
would you date him?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it,” Jimin muttered. “I mean, he’s definitely the
greatest guy I’ve ever been with. He takes care of me. He thinks I’m smart. He doesn’t treat
me like a child. He respects me the same way I respect him. But he doesn’t want a
relationship, and he’s fourteen years older than me.”

“Does it matter to you?” Taehyung wondered. “The age difference. Does it bother you?”

“I think…” Jimin contemplated momentarily. “I think it would bother me if he treated me

like I was younger, but he doesn’t. He’s definitely aware of it, though. He’s said he’s too old
for me a few times already, so I think maybe it bothers him more than it bothers me. But, like,
if I dated a thirty-six-year-old, I wouldn’t care.”

“Yeah, but you’re at such different parts of your life,” Taehyung said, playing devil’s
advocate. “Not trying to turn you off to older men or anything, but I just—I’ve been thinking
about it. I mean, he’s been working for over a decade already. That’s a hell of a lot of life
experience compared to you.”

“But doesn’t that benefit me?” Jimin asked, raising one eyebrow with a small smile. “He
knows so much that I don’t know about the world, about business. Maybe he’s not the CEO
of a tech company or anything, but he’s still a fucking rich CEO. Just listening to him talk
about work makes him the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

“But there will be no dating.”

“No,” Jimin replied. “All we’re doing is playing it by ear and doing what we want. Any
further questions, Your Honor?”
“The defense rests,” Taehyung replied, flipping a page in his book. Jimin hummed and began
to play his audio recording of the lecture for his Mandarin class, taking a few quick notes.
Then he hastily paused it.

“Does it bother you ?”

“What?” Taehyung looked up from his book, blinking with innocent eyes.

“That I’m fucking an older man. What if I did date him? What would you do? Would you talk
me out of it?” Jimin wondered, and Taehyung snickered.

“No, Jimin-ah, I wouldn’t dream of it. If he was an asshole who was just using you or trying
to groom you, then yeah, I’d talk you out of it or get you the fuck out of there. But Jeongguk-
ssi doesn’t seem like the type. I’m definitely stalking him on Instagram, but otherwise, you
can do whatever you want. You deserve to get dicked down by a decent man and be treated
well. And since I know you’re going to ask—Hoseok hyung doesn’t care, either. As long as
you’re not getting hurt.”

Jimin let out a small “hmph!” in satisfaction, and then he returned to his lecture, wondering
why he was putting himself through the torture of learning Mandarin, an excellent move for
business purposes if he ever planned on expanding or franchising.

His plans were relatively ambitious.

And he’d been ambitious in pursuing Jeongguk for a fateful second night together, the reward
far outweighing the risk. Sometimes Jimin asked himself if things were moving too quickly,
but seeing as there were no negative side effects to having sex with Jeongguk as of yet, the
pacing felt natural. Jeongguk was discreet and polite, albeit rather mysterious. Jimin knew
enough about him to be in his bed, but he had no idea about other things, such as how
Jeongguk became a CEO at age thirty, or what kind of friend he was, or if he had any
skeletons in the closet. He seemed to have a lock on any closets, regardless, and Jimin wasn’t
sure if he was the right person to be asking for a key. He supposed he would just have to let
Jeongguk come to him if Jeongguk ever felt like Jimin was worth confiding in someday.

It was on a random Thursday evening when Jimin received a text message:

JEON JEONGGUK [05:34:29PM]

Do you remember where GCPH is?

JIMIN [05:35:03PM]

Google Maps remembers!

JEON JEONGGUK [05:35:54PM]

Lol OK smartass. I have to be at the office late tonight, and I’m very stressed.

JEON JEONGGUK [05:36:32PM]

You can say no. I won’t be offended at all.

JEON JEONGGUK [05:37:18PM]

Could you come to GCPH for a little?

JIMIN [05:38:43PM]

Are you serious?

JEON JEONGGUK [05:39:14PM]

Not into the building. You can meet me by my car.

JEON JEONGGUK [05:40:02PM]

Sorry, I just thought I would ask. You tend to make me feel less stressed.

JIMIN [05:41:04PM]

I’ll text you when I get there.

JEON JEONGGUK [05:41:52PM]

I have a phone conference at 7pm, so it would have to be quick. I’m sorry.

JIMIN [05:42:31PM]
You don’t have to apologize. I asked you to meet when I was stressed over a test.

JIMIN [05:42:58PM]

Or you could just admit that you need your fix ;)

JEON JEONGGUK [05:43:18PM]

Lol sure. Let’s go with that.

Jeongguk being apologetic was surprising to Jimin, considering that they had both agreed that
using each other for sex meant that they could ask at any time. Jimin had had a test in his
marketing course two weeks ago, and he had been so irritated and stressed with studying that
he had texted Jeongguk begging to see him. Jeongguk hadn’t even hesitated to invite Jimin to
his place, and once he’d made Jimin come twice and nearly cry in sheer pleasure and stress
relief, Jimin had returned home to study with a clearer mind, and he had aced the test the next
day.

What concerned Jimin the most was keeping it private. GCPH was a massive building with
many employees, and if Jeongguk was looking for a quick rendezvous in the parking garage,
Jimin could only hope he had a parking spot that wasn’t visible to prying eyes.

Nevertheless, Jimin and Jeongguk had already agreed about a week ago that they were both
flexible and up for anything and always willing to help one another out, and this was one of
those times. It wasn’t just a fuck buddies kind of thing anymore. To Jimin, it was now a
mutually beneficial arrangement. So Jimin kissed the top of Sammi’s head, and then he
grabbed his bag and hurried out the door to the ground floor, where his car was parked in the
street. He had just enough fuel to make a round trip with a bit extra to spare, so he braved the
traffic and hummed along to the radio as he drove, feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket
with text messages as he did.

“Visitor parking,” he murmured to himself, remembering his first little trip to GCPH that had
worked in his favor. Once he swung into a visitor’s parking spot, and Jimin blew out a breath,
and then he laughed to himself, leaning his forehead on the top of the steering wheel for a
moment. He was completely barefaced, hair hanging in his eyes, wearing all black, but
Jeongguk hadn’t said to dress nicely. “I must be out of my fucking mind,” he added quietly as
he sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket:
JEON JEONGGUK [06:14:21PM]

Let me know when you’re here

JEON JEONGGUK [06:19:34PM]

Find the parking garage and come to the tenth floor

JIMIN [06:28P:02PM]

I’m here, I’ll come to the tenth floor

Jimin locked his car and hurried around the corner to the parking garage, walking through the
glass door and taking the elevator up to the tenth floor, wondering if he blended in at all and
knowing it was very unlikely if he were to be confronted by anyone. The doors opened, and
Jimin immediately began to search the rows of parked cars for the familiar Mercedes. He
wove through one row, and as he walked closer towards a door that led to the entrance of the
building, he saw Jeongguk.

He’s nervous, Jimin thought when he saw Jeongguk pacing in a small radius while turning his
phone over in his hands repeatedly, eyes fixed on the ground, bottom lip between his teeth.
He then shoved his phone into his pocket and slipped his hands in after as Jimin quietly
approached.

“Hey,” he said in a gentle voice, and Jeongguk stopped pacing immediately and looked up,
pulling his hands out of his pockets and turning to face Jimin. Jimin glanced over both
shoulders to make sure the garage was void of other people, and then he walked up to
Jeongguk, wrapped his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, and kissed him. Jeongguk’s hands
found Jimin’s waist immediately, and Jimin pulled away to survey Jeongguk.

“What? Do I look stressed?” Jeongguk asked.

“...You look tired,” Jimin decided. “Not like you didn’t get enough sleep, just like
something’s been draining all your energy.”

“It’s that damn agent I was telling you about, amongst other things,” Jeongguk sighed. “I
have a meeting with him tomorrow morning first thing, and tonight, my phone conference is
with my fucking legal team so that I can make sure I have enough support going into this.
Mostly because I’m out of ideas.”

“Well, we can’t have you going into those meetings stressed,” Jimin said coyly with a grin,
pressing a few soft kisses to Jeongguk’s waiting lips. Jeongguk surged forward to deepen the
kiss, and Jimin felt a whimper catch in the back of his throat. “O-Okay, okay. We can’t do
this out in the open.”

mood: “rendezvous” by little mix

Jeongguk dug into his pocket, held up one hand with his keys in it, and unlocked his
Mercedes. Jimin reached past him to open the backseat door, and then they both slid in one
after the other, Jeongguk locking the car after he shut the door. When he turned to speak to
Jimin, Jimin caught his words with a searing kiss, and Jeongguk’s hand flew up to brace the
back of Jimin’s neck, pulling him closer.

“God, I’m so glad you’re here,” Jeongguk breathed, so Jimin ducked his head, swung one leg
over, and straddled Jeongguk’s lap, hands braced on the headrest of the seat as they kissed
feverishly, knowing that they were short for time. Jimin was feeling almost aggressive as he
grinded down on Jeongguk’s lap, feeling him harden, and bit at Jeongguk’s bottom lip with
intent. Jeongguk immediately slid his hands underneath Jimin’s shirt, and Jimin hastily and
deftly unbuttoned Jeongguk’s nice shirt.

“W-We shouldn’t have sex in the backseat,” Jimin panted between kisses. “We don’t have
time. But I—fuck, baby that’s so good—I can still help you out.”

“Mm?” Jeongguk hummed questioningly, his hands still on Jimin’s ass as he kissed and
nipped at Jimin’s neck.

“Yeah. Gonna suck you off so well,” Jimin decided, and Jeongguk didn’t argue at all. Instead,
he let Jimin unbuckle his belt, and then he obeyed when Jimin shifted the two of them so that
Jeongguk’s back was pressed to one window, giving Jimin easier access. Jimin knelt with one
knee on the seat, the other on the car floor, and he carefully pulled Jeongguk’s cock free of
his Balenciaga briefs, hard and already leaking from the slit.

“C-Can I ask you something?” Jeongguk questioned as Jimin thumbed over the head of his
cock. Jimin blinked up, watching Jeongguk lean his head back against the window with a dull
thud, pupils slightly dilated already. “What’s your favorite color?”

“Now? When I have your dick in my hands?” Jimin asked with a grin.

“Right now,” Jeongguk demanded.

“Blue,” Jimin replied. “You gonna tell me yours?”

“Yellow,” Jeongguk whispered. “Do you speak any other languages?”

“I can speak Japanese fluently,” Jimin said in Japanese, and then he switched to English.
“And I speak English, but not very well.”
“Anything else you’d like to tell me to make yourself more perfect than you already are?”
Jeongguk asked with one eyebrow raised, and Jimin snickered.

“You look like that one emoji,” he teased, imitating Jeongguk’s face. Then he leaned in,
Jeongguk’s cock still in one hand, and kissed Jeongguk needily, licking into his mouth and
matching the pace of his kissing to the pace that he jerked Jeongguk off. “Why are you
asking me questions?” he whispered against Jeongguk’s lips.

“J-Just trying to—shit, that feels so good,” Jeongguk choked out. “Just trying to find out
more a-about the man who's about to put my dick in his mouth.”

“Your dick has been a multitude of other places besides my mouth, but you choose now to
ask my favorite color,” Jimin said, amused as he brushed his nose against Jeongguk’s with a
little laugh. “And you call me in the middle of work for a blowjob. You’re a dream.”

“Is that sarcasm?” Jeongguk asked, but then he choked on his own words when Jimin bent
down and took Jeongguk’s cock into his mouth, immediately putting his tongue to work and
squeezing at the base slightly before angling himself better to take Jeongguk further down his
throat. “God, you do this like you were born to suck cock,” Jeongguk gasped with a laugh,
and Jimin even laughed, taking Jeongguk a bit deeper, relaxing his throat. A few moments
later, he pulled his mouth off.

“Consider yourself lucky that I was,” he joked, and then he got back to work. Jeongguk did
his best to stay still in the cramped space, but the windows were already starting to cloud up,
and he was whispering all kinds of praises, running his fingers through Jimin’s hair
encouragingly, lifting his hips every so often. It didn’t take him long at all, and that had to be
because he was so wound up. He likely meant to warn Jimin, but it came out as more of a
choked noise, and Jimin knew. Jeongguk came hot down his throat, and Jimin took all of it
greedily, not pulling off until Jeongguk let out a small whimper, overly sensitive.

“Wh-What are you doing tonight?” Jeongguk asked as Jimin wiped his bottom lip with his
thumb.

“Why?”

Jeongguk stared at Jimin in the dimly lit car, his shirt still opened to reveal his toned chest,
hair a bit messy as he licked his lips.

“Why, hyung?” Jimin prompted, because he could tell Jeongguk was thinking.

“Will you just—can you just go to my apartment?” he asked. “And wait for me? I won’t be
long. I’ll be home by eight o’clock. Would you be okay doing that?”

“What, you’re not done with me?” Jimin asked coyly with a small smile, but then he leaned
in and brushed his nose against Jeongguk’s. “If that’s what you want, hyung, then I’ll go and
wait for you there.”

“That’s what I want. Only if you’re up to it. Just... promise you won’t touch anything or
snoop around,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin rolled his eyes.
“I’ll be a good boy,” he promised, and this time, Jeongguk rolled his eyes, though he looked
pleased.

“I know it’s kind of weird,” he started, fumbling in his pocket for his keys. “I don’t know.
We’ve been doing this long enough. I guess I trust you. And I already feel better thanks to
you.”

“Mm, now you know how I felt before my test,” Jimin whispered, leaning in to rest his
forehead against Jeongguk’s momentarily. “It’s nice to have someone there for you when you
need to blow off some steam. I like these types of arrangements for that reason.”

“It’s good,” Jeongguk whispered, blinking slowly. “You’re only the second person I’ve done
this with, and you’re already better than the first guy.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. I don’t know. I can’t really explain it,” Jeongguk said, sounding perplexed. “I know
it’s only been a month, and all we do is have sex, but you’ve helped me a lot already.”

“Mutually beneficial,” Jimin whispered, pressing a soft kiss to Jeongguk’s lips. “I’ll go back
to your apartment. Promise you won’t be too long, though. I’ll get antsy. Might touch
something. Could be myself.”

“Park Jimin,” Jeongguk said in warning, and Jimin snickered.

“I’m kidding. But don’t take too long,” he requested, and Jeongguk nodded as he began to
button up his shirt again. “Do I need a key fob or anything?”

“Right.” Jeongguk handed over his key fob. “That’s a spare. Don’t lose it. The password for
my front door is one-zero-nine-zero. I have to change it soon, anyways, so just let yourself
in.”

“I’ll text you when I’m there.” Jimin kissed Jeongguk again. “Good luck at your meeting.”

“Thank you for coming here,” Jeongguk quietly said, shirt now buttoned up again. He
stepped out of the car, and after making sure no one was looking, he tucked his shirt back in
and straightened out his hair. Jimin hopped out and heard the car lock up.

“I’ll see you soon,” he said with a smile. Jeongguk nodded, and then he hurriedly disappeared
back into the building as Jimin watched.

“...Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered to himself, pulling out his phone right away as he left the
parking garage. He dialed Taehyung’s number hastily, but of fucking course, Taehyung didn’t
answer. Panicking, Jimin dialed Hoseok.

“Hey, what’s up?” Hoseok answered.

“Hyung? Thank God. I need an opinion,” Jimin said breathlessly as he got into the elevator.

“Why, what’s going on?” Hoseok wondered, concern flooding his voice.
“I’m leaving Golden Co. Publishing House right now. Jeongguk hyung was stressed, so he
asked me to meet him in the parking garage, and I did, right? And then I blew him in the back
of his car, he said he felt so much better, and then he asked if I could just go to his apartment
and wait for him to come home,” Jimin rambled. “He gave me a key fob and his passcode
and everything. And I said yes.”

“Oh, shit. Okay. Well, is this something that you want to do, or do you feel obligated?”
Hoseok asked, always the voice of reason. Jimin blew out a breath as the elevator doors
opened on the ground floor.

“I definitely want to do it, and that’s what kind of worries me,” Jimin admitted. “Like, am I
reading too much into this?”

“You said you were just playing it by ear,” Hoseok reminded him. “Not defining anything.
Does this make it feel like more than a fuck buddies arrangement?”

“I mean, I’m pretty sure he wants me to wait at his apartment so we can have sex, which is
fine. But he asked me my favorite color,” Jimin continued to ramble on, approaching his car.

“Well, now he’s just crossed the line.”

“ Hyung, be serious,” Jimin begged as Hoseok snickered.

“Right, sorry. Look, you two obviously have good chemistry. You get along well. The
arrangement you guys have benefits both of you. I say don’t overthink it. Just do what you
want to do. Do what feels natural. If it feels like a bad decision, then don’t do it. If you want
to do it, then do it. You know?”

“I mean, I want to do this,” Jimin emphasized as he got into the driver’s seat. “That’s not
even a question. He’s so fucking hot, hyung, but he’s also in over his head at work right now.
I know he’s the goddamn CEO and I’m a fucking university student who knows nothing in
comparison, but I know when someone is too stressed. He knew when I was and helped me
out, and I can do the same for him in return now.”

“Then go with your gut,” Hoseok suggested.

“Okay. I’m on my way there. Sorry. I just needed someone to reason with me and calm me
down,” Jimin admitted. “Thanks, hyung.”

“What are friends for?” Hoseok said. “Taehyung’s out with a few of the guys, by the way.
That’s why he didn’t answer you if you called him first. But he’d say the same thing.”

“I don’t doubt it. Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Good luck, Jimin-ah.”

Jimin hung up, threw his phone into the passenger seat, and drove straight to Jeongguk’s
apartment, his heart pounding nervously still. He stopped at a redlight and blew out a breath,
rubbing his hands against his thighs, feeling the lingering arousal from when he’d had his
mouth on Jeongguk. The second he got to Jeongguk’s apartment, he was brushing his teeth.
That would be the one thing he’d have to touch.

I say don’t overthink it.

“Oh my God,” Jimin said out loud as the light turned green. “Oh my God, I know what to
do.”

Jeongguk was going to be trapped in a legal meeting, and he had to face the music tomorrow
morning with that awful agent. But what if everyone was just overthinking it? If the company
did a huge, one-off social media push to promote the material to the masses while also
scoring the author a book signing in a prime slot, the feedback would speak for itself. If there
was minimal engagement on the social media push and lackluster attendance at the book
signing despite all efforts, the agent would have to see reason when shown the solid data.
Simultaneously, if GCPH had a similar project and provided the same promotion to it, the
agent could then compare and contrast the results of the same promotional material. This
agent was clearly looking for an easy out to get this novel to turn a profit. But if the project
was garbage, no amount of promotion could bring in the money.

Jimin nearly ran into Jeongguk’s apartment after that, his brain on fire. He punched in the
code and tumbled inside, kicking off his shoes immediately. Then he paused and flicked the
lights on, shooting off a quick “I’m here” text to Jeongguk. Before he looked around, he
marched right into the second bathroom to brush his teeth with the spare toothbrush that
Jeongguk had there for an important reason. Then Jimin padded back out towards the kitchen,
and he stared.

Jeongguk seemed to be good at keeping a clean apartment. Jimin was certain he had someone
come to his place to do the cleaning, but regardless, his home always presented well. That
was the reason why Jimin was surprised to see a few things on the kitchen countertop and
two dishes in the sink.

He said not to touch anything.

But Jimin knew the signs of stress because he was constantly exhibiting them himself.
During exam season, his apartment was always in shambles because he neglected just about
everything in favor of studying. But Jeongguk was older and lived by himself, and he was the
CEO of a major company. He couldn’t go whine to his friends about dirty dishes and a messy
apartment. He just had to deal with it. He had to go through hell at work, and then he had to
come home and try to maintain a house on the days when someone didn’t come to clean.
While under immense stress, Jimin knew from experience that taking care of a household, or
even just taking care of oneself, was the last priority.

So Jimin tiptoed into the kitchen, and then he crouched down and checked the cabinet
underneath the sink by instinct, trying to remember what he’d seen. He found some sanitizing
spray and a soft cloth sitting there, and he saw some rubber gloves and dish soap. He pulled
out everything, and then he took a deep breath.

“He can yell at me later,” he muttered to himself. If Jeongguk wasn’t going to be home for
another hour or so, then Jimin had time to spare, so why sit around and stare at the wall when
he could tidy up? He was here often enough, anyways. Carefully, he gathered up the glasses
from the countertop and set them into the sink, and then he sprayed and wiped down the
surface until it was spotless and free of crumbs. He then pulled on the rubber gloves while
wiggling his fingers, grabbed the dish soap and a sponge, and washed the half dozen dishes
that were in the sink with care. After rinsing out the sink, Jimin shook the water off the
gloves, cleaned everything up, and quietly walked into the living room area.

“Mm,” he hummed to himself, squinting at the coffee table. There were a few books in a
stack, as well as a small plant and a TV remote, but there was some visible dust on the
surface. After checking the time, he hurried back into the kitchen, grabbed a dust rag, and
went back to wipe the coffee table down, gently lifting up the plant and the books.

“Should I talk to you with love so you’ll grow?” he asked the plant seriously. “Does hyung
do that for you? I’ll ask him.”

He set the plant back down and put the books in their skewed stack, and then he plopped
down on the couch with a sigh and pulled the book off the top of the stack. Find Your Why by
Simon Sinek was the name of it, so Jimin cracked it open and began to quietly read, glad that
Jeongguk had the Korean publication and not the English version.

Just after eight o’clock, the door clicked and unlocked, and Jeongguk slipped inside.

“I was good,” Jimin said immediately as Jeongguk toed out of his dress shoes and left them at
the door, and then he shrugged his bag off his shoulder and unbuttoned his shirt sleeves,
eyeing Jimin. His eyes flicked to the kitchen, and then back to Jimin.

“Were you?” Jeongguk asked, lips twitching in amusement.

“I just did some cleaning to save you a little bit of time,” Jimin admitted outright. “If you’d
like me to make a mess again, though, just let me know.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s totally fine,” Jeongguk said as Jimin set the book aside and stood up,
Jeongguk walking over to him. “You didn’t have to. Thank you. I wasn’t really in the right
frame of mind this morning. Didn’t mean to leave the kitchen like that.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jimin said, shrugging it off. Jeongguk quietly stepped forward, and
then he slipped one hand behind Jimin’s neck and brought his head forward, kissing Jimin’s
forehead gently.

“You sure you’re okay being here?” he asked, and Jimin slipped his arms between the two of
them and draped them around Jeongguk’s neck casually.

“I tend to do whatever I want to do, not what other people tell me I should do,” he explained.
“If I wasn’t okay with being here, I wouldn’t be. Now take me to your bedroom.”

Jeongguk grabbed Jimin around the waist and hoisted him up effortlessly, Jimin pressing his
knees into Jeongguk’s hips with his legs straight up to keep himself from falling. He stifled a
laugh as Jeongguk readjusted his grip, and then Jeongguk carried Jimin into the bedroom.
“Turn that on,” he said, and Jimin grinned as Jeongguk leaned the two of them towards the
bedside lamp. Jimin flicked it on, and then Jeongguk tossed him onto the bed. Neither of
them talked much as they undressed, likely because Jimin was busy trying to kiss every
exposed inch of skin on Jeongguk’s body and get his lips on every tattoo. The little sighs that
Jeongguk let out told Jimin that he was doing a good job.

Jimin grabbed the lube and decisively prepped himself while he sat in Jeongguk’s lap and
kissed his ferociously, shivering whenever he felt Jeongguk’s hand wrap around his wrist
behind him to thrust Jimin’s own fingers deeper.

“I love kissing you,” Jimin whispered against Jeongguk’s lips.

“Yeah?” Jeongguk grabbed Jimin’s bottom lip between his lips and gently tugged, and then
his tongue darted out to meet Jimin’s before he started to kiss down Jimin’s jaw to his neck.
“Why’s that?”

“Because you know what the fuck you’re doing,” Jimin said, tilting his head a little. “Never
kissed anyone like you before.”

“Mm.” Jeongguk used one hand to cup Jimin’s jaw, running his thumb over Jimin’s bottom
lip slowly. “You know what I love, besides kissing you?”

“What?”

“Seeing you naked,” Jeongguk replied, and Jimin dropped his forehead on Jeongguk’s
shoulder to conceal his smile. “So fucking beautiful,” Jeongguk added as he turned and
pressed kisses to Jimin’s collarbone and shoulder and neck, then trailing up his jawline to
find his lips again while also lifting Jimin’s head back up. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Didn’t want to be alone after a workday like that,” Jeongguk confessed, brushing his
nose against Jimin’s. “You’ve been really good to me.”

“I think you’re forgetting,” Jimin said, slipping his fingers out of himself, “that whenever we
fuck, we use your apartment. So maybe it’s you who’s been good to me.”

“We can go back and forth all day long,” Jeongguk pointed out. “Or we could just have sex
like we planned to.”

“I’m ready.”

It felt so natural now, being with Jeongguk. Not that it had ever felt awkward, because Jimin
typically worked his hardest to keep sexual relationships from venturing into that territory,
prone to breaking them off if the chemistry fizzled. But now, after over a dozen trysts, they
had it down to a science. Now they could both laugh and roll around on the bed naked while
trying not to stain the sheets with lube, and Jimin could just ask to ride Jeongguk without it
being a conversation, or Jeongguk could frown and say that the position they were in wasn’t
turning him on at all. Jeongguk, Jimin had learned, was quite open to anything in bed and
always open to a conversation.

“I was actually thinking.”

“Now?” Jeongguk ran his hands up Jimin’s thighs and gripped his hips tightly as Jimin
stilled. “Now, when I have my dick in you? Right now?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about that agent who you said has been bothering you about
broadening your publishing horizons,” Jimin said as Jeongguk sat up and wrapped both arms
around Jimin’s waist, pressing gentle kisses to his chest and collarbones as he hummed,
listening. “And I think it’s a load of shit.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk’s right hand slipped between the two of them to wrap around Jimin’s cock,
and Jimin sighed, rolling his hips slowly a few times and settling back in as Jeongguk gently
stroked, thumbing over the slit of Jimin’s cock with his lips still to Jimin’s skin.

“Yeah, because Golden literally publishes the largest variety of content in South Korea,”
Jimin replied, draping his arms around Jeongguk’s neck and shivering slightly as a small
wave of pleasure rippled through him. “I mean, you publish LGBTQ-plus content and
graphic novels and heartbreaking literature and all sorts of things. So I bet this agent is just
pissed because you aren’t waiting on him hand-and-foot, and he thought Golden would be the
easy way out for his client. You know what I mean? But there’s a way around that.”

“Explain,” Jeongguk demanded.

“Fuck me first,” Jimin replied, and Jeongguk stifled a laugh and laid back again, hands
dragging along Jimin’s thighs as he did. Then he bent his knees, feet flat against the mattress,
and gripped Jimin’s hips as he fucked up into Jimin. Jimin moaned and held one of
Jeongguk’s knees, his right hand busy as he jerked himself off steadily to Jeongguk’s rhythm,
but Jeongguk didn’t seem pleased. He stopped and swatted Jimin’s hand away, and without a
word spoken between the two of them, they switched it up. Jimin went back to riding
Jeongguk, rocking his hips and finding the best angle as Jeongguk stroked his slicked up
cock, eyes focused on Jimin’s face.

“Tell me what you mean,” he requested again, and Jimin breathlessly shook his head.

“N-No,” he said. “Not until you make me come. Wanna come all over you first. Want you to
come, too, before I tell you anything. C’mon, hyung. Fuck me like you mean it.”

Jeongguk did everything in double time. He grabbed a pillow, tossed it to the side on the bed,
pulled Jimin off his cock, flipped him over, and set him face down with his hard cock pressed
to the pillow. Then he situated himself behind Jimin and pulled him by the hips until Jimin
was on his knees in a modified child’s pose, the pillow lodged between his legs.

“Clever,” Jimin said, already whimpering inwardly at the friction on his cock from the pillow.
“Fuck, feels so good. Get back inside me. Want you to fuck me so hard I have to scream into
the pillow.”
“You’re a menace,” Jeongguk said, but he grabbed Jimin’s hips, lined himself up, and
thrusted back into Jimin’s slick hole smoothly, bottoming out as Jimin moaned. Jeongguk
then set a grueling pace that had Jimin rocking helplessly back and forth on the bed, the
headboard hitting the wall repeatedly, Jimin’s obscene moans muffled by a second pillow as
he scrambled for purchase, legs trembling, cock pulsing against the pillow from the nonstop
friction. Jeongguk was being rough, not holding back, and his fingers were digging into
Jimin’s skin purposefully.

“K-Keep going, keep going, keep going,” Jimin chanted, and then he choked on a moan, his
entire body jolting. “ Fuck, fuck, fuck, do that again. Right there, right— fuck, hyung, that’s
it. Feels so fucking good, so good, so good— oh-h-h-h-h. ”

“Taking me so well, Jesus Christ,” Jeongguk gasped, refusing to relent the brutal pace as he
continued to fuck into Jimin. “Fuck, I’m gonna come. Spread yourself, baby. Let me see
you.”

Jimin immediately reached back and spread himself apart with trembling hands so Jeongguk
could watch his cock disappear into Jimin’s hole again and again. Four years Jimin had been
sexually active with a partner, and never in four years had he ever been so satisfied as he was
with Jeongguk. This was an entirely new level of sex. No inexperienced university kid could
fuck Jimin like this, make demands like this.

“Jeongguk-ah,” Jimin moaned, and Jeongguk thrusted into him so hard just once that Jimin
coughed and almost collapsed.

“Be polite,” he said, and Jimin shivered, still spreading himself as Jeongguk fucked him.
“Ah, God, I’m—fuck, I’m—God, Jimin, you feel amazing, I’m gonna—fuck, I’m coming,
I’m coming.”

Jimin felt Jeongguk’s rhythm falter sloppily as he came, wished more than ever that he could
feel it inside him, that he could have it leaking from him, that the condom wasn’t a thing. But
he had very little time to consider anything further, because Jeongguk flattened Jimin against
the pillow, spread his legs a little, and continued to fuck him hard, barely going soft at all as
Jimin gasped and gripped the sheets.

“Fuck, just make me come, hyung,” he whined. “Wanna come, need it so badly, I’m— fuck,
fuck, fuck,” Jimin cursed, pleasure shooting through his entire system as Jeongguk grabbed
his hair and pulled slightly. “G-Gonna come all over your nice sheets.”

“Do it,” Jeongguk dared him. “Nice and loud, baby. Don’t hold back.”

Jimin wanted to shout out more than he did, but when the orgasm hit him, the moan he let out
was strangled and broken, his entire body shaking. He was sure he blacked out for a split
second, because the next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, gasping for air, and
Jeongguk was peppering his face and neck with soft kisses, massaging his hip with one hand.

“I’m getting it,” Jimin declared, holding up a hand and smacking Jeongguk away as
Jeongguk made to get up. “Let me.”
Jeongguk just rolled away and let Jimin stand up on shaky legs, and Jimin gingerly walked
into the bathroom and grabbed two rolled washcloths from the sink top. He ran them under
some water and put a bit of the lavender soap Jeongguk had onto both, and then he returned,
wiping himself down carefully and handing the other to Jeongguk. Once they both felt
cleaner, they pulled on some underwear and collapsed onto the bed, still exhausted.

“Okay, now tell me,” Jeongguk demanded, pulling Jimin into his arms and away from where
Jimin had come all over the pillow and the sheets. They were both completely fucked out, but
Jimin had put the idea in Jeongguk’s head, and Jeongguk was perseverating.

“Okay, so—” Jimin, still catching his breath, struggled to prop up on one elbow, his other
arm slung across Jeongguk’s chest. “What’d your legal team suggest?”

“Quite frankly, nothing worth repeating,” Jeongguk said. “No solutions. Just diversions.”

“Okay. So then what if you’re all overthinking it?” Jimin said. “Promote the goddamn book.
But do a very carefully calculated promotion. Take it to social media in a big way, but in a
one-off push. Get this author a book signing on the perfect day at primetime. And when the
response on social media is subpar and attendance is lackluster at the book signing, you’ll
have all the data you need. If it goes well, cool. But if not, you have your talking point. And
as a basis for comparison, I’d recommend giving a similar author the same promotional
package, if such an author exists. That way, you have even more data in favor of either
outcome.”

“...Say that again.”

“Absolutely not,” Jimin said, trying not to laugh in delight when he saw the sudden spark of
joy in Jeongguk’s eyes, the light of a new idea. “You heard what I said.”

“Jimin-ah.” Jeongguk sat up so quickly that Jimin was jostled, but Jeongguk held to him
tightly. “Can you repeat all of that?”

“Hyung, I’m not—”

“I know, I heard you, I just—” Jeongguk took Jimin’s head between his hands and firmly
kissed his forehead, and then his lips as Jimin laughed. “Baby, you’re a genius. I have to call
my CFO. Come here, come with me, get up.”

“Hyung, what—?”

Jeongguk rolled off the bed and pulled Jimin to his feet, and then he swept Jimin up into a
hug, his feet off the floor as Jimin let out a noise of surprise. Jeongguk carried Jimin right out
of the bedroom, and then he set him down just short of the kitchen and kissed the crown of
his head, his forehead, his left temple, and then his forehead again.

“I love your brain,” he complimented, and Jimin stifled a laugh. “Trust an outside opinion to
be the voice of reason. We were totally overthinking it, you’re right. Fuck, I have to call him
before I forget it all. Stay right here.”
Jeongguk grabbed his phone off the countertop and dialed a number, pressing the phone to
his ear and pulling Jimin into him with the other arm. Jimin wrapped his arms around
Jeongguk’s waist sideways and rested his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder, and Jeongguk turned
and pressed another kiss to Jimin’s hair as the phone rang.

“...Hyung? You have to listen to this idea,” Jeongguk said when Jimin heard a faint voice
answer the phone. Then he closed his eyes and listened as Jeongguk repeated most of what
Jimin had said, and while he talked, he ran one hand up and down Jimin’s spine as Jimin
tightened his grip.

This feels right.

“What were you thinking for the social media push?” Jeongguk suddenly asked Jimin,
ripping Jimin out of his daydream momentarily.

“Instagram story question and answer session, Instagram takeover, Twitter takeover for
asking the author questions, a few posts about it,” Jimin listed. “And then another post about
an arranged book signing.”

“Okay. Yeah, that’s—see, hyung? We were too close to it,” Jeongguk said over the phone.
“We were too fucking close to the situation to see reason. The marketing team was in a panic
because of this fucking agent. Our ideas were stupid as hell. We were just afraid of being
sued. This could really work… oh, right. You didn’t hear the actual idea.”

“Put it on speakerphone,” Jimin whispered, and Jeongguk glanced down at him skeptically.
Jimin just blinked and raised his eyebrows expectantly, so Jeongguk slowly pulled the phone
away from his ear and put it on speakerphone.

“...Hyung, this is Jimin,” he tentatively said.

“Hi, Jimin. Kim Namjoon,” a kind voice said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Oh?” Jimin smiled, still hugging Jeongguk, acutely aware that neither one of them was
wearing anything more than underwear.

“All good things. What’d you say about the social media push?”

Jimin repeated what he’d just said to Jeongguk, and Namjoon seemed intrigued, taking down
a few notes as to who he would need to contact to get all of this arranged before the morning
meeting. Jimin mentioned a few bookstores that would be great for book signing events, and
Namjoon jotted them down. The entire time Jimin spoke, Jeongguk rubbed Jimin’s back
encouragingly or stroked his hair or kissed his forehead.

“I’ll make a few phone calls, too,” Jeongguk said once Namjoon agreed to get to work, since
he was apparently still at the office. “We’ll have this strategy all set up and ready to go by
morning. The meeting is at ten o’clock. I’ll be in the office at seven.”

“Awesome. Fucking excellent, let’s get this douchebag,” Namjoon said, and Jimin pursed his
lips to keep from laughing. “Jimin-ah? Kiss your brain, you’re a genius. Thanks for that.
Gguk, we’ll chat soon. Call me back when you’re free.”

“Will do, hyung,” Jeongguk said, and then without so much as a goodbye, he hung up the
phone. Jimin meant to say something, but Jeongguk suddenly grabbed him by the waist and
hoisted him up onto the kitchen countertop as Jimin let out a short laugh, letting Jeongguk
stand between his legs.

“You have to promise to let me know how it goes,” Jimin whispered, wrapping his legs
around Jeongguk’s waist to draw him closer. Jeongguk set one hand on Jimin’s inner thigh
and the other on his cheek, and then he leaned in to kiss Jimin.

This feels right.

Jimin swallowed a little moan in the back of his throat and continued to let Jeongguk devour
his lips, his head spinning. They kissed and kissed until Jimin was out of breath, until his lips
felt swollen and spit-slicked, until he was half hard from Jeongguk’s hand palming at him
unintentionally or gripping at the waistband of his briefs in a teasing fashion. Sometimes they
kissed gently, but when they kissed like this , it was so hot that Jimin trembled. This was the
kind of kiss that made Jimin feel like Jeongguk wanted to eat him in a single bite.

“I will, I promise,” Jeongguk said breathlessly, pressing sloppy kisses to Jimin’s jaw and
temple as Jimin’s head fell back, eyes closed, one arm slung around Jeongguk’s neck.

“You gonna fuck me again?” Jimin asked, biting his bottom lip as Jeongguk kissed along his
neck with clear intent. He lifted his head and shook it with a small smile, and then he leaned
his forehead against Jimin’s.

“I would bend you over this countertop if I could, but I don’t have time, and I’m fucking
starving right now,” Jeongguk said, pressing a kiss to the tip of Jimin’s nose. “Are you
hungry? You haven’t eaten dinner. Want something?”

“Hmm?” Jimin’s brow furrowed as Jeongguk kissed his forehead and stepped away, reaching
for his phone. He returned to stand between Jimin’s legs, gently running his free hand up and
down Jimin’s thigh in a gesture of clear affection that had Jimin feeling slightly dazed.

“Dinner. Food. There’s a place two blocks from here that does the best jajangmyeon ever, and
they know me. I order from there a lot. You want some?” Jeongguk asked, already scrolling
through the app to place his order.

“You want to eat dinner with me?” Jimin asked skeptically, because eating a meal together
was not part of the discussed agreement. Sex was the agreement. Not that Jimin minded a
meal, but that was a grey area. Jeongguk, however, was smiling, unconcerned.

“Well, yeah. You likely just saved my ass from a horrible meeting tomorrow with your idea,”
Jeongguk replied. “So let’s eat. I’m starving. Do you want anything? You don’t have to. If
you’re more comfortable just leaving, that’s fine, too.”

“No, I’m hungry. That would be really nice. Thanks, hyung,” Jimin said quietly, wondering
why he suddenly felt shy. He’d eaten with a fuck buddy before, so it wasn’t a novelty. But
sitting and eating with Jeongguk felt brand new. Nevertheless, Jeongguk ordered the food
with haste, and then he tossed his phone onto the countertop.

“I’m gonna wash up and change the sheets,” he said. “You’re welcomed to wash up in the
other bathroom.”

“Thanks,” Jimin said with a small smile. Jeongguk nodded once, and then he walked into his
bedroom, swinging his arms and reaching immediately for the sheets to pull them off. Jimin
tiptoed quietly into the other bathroom, and then he closed the door. Immediately, he turned
the sink on and splashed cold water onto his face, pressing his palms into the countertop
afterwards and taking a deep breath, water dripping from his face.

Relax. This is normal. Weird, one-off, fleeting feelings are normal. You’ve experienced this
before. Don’t be an idiot.

It was true. When Jimin and Taemin had first started sleeping, they had both been nervous to
admit that there were strong feelings right off the bat. It wasn’t until a month or so later that
they determined it was just intense lust and the idea of someone filling the void. Once they
had laughed over that, their relationship had been much easier. Jimin was certain that if he
were to call Taemin, and if Taemin were single, he’d agree to sleeping with Jimin again
without question.

It’s just one meal. Just let him buy you a meal.

Jimin patted his face dry and brushed his teeth, and then he slipped back out into the kitchen,
where Jeongguk was already answering the door, now wearing black sweatpants and a grey t-
shirt that was so large it reached his knees.

“Food’s here,” Jeongguk said happily, setting the bag onto the countertop. “Two orders of
noodles, pickled radish, and two Cokes. Do you drink Coke?”

“Yeah, that’s great,” Jimin agreed with a smile.

“Those are for you,” Jeongguk said, pointing to some clothes that were sitting on the barstool
beside him. He started to pull food out, so Jimin pulled on the extra pair of sweatpants and
rolled them at the waist once, and then he slipped on the plain white t-shirt and sat down to
take the lid off his sauce.

“Does my idea make sense?” Jimin asked as he mixed in the sauce. Jeongguk slurped up
some noodles so loudly that Jimin almost giggled.

“...Perfect sense,” Jeongguk said once he had finished chewing. “Obviously I’ll have to work
on the logistics with Namjoon hyung and the rest of the team, but by morning, we’ll have a
plan in place.”

“What was your original plan?” Jimin wondered, twirling some noodles around his
chopsticks.
“Most people wanted to cave,” Jeongguk admitted. “They wanted me to go into the meeting
tomorrow and ask the agent and the client what kind of promotion they wanted.”

“What, so they can tell you to bend over the boardroom table so they can fuck you five ways
to Friday?” Jimin asked innocently, and Jeongguk snorted with laughter. “Please. If you went
in there and asked what kind of promotion they wanted, you’re giving up all your power.
You’d be showing your entire hand before the game even started, and it wouldn’t even matter
if their cards were shit.”

“Have you ever thought about being a lawyer?” Jeongguk joked as he grabbed another round
piece of radish, but Jimin just smiled softly.

“My father wanted me to go to law school. He said I could’ve been a public prosecutor or a
lawyer,” Jimin replied, and he saw Jeongguk stop chewing for just a moment. “But I told him
that I wanted to pursue my dream of a small business.”

“Why’s that?” Jeongguk wondered.

“Because I didn’t want to be stuck in the machine,” Jimin replied. “I didn’t want to work
eighty hours a week for subpar pay and miss out on having a life. And I didn’t want to get to
thirty and realize, ‘oh, shit, I shouldn’t have picked this career.’ I wanted to choose something
I liked right off the bat. If I fail, I fail. You know?”

“Not a lot of people are that smart,” Jeongguk said.

“I don’t know if it’s smart. Just practical,” Jimin replied. “Are you stuck in a career you don’t
like?”

“No, no. Not at all. After I graduated, I took a gap year when I broke up with Mingyu and
traveled the world on a minimal budget. Then I came back and worked as a literary agent for
three years and climbed the ladder there. I joined Golden when I was twenty-six and worked
my way up to the marketing team.”

“How’d you become CEO?” Jimin wondered.

“Timing,” Jeongguk replied with a small laugh, using his thumb to wipe some sauce from the
corner of his mouth. “I had a great relationship with the former CEO, and I never missed, you
know? I worked hard. I got shit done. Granted, I practically lived at the office, but I wasn’t in
any kind of relationship and I was getting enough sleep, so I didn’t mind. The CEO before
me had a heart attack at age sixty-three. It scared her enough to step down, and she
nominated me. Got everyone to rally behind me, talked about longevity. The board liked the
idea. So they installed me.”

“You know what I think?” Jimin slowly turned on his barstool to face Jeongguk. “I think
you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

Jeongguk spun his Coke can around on the counter a few times, lips pursed, and then he
slowly glanced over at Jimin.
 “Funny. I was thinking the same thing about you.”

Jimin rolled his eyes dramatically, and Jeongguk stifled a laugh and drank his soda, but Jimin
didn’t miss the way his barstool teetered slightly when Jeongguk nudged it with his foot.

This feels right.

Chapter End Notes

Y'all... *lovesick sigh* I love writing this fic so much. I wish y'all understood JUST how
much. This is the kind of story I've been dying to write for a long time and I'm so happy
I get to share it.

Make sure you're keeping your eyes peeled on Twitter next week in search of my fic for
the Secret Santa fest! You can also visit HERE to read the revealed fics and look for
mine next week! I wrote something pretty different than my norm and it was really
challenging but I like the result! My fic will be posted anonymously Dec 7-Dec 11, so
search for it O__O

CHAPTER 4 IS ENTIRELY FROM JK'S POV OKKKKKK BYE SEE YOU SOON ;)
TWITTER
 crave attention
Chapter Notes

No thoughts head full of Black Swan jikook and Dynamite Hoseok

Seriously how do we move on knowing what we know? GUESS THIS WILL HAVE TO
SUFFICE! Also I reached 10K followers on Twitter which is actual insanity so here’s
10K from JK’s POV to celebrate ;)

TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

[moodboard by cata]

~~~

“I can’t remember the last time we did this.”

“Mm.” Jeongguk kept his eyes closed, but then he squirmed and laughed, bringing his arms
from where they were resting behind his head so he could hug Holly. Holly was a brown toy
poodle, and he belonged to Yoongi and Seokjin. Jeongguk was lying on his back on the
blanket Seokjin had brought, and Holly had just shifted positions to drape his front paws and
head on Jeongguk’s stomach.

“You usually spend your Sundays in bed,” Yoongi added, readjusting his black baseball cap.
“Why’d you ask what we were doing today?”

“Yah, can’t you just let him enjoy the sunshine?” Seokjin asked, using his foot to nudge
Yoongi without looking as he continued to read his book. “You always have a thousand
questions.”

“You don’t think it’s weird that he’s outside doing nothing on a Sunday?” Yoongi asked, and
Jeongguk finally snickered.

“Well, we lasted thirty minutes before you started psychoanalyzing me, so that’s pretty good,
hyung,” he commented, and then he sat up and pulled Holly into his lap with a grunt, ruffling
his curly fur with vigor. Holly whipped his head and hopped right out of Jeongguk’s lap to
settle down on the blanket by himself again, but he rolled onto his side in hopes of belly
scratches, which Yoongi granted.

“Put him out of his misery,” Seokjin suggested to Jeongguk.

“What, tell him why I’m out?” Jeongguk asked. “Because the weather’s nice, hyung, and
when I asked what you two were doing, you invited me here. So here I am.”

“I’m not asking for the logical explanation,” Yoongi said, cracking his knuckles and then
arching his back a little in his seated position. His book was resting off to the side, an old
receipt from a coffee shop used as the bookmark.

“Do you ever?” Seokjin tiredly asked, and Yoongi quietly picked Holly up, sat him on his
hind legs, and faced him towards Seokjin, paws raised in an attack position.

“Bite him,” Yoongi stated simply, and Holly did nothing, as expected.

“What he’s really trying to ask you is—how’s Jimin?” Seokjin said, ripping off the imaginary
Band-Aid as Yoongi set Holly back down.

“Jimin is fine and none of your business,” Jeongguk replied, trying not to think back to
Friday night, when Jimin had asked Jeongguk to use a vibrator on him to edge him. The
result had been… Jeongguk cleared his throat to shake the mental images, because seeing
Jimin like that had been an experience in and of itself. It was afterwards, though, when Jimin
had curled up in Jeongguk’s arms and asked if he had any chocolate, that Jeongguk had felt
the first fleeting sensation of deep gratitude.

“His idea worked,” Seokjin pointed out, and Yoongi chuckled.

“You know what fucking killed me about it?” he said, amused. “None of our dumb asses
thought of it. We thought of one thing or the other, but we never thought to take the
transdisciplinary approach and combine the promotion while collecting data and using
another client for comparison.”
“Well, the fact that not all the tickets for yesterday’s book signing were sold speaks
volumes,” Jeongguk said with a careful amount of glee, lying on his back again with his eyes
closed as a light breeze passed through. Hangang Park was beautiful this time of year. “And
have we heard a single peep from the agent since last week’s meeting? No.”

“Did you tell Jimin?” Yoongi wondered. “That his idea worked?”

“I did,” Jeongguk replied, trying not to smile. “He was quite pleased with himself.”

“I have a few really horrible puns to make right now,” Seokjin warned, and over Yoongi’s
repetitive “why,” Jeongguk laughed.

“Please don’t make any of them,” he requested. “I saw him twice last week already, so shut
up.”

“Yeah, I bet he was pleased,” Seokjin said, and then he let out a bark of laughter and slapped
his knee a few times. When he got little to no reaction, he reached over and smacked
Yoongi’s knee a couple of times while still laughing, and that was when Jeongguk cracked a
smile.

“Leave it alone, hyung,” he said good-naturedly.

“He’s finding that to be difficult,” Yoongi finally chimed in. “Because you’ve been spending
less time at the office lately.”

“Which is a good thing,” Seokjin hastily added.

“And he thinks it’s because you want to get home so you can invite Jimin over,” Yoongi
continued. Jeongguk rubbed his lips together, scratching Holly’s knotted fur absentmindedly
as he sat up to contemplate. Had he been leaving the office earlier than normal lately? During
his first years as CEO, he had worked sixteen-hour days, getting in at seven or eight o’clock
and leaving at midnight. On more than one occasion, he had slept on the couch in his office.
But maybe Yoongi was right. Maybe he had been neglecting his duties.

“I’m not neglecting the job,” Jeongguk argued defensively, and Seokjin snickered.

“Gguk-ah, no one’s saying you’re ignoring your duties,” he said. “If anything, we’re both
relieved that you’re not the last person at the office when the cleaners are coming through.
And if Jimin’s the reason that you’re leaving at a decent hour, then bless Jimin and
everything he stands for.”

“Yah, the board was ready to build a monument for you after last week’s meeting,” Yoongi
said with his contagious, amused laugh that had Jeongguk smiling. “Those fuckers got you
into this situation, and when the ship was sinking, they were like, ‘ Jeongguk-a-a-a-ah, give
us a life preserver!’ Imagine their relief.”

“We’re just being nosy,” Seokjin admitted. “If you think I’m bad, Yoongi’s worse. He’s just
not as vocal about it.”

“I’m not nosy,” Yoongi argued.

“We were lying in bed two nights ago, and before he would even dare to cuddle me, he was
like, ‘I think Jeongguk left the office early to see Jimin,’” Seokjin said, and Yoongi scoffed.

“Holly,” Jeongguk said, addressing the dog as he pulled Holly into his lap. This time, Holly
happily stayed put, because Jeongguk scratched underneath his chin gently. “Why are your
parents choosing now to obsess over who I have sex with?”

“I give up,” Yoongi grumbled.

“He’ll figure it out eventually,” Seokjin said as he picked his book back up and pushed his
sunglasses back up onto his nose.

There wasn’t much for Jeongguk to figure out. He and Jimin had an arrangement, nothing
more. It wasn’t the first time Jeongguk had had a fuck buddy. Right after breaking up with
Eunwoo, he’d spent about six months sleeping with an old friend from university named
Jaehyun, and the sex had been pretty great. They had reconnected with one another over
drinks, and Jeongguk had eagerly agreed to let Jaehyun fuck him once. Then twice. And then
it had turned into a regular thing, but Jeongguk had been the one to quietly break it off when
Jaehyun started talking about a cute guy at work who he was taking on coffee dates.

But all of Jeongguk’s exes were his age. He’d navigated his tumultuous twenties wondering
if a relationship was in the cards for him, and didn’t everyone? Jeongguk didn’t know a
single person his age now who hadn’t gone through the same rigamarole. There seemed to be
unwritten time limits on finding love sometimes, and Jeongguk never talked about it much,
but it always ate away at him if he sat and thought about it for too long. By thirty, people
seemed to have either settled in with a significant other or settled with being single for the
foreseeable future. There was no grey area. There were some people who found love after
forty, but Jeongguk had never held out much hope.

Not that he was looking for love. He had stopped being so tiredly determined to find love
about six years ago. He had exhausted his twenties wondering if a committed relationship
could work for him. All of his exes were now in other relationships, and some of his
acquaintances joked that they were waiting for the people married in their twenties to divorce
and go back on the hunt. And now Jeongguk was rolling around in bed with Jimin, who was
the same age Jeongguk had been when he had first started wondering if there was someone
out there for him.

And that, that was what made the arrangement dangerous in Jeongguk’s mind. He was too
old for Jimin. Jimin was just getting started. He had years and years ahead of him to make all
kinds of mistakes and navigate a multitude of relationships. Jeongguk was determined to just
be a blip on the timeline. He was determined to be nothing more than an experimental phase
for Jimin. He owed Jimin that much, after all. Jeongguk wanted to think that such an
understanding was something that came with age, but nobody else seemed to agree with him.

“Good morning, Jeongguk-ssi.”

“Good morning,” Jeongguk said, leaning on the top part of Mina’s desk with a small smile.
She was one of the few people he spoke with at the office. No one would ever catch Mina
slipping. She worked five steps ahead of Jeongguk at all times with the utmost respect and
taught ballet to young children in her spare time.

“You look well-rested,” she commented, pulling her braid back over one shoulder as she
pressed her stamp and signature onto a paper and set it in the correct tray to be sorted into the
mailroom. Mina was always in the office at seven o’clock in the morning, but Jeongguk
always gave her a two-hour lunch break so she felt refreshed to work until four or five
o’clock. She was, quite easily, the best secretary in Seoul (Jeongguk was biased) and
deserved so much more than Jeongguk felt he could give her, but she insisted she would stay
at Golden as long as Jeongguk was there.

“I actually slept this weekend. Imagine that,” Jeongguk replied airily. Mina’s smile was kind
at first, but then it turned a bit mischievous, and that was when Jeongguk held up his hand,
gave her a look, and marched off into his office without another word. He heard Mina laugh
to herself, and then she followed him into the office.

“Don’t give me that face,” she said as Jeongguk dropped his bag by his desk and collapsed
into his chair. “All I was going to do was ask if you spent time with your boyfriend this
weekend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jeongguk said dully, slouching in his chair in the most un-CEO-like
position possible to make a point. He quickly straightened up and rubbed one hand over his
face, and then he reached for the subpar coffee he had set down upon entering his office.
“Which one of them told you?”

“Which one do you think?” Mina asked.

“Definitely Seokjin-ssi.”

“Wrong,” Mina said with clear delight. “It was actually Namjoon-ssi.”

“The least likely culprit and the one that wounds me the most,” Jeongguk sighed, pressing
one hand to his chest as Mina snickered.

“In his defense, he just said that the idea you pitched to that asshole agent last week came
from the younger guy you’re seeing,” Mina replied. “I just went with ‘boyfriend’ to see what
you’d say.”

“You know, you look like an angel,” Jeongguk started, and Mina let out a laugh, turning on
her Louboutins and walking towards the door. “But you’re a special kind of evil!”

The door closed without so much as a word, but ten seconds later, Jeongguk’s phone rang. He
eyed it suspiciously, but he answered.

“You have a seven-thirty phone conference with the American representative from
Scholastic.”

“You’re fired,” Jeongguk joked tiredly, and Mina burst out laughing and hung up.
The day seemed to drag on, and what made it more painful was that it was a Monday, he had
to speak English half the day, and it was a long week ahead. Jeongguk was trying to finalize
his plans for his two-week business trip to Tokyo that was coming up in early July (only two
short months away), and his father’s sixty-second birthday was next week, so he’d have to
disappear to Busan for a day or two. On top of that, the end of July was Golden Co.
Publishing House’s fiftieth anniversary, and there was a big gala being planned in celebration,
where Jeongguk would have to make a speech as the CEO.

“Jeongguk-ssi?”

“Yes,” Jeongguk said, glancing up from his computer to look at Mina a little after one
o’clock. She had a bag in one hand and a drink in the other.

“Your lunch,” she said, holding up both items a bit higher.

“I didn’t order lunch,” Jeongguk said, brow furrowed. He recognized the bag, though. It was
from his favorite restaurant right down the road from his apartment. “Did you order this for
me?”

“No,” Mina said, checking the receipt taped to the bag in curiosity. “But it has your name on
it, and it looks like something you’d eat. And the coffee is your order. Is this a new place?
Chatty?”

Jeongguk fumbled the pen in his hand, and it tumbled onto his desk as he shoved his chair
back and stood up. Mina stood in the doorway as he approached, and Jeongguk gently took
the bag and the iced coffee from her.

“Thank you, I’ll take it,” he said with a small smile. “I know who it’s from.”

“Let me know if you need anything else,” Mina said, sounding slightly suspicious but
backing away anyways with the same little smile. Jeongguk closed his office door, and then
he hurried back to his desk and set down the bag of food. He eyed the iced Americano
carefully, and then he took a small sip.

“Oh my God,” he almost moaned to himself in happiness, immediately taking another sip like
it was medicine. He pulled the cup away and turned it once in his hand, checking the Chatty
cupsleeve. Then he sat down slowly at his desk and opened up the bag to pull out the
container of jajangmyeon and a side of pickled radish. It was exactly what he had been
unknowingly craving, ordered straight to his office without Jeongguk so much as lifting a
finger. Immediately, he pulled out his phone.

JEONGGUK [01:11:04PM]

This is the best coffee I’ve ever had. Not joking.

JEONGGUK [01:11:45PM]

Thank you for lunch, Jimin-ah. You didn’t have to.

PARK JIMIN [01:12:51PM]

I don’t know what you’re talking about, hyung!

Jeongguk gently set his phone down, staring at the text message with a strange feeling of
warm fondness blooming in his chest. First he’d cleaned Jeongguk’s kitchen and dusted the
coffee table (thinking Jeongguk wouldn’t notice, surely), and now he was sending Jeongguk
lunch at the office on a day when Jeongguk was immensely stressed and needed it.

There was a reason why Jeongguk chose to guard himself and had been doing so for years.
With the rapid and overwhelming success he had found with GCPH, he had had to put
safeguards in place to ensure that he could focus on his career first and his personal growth,
and then maybe a love life if he had time. But the people he had let in already, the ones he
had let get a little too close, had only jaded him. Mingyu had been a warning, but Eunwoo
had been a hard-learned lesson. Ever since turning thirty and becoming CEO of the company,
Jeongguk had been smacked in the face left and right by men rejecting him or desperately
seeking him out because of his status and his money. Every time he had assumed that he was
interested in someone for more than one night, they had always shown their true colors, and
Jeongguk had always gone running.

Maybe he was good at running. Perhaps that was his signature style. Behind the quiet but
confident CEO façade was the hardened heart of a man closing in on forty with a string of
failed relationships. Jeongguk had always been great at taking care of others and giving his
partners all of his energy and attention. He had a knack for it and he knew it. But very rarely
did they ever reciprocate in the same fashion. It wasn’t as if Jeongguk expected the same kind
of effort, but the glaring gap between his effort and his partner’s efforts had always been a
red flag.

And now that he was older and wiser, if he dared to think so, he realized more and more that
he needed to stop exerting so much energy on others without receiving the same back. He
needed to seek out someone who cared about him, who took care of him. Not in a debilitating
or childish way, but in a way that showed respectful and genuine affection.

Jimin gave him effort. Jimin took care of him.

“Fuck,” Jeongguk sighed to himself, taking another sip of his coffee as he continued to stir
the sauce into his noodles. Most people would look at the situation and find it odd that a
twenty-two-year-old had the capacity to take care of a thirty-six-year-old man. But that was
one of the many reasons why Jeongguk was inexplicably and dangerously drawn to Jimin. He
was young, but he wore his heart on his sleeve and paid no mind to age. He seemed to look at
their relationship as just that—some kind of relationship where he was meant to make an
effort. That, more than anything, made Jeongguk feel things.

For the first time in years, he was getting a taste of what it felt like to have someone take care
of him. Namjoon, Yoongi, and Seokjin cared very deeply for him, sure. But Jimin did it so
differently, and with such unashamed attentiveness. He was buying Jeongguk lunch even
though Jeongguk had millions in his bank account and could get his own lunch.

JEONGGUK [01:13:43PM]

Come over tonight.

PARK JIMIN [01:14:51PM]

I have work early tomorrow, hyung :(

JEONGGUK [01:15:27PM]

What about 8pm?

PARK JIMIN [01:16:39PM]

*squints suspiciously*

JEONGGUK [01:17:28PM]

LOL I’ll just leave the office earlier to be home.

JEONGGUK [01:18:02PM]

Only if you want to, Jimin-ah. You don’t have to.

JIMIN [01:19:03PM]

of course I want to, I’ll be there

Jeongguk set his phone down, chewing the inside of his bottom lip and trying not to think
about Seokjin and Yoongi teasing him for leaving work early recently. It was normal for
someone to leave the office around dinnertime. If he left at seven o’clock, that gave him
plenty of time to be home, eat something quickly, and invite Jimin inside.

Jeongguk half-expected one of his friends to come marching into his office to disrupt his
workflow, but not one of them did. Mina was well-practiced at turning away anyone who
didn’t have a greater purpose in coming into Jeongguk’s office, because often, they came up
to speak with him when there were about four other people who could solve the problem,
including themselves. But at seven o’clock, Jeongguk was able to log out, gather his
belongings, and speak to absolutely no one on his way out—a miraculous feat, given how
busy the office usually was. He even texted Namjoon to warn him, and Namjoon only told
Jeongguk to have a good night.

It was only twenty past seven when Jeongguk made it home, and he grabbed sushi from one
of his favorite little spots on his way so he could eat. As he ate, he sat and texted Yoongi,
who was still at the office and being nosy.

YOONGI [07:28:35PM]

I saw you leave you brat.

JEONGGUK [07:29:02PM]

Shouldn’t you be happy for me? I was at the office until 10:30pm last night.

YOONGI [07:30:10PM]

And why did you leave early tonight? Tell hyung.

JEONGGUK [07:30:57PM]

If you don’t meet that deadline for Bang Wonki’s publication, you’re fired.

YOONGI [07:31:29PM]
First of all, you’ve threatened to fire me 35 times at this point.

YOONGI [07:32:02PM]

Second of all, have fun with Jimin!

Jeongguk tossed his phone onto the countertop with a clatter, shoving his last tuna nigiri into
his mouth with a small scowl, rubbing his forehead. Then he pulled it hand away and closed
it into a fist several times to crack his joints, taking a deep breath.

He hated having to constantly justify himself to his friends. He was the youngest amongst his
friends and also the youngest in his family (his older brother was already forty),
unfortunately, which meant that he had to explain himself all the time. Anyone a few years
older than him never had to offer up reasons for their actions. Jeongguk had always been
forced to provide a sound reason as to why he did everything.

Maybe it was because no one had ever really believed in him.

His own parents had been skeptical about his dreams and ambitions (hadn’t really been happy
about Jeongguk liking men, either), so Jeongguk had been his own hype man. Many people
had tried to limit him or set boundaries, and he had refused all of them even in the face of
criticism. Now he was successful and doing everything that he wanted to do with his life, and
he had gotten there himself. Now that he was older, Jeongguk’s parents had come around and
wanted to meet anyone he dated seriously. His brother asked for career advice. His friends
took care of him but respected him immensely.

Whenever new employees came to GCPH, Jeongguk always insisted on meeting with them
and offering advice and mentoring, because he had never gotten that growing up or while
climbing the ladder. He wanted to let every employee know that he believed in them, and he
meant it. He’d had young newcomers knock on his office door with shaking knees to ask for
his advice, and Jeongguk had happily given it.

But now he had to justify his sex life to his friends, and for what? What was there to be nosy
about? So Jeongguk had found an absolutely beautiful younger guy to bring into his bed.
Why did they care? Jeongguk had other one-night stands, and his friends had gotten over
those after a day or two of badgering. They were fixated on Jimin, though.

Jeongguk supposed he could understand why.

mood: “dear lover” by little mix

At promptly eight o’clock, Jeongguk buzzed Jimin up and held the door open, letting Jimin
waltz right in from the elevator with a smile.

“You like your lunch?” he asked without so much as saying hello as he kicked his shoes off
and set them nicely on the spot Jeongguk had given him by the door.

“It was delicious. The coffee, though. Was that from the place where you work?” Jeongguk
asked, and Jimin grinned, running his fingers through his windblown blonde hair. He was
wearing black jeans and a baby blue V-neck t-shirt that dipped low, and Jeongguk could
confidently say that if blue was Jimin’s favorite color, it had to be because he looked stunning
wearing it.

“Yeah. I made it for you. Did you like it?” Jimin asked, and then he walked right up to
Jeongguk until they were nearly chest-to-chest and deftly began to unbutton Jeongguk’s shirt,
his fingers grazing Jeongguk’s skin as he did. Jeongguk’s heart leapt into his throat as he
grabbed Jimin by the waist.

“Best coffee I’ve ever had,” Jeongguk replied, breath quickening when Jimin left the shirt
unbuttoned and knelt down to the ground, working on Jeongguk’s belt. “Shit, Jimin, can—
oh.”

“Missed you,” Jimin whispered as he slowly stood up and slipped his hand right past the
waistband of Jeongguk’s briefs to wrap his hand around Jeongguk’s hardening cock., his
thumb gently rubbing at the slit to collect the pre-come that was already there. Jeongguk
grabbed the back of Jimin’s neck, brought him closer, and kissed him fiercely, pressing his
hips forward into Jimin’s hand. It was both humiliating and thrilling how easily Jimin could
rile Jeongguk up, and how willing Jeongguk was to just let it happen. Jimin sometimes said
that he liked being in charge when it came to sex, was typically the confident one, and
Jeongguk didn’t even mind. He loved finally being with a man who knew what he wanted
and didn’t whine at Jeongguk to mindread. Jimin just said what he wanted, plain as day.

“You that horny?” Jeongguk joked between kisses.

“We haven’t fucked in almost three days, so can we just…?” Jimin tugged Jeongguk’s arm
with his free hand towards the bedroom. Jeongguk hummed in agreement, and then he
immediately slipped his arms into the right position and scooped Jimin up off the floor in a
bridal position. Jimin let out a bark of laughter.

“You haven’t said your vows yet,” he teased.

“Will you, Park, Jimin, take me? That’s it. Just take me,” Jeongguk replied, and Jimin burst
out laughing again as Jeongguk deposited him onto the bed. Jimin had been over so many
times that he immediately pushed the comforter off the bed and scooted back eagerly,
knowing what to do. Jeongguk shrugged out of his shirt, and then he climbed onto the bed,
rolled, and pulled Jimin into his lap. “Undress yourself.”

“Yeah? Am I doing a striptease?” Jimin asked, still grinning. But he just stared right at
Jeongguk as he slowly slipped his arms through and pulled his shirt off overhead. Then he
grabbed Jeongguk’s hair and pulled them together for a kiss, and Jeongguk pressed his palms
into Jimin’s bare back, Jimin’s skin smooth as porcelain, his lips even softer.

“Fuck, look at you. Feel good?” Jeongguk breathed, feeling Jimin rock against his thigh
roughly, his breath catching.

“I’m so fucking horny, just—just do something,” Jimin almost whined.

“Three days isn’t that long,” Jeongguk whispered, his hands drifting to Jimin’s ass
encouragingly as he kissed along Jimin’s chest.

“It is when I’m having sex with you,” Jimin replied. “You’re addicting. I told you this was
the best decision I ever made. C’mon, undress. I wanna suck you off.”

“That’s funny…” Jeongguk ran his tongue along Jimin’s bottom lip and then kissed him.
“Because I was going to say that to you.”

“Are you fucking serious?” Jimin breathed, almost shaking in anticipation. It wasn’t as if
Jeongguk had never given him a blowjob before—quite the contrary. Jimin craved them, and
Jeongguk always delivered. But every time, Jimin got over-excited at the prospect of it,
which was a huge turn-on to Jeongguk.

“We can kill two birds with one stone,” Jeongguk whispered, nipping at Jimin’s bottom lip.
“Take your pants off and flip over.”

Jimin undressed at the same time as Jeongguk, and Jeongguk grabbed for the lube and
grabbed one condom just in case. Jimin obediently flipped over onto his stomach on the bed,
not even asking questions, and Jeongguk almost laughed.

“Baby,” he said, knowing that would catch Jimin’s attention. Jimin hummed and glanced over
his shoulder. “Come here. On top of me. You’re gonna suck me off at the same time.”

“Oh, holy shit,” Jimin almost moaned, scrambling. “Holy shit, you’re serious? Oh my God.”

“Scoot up further,” Jeongguk said, grabbing Jimin by the waist and pulling him closer.
Jimin’s poor arms nearly gave out on him in excitement, but he managed. Jeongguk was
tempted to just eat him out until he cried again (he’d done it twice before to glorious results),
but he wanted to get his mouth on Jimin’s cock as fast as possible, because he knew how
much Jimin liked it.

“Shit, don’t tease,” Jeongguk sighed, resting back on the pillows when he felt Jimin licking at
the tip of his cock, now on his knees and giving Jeongguk possibly the best view ever.
Jeongguk carefully slid down further onto the pillow so he was more underneath Jimin, and
then he guided Jimin’s cock into his mouth. He kept his hands busy, too, and Jimin was a
mess overtop of him within minutes. He was still determinedly giving a great blowjob, but
with what Jeongguk was doing, he was having trouble focusing.

“F-Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he moaned, and then he slowly took Jeongguk’s cock down his entire
throat again, gagging slightly as Jeongguk bit his bottom lip to keep from cursing. Then he
took Jimin’s cock back into his mouth and blindly reached for the lube, hoping Jimin
wouldn’t notice. He did it quietly, thrusting his hips up lightly into Jimin’s warm mouth, and
then he reached up with his right hand and trailed his clean fingers until he could carefully
spread Jimin.

“ Hyung, what—wh-what are you—oh my God,” Jimin moaned when one of Jeongguk’s
fingers circled his rim. “Fuck, fuck, you’re…”

“As you were,” Jeongguk said, and then he used his tongue to grab Jimin’s cock again,
sucking at the tip and then taking Jimin into his mouth further as he slipped one finger in.
The lewd moans Jimin let out and the whining curse words were enough to send Jeongguk
into a tailspin. He fucked Jimin with one finger, feeling Jimin’s entire body shake, feeling his
rhythm falter as he tried to suck Jeongguk off. When Jeongguk slipped in a second finger,
that was it. Jimin collapsed onto his elbows with a loud moan that went straight to
Jeongguk’s cock.

“ Fuck, I’m—fuck, you’re amazing, I—I can’t, I can’t, I—okay, I can do this,” Jimin said,
voice trembling as he took Jeongguk’s cock back into his mouth. It was so intense that
Jeongguk could barely breathe. Jimin was writhing and moaning in the back of his throat,
limbs shaking, lips tightening whenever Jeongguk’s fingers brushed against his prostate. And
Jeongguk just teased. He gently fucked Jimin with his fingers and ran his tongue around
Jimin’s cock until he was certain that Jimin was ready. Then he went for it. He sent his
fingers deeper and repeatedly stroked his fingers against Jimin’s prostate, pressing his tongue
along the most sensitive part of Jimin’s cock at the same time. Jimin lasted all of thirty
seconds.

“Oh, oh, oh, oh, fuck, I’m— hyung—”

That was the only warning Jeongguk got, and it was enough. Jimin’s elbows gave out as he
came into Jeongguk’s mouth, choking back another moan as Jeongguk pressed into that sweet
spot with his fingers, sucking Jimin dry until Jimin was thrashing around, trying to escape the
overstimulation. His refractory period, though, was shocking, because he pounced right onto
Jeongguk and sucked him off like his life depended on it, and Jeongguk was right on the
edge. He gripped his sheets, back arching slightly as he thrusted into Jimin’s mouth and
came, feeling Jimin swallow.

“...Oh my God,” Jimin panted, rolling and flopping onto his back, one arm slung over
Jeongguk’s legs. Then he let out a laugh as Jeongguk caught his breath, staring at his ceiling.
“God, I love having sex with you. It’s never boring.”

“Yeah? Enough to keep you entertained?” Jeongguk asked, smiling with his eyes closed.

“So much fun,” Jimin sighed out, rolling off the bed. When he returned, he poked Jeongguk,
and Jeongguk opened his eyes and accepted a toothbrush with toothpaste already on it,
watching Jimin brush his teeth completely naked. When he turned around to go back into the
bathroom, Jeongguk lunged off the bed and smacked his bare ass, and Jimin let out a muffled
yelp, leaping away towards the sink.
“I almost choked on my toothpaste, you asshole,” he accused, laughing. Jeongguk rinsed his
mouth out, and then they both washed their hands and wiped down. Jeongguk pulled the
sheets off, changed them quickly, and then pulled the comforter onto the bed and flopped
onto it. Jimin immediately crawled on after and latched right onto Jeongguk like it was
second nature.

“Are we just cuddling?” Jimin asked, peering up at Jeongguk through messy strands of
blonde hair that were hanging in his eyes. Jeongguk reached down and brushed them away
with gentle fingers.

“Is that okay?” he asked. Jimin’s lower lip twitched like he was about to pout something
fierce, but then he just narrowed his eyes.

“Thought you wanted to fuck me,” he commented plainly, and Jeongguk snickered.

“What, that wasn’t what you wanted? You didn’t come hard enough?” he asked.

“ No, no, no, I just—that was fine. More than fine. Let’s do it again sometime,” Jimin said
earnestly, and Jeongguk fought a smile. “We can definitely cuddle.” Then he set his head
back down on Jeongguk’s shoulder, and Jeongguk exhaled slowly, his hand running up and
down Jimin’s arm in a soothing fashion. Jimin didn’t stay down for long; his head popped
back up a minute later, and he scooted a bit to prop up on his elbow.

“Can we just kiss?” he asked. “For a little bit?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jeongguk agreed almost immediately. He expected Jimin to kiss him right
away, but instead, Jimin let out a little grunted and started to maneuver, wiggling and getting
comfortable, pulling Jeongguk by his arm until they were both lying slightly on their sides,
still tangled together, Jimin still in Jeongguk’s arms.

“Okay, that’s good,” Jimin decided, and Jeongguk raised his eyebrows.

“Did you just get comfortable to make out with me?” he asked, trying not to laugh. Jimin
shot him a glaring look.

“Well, I don’t want my neck to hurt or my shoulder to cramp or anything, so yeah, I did get
comfortable, you loser.”

Jeongguk had a response ready, but he choked on it and laughed. “Did you just call me a
loser?”

“Yeah. What about it?” Jimin asked challengingly.

“I… don’t think anyone’s called me a loser since the eighth grade,” Jeongguk mused.

“Wow, since the eighth grade?” Jimin repeated, sitting up a little higher. He blinked at
Jeongguk with round, innocent eyes. “What was the world like without electricity?”

Jeongguk immediately grabbed Jimin around the waist, almost picked him up off the bed, and
tackled him while rolling as Jimin let out a loud yelp and a laugh, kicking his legs in an
attempt to escape, trying to twist his body. Jeongguk held him tightly and caged him in,
bending down and attaching his lips to Jimin’s neck and blowing a raspberry until Jimin was
yelling that he was still a loser, and then laughing until he couldn’t breathe.

“ Stop, STOP! I’m ticklish, STOP! STOP, I can’t breathe!” Jimin gasped out, but his laughter
made it clear that he could breathe just fine, especially since he was fighting back and trying
to pinch Jeongguk in retaliation. They rolled around back and forth on the bed, gasping and
laughing and poking at each other until Jeongguk finally pinned Jimin to the bed.

“Say you’re sorry,” he demanded, holding Jimin’s wrists to the bed. Jimin, panting with a
grin on his face, stared up at Jeongguk, and Jeongguk’s arms nearly gave out on him. He was
almost naked, save for the boxer briefs he was wearing, and he had all kinds of love bites and
marks on his skin. His cheeks were a bit pink from exertion and his blonde hair was a tousled
mess, brown eyes sparkling happily, mischievously.

God damn it.

“I surrender,” he said breathlessly, so Jeongguk instantly let go and fell back onto the pillows,
staring at the ceiling and catching his breath. Jimin immediately rolled and curled right up
into him, and Jeongguk wrapped his free arm around Jimin, pressing the other hand to his
own chest.

mood: “touch” (acoustic) by little mix

I’m just out of shape, he thought to himself, feeling his heart pounding. Because in what
realm of possibility could he feel anything more for Jimin, a fuck buddy fourteen years his
junior, than he did for Mingyu? Or Eunwoo? Or even Jaehyun? This was just the preliminary
period. This was that tiny little blip of feelings that always happened in a strictly-sexual
relationship. In a week or two, it would all be ironed out, and Jeongguk wouldn’t have to deal
with feeling like his heart was too swollen to fit inside his body.

“Say you’re sorry,” Jeongguk requested gently, his eyes closed as he smiled. He heard Jimin
let out a tiny laugh that he tried to stifle, but failed.

“Sorry. No more age jokes,” he promised. There was a little pause as Jeongguk’s fingers
flitted up and down Jimin’s spine, and then—“They get old after a while, anyways.”

“I’ll kill you,” Jeongguk whispered, and Jimin laughed and burrowed his face into
Jeongguk’s neck for a moment, both of them still catching their breath. After a minute, Jimin
lifted his head and nuzzled his way up, and his lips found Jeongguk’s.

Kissing Jimin was always an exercise in Jeongguk’s heart strength. Jimin was one of those
people who didn’t just kiss for the sake of kissing, and he probably didn’t even realize his
own power. This time, instead of kissing because they were in the middle of having sex, they
were just… kissing. It was gentle. Easy. There was no other sound in the room except for the
quiet sounds of their lips moving together and the occasional rustling of the sheets. Jeongguk
slowly brought his other hand over to rest a few fingers near Jimin’s chin to tilt his head a bit,
pulling Jimin’s bottom lip between his own lips as Jimin surged forward eagerly. But the pace
was still slow and sweet, and Jeongguk was losing himself quickly, taking as much from
Jimin as possible while still trying to give him everything.

“You would never,” Jimin whispered against Jeongguk’s lips.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Jeongguk said between kisses. He pressed his lips to Jimin’s one
more time, and then he kissed Jimin’s forehead while brushing his hair away. Jimin sighed
and rested his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder comfortably, and Jeongguk curled up a little
closer into Jimin.

“Why don’t you have any pets?” Jimin whispered randomly.

“I’m not home often enough to take care of a pet,” Jeongguk murmured.

“Cats are easy,” Jimin replied. “You could get a cat.”

“I still wouldn’t be able to give it a lot of attention.”

“I have a cat.”

“Do you?” Jeongguk turned his head just a little.

“Mhm. Her name is Sammi. I rescued her from behind my building. She’s sweet. You’d like
her.”

“Would she like me ?” Jeongguk asked.

“I can’t promise that,” Jimin muttered. “Kiss me again.”

Jeongguk slipped two fingers underneath Jimin’s chin to again tilt his head upward, meeting
his lips in a sweet kiss that sent a rush of adrenaline through Jeongguk’s body. Kissing
usually didn’t do much for Jeongguk. It never had. But kissing Jimin… kissing Jimin did it
all for Jeongguk, and instead of letting it scare him, Jeongguk let himself get lost in it,
because what was the harm? Jimin didn’t have to know. This was a relationship built on sex
and physical touch, after all. So if Jeongguk felt like his heart was waking up from a decade-
long dormant state just from kissing one person, no one else needed to know that. He could
keep that to himself.

“She’d like you,” Jimin said. “My cat. I think she’d like you better than me. So I’m
manifesting right now that she’ll hate you.”

“You’re impossible,” Jeongguk said with a laugh, closing his eyes and kissing the crown of
Jimin’s head. Just a few more minutes and he would have to give this up for another night.
He liked that Jimin enjoyed the aftercare part of their arrangement, because it gave Jeongguk
time for a different kind of physical intimacy, gave him time to play pretend for a little. But it
would be over soon, because Jimin would have to go. Jeongguk took a slow, deep breath,
feeling Jimin do the same.
It felt sudden when Jeongguk opened his eyes upon hearing the sound of an alarm.
Completely and utterly disoriented, he threw his arm out, grabbed his phone, and turned the
alarm off, squinting from the bright light of his screen even though the bedside lamp was still
on and the room wasn’t totally dark. It was then that he registered the fact that Jimin was
curled up against him, one leg tangled with Jeongguk’s, and he was fast asleep. Rubbing his
eyes, Jeongguk checked his phone, wondering why the alarm had gone off.

05:30 AM.

“”Shit,” he cursed. “Oh, shit, we—Jimin-ah? Jimin. Baby, wake up,” Jeongguk said in a
frenzy, suddenly wide awake. He sat up and twisted his body, and then he wrapped Jimin in
his arms and shook him gently. “Hey. Wake up. Jimin-ah, wake up.”

“Hmm?” Jimin hummed, eyes still closed. Jeongguk pressed a few frantic kisses to the side
of Jimin’s head, his pulse racing.

“Jimin, we fell asleep. Hey, wake up. We fell asleep, you have to wake up. What time do you
go to work? Jimin , look at me,” Jeongguk demanded, holding Jimin upright in one arm and
cupping his cheek with the other hand. Jimin was nearly limp in his arms, though, eyes
squeezed shut with a small pout. Christ, he’s so cute, but he’s impossible to wake up.

“Mm?”

“Look at me.”

Jimin cracked open only one eye with his brow furrowed, and Jeongguk was absolutely
positive that his entire heart obliterated on the spot.

“We fell asleep. It’s five-thirty in the morning. What time do you have to be at work?”
Jeongguk asked again.

“...Oh, shit,” Jimin croaked, and Jeongguk exhaled in relief.

“Yeah, that’s right. Now wake up and tell me when you have to be at work.”

“Six-thirty. We open at seven,” Jimin said, and then he lifted both hands and rubbed his eyes.
“Fuck, we really fell asleep?”

“Slept through the whole fucking night,” Jeongguk said, rolling off the bed hastily and
walking to flick on the bedroom light. Jimin let out a dramatic groan and flopped onto the
pillow with his face in it, but then he kept rolling and got to his feet, running both hands over
his face.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Jimin apologized hoarsely. “I didn’t mean to. I should’ve gone home when
we were done last night. Sorry, hyung. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Jeongguk said dismissively, still mildly panicked. “What do you have to
do to get ready? Did you drive here?”
“Fuck, I took a cab here last night so I didn’t have to fuel up,” Jimin complained. “It’s fine,
I’ll take the bus, just—can you look up the bus timetable for me?”

“You’re not taking the bus,” Jeongguk said, snatching up his phone and quickly searching for
Chatty on his map. “Your work is on the way to my office. I’ll drop you off. Just go wash up,
but make it quick. I have to get ready, too.”

“Are you serious? It’s not out of your way?” Jimin asked, already hurrying into the bathroom
and turning the light on. “Hyung, you’re serious?”

“Yeah, easy,” Jeongguk insisted. “Do you want any breakfast? Coffee?”

“I work at a coffee shop,” Jimin reminded him with a small smile, pulling off the boxer briefs
Jeongguk had loaned last night and turning on the shower. “If you drop me off, I’ll make you
a coffee to take to work.”

“Done,” Jeongguk said, tired but grateful.

“I’ll be fast. Three minutes.”

Jeongguk sat on the edge of his bed and checked the news on his phone, as well as the stocks
for his company (looking good, no signs of a major drop). True to his word, Jimin was out of
the shower in a record three minutes, towel wrapped around his waist and water droplets
clinging to his body, and Jeongguk forgot what was going on for a moment until Jimin raised
his eyebrows.

“Hyung?”

“Clothes. Sorry. Just go into my closet. I have to get ready,” Jeongguk said, gesturing and
brushing past Jimin to take the bathroom for himself. He then showered off as quickly as
possible, trying not to spend too long under the hot water in a daze reasoning with himself.
You fell asleep by accident. It’s nothing. It was a mistake. You’ve done it before with others.
It’s fine. Just drop him off at work and call it a day . He turned off the water and stepped out,
using one hand to wipe the fog off the mirror.

“Okay, do you have a hair dryer?” Jimin asked hurriedly, standing in the doorway while
wearing his own black jeans and Jeongguk’s smaller-sized black be nice shirt with a flannel
tied around his waist. Jeongguk pointed to his cabinet and held Jimin by the shoulders gently
to slip past him so he could get dressed. The sound of the hair dryer was the background
music as Jeongguk pulled on a white button-up and a simple black fitted Prada suit, grabbing
his Rolex and fastening it as he heard Jimin let out a yelp and a laugh, the hair dryer off.

“You okay? Oh, shit,” Jeongguk laughed the moment he walked into the bathroom, because
Jimin was standing in front of the mirror, his blonde hair ten times its normal volume and
puffy from being dried, and Jimin was laughing at himself as he tamed it carefully. Jeongguk
snickered, endeared as he took the dryer from Jimin to blow dry his own hair quickly.

“Okay, let’s go!” Jeongguk called out as he threw whatever he needed into his bag, grabbing
his sunglasses and pushed them up into his hair. Jimin shuffled out with a yawn, rubbing one
eye as he checked his phone, and then he stared at Jeongguk.

“God, you’re so fucking hot,” he said like it was a complaint, shoving his feet into his shoes,
and Jeongguk snickered.

“Flattery will get you nowhere. Come on,” he said, brushing off the compliment and yanking
open his door, keys in one hand. Jimin pressed the button for the elevator, yawning again, and
Jeongguk pressed the button for the garage. His parking spot was close to the elevator, so he
unlocked his Mercedes and dropped into the driver’s seat, Jimin taking the passenger seat.

“...You good?” Jeongguk asked as he pulled out of the garage and took a right turn. Jimin was
just sitting there with his hands folded in his lap, not moving a muscle.

“Your car’s very nice,” he said politely, and Jeongguk stifled a laugh.

“You can touch things, you know.”

“We basically defiled the backseat, so let’s keep the front nice and clean,” Jimin decided, but
he was fighting a smile, eyes wandering. “One day, I want to have a nice car like this.”

“You will,” Jeongguk said, resting one elbow on the side of the door and taking a left, one
hand on the steering wheel as he followed his GPS to take him to Chatty. “You’ll have
whatever you want. Give it ten years. You’ll have it all with your drive and motivation.”

‘You think so?” Jimin asked in a small voice, staring out the window. Jeongguk glanced over
at him briefly, wondering why Jimin sounded like he wasn’t exactly confident in his abilities.
That was a first.

“Definitely,” Jeongguk confirmed, stopping at a red light. “I believe in you.”

Jimin didn’t say much in response. In his peripheral vision, Jeongguk saw Jimin turn and
look, but he said nothing for a moment.

“Thank you, hyung,” he whispered, repetitively tapping his finger against his phone screen.
Jeongguk reached over and squeezed Jimin’s knee briefly as he pulled into the tiny parking
lot where Chatty was located in a strip of shops. It was such a second-nature gesture that
Jeongguk panicked when he yanked his hand away, but Jimin didn’t even react. He just let
out a little sigh and unbuckled his seatbelt.

“See you soon,” Jeongguk said, but Jimin slammed the door shut, ran around the front of the
car, and tapped on Jeongguk’s window. He rolled it down.

“Stay right here if you have five minutes,” he requested, pressing his palms to the bottom of
the window. “I’ll make you a coffee. Does your secretary want one? I’ll make her one, too.
And I can make you an extra without ice to keep for the afternoon.”

“Are you serious?” Jeongguk asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, as a way to say thanks,” Jimin replied. “For waking me up and for letting me crash
your bathroom and get ready for work. I actually slept like a baby, too, so I’m gonna make
you some coffee. Iced Americano, extra strong? Two of them?”

“Yes, please. A vanilla latte, too,” Jeongguk added. Jimin nodded, patted the windowsill, and
then he hurried off, reaching into his bag to grab the keys to the store. From another car,
Jeongguk watched a young girl skip up and hugged Jimin sideways, walking into the shop
with him. Jeongguk lasted about two minutes before he got restless. The sun was starting to
come up, so he hopped out of his car and quietly walked around the corner of the building to
where the order window was. It was opened already, a sign up and ready for those looking for
the right caffeinated beverage, and through into the store, Jeongguk could see the same girl
wiping down the countertops. Jimin was making the drinks, also stocking some milk into the
fridge at the same time.

“Oh—sorry, we’re not open yet!” the girl called out cheerfully and apologetically when she
glanced up and saw Jeongguk standing there. Jimin looked over as well, and immediately, he
used one free hand to nudge the girl’s leg from his crouched position. The girl looked down
at him, then back up to Jeongguk, and back down to Jimin again. “ Oh-h-h-h. I’m just gonna
wipe down the tables out there,” she added, skipping away with a grin.

“...What are you doing?” Jimin asked Jeongguk as he tapped the stainless steel pitcher
against the countertop twice and poured the hot milk at an angle into the takeaway cup,
probably Mina’s coffee. He snapped the lid on and reached for the shots that had been
poured, likely to dump into the tall cups for Jeongguk’s drinks.

“Waiting to pay for the coffee,” Jeongguk replied, reaching for his wallet. Jimin snapped lids
onto both Americanos and put a straw into one, and then he miraculously carried all three at
once to the window. He grabbed a carrier from underneath the countertop and slipped the
drinks into it, pushing all three towards Jeongguk. “How much?”

“Have a good day at work, hyung,” Jimin said lightly, grabbing a second little sign and
pushing it into a visible position before turning to walk away.

“Wh—Jimin. Park Jimin, get back here,” Jeognguk demanded. Jimin immediately halted,
pivoted on his heels, and returned to the register, eyebrows raised. “I asked you how much
for the coffee.”

“And I said to have a good day at work,” Jimin evenly repeated.

“Let me pay,” Jeongguk quietly said.

“No,” Jimin answered just as firmly, keeping his voice down. “I don’t care how rich you are.
You did me a favor this morning, so I made you coffee to get you through the day. All I need
you to do is let me know if your secretary likes her drink.”

“Why?” Jeongguk’s brow furrowed.

“Because Chatty is a small franchise around Seoul,” Jimin explained. “And I’m the one who
created all the standards for each drink two years ago. How much milk goes in, how strong a
shot is, how many pumps of syrup go into one drink, all that shit. So if it’s good, it’s because
I made it.”
“...Remember when you told me that I was the coolest person you know?” Jeongguk asked
casually, and Jimin snorted with laughter.

“Don’t even say it. Goodbye, hyung. Have a good day at work,” Jimin said one final time in a
dismissive fashion, but Jeongguk didn’t miss the pleased little smile on his face that was
mostly in his eyes, but it was screaming in his posture. That was one thing Jeongguk was
learning about Jimin—a little bit of praise went a long way. One genuine compliment seemed
to send him flying into the stratosphere in the best way possible.

Jeongguk would just need to compliment him more and more.

By the time he got to the office, Jeongguk had already had a third of his first coffee, drinking
it like the elixir of life. He used the carrier Jimin had provided as he walked into the lobby,
balancing the drinks and keeping his bag slung up onto one shoulder. Almost everyone in the
large lobby greeted him with a bow and called him by name, and Jeongguk bowed back
hastily, using a pinky finger to push his sunglasses up into his hair. He took the elevator to the
tenth floor and bypassed the empty front desk, because he always showed up earlier than the
secretary.

But not Mina.

“Good morning, Jeongguk-ssi,” she said, already turning on her computer, her hair in a sleek
high ponytail.

“New manicure?” Jeongguk asked immediately upon noticing, and she smiled.

“Got it done last night,” she said, showing off her nails as Jeongguk admired. “You still
haven’t let me make you an appointment. It’s been almost three months. Show me your
nails.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You’re overdue,” Mina complained, snapping her fingers. Jeongguk rolled his eyes and
presented one hand, and Mina took it and examined, frowning slightly. “Not horrific, but
knowing you, you’re doing the bare minimum just to keep me from bothering you about it.”

“You’re spot on, per usual. Here. Try this,” Jeongguk said, handing her the vanilla latte. Mina
beamed, because Jeongguk knew that her love language was acts of service, and a coffee first
thing in the morning was a big gold star. Mina accepted it, and then she took a careful sip.

“...Wow,” she said, pulling away and examining the cup. “Oh! This is where you got your
coffee yesterday. Where is this place? This is the best vanilla latte I’ve had in a long time.”

“Just look it up,” Jeongguk recommended with a small smile, and then he decided to throw
Mina a bone. “The guy I’m sleeping with works there. He made these.”

“Oh-h-h-h,” Mina said in understanding. “Aw, he made one for me?”

“He actually asked if you wanted one. He’s very observant,” Jeongguk said, and then he
grabbed his other two coffees and walked into his office, settling in and feeling far lighter
than he had in weeks, easily.

“...Good morning.”

“Hey, tattletale,” Jeongguk casually said while reading an email from a board member.
Namjoon walked in and immediately sat on the armrest of Jeongguk’s couch, crossing his
arms.

“Tattletale?”

“Mm.” Jeongguk forwarded the email to the appropriate party, and then he pushed his chair
back slightly. “You and Mina talk too much.”

“We talk just the right amount,” Namjoon argued. Jeongguk pursed his lips, but then he
offered up his iced Americano.

“Try this.”

“Try your coffee?” Namjoon took a few steps closer and took the cup. “Why? Did you poison
it?”

“Yes, hyung, which is exactly why I want you to drink it,” Jeongguk flatly replied. Namjoon
took a quick sip, and then he hummed.

“It’s good. Why am I drinking it?”

“Just wanted your opinion,” Jeongguk said as he took the coffee back. “That’s all. You can go
now.”

“Wow. I came here to tell you that I’m running the financial strengths and weaknesses report
for the month of May this morning. You have an hour somewhere in your schedule later on to
talk about it?” Namjoon asked. “Saw one weak point that needs corrective action. Also, have
you seen the statements from our Tokyo office?”

“No. Are they shit?”

“No, they’re impressive. I’ll run that by you later, too,” Namjoon replied.

“You know you don’t need to do all this shit,” Jeongguk said. “I feel like I remind you every
full moon like you’re a fucking werewolf. I don’t need to hear all this. You’re the damn Chief
Financial Officer, hyung. You literally make seven hundred million won a year.”

“And I told you six years ago that we won’t have a harmonious relationship if we don’t share
with each other,” Namjoon replied, raising one eyebrow as he stole a pen off Jeongguk’s
desk, twirling it between his fingers with no intent of returning it, it seemed. “Also, if I was a
werewolf, I’d bite you.”

“How romantic,” Jeongguk quipped, eyes flicking to his calendar. “Come back at six. Is that
too late?”
“Got anything before close of business?”

“Uh… quarter to three.”

“Done.” Namjoon tucked the pen behind one ear, pulling out his iPhone. “I’ll be back then.”

“Because your office is so far away,” Jeongguk said dully, and Namjoon snickered.

“See you later,” he said, and then he departed Jeongguk’s office and turned right to go to the
office two doors down. Jeongguk blew out a breath and stared at his computer screen,
because he still had to decide whether or not to push through a phenomenal queer coming-of-
age manuscript to the production team and agree to a whole promotional package. It wasn’t
the first time—Jeongguk was notorious in Korea for running one of the only companies
willing to publish LGBTQ+ literature, so agents flocked to him with their most promising
writers. Conservative companies balked at him, but their billables and numbers were hideous
in comparison, because the general population was actively seeking out more queer literature,
and Jeongguk was both capitalizing on a hungry market and playing to his strengths.

Fuck it. I’m having a good day. I’ll do it, he thought to himself, because the company could
easily afford it no matter the financial outcome. He pulled up his template, plugged in all the
necessary information, and sent the memo through to the right people with his seal of
approval, which wouldn’t be a surprise to any of them. Surely, though, it meant that Seokjin
would be in his office in the next day or two, and Yoongi would follow soon after. Namjoon
would be the last one in the office to talk numbers over a glass of scotch. They worked like a
well-oiled machine, the four of them sitting comfy at the top of the ladder. But all four of
them were happy to reach down and pull other people up to sit beside them, and that was
possibly the difference between GCPH and other corporate companies in Korea.

Around lunchtime, Jeongguk’s phone vibrated, and he hated the way that he abandoned all of
his work and grabbed it instantly to check the message:

PARK JIMIN [01:03:53PM]

should I bring back your clothes again? ;)

JEONGGUK [01:04:25PM]

Absolutely not.

PARK JIMIN [01:04:58PM]

:( hyung’s mean
JEONGGUK [01:05:18PM]

Being cute will get you nowhere, Park Jimin.

PARK JIMIN [01:05:43PM]

So you admit that I’m cute?

JEONGGUK [01:06:20PM]

Maybe.

PARK JIMIN [01:07:02PM]

I’ll remember that next time I want to sit on your face ;)

JEONGGUK [01:07:55PM]

Get your head out of the gutter. I’m at work.

PARK JIMIN [01:08:19PM]

So am I, but that’s never stopped me from daydreaming about you

JEONGGUK [01:08:40PM]

Are you flirting with me?

PARK JIMIN [01:09:10PM]

Is it working?

JEONGGUK [01:09:38PM]
 Goodbye, Jimin.

JIMIN [01:10:03PM]

It’s totally working

Jeongguk set his phone down and pitched forward to lie on his desk for a moment, refusing to
answer that last text message in fear of his own sanity. That was when Mina chose to walk
into his office.

“Rough afternoon?” she asked, setting a black folder onto the desk and scooting it underneath
Jeongguk’s elbow purposely.

“If I’m dead before my thirty-seventh birthday, the contents of my text messages will be the
reason,” Jeongguk mumbled. Mina snickered and walked away, and Jeongguk sat up and
checked the files in the folder he’d just been given, eyes flicking over to his phone.

This is dangerous. This is so fucking dangerous. I shouldn’t be feeling any of this. I have to
tell him to stop. We can’t do this.

Jeongguk read the entire text message conversation twice more before lunch, smiling both
times like a fool.

Chapter End Notes

OKKKKKKKKKK so what do we think, is JK as whipped as we thought or what ;) can

you feel the angst coming? *happy sigh*

Please stayed tuned until next weekend!!! And be on the lookout for my Secret Santa fic
❤

TWITTER
 like a summer night
Chapter Notes

I finally figured out how to center my moodboards in my chapters. Don't laugh at me I'm
STRUGGLING. Also, can we all collectively thank and compliment my baby Cata for
making such beautiful moodboards? I could never. Everyone say THANK YOU CATA
for your service ;)

SO LISTEN, if you saw my latest tweet with the angsty snippet of JK yelling at
Namjoon... that's not until chapter 7 YOU ARE SO WELCOME!!!!! hahahahaha ok so
anyways, I've been agonizing over this chapter for a long time, so I really hope it's OK!
It's 17.3K so fingers crossed!

Also, have you figured out which Secret Santa fic is mine?! Most important hint is how
I write JK's name ;)

Talk to me on TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

[moodboard by cata]

~~~~~~~
Jeongguk, Jimin discovered, didn’t know the meaning of the word “quit.”

And Jimin was not the type of person to file a complaint when Jeongguk’s persistence meant
that Jimin was sexually satisfied. No matter what Jimin suggested or presented to him,
Jeongguk was always game. He handcuffed Jimin to his bed and let Jimin call the shots
despite being physically bound to the headboard. He used whatever toys Jimin brought with
him. He fucked Jimin in the bath after they had already gone one round. He had absolutely no
desire to decline anything, and Jimin even offered. He would tell Jeongguk that Jeongguk
could easily decline, but Jeongguk never wanted to. Instead, he would agree or recommend
something even better, something more exciting.

There were a few red flags that Jimin discussed with Taehyung and Hoseok, just so he could
have a second and third opinion. Jeongguk started asking if Jimin wanted to eat a meal
together every so often after they had sex. He offered a spot in one of his drawers where
Jimin could keep a few articles of clothing to change into after their nights together. When
they had sex on a work night for Jimin, Jeongguk said that Jimin could sleepover, and Jimin
did a total of five times without even thinking twice. But the biggest red flag was that
Jeongguk let Jimin play on his PS5—only after checking that Jimin could actually game and
wouldn’t mess anything up.

“So you’re dating him.”

“No,” Jimin declared openly, flipping a page in his workbook. It was the end of June, which
meant that exams were around the corner before the semester ended in mid-July. Jimin had
checked off everything on his graduation list like a madman. All he had to do was pass his
exams, and he was free of the machine until he started his graduate program. He would have
his degree, though, which meant that he could start pursuing his dreams in real time.

“You’re dating him,” Taehyung said, and to his left, Hoseok snickered. All three of them
were crammed onto Jimin’s bed with Sammi curled up at the foot of it, trying to complete
assignments before midnight.

“I’m not dating him, you idiot,” Jimin said with harsh affection. “Dating someone means
going out in public with them and shit like that. We don’t. I go to his apartment, we have sex,
sometimes he drops me off at work, and that’s it.”

“Listen, I didn’t think you two were dating until he let you touch his PS5,” Hoseok said.
“Then I knew he was in love with you.”

“You’re ridiculous,” Jimin said, rolling his eyes.

“Think about it, though,” Taehyung said, sitting up slightly with his legs still draped over
Hoseok’s lap. He paused for a moment, suddenly in a daze as he stared at Hoseok’s side
profile, and then he grinned and leaned in to nuzzle the side of Hoseok’s head before kissing
his cheek. Hoseok frowned at first and pulled away, but Jimin saw the smile appear a moment
later. “Think about what he’s doing, Jimin.”
“Which is what?” Jimin hovered his stylus over his iPad.

“He’s older than you, rich as fuck, he works all day long, and he still has time to invite you
over and have dinner with you and cater to your every sexual whim,” Taehyung listed,
counting on his fingers. “He couldn’t give two fucks that you’re swamped with school and
work. You don’t care that he’s always working and runs a company. You two are just vibing.
You’ve never had that with any relationship before. No one’s ever been with you and
supported what you’re doing with your life while also giving you time and space and
independence.”

“Well, he’s older. He gets it. Been there, done that, you know?” Jimin said. “That doesn’t
mean we’re dating. It just makes shit easier.”

“But what if he wants to date you?” Hoseok wondered.

“I doubt he’d want to,” Jimin replied, shaking his head. “It’s… I don’t know. We have a lot in
common, but the age difference bothers him a lot. He doesn’t talk about it, but I’m just…
waiting. I’m kind of waiting for him to be like, ‘this isn’t working.’”

“So what, you’re just gonna stick around until he does?” Taehyung asked, glancing at Hoseok
first before staring Jimin down. “Because if that’s your plan, you’re an idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Jimin argued snappishly. “Look, we’re having a good time. We have
chemistry. We get along well. I don’t care that he’s older, but I’m pretty sure he cares that I’m
younger. And it’s only a matter of time before he realizes it.”

“So you’re just gonna stick around,” Taehyung repeated, sounding like he wanted to laugh.
Jimin shrugged.

“Why not?” he said defensively. “I like him. We do things for each other. The sex is great.
I’m happy. Why mess with a good thing?”

“Because if either one of you catches feelings, you’re fucked,” Hoseok pointed out. “Then
your good thing turns into a living hell.”

“And if you stick around, you’re absolutely going to fall in love with him,” Taehyung said,
and Jimin snorted with laughter. “Don’t laugh, you know I’m right! You’ll definitely catch
feelings. He’s perfect for you, Jimin. We’ve never even met him and we know it.”

“So what if he catches feelings first? Falls in love with you?” Hoseok challenged. “You break
his heart?”

“He won’t,” Jimin swore with misplaced confidence. “Not if he’s the one who’s worried
about the age difference. He won’t fall in love. He’ll stop himself.”

“And if you do?” Taehyung quietly asked. Jimin scraped his teeth along his bottom lip a few
times, because even though he didn’t want to answer or be confronted with such questions, he
knew it was necessary, and that his friends were looking out for his best interests.
Jimin was the kind of person who wanted to be loved, enjoyed being loved. But he liked it
most when it was from the right people, people he trusted enough to let in. He actively sought
out such people with difficulty, but the result was typically positive. And when he loved, he
loved fiercely and completely. He loved like one breath was all he had left. He loved with his
entire heart and soul, his body, everything he had with an extra one percent for good luck.
Jimin had loved before, but never fully. He’d always held himself back, fear keeping him
from being his most vulnerable self, fear keeping him from stripping bare and letting
someone see the real Park Jimin.

The troubling part was that Jeongguk seemed to strip Jimin bare in every way. They were
only supposed to be having sex, but Jeongguk saw right through Jimin and always managed
to get down to the nitty-gritty. His presence alone could draw haphazard confessions out of
Jimin that Jimin never thought he’d make. Jimin didn’t want to tell his friends, but his fear
was that he could easily fall in love with Jeongguk. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, but
he had gone from being addicted to the sex to wondering what it would be like to go out to
dinner with Jeongguk. The switch had happened alarmingly fast.

And Jeongguk was naturally affectionate. His eyes smiled whenever he looked at Jimin, even
if his mouth was doing something else. He held Jimin in a protective fashion, kissed him so
sweetly, and he believed in Jimin. That was something Jimin had never had in a partner
before. Jeongguk’s actions were terrible for Jimin’s heart, though, because he made Jimin feel
cared for, made him feel special and important, even if it was all just a fleeting act to keep
Jimin coming back for more.

“If that happens, I’ll let you know,” Jimin answered instead, brushing it off as he continued
trying to study. He wasn’t sure if he believed his own words, but he chose to just roll with it
and not question the sudden shift in the relationship, the way that Jeongguk seemed to be
steadily infiltrating his life and the way Jimin was letting it happen with a smile.

One Tuesday afternoon around lunchtime, the last Tuesday in June, Sana called Jimin over to
the register and asked him to take orders. Jimin had been perplexed until he’d seen Jeongguk
standing there in a beige suit and white button-up, aviator sunglasses pushed up into his long
hair, using two fingers to pinch his bottom lip as he read over the menu, the other arm
crossed. There was no one else in line, so Jimin leaned his elbows on the countertop, feeling
giddy.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, and Jeongguk glanced over with round, curious eyes
and a small smile.

“I wish it was my idea, but Mina sent me to get coffee,” he said simply. “And Namjoon
hyung wanted one, too. And now half of the people on my floor want to know where I get my
coffee. I’m not telling them.”

“They can read the cupsleeve,” Jimin argued, his heart swelling with pride.

“Or I can toss the cupsleeves and hide the evidence,” Jeongguk replied, his eyes sparkling.
“How’s your day been?”
“Busy,” Jimin replied, fighting the urge to hop over the counter and throw himself into
Jeongguk’s arms, because he was so beautiful and such a welcomed sight after a long and
arduous morning. “But good. Oh, guess what I found out yesterday?”

“What?”

“I found out that I can pay to have a small stand at the markets in Seoul on a Saturday or
Sunday,” Jimin said excitedly. “Like, a super tiny stand, and it’s kind of expensive, but I can
rent it for the day and start to kind of market myself.”

“Oh yeah?” Jeongguk crossed his arms. “What will you be selling?”

“I’ll have to get everything I need and make sure that whatever I use isn’t what Chatty uses.
I’ll need all the materials to make my own coffee and I’ll use my own recipes, make enough
pastries and things to sell. I’m tempted to do pretzels. I made soft pretzels for winter here
once, and they sold out every day by noon. And the girl I work with, Sana? She’s a really
good friend of mine, and she said she’d help me. And I can also set up a way for people to
donate gently used books so I can start a collection,” Jimin explained quickly, tempted to hop
up and down while he spoke because he could hardly contain himself.

“Sounds like a good start,” Jeongguk said.

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to do it anytime soon. I’m thinking maybe September or
October, when it starts to cool down a little. Fall is the absolute perfect time to market The
Nook,” Jimin explained.

“Or you could start marketing in August so that come fall, you’re ready for action and you
have a consistent clientele built up,” Jeongguk replied.

“That… yeah. That might be a good idea,” Jimin agreed. “I like that. Thanks, hyung. I’ll ask
my manager if I can pick up a few extra shifts here, then.”

“Why’s that?”

“So I can save up enough money to rent out a small stand for more than one day,” Jimin
replied. “If I’m at the market every Saturday and Sunday for four weeks or so, that gives me
time to market myself. It’s seven hundred and fifty-thousand won for an entire day at the
marketplace I’m eyeing, so I’ll need…” Jimin did the quick math in his head. “Shit. Six
million won.”

“What’s your hourly pay?” Jeongguk wondered.

“Thirty-five thousand won an hour,” Jimin replied. “I mean, I have a few million saved up
already, but some of it goes towards my rent. I’ll just need a few extra shifts to be able to rent
out a stand for more than one weekend. August shouldn’t be too difficult of a time, though.
Thanks, hyung. I’ll try that.”

“I don’t think I did much to help, but no problem,” Jeongguk replied with a gentle smile.

“What would you like this time?” Jimin inquired.

“Two of the largest iced Americanos you can possibly make, extra strong. That’s for me and
my other hyung. Mina will have a vanilla latte, and so will Seokjin hyung. Namjoon hyung
wanted an extra strong and extra hot Americano. Is all of that okay?” Jeongguk asked, raising
both eyebrows. He was already pulling out his wallet. “And if you tell me I can’t pay, I’ll file
a formal complaint.”

“ Fine, you can pay,” Jimin agreed reluctantly, ringing it up with a smile. The fact that
Jeongguk paid for it with a black card and didn’t even bat an eye made Jimin shiver. He
turned and started to make the drinks, sensing Sana lingering near the backroom just in case
other customers came up to order. Jimin turned, and then he motioned for Jeongguk to step
inside the shop and out of the way. Jeongguk, frowning at his phone, slipped into the shop
and stood on the other side of the countertop, leaving Sana free to mind the register.

“You look troubled,” Jimin commented, dumping ice into a tall cup.

“I do? Sorry,” Jeongguk sighed. “I’m leaving for Japan on Thursday.”

“What? You’re leaving?” Jimin almost spilled the milk.

“Yeah. I’ll be gone for two weeks. I come back on the fifteenth. We have an office in Tokyo,
and I need to go check on things,” Jeongguk replied. “I go a few times a year for about two
weeks at a time. Haven’t been since late February, so I’m overdue.”

“Well, that will be fun,” Jimin commented, trying not to breathe too deeply in fear that he
might feel the hollowness in his chest at the very thought of Jeongguk not being around for
two weeks. “A little vacation.”

“Not much of a vacation,” Jeongguk said with a chuckle.

“Well, I think it sounds like one,” Jimin argued lightly, snapping the lid onto one iced
Americano. “I haven’t been on a vacation in four years. Too busy with school. I always loved
Tokyo.”

“Isn’t the semester almost over?”

“Yeah. Exams start on Monday the nineteenth,” Jimin replied.

“Well, maybe you can think about a vacation then.”

“Nah.” Jimin poured the milk for one of the vanilla lattes. “I need to be here to focus on my
business. I have a lot of shit to finalize if I plan to market myself right after graduation. I can
rest and take a vacation when things settle down.”

“You should take some time for yourself,” Jeongguk recommended, and Jimin glanced up
with a small smile.

“I’ll rest when I don’t have dreams to achieve,” he replied, finishing up the last drink. “Until
then, I need to keep going. But I’m sure you’ll have a great time in Tokyo.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Jeongguk said, watching Jimin place all the drinks into a carrier. “Um, I also
came here to let you know that I’d be gone for two weeks.”

“Noted,” Jimin said, still smiling as he handed over the drinks, trying his damndest to shove
down the sadness that was threatening to bubble to the surface. “Don’t get bored without
me.”

“It’s okay. I have my old friend to keep me company,” Jeongguk said, holding up his right
hand and wiggling his fingers as Jimin snorted with laughter, covering his mouth as he
reached to put the milk away with his free hand. “Thanks for the coffee, Jimin-ah. Everyone
will be really happy.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem. Thanks for stopping by,” Jimin replied, straightening up. “Have a
good trip, hyung.”

Jeongguk didn’t say a word. Instead, he set the coffee back on the countertop, and then he
crooked a finger at Jimin. Jimin’s heart leapt right into his throat, because Jeongguk looked
like he wasn’t expecting much. But Jimin pressed his palms into the counter and leaned in,
and Jeongguk met him halfway. When Jimin closed his eyes and felt Jeongguk’s lips on his, it
was pure magic. It wasn’t a quick little dismissive kiss, either. It was a real kiss, a goodbye
kiss, and Jimin’s knees weakened, the butterflies in his stomach going for a wild loop.

“See you in two weeks,” Jeongguk whispered, and then he scooped up the coffee and pushed
his sunglasses down over his eyes, turning and walking out the door. That was a promise. He
still wanted to see Jimin in two weeks. Being away and in another country wouldn’t dull the
spark—it would only fan the flames.

Or create a dangerous wildfire. That was what scared Jimin the most.

***

JIMIN [09:02:23PM]

Are you already in Japan?

JEON JEONGGUK [09:03:11PM]

Funny enough, my flight takes off at 9:10pm. I’m onboard now.

JIMIN [09:03:57PM]

You’re bullshitting me
JEON JEONGGUK [09:04:45PM]

JEON JEONGGUK [09:04:55PM]

Am I?

Jimin let out a strangled noise and cursed when he dropped his phone directly onto his face,
and then he fumbled for it and tapped on the picture, eyes wide. He zoomed in. He zoomed
out. He zoomed in again. He zoomed out and whimpered, feeling tempted to hug his phone to
his chest. He also felt tempted to start touching himself almost immediately, because he had
to go without Jeon Jeongguk touching him for a torturous two weeks, but he sat up and shook
his head as if scolding himself as he responded.

JIMIN [09:06:12PM]

Jesus fuck you’re so hot I’m actually mad

JIMIN [09:06:49PM]

I dropped my phone on my face

JIMIN [09:07:10PM]

No one looks that beautiful getting on a plane how could you do this to me
JIMIN [09:08:03PM]

Also I thought CEOs had to wear a suit when they flew on planes

JEON JEONGGUK [09:08:54PM]

I’d rather swim to Japan than wear a suit to fly at 9pm. Thank you, though.

JIMIN [09:09:18PM]

OK well you’re so fucking hot I’m still mad at you

JIMIN [09:09:49PM]

Can’t believe I get to split myself open on your dick, I really did well

JEON JEONGGUK [09:10:21PM]

You’re unbelievable LOL. Taking off now.

JIMIN [09:10:51PM]

Have a good flight, hyung, I’ll see you soon!

JEON JEONGGUK [09:11:15PM]

You’re the first person I’m seeing when I come back.

***

A week away from Jeongguk wasn’t so bad. In fact, Jimin found that he had extra time to
focus on his school assignments instead of being thoroughly dicked down, which was quite
disappointing, in retrospect. Around nine o’clock each night, at work or even at home, he
would instinctively check his phone and look for a text message that never came through, and
then he’d force himself to go back to doing his work, trying not to scratch his horny itch.

It wasn’t until Tuesday after work that his phone started to ring while he was in the middle of
finishing an assignment for his risk management course. Poor Sammi got a fright and
meowed at the phone indignantly, instantly curling up in Jimin’s lap and knocking his book to
the side. Jimin grabbed his phone: JEON JEONGGUK. Heart swooping, he answered
quickly.

“Hello? Jeongguk hyung?”

“Jimin-ah?”

“Hi. You never call me. Is everything okay?” Jimin asked. “I thought you were in Tokyo.”
Trying not to laugh, he added, “Is this a call for phone sex?”

“No,” Jeongguk said, laughing under his breath. “No, although that’s… something I didn’t
think about while I’ve been here all week. Missed opportunity. But no, that’s not why I’m
calling.”

“Okay. Why are you calling?”

“Your exams start on the nineteenth, yes?”

“Right.”

“Well, I was wondering if, uh, if you wanted to come to Tokyo for a few days.”

“...What?” Jimin stopped petting Sammi’s soft fur, nearly dropping his phone. “You what?
What’d you say?”

“Well, I know you have work and everything. But if you could take a day off or move your
schedule a little, you could come for two days,” Jeongguk explained. “Fly out Thursday after
your morning lecture, stay Friday, leave Saturday morning.”

“I—w-well, hyung, I—I work on Saturday morning,” Jimin stammered. “I… I could switch
to the second shift, but—but I… hyung? Hyung, why…? This isn’t—I’m confused.”

“Why are you confused?” Jeongguk asked. “Your graduation is coming up. You’ve been
working nonstop. You said you haven’t taken a vacation for four years. I know it’s not much,
but it’ll be two days. I’ll be working, but you’ll have a place to stay, at least. Just to explore
Tokyo for a little. That’s all I’m offering. A short break for you before exams.”

“You… Wait, you don’t just want sex?” Jimin checked, raising his eyebrows even though
Jeongguk couldn’t see him. Jeongguk snickered.

“Jimin-ah, you’re more than just someone to have sex with, in case you didn’t realize. I’ll
only want sex if you do. This is just to congratulate you on almost graduating and give you a
small break,” Jeongguk replied. He was so levelheaded, and Jimin’s mind was racing a
thousand miles per hour. Jeon Jeongguk, rich CEO extraordinaire, was inviting him to Japan
for a little vacation even though they were supposed to be just fuck buddies. This was hardly
what friends with benefits did. Was it? Were there rules and limitations that Jimin had to
enforce now? Had Jimin fucked up by not setting any properly? And in the same sense, did
he care? And why was the answer no? Jeongguk was asking if Jimin wanted to come to
Japan for a little break, no strings attached. And it sounded so… nice. So desperately needed.
He was presenting it so plainly, so convincingly, and Jimin was a weak man.

“Jeongguk hyung, I—I can’t,” Jimin sighed, rubbing his forehead. “As much as I’d like to, I
can’t… hyung, I can’t afford a plane ticket right now. I know they’re not that expensive, but
it’s last-minute, and I need to save my money.”

“Jimin,” Jeongguk said with a small laugh. “I’ll get the plane ticket. All you have to do is
show up if you want to.”

“You’ll…?” Jimin trailed off, staring at one spot on the floor.

“Look, I know it sounds fucking ridiculous, but I was coming back to my apartment from the
Tokyo office today and I thought about you stuck at home studying and working. I
remembered what you said when I came to Chatty last week, too. And I just thought it’d be
good to get you out of Seoul for a day or two. Blow off some steam. Relax before exams start
up. You don’t have to pay for anything. All you have to do is pack a bag and get on the
plane.”

“Christ, you’re serious. So… Okay. I… yeah. So does that make you my sugar daddy now?”
Jimin wondered, and when Jeongguk groaned, Jimin finally relaxed and let out a laugh,
falling back onto his pillows with his eyes closed, one arm slung over his forehead. It was so
easy. Talking to Jeongguk was so goddamn easy.

“Don’t you ever call me that again,” Jeongguk warned, and Jimin stifled another laugh.

“Sorry. I don’t know, hyung. This is just… you’re offering to pay for it all. That’s a lot. You
know I don’t like when you try to pay for everything. You know it makes me uncomfortable.
I don’t want to feel like an irresponsible child trying to freeload off you.”

“Jimin, I’m literally just offering a small trip to congratulate you on a huge life milestone,”
Jeongguk explained. “You’re not an irresponsible child at all, nor are you freeloading. You’re
a grown man who can make his own decisions and pay his own way. But I’m saying that I’d
like to pay for it as a gift. And because I’ve been here for a week and I’m bored out of my
mind.”

“Is that so?” Jimin quietly said, smiling and rolling onto his side. “Bored and horny and tired
of your own hand?”

“Ouch. That’s a low blow,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin giggled, rolling onto his stomach
instead.

“It’s fine. I’ve been completely unsatisfied with all of my toys all week long, so I get it.
Hyung, just—this is too much. This is more than my own parents are getting me for my
graduation. I don’t…”
“I miss you.”

“...Well, that’s just unfair,” Jimin whispered, feeling like he’d just taken a bullet straight to
the heart. He was tempted to check for blood. Jeongguk’s laugh was quiet and warm. “You
play dirty.”

“Did you expect anything less?”

“No. I… yeah. I miss you too, hyung,” Jimin admitted. “Look, I—I’ll change my schedule
for work. I’ll come to Tokyo, but only if you’re sure.”

“Jimin, this is your gift. You don’t have to come. I was just making the offer,” Jeongguk said.
“I miss you, but I can wait another week until I’m back in Seoul. I just thought it’d be nice
for you to take a break.”

“You’re right. It would be. I need one, and I didn’t really think about it until you offered. But
is this still acceptable under our arrangement?” Jimin asked in an almost challenging fashion,
and Jeongguk snickered.

“If I recall, we didn’t set any hard limits, so I’m just playing it by ear like we agreed,” he
said. “So? What do you say? You gonna go get your passport so I can finalize this plane
ticket?”

Jimin threw himself over the edge of the bed and grabbed the lockbox from underneath,
hands trembling as he spun in the code and flipped the lid open, grabbing his passport. He
then took a deep breath and read off all his details for Jeongguk to type in, including an email
address. Two minutes later, Jimin had an email with confirmation of his plane flight at three
o’clock on Thursday, and another email from “jeonjeongguk@gcph.net” with details about a
driver who would be picking Jimin up from the airport and an address for the apartment that
he had in Tokyo.

“Hyung…” Jimin trailed off, staring at his laptop in disbelief.

“Jimin-ah, I have to go. I’m meeting some colleagues for drinks. But you got all the
information?” Jeongguk asked, sounding like he was gathering up his belongings.

“I got it all, hyung. Are you sure about this?” Jimin asked, because he suddenly felt small and
uncertain. Here was Jeongguk, fourteen years his senior, about to meet some of his coworkers
for drinks in Tokyo, but not before setting Jimin up for a short trip to visit. It felt so odd, but
the adrenaline rush consuming Jimin’s body made up for all the trepidation he felt. The
bottom line was that Jeongguk was the first person in recent memory who made Jimin feel
shy, made him feel vulnerable, and he didn’t hate it.

“I’m absolutely positive,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin heard a door opening. “I miss you, Jimin.
I’ll see you on Thursday night when I’m done at the office. I’ll come right home to see you.”

“Don’t say that,” Jimin quietly said, rolling onto his side to hug Sammi.

“Don’t say what?”

“Don’t say you miss me,” Jimin replied, closing his eyes. “It’s too much, isn’t it? Isn’t that
too much?”

“Probably. But I’m not going to lie to you. Goodnight, Jimin-ah. Text me if there’s anything
you need. I’m excited to see you,” Jeongguk said, and then he hung up, leaving Jimin
hugging his phone and holding tightly to Sammi.

Was this the right decision?

Right decision or not, Jimin had a plane ticket and a plan. He changed his Saturday shift to
the afternoon, and he told Taehyung and Hoseok where he would be. He expected them both
to lecture him, but instead, they just looked at each other and then back to Jimin with
matching grins, as if they knew some secret that Jimin didn’t know. Jimin was about to fire
back defensively that nothing was going to happen, but Taehyung just laughed and asked
where the line was, because it was too blurred for him to make it out.

“This is it,” Hoseok finally decided. “This is the trip where you fall in love with him.
Guaranteed.”

“Please,” Taehyung scoffed. “Jeongguk-ssi is obviously already in love.”

“Will you two shut up?” Jimin snapped. “God, let me pack in peace.”

If his teacher expected Jimin to pay attention in his Thursday morning lecture, Jimin failed
miserably. It was just a review for the exam, and they were given the study guide, but Jimin
was busy thinking in Japanese, practicing as if he needed to before arriving in Tokyo. He
even texted Sana in Japanese to see if she would indulge him, and she delivered, texting back
with questions that Jimin could answer for practice.

Jimin took a taxi to Incheon, feeling a thrilling rush of adrenaline the moment the car pulled
up to the curb for departures. He hadn’t been on a plane in years thanks to his schedule, and
he so sorely missed the freedom that came with traveling, the feeling of a new adventure on
the horizon. Giddy, he rolled his suitcase behind him, kept his bag secure on his shoulder, and
sent off a text message:

JIMIN [01:02:34PM]

I’m at the airport!

JEON JEONGGUK [01:04:03PM[

Good. I’m trying my hardest to leave the office early to come see you.
JEON JEONGGUK [01:04:56PM]

I should be there before 8pm. Are you OK to wait for me?

JIMIN [01:05:32PM]

Of course I’ll wait hyung lol what else will I do

Jimin tucked his phone away and pulled his mask up over his nose again, securing it as he
walked through the automatic doors and found the queue where he could check his bag and
grab his physical ticket. He used the self-service kiosk, scanning his passport and plugging in
the necessary information, printing out a tag sticker for his bag and looping it on the handle.
Then he printed his ticket, and he stared.

Business class?

“Oh, sorry,” Jimin apologized, because someone else was anxiously waiting. Jimin stepped
out of the way and hurried over to drop his bag off. Then he stuck his ticket into his passport
and rushed through to security, brow furrowed as he walked, trying to figure out what the hell
Jeongguk was thinking. But there it was on the top of his ticket when he glanced at it again
after going through security—PRESTIGE. SKY PRIORITY. And his seat was listed as 07A.

“...Prestige Class,” Jimin whispered to himself, stopping in front of a walkway with a blue
sign overhead. Feeling like a fool, he glanced over his shoulder once, and then he carefully
walked towards the sliding doors down the wood-paneled hall. When he approached the front
desk, they asked him to present his ticket.

“Are you family?” the woman asked him with a pleasant smile after seeing his ticket and
typing in the membership number on the ticket. Jimin raised both eyebrows, confused, but
she continued. “Are you family or a friend to Mister Jeon?”

“O-Oh. Um, I’m—I’m a friend?” Jimin said, hating that it came out as a question, his voice a
pitch higher. “He’s—I’m his friend. He bought the ticket.” Shut the fuck up and act like an
adult, you idiot. You’re supposed to be cool.

“That’s lovely. Welcome, Mister Park,” the woman said in the same kind tone of voice as she
gestured. Jimin quietly walked through, and then he stared in disbelief at the rows of black
leather lounge chairs and cream leather lounge chairs. Men and women alike were scattered,
reading the newspaper or a book, typing on laptops, sipping drinks. It was rather quiet, but
very calm and nothing like waiting at the gate with a tired mother and her cranky children, or
two teenagers with loud music. Amazed, Jimin pulled out his phone again.
JIMIN [01:54:44PM]

You’re absolutely my sugar daddy now. This is insane.

JEON JEONGGUK [01:57:02PM]

Call me that again and I’m cancelling your flight.

JEON JEONGGUK [01:58:38PM]

Did you find the prestige lounge? LOL

JIMIN [01:59:03PM]

I’M TOTALLY GETTING FOOD AND IT’S FREE??!!! IT’S FREE I LOVE IT HERE

JEON JEONGGUK [02:00:13PM]

This ought to be good.

Jimin helped himself to something to eat and munched happily, sending pictures to Taehyung
in the meantime. He ate with haste, though, because he had to board his plane at half past
two. But while he ate, he enjoyed pretending that he was a successful, rich businessman who
traveled abroad to see clients, just passing through the prestige lounge. Because he was
someone with prestige. A prestigious businessman. With prestige.

“I’m losing my mind,” Jimin murmured to himself as he slung his bag over one shoulder and
exited the lounge with profuse bows, headed straight to his gate. He wanted to laugh and
maybe wave to everyone waiting to board in the economy line as he lined up for business and
first class, but then he controlled himself, trying to remember that he was supposed to be
acting like a mature twenty-two-year-old, despite the circumstances.

Jimin had always gotten on the plane and walked right past business class. This time, though,
he stepped on and presented his ticket, and he was served immediately.

“Good afternoon, Mister Park,” the flight attendant said with a bow. “Right this way.”
She directed him to his seat by the window, and Jimin scooted in and sat down, immediately
looking out the window in amazement. He felt like a child as he played with the
entertainment unit and buttons for seat adjustments, and the best part was that nobody was
stopping him.

“Welcome aboard, Mister Park,” a flight attendant said, approaching him as economy was
still boarding. “Your drink and snack.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you,” Jimin said, accepting a cup and a mini can of Coke, as well as salted
peanuts. He shouldn’t have been so enthralled by it all, but it was so nice. He had never flown
in business class before, never been treated like he was worth remembering. Yet here
Jeongguk was, booking him a first class ticket for a two and a half hour flight, spoiling him
for no apparent reason other than being rich and not knowing anything but business class,
putting a hint of respect on Jimin’s name for possibly the first time.

The plane took off right on time, and Jimin stared out the window in disbelief, headphones
on, music playing like he was in some kind of movie, soaring over the country. He meant to
watch an actual movie, but the magic of it all distracted him from doing anything more than
watching the clouds pass below him. When the flight attendants came back around to offer a
light meal, Jimin played it cool and let them set the food onto his tray. Then, when they had
moved on, he whipped out his phone and took multiple photos to send to Taehyung later so
he could brag about his sandwich, soup, and fresh fruit.

It wasn’t as if Jimin had never encountered the finer things in life—quite the contrary. He
was used to wiggling his way through the bullshit to make sure that he was exposed to just
about everything. Being served like royalty and being cared for, receiving great customer
service, wasn’t a foreign concept. But for Jimin, at age twenty-two, it wasn’t quite in line
with his daily living. This wasn’t his norm, and that was what made it so spectacular to him.
It was a sign that if he worked hard enough, he could have this kind of treatment by choice.

There was also the underlying factor of Jeongguk being the one who arranged it all. Jimin
was not going to admit to fuck all or say that he was falling in love, or anything ridiculous
that Taehyung had said. But he was certainly catching feelings, all things considered, and
weeks ago, he would have hated himself for it. But now, under the circumstances, he felt at
peace with it. He most definitely had feelings for Jeongguk—what kind of feelings, he
couldn’t pinpoint. But there was no shame in it, even though Jimin knew deep down that
nothing could come from it. Perhaps that was the reason for his tranquility. He wasn’t letting
himself believe that he and Jeongguk could be anything more than fuck buddies, mostly
because Jeongguk hadn’t yet crossed the line in Jimin’s mind. A trip to Tokyo was
dangerously close, but it was just a very kind gift, and Jimin had been repeating that in his
head like a life-saving mantra for two days.

Jeongguk was the whole package. He was caring and sweet and attentive. He was mature and
levelheaded and not quick to judge, and he was patient. There were times when Jimin caught
him slipping (“that’s the Virgo in you,” he’d tease) and getting irritated when something
wasn’t organized or planned well or something was out of place, or if Jimin didn’t fold the
towels the right way or hang up a shirt properly, or especially if he lost a game when they
played together on his PS5. He could have a temper on him, surely, if given the opportunity.
But Jimin was far worse, and Jeongguk was very tolerant. He was also successful,
hardworking, dedicated, and slightly jaded—all things Jimin could appreciate. So Jimin was
smitten, and that wasn’t a scary thing for him. Jeongguk was a perfectly flawed human being,
absolutely gorgeous, and a dream in bed. If Jimin had a little crush on him, there was no harm
in that. No one would get hurt.

Right?

Jimin snapped out of his daydreaming state when the plane began to descend, ending the
most luxurious plane flight of his life so far. He disembarked, profusely thanking all the flight
attendants on his way out and walking the breezeway into Haneda Airport, pulling his mask
back on. He pulled out his phone first thing.

JIMIN [05:48:23PM]

I landed and I’m at the airport!

JEON JEONGGUK [05:49:53PM]

My driver will pick you up at baggage claim. See you soon :)

If nothing else, Jeongguk was highly responsive to every text that Jimin sent, even when he
wasn’t traveling by air for a quick visit—another reason to crush on him. Jimin could
appreciate a man who was prompt in answering. He navigated the airport, glad that Sana had
refreshed his memory on reading Japanese over the years and grateful for the English on the
signs as well. He passed through customs and headed straight to baggage claim.

“Wow,” he whispered to himself when he immediately saw a gentleman in a black suit

holding a sign that said PARK JIMIN with the GCPH logo at the bottom. It was so surreal
that Jimin pulled out his phone again as he approached, taking a picture subtly without the
driver noticing.

“Hi, I’m Park Jimin. Thank you for waiting,” Jimin introduced himself in Japanese. The
driver bowed.

“Welcome to Tokyo, Mister Park. I’m Mashahiro, Mister Jeon’s driver. I recognize you from
the photo Mister Jeon showed me,” he said kindly. “Do you have a bag? Let’s grab it and be
on our way.”
Jimin agreed and waited at the correct baggage claim belt to pick up his bag, and then he
followed Mashahiro towards the exit.

“Mister Jeon said you spoke Japanese,” Mashahiro said as he beckoned to where his black
Lexus was parked. “I’m impressed. Have you been to Tokyo before?”

“Only a few times,” Jimin replied. “But it’s been years. Thank you for driving me, by the
way. That’s very kind of you.”

“Happy to do so,” Mashahiro replied, holding the car door open for Jimin so he could hop in.

The drive to Jeongguk’s place was nothing short of breathtaking for Jimin. He was certain
that others, especially locals, would be unimpressed with the views, but there was something
magical about Tokyo for Jimin.

“We’ll be in Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku,” Mashahiro explained as they got closer to their

destination. “I think you’ll enjoy Mister Jeon’s apartment. It’s quite nice, and the view is
lovely. Top floor, three bedrooms. He’s quite fond of it.”

Mashahiro pulled up to the multi-story pristine white building, and then he hopped out and
retrieved Jimin’s bags, bowing and handing them over. He also handed Jimin a business card
in case Jimin wanted to go somewhere while Jeongguk was busy. He then gave Jimin a
keycard to enter the building, as well as another card with a passcode on it, likely to enter the
apartment. Then he pulled away, leaving Jimin to his own devices.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Jimin whispered as he entered the lobby of the building, amazed at
the interior design and the soft music playing overhead. He entered the elevator, used the
keycard, and pressed the button for the twenty-third and top floor. The elevator soared up,
sliding open to reveal just a single locked door for apartment 2301. Jimin glanced down at
the code, and then his breath caught in his throat.

1013.

“You little fucker,” he whispered to himself as he punched in his birthday, knowing that
Jeongguk had done such a thing on purpose. He couldn’t even open the door right away
because his hand was shaking, heart racing, palm sweating. How dare he change the code for
Jimin’s arrival? Had he even anticipated the possible ramifications on Jimin’s heart? What
had Jeongguk been thinking? Was he intentionally and obliviously trying to woo Jimin?

Jimin stepped inside and quickly kicked his shoes off, setting them on the mat by the door
and slipping on a pair of house slippers that had been clearly left there for him, seeing as they
were blue and facing towards the rest of the apartment. Jimin walked in and surveyed the
wide open floor plan and massive windows of the corner apartment, noting the luxurious
kitchen and the large blue and white area rug on the polished wooden floors. It was a stark
contrast to his apartment in Gangnam, but it was definitely an apartment worth at least three
or four billion won, given the location and amenities.

“Unreal,” Jimin whispered to himself as he walked through the one open door—Jeongguk’s
bedroom. The bed was made perfectly (trust Jeongguk), and on the bed was a towel set, a
new toothbrush, a piece of dark chocolate, and a note. Jimin gently picked it up and read:

How’s this for fake hotel service?

Jimin was tempted to crumple up the note and drop it at Jeongguk’s feet when he walked
through the door, but he resisted, too shocked to do much of anything. Instead, he shrugged
out of his bag and pulled out his phone, and then he video called Taehyung.

“Answer, answer, answer—hey!” Jimin said after muttering to himself, Taehyung’s face
appearing on the screen. He was messy-haired and shirtless and scowling. “Please don’t tell
me I interrupted you having sex.”

“No, you interrupted me throwing a silent fit over my assignment,” Taehyung replied, and
then he tilted his phone to show Hoseok lying on his stomach on the bed with his feet near
Taehyung’s head, AirPods in as he played Among Us on his phone. “He’s the imposter, so I
can’t touch him or he’ll probably kill me in real life first. Where are you? That’s a fancy
hotel.”

“Right, about that. It’s not a hotel. Jeongguk has an apartment in Tokyo.” Jimin held his
phone out and turned in a slow circle, and Taehyung’s jaw dropped. “I swear to God, Tae, I’m
fucking the richest gay man in Korea.”

“That’s… probably true,” Taehyung said after a moment of thought. “Where is he? Are you
alone?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna send you a ton of pictures. His driver picked me up,” Jimin laughed, and
Taehyung rolled his eyes. “And gave me a keycard to get into the building here. Jeongguk’s
still working. So I’m just the trophy fuck buddy right now.”

“This is awfully luxurious for being just his fuck buddy,” Taehyung teased. “Hold the fuck
up, is this another penthouse? Jesus Christ.”

“Yeah.” Jimin stopped walking and turned the camera so Taehyung could see the view out the
window. “It’s amazing. I called him my sugar daddy, like, twice. He’s not amused.”

“Very fitting—oh, hyung’s not happy. What happened?” Taehyung asked Hoseok.

“ Nothing , nothing,” Hoseok said in frustration, and then he added, “stupid fuckers,” under
his breath as Jimin tried not to laugh.

“Tae, I’m gonna go. Hobi hyung, good luck on your game!” Jimin called out, and then he
focused on Taehyung again. “I’ll keep you updated.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will. Send the pictures,” Taehyung demanded, and then he hung up
without so much as a goodbye sentiment. Jimin sat on the edge of the bed, and then he sent
Taehyung all of the pictures he had taken, adding descriptions when necessary. He took a few
more of the apartment for his eyes only, and then he flopped onto the bed and texted Hoseok,
asking for the code so he could join the game of Among Us while he waited for Jeongguk to
return from work.

It took an hour, but around quarter to eight, Jimin heard a beeping at the door for the keypad.
He sat upright with a pounding heart the moment he heard the door open, and he tossed his
phone to the side carelessly as he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward. Seconds
later, Jeongguk walked through the door, and Jimin’s racing heart stuttered. His black hair
was combed back off his face, and he was wearing an all-black suit and a black tie, which he
was loosening as he stepped into the bedroom.

“Hey,” he said softly the moment he saw Jimin on the bed, and he shrugged his black bag off
his shoulder and onto the floor carelessly as Jimin stood up. “Hey, how was your flight? I—
hey,” he said a third time with a little laugh when Jimin walked up and threw his arms around
Jeongguk’s neck to hug him.

“How was your day?” Jimin asked, face buried in Jeongguk’s neck to inhale his familiar
soapy scent. He wanted so badly to hate how much it felt like home, but he was so
comfortable being close to Jeongguk that he couldn’t hate anything about it. He wanted to
drown in the scent and never emerge. Now was the time to truly embrace his in-flight
realization that he most definitely had developed a crush on his fuck buddy.

“I asked you about your flight first,” Jeongguk murmured, one hand on the small of Jimin’s
back as he used the other hand to take his wallet out of his pocket and toss it onto the dresser.
He pressed two kisses to the side of Jimin’s head. “How was it?”

“You had a good day?” Jimin asked, ignoring Jeongguk’s questions as he pulled away to
survey Jeongguk’s face in search of an answer. Jeongguk used his free hand to gently hold
Jimin’s chin, and then he smiled.

“Boring. Better now that you’re here,” he answered shortly. “Your flight?”

“I felt like a fool flying in business class,” Jimin admitted, but Jeongguk was still smiling. “I
was so out of place, but the service was excellent. It’s not that long of a flight. You didn’t
need to do that.”

“You needed to get away,” Jeongguk argued, wiggling his tie back and forth until the knot
was loose enough so he could slip it over his head and toss it aside. “You needed the little
vacation, so business class is a good way to start. And if you ever call me your sugar daddy
again, I’ll end you.”

“I won’t. Thank you,” Jimin whispered gratefully. “This is all completely unnecessary.”

“Not to me,” Jeongguk said, and then he drew Jimin closer and kissed him. Jimin wanted to
shout in giddiness, because whenever Jeongguk initiated a kiss, it felt different. There was
something so confident, so insistent about the way he kissed, like he’d memorized all of
Jimin’s little nuances and knew exactly what Jimin wanted. He kissed Jimin like he meant it,
like every kiss had purpose, and it turned Jimin into a complete mess. Jimin had gone an
entire week without any kind of physical intimacy for possibly the first time in years, and it
felt so cliché to say, but Jeongguk was worth it.

“Wanna suck you off,” Jimin said immediately, almost trembling in excitement. “Been
waiting for you to get here.”

“All yours,” Jeongguk muttered against Jimin’s lips. They exchanged a few more messy
kisses, and then Jimin pushed Jeongguk to sit on the edge of the bed, dropping to his knees
between Jeongguk’s legs and reaching for Jeongguk’s belt.

“Did you miss me?” Jimin whispered as he threw Jeongguk’s belt to the floor and unbuttoned
his pants. Jeongguk held his breath and said absolutely nothing until his pants and underwear
were halfway off and Jimin’s mouth was on him, and then he moaned, bracing himself with
his palms pressed to the bed, head falling forward.

“Missed you so much,” he breathed.

“Did you miss this?” Jimin whispered, and then he blinked up at Jeongguk as he dragged his
tongue up the shaft of Jeongguk’s cock. Jeongguk used one hand to comb through Jimin’s
hair, and then he set his hand at the base of Jimin’s neck and gently pushed. Jimin eagerly
took Jeongguk’s cock all the way down his throat, his hands pressed to the insides of
Jeongguk’s thighs as he worked his tongue expertly.

“Of course I missed this,” Jeongguk breathlessly said. “Fuck, that’s so good. Tighten your
lips, baby, just— fuck, oh my God, that’s it, j-just like that.”

Jimin felt like he lived to please Jeongguk with the way that his own cock was already hard
and straining in his jeans. He whimpered a little, but he kept going, drinking in all of
Jeongguk’s little noises, hellbent on having Jeongguk come down his throat. He wanted it,
needed it after being away from him for almost a week.

“Shit, I’m gonna come. Can I come down your throat?” Jeongguk asked, and Jimin hummed
and nodded eagerly. “So close… that’s it, baby, that’s—God, oh God, I’m gonna—I’m—”
And then he came hot down Jimin’s throat, hips stuttering, his right leg bumping Jimin’s
shoulder. Jimin sucked and licked and milked Jeongguk for all he was worth, and then he
pulled back and used one thumb to swipe at his bottom lip. The moment Jeongguk tucked
himself back in, he grabbed Jimin and threw him onto the bed, climbing over him and
straddling him, palms pressed into the mattress beside Jimin’s head. Jimin grinned up at him.

“Missed you,” he said teasingly, and Jeongguk snickered. He dropped his full weight onto
Jimin as both of them let out yelps and laughs, and then he rolled both of them until Jimin
was on top comfortably, knees pressed into the bed.

“Your turn?” Jeongguk asked in a whisper, softly kissing Jimin’s lips with absolutely no
regard for where they had just been.

“No,” Jimin whispered, shaking his head. “Not right now. You can fuck me later tonight.
Want it rough. Need it, actually. Been so unsatisfied the past week. So you can fix that up for
me later.”
“I will. Are you hungry?” Jeongguk asked softly, reaching up to run his fingers through
Jimin’s messy hair.

“Starving. You were a great appetizer. Good protein,” Jimin joked, and Jeongguk groaned,
yanking Jimin down and hugging him close as Jimin laughed, burying his face in Jeongguk’s
neck. “Can I do this?” he whispered, voice muffled. “Can I—Can I just hug you?”

“Of course you can,” Jeongguk murmured, fingers dancing up and down Jimin’s spine. “We
can order food here and eat as much as we want. And then we can spend all night together,
okay?”

“Mhm.”

“And then tomorrow, I was thinking you could explore Tokyo for a little in the morning,
maybe go shopping. Do whatever you want to do,” Jeongguk whispered in Jimin’s ear,
sending a pleasant shiver down Jimin’s spine. “And then I’ll be home early, if you want me to
be.”

“If I want you to be?” Jimin pulled away just slightly to stare Jeongguk down. “You’re the
reason I’m here.”

“I better not be the sole reason you’re here,” Jeongguk said in warning, though his tone was
kind. “This is for you to relax and spend some time on yourself, Jimin-ah.”

“What if having sex with you is spending time on myself?” Jimin asked, trying not to smile.
Jeongguk rolled his eyes, so Jimin added, “ Fine, fine. I’ll go shopping and be a good boy
and self-care and all that.”

Jeongguk seemed pleased with that response. He picked Jimin up and set him on his feet, and
then Jimin quietly followed him out into the kitchen area, pulling at the bottom hem of his
shirt nervously. Why did he feel skittish? He suddenly felt like he had to cling to Jeongguk
and touch nothing, like the only safe place or hint of solace was with Jeongguk. If Jeongguk
recognized, he didn’t speak on it. He just picked up his phone and started to order delivery,
lifting one hand and gently massaging the back of Jimin’s neck as he did. Jimin’s head lolled,
eyes falling closed, and Jeongguk chuckled as he set his phone down, pressing his other hand
and elbow gently to Jimin’s chest to deepen the massage.

“God, you’re good at this,” Jimin murmured, and Jeongguk hummed.

“You’re tense. Come tell me about your trip while we wait for the food.”

Jeongguk poured them both a drink, and then he sat on the couch beside Jimin and let Jimin
theatrically retell the story of his journey. He laughed in all the right places, chimed in when
necessary, and stared at Jimin as Jimin spoke, never once reaching for his phone or looking
away. Jimin was so used to his friends and peers averting their eyes that he felt himself
blushing by the time he finished his story, something that hardly ever happened to him.

The food arrived, and Jimin ate like he had been starved on a deserted island for years. He
tried not to eat too much, though, because he had some strenuous physical activity planned
directly after dinner, and he didn’t want to fill up on food. He much rather preferred
Jeongguk to fill him up. Focus, Jimin, focus.

If Jeongguk was tired from work, he didn’t show it. He carried Jimin into the bedroom,
stripped him down, and spent a torturously pleasurable amount of time just touching and
kissing Jimin up and down his entire body. When he was three fingers deep in Jimin and
Jimin was in near tears from being edged multiple times, Jeongguk finally gave Jimin what
he wanted and made things rougher. He manhandled Jimin to the edge of the bed, stood
between his legs, lifted his hips, and fucked into him hard, so much so that Jimin
momentarily considered if sheets could create brush burns on his back. When he came, it was
with his legs wrapped around Jeongguk’s waist, lower body lifted off the bed, body tilted so
that he made a mess of himself.

“Fuck, I missed you,” Jeongguk panted, collapsing on the bed beside Jimin, both of them
sweating and naked. “Thanks for christening my bed.”

“What?” Jimin laughed, rolling to his side after wiping off his torso. “Are you serious?”

“I come here for business, Jimin-ah, not sex,” Jeongguk replied, licking his lips and turning
to stare at Jimin. “I’ve only had this apartment for five years, and I’ve been single and
uninterested in anyone since then.”

“So I’ve officially defiled your sheets for the first time,” Jimin declared, and Jeongguk let out
a small laugh.

“I expected nothing less. Do you want to take a shower, maybe watch a movie? I kind of like
watching Marvel movies when I’m in Tokyo. Does that interest you?”

Oh God, I’m doomed. I’m absolutely fucking doomed. He’s perfect, Jimin thought to himself
as he happily agreed. He stuck like glue to Jeongguk as they showered together, asked to
borrow some of Jeongguk’s clothing as bedtime wear, cuddled up next to him on the couch so
they could watch Iron Man. And he kept waiting. He waited with baited breath for Jeongguk
to push him away and blanch at the domesticity of it all, waited for him to drop the “we’re
just fuck buddies” bomb, waited for him to remember that Jimin was only twenty-two.
Instead, Jimin sat enamored as Jeongguk whispered little comments throughout the movie
about certain scenes, immediately betraying his deep infatuation with Marvel superheroes,
specifically Iron Man.

“He’s a businessman,” was the primary argument Jeongguk gave. Jimin didn’t even bother to
dig deeper into it. He just threw his legs over Jeongguk’s lap and curled up.

Come morning, Jimin woke up to an empty bed and sunlight streaming through the curtains.
His phone said that it was half past ten, but he distinctly remembered Jeongguk kissing his
forehead and his lips and brushing back his hair affectionately around sunrise, whispering
that he would be back before dinner. Jimin rolled out of bed and grabbed the throw blanket to
wrap around himself, cuddling into it because it smelled like Jeongguk. He padded out into
the sunlit living room, and that was when he saw a note on the kitchen countertop.
“No you fucking didn’t,” he whispered when he saw Jeongguk’s black credit card sitting
there as well. He read the note:

Don’t even think about calling me your sugar daddy. Just take this, call my driver, and go
shopping. I recommend Harajuku. Don’t go overboard, but get something that you want. You
deserve it. Happy almost-graduation. -JK

“You’re fucking impossible,” Jimin said to himself out loud, wishing Jeongguk was around to
hear him, because he’d say it to Jeongguk’s face without hesitation. Hands trembling, Jimin
grabbed his phone and fired off multiple quick text messages.

JIMIN [10:35:39AM]

You fucker

JIMIN [10:36:02AM]

You don’t just leave your black card here and expect me not to call you a sugar daddy

JIMIN [10:36:42AM]

Why would you do that why would you give me all this power

JIMIN [10:37:10AM]

Speak into the mic hyung don’t be shy

JEON JEONGGUK [10:39:05AM]

Park Jimin.

JIMIN [10:39:37AM]

Yes.
JEON JEONGGUK [10:40:11AM]

Please let me do this for you.

JIMIN [10:41:09AM]

Why should I?

JEON JEONGGUK [10:41:48AM]

Because I’m tired of spending my money on me. Please.

Jimin stared at the text message, thumbs hovering over the screen. Two short sentences were
like a lasso around the heart and a merciless tug. He knew Jeongguk was texting it as a tired
plea for Jimin to just accept it and go wild, not to instigate sympathy or curiosity, but Jimin
couldn’t help it. He immediately realized that Jeongguk was a billionaire with billionaire
friends and no pets or significant other, and he never mentioned any family except for his
parents and older brother, none of whom seemed interested in reaping the benefits of a rich
son or brother. Jeongguk had said in the past that he’d been immediately turned off by men
who were interested in him only for his money, but here he was, leaving his black card on the
countertop for Jimin to use.

JIMIN [10:44:05AM]

OK, hyung. I’ll go to Harajuku like you said!

JEON JEONGGUK [10:45:13AM]

Wait, that’s not sarcasm? You’re not going to keep fighting me on this?

JIMIN [10:46:11AM]

You said you’re doing it for me, so I’ll behave myself now.
JEON JEONGGUK [10:46:57AM]

I don’t trust you further than I can throw you, but OK lol

Jimin resolutely dressed in black jeans and a white short-sleeved button-up shirt with black
palm leaf print, since it was the middle of July and the weather was warm. If he lingered too
long, he began to overthink, so he bustled around Jeongguk’s apartment humming to himself,
combing through his hair with his fingers and packing a small little bag to carry with him as
he shopped. He made sure he had Jeongguk’s card tucked somewhere safe, as well as his own
wallet, and then he contacted Mashahiro, who was immediately responsive.

“Off to do some shopping, then?” he said merrily when Jimin hopped into the car.

“To a certain degree, yes,” Jimin agreed. “Um, will you be the one to pick me up as well
when I’m finished?”

“Absolutely, Mister Park. We aren’t far from Harajuku, so all you need to do is call me, and
I’ll swing around to pick you up again,” Mashahiro explained. “We’ll be there in twenty
minutes.”

Jimin sat back and relaxed, sunglasses on, clutching his bag tightly, his mind racing.
Jeongguk seemed hellbent on giving Jimin the best two-day holiday ever, even though Jimin
had the stress of exams beginning on Monday. But what about Jeongguk? Was he stressed?
He had invited Jimin to Tokyo as a gift, but given the way he kept talking about how much he
had missed Jimin, was Jimin also in Japan to help Jeongguk find some peace of mind?
Maybe… Maybe Jeongguk needed to be cared for even more. Maybe Jimin had to do more,
put forth a more valiant effort to take care of Jeongguk. It had happened with Jimin’s parents
—they hadn’t been comfortable with Jimin taking care of them and offering genuine, tangible
assistance until two or three years ago, having insisted for so long that they were “fine.”
Perhaps Jeongguk was the same way. So that meant that Jimin had to turn the next twenty-
four hours into a stress-relieving gift all the same for Jeongguk, give him a reason to
remember it.

mood: “holiday” by little mix

“I’ll drop you off here, Mister Park. Call me when you’re ready,” Mashahiro said as he pulled
up to the curb. Jimin thanked him profusely and hopped out, and then he smiled and took a
deep breath.

Shopping. Boy, could he shop.

Jimin had absolutely no intention of swiping Jeongguk’s card until it was crying in
exhaustion. He was going to use it, of course, just to make sure that when Jeongguk checked
his bank statements, there was evidence of a good time. But he wasn’t just going to buy
things for himself. He planned to find a few things for Jeongguk as well, because Jeongguk
deserved to be spoiled.

Jimin slipped his AirPods in and listened to music as he walked along the streets and ducked
in and out of shops, unable to stop smiling as he wove through racks and shelves of clothes,
fluttered his fingers along fabrics like he was playing a glissando across piano keys, peering
and choosing what he liked best. He selected several different tops and some shoes for
himself, and then he started scouring the stores for Jeongguk, choosing a striped turtleneck, a
leopard print sheer button-up, and a nice black jacket that he knew Jeongguk would wear
constantly in the winter season. He thought he was finished, but then he saw a chain necklace
that looked like Jeongguk’s style when he wasn’t at the office, so he bought it.

It was a no-brainer, then, when Jimin strolled past a shop that catered specifically to tourists.
Without hesitation, he ducked into the shop and began to walk around, eyeing everything the
store offered and trying to find something that would make Jeongguk think fondly of Tokyo
whenever he was here without Jimin. He found a cute snowglobe of Tokyo Skytree, shaking
it gently in one hand with a smile. He then picked up a fridge magnet with Mount Fuji and
cherry blossoms on it with TOKYO, JAPAN written on the bottom. His eyes fell on a small,
fake cherry blossom in a little vase, which he thought would look perfect on the bedside table
in Jeongguk’s bedroom. The last thing he snatched up before walking to the line for checkout
was a black t-shirt with “Tokyo” written on the top left corner in Japanese. Then he waited in
the line, hopping from foot to foot until he could pay for the tokens with his own credit card
proudly, asking specifically for the white bag with the obnoxious I LOVE TOKYO written on
it, red heart in place of the word “love” and all.

“...I see you’ve done well,” Mashahiro said when Jimin hopped back into the car after a few
hours, grinning ear-to-ear, all of his bags in the backseat of the car.

“Had the time of my life,” Jimin confirmed. Then he quickly texted Jeongguk.

JIMIN [03:07:38PM]

Mission accomplished ;)

JEON JEONGGUK [03:08:16PM]

Yeah? You actually went shopping?

JIMIN [03:09:14PM]
[photo attached]

JEON JEONGGUK [03:10:36PM]

Nice! I’ll be home by 4pm :)

Thrilled, Jimin let himself into the apartment and changed into something more comfortable,
afterwards shoveling down some leftovers in the fridge from their dinner last night. As he
was brushing his teeth, the door opened.

“Hyung!” Jimin rinsed his toothbrush off, and then he ran out of the bathroom. Jeongguk was
setting his keys on the kitchen countertop, wearing a burgundy suit with a white button-up,
hair in casual waves hanging in one eye. Jimin rushed over and threw his arms around
Jeongguk’s neck, to Jeongguk’s palpable surprise.

“Why are you so excited?” he asked with a small laugh, hugging Jimin back.

“Come here,” Jimin said, taking both of Jeongguk’s hands and gently tugging as he walked
backwards. “You have to see what I bought.”

“Do I get a fashion show?”

“No, just—hold on, cover your eyes.” Jimin spun and stood behind Jeongguk on his toes,
covering Jeongguk’s eyes. Jeongguk snickered, but he let Jimin struggle through it as they
walked towards the bedroom together, where Jimin had laid out the clothing he’d bought for
Jeongguk on the bed. “...Okay, open your eyes.”

“Oh. Wow, these are so nice,” Jeongguk said immediately, and Jimin grinned.

“You like them?”

“I do.”

“That’s good, because this stuff is for you,” Jimin said, gesturing to the bed. Jeongguk spun
so fast to face him that Jimin leaned back.

“Park Jimin, I swear to God, if you—”

“That’s my stuff,” Jimin interrupted, pointing to the bags sitting near the closet. “So take a
deep breath, will you? You really think I was going to go out shopping and not get you
things? I love giving people presents. I know I got it with your card, but I’m the one who
picked it out, so it’s different. And you like everything I bought, right?”

“I… yeah. I love it all,” Jeongguk softly said, sitting on the edge of the bed and running his
fingers across the fabric of the leopard print top. “The necklace is awesome.” He reached for
it and examined it with a smile. “I hardly ever go shopping anymore unless it’s online. This…
you didn’t have to, Jimin-ah. Come here.”

Jimin immediately straddled Jeongguk’s lap and set his knees on the bed, tangling his fingers
in Jeongguk’s hair and kissing him deeply, savoring the way Jeongguk’s hands engulfed his
hips and then slipped under his shirt to press to his back.

“I have more,” Jimin whispered, pressing a few kisses to Jeongguk’s waiting lips in quick
succession. “I got you some presents. But these I got with my own money. Hold on.”

Jimin hopped off Jeongguk’s lap, and then he grabbed the white bag. The moment Jeongguk
saw it, he laughed, but Jimin scowled at him and sat down on the bed beside him, so
Jeongguk stopped laughing and patiently waited.

“I got this…” He pulled out the fridge magnet first. “To go on your fridge. It’s pretty, right?”

“Very. My first fridge magnet for this apartment,” Jeongguk said, setting it in his palm and
admiring it. “Oh, there’s more?”

“Yes, three more things. This…” Jimin pulled out the t-shirt. “You can wear this around the
house or to bed. I got an extra large, since you like t-shirts really big.”

“I like it,” Jeongguk said, shaking it until it unfolded and eyeing it carefully. “I needed more
shirts like this.”

“Good. Now this… I think you can put this on display somewhere in the living room,” Jimin
said, taking on the snowglobe and giving it a quick shake before handing it over.
“Snowglobes are my favorite gifts to give people. This was the coolest one.”

“It’s amazing. Have you ever been to the Tokyo Skytree? I’ll take you one day,” Jeongguk
commented flippantly, turning the snowglobe over in his hands to bring about another
snowfall as Jimin fumbled the cherry blossom plant in the bag.

I’ll take you one day.

That implied that this trip was not a one-off occurrence. That implied that Jeongguk would be
bringing Jimin to Tokyo with him again someday. That… implied so much more than
Jeongguk probably realized.

“Um, and then this,” Jimin said, feeling shy again. “I thought this would look pretty in your
room.”

“Oh, wow,” Jeongguk said, accepting the fake cherry blossom in its little vase. “It’s gorgeous.
You’re right.” He leaned over and set it carefully onto his bedside table, turning it at just the
right angle until he was satisfied. “It looks great. Adds some color to the room.”

“I’m glad you like it. You needed some Tokyo gifts,” Jimin declared. “You can even keep this
cool bag. I really went all out.”

“Jimin.”
“Hmm?” Jimin stopped folding the bag, because Jeongguk was sitting with the snowglobe in
his hands again, rolling it back and forth as the snow fell over the Tokyo Skytree, eyes trained
on it. He glanced over at Jimin as he drew in a breath, and when he exhaled, there was a hint
of dismissive laughter as he looked back down at the gift in his hands.

“Nothing. It’s just… been a long time since someone got me a gift that means something,”
Jeongguk admitted blatantly. “Not trying to sound pathetic, it’s just… nice. And very
unexpected. I saw that bag and thought you’d gotten me a bunch of gag gifts, but you—I
mean, you really… you put thought into them and spent your own money. I’m really
touched.”

“You’re worth it,” Jimin whispered. Jeongguk set the snowglobe aside, and then his lips were
on Jimin’s.

Oh.

Jimin immediately turned his upper body to lean into the kiss more, feeling his stomach
swoop and all the butterflies escape their cage to fly wild and uninhibited. Jeongguk’s hand
was on his thigh, and he was kissing Jimin so tenderly, slowly and carefully, exploring. It was
like they were kissing for the first time, because the headrush felt like a new experience, and
Jimin was gracefully falling into the hazy abyss, shattering every boundary line on his way
down and seeping through the blurred ones in blissful ignorance. Jeongguk’s other hand
found his waist, teeth gently pulling at Jimin’s bottom lip before his tongue swiped along it,
and Jimin began to drown. He lifted both legs and swung them over Jeongguk’s lap without
breaking the kiss just to be closer, and Jeongguk hugged Jimin’s legs with one arm, still
kissing him deeply, as if there were hidden places on Jimin’s lips that he had yet to find and
was desperate to do so.

“Hyung,” Jimin gasped into Jeongguk’s mouth, but Jeongguk caught his next breath with
another kiss that sent Jimin deeper. Unable to resist, magnetized, Jimin rolled until he was
lying on top of Jeongguk, their lips still attached. Jeongguk gently grabbed the bottom hem of
Jimin’s shirt, so Jimin sat up and removed it quietly. They kissed until Jimin could feel how
swollen his bottom lip was, until his body was absolutely aching for Jeongguk in any possible
way. Without a word spoken between them, they undressed one another back and forth,
fingers tangled in each other’s hair, Jimin decisively leaving love bites all along Jeongguk’s
skin to mark his territory. One day, Jeongguk would belong to someone else. But until that
day, he belonged to Jimin, and Jimin was hard-pressed to think otherwise.

“Stop,” Jimin breathlessly said the moment he saw Jeongguk with a condom in his hand. “S-
Stop. Do you need that?”

“Hmm?” Jeongguk trailed soft kisses down Jimin’s jawline to his collarbone, and Jimin
shivered.

“The condom,” he whispered. “Do you need it?”

“Not necessarily,” Jeongguk murmured, still kissing along Jimin’s neck. “I’m clean. Do you
need me to show you the paperwork from the doctor?”
“No. I trust you,” Jimin whispered. “I am, too. Please, hyung…”

Jeongguk didn’t hesitate. He forgot about the condom and grabbed for the lube instead, and
Jimin lost all sense of himself. Time meant absolutely nothing, and there was no need for
either of them to speak. Jeongguk propped up against the pillows with Jimin in his lap, and
Jimin kissed him deeply, slowly and rode him the same way. Jeongguk pressed his palms to
Jimin’s back, covered his chest and collarbone in kisses, and Jimin did everything he could to
pull pleasure-drenched sighs out of Jeongguk’s mouth, mixed with as many kisses as he
could manage. Feeling Jeongguk like this, feeling him bare, felt like a momentary out-of-
body experience. Jimin would burn every single condom the first chance he got.

“Jimin,” Jeongguk breathed, his forehead dropping against Jimin’s shoulder. “Fuck, feels so
good. I’m close, I’m close.”

“Me too,” Jimin gasped out. “I’m close too, baby, just—just touch me. Please.”

“Yeah?” Jeongguk dragged his lips along the curve of Jimin’s shoulder to the juncture of his
neck and collarbone. “You want to call me that?”

“You gonna let me?” Jimin asked, feeling the familiar and pleasurable pressure building in
his stomach as Jeongguk’s hand wrapped around his cock, thumb brushing over the slit to
collect the pre-come.

“Yeah. I like it,” Jeongguk whispered, and then he tightened his grip and got to work. Jimin
leaned back just a little, rolling his hips, eyes closed, head lolling back. He only choked out a
moan right before he came all over Jeongguk’s hand and his own abdomen, panting.
Jeongguk immediately rolled them, pressed Jimin’s knees to his chest, keeping his own right
hand clear of the sheets, and fucked into Jimin hard and fast. Jimin thought Jeongguk would
last, but he didn’t.

“Do it,” Jimin choked out when he felt Jeongguk’s rhythm faltering. “Do it, come inside me.
Do it, baby, go ahead.”

Jeongguk let out a small grunt and a whimper, and then he buried his face in Jimin’s neck as
he came, breathing heavily.

“God, that was amazing,” Jimin praised instantly, taking Jeongguk’s weight on top of him,
perfectly content with the mess they had made. Jeongguk slowly turned his head and kissed
Jimin’s neck lazily, still shallowing thrusting as Jimin shivered happily.

“Come wash up with me,” Jeongguk murmured, and Jimin obliged. He let Jeongguk carry
him into the bathroom, and they washed up together with hardly a word spoken between
them, just gentle touches and a few soft kisses. Once they were dressed again, Jeongguk
changed the sheets, laughing to himself because he’d never had to change his sheets in Tokyo
because of sex. Then he tumbled onto the bed, and Jimin knelt on it.

“Take your shirt off and flip over,” Jimin requested, swirling one finger. Jeongguk raised one
eyebrow, but he obeyed, taking off his shirt and rolling over onto his stomach. Jimin
immediately scooted over and straddled Jeongguk’s waist, sitting on top of him. Then Jimin
leaned forward and began to massage Jeongguk’s shoulders with care.

“What are you doing?” Jeongguk asked breathlessly, turning his head to the side.

“Peeling some bananas to make a smoothie. What does it look like I’m doing?” Jimin asked
with a laugh. “I’m giving you a massage. And don’t pull out the ‘this is your vacation, Jimin’
card, because I’ll make the massage hurt.”

“Why are you doing it, though?” Jeongguk wondered.

“Because I want to. Is that a good enough reason?” Jimin asked, drawing circles with his
thumbs as he worked out some of the knots in Jeongguk’s shoulders. Jeongguk said nothing.
He just let Jimin give him a massage, and Jimin enjoyed every moment of it. He watched
time tick by, spending thirty minutes in total on making sure that Jeongguk was completely
relaxed, making sure all the built-up knots were out of his back and shoulders, neither one of
them speaking. When Jimin finished, he flopped onto the bed, and then he held open his
arms.

“Now what?” Jeongguk asked, sounding amused as he lifted his head.

“Now I cuddle you. Unless you think that’s weird,” Jimin said. “It’s okay if you do.”

“Why would it be weird? Because I’m older than you?”

“Yeah. You might think you don’t need cuddles. But you do.”

“Is that so?”

“Just get over here and let me cuddle you,” Jimin demanded. Jeongguk snickered, but if he
had any pride about it, he swallowed it down and situated himself into Jimin’s arms, draping
one arm over Jimin’s torso in a makeshift hug. Jimin held him close, absentmindedly playing
with his long hair.

“The cherry blossom tree looks nice,” Jeongguk murmured, because the souvenir was in his
line of vision.

“It does,” Jimin agreed proudly, and then he paused, contemplating. He had so many
questions and no answers. He was already walking a tightrope over all the blurred and broken
boundary lines, so why not ask? “Hyung, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“You don’t have to answer.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you single?” Jimin asked. “I mean, I know what you said before. I know you said
that men have told you that you’re intimidating. But I guess… I don’t know. I’m just curious.
Someone like you… you’re the perfect man.”
“I’m definitely not, but I appreciate it,” Jeongguk said, arm still hugging Jimin’s waist. “I
didn’t think I would be. I didn’t mean to be, either. It just… happened that way.”

“Does it make you feel sad at all?”

“It used to,” Jeongguk admitted. “I didn’t think anything of it until I was thirty. Then I broke
up with Eunwoo, and suddenly, everyone was in my business. Everyone had an opinion about
my love life. ‘You’ll be lonely, Jeongguk.’ ‘You can’t be married to your work, Jeongguk.’
‘You shouldn’t have broken up with him, Jeongguk.’ ‘Your life has no meaning without a
partner to share it with, Jeongguk.’ Made me feel like shit. I was depressed for a solid year.”

“That’s fucking awful,” Jimin muttered, frowning.

“And it was difficult for my family to understand,” Jeongguk continued. “My brother was
married to a beautiful woman and had a son at age thirty. My friends kept asking if I wanted
to be set up with someone, and I always said no. I had no interest. People who didn’t know
me well enough would ask the same question you did. ‘Why are you single?’”

“I’m sorry,” Jimin whispered.

“No, don’t apologize. You were just curious. They were asking it from a place of judgment,”
Jeongguk explained. “And then I’d get the assholes who didn’t know me saying, ‘well,
you’re rich and good-looking. Women will throw themselves at your feet. Forget men. Just
find a beautiful girl and marry her. You don’t have to love her.’”

“A relationship just for the sake of it,” Jimin muttered.

“Exactly. Insulting to my sexuality, first of all, and second of all, not interested,” Jeongguk
reaffirmed. “I don’t know, Jimin-ah. If… If it happens someday, then it happens. If not, then
that’s just how life is. If I deserve love, it’ll come to me.”

“For what it’s worth, hyung,” Jimin started, feeling a painful hollowness in his chest as he
spoke, “I think that whoever gets to be with you will be really lucky.”

“Do you feel lucky?”

“What?” Jimin pulled his hand away, and Jeongguk lifted his head.

“Never mind,” he said, but then he laughed to himself and shook his head. “I was just—
you’re here right now. You’re with me. Do you feel lucky?”

“I won’t be here forever,” Jimin whispered, but the words felt like lies etched against his lips.
“But yeah. I do.”

Jeongguk sighed heavily, and then he slipped out of Jimin’s arms and rolled onto his back,
one arm slung over his forehead as he stared at the ceiling. Jimin turned onto his stomach and
propped up on his elbows.

“Do you… I don’t know,” Jeongguk said, struggling. “Do you think I’ll get lucky someday?”
“You deserve love. So it will come to you,” Jimin whispered, his heart still clenching
painfully. Jeongguk didn’t say anything after that. So Jimin scooted over and gently settled
on Jeongguk’s shoulder, and Jeongguk hugged him close, words failing the two of them.

Maybe they were both just filling each other’s voids.

***

Leaving Tokyo early on a Saturday morning was the definition of quiet heartache. Jimin
woke up before the alarm went off, and Jeongguk was fast asleep beside him. So for easily
ten minutes, Jimin lay on his side and stared sleepily, watching Jeongguk’s steady breathing,
watching him stir quietly and lick his lips, watching him exhale slowly with half of his face
buried in the pillow.

I could easily fall in love with him.

It wasn’t a surprise to Jimin anymore. Jeongguk deserved love, and Jimin suddenly realized
that he wanted to be the one to give it to Jeongguk. It felt absolutely impossible given their
circumstances, but so torturously tempting. Jeongguk hadn’t stopped Jimin from
hypothesizing about their future love lives as separate entities. That was telling in and of
itself. And now Jimin knew that he was going to have to either rip the Band-Aid off with a
brave face or purposely break his own heart. He could only hope it wasn’t the latter, because
he wasn’t sure that he could handle Jeon Jeongguk breaking his heart.

Mashahiro drove Jimin to the airport around half past nine, and Jeongguk came along for the
ride, chatting about how he had to go to the office later and meet with Namjoon, since
Namjoon always came to Japan at the same time as Jeongguk. Jimin made attempts to join
the conversation, but they were half-hearted. If anyone noticed, no one spoke on it, which
Jimin took as a sign that he could fake it well.

“Hey. Thanks for coming,” Jeongguk said as he handed over Jimin’s bag. He then wrapped
one arm around Jimin’s shoulders, drew him in, and kissed the top of his head. “I’m really
glad you did. I know it wasn’t much, but—”

“It was perfect, hyung,” Jimin interrupted, hugging Jeongguk back. “Thank you so much. I
think I can get through my exams now.”

“You’ll be completely fine,” Jeongguk said with confidence. “I’ll stay out of your hair this
week so you can focus.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Jimin agreed reluctantly. “Otherwise, I’d be calling you every
night as my personal human stress ball.”

“Good luck,” Jeongguk said with a small smile. “I’ll be back in Seoul on Wednesday, in case
you forgot anything at my apartment. But I don’t think you did.”
“Thanks, hyung.” Jimin hitched his bag further up his shoulder. “I’ll see you next week.”

Jimin watched Jeongguk get into the car, watched the car pull away from the curb, and it all
felt like a steady emptying of his heart. The void he kept thinking about was back, and that
was when he knew he was fucked. He had absolutely no idea how Jeongguk felt, but Jimin
was absolutely certain that when exams were over, he was going to think long and hard about
how he could navigate these newfound feelings. How he could break it to Jeongguk, how to
approach the topic with tact, how to prove himself to a man fourteen years his senior without
coming across as a child. To Jimin, Jeongguk felt like a ticking time bomb, only one breath
away from cracking and calling it all off.

It was terrifying in so many ways. When Jimin had developed feelings for his exes, like
Sungwoon, it hadn’t been too difficult to segue into something more committed, something
serious, more romantic. But Jeongguk was complex and layered, and he had lived more life
and been through more relationship turmoil than Jimin had. Jeongguk had a few more scars
and thicker skin. He didn’t seem like the type of person who opened up and loved easily and
without inhibition. Jimin had no idea if he was strong enough to permeate such a tough
exterior, if he was good enough for Jeongguk. All he knew was that if Jeongguk let him,
Jimin was ready to explore the idea of loving Jeongguk fully, completely, without limits. He
was willing to take that leap.

What Jimin couldn’t do, though, was dwell on it too much. He had taken off an entire week
from work to focus on studying for his exams, so Saturday afternoon was his last shift before
the week began. His advanced marketing strategies exam was on Monday morning, and he
was confident about that. His accounting and finance exam was on Wednesday morning, and
his Mandarin exam was Wednesday afternoon. Thursday morning he had his risk
management exam, and then he was free.

Jimin picked Sammi up from Taehyung and Hoseok’s apartment, because he had been too
terrified to even dream of leaving her alone for forty-eight hours. Sammi meowed and pawed
at her little carrier the entire time Jimin drove her home, and once he was inside, Jimin
tumbled onto his bed hugging her like his life depended on it.

“Sammi, Sammi, Sammi,” he whispered, scratching her little head and underneath her chin at
the same time. She purred happily, eyes closed. “If you had to tell Jeon Jeongguk that you
had feelings for him, what would you say?”

Sammi lifted her paws and dropped them lazily, leaning into Jimin’s touch.

“Right. You’d do it carefully. Because this is where it matters,” Jimin whispered to her. “I
have to prove myself to him, don’t I? I have to show him that I’m mature and that I can
handle being with him.”

Sammi swatted at Jimin’s wrists, and Jimin sighed.

“Yeah, I know. I shouldn’t have to prove myself to anyone, and hyung’s not that kind of
person. He wouldn’t want me to do that. But I’m used to doing that with people. So I guess
maybe I’ll just have to play it by ear. Do you want to study for exams with me?”
Sammi immediately rolled the other direction and stretched out, and Jimin snickered,
burrowing into his pillows and dragging his study guides towards him.

Monday’s exam was, as expected, a breeze. Jimin pulled an all-nighter on Tuesday studying
for accounting and finance and Mandarin, but it paid off—he was confident in the result. But
on Wednesday night, after eating dinner, he pulled out the study guide for his risk
management course, along with his textbook.

“...Wait, what?” he whispered to himself as he skipped to the third question. The study guide
was meant to mirror the contents of the exam, and that had been a saving grace for Jimin so
far. But suddenly, the answers weren’t ringing a bell. Jimin had filled out the fifteen-page
study guide for days in class, but as he stared at the contents, the letters began to swim on the
page.

You’re just tired. It’s exam week. You’re fine. Pull it together, he scolded himself, sniffing and
shaking his head as he flipped to the next page. Find something you know and go with it.
Jimin ran a pointer finger down the page until he found something that felt familiar, but then
he closed his eyes and tried to repeat back the answer from memory, and nothing happened.

“Sammi, can you read?” Jimin asked tiredly, but Sammi remained curled up on the desk, eyes
closed. “Some help you are. Fuck, okay. I can do this.”

Jimin flipped through the entire fifteen-page study guide with his brow furrowed in
concentration. He pulled out flashcards and wrote down terminology and other pertinent
information. He stacked the cards and flipped through them meticulously, but out of the thirty
or so that he created, he recalled a grand total of four answers without peeking. So he stood
up and paced his bedroom while talking to himself, using the flashcards, thinking that
movement would help.

It didn’t.

Jimin was not the kind of person to panic easily, but when it came to his education and his
future being on the line, he dissolved into an anxious mess, because he couldn’t prove
himself worthy of anything if he couldn’t pass an exam or complete a task well. It had
happened during his first semester at SNU, and it had happened during his internship last
summer. Now it was happening again, so Jimin lunged for his phone, because Taehyung
could always calm him down.

“...God damn it, Taehyung,” Jimin said hoarsely, his hands shaking when Taehyung didn’t
answer three consecutive phone calls. He then dialed Hoseok, silently pleading for him to
answer, but it went to voicemail as well after ringing multiple times. Jimin immediately threw
his phone straight at his pillows and snatched up his notes again, his hands still trembling as
he stared at the page. It may as well have been written in Greek. If he didn’t pass this exam,
he didn’t pass the class, and he wouldn’t graduate. And it didn’t matter that he’d been in
every lecture all semester—he knew nothing. Absolutely nothing. He couldn’t make sense of
anything on the page in his state of panic.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” he slurred out, because it was getting closer to midnight, and time
was running out. His exam was at nine o’clock, and he couldn’t make heads or tails of the
damn study guide. He flipped pages again, but it all just rolled right off the top of his head
and into the imaginary garbage can in his brain. Sammi was now at the foot of the bed curled
up in a tight ball, watching Jimin panic.

“I can’t do this,” Jimin said, his voice cracking. “I—I came all this way and did all this work
and I’m going to fail this exam. I—I can’t, I’m—I can’t do it, I can’t, I can’t.” The hot tears
of pure terror and angry anxiety trickled down his cheeks, and he fought back the urge to
crush the study guide in his fist. Taehyung wasn’t answering. Hoseok wasn’t answering.
Neither of them were available to help talk Jimin off the figurative ledge—

Jimin let out a small sob and reached for his phone, fumbling it twice before he finally
managed to unlock it and find the number he wanted.

“...Hey. Why are you calling me?”

“H-Hyung,” Jimin said, because the very second he heard Jeongguk’s gentle voice,
something inside him snapped. The tears came a bit quicker, and his throat constricted.
“Hyung, I can’t do it. I don’t know any of it.”

“What?” Jeongguk questioned sharply. “What are you talking about? Can’t do what? Why are
you crying?”

“I can’t, I don’t know anything,” Jimin rambled incoherently. “I-I have my last exam t-
tomorrow and I—I don’t—I-I don’t know what to do. I c-can’t do it, I can’t—I can’t breathe,
I can’t breathe. Hyung, wh-what do I do? What do I do? What—I can’t.”

“Jimin-ah,” Jeongguk said for the fifth time, because he’d been saying Jimin’s name the
entire time Jimin had been speaking. Jimin hiccuped and sniffed, clutching the phone to his
ear. “Listen to me. Can you hear me?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Send me your address.”

“My…?”

“Your address. Send me your address. Do it now while I’m on the phone,” Jeongguk said.
Jimin could hear him walking around his apartment, but he pulled the phone away from his
ear and, vision blurred, he typed in his address and sent the text to Jeongguk.

“What… What are you…?”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Jimin wanted to say something, but then all he heard was silence. Jeongguk had hung up. But
not before saying that he was on his way over. Normally, Jimin would have freaked out and
started bustling around his apartment, trying to clean up or make things appear normal. But
he was in too much a daze and still quietly crying, the study guide mocking him from the
other side of the bed. He was tempted to encourage Sammi to chew on it or claw at it until it
shredded.
Jimin wasn’t sure how long he sat on the edge of his bed while doing nothing, but it must
have been around ten minutes. The bell sounded, and Jimin walked like he was floating
towards his door so he could press the button and let Jeongguk up, because that had to be
who was ringing for him at nearly midnight. The moment he buzzed Jeongguk into the
building, Jimin felt a lump rising in his throat, so he stumbled back to his bedroom and
grabbed the study guide, begging his brain to come up with something, but failing.

Handle your shit. Don’t cry. Keep yourself in one piece.

There was an insistent knock on Jimin’s door, so he rushed over and opened it. Immediately,
Jimin’s entire plan to keep it together failed and caved in on him. Jeongguk was standing
there in black sweatpants and a black t-shirt, tattoos on display, face bare, clear-framed
glasses covering his eyes, hair freshly washed and hanging in his face and tucked behind one
ear. And he looked so concerned that Jimin couldn’t hold it on.

mood: “my love won’t let you down” by little mix

“Hyung,” he choked out as he stepped back and let Jeongguk in. The door closed, and Jimin
immediately threw his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, seeking out comfort that he desperately
needed. Jeongguk hugged him tightly, rubbing his back and whispering soothing, sweet
nothings in his ear in an attempt to Jimin down.

“What’s going on?” he whispered, pulling away just slightly. Jimin just started rambling.

“H-Hyung, I don’t know what I should do, what if—what—what if—” Then he drew in a
sharp breath and coughed a little, because now he was just crying for what felt like no reason,
panicked.

“Jimin. Jimin-ah. Stop this. Baby, look at me. Stop. Look at me,” Jeongguk insisted in a firm
voice, taking Jimin’s face between his hands. Jimin held the study guide in one limp arm and
stared up at Jeongguk. Jeongguk used his thumbs to brush off tears quickly. “Stop it. You’re
panicking for no reason. What’s the exam? What is it about?”

“R-Risk management,” Jimin replied.

“And is that the study guide?” Jeongguk asked as his eyes flicked down, and when Jimin felt
his face crumple just a little, Jeongguk immediately tilted Jimin’s head and kissed his
forehead and his left temple. “Stop, stop it right now. You have the study guide. Look at me.”

Jimin sniffed and looked up again.

“Have you been in class all semester?”

“Yes.”

“Have you attended every lecture, done every assignment?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Have you ever failed an exam before?”

“No.”

“Then why are you panicking?” Jeongguk asked with a small smile. “Stop, stop,” he quietly
added as his thumbs caught a few more tears that spilled from Jimin’s eyes. “You’re going to
be fine. Here, come sit with me. Give me the study guide. Let me see it.”

Jimin sniffed and handed Jeongguk the study guide, and Jeongguk slipped his arm around
Jimin’s shoulder, cupped the side of his head, and kissed his hair, fingers scratching at Jimin’s
scalp soothingly. He guided them both to the bed, and Jimin sat down beside Jeongguk, his
hands still shaking from the anxiety.

“Okay. Let’s see,” Jeongguk murmured, his eyes scanning the first page as he rubbed Jimin’s
back. “Ah, okay. They started off with a big one. It wants to know if checking a customer’s
credit is a good example of risk reduction strategy, and then explain your response.”

“I… That’s, um… oh, God, I don’t know. I don’t know that one, hyung, I can’t remember. I
don’t remember what—”

“Shh, stop. Stop, take a deep breath. It’s okay. It’s just one question,” Jeongguk gently said,
kissing Jimin’s cheek and scratching his back again. “It’s fine. We’ll just try the next one and
come back to it. Number two… oh. Okay, you’ll know this one, surely. Even I remember this.
Beta is a measure of—A, total risk. B, market risk. C, unique risk. D, liquidity risk.”

“Uh… oh. Oh, that’s B, market risk. Because it has to do with, um, a benchmark market
index,” Jimin said in mild relief. When Jeongguk hummed in confirmation, Jimin slumped
into Jeongguk’s shoulder, blowing out a breath. Jeongguk lifted the study guide and gently
swatted the front of Jimin’s face with it, and Jimin cracked a small, watery smile, sniffing.

“Exactly. Does this study guide mirror the exam material?”

“Yeah. My professor said no surprises.”

“Then you’ll be fine. Try number three. Bet you know it. It’s asking for the algebraic
equation for the coefficient of variation. Do you know it?”

“Oh, oh. Um, that’s standard deviation over mean.”

“I knew you were a genius,” Jeongguk sighed, and Jimin managed a weak little laugh,
cuddling into Jeongguk further. Jeongguk took the hint and scooted back onto the bed until he
was up against the pillows, and he dragged Jimin with him easily.

Jeongguk sat with Jimin in his arms and went through the entire study guide from start to
finish. He didn’t skip a single question. He asked for the textbook so he could help Jimin find
a reference point. He used the flashcards and swatted Jimin’s face with them every time Jimin
started to question his own responses. For two hours, two painstaking hours, he went over the
exam material with unmatched patience, never raising his voice or teasing Jimin for his
rambling outbursts of doubt. By the time it was nearly two in the morning, Jimin was sitting
in Jeongguk’s lap, straddling him and facing him while holding the flashcards, because he
and Jeongguk had made thirty extra ones to work with while studying.

“Stop, stop, I have to focus,” Jimin laughed, and Jeongguk sighed dramatically, removing the
flashcard from his forehead. For the past ten minutes, he’d been treating the flashcards like a
game of Heads Up, asking questions so that Jimin could describe the term until Jeongguk
guessed correctly.

“You officially know everything,” Jeongguk decided. “I think—oh my God, is that your cat?”

“Oh.” Jimin twisted his upper body, still in Jeongguk’s lap, because Sammi had just stood up
on her hind legs with her front paws on the foot on the bed, peering over to assess the
situation. “She’s really skittish around strangers. Come here, you big baby. Come here, come
meet Jeongguk hyung.” Jimin dragged Sammi into his lap as she meowed in protest and
curled up, back arching slightly as she found herself situated between Jimin and Jeongguk.

“Her fur is so soft,” Jeongguk whispered as he gently ran his knuckles against Sammi’s spine.
Sammi bristled at first, but then Jeongguk scratched her head between her ears, and she
relaxed. Immediately, she twisted a little and offered up her chin, and Jeongguk responded
accordingly, scratching underneath her chin as well and then running his other hand down the
length of her body to her tail. “She’s beautiful.”

“Thanks. She’s not even two yet. She’s a baby, but she’s sweet,” Jimin said proudly. “And
this is exactly why I didn’t want to introduce you to her.”

“Why?” Jeongguk asked, focused entirely on Sammi, who was now resting her entire body
on Jeongguk’s abdomen in search of affection.

“Because she already likes you better, and she’s a traitor,” Jimin determined, shaking his head
and clicking his tongue in fake disappointment. Truthfully, it warmed his heart to see
Jeongguk so enamored and so gentle. His heart melted into a muddle when Jeongguk gently
scooped Sammi up and cradled her in his arms, gently petting her head as he cuddled her.

“She’s not that skittish,” he said, but Jimin snickered.

“No, she’s just trying to steal you from me,” he joked. He let Jeongguk pet Sammi in the
silence for a moment, and then he slowly licked his lips, tugging at his own fingers.
“Hyung?”

“Yeah, babe.” Jeongguk spoke with his focus still on Sammi, cooing at her as Jimin nearly
toppled off the bed at how casually Jeongguk had addressed him.

“Thank you,” Jimin said, and Jeongguk finally looked up. “Thank you for coming over. I… I
was panicking. And my friends weren’t answering. And you did. Didn’t—You just came
back from Tokyo, didn’t you?”

“Early this morning,” Jeongguk replied. “I was at the office all afternoon.”
“Well, thank you for helping me. I—yeah. You didn’t have to. You could’ve just talked me
off the ledge and left me to my own devices, but you… I mean, I’m going to ace this exam
because you came over to help me,” Jimin said, trying not to let his emotions compromise
him.

“Least I could do. Been there, done that,” Jeongguk replied. “It’s not a problem, Jimin-ah. If
it helps you pass the exam, then I’m happy to help out. Besides, I finally got to see your
apartment.”

“It’s a mess. And it’s tiny. And it’s only one bedroom. It’s not fancy at all. It’s nothing
compared to your place,” Jimin rambled immediately, feeling small. Jeongguk, however, set
Sammi aside and pulled Jimin closer to him.

“Your apartment is exactly what I pictured it would be,” he replied with a small smile. “It’s
you. It’s exactly you. Don’t ever say that it’s nothing. I love it. I like the plant you have on
your desk and the painting you have hanging on the wall in the kitchen. And I like your cat.”

“The cat doesn’t come with the apartment.”

“But she comes with you,” Jeongguk argued, and then he shifted, so Jimin climbed off and
scooped Sammi up into his arms, rising to his feet as Jeongguk rolled off the bed. “You need
to get some sleep. You’ll have to be up in a few hours to make it to campus. Will you be
okay?”

“I will now. I don’t know how to thank you, hyung,” Jimin said. He was exhausted and
absolutely spent, but the anxiety he’d been feeling hours ago had evaporated. “If I pass this
exam, I’m totally in your debt.”

“Not at all. Happy to help. Good luck. Let me know how it goes, okay?” Jeongguk said,
adjusting his glasses and ruffling his hair. He then slipped one hand behind Jimin’s head and
brought him close enough to kiss his forehead. “Get some rest.”

“Thank you, hyung,” Jimin said one more time as Jeongguk walked towards the door.
“Thanks for… yeah. Thanks for believing that I can actually pass this stupid exam.”

“Jimin-ah.” Jeongguk paused, holding the door halfway open as he turned to look at Jimin.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I believe in you before you believe that I really
do?”

“At least one more time,” Jimin decided, his heart floating straight out of his body. Jeongguk
smiled, one dimple in his cheek, and then he ducked out of the apartment and disappeared
into the elevator. Jimin let the door fall closed, and then he leaned his forehead against it,
eyes closed. He stayed there for a moment, trying to determine if he was still alive and
breathing, trying to give himself an existential crisis by attempting to feel his brain in his own
skull. Tired, he then pulled away from the door and came to a halt. Sammi was sitting on the
kitchen countertop, tail dangling over the edge. She blinked once, and then she meowed
loudly. Jimin nodded in understanding.

“I know. I’m so fucked.”

Chapter End Notes

My plan is to have this done before Christmas. That would mean double updates next
weekend which would mean this ENTIRE FIC is finished by next weekend... help that's
insane I came up with this idea mid-November it's only been a month WHAT DO I DO
WITH MY LIFE AFTER THIS IS OVER HOW DO I MOVE ON FROM THIS FIC.

Recommend some solutions to me on TWITTER

 castle made of sand
Chapter Notes

a moment of silence for my babies in Little Mix, who are now OT3 instead of OT4 :(

This chapter is... a lot. I was banging my head against the wall over it because I needed
it to be perfect. I needed it to make sense. So read it with an open mind and prepare
yourself LOL because we're getting into it now WOOOOOOOOOO

Also this is 17.3K just like ch5, am I a magician, let's find out below ;)

abrakadabra TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

[moodboard by cata]

~~~~~~~

“Did you get the file?”

“Mhm. Did the client like it?” Jeongguk asked, glancing up when he saw Yoongi strolling
into the office in a dark grey suit, one hand slipped into his pocket, the other hand holding an
iced Americano. Jeongguk always joked that in another life, he would have likely dated
Yoongi. They were both introverts, but Yoongi has this quietly fierce and worldly intelligence
about him that was mesmerizing. Jeongguk only knew one other person like that these days.
“Minor edits to the back cover formatting,” Yoongi replied. “Nothing I can’t fix in an hour.
Satisfied client.”

Jeongguk pulled the black folder towards him, opening it to find the folded A3 paper with the
book’s entire cover printed on it—front cover, spine, back cover design. He eyed the back
cover carefully, and then he twisted his lips and glanced up at Yoongi. “They don’t want the
summary paragraph justified, do they?”

“Spot on.”

“Did they bring up the opacity of the background vector?”

“That’s what I need to edit. Are you done showing off?” Yoongi asked, though he sounded
proud. Jeongguk smirked, tucking the design away and holding out the folder for Yoongi to
take, holding it over his desk. Yoongi stepped forward and accepted it, and as he tucked it
under one arm, his brow furrowed, lips puckering slightly as his gaze fell on something
unfamiliar.

“What’s this?”

“What’s—don’t touch that,” Jeongguk said sharply, reaching up and snatching the little
snowglobe out of Yoongi’s hand, watching the fake snow swirl around the Tokyo Skytree.
Jeongguk held it protectively to his chest for a moment, rubbing the glass against his blazer
like he needed to clean it as Yoongi let out a small breath that hinted at laughter.

“Since when do you collect souvenirs from Tokyo?” he asked in amusement. “Let alone keep
it at your desk?”

“Just thought it would look nice. It was a gift,” Jeongguk vaguely replied, scowling at his
computer screen for a moment, still mildly vexed that Yoongi had touched his gift.

“You thought—it was a what? Wait, wait, wait,” Yoongi said with another laugh, and
Jeongguk clenched his jaw and set the snowglobe back on the corner of his desk as Yoongi
moved and sat on the armrest of Jeongguk’s couch, heels digging into the floor. “Who’s
getting you gifts in Tokyo, Jeongguk-ah?”

“Shut up, hyung.”

“Did you invite him to Tokyo?” Yoongi emphasized, raising his eyebrows. “Are you kidding
me? You invited Jimin to Tokyo? Are you fucking serious?”

“It was for forty-eight hours,” Jeongguk defensively fired back. “He had exams last week, so
I just—it was just to help him relax before exams, okay? Back off.”

“You got your fuck buddy a graduation present,” Yoongi hollowly said.

“I did what I wanted to do, so if you have some more shit to talk, you can just see yourself
out,” Jeongguk replied, suspending the idea of respecting someone older than him for just a
moment.
“Not gonna talk shit,” Yoongi said, crossing his arms with the folder clutched between his
fingers. “I just think it’s interesting that you’re getting him presents.”

“Whatever. He passed all of his exams with top marks, so maybe the trip worked,” Jeongguk
replied, remembering fondly the way that Jimin had tumbled into his apartment on Friday
night in sheer glee, throwing himself at Jeongguk and saying he had passed and was going to
graduate. Jeongguk had opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate, and they had drank the
entire thing in ten minutes and had had sex right there in the kitchen. Jimin had slept over
that night, clinging tightly to Jeongguk, but he had slipped out early in the morning to go to
work. Jeongguk hated when Jimin left his bed. Always made him feel so empty.

“Well, at least he passed,” Yoongi commented.

“I helped him study for risk management,” Jeongguk offered, chuckling. “Huge throwback.”

“Oh, so now you’re helping him study?” Yoongi asked, pushing off the couch and rising to
his feet.

“He was panicking. Back off, hyung,” Jeongguk tiredly said. “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Don’t we all?” Yoongi philosophically replied, slowly strolling towards the door. Halfway
there, he pivoted on his heels. “You know what Saturday is, right?”

“I’m well aware,” Jeongguk said, eyes trained on his computer screen. Saturday was GCPH’s
fiftieth anniversary gala celebration, and all the stops were being pulled out. Jeongguk was
expected to attend and give a moving speech, and he’d already written a majority of it. Even
the previous two CEOs would be attending.

“Are you going alone again?” Yoongi asked, eyeing Jeongguk carefully. Jeongguk rubbed his
lips together and glanced up at Yoongi.

“What are you implying?”

“That you’ve gone to two anniversary galas alone in the last ten years, including the forty-
fifth anniversary when it was your first year as CEO,” Yoongi explained. “And every single
event GCPH has, you go alone.”

“You sound like everyone else in my life right now, hyung,” Jeongguk warned, feeling
irritated. Yoongi, however, just sighed and shook the folder back and forth a few times.

“The difference, Jeongguk, is that I’m trying to make sure you’re happy and not faking it. I’ll
shut up if I’m wrong, but there’s one person right now who makes you happy, so maybe
consider inviting him to be your date,” Yoongi said in his typical minimalistic fashion, never
one to beat around the bush.

Jeongguk watched Yoongi leave the office, and he held the door open for Mina, who was
sipping on her latte from Chatty. Jeongguk hadn’t even gotten it for her; Mina had shown up
to the office with an iced coffee for Jeongguk, saying that she had stopped by Chatty herself
because she was addicted now, and that Jimin had said hello.
“You okay?” she asked, always perceptive. Jeongguk frowned, rubbing his mouth with one
hand.

“Yoongi hyung thinks I should bring a date to the gala,” Jeongguk said. “And I think it’s a
terrible idea.”

“Really? Why? I assumed you were just bringing Jimin,” Mina said, sounding confused. “Are
you not?”

“When do I ever bring a date to work functions?” Jeongguk asked in exasperation.

“Never,” Mina conceded. “But there’s a first time for everything, and this is the fiftieth
anniversary. Kind of a big deal, and you’ve had a massive year so far. You’ll be the center of
attention. It’d probably be nice to share it with someone.”

“I’m not going to bring a guy that I’m sleeping with.”

“Are you just sleeping with him, though?”

“Mina-ssi,” Jeongguk said sharply, and Mina sighed.

“I just want you to be happy, Jeongguk-ssi,” she said with a hint of exasperation in her voice.
“I’ve worked for you for seven years now, and I’ve seen you go through a bad break-up and a
really toxic friends-with-benefits relationship and a lot of other shit. Maybe no one else in the
office sees it, because they all think you’re quiet and mysterious, but I see it. Yoongi-ssi sees
it, too. You’ve been a lot brighter lately. So maybe just think about it.”

“Sometimes I wish that you didn’t always know the right thing to say,” Jeongguk sighed,
scrolling through his emails. “It really throws a wrench into things for me.”

“You would’ve fired me years ago if I didn’t know what to say,” Mina said in her sweet,
melodic voice, and then she turned and exited the office quietly.

When the long workday ended and Jeongguk pushed open the door of his apartment, he
kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his bag, and then he shuffled into the kitchen tiredly,
pulling open the cabinet to grab a lowball tumbler. He grabbed his bottle of good scotch,
twisted off the square cap, and poured a bit into the glass in a daze. As he took a sip, he
pressed his lower back into the countertop, slowly rolling his neck and making a fist out of
his free hand to crack his knuckles.

Quiet. It was too quiet. It was always too quiet.

Loneliness was such a complex emotion to Jeongguk. He had never assumed that he could
feel lonely with such great friends and a massive support system at work. He had always
thought that he had a solid buffer in place to keep him from succumbing to such a feeling.
When he came home to a penthouse apartment with nothing to greet him but an echo and
maybe a few dishes from the morning, though, that was when it hit him like an anvil to the
head. That was when he slipped deep into thought and drifted into the feeling.
He had been in relationships before, but too often, he had found that even when he was lying
in bed with his partner, even wrapped up in their arms, he still felt lonely. There was a certain
finesse to curing loneliness, and Mingyu hadn’t had it. Eunwoo hadn’t, either. Jaehyun hadn’t
even come close. Over the years, Jeongguk had learned that the black hole feeling happened
when he surrounded himself with “almost but not quite” people. It was like taking two
magnets and holding them together at their same poles—the magnets would slip and slide
and barely touch, almost but not quite, only coming together when forced and immediately
falling away from one another when the external force vanished.

And that was just it. That was Jeongguk’s history with relationships in a nutshell. He was a
magnet, but he always found other magnets with the same pole as him. He was always
forcing himself to seek out happiness in a relationship to convince himself that it was worth
the fight, always listening to the outsiders who told him that he wouldn’t be lonely if he just
stuck with the relationship. That he wouldn’t feel a hollow cavern in his chest at random
moments throughout his daily life that would nearly bring him to his knees.

Jeongguk slipped his phone out of his pocket and used his thumb to navigate, taking another
sip of his drink. He then opened his text message conversation with Jimin and stared at the
screen.

This is dangerous.

Jeongguk couldn’t tell if Jimin was just a convenient and temporary cure to loneliness with
the same pole, or if he was a magnet with an opposite pole. All he knew was that he had had
a rough day at work, and the only thing he could think of to make him feel better was to be
with Jimin.

I won’t be here forever.

But he was here now. Jeongguk slammed the door in the face of his subconscious as it
screamed at him to stop, and he sent a text message.

JEONGGUK [09:11:03PM]

Do you want to come over?

PARK JIMIN [09:12:10PM]

On my way!
It was the way that he didn’t even hem and haw, didn’t even hesitate. That was what did
Jeongguk in completely. He finished off his scotch, brushed his teeth, and collapsed onto the
couch, slumping slightly as he took a deep breath.

Anyone who had ever glamorized a friends with benefits or fuck buddies relationship was a
fool. Jeongguk had learned that the hard way. But the arrangement he had with Jimin was an
entirely different story. Jimin had once said he was finally sexually satisfied, and even at
nearly thirty-seven, Jeongguk was ready to openly admit the same. Sex in and of itself was
messy and awkward and never perfect, never as excitingly tantalizing as media made it seem.
But Jimin made it feel so normal. He just presented himself as he was, sometimes groaned
and went to brush his teeth first, sometimes showed Jeongguk where he was breaking out on
his face when he was stressed, sometimes turned up and said he hadn’t cleaned off and
needed to prep himself before Jeongguk came within ten feet of him. Jimin was the kind of
person to laugh in the middle of having sex because he wasn’t hard, prompting Jeongguk to
adjust and change accordingly. He never seemed affected by much of anything. He was only
twenty-two and was a master at making Jeongguk feel like everything he did was okay.

And maybe that was where Jeongguk had fucked up. That ease, that level of comfort had
been so enticing, and now it was clear that they were on the verge of taking it way too far. So
what Jeongguk needed to do was make an attempt to dial things back to see if it was possible.
He was going to ask Jimin for nothing but sex tonight. No dinner, no sleepovers. Just sex.
Exactly how they had started.

There was a knock on the door, so Jeongguk took a deep breath and prepared himself for the
conversation. He opened up the door.

“Oh.”

“Look what I found,” Jimin said happily. His blonde hair was soft and hanging in his eyes,
and he was wearing ripped up black jeans and a baby blue V-neck t-shirt, his little necklace
with a J charm on it resting on his chest. He was holding up a little cluster of purple
hydrangea flowers, looking quite pleased with himself.

“Where’d you get those?” Jeongguk asked, feeling like his heart was beating its fists against
his chest, desperate to escape.

“They’re growing outside your building,” Jimin replied, and then he extended it towards
Jeongguk a little further. “Don’t worry, I didn’t pick it off. This had fallen into the grass. It’s
for you.”

“Thanks,” Jeongguk said with a small smile, and then he opened the door so Jimin could step
inside. Jimin slipped his shoes off and pulled his phone out of his pocket to set on the
countertop. He had stopped bringing a bag most nights because he already had what he
needed at Jeongguk’s apartment.

“Long day at work?” Jimin asked perceptively, and then he turned and slid both of his hands
up Jeongguk’s chest, resting them on his shoulders and then crawling his fingers until he
could lace them behind Jeongguk’s neck.
“Every day’s a long day,” Jeongguk replied lightly. Jimin hummed, and then he leaned in and
pressed his lips gently to Jeongguk’s. Jeongguk immediately circled Jimin’s waist with his
arms and kissed him back, mind already a bit hazy. Kissing Jimin was addictive. He had the
softest lips and he was such a good kisser, so intuitive and so responsive. But tonight was not
the night to get lost in it. Jeongguk had made the mistake in Tokyo of kissing Jimin like they
were more than what they were, and he had been filled with delayed regret when he had
realized that kissing with such intimacy made the situation worse.

“Just sex tonight, okay?” Jeongguk whispered against his lips. Jimin pulled away just
slightly, brow furrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“You heard me,” Jeongguk whispered, closing his eyes as Jimin’s lips brushed his. “Just—
nothing else, okay? Just sex.”

“Okay.” Two more soft kisses.

“Jimin-ah.”

“Okay, hyung,” Jimin whispered firmly. “I hear you. That’s fine.”

Jeongguk tightened his grip on Jimin’s waist with one hand and slipped his other hand to the
nape of Jimin’s neck, deepening the kiss as Jimin shifted his body accordingly, fitting
perfectly as he always did, his small hands slipping beneath Jeongguk’s t-shirt.

“Bedroom?” he whispered, and Jeongguk nodded. In perfect sync, they kissed and backed up
towards Jeongguk’s bedroom, never missing a beat, Jimin stripping out of his shirt on the
way and unbuttoning Jeongguk’s shirt with practiced expertise, something he had done
countless times over the past four months.

Four months.

mood: “monster in me” by little mix

“Tell me what you want,” Jimin whispered, and Jeongguk gently lowered him onto the bed.

“Just you,” he said. A distraction, his mind added, but Jeongguk forgot all about that. There
was no need for either one of them to speak—they had been here so many times. Jeongguk
stripped Jimin bare, and then he pulled Jimin into his lap and stared.

“You okay?” Jimin asked gently, combing through Jeongguk’s hair with his fingers. “You’re
awfully quiet tonight.”

“I’m okay,” Jeongguk said, but he was mesmerized. He set his hands on Jimin’s waist,
thumbs at the juncture of his hips and thighs, and then he leaned back just slightly to admire
the man in his lap. Jimin was slim but lithe and toned with muscle, and all of his body lines
were a bit softer, easier for Jeongguk to trace. He had an angelic face but eyes blazing with
fire, full lips that Jeongguk could easily kiss for days, and a smile that melted Jeongguk in
seconds. Feeling him like this, having his full weight on Jeongguk and his hands on
Jeongguk’s skin, was dizzying. He was so effortlessly beautiful, and sometimes Jeongguk
mused that his beauty wasn’t a result of his physical appearance.

“Do you want me to just…” Jimin gently slipped his hands onto Jeongguk’s face, tilted his
chin up, and began to press soft kisses down his jaw. “Kiss you for a little?”

“No, it’s okay,” Jeongguk insisted, smiling as he ran his hands down Jimin’s back and then
slipped his right hand between them to wrap around Jimin’s half-hard cock. Jimin let out a
little sigh, dropping his forehead against Jeongguk’s. “Want you to feel good, baby. Tell me.”

“Not wet enough,” Jimin whispered, so Jeongguk lifted his hand, licked his palm, and
wrapped it around Jimin’s cock again, and this time, Jimin whimpered. “B-Better, that’s
better. Keep going. Get me close, and then you can fuck me.”

“Gonna fuck you from behind, okay?” Jeongguk said, and all Jimin did was nod frantically
against Jeongguk’s forehead, breath quickening. Jeongguk worked his hand until he had
Jimin squirming, and then he grabbed for the lube. Jimin rolled over onto his knees and
hugged a pillow, and then he glanced over his shoulder expectantly. Jeongguk knelt behind
him and worked one finger into Jimin, and then a second one, searching for that sweet spot
that always made Jimin curse and whine. He found it easily, pressing his free hand into the
small of Jimin’s back to keep him still as Jimin tilted his head down and moaned into the
pillow, pushing his ass back into Jeongguk’s hands.

“Just like this,” Jeongguk whispered, helping Jimin onto his stomach and then straddling his
thighs, his own knees pressed to the outsides of them. He stroked himself a few times with a
lubed hand, and then he lined his cock up carefully, soaking up the little whimpers that Jimin
let out as Jeongguk slowly pushed in.

“Fuck, fuck, you’re so big,” Jimin moaned, panting as he adjusted to being full, Jeongguk
rolling his hips slowly until he bottomed out. Jeongguk slipped his right hand beneath Jimin’s
body to press to his chest right by his heart, and then he threaded the fingers of his left hand
into Jimin’s hair. He then lifted Jimin partially off the bed and thrusted into him roughly,
deeply, and Jimin let out a choked, whimpering moan, pushing back onto Jeongguk further.
Jimin didn’t usually prefer to be fucked in such a vulnerable position, but the fact that he was
so willing tonight and so responsive had Jeongguk spiral downward into a dazed mess.

“Feel so good, baby, God, you’re so good,” Jeongguk whispered in Jimin’s ear, and his
breathy whines and little gasps were like music to Jeongguk’s ears. He pressed his knees into
the mattress, gripped Jimin tightly, and fucked into him over and over, savoring the
torturously slow pace he had set, drinking up every little pleasurable noise falling past
Jimin’s lips. Jeongguk was already panting, felt like the breath was being stolen from him
with every thrust, but he kept going, knowing damn well he wouldn’t last much longer. He
used his grip on Jimin’s hair to tilt Jimin’s head just a little, and Jimin responded beautifully,
turning his head and exposing his neck. Jeongguk immediately kissed and left little love bites
all down the column of his neck, breathing heavily with every thrust, utterly lost in the
feeling. Sex had never been like this before. He’d never wanted to take it this slowly, had
never wanted to cherish every single moment of intimacy. But Jimin was so… God, he was
beautiful.

“You’re so beautiful, baby, so gorgeous,” Jeongguk breathed out with his lips pressing
repetitive kisses down Jimin’s shoulders and spine. Jimin’s back arch with the praise, head
turning, and Jeongguk immediately angled his hips and fucked into Jimin roughly, deeply,
enough so he could lean in and capture Jimin’s lips in a messy kiss, feeling Jimin tremble.

“R-Right there,” Jimin managed to whisper, his arms nearly giving out on him. “God, please,
just—hyung, please. Oh, fuck, f-fuck, that’s good.” He changed his tune when Jeongguk
pulled on his hair a little harder. “Just— ah.”

“Whatever you want, doll,” Jeongguk whispered, and then he did just what Jimin asked and
repeatedly fucked into the same spot that had Jimin gasping for air, begging Jeongguk to do
something, anything, choking out how good it felt.

I won’t be here forever.

But as long as he was here, as long as Jeongguk could pretend that Jimin was his and that
there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, Jeongguk was going to savor it. Enjoy
it. Be in the moment. It hurt his entire body to think about the day when Jimin would stop
walking through his front door, to think about the day when Jimin would stop texting him, the
day he’d stop trembling under Jeongguk’s touch.

So until that day came, Jeongguk was going to milk the moment for all it was worth. The
temperamental and transitory sadness was like fuel for him, and Jimin’s sweet voice begging
to come was the tipping point. Jeongguk had him hook, line, and sinker. He tightened his grip
around Jimin’s chest and in his hair, and then he fucked Jimin with all of his strength, with
everything he had left. He kissed down Jimin’s face and shoulders, his lips catching a single
tear of overwhelmed pleasure as Jimin chanted what had to be nonsense, and then he was
finished. He came untouched with a moan, and Jeongguk needed nothing more. His
fingernails dug into Jimin’s skin as he buried his face into Jimin’s neck and came deep inside
of him, breathing heavily, feeling like he was on fire.

“Fuck,” Jimin gasped out, head turned to the side, body spent. Jeongguk remained collapsed
on top of him, still hugging Jimin to his chest, but he released his grip on Jimin’s messy
blonde hair. Breathing heavily, Jeongguk dragged his lips along Jimin’s skin, kissing
wherever he could reach, eyes closed as if he wasn’t ready to visualize the reality. He wanted
Jimin to wiggle around and clean off and then come back to cuddle, maybe spend the night.
But that wasn’t what Jeongguk had asked, and he had to stick to his word.

“Are you okay?” Jeongguk whispered, pressing tiny kisses to the shell of Jimin’s ear and then
kissing his hair.

“I’m good, I’m good,” Jimin breathed. Jeongguk could feel his heartbeat through his back,
but he was coherent. “I’m really good.”
“Mm.” Jeongguk kissed the side of Jimin’s head once, and then he gathered himself
resolutely. “I’ll pull out. Hold on.”

Jimin whimpered and sucked in a breath when Jeongguk slowly pulled out, cum leaking from
Jimin and making a mess of the sheets. Jeongguk soothed the overstimulated ache with a few
kisses, and Jimin sighed into it, going slightly limp. Then Jeongguk watched as Jimin rolled
gingerly to the side of the bed.

“Can I take a quick shower?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Of course you can,” Jeongguk replied quietly. “Um, I’ll change the sheets. You go.”

Jimin slipped into the bathroom and shut the door, and the moment the shower started
running, Jeongguk groaned and flopped back onto the pillows, still naked, skin still
thrumming from the intensity of the orgasm. He was a sweaty, sticky mess, but he regretted
every moment of what had just happened and wanted desperately to go back in time. Because
if he went back in time, he could draw it out longer, play with Jimin a little more, edge him
until he was begging for it, kiss him a few extra times. Keep him here instead of knowing that
the moment the shower was off, Jimin would be dressed and out the door.

Jeongguk used the second bathroom to quickly wipe himself down, and then he pulled on a
clean pair of underwear and some sweatpants, forgoing a shirt. He was about to go back to
change the sheets when he heard a rather insistent vibration from the kitchen. Must be Jimin’s
phone. Jeongguk walked over to the countertop and grabbed Jimin’s iPhone to hand it off, but
the screen illuminated, and Jeongguk saw the influx of text messages on the screen:

TAETAE [10:36:02PM]

Hobi hyung and I are going to MAGENTA, and you’re coming with us

TAETAE [10:37:56PM]

Park Jimin answer your goddamn phone

TAETAE [10:40:44PM]

nvm just checked your location LMAOOOOOOO BYE

HOBI HYUNG MY SUNSHINE [10:45:02PM]

When you’re done with your dick appointment, come to MAGENTA, fool

“Hyung?”

“Hey,” Jeongguk said, walking towards the bedroom when he heard Jimin’s voice. “Hey,
your phone has been vibrating. I think you have some messages.”

“Ah, okay,” Jimin said, still fixing his dry hair. He had showered only from the neck down,
and he had a towel wrapped around his waist. Jeongguk was tempted to tug on it, throw it to
the floor, and carry Jimin to the bed for another round. Instead, he watched as Jimin reached
into the top drawer of the dresser, grabbed some underwear, and pulled on his jeans. Then he
held his hand out, and Jeongguk gave him the phone.

“Oh, it’s Hoseok hyung and Taehyung,” Jimin said with a radiant smile, face illuminated by
his phone. “They just texted and said they’re on their way to MAGENTA. They want me to
meet them there.”

“Go for it,” Jeongguk encouraged.

“Do you want to come with me?” Jimin asked, tossing his phone onto the bed and slipping on
his t-shirt. When his head popped through, he was still smiling, and somewhere in the
distance, Jeongguk swore he could hear the echo of a crack forming in his heart.

“I’m good. Thank you, though,” he replied. “I have to be at work tomorrow.”

“I mean, so do I, but that’s not stopping me from going out and having a few drinks and
dancing,” Jimin said with the same grin. “You sure you don’t want to come? It’ll be fun.”

“You go,” Jeongguk said. “And have fun, okay?”

“Okay,” Jimin agreed reluctantly, straightening out his necklace. “But if you get bored,
hyung, you can just call me and meet us there.”

“Or I could go to bed at a decent hour,” Jeongguk teased halfheartedly. Jimin rolled his eyes
as he walked out of the bedroom and into the living room area, headed towards the door to
grab his shoes. Jeongguk paused at the threshold of his room, reaching up to take a hold of
the top of the door frame as he stretched his arms and watched Jimin slip his shoes on. Jimin
straightened up with a little sigh, and then he glanced over at Jeongguk. With the same happy
smile, he scooted past the coffee table to where Jeongguk was hanging, and then he set his
hands on Jeongguk’s hips and rose up onto his toes, pressing his lips to Jeongguk’s in a soft
kiss.

“I’ll see you later,” he whispered, and then he kissed Jeongguk quickly three more times
before he turned and skipped off, slipping out the door with his phone pressed to his ear.
Jeongguk heard his sweet voice in the hallway talking to his friends, and then the elevator
arrived, and Jimin disappeared.
Jeongguk immediately backed up until his thighs connected with his bed, and then he sat at
the foot of it and rested his elbows on his knees, face in his hands.

It was exactly what he had feared.

Jimin skipping off to meet his friends at a nightclub was the exact scenario Jeongguk had
been picturing in his nightmares for days now. It was a glaring and screaming reminder that
Jimin was twenty-two and full of life, invigorated by the prospect of melting into the social
scene, happy to meet with friends at eleven o’clock at night for drinks and dancing. And
Jeongguk was pushing thirty-seven already thinking about crawling into bed to prepare for
the next workday, eyelids heavy. It was such a cliché, being the adult who didn’t want to go
out and party. It wasn’t as if Jeongguk was turned off to the idea of a good time—quite the
contrary. But he had mellowed out significantly since turning thirty, going out less and less
and thinking further into the future than just the next few hours.

Jimin was mature. But he didn’t have to mellow out yet, and Jeongguk’s biggest fear was that
if Jimin latched on and stuck around, he would mellow out too soon and lose time. He’d lose
his twenties, and then he’d turn forty and wonder where his youth had gone, why he hadn’t
had more fun when he was younger.

There was a breaking point. Jeongguk was inches away from reaching it.

***

After a week from hell, Jeongguk was late to the office on Friday morning, showing up closer
to nine o’clock than seven o’clock. He had been leaving around dinnertime lately, so he had
been constantly worried that someone would comment that he was slacking. However, not a
single person had said an ill word. In fact, when Jeongguk left and people were still at the
office, they said goodbye to him cheerfully and wished him a good night, bowing profusely
and smiling when Jeongguk nervously and quietly bowed in response.

“Hey. I’m going to grab some coffee.” Jeongguk rested his elbows on Mina’s desk, and Mina
held up a pointer finger to him, the phone still pressed to her ear.

“...Yes, and as I said, Mister Yang, Mister Jeon has no interest in making further statements
regarding a negative press release from a disgruntled rival company that can hardly match
our billables. Mister Jeon will continue to approve the publication of both unique and queer
literature. Thank you for your time.” Mina hung the phone up, and then she pushed her chair
back with a happy sigh. “Coffee?”

“That sounded fun,” Jeongguk commented, and Mina rolled her eyes. It certainly wasn’t the
first, and maybe not even the hundredth time she had fielded phone calls from nosy media
outlets looking to create a fight.
“It wasn’t,” Mina said with her usual calm cheer. “That was some moron from The Korea
Times.”

“We don’t deal with The Korea Times. Why are they trying to kick down our door yet again?”
Jeongguk asked tiredly.

“Beats me. The only person I’ll even dare to talk to is that feisty young girl from the Seoul
Sun Journal,” Mina replied, shrugging as Jeongguk snickered.

“The one who only does investigative journalism?”

“She’s cute,” Mina argued. “So, coffee?”

“Coffee. You want something?”

“Of course I do. Ask the others,” Mina said, turning back to her computer as Jeongguk pulled
out his phone, walking away with his keys already in his pocket and his sunglasses pushed up
into his hair. He quickly texted Namjoon, Seokjin, and Yoongi to ask if they wanted a coffee,
and all three of them practically shouted in response and offered their thanks in advance. So
Jeongguk drove straight to Chatty, because absolutely nobody made an end-of-the-week
coffee like Jimin did.

“...Next, please!” the bubbly girl who always worked with Jimin called out as the two girls in
front of Jeongguk stepped to the side and around the corner to wait for their drinks. The
moment the girl (Sana, her nametag said) saw Jeongguk, her eyes widened, and she gave him
a dazzling smile before turning around. “Jimin oppa?”

“What is it? Oh. Hey, I was hoping you’d stop by,” Jimin said happily, stepping up to the
register. “Coffee for everyone?”

“Coffee for everyone,” Jeongguk confirmed. Jimin rang up the order, and Jeongguk swiped
his card and then slipped inside the shop to wait by the inside counter. “You were hoping I’d
stop by?”

“Yeah, I wanted to tell you in person,” Jimin said, looking as if he was tempted to bounce on
his toes in excitement. “I got a slot at the marketplace the first weekend in August. Saturday
and Sunday. I saved up enough and got a little booth for a full day both days.”

“Jimin-ah, that’s amazing,” Jeongguk said, smiling. “It’s all coming together, then, isn’t it?”

“Well, I’ve been taking extra shifts here now that school is finished, so I’m going to try to get
every weekend in August,” Jimin said eagerly, beaming. “And if I get enough interest and
enough customers to sustain me so I can make a profit, then I’m going to start seeking out
investors to supplement that income. I already have my business plan written up, hyung. If I
can do this without taking out a loan, then it’s a win.”

“I agree. Has someone read over your business plan?” Jeongguk asked, and Jimin nodded.

“My father read over it,” he said proudly. “I really want to be in business by my birthday,
hyung. I want to have a good Christmas and have my own little shop by then. That’s my
dream. I want that.”

“Well, if you want it that badly, then you’ll find a way to make it happen,” Jeongguk said.
“You’ve got the motivation. You’ll get everything you want.”

“I hope so,” Jimin said, snapping the lid on one drink. “Ah, hyung, I’m just scared. What if I
can’t find any investors who believe in what I’m doing? What if I can’t find a little place to
rent out? What if I end up being a stand in a marketplace forever?”

“Hey,” Jeongguk said sharply, and Jimin blew out a breath, clutching one cup full of ice as he
glanced up at Jeongguk, worry plaguing in his eyes. “Stop it. You’re too confident to be
having all this self-doubt. You have a plan. You have to keep believing in yourself, Jimin-ah.”

“Do you think I can do it?” Jimin asked, pursing his lips as he anticipated an answer.

“Absolutely. Without a doubt. I believe in you,” Jeongguk firmly replied without hesitation,
and that seemed to be all Jimin needed. He smiled, shoulders pressed back, and then he
reached for a carrier so that he could pack up all the coffee for Jeongguk to take back to the
office. He hummed to himself happily, tilting his head back and forth to make sure the coffee
cups were secured into the carrier.

There’s one person right now who makes you happy, so maybe consider inviting him to be
your date.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Jeongguk said as he accepted his coffee, his heart swooping
into his stomach, fingers twitching nervously. Jimin ran his fingers through his thick blonde
hair, cocking his head to the side as he listened. “And you can say no. I know it’s last minute,
so I won’t be offended.”

“What is it?” Jimin asked.

“Are you free Saturday night? Tomorrow night?” Jeongguk asked, wanting to run as if he’d
just dropped dynamite in between the two of them. He hadn’t walked into Chatty anticipating
that he’d ask Jimin to come with him to the gala, but it just felt right. It felt like the perfect
moment to reel Jimin into the professional world, to give him a taste of what it was like…
and maybe to give Jeongguk a reason to not feel so lonely.

“Um, I’m working a morning shift here, but other than that, I’m free,” Jimin said, brow
slightly furrowed as he eyed Jeongguk. “Why? Do you need something?”

“It’s, um… tomorrow night is Golden’s fiftieth anniversary gala,” Jeongguk replied. “Big
party, big event, big turnout. I have to give a speech and everything. Most people, um… most
people bring a date. I never have, because I guess I didn’t think it was necessary. But it’s the
fiftieth anniversary, so…”

“You want me to be your date?” Jimin asked, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

“You can say no,” Jeongguk reiterated. “I just—um, I just thought I’d ask.”
“I…” Jimin frowned slightly. “Hyung, I don’t—are you sure? Are you sure I’d fit in? I
don’t… I don’t want to embarrass you or anything.”

“You wouldn’t embarrass me, don’t be silly,” Jeongguk said immediately. “All you have to
do is chat with a few people and maybe dance with me once or twice. And listen to my
speech and make sure it’s okay.”

“Well, your speech will be perfect, but that’s—hyung, are you sure?” Jimin asked, raising one
eyebrow. “This… This is kind of a big event. Are you sure you don’t want to bring someone
else?”

“Either I bring you or I go alone like usual,” Jeongguk casually replied. “If you agree, I’ll
make sure you have a suit and everything. I’ll pick you up at half past six. And that’s it.
That’s all you have to do.”

“I… Yeah. Okay. I’d… Hyung, I’d really like to go with you,” Jimin said, his voice suddenly
softer, like he was shy about it. Jeongguk rarely ever saw Jimin shy or unsure. He was as
confident in real life as he was in the bedroom when he was making demands. But every so
often, Jeongguk caught a glimpse of an entirely different and more vulnerable Jimin that was
both shocking and rather sweet. It also brought out a bizarre and fierce protectiveness in
Jeongguk that he had never known to exist within him.

“You would?”

“Yes. I’ll go with you,” Jimin agreed with a small nod. Jeongguk blew out a breath and
nodded back, trying not to smile like a fool.

“Okay. If I give you an address of a place to go to get fitted for a suit, will you go?” Jeongguk
asked. “Can you go tomorrow after your shift is finished here? They’ll measure you and fit
you properly, and you can pick out whatever you want. I’m wearing all black, so feel free to
choose whatever you want.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can go,” Jimin said hastily, rubbing the back of his neck. “Do I just rent the
suit?”

“No. You buy it so you can keep it. Here.” Jeongguk reached into his wallet, and then he
pulled out his black card and handed it to Jimin. Jimin’s eyes widened, but he took the card
with gentle fingers. “I’ll pay for it so that you can save up your money to have a stand at the
marketplace. Will you let me buy it for you?”

“Y-Yeah. That’s fine,” Jimin agreed. “I just—you just want me to keep this until tomorrow?”

“Yeah. I trust you,” Jeongguk replied. “But if I check my bank statements and you’ve
dropped millions of won on cat food or something, I’ll end you.”

Jimin stifled a laugh, and then he pulled his wallet out of his pocket and safely tucked
Jeongguk’s credit card into one slot. “I won’t. Thank you, hyung. I’m excited. Um, I just…
you know. I hope I do a good job being your date. You’re the CEO and everything, so…”
“You’ll be totally fine,” Jeongguk reassured him. “There will be a ton of people there, and it’s
just a bunch of eating and drinking and some dancing. Tons of schmoozing. That’s it. You’ll
be a natural.”

“If you say so,” Jimin said, pushing the coffee towards Jeongguk further. “I have to get back
to work, hyung, but I’ll text you tomorrow. I—I just want to ask again if you’re sure.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t sure,” Jeongguk replied, picking up the coffee carrier by
the handle. “I’ll text you the address for the place tonight. Thanks for the coffee.”

“Hope they like it,” Jimin said as he grabbed a rag and started to wipe down the countertop
with a smile. Jeongguk watched him work for a brief second, and then he ducked out into the
end-of-July heat, sunglasses on. As he walked, carrying the coffee by the handle in one hand,
he used the other hand to pull out his phone and fire off a text to his little group chat.

JEONGGUK [01:35:14PM]

I just invited Jimin to the gala tomorrow night.

JEONGGUK [01:36:04PM]

All of you better be on your best behavior, or I’ll fire you on the spot, so help me God.

KIM NAMJOON [01:37:10PM]

I like my job, thank you.

MIN YOONGI [01:37:38PM]

Nothing like the last minute! Good for you, Jeongguk.

KIM SEOKJIN [01:38:19PM]

Bring me my coffee or else I will be on my worst behavior.

MYOUI MINA [01:39:20PM]

I’m excited for you, Jeongguk-ssi!

***

Jeongguk repeatedly clipped and unclipped his Rolex on his wrist nervously as he stared up
at Jimin’s building. He was standing outside the black Mercedes, driver and all, that would be
taking the two of them to the SIGNIEL SEOUL at the LOTTE World Tower in Songpa-gu,
where the company had rented out the Grand Ballroom on the seventy-sixth floor. The view
was magnificent, but Jimin was five minutes late to go and see it, and Jeongguk was anxious.

“Sorry! Sorry, I’m coming!”

Jeongguk stopped staring up at the top floor of the building and looked to where the door had
opened. His first instinct was to fall to his knees, because Jimin was walking towards him
looking like a dream. He was in a fitted charcoal grey Prada suit—tie, vest, and all—that he’d
just gotten today, and his blonde hair was parted to the side and combed back off his
forehead. He had simple silver small hoop earrings in, three rings on his fingers, and a
flustered smile on his face as he took large strides to meet Jeongguk by the car.

“God, you’re a vision,” Jeongguk said before he could stop himself, and Jimin stuttered to a
halt in front of him and let out a surprised laugh.

“Thank you,” he said politely, and then he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and
handed Jeongguk his black card. “Don’t ever give me this kind of power again.”

“I can’t promise that,” Jeongguk said, accepting the card and slipping it into his wallet. He
then snaked one arm around Jimin’s waist and guided him towards the open backdoor, and
Jimin slid in first, Jeongguk following.

“Just ten minutes, Mister Jeon,” the driver said happily as they buckled in. Jeongguk nodded,
and then he slid up the black partition quietly to give them some privacy. He turned to Jimin,
but Jimin was laughing.

“Okay, Beyoncé,” he commented, and when Jeongguk gave him a bewildered look, he added,
“The partition? Come on. Tell me you know the song.”

“Well, yeah, I know the song. Sorry. I was just confused—oh.”

Jimin unbuckled, slid to the middle seat, buckled the lap belt, and then swung both legs up
over Jeongguk’s lap. Jeongguk’s heart leapt into his throat, but he turned his body and
immediately captured Jimin’s lips in a needy kiss as the car careened through the streets of
Seoul. A whimper caught in the back of Jimin’s throat, and Jeongguk desperately attempted
to swallow it as he deepened the kiss. Unable to stop himself, he reached one hand across,
slid it up the inside of Jimin’s thigh, and then pressed it between Jimin’s legs, and Jimin
broke the kiss and let out a moan, burying his face in Jeongguk’s neck.

“God, I’d let you fuck me right here in the backseat,” he gasped out as Jeongguk gripped his
hardening cock through his pants, breathing heavily against Jimin’s neck. “I’d let you fucking
ruin me. Let you put me up against the window and fuck me so hard my whole body would
hurt in the morning.”

“Behave,” Jeongguk warned sharply, lifting his hand to grip Jimin’s chin and forcing their
eyes to meet. They were both breathless, Jimin’s lips swollen, and he was fidgeting needily.
Jeongguk was fully hard and desperately trying to think of anything that wasn’t a turn-on,
anything that didn’t include having his hands full of a whiny, horny Jimin in the backseat of
Mercedes.

“You touched me first,” Jimin whispered, grinning wickedly. Jeongguk let his head fall back
against the headrest as he licked his lips.

“You moved to the middle seat, you horny little demon,” he said, and Jimin snickered. He
leaned in and kissed Jeongguk’s cheek softly, the exact opposite of what they’d just been
doing, and then he unbuckled and slid back over to the left side of the car. “Now I have to
think about butterflies and five-hour-long meetings.”

“God, I have to think about risk management,” Jimin complained, and they both burst out
laughing, readjusting their blazers and fixing their hair. Jeongguk pinched his brow, feeling
the arousal seep out of his body as he breathed evenly. Moments later, the car began to slow
down, signaling their arrival.

“Perfect timing,” Jimin declared, and Jeongguk checked. He looked presentable, and
Jeongguk could only hope he didn’t look like he’d just been one kiss away from fucking his
date in the backseat of the car.

The car door opened, and Jeongguk stepped out first, immediately offering his hand to help
Jimin out. He refused to let go of Jimin’s hand as they walked into the hotel lobby, following
the signs for the elevator that would take them to the seventy-sixth floor.

“I’m nervous,” Jimin whispered, gripping Jeongguk’s hand tighter. “I’m really nervous. I
want everyone to like me. What if they don’t?”

“They’ll absolutely adore you. Don’t sell yourself short,” Jeongguk said firmly as the
elevator soared upward. “You can stick by me if you’re nervous, okay? I’ll introduce you to
some of my friends so that you know other people. You already know Mina. And you’ve
spoken to Namjoon hyung on the phone. You’ll be okay.”

The elevator doors opened, and almost immediately, Jeongguk heard his name called out by
multiple voices. The one voice he latched onto, though, was Namjoon’s.

“Excuse me, excuse me… hey! There you are,” Namjoon said, parting the small crowd by the
entrance of the luxury ballroom, smiling. He didn’t have a date for the night because the man
he was currently seeing lived in Japan and hadn’t been able to make it for the event. He was
wearing his Tom Ford suit and looking quite handsome, especially with the glasses he was
sporting.

“We’re not late,” Jeongguk said, shaking Namjoon’s hand shortly.

“No, you’re right on time. So in the business world, you’re late,” Namjoon joked, and then he
noticed Jimin. “You must be Jimin. Kim Namjoon. Nice to finally meet you in person.”

“Nice to meet you, too,” Jimin said with a bow and a respectful handshake. “I could’ve used
your brain to get a higher mark on my accounting and finance exam.”

“You scored almost perfect, don’t even try,” Jeongguk commented, shaking his head as
Namjoon chuckled.

“And if I had had his brain, I wouldn’t have gotten those three questions wrong,” Jimin
argued.

“I’m sure it wouldn’t have mattered,” Namjoon said good-naturedly. “Come through, come
this way. A lot of people have been waiting to see you, Jeongguk-ah. And don’t be too eager,
but Hwang Hyesoo is here.”

“Shit,” Jeongguk sighed. “I wasn’t planning on having to make a good impression on her
tonight.”

“Who’s Hwang Hyesoo?” Jimin asked, glancing at Jeongguk.

“She’s one of South Korea’s most prolific literary agents,” Jeongguk replied. “And she has an
impressive client list. She typically goes to Dewey Publishers, but rumor has it she’s seeking
a new company to publish her client’s projects. If we can convince her to come to Golden,
our next quarter will look phenomenal.”

“Time to put your best foot forward, then,” Namjoon said with a dimpled grin, clapping
Jeongguk’s shoulder. Jeongguk blew out a nervous breath, because the last thing he had
expected on such a night was to have to work. Such was the job, though, so he supposed it
was par for the course. “Go eat. I’ll be around. Your speech is at nine o’clock, by the way.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Jeongguk sighed, and Namjoon bowed his head and slipped back
through the crowds. Jeongguk instinctively set his hand on the small of Jimin’s back to keep
him close, and then, eyes searching and scanning the entire ballroom, he dropped a quick kiss
to the top of Jimin’s head.

“Alright. Do you want to come with me?” he asked. Jimin nodded with a small smile, so
Jeongguk trailed down Jimin’s arm and found his hand, lacing their fingers together and
guiding him through the throngs of people towards where food and drinks were being served
at a bar setup. He grabbed a glass of champagne and handed it to Jimin, and then he took one
for himself.

“Are we toasting?” Jimin asked, tilting his glass towards Jeongguk’s glass.
“To you, yes,” Jeongguk replied, tapping his champagne flute to Jimin’s and then setting it to
his lips. They both tossed back the entire contents in one go, and then they both grinned and
grabbed another. Jimin quickly snatched up a mini sashimi taco and popped it into his mouth,
and Jeongguk did the same, chewing quickly.

“Yah, Jeon Jeongguk!”

“Oh no,” Jeongguk sighed, turning around to face Seokjin and Yoongi, who were making
their way over together.

“Wow,” Jimin whispered. Jeongguk glanced over at him, and Jimin added, “They’re so
handsome.”

“Don’t ever say that out loud to either one of them,” Jeongguk warned, amused. Seokjin and
Yoongi approached, and surprisingly, Yoongi was the first one to extend a hand to Jimin.
Jeongguk kept his arm around Jimin’s waist protectively as his friends greeted Jimin and
introduced themselves, and Jimin responded accordingly with confidence in his voice.

“We’ve heard so much about you. It’s about time we finally get to meet you,” Seokjin said,
and Jeongguk shot him a look, but Jimin didn’t even flinch.

“Well, I do make your coffees once or twice a week,” he pointed out, and Yoongi snickered.

“That’s true. Never had such a good Americano in my life. Heard you want to start your own
business. I’ll be there every morning for my coffee,” he said supportively, and Jimin smiled.

“I’ll give you a discount,” he promised.

“Yah, don’t promise him discounts. He’ll take full advantage,” Seokjin warned, and Yoongi
rolled his eyes.

“Like you don’t ask every vendor and every store clerk if there’s a discount available,” he
fired back, and Jeongguk sighed.

“They’ve been together for fifteen years. I promise they love each other very much,” he said
to Jimin, and Jimin’s eyes sparkled in both amusement and amazement as he looked back to
the bickering but happy couple. It was all in the subtle touches. Seokjin had a habit of resting
his hand on the nape of Yoongi’s neck and massaging it absentmindedly, and Yoongi had a
habit of fiddling with Seokjin’s fingers whenever they were holding hands. They moved in
perfect sync with one another and did things for one another without consultation, and
Jeongguk longed every day for something like that.

“Jimin, it’s really nice to meet you. We’ll be around, so if Jeongguk gets tied up, feel free to
track one of us down,” Yoongi offered. “Familiar faces are always nice at ridiculous galas
like this.”

“Ridiculous, huh?” Jeongguk said, raising one eyebrow. Yoongi scowled momentarily.

“You know how I feel about lavish parties,” he commented, and then he glanced over his
shoulder. Seokjin took the hint, and then he winked at Jeongguk and guided Yoongi away to
mingle with the rest of the guests.

“How does he feel about lavish parties?” Jimin asked, and Jeongguk sighed.

“He thinks they’re entirely unnecessary and would rather give all of the money put towards
them to people in need,” he replied. “Don’t ask him to break it down for you, though, because
he’ll never stop.”

“I’d like to hear his thoughts,” Jimin said with a shrug. “I—”

“Mister Jeon!”

And then it began. One by one, familiar faces and strangers alike began to approach
Jeongguk, shaking his hand and striking up a conversation. With each new person, Jeongguk
made it a point to introduce Jimin, and Jimin merrily joined the conversations, never once
missing a beat. It took only three or four new people for Jeongguk to stand by and listen in
awe as Jimin animatedly chatted with palpable social intelligence, asking questions and
speaking on topics he understood. He talked to a fifty-year-old man about the stock market.
He cracked a joke about international trade with two men around Jeongguk’s age. He cooed
over a baby picture of one woman’s new grandchild, asking if the woman’s daughter (the new
mom) was getting much sleep.

He was phenomenal.

At half past eight, Jeongguk finally caught a break, and the first thing he did was grasp
Jimin’s hand and guide him towards the open space where the dancing was happening. Jimin
was positively radiant, four glasses of champagne downed and glowing from the praise that
had rained down on him from anyone who had spoken to him. Jeongguk spun him into a
simple hold, and Jimin blinked at him with wide eyes.

“Am I doing okay?” he asked. Jeongguk swayed to the music with him for a moment, and
then he slid his hand from Jimin’s shoulder to the nape of his neck and kissed him gently but
firmly, the other hand secured on Jimin’s waist.

“You’re an absolute dream,” he whispered for just Jimin to hear, and Jimin grinned.

“That’s what you tell me in bed,” he whispered back, and Jeongguk swatted at his hip as
Jimin ducked his head, laughing.

“You’ve been absolutely amazing,” Jeongguk continued. “You were nervous for no reason.”

“Well, to be totally honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d fit in,” Jimin said. As he spoke, Jeongguk
lifted his hand and rested it on Jimin’s cheek. He used his thumb to stroke over the apple of
Jimin’s cheek gently as he listened. “I mean, I’ve seen a few younger people, but I’m
definitely the youngest one in the room, and I’m the CEO’s date. So it’s really important for
me to make a good impression, you know? I have to make sure I’m a reflection of you as a
professional. I even did some extra research about the company last night.”
“Did you?” Jeongguk asked, but he was so distracted watching Jimin talk that he feared he
barely heard Jimin speaking. Jimin continued to tell him that he’d looked up the company
history, looked up the clients that they had taken on recently, and tracked their stock
movements over the past year. And as he talked, Jeongguk just stared with a small smile on
his face, his thumb moving on its own accord, mesmerized by the brilliant twenty-two-year-
old in his arms.

I won’t be here forever.

“...So I’m just really happy that I haven’t embarrassed you,” Jimin finished with a short
laugh, but Jeongguk cut him off with a quick kiss. He meant for it to be just one, but it was
like an opposite force magnetizing him. He leaned in again for another kiss, this time far less
polite than the first one. He had enough sense to break it off quickly, but Jimin was near
breathless immediately.

“I have to go give my speech,” Jeongguk whispered. “Why don’t you go find one of my
friends? I’ll come find you when I’m finished.”

“I’ll look for Namjoon-ssi,” Jimin said. “Good luck, hyung. You’ll be great. I can’t wait to
hear it.”

“It’s not that exciting,” Jeongguk promised, and then he kissed the side of Jimin’s head and
walked off through the crowds, feeling dazed, his hands trembling. He made his way towards
the front, where a little stage and a podium awaited, and he paused off to the side, head
bowed as he slipped his hands into his pockets.

Too far. You’re taking it too far. You have to stop, he scolded himself internally. He’s not
yours. You’re going to have to let him go soon. Don’t get attached. He has a life to live. He’s.
Not. Yours.

Jeongguk quickly licked his lips, and then he straightened up and cleared his throat, jogging
up the four stairs to the podium. His cards were already resting on the surface, so he made
sure they were in the right order, and then he tapped a finger on the microphone a few times.

“Good evening, hello. Hi, everyone,” he said, and immediately, the music faded and several
people cheered and called out Jeongguk’s name supportively. Perhaps Jeongguk was an
introvert at the office, but at the very least, he knew he had the approval and support of his
staff and the board alike. Most of them knew the bare minimum about Jeongguk, which was
what he preferred. “I’m happy to see you all here. My name is Jeon Jeongguk, and I’m the
CEO of Golden Corporation Publishing House. Nice to meet you all.”

There was a hearty round of applause, and Jeongguk quickly scanned the room until he found
Jimin. Jimin was standing right beside Namjoon, champagne flute in one hand, and Namjoon
had a supportive and rather protective hand on Jimin’s shoulder as they listened to Jeongguk
speak.

With confidence, Jeongguk used a fingernail to pick at the edges of his notecards in secret as
he spoke to the crowd, congratulating the current employees on a fantastic year so far,
speaking on Golden’s history and how the company’s success was nothing without the
relentless and hard work of his predecessors. He wove in metaphors, cracked several well-
timed jokes, and thanked multiple people who deserved it. When his ten minutes passed and
he wrapped up the speech, he bowed to thunderous applause and a few whistles, several
people lifting their drinks in his direction.

“Quite a tough act to follow.”

“Ah, no, no,” Jeongguk said, shaking his head and bowing to Lee Haeun, the CEO who had
chosen Jeongguk as her successor. Her black hair was streaked with grey and her shoulders
were slightly hunched, but she was smiling proudly.

“I never once doubted my decision,” she said, grasping his hand. “When the board chastised
me and said I was a crazy old woman—at age sixty-three!—I told them to swallow their
pride or watch their company collapse. You’ve done wonderfully, Jeongguk.”

“I never would have had my chance if you hadn’t championed me. I owe it all to you,”
Jeongguk said with another bow.

“We all need someone in our corner to believe in us when the odds are stacked against us,”
Haeun replied with a warm smile. “Go celebrate. I saw that you finally brought a lovely date
with you. Good for you. Let’s meet up again after all the speeches, yes?”

“Of course. See you soon,” Jeongguk said with a final bow, heart skipping as he watched
Haeun depart to chat with a few other people nearby the podium. With his speech done,
Jeongguk now only wanted to find said lovely date of his and savor the moment.

But it wasn’t that simple. Jimin was across the room, but half a dozen people stopped
Jeongguk to talk along his way. He found himself caught up in conversation after
conversation, and every single time, he kept looking over heads and shoulders to see if he
could find Jimin. It took fifteen minutes and another speech, but he finally made his way
through the crowds, and he found Jimin standing right beside Seokjin and Yoongi, both of
whom were guarding Jimin with their lives.

“Yah, there you are! We’ve been looking for you!” Seokjin exclaimed, grinning.

“Hey,” Yoongi said quietly, pulling Jeongguk’s arm and bringing him off to the side as
Seokjin took the hint and turned back to Jimin, who was still chatting with a young woman.
“You’ll never believe what just happened.”

“What?” Jeongguk’s eyes flicked over to Jimin and then back to Yoongi.

“Namjoon somehow ended up speaking to Hwang Hyesoo,” Yoongi said, and Jeongguk’s
heart plummeted. “Who was right near us. And Jimin overheard the conversation and joined
in.”

“Oh my God,” Jeongguk breathed, panicking.

“Jeongguk.” Yoongi paused, and then he laughed. “Jeongguk, Hwang Hyesoo is going to
come find you to set up a meeting. She wants to sign with us and bring her clients over.”
“What?” Jeongguk raised his eyebrows. “She what?”

“I don’t know what the fuck happened,” Yoongi said, “but whatever Jimin said worked. He
ended up talking to her for almost ten minutes. And by the end of the conversation, she was
hunting Namjoon down and demanding a conversation with you, because she wants to move
over to Golden for Q4 in October.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Not kidding.”

“No, you’re kidding,” Jeongguk insisted, but Yoongi chuckled.

“I asked him what he said,” Yoongi quietly said, glancing over at Jimin. “He said that he just
talked you up and referenced a few other prolific agents that we’ve had success with in the
past. And that she was super into it. I think Namjoon almost cried.”

“No fucking way. Jimin? Jimin-ah!” Jeongguk called out, and Jimin immediately turned
away from his conversation, champagne in one hand. A smile crept onto his face as Jeongguk
approached, but he couldn’t even find the words. He wrapped one arm around Jimin’s waist,
pulling him close, and kissed him for the world to see yet again. Jimin smiled right through
the kiss, letting out a happy little laugh as Jeongguk pulled away.

“What is it?” Jimin asked.

“What did you say?” Jeongguk asked breathily. “What’d you say to Hwang Hyesoo? What
happened?”

“Oh, right. She’s quite lovely,” Jimin said, beaming. “She’s just never met you, so I told her
all about you and what she can expect when working with you. She really likes you already
and wants to know more about your plants.”

“My what?”

“Your plants,” Jimin repeated as if it was obvious. “The ones you keep in your office. She
wants to know how to keep them alive. Amongst other business-related things.”

“You talked about my plants,” Jeongguk flatly said, in complete awe. Jimin nodded, still
smiling.

“She wants to meet with you, hyung. Maybe find you tonight and chat with you. And
Namjoon-ssi said it’d be a good thing if…” Jimin trailed off, because Jeongguk slipped one
hand onto Jimin’s cheek, wrapped the other arm around his waist, and kissed him firmly.
Jimin melted right into him, and Jeongguk’s fingers curled at the nape of his neck as he
explored Jimin’s lips, wishing he could kiss away the ghost of a nagging feeling in the back
of his head that there was something wrong, trembling in excitement at the very idea that
Jimin had likely just secured a client that would change the very face of GCPH going into
Q4.
But there was something else. Another underlying feeling. And Jeongguk shoved it down and
far into the dark as he kissed Jimin one more time, finally smiling.

“You amaze me. You know that?” he whispered, gazing right into Jimin’s soft eyes, admiring
the soft shimmer on his cheeks and the way his nose scrunched a little when he smiled back.

“I did what any date of yours would’ve done,” he said, slightly dismissive. “Just talk you up,
make you sound like a gem. I’m great at that, you know.”

“I bet you are. Are you—listen, are you okay to stay with my friends for just a moment while
I go find Hwang Hyesoo?” Jeongguk asked, resting his hand on the small of Jimin’s back and
stroking his cheek with one thumb. “I won’t be long, I promise. I just—I don’t want to lose
the opportunity.”

“Go, go, go,” Jimin insisted, breaking free and waving Jeongguk on. Jeongguk leaned in and
kissed his forehead, and then he turned and wove through the crowds in search of Hwang
Hyesoo. Once he located her with a few others by her side, he bowed deeply, introduced
himself, and said that he had heard that she was searching for him. Hyesoo immediately
smiled.

“Ah, yes. I spoke with Park Jimin,” she said, remembering Jimin’s name right away. “Lovely
young man. He spoke very highly of you, said you were a wonderful friend to him. Though I
suspect he was lying, given that he also said he was your date.”

“He’s kind to speak highly of me,” Jeongguk said, trying not to blush.

“Well, I do hope he spoke with you about my intentions, since he’s the one who brought me
to the table, so to speak,” Hyesoo said warmly. “I’m seeking to move my potential clients to a
new publisher once they obtain agent representation, and I was assured that as an agent, I
would be treated with respect and kindness at Golden Corporation Publishing House.”

“You would be,” Jeongguk agreed immediately. “We have a phenomenal team ready to
support your clients through the process with the best representation, and we especially love
unique projects, which I’m sure you have many. I’m also sure you know our reputation.”

“It precedes you,” Hyesoo confirmed. “Do you have a hand in the projects?”

“I try to keep myself informed on every project that comes through the company,” Jeongguk
replied. “If I’m not the project expert, then at the very least, I like to think that I know the
basics. You’ll never hear me question a name. I know all of our clients.”

“Very reassuring. I do know that my business will surely increase your billables. And what’s
most important for me is to know that there will not be special treatment or exceptions made
just because I’m a veteran in the field,” Hyesoo replied. “My clients will have their agent
representation, but I expect them to go through the process, same as everyone else.”

“We take special care to treat all of our clients equally and fairly,” Jeongguk said earnestly.
“You speak with a smile on your face. I like that,” Hyesoo said, and Jeongguk immediately
bowed. “I’ve been in this business quite awhile, Jeongguk-ssi. Being nearly seventy has
taught me many things. I was a fledgling in the literary world when this company was
founded, and I’ve kept my eye on it, but I’ve never been tempted to make the move. You’ve
convinced me.”

“With all due respect, I don’t think I’ve done much to convince you,” Jeongguk said, and
Hyesoo let out a small laugh.

“Perhaps not. But you’ve confirmed what your lovely friend said about you,” she replied,
eyes sparkling. “That boy is a CEO in the making. Don’t get too comfortable in your office,
Jeongguk-ssi.” Hyesoo reached forward, grasped Jeongguk’s hand, and patted the top a few
times firmly. “I’ll be in touch on Monday morning to arrange a formal meeting with you,
yes?”

“Absolutely,” Jeongguk said, bowing. “Thank you very much. I’m eager to work with you. I
hope that we can meet your expectations.”

“I have no doubt that you will. Your speech was very moving, by the way. The world needs
more young CEOs like you,” Hyesoo said. “Take care, Jeongguk. Let’s speak first thing on
Monday.”

“I’ll be waiting for your call at eight o’clock,” Jeongguk requested, and Hyesoo nodded,
shaking his hand gently and then walking away, taking the elbow of the man with her, likely
her husband or a date. Jeongguk stood rooted to the spot and watched her walk off, and then
he practically ran through the crowds in search of his friends, not letting anyone stop him on
the way. On the other side of the room, he found Jimin standing by with Namjoon now
instead of Seokjin and Yoongi.

“Did you talk to her?” Jimin asked eagerly.

“She’s coming to Golden,” Jeongguk said with a grin, and Namjoon snapped his fingers once
and shook his fist in victory as Jimin threw his arms around Jeongguk’s neck in a tight, quick
hug.

“I knew she’d love you,” he said confidently. “This is really exciting, isn’t it?”

“You’re a piece of work, Park Jimin,” Namjoon laughed, shaking his head. “Truly. I’ve never
met someone with the balls to do what you’ve done twice for this damn company. Jesus
Christ.”

“What?” Jimin said, perplexed and also laughing. He slipped one arm around Jeongguk’s
waist sideways and cuddled in close to him, and Jeongguk immediately drew him in and
dropped a kiss on the top of his head, a bit dazed. “I told you, I just did what anyone else
would’ve done.”

“Right,” Namjoon said skeptically, and then he glanced up at Jeongguk. Jeongguk stared at
his friend, because Namjoon’s expression was hard to read. His lips were pursed, but his eyes
were soft, and he looked like he was fighting back a smile. When the left corner of his mouth
twitched in the ghost of a smile, it felt like a message. But instead of speaking, he just
reached forward and clapped Jeongguk on the shoulder. “Proud of you. Enjoy your night,
both of you. Jeongguk, I’ll see you in the office on Monday.”

“Hyung, it was nice to meet you!” Jimin called out when Namjoon had already started to
walk away. Namjoon glanced over his shoulder, held up a hand with another smile, and then
disappeared into the crowds.

“Oh, so you call him ‘hyung,’ too?” Jeongguk teased. Jimin rolled his eyes.

“He told me to, back off,” he said. “Are we going to dance together now?”

“Of course we are.”

Jeongguk led Jimin straight to the dance floor, and together, they spun around under the lights
with one another through a dozen songs, easily. The conversation flowed easily, full of
champagne-fueled giggles, and even when there was a lull, it never felt awkward.

“Will you take me home now?” Jimin whispered in Jeongguk’s ear when the party seemed to
be winding down close to eleven o’clock. “Hmm?”

“Of course I will,” Jeongguk whispered back, feeling how antsy Jimin was getting. “Come
on. We’ll say goodbye and head out.”

It took about twenty minutes for Jeongguk to say goodbye to everyone, and he watched in
amusement as Jimin peeled off to say goodbye to people Jeongguk hadn’t even spoken to
throughout the night. Then, hand-in-hand, they headed back down to the ground floor, Jimin
clinging to Jeongguk affectionately, burying his face in Jeongguk’s shoulder.

“I have more champagne at home,” Jeongguk muttered as he guided Jimin towards the curb,
where the car was waiting. Jimin pulled away abruptly with a grin and a sparkle in his eyes,
and then he tumbled to the car with Jeongguk in tow, asking the driver to take them to
Jeongguk’s apartment as quickly as possible.

Jeongguk could barely type the code into his front door, because Jimin was all over him—not
that he minded. He was the one who had put Jimin up against the elevator wall with a hand
pressed to his crotch, and Jimin had nearly collapsed into the first kiss. Jeongguk fumbled
with the keys, still making out with Jimin like it was the first time, body drenched in arousal.
The door opened, and they both tumbled inside, kicking off their shoes, still seeking out each
other’s lips.

“Just—Just hurry up, I fucking need you,” Jimin gasped into Jeongguk’s mouth. Jeongguk
had never felt so desperate in his life. Keeping Jimin by the door, he kissed down Jimin’s
neck as he fumbled one hand in his bag that was hanging on the hook until he found a nearly
empty little tube of lube that he had. The kissing had turned mostly into gasping as Jeongguk
picked Jimin up by the waist, carried him a few steps, and sat him on the kitchen countertop.
Jimin shoved Jeongguk’s jacket off his shoulders to the ground, shrugging out of his own
jacket and throwing it to the side like it wasn’t Prada. Jeongguk bit into Jimin’s bottom lip,
hand tangled in his hair as Jimin used both hands to unbuckle Jeongguk’s belt and nearly
ripped it off to toss to the floor.

“Fuck me,” Jimin demanded breathlessly. “Do it fast. I’m not waiting. I don’t care if it hurts.”

Jeongguk pulled Jimin off the countertop, spun him around, and pressed his chest to Jimin’s
back, gripping his hips and bringing Jimin’s ass to press against him so Jimin could feel how
hard he already was. Jimin moaned, head dropping back onto Jeongguk’s shoulder as he
grabbed the countertop, trembling as Jeongguk dragged his hands firmly across Jimin’s chest,
deftly unbuttoning his shirt and then making short work of his belt and pants. Once he had
Jimin with just his shirt on and unbuttoned, he popped open the lube and slicked up three
fingers.

Jimin was panting as he leaned over the countertop, and he whined needily when Jeongguk
pressed the first finger in. His whining turned into moaning when Jeongguk reached his other
hand around to steadily stroke Jimin’s cock to full hardness, kissing along his neck and
shoulders. Jeongguk added a second finger quickly, and then a third as Jimin slapped his
palm against the countertop, begging to just be fucked and to get the prep over with.
Jeongguk figured he was right—why waste time? He used his lubed hand to slick his own
cock up, and then he bent Jimin over the countertop again and thrusted into him smoothly as
Jimin let out a choked moan.

“Jesus fuck, you feel so good,” he gasped. “Fuck, just—oh, God.”

Jeongguk gripped Jimin’s hips with his fingers digging into skin, fucking into Jimin with near
reckless abandon and very little finesse, chasing his own release and searching for Jimin’s,
soaking up every little noise of pleasure that escaped Jimin’s mouth. Jimin clawed at the
countertop, scrambling for some kind of purchase that he couldn’t find, mewling Jeongguk’s
name without a single honorific.

“What…?” Jimin asked breathily as Jeongguk pulled out, and then he spun Jimin around.
Jimin kicked his pants and underwear away from his ankles, now in just his shirt, and
Jeongguk, still almost fully dressed, picking Jimin up and pressed his lower back into the
countertop, lowering Jimin right onto his cock. Jimin’s breath stuttered as he clung to
Jeongguk tightly, arms around Jeongguk’s neck, fingernails digging into skin, legs wrapped
around Jeongguk’s waist immediately.

“J-Jeongguk, Jeongguk, right… ah… r-right there,” Jimin barely managed to get out as
Jeongguk thrusted erratically, lips pressed to Jimin’s shoulder, hands gripping his ass tightly.
Jimin rolled his hips slowly, torturously so, and Jeongguk damn near dropped him. When he
started to slip from the sweat, Jeongguk carried him right into the bedroom, kissing his
swollen lips like they were his source of oxygen, and then he sat on the edge of the bed with
Jimin in his lap. Jimin ran his hands down Jeongguk’s shoulders to his elbows, and then back
up to cup behind his neck.

“Hi,” Jimin whispered, circling his hips and then pressing his chest to Jeongguk’s, dropping
his head to press kisses to Jeongguk’s shoulder as he quickly unbuttoned and removed
Jeongguk’s shirt. Jeongguk melted forward into him, knowing that he was intimately and
impossibly close but desperate to be closer, his skin on fire, heart still pounding. He had lost
track of how many times he and Jimin had had sex in the past four months. The number was
surely closing in on fifty. But this… this felt different. Something felt new. And it was
terrifying.

“Hyung,” Jimin whispered, voice dripping with aroused need and dragging Jeongguk back to
reality. He didn’t have time to consider his emotions. He was quite literally inside Jimin and
dangerously close to what was bound to be an intense orgasm. Jimin was still in his lap, shirt
hanging off his shoulders, blonde hair mussed, cheeks flushed pink, bottom lip kiss-bitten,
eyes half-lidded.

Oh my God.

It knocked the breath out of Jeongguk to even think about it, so instead, he lifted his hips up
to fuck into Jimin, and Jimin sighed in relief, slumping slightly. He whispered a few
nonsensical words, begging Jeongguk to finish him off. But then it would be over. It would
be over, and Jeongguk wouldn’t have the chance to worship Jimin’s body like he wanted to,
kiss every inch of it, hold him close like this.

“Shh,” Jeongguk shushed, and then he gripped Jimin’s jaw with one hand and kissed down
his neck and chest slowly, encouraging Jimin to continue fucking himself with one hand on
his ass. Jimin suddenly gasped and stilled, and then he angled his body just a little, letting the
tip of Jeongguk’s cock brush against his prostate. Jeongguk tilted Jimin’s head and kissed the
next gasp right out of his mouth, tugging Jimin’s bottom lip between his teeth.

“Please,” Jimin whispered, dragging his fingernails down Jeongguk’s back. That one little
word was all Jeongguk needed. In one swift motion, Jeongguk flipped Jimin onto the bed on
his back, threw Jimin’s legs up onto his shoulders, grabbed his hips, and started to fuck him
hard. There was nothing nice about it, because the harder Jeongguk fucked into Jimin, the
more he wanted to cry. He was so overwhelmed that every breath he took felt like there were
shards of glass in his lungs. Then he looked down at Jimin.

I won’t be here forever.

He was beautiful. So beautiful that it was hard to look at him. Jeongguk collapsed forward,
slipping one arm beneath Jimin’s shoulders and kneeling on the bed, and then he snapped his
hips forward, tightening his grip on Jimin when Jimin let out a choked moan, dragging his
fingernails down Jeongguk’s back again. Jeongguk lost all sense of himself, gripping Jimin’s
hair with one hand, gasping for breath in the crook of Jimin’s neck, fucking him desperately
as the bed shook, as Jimin moaned his name. Absolutely nothing could have prepared him for
the way Jimin’s back arched off the bed, eyes rolling back as he came untouched, body
trembling in Jeongguk’s hold. A soft cry escaped from Jeongguk’s mouth, and he buried
himself deep inside Jimin and came seconds later, his body nearly giving out on him.

“...So no champagne, then,” Jimin whispered. Jeongguk could feel his heart pounding against
Jimin’s, matching tempo, stuck together from sweat.

“This is Prada,” Jeongguk murmured, fingers tugging at Jimin’s shirt. Jimin snickered,
fingers dancing down Jeongguk’s spine as Jeongguk stayed sprawled on top of him.
“That’s what dry cleaning is for,” he muttered back. Jeongguk smiled tiredly, pressing his lips
softly to Jimin’s neck, willingly emptying his head of all the thoughts that had made his
blood run cold just moments ago.

Jeongguk rolled off the bed and grabbed what they needed to clean off and brushed their
teeth, and five minutes later, they were lying in bed with clean sheets, Jeongguk on his back
staring at the ceiling, Jimin lying on his stomach with his arm slung across Jeongguk’s chest,
face buried in Jeongguk’s neck. They lay in silence together, the light off, Jeongguk gently
playing with Jimin’s hair, Jimin’s hand occasionally resting on Jeongguk’s chest right over
his heart.

“What do you want for your birthday?” Jimin whispered.

“Hmm?”

“Your birthday’s next month. What do you want?” Jimin asked.

“I don’t really do gifts anymore,” Jeongguk murmured. “I just spend time with friends.”

“I want my business to be successful so I can save up enough money to take you on a trip,”
Jimin whispered. “Maybe next year for your birthday, I can take you somewhere special.”

“Mm,” Jeongguk hummed, his fingers halting. If Jimin noticed, he didn’t comment. He just
kept talking, and more than anything, Jeongguk wished he hadn’t.

“I have to figure out all the places you’ve traveled so that I can take you somewhere new,” he
whispered, fingers tracing nonsensical patterns on Jeongguk’s chest. Every single line and
stroke felt like a dagger. “Have you been to Paris? Of course you have. Maybe Australia?
There are some gorgeous places in Africa, too. I’ll think of something.”

“Jimin.”

“What about for my birthday?” Jimin asked quietly, ignoring the way Jeongguk said his
name. “What should we do? This year I’ll be really busy, but maybe next year. I’ll be twenty-
four next year, but we can pretend that’s a special birthday.”

“...Yeah. We could,” Jeongguk whispered, cradling Jimin’s head in one hand and closing his
eyes. As he did, a small tear leaked out of his right eye, dripping onto the pillow. “Go to
sleep, okay? We’ll talk in the morning.”

“Okay. Hyung?”

“Yeah.”

“I feel lucky.”

It took only a minute or two for Jimin to slip into a light sleep. Even though Jimin had drifted
off, Jeongguk continued to stroke his hair to calm himself down, because now he knew what
he had to do. The last line had been crossed. Jimin was talking about the future now, which
meant that Jeongguk had let it go too far. He was talking about a future that involved
Jeongguk, and that was dangerous. That alone was like injecting poison into Jimin’s youth,
and it was Jeongguk who had injected it. He had selfishly entertained the idea for too long to
satisfy his own aching need to expel loneliness from his life without considering what he was
doing to Jimin, what he was taking from Jimin.

He knew that every last person in his life would fight him on it. He knew that what he had to
do was a killshot to potential happiness. But Jeongguk had had his chance long ago. Jimin
was just now dawning on all of his chances at happiness, and that meant that Jimin was not
his. Jimin was not Jeongguk’s to have and never had been, no matter how much Jeongguk
wanted it in the moment. Whether it was the stupid thing to do or the adult thing to do,
Jeongguk wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he and Jimin had agreed upon one thing when
they had first met, and that was a “no strings attached” relationship. Now they were so
tangled up in strings that Jeongguk couldn’t even begin to figure out how to untangle the two
of them. Which meant that he needed to take scissors to the mess and start cutting.

Jimin was fast asleep, so he missed Jeongguk’s silent tears.

***

Jeongguk woke up to a body on top of his.

“...Good morning,” he croaked out, immediately hugging Jimin to his chest. Jimin had rolled
on top of him and was now nuzzling into his neck sleepily.

“Good morning,” he whispered back, and Jeongguk wanted nothing more than to find the
pause button and freeze frame the moment in time forever. Sunday morning, sunlight
streaming through the curtains, the rustling of the sheets, Jimin’s steady heartbeat against
Jeongguk’s chest, warm skin and gentle touches. It was a kind of heaven that Jeongguk had
never reached before, a fleeting feeling of euphoria that he wasn’t sure he could ever find
again.

“We should get up,” Jeongguk muttered.

“Why? It’s Sunday. I’m not working. Neither are you,” Jimin whispered.

“Jimin.”

“Fine, fine, fine. I’m going to the bathroom,” Jimin groaned. He propped up on one elbow,
and then he brushed his knuckles against Jeongguk’s cheek and kissed him softly with a
small smile, which only felt like a hammer to the heart. Jeongguk rolled his head to the side
and watched Jimin pad to the bathroom and shut the door, heard the water running in the
sink, heard Jimin humming to himself.

Just do it. Do it fast. He’ll be fine. It will be fine. Just do it.

Feeling numb, Jeongguk pushed back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, feeling the
residual aches and pains in his body, likely the result of lackluster sleep. The bathroom door
opened, and Jimin’s arm jutted out with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Jeongguk quietly
reached forward and accepted it, and the door closed again. Jeongguk brushed his teeth in a
dazed silence, sneaking out to the guest bathroom to rinse his mouth and then quietly walking
back into the bedroom and sitting on the bed again, his blood like slushy ice in his veins.

“Did you want to do something today?” Jimin walked out of the bathroom and yanked open
the top drawer of the dresser, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He shimmied into the
jeans without a word, but then he turned and realized that Jeongguk wasn’t responding.
“Hyung?”

“Yeah.”

“What is it?” Jimin asked, pulling his shirt on. Jeongguk stayed seated on the edge of the bed,
suddenly feeling sick to his stomach.

“We can’t do this anymore, Jimin. We have to stop.”

“What?” Jimin stood rooted to the spot and stared Jeongguk down, but Jeongguk couldn’t
look anywhere but the floor, trying to keep himself from being ill.

“We have to stop,” Jeongguk repeated, hardly recognizing his own voice. “I didn’t—I didn’t
realize… I didn’t realize until last night just how far we’ve taken it. Too far. We can’t do
this.”

“Hyung.” Jimin took a few steps away from the bathroom and came to stand directly in front
of Jeongguk confrontationally, and that was when Jeongguk looked up. Jimin’s face looked
pale, brow furrowed in concern, but his eyes were ablaze, which was a dangerous sign.
Jeongguk swallowed heavily.

He had to do this.

mood: “only you” acoustic (with cheat codes) by little mix

“You know we did,” Jeongguk said evenly. “And I don’t want you to stand there and try to
justify it, Jimin-ah, because you can’t. We crossed every fucking line there is.”

“I’m not denying that,” Jimin said flippantly with a bite to his tone. “But why are you telling
me this now? After the night we just had? First thing on a Sunday morning? What are you
doing?”

“I told you,” Jeongguk said, rubbing his lips together. “I didn’t realize it until last night. I
don’t know why it took me so long.”
“Okay, but maybe because we had a good thing,” Jimin carefully said. “And maybe you
didn’t want that good thing to end. And maybe I don’t want this good thing to end. Maybe—
Maybe…”

“Don’t say it,” Jeongguk said, closing his eyes momentarily.

“Maybe I want to find a way to make this work.”

“I said don’t say it,” Jeongguk whispered, feeling his heart plummet into his chest. He
opened his eyes again, and then he stared Jimin down, shaking his head. “Don’t. Don’t think
like that. You need to stop, Jimin. You and I both agreed when we started this thing that it
wouldn’t work long-term.”

“So what, nothing can change in four months?” Jimin challenged. “We agreed that it
wouldn’t work long-term when we’d just met each other. When this was new.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that there are so many things about this that wouldn’t work,”
Jeongguk insisted.

“Like?” Jimin asked, crossing his arms. There was a moment of heavy silence as Jeongguk
listened to his own pounding heartbeat in his ears, because this was exactly what he had
feared. Jimin was going to challenge absolutely everything he said, because it seemed that
Jimin had already made up his mind—he had locked in on his own feelings, and he was
going to be hard-pressed to think otherwise.

“I’m turning thirty-seven next month. I’m closer to forty than you are to thirty,” Jeongguk
emphasized. “I’ve been through my twenties. I went through all that bullshit of dating and
trying to figure out what the fuck I wanted my life to look like without anyone holding me
back. I don’t want to play that game now. I’m too old for that shit. I want to settle down, and
that’s not where you are in your life.”

“Says who?” Jimin fired back.

“Says the world, Jimin,” Jeongguk replied, feeling frantic suddenly, like he wasn’t going to
be able to get his point across without Jimin misunderstanding him. “You have years to do
what you’ve dreamed of doing and make every mistake and do whatever you want without
someone stunting your growth.”

“Oh, so you think you’re stunting my growth?” Jimin raised his eyebrows. “And who the
fuck do you think you are to tell me what I should be doing with my life?”

“Jimin—”

“No, don’t you dare! That makes you just as bad as everyone else!” Jimin exclaimed,
storming out of the bedroom. Jeongguk followed him in what felt like a daze, because Jimin
wasn’t finished. He turned on his heels and plowed on. “Do you think you’re doing me a
favor? Is that what this is?”
“I’m not doing you a favor, I’m telling you that you need to get it out of your head that
whatever you’re thinking will work out,” Jeongguk said. “I told you when we first met that
you have nearly your entire twenties left. You’re just getting started. I’m not. I’m trying to
settle, not go through all this bullshit again.”

“Don’t fucking talk down to me,” Jimin snapped. “You were the one person I could trust not
to treat me like a damn child, and here you are, telling me that I don’t know what I want
when it’s pretty fucking clear what I want, and I’m not in my head about it.”

“I’m not treating you like a child, don’t say that,” Jeongguk snapped back. “I’m just saying
that you have a lot of life to go through still, and I’ve already—”

“Oh, that’s nice. You’ve already been through the torture of dating and breakups and all that?
So what, you want me to go through it?” Jimin asked with a laugh of disbelief. “You want to
stand there and tell me I don’t know shit and that I should go through the bullshit of dating
and trying to find someone good enough? When you’re standing right there?”

“Jimin, that’s not—”

“That’s exactly what you’re saying!” Jimin interrupted heatedly, and Jeongguk just wanted to
curl up in a ball and close his eyes, because his counter arguments were pathetically weak.
He couldn’t find the words to explain the panicked need to let Jimin go so that Jimin could be
his own person. But here was Jimin, speaking so feverishly and passionately that he was
slipping into Busan satoori, something Jeongguk had never heard from him before. “So
you’ll let me go, and then I’ll go out there into the big bad world and suffer trying to find the
right person and compare everyone to you. Then what, I come back to you ten years later
feeling twenty years older because I’m fucking emotionally exhausted? Only to tell you that,
hey, what do you know, it was you I wanted all along? Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I’m not going to get into something that’s just going to end in fucking heartbreak,”
Jeongguk said loudly, throwing his arm up. “We’re at two completely different points in our
lives! You latch onto me at twenty-two and that’s fucking it, Jimin. Game over. You’re
completely limiting yourself. All I’m going to do is hold you back because I’m too old for
you. You’ll want to do all the things that people do in their twenties, but you’ll be constantly
thinking about me pushing forty.”

“I don’t give a fuck how old you are, hyung. And so what if we’re at different points in our
lives?” Jimin exclaimed, still pacing in a small radius. He looked ready to round on Jeongguk
and fight, but he was holding back significantly. “Does that mean that our ideals and morals
and visions for our lives don’t match up? Does that mean we have nothing in common? Does
that mean we have absolutely zero chemistry? Does that mean we shouldn’t be together?”

“Listen to what you’re saying,” Jeongguk whispered, knowing Jimin would hear him. “You
really want to settle for someone who’s almost forty. Morals and chemistry have nothing to
do with it, Jimin-ah, it’s about what you’re doing with your life. You have no idea what
you’re—”

“No, shut the fuck up,” Jimin snapped angrily. “Don’t you fucking dare tell me I have no idea
what I’m saying or what I’m doing. I know what I want. I want you. I want to be with you.
Can you accept that? Or are you going to tell me I’m just a kid?”

“No. I’m going to tell you that it’s not going to happen, and you need to let it go,” Jeongguk
quietly said, feeling himself trembling from the inside out. Liar, liar, liar. But he couldn’t stop
himself from speaking. “We said when this started that it’s just sex. No strings attached.
Casual. And we both let it go too fucking far. We both fucked up. And I’m the one putting a
stop to it.”

“Putting a stop to it? So what, you don’t have any feelings? You feel nothing for me?” Jimin
asked, and suddenly, he wasn’t yelling anymore. That was the first red flag for Jeongguk, the
first crack in the armor, the first grain of sand that would surely crumble the entire castle.
Jimin stood across from Jeongguk and stared, rooted to the spot, a good meter of distance
between them.

I feel everything for you. I love you so much. I’m admitting it to myself right now for the first
time. And I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared that it makes me want to cry. I love you and I
have to let you go. I can’t bear to be the one to hold you back if there’s a chance you could
have a life.

“You have so much planned,” Jeongguk said quietly. “You have a shot at having an
absolutely incredible life, Jimin-ah. And all that hard work can be done in your twenties. You
don’t need me for that. I’ll only end up being an anchor to weigh you down. And I’m not
saying that for sympathy. I don’t feel sorry for myself. It’s just the truth.”

“It’s not the truth. I don’t need anyone, hyung, I want you. I can have an incredible life with
you in it,” Jimin argued immediately, but his volume had dropped, and his voice was
wavering. Jeongguk was absolutely certain that he wasn’t strong enough for this anymore.

“Jimin,” Jeongguk said, and that was when Jimin closed his eyes for a moment and took a
slow, deep breath. “Stop. Please stop. Stop trying to make it work. It won’t work out. You
know that. You know it deep down.”

“Look me in the eye.” Jimin opened his eyes, and Jeongguk locked his gaze. “Look me in the
eye and tell me that you feel nothing for me.”

“Don’t,” Jeongguk warned. “Don’t start demanding answers.”

“Why, because you know that your argument sucks?” Jimin snapped bluntly. “Tell me you
feel nothing for me, hyung. If you can look at me and tell me that, then I’ll go. Fuck it. Fuck
all of it. I’ll leave.”

“I’m not going to do that, Jimin,” Jeongguk replied evenly, his throat constricting already, his
heart aching. The hollowness was already forming. “What I feel and what you feel… it
doesn’t matter. We agreed to one thing when this first started. One thing. And we both
crossed the line. Admit it. Admit to that.”

“We crossed the line almost immediately,” Jimin said, his voice strained. “And neither one of
us did anything because it felt right, hyung.”
“Neither one of us did a thing because it was convenient,” Jeongguk snapped. “It cured my
loneliness and it gave you someone to mess around with. Don’t kid yourself, Jimin.”

“You’re a fucking liar,” Jimin spat out. “You’re lying. You never would’ve—it wasn’t just—
no. It wasn’t just convenient, there’s no fucking way. You never would’ve invited me to
Tokyo. Never would’ve let me be your date last night. Never would’ve helped me through
my exams. All of that went way past just two people having sex.”

“Maybe it did,” Jeongguk admitted. “But that doesn’t mean we can keep at it. You’re making
this so much harder than it has to be.”

“Well, maybe I’m making it difficult because I don’t want this to end,” Jimin said, his voice
cracking again. “Maybe I’m just desperate. Maybe I want you to tell me that you’ll find a
way to make this work. That you want me like I want you.”

“It’s not that easy,” Jeongguk replied.

“Tell me, hyung,” Jimin said. “Tell me you feel nothing for me.”

“I told you that I’m not going to do that,” Jeongguk answered shortly. “What I want is for
you to put yourself in my shoes and consider what I’m saying. That our lives are at two
different points. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. We can’t think about all the other shit that
you’ve just listed.”

“That’s not all there is to it,” Jimin argued.

“You’re right—there’s more. I have to protect myself, too,” Jeongguk said. “Which might
sound selfish, but that’s the way it is. I’m not going to set myself up to fail. I’m not going to
set myself up for a break-up, either. I told you before that I’m too old for that shit. So I’m
saving myself the trouble, and that means that you can move on and live your life the way
you deserve, which was the original plan anyways.”

“I get that, hyung, but everything you’re saying means fucking nothing if you have feelings
for me,” Jimin snapped. “All this bullshit about different points in our lives and dreams and
everything. It means fuck all if you feel the same way as me.”

“Jimin—”

“Because if you feel like I do, then that means we can work through everything together,”
Jimin said, and that was when the first tear fell. Jeongguk watched as it trickled down his
right cheek, and he had to restrain himself from lunging forward and wiping it away. He had
to let Jimin cry, which was a newfound pain he hadn’t considered.

“This isn’t about what we can work out and what we can’t. And if you’re admitting to having
feelings, Jimin-ah, then that makes this even more dangerous,” Jeongguk said, even though
his skin was crawling with lovesickness. One-sided feelings were easily broken. Mutual
feelings were relentless. “I’m telling you that it’s time for us to stop. This was never meant to
happen. I’m done being selfish about it. Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to
be. We need to stop and move on with our lives.”
“I don’t want to,” Jimin said immediately, blinking as two more tears trickled from his eyes.
“I don’t want to move on. I found you, and I want to keep you. Please, hyung.”

“You know we can’t,” Jeongguk whispered.

“Could you love me?”

Jeongguk had something else to say, but the words died on the tip of his tongue, and whatever
was left of his broken heart disintegrated. “Don’t you dare,” he whispered, but Jimin did dare.

“Could you love me?” he repeated, and then he just began to cry freely, openly, without an
attempt made to stop. “Do you think you could love me, hyung? Could you?”

“Jimin…”

“I could love you,” Jimin interrupted tearfully, and Jeongguk felt himself hollow out
completely. “I could love you really well. I’d do a really good job. We’d be really good
together, you and me.”

“Jimin, please,” Jeongguk whispered, feeling his eyes burn. “You have to stop. Please stop.
You’re only going to hurt yourself more.” You’ve already broken me. “You need to give it up.
I told you this would only end in heartbreak if we got caught up in feelings, and now look.”

“But I didn’t want you to b-break my heart. I really thought you’d feel differently,” Jimin said
through his tears. “I really h-hoped we could have something special together.”

“I’m not trying to break your heart. I just—I just wish you didn’t feel this way,” Jeongguk
replied quietly, and he meant it from the deepest part of his heart. He had made the mistake of
falling in love with Jimin, and had Jimin not caught feelings, it would have been easy for
Jeongguk to slowly fall out of love and forget that his heart had been stolen.

“But I do. I do, and I want—I want you to tell me to stay,” Jimin said, his voice trembling. “I
want to stay. Please don’t let me leave.”

“Jimin-ah,” Jeongguk said quietly but firmly, because he was one breath away from
screaming. He’d broken up with several men before, but it had never hurt this much. Why did
his chest ache? Why was this so difficult? “You can’t. You need to go. Please.”

“I don’t want to,” Jimin said, and the tears began to fall faster. When he inhaled, it was more
like a gasp, and his hands were clenched into fists by his sides. “P-Please.”

“No. I entertained it for too long. I’m not going to be responsible for stealing this part of your
life from you. I won’t.”

“N-No, no, no, you’re—you’re not, you’re—hyung,” Jimin said with a little sob. “Hyung,
please.” His tears were hitting the floor now. “Please let me stay. I know I could love you. J-
Just give me a chance. Please, hyung. Please don’t let me leave. D-Don’t let me walk out.
Tell me to stay. Tell me to stay, hyung.”
 Jeongguk said nothing. He stood paralyzed, staring at Jimin, dangerously close to collapsing.
In another life, perhaps he could have rushed forward and scooped Jimin up into his arms,
kissed him endlessly, promised him a wonderful life full of happiness. But it wasn’t how they
had started, it wasn’t how things had happened, and it surely wasn’t how things would end.
The strings were all cut, and now both he and Jimin were in separate heaps on the floor,
weighed down by fragments of string piled up.

“You should go,” Jeongguk finally whispered. That seemed to be all Jimin needed to hear. He
let out another sob and turned towards the door, but Jeongguk didn’t miss the way he
subconsciously pressed his hand to his chest as if he couldn’t breathe. He fumbled several
times, but he managed to put his shoes on.

He didn’t turn around.

Jeongguk stood by the couch, thinking that Jimin would turn around and maybe say goodbye,
that he’d say something more, but it didn’t happen. Instead, Jimin stumbled to the door,
yanked it open, and disappeared without a word spared over his shoulder. The moment the
door shut with a click, Jeongguk’s strength finally failed him. He collapsed to his knees on
the rug and closed his eyes as he heard Jimin’s sobs in the hallway, and every single one was
like a bullet to the heart. Jeongguk had half a mind to cover his ears, but then the elevator
arrived, and Jimin’s sobbing grew quieter and quieter until it was silent.

Jeongguk wasn’t sure how long he stayed on his knees. It wasn’t until he felt the pain and
aches in his legs that he finally stumbled to his feet, staggering over towards the kitchen like
a drunken man. He lunged, pressing one palm into the cool countertop like he could ground
himself, desperate for the world to stop spinning. And for a moment, all he could think of
was Namjoon. What Namjoon had said four months ago. Those cursed words. Jeongguk
blinked and closed his eyes, hot tears hitting the countertop.

It happened. You were right. I caught feelings. I lost.

Chapter End Notes

:)

Please share your very calm reactions on TWITTER or in the comments. That works too
I'm scared OK bye
 know it's love
Chapter Notes

HELLO THERE!

PLEASE I BEG YOU LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FOR THIS CHAPTER IT FITS
SO WELL I WILL SCREAM ABOUT IT FOREVER

I think all I can say after reading all the reactions - and there were A LOT HOLY SHIT -
to ch6 that y'all are 1) the best readers ever and idk how to thank you 2) super switched
on 3) absolutely hilarious. I'm really happy that almost everyone understood what I was
trying to get across and all the finer emotional aspects of the argument that went down,
and why both characters responded the way they did!

YOU MAY ALSO NOTICE... that this is now 8 chapters because in true "me" fashion, I
finished ch7 and I was like "...ok yeah I have a fuck ton left to write so CH8 AND
EPILOGUE" lmaoooooo so HERE WE GO WITH ANOTHER 100K+ FIC BECAUSE
HELLO, IT'S ME BACK ON MY BULLSHIT.

Anyways, please enjoy 13.5K of craziness and a few good slaps in the face, both real
and figurative ;)

Find me on TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

 [moodboard by cata]

~~~~~~~

It was Sunday. Or, at least, that was what Jimin thought.

mood: “breathe” by little mix

It was just after five in the morning, and Jimin’s alarm was supposed to go off in thirty
minutes, but he had hardly slept. The marketplace opened at eight o’clock sharp. Jimin had to
be there at seven o’clock to set up again, since the first day yesterday had been an unexpected
but wild success, enough to turn a profit. But it all felt like a blur. Jimin could hardly
remember it. He could hardly remember any of his days from the last week.

Jimin slowly rolled to his side and curled up in a ball, retracting his hands into the sleeves of
his sweater—or, rather, Jeongguk’s sweater. It didn’t matter that it was Chanel. Jimin had
been sleeping in it all week long, using the sleeves to wipe the angry tears from his eyes,
burying his face into it and trying to find Jeongguk’s familiar, soapy scent. It was gone now,
but that didn’t mean that Jimin had to stop wearing the sweater. Quite the contrary.

“What?” Jimin whispered when Sammi meowed quietly, rolling onto her side and then
stretching onto Jimin’s chest. She typically curled up on a different pillow or somewhere
strange, like the kitchen sink, but for the last week, she had been sleeping right by Jimin’s
head or on top of him, refusing to leave his side. Jimin absentmindedly scratched behind her
ears, eyelids heavy, mouth a little dry, skin aching from lack of sleep. He hadn’t had a single
day off the past week, and he had done it on purpose. He had asked his manager for full-day
shifts all week long, including on his day off, and they had been granted to him. Working for
twelve to fifteen hours each day was a fantastic way to make money, but it was also a good
distraction. If he worked the entire day, he didn’t have time for feelings.

Jimin struggled to sit up in bed, hunching at the waist and pressing the heels of his palms into
his eyes until he saw stars. Then he dragged his hands down until they hit the blankets with a
dull thwump. Sammi snaked over and nudged her head at Jimin’s arm, seeking out attention
that wasn’t for her sake. Jimin granted it to her.

“I’m getting up,” he muttered, and then he checked his phone.

TAETAE [03:04:13AM]

Please come out with us next time, you’ll have fun!!!! You need it, my baby. Please.

Jimin locked his phone with a sigh, remembering what had happened last Sunday afternoon.
He had stumbled out of Jeongguk’s building and had called Taehyung sobbing, and Taehyung
and Hoseok had come to pick him up. Hoseok had driven while Taehyung had hugged Jimin
in the backseat while Jimin choked on his own tears, unable to explain what had just
happened. It had taken several cups of tea and some coaxing, but into the night, Jimin had
finally been able to explain it to his friends, leaving them speechless and heartbroken by
proxy. Taehyung had then slept over Jimin’s apartment for three nights in a row to keep an
eye on him and stroke his hair until he fell asleep, and Hoseok had brought over some of his
mother’s homemade kimchi to cheer Jimin up. Jimin hadn’t had an appetite to enjoy it until
Thursday.

The pain of a break-up wasn’t a foreign feeling to Jimin. He had experienced it several times
before. None of those break-ups had prepared him for losing Jeongguk, though. Not one.
Losing Jeongguk was the worst kind of pain, the kind that felt like someone had ripped
Jimin’s heart out only to look him in the eye while stomping on it. Jimin had stood in
Jeongguk’s living room with all of his cards on the figurative table, offering up his heart for
the taking, and Jeongguk had asked him to leave, refusing to comment on any feelings. That
was what had hurt the most. It hadn’t even been all of Jeongguk’s worries (which Jimin
wasn’t ready to admit had some validity to them). It had been his silence that had cut the
deepest.

Jimin showered in a daze, wishing he had gotten more than two hours of fitful sleep. But
since The Nook had done so well yesterday and Jimin had earned back the rent for the day in
a few hours, plus another two million won, he needed to put his best foot forward. This was
his dream business, and it was off to a good start. He couldn’t sabotage himself.

Jimin folded up the Chanel sweater and placed it onto his pillow, because he would surely
wear it again tonight. Then he dressed in all black with his t-shirt that had the logo for The
Nook on it that Hoseok had made for him. He had logo stickers for cup sleeves, little
business cards, brochures, a potential sample menu, and all kinds of information on how to
donate gently used books in exchange for a small sum of money in return. From a marketing
aspect, he had everything covered.

Jimin kissed Sammi on top of her head and stroked her fur with trembling fingers, and then
he grabbed a bottle of water and left his apartment to take a taxi to the marketplace as the sun
began to rise. The food distribution company had followed through beautifully, giving Jimin
everything he needed to succeed for the weekend and make another order during the week.
Jimin made all the coffee, but his specialities were the soft pretzels and the churros that he
made. There were other little pastries, but those were the big sellers.

“Good morning, sunshine.”

“Morning,” Jimin said tiredly, accepting Sana’s hug. She had already labeled herself his ride-
or-die as The Nook kicked off the ground, swearing that she wanted to be his first employee
and that she wanted a piece of the business so she could stick by his side for the foreseeable
future. She was also quite skilled at making the pretzels and churros, so Jimin kept her
onboard.

“Did you sleep last night?” she asked. She was already rolling out the dough that she and
Jimin had made during the week together at Chatty in their downtime, the dough they had
refrigerated for use. Jimin had rented a little oven for the pretzels and a deep fryer for the
churros, so he had everything set. It was all behind him in the booth, and all he had to do was
put the finished product in the rotating display that he had.

“Not really,” Jimin admitted, watching Sana lift the long rope of dough and twist it quickly
into a pretzel shape before laying it on the greased tray to be baked. Then she yanked off
another clump of dough and started rolling again, lifting her eyes to Jimin.

“You need to take some melatonin and sleep,” she advised. “Otherwise, you’ll be a zombie.
You can’t live like this, oppa. It’ll kill you. And I’m not running this business for you.”

“Noted,” Jimin said with a small smile. “I’ll do the churros.”

They worked together in silence with the bustle of the marketplace around them as all of the
vendors rolled in, families and seasoned veterans alike, ready to serve the public when
opening time came. Jimin had been worried about the location of their little booth, but for the
price, he had had to accept it. Luckily, enough of the human traffic made their way around the
back corner before going anywhere near the exit, so The Nook ended up getting a fair bit of
business yesterday.

“Hi, good morning!”

Jimin smiled as he listened to Sana greet the first few people who approached the stand
around half past eight in the morning. The day usually started with a lot of coffee, and Jimin
was good at that. He offered a limited menu at a fair price so that he didn’t overwhelm
himself, and the public responded. By nine o’clock, he and Sana had already managed to
make 300,000 won, and the crowds were just starting to pour in.

Being busy meant that Jimin didn’t have any time to get sucked into his feelings. Whenever
he had a moment to himself, though, he realized that every time he breathed in, it felt like
there was a hole in his chest where his heart was meant to be. When he started to feel dizzy,
he just pressed a hand to his chest and got back to work, because he could fake a smile long
enough to satisfy his customers.

Jimin was able to collect several books in the span of a few hours, something he hadn’t been
able to do yesterday as a brand new business. One elderly woman said she had seen Jimin’s
booth yesterday and had come back to the markets to donate, and Jimin had bowed profusely
in thanks and had given her a free churro. Sana disappeared to get both of them some lunch,
and Jimin shoveled down the gimbap with his back turned quickly before going back to
making coffee for the customers. The marketplace was bustling, seemed busier than
yesterday, but Jimin was pleased. By two o’clock, he and Sana had made back the rent for the
booth and were starting to turn a positive profit.

“Do you need a break?”

“Hmm?” Jimin stopped stacking the books in their crate and glanced up at Sana.

“A break,” she repeated. “You look exhausted, oppa. We can take a five or ten-minute break,
you know. It won’t hurt business. It’s normal for people to put up a sign and walk away for a
little break. Do you need one?”

“We worked through our lunch break,” Jimin replied, straightening up. “I’m fine, Sana.”

“Yeah, well, you smile for all of them—” Sana gestured to the crowds— “but you don’t smile
at all when they’re not looking.”

“Can’t imagine why,” Jimin said flatly, grabbing the stickers to label more cup sleeves.

“I know why,” Sana said in mild exasperation. “And I hate it. So just… let’s just cheer up,
okay? Can we try that for the rest of the afternoon?”

“We can make an attempt,” Jimin said with a small smile. Sana nodded happily, and then she
turned to eagerly hand a little postcard with information about The Nook to an interested
client. Jimin watched her for a moment, silently appreciating her steadfastness in such a wild
situation. Jimin had gone into work on Monday morning early to cry by himself, but Sana
had shown up, and the floodgates had opened. Jimin had sobbed on Sana’s shoulder for five
minutes, shocking her until she finally managed to pull the story out of him. Then she had
soldiered on and had shouldered much of Chatty’s responsibilities that day, because Jimin
hadn’t been able to see a single businessman in a suit without bursting into tears.
“Next?” Jimin requested, scribbling something down on his notepad quickly and then
glancing back up. The moment he did, his heart plummeted right into his stomach.

“Well, look at you.” Ha Sungwoon chuckled and shuffled forward, since he had been
standing back as if admiring the booth Jimin was using for The Nook. Another man was by
his side, the same one Jimin had seen at Chatty that fateful day. The same one Jimin had seen
half naked tangled up with Sungwoon months ago.

“May I help you?” Jimin asked politely, because that was all he could muster—not even a
fake smile. Sungwoon swung his arms back and forth a few times, eyes still wandering over
all the displays, a small smile on his face.

“This is your little shop, huh?” Sungwoon asked, approaching and running his fingers over a
few business cards with his head cocked to the side. “Cute. Is this the menu?” He read it
quickly. “Mm. Bit limited. Different from Chatty. Is this not Chatty? This is yours, I see. The
Nook. That name rings a bell.”

“May I help you?” Jimin asked again with a bit of emphasis, because his heart felt like a
cannonball in the pit of his stomach. Months ago, he would’ve had ten thousand witty
responses on the tip of his tongue, but today, he was a man without defenses, without a
shield, without a razor sharp tongue. He was too vulnerable.

“Oh, I just had no idea that this was your business,” Sungwoon said. “I’m surprised to see
you here. Wasn’t expecting you. We were just out strolling the markets on a Sunday.” He
gestured to his boyfriend, who was standing by with one arm crossed, scrolling through his
phone with the other hand, slightly oblivious.

“Nice day for a stroll,” Jimin agreed.

“I suppose we can support a small business,” Sungwoon said, his tone sympathetic. “It’s the
least we could do. Do you make the coffee? The pretzels look okay. We can share. We’ll get
one pretzel, and then… oh, no caramel iced lattes? That’s a shame. What else is good? Maybe
just a large chocolate iced latte, then. Hopefully it’s good.”

“Eight thousand won,” Jimin said, ringing it up with one hand. Sungwoon reached for his
wallet to pull out the correct notes, and as he did, Jimin heard him chuckle, and then he
watched Sungwoon shake his head.

“This is really it,” he commented. “This is your business. This is what you talked about for
all those months. This is what you obsessed over. This is why you neglected our relationship.
For this stupid little booth and some subpar pastries and coffee.”

Jimin pursed his lips as he scooped some ice into the cup, his wrist weak, hand trembling a
little bit. He willed Sungwoon away, but Sungwoon wasn’t listening to telepathetic
communications.

“You have a whole degree in business, Jimin-ah, and this is what you chose to do with it?”
Sungwoon asked, still holding back his laughter. “You could’ve graduated and been making
millions per week with any company of your choice, but instead, you’re in the corner of a
marketplace doing this. Pretty pathetic for someone who was so loud about his little dream.”

“Do you want whipped cream?” Jimin quietly asked, avoiding eye contact.

“Sure,” Sungwoon agreed, crossing his arms. He then clicked his tongue a few times. “All
those dreams and look where you are. You’ll never make it out of this marketplace, Jimin-ah.
You’re wasting your life away already, and for what? To serve the public? You should’ve
listened to your father and gone to law school. At least then someone would bother to give a
shit about what you have to say. Here.”

Sungwoon offered up eight thousand won folded between his fingers as Jimin snapped the lid
on his chocolate iced latte, feeling that horrible lump of emotion lodged in his throat. He
meant to exchange the drink for the money, but Sana suddenly stepped forward and snatched
the money.

“Take your stupid latte and pretzel and get the hell out of here,” she snapped. “You’re a
special kind of asshole, Ha Sungwoon. Go fuck yourself. How’s that for customer service?”

Sungwoon snorted with laughter, even though he leaned back as Sana spoke. He accepted the
pretzel as well, his boyfriend walking up to his side. Sungwoon glanced over at him,
grinning.

“This is what I’m missing,” he said to his boyfriend. “Could’ve been stuck with this mess.
Thank God I got out.” Sungwoon’s eyes flicked over to Jimin. “Thanks for this, Jimin. I’ll
look forward to watching your little business fail.”

“Go away,” Sana said, picking up a napkin and balling it up to throw straight at Sungwoon.
Sungwoon dodged it, and then he walked away with a laugh, biting the straw of his latte and
taking his boyfriend’s outstretched hand. The moment he was out of sight, Jimin gripped the
edge of the counter and bowed his head, hot tears hitting the ground. In a flash, Sana grabbed
the plastic WE WILL BE BACK IN 10 MINUTES sign and propped it in front of the
register, and then she grabbed Jimin by the arm.

“Hey, come on. You don’t need to cry,” she said soothingly, rubbing Jimin’s arm. Jimin
turned his back to the counter and slouched against it, still crying, breathing a bit erratic as he
tried to reason with himself and failed. He heard Sana saying a few quiet words, but then he
felt a firm smack against his cheek. Immediately, Jimin sniffed and lifted his head, stunned.

“...Did you just slap me?” he asked Sana.

“Nicely. With love,” Sana said with the same pleasant smile. “We don’t let assholes like Ha
Sungwoon talk to us like that and then cry about it. You’re above that. Do better, Park Jimin.”

Jimin sniffed again, shaking his head slowly as the tears began to slowly dry up. “You’re
right. Shit, sorry. You’re right.” Jimin turned his head and used his shoulder to wipe his eyes,
and then he blew out a breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“Everything he said was a lie,” Sana said firmly. “Just because it, like… I don’t know,
resonated somewhere with you doesn’t mean that it’s true. When you’re sad about something
or you’re feeling low, the stupidest shit sounds like the truth, right? Even if it’s not logical.”

“There was some truth to it,” Jimin whispered.

“Where?” Sana asked, crossing her arms.

“I could have graduated and been rich as hell already,” Jimin pointed out. “And maybe this
little booth is a pathetic start.”

“Do you hear yourself? Didn’t you graduate at the top of your class?” Sana asked, tapping a
finger against the side of Jimin’s head. “I thought you were a businessman. You can’t just
jump right in, oppa. You’re a start-up business. If you were a rich trust fund baby, or the son
of a CEO like in a drama, then sure, maybe you wouldn’t have to start from the bottom. But
you’re not. So don’t you have to start where everyone else starts?”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s true,” Jimin agreed.

“And your stupid ex has no clue,” Sana said with a bite to her tone, which Jimin always
found amusing, given her sweet honey voice. “Isn’t he just a paper pusher in some boring
office?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool. So he’ll do that for forty years, and then he’ll retire and look back on his life and be
like, ‘oh, shit I have nothing worth celebrating or remembering.’ So who’s the pathetic one?”

“Me right now,” Jimin said with a laugh, wiping his eyes one more time.

“You’re not pathetic,” Sana sighed, reaching forward and rubbing Jimin’s arm affectionately
again. “You’re just emotional. You’ve been through a lot the past week. But you’re doing
well, Jimin-ah. Your ex was lying. You’re not failing. You’ve made a profit both days, and
this day isn’t even over. This is worth it. Now can you go back to believing in yourself,
please? Bring back the confident Park Jimin who would’ve kicked Ha Sungwoon’s ass.”

“Mm. You know who believed in me the most?” Jimin whispered, his heart lurching. Sana let
out another sigh, and then she quietly stepped forward and hugged Jimin without a word. One
tear slipped out of Jimin’s right eye and onto Sana’s shirt, but he ignored it. It was time to
harden his resolve. He needed to pull it together for the sake of his dream and pretend that
Sungwoon had never stepped foot near The Nook.

But Jeongguk had never said just one more time that he believed in Jimin. And Jimin
couldn’t stop yearning for it.

***
The second weekend at the marketplace was even more of a success than the first, and the
third weekend was enough to bring Jimin to tears, given the positive income flowing into his
new business bank account. He had never dreamed of being able to make a decent profit off
his idea, no matter how hard he had believed in it. Now that it was a reality, it felt like fuel to
a dying fire.

It was on the last Friday in August that Jimin realized that he was missing a few of his
belongings, specifically clothing. He spent his entire day off (Friday was his only day off
these days) hemming and hawing, asking Sammi if it was worth trying to get his stuff back
and receiving nothing more than a meow. Jimin hated how scared he was to even entertain
the thought of texting Jeongguk. He couldn’t even bring himself to open up the text message
conversation between the two of them on his phone, because he knew that the moment he
did, the floodgates would open again. He was just starting to feel better and couldn’t risk that
kind of pain. So instead, he scrolled through his contacts until he paused over one: MYOUI
MINA. He had gotten Mina’s number when she had come into Chatty one morning, only
because she had offered it up to Jimin. He had no idea if Mina was aware that Jimin and
Jeongguk had stopped seeing one another, but seeing as she knew almost everything about
Jeongguk, Jimin felt confident that she had figured it out.

“Guess there’s no other option,” Jimin muttered. “Sammi, I’m a fucking coward.”

Sammi didn’t seem impressed, but she curled up by Jimin’s side as he texted:

JIMIN [04:21:41PM]

Mina-ssi, it’s Park Jimin. I’m sorry to bother you.

JIMIN [04:22:30PM]

I know this makes me a coward, but I’m missing some of my stuff, like clothing.

JIMIN [04:23:46PM]

Jeongguk-ssi has it, and I was hoping I might be able to get it back. What do you think?

It took almost a half hour, but finally, Jimin’s phone vibrated with a response.
MYOUI MINA [05:01:24PM]

Hi, Jimin - it’s nice to hear from you. You’re not a coward. What would you like to do?

MYOUI MINA [05:02:18PM]

Would you like to get your stuff on your own, or shall I make him gather it all for you?

MYOUI MINA [05:03:41PM]

If you’re not comfortable, you can send a friend to collect it from the office.

JIMIN [05:04:56PM]

Would he really gather it all like that for me? Do you think he’d do that?

MYOUI MINA [05:05:26PM]

Of course he would. I’ll go ask him right now. Hold on.

Jimin’s heart leapt into his throat, and he immediately grabbed Sammi and held her tightly to
his chest like an emotional support kitten, repeatedly stroking her fur with a shaking hand.
Moments later, his phone buzzed.

MYOUI MINA [05:08:12PM]

He was in a phone conference, so I wrote down the question for him to read.

MYOUI MINA [05:09:30PM]

He nodded yes. I’ll make sure he packs it all up. Send someone tomorrow morning.

JIMIN [05:10:11PM]
Are you all working on Saturday? I’m working, too. May I send my friend?

MYOUI MINA [05:11:02PM]

Of course. Take care, Jimin.

Jimin immediately called Taehyung, and he read the text message conversation out loud and
subsequently asked if Taehyung would be brave enough to go to GCPH and collect whatever
Jeongguk gathered.

“I won’t have to see him, will I? Because I’ll try to punch him,” Taehyung said.

“You won’t,” Hoseok sighed in the background. “Jimin-ah, he’ll go! I’ll drive him there
myself. You don’t have to worry.”

But Jimin did worry. He tossed and turned all night, even though he had to be up early again
for another weekend at the marketplace, his last weekend. He had recently stopped wearing
the Chanel sweater to bed, but that night, he crawled out of bed at two in the morning and
grabbed it so that he could hug it while he tried to sleep. It didn’t smell like Jeongguk at all
anymore, but it was the first thing Jeongguk had ever given Jimin, so it meant something.
Jimin wanted to believe that he was over Jeongguk, that he had let Jeongguk go but he
hadn’t.

It was hard to let go of love.

Jimin had spent weeks contemplating his own feelings, even as he tried to bury them. He had
said he could love Jeongguk well, but he had been lying. At that point, he had already been in
love. That was his first fault. His second was not just coming out with it and admitting that he
was in love. Surprisingly, it would have hurt less for Jeongguk to reject Jimin with everyone
out in the air. Sungwoon had quite literally said the words “I don’t love you” to Jimin’s face,
and Jimin had been able to accept that and get over it. He had never heard anything of the
sort from Jeongguk that fateful Sunday.

Sana was pleased when Jimin arrived at the marketplace with a smile on his face. He hadn’t
slept a wink, as made evitable by the dark circles under his eyes that he had attempted to
cover, but this was his last weekend at the marketplace. He could do another weekend, but he
had to move forward with his plan and seek out investors in the month of September as fall
approached.

“Alright, well, we’ve been increasing our profit each day, which means that word is getting
out,” Sana said happily, scrolling through her phone. “Have you looked at the Instagram
page?”
“I’ve been answering questions, yes,” Jimin said, also looking at his phone. “Where to find
us, what we offer, how to donate books. Things like that. And I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries on
the website about the same thing. And the reviews have been really positive so far. No
complaints, which is a miracle.”

“Well, that means that it’s a product worth selling,” Sana said with a smile. “Now let’s do
this. Day seven already.”

Jimin and Sana had fallen into a rhythm together. The first weekend had been a little messy,
but now they had a routine, a system that they had established on the fly over the days. It
only enforced that Sana was worth hiring as manager when Jimin finally opened The Nook.
Sana was studying public relations, so she was an absolute gem to have around.

“Thank you so much,” Jimin said to a customer with a bow, and then he grinned and waved
to the little girl in her father’s arms who was now gnawing on a churro, cinnamon sugar
already covering her face. The father carried her off, and Jimin tucked away the money into
the register he had, smiling.

“Jimin?”

Jimin whipped his head up in surprise when he heard a soft female voice, and then he froze
on the spot, his heart skipping. Mina was standing there in skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and
a cute peasant top, blonde hair tucked behind one ear, hand-in-hand with a handsome man
who was surely her husband. She turned and whispered something to him, and then she
hurried towards Jimin, smiling.

“I had no idea you were here,” she said happily. “It’s so nice to see you. This is it, is it? Your
business. The one you dreamed about for so long. It looks wonderful.”

“Th-Thank you,” Jimin stuttered, bowing to her. Mina’s eyes flicked to the right, and then she
smiled again and bowed, recognizing Sana from the number of times she had frequented
Chatty.

“Hello. It’s so good to see you. I didn’t know you were working with Jimin,” she said in
Japanese to Sana, and Sana beamed.

“I’d never let him do it alone,” she replied, and then she focused her attention on the stickers
that she was placing on the little bags that held the pretzels and churros. Mina turned her
attention back to Jimin.

“How’s business?” she asked.

“It’s good,” Jimin said, still trying to feel his feet on the ground and realizing that he was
slightly numb. “Um, it’s really good.”

“Are you breaking even and turning a positive profit?” Mina asked hopefully. Jimin pursed
his lips, and then he couldn’t help it—he smiled and nodded, and Mina gave him a few
excited little claps.
“I knew it. I knew you’d do well,” she said supportively. “This is the perfect place to market
yourself. You seem to have everything. It all looks great, Jimin.”

“Thank you,” Jimin said with a bow, clutching one trembling hand in the other.

“Your friend stopped by this morning,” she added flippantly, tucking her hair behind one ear
again. “I gave him a box. You’ll have it when you go home tonight. I hope everything is in
there.”

“That’s okay. Thank you, Mina-ssi. I appreciate your help,” Jimin said, his voice wavering a
little. He cleared his throat in an attempt to stand firm as he nodded, squaring off his
shoulders. “Would you like a coffee? I can make you a vanilla latte.”

“That would be lovely. Thank you. How much?” Mina asked. “And don’t say free, because I
insist.”

“Ah. Well, then it’s five thousand won,” Jimin replied. Mina reached into her purse, pulled
out the correct note, and handed it over to Jimin. Jimin quickly made her coffee, and then he
handed it over with a little bow. Mina accepted it and admired the cup and the sticker, and
then she sighed and surveyed Jimin.

“You haven’t asked about him,” she said, and a metaphorical hand grabbed Jimin’s heart in a
fist. Nevertheless, he sniffed quietly and forced a weak little smile.

“I thought it would be best not to,” Jimin admitted. “For my sake.”

“That’s fair,” Mina replied. She hesitated, but then she took one step closer. “Maybe I’m
overstepping, Jimin-ah, but you don’t look well at all. And for what it’s worth… Jeongguk
lies to my face every morning. He’s not okay, either.” Mina then lifted her coffee in gratitude,
and she quickly grabbed a business card and a folded up brochure. “Thank you for the coffee.
I’ll be on the lookout for The Nook to open up. Please open somewhere close to Gangnam so
that I can make it my morning coffee stop and ditch Chatty.”

“Thank you, Mina-ssi,” Jimin whispered, and Mina waved to Sana before she walked over to
her husband and walked off with him, sipping her coffee.

You’ll have it when you go home tonight.

It was all Jimin could think about for the rest of his Saturday, mostly after Sana had talked
him out of crying again after Mina’s visit. He counted the money quickly, packed everything
up, and practically ran to his car to drive home, calling Taehyung on the way. Taehyung
agreed to meet Jimin at his apartment, and Jimin made it home in record timing. Taehyung
was waiting by the front door, and he was holding a cardboard box with the GCPH logo on it.

“Let’s get this over with,” he said darkly. Jimin heaved a sigh and led the way to the elevator
and up to his apartment. He flicked on the lights and greeted Sammi, and then he and
Taehyung sat down on the bed with the box between them.
“Did you speak with his secretary? Mina?” Jimin questioned as he opened the first flap of the
box.

“Yes. She said that Jeongguk-ssi put everything in there that he could find,” Taehyung
replied, leaning back on the pillow as Sammi crawled onto his torso.

“She was at the marketplace today. Mina-ssi,” Jimin clarified. “She was there with her
husband. I guess she went after being at the office. And she saw me. Said that I was doing
well for myself.”

“Well, she’s right. You are.”

“She was surprised that I didn’t ask her about…”

“Well, why would you ask about him if it hurts you?” Taehyung asked, and Jimin shrugged,
pulling open another flap.

“Right. That’s what I said. But she told me I didn’t look well,” Jimin replied, and Taehyung
hummed.

“I mean, you’ve clearly lost weight from the stress, and you’re not sleeping. So yeah, you
probably don’t look like you did a month ago,” he said, always honest. “Did she say anything
else?”

“Um, she said that Jeongguk-ssi isn’t doing well,” Jimin murmured.

“Ugh,” Taehyung scoffed, lifting his head and dropping it roughly onto the pillows again,
staring at the ceiling. “I really want to be an asshole and say that he deserves it, but we both
agreed not to wish bad things on people.”

“Right.”

“And we both agreed to be adults and try to understand where he was coming from.”

“We did.”

“And although he made several points, he still hurt you, which means that I hate him until I
have evidence to prove the contrary,” Taehyung declared, holding up his fist to the ceiling.
“Best friend pact.”

“Best friend pact,” Jimin murmured, bumping his fist against Taehyung’s. He then took a
deep breath and opened the box, peering in. He first saw a perfectly folded suit—his Prada
suit from the night of the gala. It had been dry-cleaned and everything, but that wasn’t
shocking to Jimin, given Jeongguk’s affinity for laundry and folding clothing. Jimin set the
suit aside, and Taehyung immediately sat up to admire it. Jimin pulled out two pairs of jeans
that he had left behind and three t-shirts, as well as some underwear and socks and a pair of
blue house slippers that Jeongguk had bought for him.

“Oh,” he whispered, and tears immediately sprang to his eyes, blurring his vision.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Taehyung asked, alarmed. Jimin reached into the box, because
at the very bottom was a sky blue t-shirt with the words be nice in the top left corner, tag still
on. It was brand new, and it smelled so achingly familiar that Jimin crumpled it in his hands
and brought it right up to his face.

Jimin’s favorite color was blue. And Jeongguk knew it.

“Shit, no. Come on, don’t,” Taehyung pleaded, shoving the empty box to the floor and
lurching forward when Jimin burst into tears. He pulled Jimin right into his arms, and Jimin
curled up against Taehyung, burying his face in his best friend’s shoulder and clutching the
front of his shirt. Taehyung stroked Jimin’s hair and rocked him a little to soothe him as Jimin
hugged the shirt to his chest.

“Shh, shh,” Taehyung said after a few minutes when Jimin’s sobs had died down
significantly. “It’s fine. You’re okay.”

“I love him, Tae,” Jimin whispered tearfully. “I s-still love him. Why won’t it go away? Why
can’t I stop? I w-want it to stop. Make it stop.”

“I wish I could,” Taehyung muttered. “You’re just gonna have to deal with the feeling, Jimin.
I don’t know what else to tell you. You’re just going to have to be in love and hope it’ll fade.”

“H-He never…” Jimin sniffed and closed his eyes. “He just… He never said anything, Tae.”

“I know. You have about fifty unanswered questions,” Taehyung recalled, rubbing Jimin’s
back. “And now he’s giving you all your stuff back like you asked. That’s not even your
shirt.”

“It’s brand new,” Jimin whispered. “I wore his b-black one all the time. A-And this one is my
favorite color.”

“Sly motherfucker,” Taehyung muttered, and then he sighed. “Well, look at this way—this is
the last of it. You have your stuff back. Now you can try to move on.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Jimin whispered.

“Seems like he’s moved on.”

“Mina-ssi said he’s not doing well.”

“You think he regrets it?”

“I don’t even know, Tae,” Jimin said miserably. “I… I get it. I didn’t want to, you know? B-
But I get it. I don’t like it, but I… I know why he broke it off. He was right. We said it was
just sex when we first started, and—and we both got carried away, and we didn’t talk about
it. I don’t know. I just… don’t understand why he thinks he’d be stealing my twenties from
me.”

“Well, you’re pretty mature for almost twenty-three,” Taehyung pointed out. “You didn’t
have a fucking choice, you know? You had to be. I mean, you were class president for nine
years in middle school and high school, and people still downplayed your success. Morons.
But, like… we’ve talked about this. We said that that’s why you had to grow up so fast.
Because no one really gave a fuck or believed in you when you said you were gonna do
something.”

“So then why would he think that?” Jimin whispered, and he felt Taehyung shrug.

“Because he probably wants you to be a regular twenty-something-year-old,” he replied. “I

mean, he shouldn’t make decisions for you, but he also has a point. He’s older, so he wants to
settle down. Are you ready for that?”

“It’s not that easy,” Jimin argued. “If we ever… you know. If we ever got into a relationship,
I wouldn’t lock myself up in the apartment and start knitting all day long and calling people
my age ‘youths.’ I’d still go out and party and meet with friends, but I’d also still pursue my
dreams and be a fucking adult. I just… I don’t think he understood that.”

“Well, it probably scared the fuck out of him,” Taehyung reluctantly admitted. “And he’s an
asshole for letting it go that far and fucking stringing you along, but whatever. We’ve already
cried about that. I mean, you’re right. He probably didn’t really comprehend the fact that you
could do both and thought he had to bail to protect you.”

“That I can still be twenty-two—sorry, almost twenty-three—and be in a relationship with

him,” Jimin whispered, shivering slightly. The thought of being in a real relationship with
Jeongguk felt like a dream now. He had been so close to it, and now it was slipping slowly
through his fingers. It had ended so abruptly, so suddenly, like the ocean waves had crashed
onto the sandcastle they had built together. It would have been so simple, too. If Jeongguk
had admitted to having any kind of feelings, anything at all, and if he had been willing to give
it a shot, it would have been so easy. Jimin was certain that the two of them had been on the
brink of a real relationship, that “I love you” had been on the tips of their tongues. But it had
all come crashing down in seconds, and now Jimin was certain of nothing.

“It’s been a month,” Taehyung noted. “What if… I mean, what if he came back to you and
said that he felt the same way that you do? Would you take him back?”

“I never really had him in the first place, did I?” Jimin asked rhetorically. “I don’t know, Tae.
I’d probably look pathetic, but honestly… yeah. I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“You would?”

“Yeah. You might think I’m an idiot, but Tae, I swear… I swear we’re meant to be with each
other,” Jimin whispered. “We were so good together. Does that make me weak? Am I stupid
for feeling like that?”

“I don’t think it makes you weak,” Taehyung replied. “It’s not like he cheated or one of you
did something unforgivable. It was kind of, like… yeah. It was bound to happen. Hoseok
hyung and I even warned you.”

“You did.”
“We said you’d fall in love with him and get your heart broken.”

“You did.”

“But honestly, he got scared and you caught too many feelings. And then you fought about it.
So there’s the miscommunication demon,” Taehyung said, always wise when it came to
offering Jimin advice or explaining a situation that had Jimin scratching his head. “I don’t
think you’re stupid for feeling like you could just jump right back in. But I think you’d have
to be careful.”

“We’d have to talk,” Jimin murmured.

“Uh, yeah. You’d have to talk a lot,” Taehyung confirmed. “To clear the air and all that. I
think it just sucks because this isn’t some university relationship or anything. He’s not our
age. He’s way older, which means that you can’t just go back and forth texting him to win
him over or flirting on social media or something.”

“I could barge into his office again,” Jimin joked weakly, and Taehyung snorted.

“Not the best idea,” he said.

“So what, I just… wait? Do I give it time?”

“Maybe.” Taehyung shifted against the pillows. “Look, you’re very clearly head over heels in
love with him. You’ve made that much pretty obvious. That won’t die off easily. So give
yourself time. Maybe once the new year starts, you can try to heal and move on.”

“Yeah. Try to heal,” Jimin repeated under his breath, still hugging the t-shirt to his chest. The
only thing that he yearned for, more than anything in the world, was to just hug Jeongguk, to
be held in his arms one more time. Even if it ended in a parting of ways, Jimin longed for just
one more chance, and he had never once wanted anything from his past relationships. He
only wanted Jeongguk, even if only for one minute more.

There was no better indicator of hopeless love than that.

***

“...Right. That’s fantastic, thank you. And I’m certain that I know the right editor with whom
to place your client. She has an incredible eye for detail and seeks out queer fantasy with very
little luck. So she’ll be thrilled… yes. Thank you so much, Hyesoo-nim. We’ll speak soon.”

Jeongguk hung up the phone quietly, and then he leaned back in his chair, ankles crossed,
office quiet. The walls were a soft blue and had been for almost seven years, so against the
dark leather furniture and the green hue of the plants Jeongguk kept, his office tended to be
bright and soothing, especially in the morning when the sunlight was streaming through the
windows. But lately, the blue color had felt slightly suffocating.
“Good morning.”

“Morning,” Jeongguk said without looking away from his computer, already drafting an
email to one of his best editors to proposition her. Mina strolled in, and then she held
something out in her hand. Jeongguk finished a sentence, and then he glanced over. The
moment he registered what she was holding, he reached out and snatched it from her hand,
heart skipping.

“I went to the marketplace on Saturday afternoon,” Mina said as Jeongguk stared at the
postcard-sized information card for The Nook, professional logo and social media plugs and
all. “Just to walk around with my husband. I had no idea he was there. But he had a booth
and everything.”

Jeongguk only hummed, scanning every corner, every inch of the card in his hand. He slowly
set it down, and then he used two fingers to push it back towards Mina. Mina clicked her
tongue once and picked up the card, but she said nothing further. She stood on the spot as
Jeongguk turned back to his computer, swallowing ten thousand questions on the tip of his
tongue.

“Jeongguk.”

“Yes.”

“He’s making a profit.”

Jeongguk removed his hands from the keyboard for a moment and picked up his pen to twirl
between his fingers slowly, still avoiding eye contact with Mina. His eyes fell instead on the
Tokyo Skytree snowglobe that was still sitting on his desk, a treasure that he had so far
refused to remove. As he stared, Mina continued.

“He was there for four weekends, and he broke even and turned a positive profit every single
day,” she said, voice controlled but tinged with palpable pride and excitement. “When I
walked away, I watched the booth for a few minutes from a distance, and he had a steady
stream of customers. He’s really doing it, Jeongguk-ssi.”

Jeongguk quietly tapped the top of the pen against his desk and nodded, and then he finally
looked up at Mina. Her smile slowly began to fade into something a bit sadder.

“But he doesn’t look well,” she added, and Jeongguk stopped tapping the pen. “I think he’s
lost weight. He looked tired. Maybe I’m reading into it too much, and maybe it’s not my
place, but he’s hurting.”

“You’re right. It’s not your place,” Jeongguk said tersely, and Mina sighed.

“Well, since I’ve already got one strike, you’re still hurting, too,” she said, and Jeongguk
locked onto her gaze, jaw clenched. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’re here before me
and that you stay after me. I’m not an idiot. You’ve been miserable.”
“I need you to get in touch with Park Sooah,” Jeongguk said, referencing the editor Hyesoo
was after. “Arrange a meeting with her for me, please.”

“You’re good at deflecting, Jeongguk-ssi, but honestly, it’s getting old,” Mina replied,
wiggling the postcard in her hand lightly. “It’s been a month. The least you could do is admit
that you have feelings for him.”

“A meeting, please, Mina-ssi.”

“Do you?”

“I suppose I can do it myself,” Jeongguk said, reaching for his phone. He lifted the receiver
off the cradle and began to dial, but Mina pressed a manicured finger into the hook switch,
triggering a dial tone again.

“I’ll schedule your damn meeting,” she said calmly, removing her finger as Jeongguk hung
the phone back up. Mina shook her head. “You’re going to break one day soon, Jeongguk-ssi.
And I hope to God I’m not the one who has to take the brunt of it.”

“Mina,” Jeonguk said softly.

“Nope,” Mina said with her usual cheer, already walking out of Jeongguk’s office and waving
over her shoulder. Jeongguk quietly groaned and slouched in his chair, dragging his hands
down his face tiredly. Mina closed his office door, and the moment she did, Jeongguk reached
out and took the snowglobe into one hand. He tilted it upside down so that the snow would
fall, and then he righted it again, watching in a daze.

Mina was right. Of course she was right. It had been a month, and Jeongguk had desperately
hoped that one day, he would have woken up feeling better, that he would have woken up not
drowning in his own guilt. That day had yet to come. Every morning he woke up to an empty
bed that he made with a quiet hatred of himself. He found himself shrouded in regret day
after day, but crippled by fear that suffocated him. But more than anything, above all the guilt
and sadness and regret, he was so deeply and desperately in love.

It was a kind of love that he had never experienced before, a sacrificial and unadulterated
love that lacked proper definition. It left Jeongguk feeling like an empty shell with a beating
heart because he was without the man he loved. And if he hadn’t been such a coward, if he
hadn’t choked on his panicked fear of the unknown, of unintentionally changing the course of
Jimin’s life, of having a potentially difficult conversation about feelings, perhaps he would
have been able to admit to it all. Perhaps he would have been able to hold Jimin in his arms
and shower him in words of love and affection like he deserved. But it was the preliminary
label of “relationship,” more than anything, that had been Jeongguk’s handicap. And he still
wasn’t sure how to come back from it. He still didn’t know how to recover. He still didn’t
know how to love Jimin without having him, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to. He wanted
to rip his heart out so he didn’t have to feel it anymore.

On Wednesday morning, Jeongguk woke up at half past five from a fitful sleep. He stretched
and rolled over in bed, and then he blinked in the hazy blue lighting of dawn. Last week, he
had gone to Tokyo for a few days to finalize some important details for a three-book deal
with an author, and he had told absolutely nobody that the moment he’d walked into his
apartment, he had broken down in tears. After a miserable five days alone, he had grabbed
the cherry blossom tree and had brought it back to Seoul to keep on his bedside table at
home.

He could still remember waking up the morning after the gala with Jimin lying on top of him.
Flushed cheeks, tousled hair, sleepy eyes and a smile, and Jeongguk had been enamored,
mesmerized by Jimin’s brilliance in every way. Jeongguk had dated men his age and had
never once been so enthralled as he had been with Jimin, had never fallen so hard and so fast
in his thirty-six years of life. Waking up tangled in sheets with Jimin in his arms had been a
gentle, blissful kind of reassurance that Jeongguk had never known he had needed. Albeit
unexpected, loving Jimin was redeeming. Jeongguk had spent so many years jaded by his
past failed relationships, and Jimin had washed all of that away with a simple cherry blossom
tree. But when it came down to it, Jeongguk had let that jadedness ruin everything.

Jeongguk arched to crack his back tiredly, and then he reached for his phone, where he saw
several new messages.

KIM NAMJOON [05:27:52AM]

Good morning, birthday boy.

MIN YOONGI [05:31:12MAM]

It’s hyung - happy birthday, Jeongguk. See you at the office!

MINA [05:34:41AM]

Happy birthday! See you at the office with presents!

Jeongguk cracked a small smile, and then he found the strength to crawl out of bed and get
ready for the day. He showered and dressed in silence, still missing the way that Jimin always
hummed randomly little tunes while he got ready in the morning, missing the way Jimin
always struck up conversation or asked for opinions on outfits or offered to make egg toast
for breakfast even though they never had time.

The moment Jeongguk arrived on the tenth floor of the office, he was greeted by smiling
faces and employees wishing him a happy birthday. He thanked them all profusely, feeling
his ears burning red by the time he made it down the hall to his own office. Mina stood up
when she saw him, beaming.
“Happy birthday,” she said, coming out from behind her desk and hugging Jeongguk tightly.
She then handed him a gold gift bag. “You can open it later. I’ll get your coffee and your
lunch today—my treat.”

“You’re too much,” Jeongguk said, shaking his head as he walked into his office.

“Oh, you’re finally here, are you?”

“It’s ten past seven,” Jeongguk said flatly, trying not to smile when he saw the bundle of
balloons with a weight on his desk, a bottle of scotch with a bow tied around the neck, and
Seokjin and Yoongi seated on the couch.

“You’re late,” Yoongi said, and then he hugged Jeongguk first, Seokjin coming in for the
second hug. “Happy birthday, Jeongguk.”

“Thank you. Thanks for this. The balloons are a little much,” he said, lifting the weight and
setting the balloons into the corner for decorative purposes.

“Yoongi thought it was a good idea because they’re helium, which means that they won’t
deflate for days,” Seokjin replied. “And if you get bored, you can suck the helium out of
them before your phone conferences with Scholastic.”

“They’d have several questions,” Jeongguk commented, dropping into his chair with a grin.
“Seriously, thank you for this. The scotch is my favorite. You know me well.”

“We’ll be expecting to drink it with you on a tough night at the end of Q4,” Yoongi said. He
hesitated, and then he cleared his throat. “I moved the snowglobe to place the balloons.
Sorry.”

“What?” Jeongguk whipped his head until he found where the snowglobe was resting in the
middle of his desk. He let out a breath of relief. “That’s fine. Thank you.” He picked it up and
placed it back in the corner of his desk where it belonged, and then he bade goodbye to
Seokjin and Yoongi, ready to begin the workday as usual with the addition of some balloons
occasionally shifting in the air conditioning behind him.

Namjoon showed up an hour or two later with his birthday greetings and a brand new leather-
bound journal for Jeongguk to use. Mina walked in with coffee, and a few hours later, she
offered up lunch and sat down with him so they could eat together.

Around four o’clock, when Jeongguk was tempted to crack open the bottle of scotch, his
phone vibrated on his desktop. Jeongguk pulled the pen out of his mouth that he had been
absentmindedly chewing on while scanning through a finance report, glancing at the screen.
In an instant, he threw the pen aside like it was trash, and he reached for his phone.

PARK JIMIN [04:03:51PM]

Happy birthday, Jeongguk-ssi :)

One text message. One text message and suddenly, all Jeongguk could hear was Jimin’s
gentle, whispered voice asking what he wanted for his birthday. Jeongguk had brushed it off,
but now, as he set his elbows on his desk with his face in his hands, all he wanted for his
birthday was to see Jimin again. Not receive a polite, one-off text message that had none of
Jimin’s warmth to it. Jeongguk’s hands balled into fists as he rested them against his
forehead, and then he blew out a breath, swallowing the lump in his throat that had risen
alarmingly fast, indicative of emotion that he couldn’t show at the office. With a few deep
breaths, he picked up his phone again.

JEONGGUK [04:06:02PM]

Thank you, Jimin.

There was nothing else he could say. There was no other proper response, and what was
worse was that Jimin read the text message and didn’t add anything further. Jeongguk just
stared at the screen until he went cross-eyed, and then he locked his phone and set it to the
side.

Pull it together. You’re thirty-seven-year-old. You fucked this up. Don’t feel sorry for yourself.
Stop yearning after him like a teenager.

But Jeongguk couldn’t help it. He had never felt anything quite like it before. This kind of
love was entirely new to him, and he had no idea how to navigate it. One text message from
Jimin had brought back a flood of memories, especially since Jeongguk hadn’t deleted their
conversation and could still see previous messages, where Jimin had used winking faces and
emojis and hearts.

Suddenly, his birthday didn’t feel as happy. Suddenly, the desire to wallow in self-pity was
far stronger than the desire to stiffen his upper lip and soldier through. His friends had
attempted to inflate his heart like a birthday balloon, but Jimin’s text message had been the
pin to pop it. Now Jeongguk remembered why his body had been aching for weeks from lack
of sleep. Now he remembered why he had trouble being around Yoongi and Seokjin lately.
Now he remembered why he was quietly jealous of Mina for having seen Jimin in his
element at the marketplace.

He had fucked up. He had fucked up so horribly, and he had lost the best thing to ever come
into his life. And now Jeongguk didn’t know if there was a chance of having Jimin back.
Now he wasn’t sure he could redeem himself.
The hours ticked by. Mina said goodbye at six o’clock, and Jeongguk waved her on. Seokjin
and Yoongi stopped by around half past seven to share one last birthday sentiment before
leaving together. Namjoon dropped in to ask if Jeongguk was leaving for a birthday dinner or
birthday drinks, and Jeongguk staved him off by saying “maybe soon.” But he didn’t leave
his desk. Instead, he began to go through the most recent board report where Golden was
compared to other corporations financially. Anything to distract him. Anything to keep him
from going home alone.

“...Jeongguk-ah?”

Jeongguk whipped his head up, startled. It was creeping towards eleven o’clock, and the
cleaner had just come through. Jeongguk only had his corner lamp on as he worked, the
balloons creating some shadows. And there was Namjoon, hands in his pockets, shuffling
into Jeongguk’s office.

“I thought you would’ve left. Figured I was alone,” Namjoon said with a chuckle. “Nothing
like expense reports on a Wednesday night.”

“You didn’t see my email?” Jeongguk asked, gesturing to his computer. “About the board
report?”

“I saw it two hours ago,” Namjoon said.

“But you didn’t send through what I asked for,” Jeongguk evenly replied.

“Jeongguk-ah, it was nine o’clock at that point,” Namjoon stated, perching on the armrest of
the couch and then pushing his glasses up a little further onto his nose. “I’m going through
the expense reports. I’ll send through the data that you asked for tomorrow.”

“I asked for it tonight, hyung,” Jeongguk sighed out, rubbing his forehead briefly. “I needed
it. Can you just send it through?”

“Gguk, it’s eleven o’clock. I’m thinking about heading home,” Namjoon answered. “I can
send it—”

“Hyung, just pull the damn data and email it to me before you leave,” Jeongguk interrupted
tersely.

“I said I’d do it in the morning, Jeongguk, it’s—”

“You’ll do what I fucking tell you to do because I’m your goddamn boss!” Jeongguk shouted,
standing up and throwing his pen straight to the floor at Namjoon’s feet. He stared at
Namjoon, seeing red, absolutely seething as Namjoon sat motionless on the armrest of the
couch, stoic. Surely he expected Jeongguk to cave and apologize, but Jeongguk wasn’t the
least bit sorry. He stood his ground, shooting daggers at Namjoon, waiting for some kind of
reaction or response. It took almost an entire minute of tense silence that could have been
snapped with one misplaced breath. Namjoon then sniffed, rubbed his mouth with one hand
swiftly, and stood up, slipping his hands into his pockets as he turned and stared out the
window, looking down onto Gangnam from their tenth-floor perch.
mood: “nobody like you” by little mix

“...I forget,” he quietly said. Jeongguk only pressed one fist into his desktop, too infuriated to
speak. Namjoon filled the silence, turning to glance over at Jeongguk. “I do. Sometimes I
forget that I report to you. That you’re my superior. I’m sorry.”

“Either tell me what you’re doing in here or get the fuck out,” Jeongguk said in a low voice,
trying to control his temper, unable to accept the apology just yet. Namjoon knew him well
enough to be unbothered.

“You might not want me to be,” Namjoon said, “but like it or not, I’m concerned about you.
You’ve been practically living here the past month. You’re clocking fourteen hours a day
most days. What are you doing to yourself, Jeongguk-ah?”

“I’m doing my fucking job, hyung,” Jeongguk said tersely.

“You’ve been here since seven o’clock this morning.”

“I’m asking you what you’re doing here, but not what you’re doing here,” Namjoon said, but
Jeongguk understood, and he could feel a small bubble of panicked, lovesick rage boiling in
the pit of his stomach.

“I’m just working,” Jeongguk replied.

“To distract yourself?”

“Hyung, just—please leave. Send the data and go home,” Jeongguk pleaded.

“It’s your birthday, Jeongguk-ah,” Namjoon pointed out. “And here you are, still at the office
for yet another sleepless night. So I’m just waiting for you to admit that you’re here because
of Jimin.”

“Hyung, don’t,” Jeongguk warned, but Namjoon wasn’t finished.

“You used to leave the office early to get home to see him, and now that it’s over, you’re
staying here as much as possible so that you don’t have to go home and think about him. Tell
me I’m wrong,” Namjoon challenged. Jeongguk said nothing, his chest aching. “And you
won’t talk to anyone about what happened, nor will you talk about him. Care to tell me
why?”

“I’m not talking about this, hyung.”

“Why not?”

“Because I fucking love him!” Jeongguk finally shouted, throwing another pen across the
office and away from Namjoon. This was exactly what Mina had said—he was breaking.
This was it, and Namjoon was about to take the brunt of it. “Okay? I love him and it’s
fucking over and I don’t know what to do. Is that what you want to hear? That’s why I’m
here! Because I’m fucking thirty-seven-years-old and I’m acting like I’ve never been through
this shit before!”

“You ever love someone like this, though?” Namjoon asked.

“No,” Jeongguk choked out, raising his voice with every sentence he spoke. “No, I’ve never
loved anyone so much in my entire goddamn life, and now he’s gone. And you know what’s
worse? I just let him go! I fucking did this to myself! So stop fucking asking me why I’m still
at work. I’m here because I don’t know what the fuck else to do. I lost the best thing that ever
happened to me. Is that a good enough answer for you?”

“Not really,” Namjoon calmly replied. “Because as far as I can recall, you’re the one who
ended it because you apparently didn’t want to admit that you have feelings for him and you
were trying to make decisions for him and give him a life. But now what? Now what do you
feel?”

“I’m begging you to just shut up,” Jeongguk said, bending at the waist with his elbows on his
knees, face in his hands. “Please, hyung, just stop talking.”

“You’ve been happier the last few months than you’ve been since I’ve known you,” Namjoon
continued, ignoring Jeongguk’s wishes. “I’ve known you for a decade, Jeongguk-ah. You’re
like my brother. And seeing you with him at the gala almost made me fucking cry.”

“Don’t,” Jeongguk whispered, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes. But Namjoon
kept going.

“And I don’t get it, Gguk,” Namjoon said. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that
before, and you just broke it off? Was his age that much of a problem? What were you
thinking? Why would you do that?”

“It wasn’t even the age!” Jeongguk exclaimed. “It wasn’t—it’s not the number! It’s—It’s the
fucking fact that he—he could have a great life, but he’ll never know that if I hold him back!”

“I highly doubt you’d be holding him back.”

“You don’t know that!” Jeongguk retorted.

“Oh, and you do?” Namjoon asked, raising his voice a little. “You know how the future will
play out? Is that it? So fuck what you feel, right?”

“Do you know what that feels like?” Jeongguk shouted. “Hmm? Do you? Do you know what
it feels like to love someone so much that you can’t fucking breathe? That it fucking hurts
just thinking about it? I had him right there in front of me, hyung, right there! He asked me if
I could love him, and I said nothing. He begged me not to let him walk out and I just fucking
let him.”
“Because what, you thought you were protecting him?” Namjoon asked, throwing one hand
up in the air halfway.

“I don’t know,” Jeongguk emphasized, his hands trembling. “I don’t fucking know what I
was doing. Being an idiot, that’s what I was doing, fuck.”

“So what were you so afraid of?” Namjoon wondered, crossing his arms. “What was it?”

“It… It was…” Jeongguk stood up shakily, and then he migrated to the couch, because he
wanted to be closer to Namjoon in case he had a real breakdown. Namjoon took the hint and
sat on the couch beside him. “I… I said that I wasn’t going to be the one to steal his life from
him. I—I didn’t want to take his twenties from him. I didn’t want him to be with me and then
look back twenty years later or something and realize that he sacrificed too much.”

“Okay. I understand that. But have you considered that maybe he’s smart enough to not let
that happen?” Namjoon asked. “He’s pretty damn brilliant, Jeongguk. And he’s an adult who
can make his own decisions. He doesn’t seem like the type of person to jump into a
relationship with an older man and turn into a homebody.”

“I was scared,” Jeongguk whispered, letting his face fall into his hands again. He pressed his
fingertips against his brow and said, “I was scared because of how it all started. We just—we
agreed to just sex. I didn’t know I’d fall in love with him. And I don’t think… hyung, I don’t
think he expected to have feelings, either. And we didn’t talk about it. We just kept fucking
burying it, and that’s what scared me. I couldn’t—I couldn’t move on, you know? I couldn’t
get past the whole idea that we were just fuck buddies, but we still kept going and going and
didn’t stop to talk it out. And if—I mean, if we had had that discussion, I wasn’t prepared. I
had no idea how to navigate it.”

“Mm. Yeah. I can see that. I guess that would be kind of terrifying,” Namjoon admitted.

“And that’s the thing, hyung.” Jeongguk paused, because he knew what he was about to say
next had so many implications, and he had to say it calmly. “If I ever get the chance to have
that conversation with him or tell him that I love him, and if he’s even willing to hear me
out… I’m in it for life. I’m done searching.”

“He’s it?” Namjoon quietly asked.

“He’s it,” Jeongguk whispered, his pulse racing so fast that he was tempted to press a hand to
his heart. “And if I… if I can’t figure out a way to redeem myself and fix the mess I made, if
I can’t apologize to him and confess and earn his trust back again… that’s it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m done searching,” Jeongguk repeated, wringing his hands together. “I’ll get a damn dog
or something. I’m not dating anymore. I’ll compare everyone to him, and no one will live up
to the expectation.”

“So you’d rather be in love with someone you can’t have for the rest of your life than try to
move on?” Namjoon wondered, and Jeongguk nodded.
“Yeah. That’s how deep I’m in it. Hyung, I love him so much. He texted me to say happy
birthday, and I just… I just lost it. I have to fix this. I just—I don’t know how. I don’t know
how to show him that I care about him and love him right now. I don’t know if he needs more
time or if I need more time, or if I’m too late. I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do,”
Jeongguk pleaded. Namjoon blew out a breath.

“I’m not an expert by any means, Jeongguk,” he replied. “Not even close. But I think you
both still need a little bit of time. Maybe that will ruin it. Maybe he’ll find someone else. I
don’t know. But I think… yeah. I’m pretty sure he loves you, too. And you’re both too
heartbroken right now to talk it out logically, to figure things out. So maybe just a little more
time.”

“He’s starting his business, too,” Jeongguk murmured. “He’s so busy right now. He’s working
his ass off to achieve a dream that he’s had for years. And I—hyung, all I want is to support
him like I used to and tell him I believe in him. But I can’t do that.”

“Well, maybe you can think of a way to show your support,” Namjoon replied. “Without
overstepping your boundaries.”

“I could invest.”

“You could what?”

“Invest,” Jeongguk repeated, elbows resting on his knees as he stared at a single spot on the
empty couch opposite where they were seated. “Invest in his business. He’s made a profit at
the marketplace. Surely now he’ll be seeking investors to kick-start his business, maybe find
a building where he can rent the space and get started. So what if I invest?”

“That’s… risky,” Namjoon said honestly.

“I know that. It’s ugly risky,” Jeongguk confirmed. “Financially, it won’t even put a dent in
my fucking bank account. I won’t even notice the money’s gone.”

“But between the two of you…”

“Look, there are two things that could happen,” Jeongguk said, suddenly feeling frantic as he
explained his thinking. “I invest and he rejects it. That’s the most likely scenario, and if that’s
the case, then fine. I’ll admit defeat and leave him be, let him move on. And I’ll try to move
on, too. At least then I’ll know that I tried. I told him for months that he had my full support
and that I’d cheer him on. So it’s the smallest possible gesture at this point.”

“What’s the other thing that could happen?”

“He accepts the investment and agrees to talk to me,” Jeongguk responded, and then he
smiled with pride. “But he’s stubborn as fuck and will scream about his independence in your
face until you shut up and listen to him. So I… I honestly don’t know if he’d take even a
thousand won from me.”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Namjoon said with a small smile, and Jeongguk rolled
his eyes. “Please. You were so pig-headed when you first showed up at GCPH, and you
talked to nobody. No one could tell you a goddamn thing.”

“Okay, but I mellowed out,” Jeongguk argued, and Namjoon nodded

“You did. But Jimin is like a dose of your own medicine.”

“He’s better than I ever was,” Jeongguk said, and then he sighed. “What do you think? Do I
risk it? Do I try to invest?”

“I mean, it’s like you said. It’s an ugly risk, and it’s not about the money. It’ll either make or
break the entire relationship,” Namjoon pointed out. “So you have to make that decision and
live with it.”

“Right. Well, maybe I do need a little more time,” Jeongguk quietly admitted, and Namjoon
chuckled, rubbing Jeongguk’s back.

“I think you might. Are you feeling okay?”

“Now? Yeah. I feel better. I’m sorry for yelling at you. I don’t give a damn about the data.
Send it tomorrow,” Jeongguk replied, and Namjoon snickered.

“Yeah. I figured the outburst had nothing to do with the actual work,” he said. “This is a
whole new side of you, Gguk. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in love before. When it’s not a
total shitshow, it looks good on you.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Jeongguk grumbled, and Namjoon nudged him with a dimpled smile.

“Take some time. Maybe think of some of the things you could talk to him about if that day
comes. What the conversation would be like,” Namjoon suggested. “And consider if
investing in his business is a good idea. I’m behind you one hundred percent, no matter what
you choose.”

“Thank you, hyung,” Jeongguk said quietly, and then he tilted his head and rested it on
Namjoon’s shoulder. Namjoon wrapped one arm around Jeongguk’s waist, and neither of
them moved, happy to sit in the silence together.

“Happy birthday, Jeongguk.”

***

“Shit.”

Jimin flopped back onto his pillows with his hands on his face, legs sprawled. It was quiet for
a moment, but then he heard the soft clacking of keys, so he opened his eyes.
“You brat, get off,” he snapped, because Sammi was lying on her stomach and incessantly
pawing at and whacking his laptop keyboard, arching her back like she was ready to pounce.
Jimin couldn’t blame her, but he bent all the way at the waist and grabbed her to drag her off.
“I get that the numbers suck, but you’re overreacting.”

Sammi meowed indignantly and slunk around Jimin’s back, and then she leapt from his right
side directly at the screen. Jimin let out a yelp and snatched her up, tossing her right to the
floor. Peeved, Sammi leapt up onto the kitchen countertop and hopped into the sink, sitting
down and staring at Jimin so that only her ears and eyes were visible. Jimin couldn’t help but
laugh.

“You fucking lunatic,” he muttered, shaking his head and turning back to his screen. He had
been promoting The Nook on Instagram for weeks now, offering up a link where anyone
could donate to the startup project. He had also reached out to friends and family to share his
initial success and ask for a donation. Several people had responded, but even with his profit
from the marketplace and the money he was earning from working overtime, he just didn’t
have enough. He was also scouring for more books so that he could have full displays on
opening day, whenever that would be, but he hadn’t built up too much of a collection yet.

Jimin had enough to rent out a building space, sure, but not for long, given where he wanted
to be located. Most small businesses took a few months to really pick up steam, and Jimin
didn’t want to make a loss and have absolutely no backup funds available to keep The Nook
alive. The way he was going now, he’d probably be shut down by Christmas.

October started in a few days, which meant that September had ebbed away without The
Nook’s grand opening, and Jimin was panicking. October, November, and December were
prime times to have a coffee shop or a place to cozy up and read a book. Jimin wasn’t ready
to admit that he would have to put his dream on the back burner. He wasn’t prepared to give
up and was far too stubborn anyways to throw in the towel.

“Tae, come on, not now,” Jimin sighed when he heard the ringing from his intercom. Tired,
he rolled off the bed and shuffled over, pressing the button with one finger. “Yeah?”

“Park Jimin?”

“Oh. Yes, that’s me,” Jimin said when he heard an unfamiliar voice that wasn’t Taehyung.

“I have a delivery for you,” the brisk voice said.

“Oh? Oh. Okay. Yes, please come in,” Jimin advised, opening the door so the delivery man
could drop whatever the delivery was at his front door. Jimin, brow furrowed, quietly paced
the kitchen and threatened to turn the kitchen faucet on to give Sammi an unwanted bath, but
by the time he had contemplated the prank on his poor cat, there was a curt knock on the
door, followed by retreating footsteps. Jimin hurried over and yanked his door open.

“What the hell are you?” he asked the inanimate box, which almost came up to his knees and
was as wide as his door. Jimin bent and thought to pick up the box, but it was so heavy that
he stumbled backwards, empty-handed. Laughing at himself, Jimin bent again and dragged
the box across the floor with a small grunt until it was in his kitchen. Then he grabbed some
scissors from the kitchen drawer and plopped down onto the floor cross-legged. The moment
he did, his heart damn near stopped.

mood: “forget you not” by little mix

“What…?” he whispered. The box had the Golden Co. Publishing House logo all over it,
packaged up neatly. With trembling fingers, Jimin opened the scissors and used a sharp edge
to slice the tape, and then he pulled on the flaps and opened the box.

There was a flat piece of cardboard on top covering the contents, but on top of that cardboard,
there was a handwritten note. Jimin picked it up and read:

Jimin,

Some gently used books to add to your collection. Good luck, I believe in you.

Jeongguk

The speed at which tears sprang to Jimin’s eyes was alarming. He dropped the note into his
lap, pulled the cardboard out, and then rose up on his knees, a few tears slipping down his
cheek as he sniffed and started to lift book after book out of the box. They were all popular
books, some bestsellers, some poetry, some autobiographies, and all from clients of GCPH.
Jimin counted a total of fifty, fifty, books for free in a box for him to offer to patrons.

“Holy shit,” he whispered, stunned as he used the sleeve of his magenta sweater to wipe his
tears. These books would fill up multiple shelves in a small little shop, which meant that in
addition to the books he had already thankfully collected, he had enough. One unexpected
gift had turned his entire day around. Suddenly, the number in his bank account didn’t matter
anymore.

“What do I do?” Jimin asked Sammi, who was peering over the sink and down at Jimin, paws
hanging over the edge. “Am I supposed to message him? Do I thank him? Does this note
imply that I say nothing?” Jimin held it up to Sammi’s eyes, and immediately, Sammi leapt
out of the sink and headbutted the paper before falling to the ground gracefully on her feet.
“You fucking demon cat, I’m asking you what to do, not to attack it. You’re no help.”

Jimin blew out a breath, running gentle fingers over the spines and covers of some of the
books in awe. He didn’t want to text Jeongguk and open up a whole can of worms, because
he wasn’t ready for that conversation. He wasn’t sure he was ready to talk about where they
had gone wrong, and Jimin knew that if he were to face Jeongguk again, he would just spill
out an entire tearful love confession. He needed a much better reason for such a
confrontation, and though the books were tempting, it wasn’t good enough.
“I’ll talk to Sana tomorrow,” Jimin said to Sammi. “Tae and Hobi hyung have helped enough.
I’ll ask Sana what she thinks.”

Jimin stowed away the books in his room and slept with them in the corner, and then he woke
up early and headed to Chatty to open, since he was working the morning shift with Sana. He
wore the same sweater, since he was in a rush, and Sana complimented it when he walked in.

When Jimin stacked cups and filled the ice while telling Sana what had happened, she reacted
just how Jimin had hoped. She gasped and stared with her mouth slightly open, excited at the
prospect of all the books they could display in The Nook once they found a building to rent.
But then she frowned slightly.

“Well, if you want to talk to him about it or say thank you, I don’t see the harm,” she
commented. “A simple ‘thank you for the books’ text wouldn’t go astray. But it’s up to you.
It’s not a problem if you don’t text him. I doubt he’d be expecting it, anyways.”

“You’re right,” Jimin sighed, sipping the iced coffee he had made for himself. “He’s not that
kind of person. He donates books to charity and kids in need every month. It’s not like I’m
special.”

“I mean, you definitely are, but whatever,” Sana said with a giggle.

“But he wouldn’t get upset if I didn’t text him,” Jimin continued, giving Sana a look. “So
maybe… I don’t know. I’ll give it some time.”

Sana agreed to as much, and then she strolled over to open up the window by the register and
set up the signs as Jimin stocked the milk. Another day with the same routine. One day, Jimin
would get tired of making coffee for a company that wasn’t his.

It wasn’t until the other two girls for the afternoon shift came in that Jimin and Sana finally
took a break. They ducked into the backroom to eat lunch and kick their feet up on the
manager’s desk, because Jimin always let Sana break the rules. Jimin didn’t even bother with
his phone, instead focusing on his food and closing his eyes half the time.

“Uh, Jimin oppa?”

“Yeah?” Jimin clicked his chopsticks together a few times. Sana was staring at her phone,
brow furrowed as she leaned in.

“Am I reading this right?” she asked herself. “I was checking The Nook’s info email to see if
we have anything interesting. And there’s… there’s this email.”

“Saying what? Is it a complaint? Am I famous?” Jimin asked, dropping his feet and setting
his food aside. Sana shook her head, still frowning slightly.

“No, it’s… I don’t know. The email address isn’t familiar. But there’s documentation
attached, oppa. I don’t—it’s talking about…” Sana licked her lips slowly. “Someone’s
offering to invest fifty million won in The Nook.”
 “They’re what?” Jimin almost fell out of his chair as he lurched forward in shock. Sana
swallowed and nodded.

“It says it right here. A document of good faith. An anonymous investor would like to invest
fifty-million won into The Nook, and they have no interest in owning a percentage of the
company or in the stock or in receiving anything in return. Their only stipulation—they wrote
it right here—the only thing you have to do is work hard. Does that even make sense?”

“Say that again,” Jimin demanded, suddenly feeling faint, like all the blood had drained from
his face.

“Fifty- million won. And all you have to do is work hard. That’s it,” Sana said hollowly.
Jimin rose to his feet abruptly and paced back and forth a few times, and the more he paced,
the angrier he became. It wasn’t a raging type of anger. It was a long-burning, fiery kind of
anger rooted in heartbreak. There was absolutely no doubt who was investing so much
money in The Nook, and with no strings attached. No one else would throw that much money
at a startup business without bothering to meet with Jimin first.

“Oppa? What is it? What’s going on?” Sana asked, confused. Jimin paused, fingers laced at
the crown of his head. Then he abruptly pivoted and faced Sana, dropping his arms.

“I know who the investor is,” he said tersely. Sana blinked, but then the realization dawned
on her; Jimin saw it in her eyes.

“Oh,” she whispered. “He’s… what are you going to do?”

Jimin clenched his jaw and his fists, and then he exhaled through his nose. He had been
looking for a good enough reason for a confrontation. This was it—this was the reason.

“I’ll work the rest of the shift. And then I’m going to see Jeongguk.”

Chapter End Notes

SHIT'S GETTING REAL, ARE WE READY FOR THE GRAND FINALE?

Sure you are, it's coming tomorrow ;) TWITTER

 the sweetest devotion
Chapter Notes

HERE WE GO! 11.3K and then we're all finished CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!

I don't think I have the appropriate words to describe what it feels like to finish this fic.
The response to it has been so shocking that I'm still trying to process it. 300-500
comments per chapter, thousands of likes and RTs on Twitter... like, how do you wrap
your head around something like that? It feels surreal, because it's "just fan fiction" and
has no real impact on my daily life, but at the same time, it does. I can't explain it. I
literally just write stories because I love to, and I share them in hopes that someone out
there will love them just the same.

Much like my other fics - there is truly no perfect ending. I'm really nervous because
there's a high expectation, and I could go on and on for 1 million words about these two
(everyone shut up right now stop those thoughts because I will NOT, don't get any
ideas), but their story as it stands... yeah. I like it. I like this ending. There's a future
there. You can see it and feel it. So I just really hope it's satisfying to y'all. I could go
into the details about hypothetical struggles down the road, sure, but for now, that will
just live in my head, and this is the ending I love. I hope you love it, too.

...That was very serious wow who am I, what a speech LMAOOOOOO

omg also - biggest thanks to my love Cata for being my best friend. She has read every
chapter in advance to make the moodboards just right. She's screamed with me, laughed
with me, workshopped shit with me to make this fic what it was. Without her support, I
very much doubt that I would've ever even started this fic. CATA MY BABY MY
ANGEL I LOVE YOU SO MUCH <3333

Share your thoughts about this chapter with me on TWITTER

See the end of the chapter for more notes

 [moodboard by cata]

~~~~~~~

Jimin hardly trusted himself to count the register correctly that night, especially without Sana
there to calm him down. But somehow, he managed to do it without fucking it up, and then
he dismissed the other two girls and closed up Chatty for the night. He drove to the bank in a
daze and deposited the day’s income, and then he sat in an idle car, eyes closed as he took a
deep breath.

This is a good enough reason. You need to do this.

He knew how to get to Jeongguk’s place without a GPS, so he drove in complete silence,
trying to come up with fake conversation scenarios in his head while knowing full well that
once he was in front of Jeongguk, absolutely none of them would play out like he practiced.

Since it was closing in on eleven o’clock, there were several visitor parking spaces available
outside Jeongguk’s building. Jimin swung into one and jumped out of the car, and then he
marched right up to the intercom system with a pounding heart. He hovered one finger, but
then he pulled it away and pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes.

“No, do it,” he scolded himself quietly, and then he mustered all of his courage and pressed
the button for apartment 801.

“...Hello?”
“It’s Jimin. Let me in,” Jimin said without pretense, heart in his throat.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“You let me in right fucking now, Jeon Jeongguk, or I swear to God, I’ll—oh. Thank you,”
Jimin added weakly when he heard the door click. Still fueled by potentially misplaced
courage, he yanked open the door, and then he pressed the button for the eighth floor once in
the elevator. The doors closed, and Jimin shivered, gripping the railing on the inner perimeter.
The last time he’d been in this elevator, he’d been moaning Jeongguk’s name and kissing
him, desperate and in love. He was still desperate and in love, but it felt so different.

The doors opened, and Jimin stepped forward and banged a heavy fist on Jeongguk’s door. It
took a moment, but he heard quiet footsteps and felt the urgent need to run away to save
himself from the pain. But then the door swung open.

Jeongguk was standing there in all his beauty, stealing Jimin’s breath like he always did, and
for a fleeting moment, it felt like they had never been apart. He looked flustered, Jimin’s
appearance certainly unexpected, and he looked like he had just settled in for a comfortable
night of quiet. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and grey sweatpants, his hair
tucked behind one ear, his face bare.

mood: “i love you” by little mix

“Let me in,” Jimin demanded. Jeongguk hesitated.

“I really don’t think—”

“Let me in , hyung,” Jimin said firmly, feeling breathless in anticipation as he stared

Jeongguk down. This time, Jeongguk just silently stepped back and held open the door, and
Jimin marched into his apartment. He kicked his shoes off messily and placed them at the
empty spot on the mat without even thinking twice, and then he turned and rounded on
Jeongguk, who was still right by the door. “I’m mad at you.”

“Oh?” Jeongguk slipped his hands into his pockets. “Why’s that?”

“I found out this morning that I have an investor in The Nook,” Jimin said airily. “An
interested investor who’s willing to fund basically the entire small business, to get it off the
ground. For fucking fifty-million won. Doesn’t want more than a single share for the sake of
business, either. Just signed on to invest in me with the stipulation that I should work hard .”

“That sounds nice,” Jeongguk said calmly, but Jimin was anything but calm. He reached over
to the couch, picked up a throw pillow, and hurled it right at Jeongguk. It hit his thigh and fell
to the floor, but it had the intended effect. Jeongguk pursed his lips.

“Don’t tell me it sounds nice when you’re the asshole who’s investing in my fucking
business!” Jimin exclaimed. “Are you out of your goddamn mind? You break things off with
me because it just won’t work out, and then you have the fucking audacity to throw millions
of won at me?”

“Am I not allowed to believe in you?”

“You—” Jimin started, choking on his next words. He was already getting overly emotional,
and at first glance, he wanted to scream at Jeongguk for being so neutral. They had been apart
and out of contact for months now, and he was hardly reacting to Jimin’s sudden appearance
and outburst. But as Jimin took a few deep breaths and surveyed Jeongguk, he realized that
Jeongguk was anything but neutral. His eyes were shining anxiously, his brow was slightly
furrowed, and his posture screamed that he was desperate to be closer to Jimin. So perhaps he
wasn’t as stoic and strong as he appeared. In fact, he looked moments away from having a
breakdown even worse than Jimin was about to have.

“I told you from the start,” Jeongguk said, his voice slightly strangled. “From the moment
you told me about your small business idea. I told you that I liked it. That I believed in it.
That I would invest in it. That I believed in you. That hasn’t changed.”

“And how about you?” Jimin asked, his voice cracking. “How about you, hyung? Have your
feelings changed at all?”

“They have,” Jeongguk said with ambiguity. There was a moment of heavy silence between
them, and Jimin thought that if he listened closely enough, he could hear the pieces of his
shattered heart stirring in the pit of his stomach. The only man who could put the pieces
together was standing across from him.

“What’s changed?” Jimin whispered, devastated.

“Me,” Jeongguk replied. “I’ve changed. I’ve changed my mind about several things.”

“Then maybe—maybe I don’t want to hear it,” Jimin said, wanting to press a hand to his
chest to relieve some of the pressure. “I came here to yell at you, but I also came here to get
some answers, because I can’t do this anymore.”

“Jimin—”

“You kept talking to me that day like I didn’t know what I wanted,” Jimin interrupted. “Like
if you talked long enough, I’d reconsider and say, ‘oh, you know what? You’re right, I do
want to find someone my age and try dating.’ I know what I fucking want. I’ve never been
shy about it. You knew what I wanted, too, but all you did was push me away because you
were too scared.”

“You’re right.”

“And you—what?” Jimin cut himself off.

“You’re right.” Jeongguk removed his hands from his pockets and took a few steps towards
Jimin, closing the gap. “I fucked up. I made decisions for you because I was scared out of my
fucking mind. Never felt anything like it before.”
“Well, good. You deserved it,” Jimin whispered, clenching his jaw. “Now maybe you can
give me some fucking answers about what happened that day and we can both move on. And
if you’re going to invest in my business, then the least you could do is tell me where we
fucking stand. Because I’m not accepting money from you if you’re just doing it to coddle
me or shut me up, or if you’re doing it because you pity me.”

“That’s not why I’m investing,” Jeongguk replied right away. “Not even close.”

“Then why?” Jimin asked rhetorically, because he plowed on. “The four months we were
together were the best four months of my entire life. I’ve never been that happy before. You
know how easy you made it to fall in love with you?”

“Jimin, you can’t—”

“Can’t what? Love you? Too late!” Jimin said loudly, throwing one hand up in surrender with
a laugh. “Too fucking late. I already love you. And I want you. Not just when it’s convenient
or when we want to have sex, or when we’re bored. I want to date you. I want to go out to
dinner with you or go on bike rides with you. I want to wake up every morning and kiss you
goodbye before you go to work. I want you to make me dinner and help me study. And I want
you to love me. I really want you to love me, and I just…”

Jimin trailed off, his voice breaking again, his eyes burning with tears as Jeongguk said
nothing, waiting for Jimin to continue, letting him speak. But how was Jimin supposed to
explain? How could he possibly tell Jeongguk how in love he was? How could he make
Jeongguk understand?

“I love you,” Jimin whispered, blinking and feeling a tear slip down his cheek. “And if you
don’t love me back, I need to know. I need you to tell me that you don’t so I can move on. I
don’t fucking know how, but I’ll figure it out. So just—I just need to hear it.”

Jeongguk slowly licked his lips, and then he took three more steps forward until he was toe-
to-toe with Jimin, and Jimin held his breath, a few more tears leaking from his eyes as he
clenched his jaw and stared up at Jeongguk, willing himself to stay strong.

“How dare you?” Jeongguk whispered, and Jimin’s heart sank again in despair.

“What…?”

“How dare you just assume that I don’t love you?” Jeongguk continued, and Jimin’s knees
buckled. “Of course I love you. Why do you think I’m so fucking scared? Why do you think
my feelings have changed? They changed because I finally stopped denying it. I just let
myself love you, but we’d already separated. I didn’t know what to do, and I’d already
fucked it up and hurt you. But I knew you were still trying to launch your business. And the
only way I could think of to show you how much I loved you and believed in you was to send
you books and invest in it like I always wanted to. Give you all the space you needed. Maybe
give you some closure. But don’t you ever say again that you want me to love you, because I
already do.”
“S-So…. So you…?” Jimin whispered, tears still spilling from his eyes as Jeongguk finally
reached up and took Jimin’s face between his hands, thumbs brushing away the tears that fell.
Just a single touch sent Jimin into a tailspin.

“I want everything that you want. Dating, dinner, bike rides, helping you study. I want all of
it,” Jeongguk said resolutely. “And I’m so sorry for being such an idiot. I’m sorry that I tried
to push you away and make decisions for you, and I’m even more sorry that I let you go. I
love you so much, Jimin. I don’t want to even think about what my future would look like
without you in it. I’ll do absolutely anything to have you back in my life. I have so much to
apologize for, and I’m ready to do that if you’re willing to listen. Please tell me it’s not too
late. Please love me.”

“It’s not. It’s not, it’s not too late, I do love you,” Jimin croaked as Jeongguk gently kissed his
forehead, and that was all Jimin needed. He fell into Jeongguk’s arms and buried his face into
Jeongguk’s neck, and Jeongguk wrapped him up and hugged him tightly, giving Jimin the
one thing he had longed for all this time.

“I love you, I love you so much,” Jeongguk whispered repeatedly between the kisses he was
pressing to the side of Jimin’s head. “I’m so sorry, I love you. I love you, baby, I love you.”

“You hurt me so much,” Jimin whispered tearfully, and he felt Jeongguk’s grip tighten.

“I’ll never hurt you like that again. Ever. I’ll spend a lifetime earning back your trust and
making up for it,” Jeongguk swore fiercely, cradling the back of Jimin’s head as they hugged.

“Promise me,” Jimin whispered. “Promise that you love me.”

“I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life,” Jeongguk whispered as tears
slipped from Jimin’s closed eyes, his entire body arching into Jeongguk’s body as if they
were made for one another, two puzzle pieces that fit, two magnets with opposite poles
attracting. Jeongguk’s touch was gentle, reverent, enough for goosebumps to erupt on Jimin’s
skin when he felt Jeongguk’s lips brush his forehead again, leaving a soft kiss. “I’ll never let
you go again. I promise you.”

“Please,” Jimin whispered back, reaching up to grip Jeongguk’s shirt as if clinging to it

would keep Jeongguk this close forever. “Hyung, please. Please stay with me. I love you,
please just…”

Jeongguk pulled away just slightly, and Jimin’s breath caught in his throat when he saw how
bloodshot Jeongguk’s eyes were. Dazed, Jimin reached up and brushed away the tear at the
corner of Jeongguk’s eye with his thumb.

“I’ll always stay with you,” he promised.

“Kiss me,” Jimin whispered. “Kiss me, please—”

Jimin didn’t even get his next words out. Jeongguk’s lips were in his, and Jimin let out an
emotional gasp into the next kiss as he threw his arms around Jeongguk’s neck and kissed
him like it was the very last time they would ever be together, tears still escaping the corners
of his eyes. It was a kiss that sent a kick of adrenaline racing through his system, weakened
his knees, stole his breath, and sent his heart for a loop. He kissed Jeongguk hungrily,
desperately, and Jeongguk responded eagerly, hands sliding underneath Jimin’s sweater to
hold his waist and keep him close. If Jimin ever had to go a day without kissing Jeongguk
again, he was sure he would lose his mind. Maybe he had forgiven too quickly, but Jeongguk
seemed just as distressed and eager to forgive, so Jimin couldn’t think of anything more
fitting than kissing him like the world was ending, and then perhaps seek out further
explanation.

“Jimin. Jimin, baby, look at me. Hey, look at me,” Jeongguk said between kisses, and then he
took Jimin’s face in his hands again as Jimin blinked dazedly, completely lovesick. “We need
to talk. We have to. We can’t just jump into it and go back to how things were this fast. We
have a lot to work out. Will you talk to me? Can we figure this out together? Can you stay for
a little and talk with me?”

“Yes, please,” Jimin whispered, his heart soaring. “Can we sit?”

“Wherever you want,” Jeongguk offered. Jimin trailed his fingers down and took Jeongguk’s
hand, lacing their fingers together, and then he tugged Jeongguk over to the couch. Jeongguk
sat down immediately, and Jimin climbed right into his lap, straddling him and then bending
to kiss his waiting lips, satisfying his craving. All he wanted to do was collapse into
Jeongguk and cry in relief, maybe cry out the last two months, but now was not the time.
Jeongguk was right—they had to talk.

“Hi,” Jimin whispered when he realized that Jeongguk was just staring up at him in quiet
admiration. Jeongguk wrapped his arms around Jimin’s waist and pulled him in for a hug,
pressing his head sideways to Jimin’s chest, to his heart, as Jimin’s broken heart immediately
mended at the gesture. Neither one of them spoke for a moment, and Jimin closed his eyes,
happy to drown in the moment forever,

“I like this sweater on you,” Jeongguk murmured. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Jimin whispered, resting his forehead against Jeongguk’s.

“All talk aside,” Jeongguk said, “before we even get into it… God, I missed you so much.
Missed holding you. Missed kissing you.” He tilted his head up and pressed a soft kiss to the
tip of Jimin’s nose. “Missed hearing you laugh in the morning. Missed hearing you sing in
the kitchen. Missed you being fucking brilliant all the time and putting every other human
being I know to shame.”

“Hyung…”

“I love you, Jimin. I wish you understood just how much,” Jeongguk said, brushing his lips
against Jimin’s before kissing him gently. Jimin shivered happily, fingers threaded through
Jeongguk’s hair as he absorbed all of Jeongguk’s sweet words, a soothing balm over an
aching heart. “I’ll spend the rest of my life showing you.”

“Yeah? The rest of your life?”

“At the risk of scaring you away already…” Jeongguk sighed deeply, and then he leaned his
head against the backrest of the couch, smiling up at Jimin as he spoke, eyes shining happily.
“If you love me the way I love you, then I’m in it for life. I don’t want anyone else. You’re it.
You’re all I want. I want to be ninety-seven-years-old and still having dinner with you every
night. What do you say?”

“You’re not scaring me away,” Jimin said, his chest tightening with emotion again, but not in
a way that made him feel like a piece of paper being ripped in half mercilessly. He felt utterly
overwhelmed, the kind of emotion that made Jimin feel like he could open a window and fly
if given the chance. “I might be young, but I know what I want. I think I made it pretty clear
that I love you the same way. I’m in it with you, hyung. Forever. Until we’re old and grey.
You’re already nearly there, anyways.”

“Wow,” Jeongguk said loudly, and Jimin burst out laughing, throwing himself onto
Jeongguk’s shoulder and seeking out affection that Jeongguk immediately granted. He
grabbed Jimin around the waist and shook him back and forth playfully a few times as Jimin
clung to him, and then he hugged him close and kissed his neck and the side of his head
before leaning back again. “Well played. I get it, though. And I’m glad. But we still have to
figure out how to make it work. And we have a lot of apologizing to do.”

“Oh?”

“Well, I was a fucking coward before, so it’s time for me to man up. I have a lot of
apologizing to do,” Jeongguk said, reaching up and stroking his thumb over the apple of
Jimin’s cheek once. “Look at me.” Jeongguk used a gentle hand to tilt Jimin’s chin down so
they could lock eyes. “I never should’ve assumed things about you. About your feelings,
about what you were going through, about anything. I should’ve just admitted that I loved
you right then and there, and I couldn’t do it, and I ended up hurting you and making you cry.
I fucked up. You’re an adult, and I made decisions for you that could’ve easily made for
yourself. I’m so sorry. I’ll never do that to you again. I trust you, and I didn’t show that to
you. Please forgive me.”

“Of course I forgive you,” Jimin replied. “Just promise me that you won’t ever do anything
like that again. Promise that you’ll always trust me.”

“I promise.”

“You don’t get to decide what I do with my life or what I feel or when I feel it,” Jimin stated,
and Jeongguk nodded.

“I know. I know that now.”

“But I should apologize, too.”

“Why do you need to apologize? Jeongguk asked, brow furrowing. Jimin lifted his thumb and
pressed it to the space between Jeongguk’s eyebrows, gently circling his thumb until
Jeongguk relaxed his face again.
“Because, hyung... I wanted you so badly,” Jimin admitted. “And I loved you so much that I
didn’t think about how everything I said would affect you, how it would affect your life, not
just mine. I just said everything in my head and expected you to feel the same way and be on
the same page as me. So I’m really sorry that I was only thinking about myself. Because it
works both ways, you know? I can’t decide what you do with your life or what you feel.
Like, I should’ve considered your feelings and what you were going through. So I’m really
sorry. Will you forgive me, too?”

“Yeah, of course I forgive you,” Jeongguk replied instantly, fingers massaging at Jimin’s hips
as he spoke. “I totally understand why you reacted the way you did, why you said all of it.
You were ready to put all your cards on the table and I wasn’t. We were in two completely
different places, so I get it. It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize.”

“I just want you to trust me,” Jimin said again, and Jeongguk nodded. “Trust that I’m an adult
and I know what I want and I know what I’m doing.”

“Yeah, I’ve learned that lesson the hard way,” Jeongguk said with a wry smile. “But there’s
something you have to understand, too.”

“What is it?”

“That it’s just like you said—two completely different places. We’re still at two totally
separate points in our lives, babe,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin pursed his lips and nodded in
understanding, even though he wanted to wiggle a little bit at the sound of the term of
endearment. “That’s… That’s just the reality of it. We’ve lived very different lives from each
other up until this point. So if we’re going to make this work, then we have to do it the right
way. I mean, it should be easy, right? For other people, but for us… I don’t know. I hope it is.
I just… I want to make sure we don’t fuck this up.”

“Right.” Jimin pushed his shoulders back. “So that means respecting each other’s work and
career choices, setting healthy boundaries, going out with our friends and not whining to each
other about it, not feeling obligated to be together all the time, and no petty comments about
age in either direction.”

“...Okay, so you’ve pretty much got it covered,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin burst out laughing,
burying his face in Jeongguk’s shoulder again, so blissfully happy that he could hardly stand
it. “Jesus Christ, you really have your shit together, don’t you? You never cease to amaze me,
Park Jimin.”

“I think we can just work out the kinks like that along the way,” Jimin whispered, turning his
head a little to press a few kisses to Jeongguk’s neck, ears burning a little from the praise. “I
told you before that if we love each other, all the other bullshit doesn’t matter. That’s just
typical relationship stuff, hyung. The only difference for us is that I’m thinking of going back
to school and you’re already a CEO and rich as hell. You just have a little more life
experience.”

“Me, the guy with all the life experience, acting like a fool,” Jeongguk sighed, and Jimin
giggled, lifting his head again.
“I get it, though,” Jimin said. “Why you asked me to leave. Why you broke it off. We never
really talked about our relationship, did we?”

“Well, we never really talked about if it was a relationship or not,” Jeongguk said with a
chuckle. “That was what scared the hell out of me. We just kept going and going because it
was fun and it felt right, and we never stopped and said, ‘hey, this is actually a relationship.’”

“Yeah, until we were both in love,” Jimin said with a small smile. “And then it was kind of…
I mean, wasn’t it too late at that point?”

“Mm. It felt like it. It sucked, but maybe arguing like that was a good thing,” Jeongguk saind
in a hushed voice. “Maybe we just needed to get it all out. It definitely gave me time to pull
my shit together and try to be as mature as you are.”

“I’m only mature when I have to be,” Jimin argued, and Jeongguk grinned.

“You’re mature when it counts.” He leaned forward and kissed Jimin softly, and Jimin pushed
both of them back against the couch and deepened the kiss, so utterly thrilled to be back in
Jeongguk’s arms that he was sure his heart was fit to burst right out of his chest. “Do we need
to talk about anything else?”

“Probably,” Jimin murmured. “But right now, no. We said the important stuff and apologized
for what we did to each other. As long as you’re sorry for making me cry.”

“Very sorry. I never want to see you cry like that again,” Jeongguk said with a slight frown.

“I just have one final question,” Jimin said, trying not to smile and give himself away.

“What is it?”

“It’s a hypothetical scenario. Let’s say that you and I are out at… I don’t know, a work event
for you or something. Where there are a lot of people who don’t know me. And someone
comes up to you and says, ‘who’s the guy that you brought with you?’ What do you say?”

Jeongguk narrowed his eyes and rubbed his lips together in thought, tongue darting out to
lick his bottom lip as he contemplated his response. Then he said, “I say, ‘that’s my
boyfriend. His name’s Jimin. Do you want to meet him?”

“That’s the correct answer,” Jimin said seriously, and then he grinned as Jeongguk flipped the
two of them until Jimin’s back was on the couch, and Jeongguk was kneeling overtop of him
with a radiant smile.

“Did I pass your test?” he asked.

“With flying colors,” Jimin confirmed. “Is that okay with you? Is that too fast? That’s not too
much, is it? And you won’t be embarrassed by it?”

“What, properly dating you? Calling you my boyfriend?” Jeongguk wondered. “First of all, if
you think you embarrass me, then you need to get your head out of your ass, because I’ll
show you off to everyone I know and tell them to go fuck themselves if they have anything
negative to say about it.”

“My kind of man,” Jimin teased, blushing a little.

“And it’s only too much if you think it’s too much. But to me, it’s not. I told you that I’m
serious, Jimin-ah. I’m not fucking around. We’re doing this the right way, and that means that
I have…” Jeongguk slowly bent down for another kiss, and Jimin lifted his head a little to
meet his lips, a blissful chill flitting down his spine. “The most intelligent, most beautiful,
hardest working boyfriend ever.”

“Okay, well, don’t wear it out on the first day,” Jimin teased.

“You say to the guy who’s been single for seven years,” Jeongguk said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t really expect to have another boyfriend seven months after the last one,
but here you are,” Jimin said crankily, and Jeongguk snickered, pressing a few consecutive,
quick kisses to Jimin’s lips before straightening up.

“Life’s funny, isn’t it?” He stretched with a little grunt, and then he sighed. “Come here.”

Jimin stood up, and Jeongguk extended a hand that Jimin immediately took. An hour or two
ago, Jimin’s entire world had been steadily collapsing in on him. Now he had the world in the
palm of his hand, and Jeongguk had given it to him. Or perhaps he had selfishly snatched it
for himself. Either way, he felt untouchable, and he finally felt happy again.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to or if you don’t feel comfortable,” Jeongguk prefaced.
“But will you stay tonight? Will you sleep here? Just stay the night?”

“Oh, now you want me to stay,” Jimin teased, and Jeongguk exhaled deeply, rolling his eyes
as Jimin giggled. “It’s about time you ask. Better late than never.”

“How about I never ask you to leave again?” Jeongguk offered.

“Deal.” Jimin wrapped his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, and Jeongguk bent at the knees and
hoisted Jimin right up into his arms, kissing him like they were in their own little vignette,
like the world outside of their little bubble didn’t exist. He slowly walked towards his
bedroom, and Jimin almost cried in relief, because all he wanted was to get a good night’s
sleep, and he knew that with Jeongguk, he would sleep like a rock.

“I want some of your clothes,” Jimin whispered as Jeongguk laid him down on the bed with
care.

“Whatever you want,” Jeongguk agreed, kneeling on the bed. He used one hand to push up
the bottom hem of Jimin’s sweater, and then he began to kiss up Jimin’s torso reverently as
Jimin sighed and arched towards his lips. When he reached Jimin’s collarbone, Jeongguk
gently pulled the sweater off and tossed it to the side, and then he reached behind him,
grabbed the collar of his own shirt, and yanked it off. Jimin eagerly reached and pulled
Jeongguk down towards him until they were skin-to-skin, and then he found Jeongguk’s lips.
There was nothing blatantly sexual about it. Jimin was most certainly aroused and wasn’t
doing anything to hide it, and neither was Jeongguk, but they did nothing further. Jimin
wasn’t sure how long they kissed, because each kiss felt like a new wrinkle in the timeline.
They kissed until their lips were swollen and slicked with spit, until Jimin had made a mess
of Jeongguk’s hair, until the clothes he still had on felt like a restriction. Then, with very few
words, they both undressed and threw on clothes for sleep and headed into the bathroom.
Jimin’s toothbrush was still sitting there untouched, which only spoke volumes as to how
Jeongguk had coped with their faux break-up.

“Hmm?” Jimin hummed, brushing his teeth with a smile. He watched in the mirror as
Jeongguk came up behind him, wrapped an arm around his waist, and continued to brush his
own teeth with the other hand. Toothbrush in his mouth, he paused and turned his head to
nuzzle into Jimin’s hair, and Jimin grinned, mouth full of toothpaste. Jeongguk kept his arm
around Jimin’s waist as he leaned over and rinsed his mouth out, and then he kissed the side
of Jimin’s head.

“I love you,” he murmured, pressing one last kiss to Jimin’s hair before leaving the bathroom.
Jimin rinsed his mouth out, and then he pressed his palms into the countertop and stared at
himself in the mirror. He’d definitely lost weight in the past two months, but suddenly, he had
some color back in his cheeks, and his eyes were brighter. He had a few love bites on his
neck now, which was exactly how he liked it, and Jeongguk had given Jimin his favorite
black be nice shirt.

Jeongguk was lying in bed with one arm bent behind his head, scrolling through his phone
with the other hand. Jimin crawled onto the bed and cuddled up right into Jeongguk, head on
his shoulder, and Jeongguk immediately dropped his bent arm and hugged Jimin close to his
body. He locked his phone, and then he set it to the side. When he did, Jimin lifted his head.

“Why is the cherry blossom tree here?” he asked.

“Because I had a meltdown when I went to Tokyo a few weeks ago, so I brought it back with
me,” Jeongguk said without hesitation. “I missed you, so I decided to intensify the pain by
putting the cherry blossom tree in my room.”

“You’re a glutton for punishment.”

“I have your snowglobe on my desk at work.”

“So you have a pain kink.”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“I pulled on your hair all the time when we fucked, so I kind of know a little.”

“Okay, so anyways,” Jeongguk said loudly, and Jimin burst out laughing, throwing his arm
across Jeongguk’s chest and throwing one leg over his hips. “Did you get the shirt?”

“The blue one like this?” Jimin pinched the fabric of his current shirt. “Yeah, I did. I wear it
to bed every night. But also—” Jimin lightly smacked Jeongguk’s chest. “Don’t send me gifts
to butter me up, you asshole.”

“I wasn’t buttering you up,” Jeongguk emphasized, sounding offended as Jimin fought back a
smile. “You asked for your stuff back, and it just so happened that I had already bought you
that shirt and intended to give it to you as one small part of your birthday gift.”

“So the box of fifty books and the fifty-million won investment aren’t worth mentioning,”
Jimin said, and Jeongguk sighed irritatedly as Jimin stifled a laugh.

“Look, it’s like I said. It ended badly, but that didn’t mean that I stopped believing in your
dream or your business. I planned to give you books on a regular basis regardless, so that was
just the first donation. And the investment in the business was just me fulfilling my promise
to you that you’d have my support,” Jeongguk explained. “I can retract both, O Stubborn
One.”

“No, no,” Jimin said airily in a singsong tone, patting Jeongguk’s chest a few times as
Jeongguk laughed. “Let’s not get carried away, now. But let’s not make a habit of it, either.”

“Noted.”

“Are you the rich kid who doesn’t know how to show his feelings, so you buy your crush all
this fancy shit?”

“You’re impossible,” Jeongguk sighed, and Jimin giggled, closing his eyes for a moment.
“I’ll find better ways to support you without using my money. Would you prefer that?”

“Yes. Your money is a nice little bonus, but I’d still love you even if you had fuck all,” Jimin
said. Jeongguk let out a small breath through his nose, and then he turned and kissed Jimin’s
forehead, brushing back his hair to do so.

“It’s been ten minutes since I told you I loved you. I’m slacking,” he muttered, and Jimin
grinned.

“Are old people always this cheesy?” he asked, and Jeongguk reached his hand down and
smacked Jimin on the ass as Jimin wiggled a little and settled back into Jeongguk’s arms
comfortably.

“I want to hear about The Nook,” Jeongguk requested. “About how your time at the
marketplace was. Mina told me a little bit about it when she saw you there, and she showed
me your business card. I checked out your social media page, too. You’re doing really well.
How’d it go?”

“Most days were really good,” Jimin softly said, pleased that Jeongguk was so keenly
interested in what he was doing. It made him feel like he was on the right path, and it amazed
him just how much one person’s opinion could validate his entire dream. “There were a few
shitty moments, though.”

“Shitty? What happened?” Jeongguk asked.

“My first weekend at the marketplace,” Jimin said quietly. “My ex was there. He saw me at
my booth. And he… he said some really terrible things.”

“Like what?”

“Just that my business was pathetic, and that he couldn’t believe I had talked about it our
entire relationship only to end up at a marketplace on the weekend making subpar coffee and
stuff, and that he was looking forward to watching me fail,” Jimin whispered, closing his
eyes as he hand form a fist on Jeongguk’s chest.

“Mm. Is he a good-looking guy?” Jeongguk asked. Jimin’s brow furrowed.

“I… guess he is. Why?”

“Do you think he’d look better with his head shoved up his ass?”

Jimin snorted, his hand flattening immediately as he relaxed into Jeongguk’s hold again,
finding Jeongguk’s heartbeat with ease. Just like he’d always done. Just like he wanted to do
for the rest of his life.

“His head’s already up his ass, hyung, don’t even bother,” Jimin replied, still smiling.

“I hope you didn’t believe a fucking word that dickhead said,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin
almost laughed out loud at how pissed off Jeongguk sounded.

“I believed it for a minute, but Sana slapped me.”

“She did what now?”

“Nicely. With love,” Jimin reiterated, and Jeongguk chuckled. “Because I cried.”

“No, no,” Jeongguk said, shaking his head against the pillow as he stroked Jimin’s hair
affectionately and off his forehead again. “We don’t cry over fuckwits like him.”

“That’s what Sana said.”

“Good. Because your business is thriving, you’re working your ass off, and you’ll get
everything that you deserve, including success,” Jeongguk said firmly. Jimin took a deep
breath, realizing that he was already on the verge of crying again.

“You always believed in me,” he whispered. “Why?”

“Because quite frankly, Jimin, you just have this thing about you,” Jeongguk replied. “The
way you present yourself, the way you talk about your dream of being your own boss, the
way you stop at absolutely fucking nothing… you have a vibe. It’s contagious. I believed in
you from the second you told me about The Nook in my office that day. I never once doubted
you. That’s how strong-willed you are. Anyone that motivated is bound to make shit happen.
You’re absolute magic, even on your worst days.”

“Hyung,” Jimin whispered, voice cracking.

“And that’s what I thought before I even fell in love with you,” Jeongguk continued. “You
have this unapologetic fierceness about you, Jimin-ah, that just… it’s fucking incredible. Do
you know that? Do you know how extraordinary you are? Do you know how lucky I am that
I get to be the one to love you while your dream unfolds like this?”

“Hyung,” Jimin whispered again, knowing Jeongguk could feel the tears soaking his shirt.

“You said back in Tokyo that whoever ended up with me would be lucky, but honestly, Jimin,
it’s the other way around,” Jeongguk said, stroking Jimin’s hair in a soothing gesture. “I
wondered if I’d get lucky someday, and I was an idiot, because I already was. Being with you
makes me the luckiest man in the world.”

“Now you’re just playing dirty. Stop it,” Jimin scolded in a whisper, weakly smacking
Jeongguk’s chest with one hand.

“Do you know, though?” Jeongguk asked. “How extraordinary you are?”

“If you think I am, then I must be.”

“You are. I’ll tell you every day that you are.”

“I love you, Jeon Jeongguk,” Jimin whispered sleepily, fingers curling around Jeongguk’s
ribs as he hugged Jeongguk impossible tight. Jeongguk brought his other arm around for a
full hug, kissing Jimin’s hair.

“I love you, too.”

Jimin knew before he even drifted off that he was about to sleep better than he had in months.

***

The alarm jolted Jeongguk awake, and he immediately fumbled for his phone on his bedside
table to shut it off. It was then that he felt a body shifting against his, and the memories of
last night came flooding back to him, his heart swelling to twice its normal size. When he
glanced down in the deep blue haze of dawn, he saw Jimin still lying in his arms, eyes closed
with a small pout on his face. Jeongguk assumed he was asleep, but then Jimin let out a tiny
little groan and lifted his head, likely awakened by the alarm. Jeongguk readjusted the covers
and coaxed Jimin to lie back down on his chest, and Jimin obeyed with a little frown.

“It’s Friday. Do you have to be at work, my love?” he whispered to Jimin.

“Mm-mm,” Jimin hummed, indicating that he didn’t have to work. Jeongguk carded his
fingers through Jimin’s blonde hair with a small smile.

“Go back to sleep, then,” he whispered. It seemed Jimin didn’t have to be told twice, because
he became just a bit heavier in Jeongguk’s arms, and his breathing evened out again.
Jeongguk waited for a moment, and then he quietly reached over and grabbed his phone,
turning the brightness down all the way and opening up a text message conversation.

JEONGGUK [05:32:25AM]

I’m taking a sick day today, hyung. I’ll put it in the system when I wake up properly.

KIM NAMJOON [05:33:04AM]

Everything OK?

JEONGGUK [05:34:11AM]

All good. Jimin’s here. So I’m not coming into the office today. I need to be with him.

KIM NAMJOON [05:35:16AM]

Run that by me again.

JEONGGUK [05:36:02AM]

Long story. He showed up last night out of the blue. We talked a lot. He slept over.

JEONGGUK [05:36:48AM]

I apologized to him for everything, and we worked it all out together. We’re dating now.

KIM NAMJOON [05:37:53AM]

DATING? Happy fucking Friday to me. You take all the sick leave you need. Hallelujah.

JEONGGUK [05:38:14AM]

LOL thanks, hyung. I’ll talk to you more about it later.

Jeongguk locked his phone and threw it to the side, and then he curled up and hugged Jimin
close to him, drifting back off to sleep.

When Jeongguk awoke again, the room was bathed in a soft orange glow, streaks of sunlight
escaping through his curtains. He was lying on his side, and when he opened his eyes, he felt
a foreign but welcomed warmth spread from his chest to the rest of his body, a euphoric calm,
a love that he had never experienced before. Jimin was lying on his side facing Jeongguk, and
the way that his hand was situated palm-up led Jeongguk to believe that they had been
holding hands at one point. Jimin was still fast asleep.

He’s so beautiful, and he’s mine. He’s letting me love him. He’s giving me a chance. Jeongguk
slowly lifted his hand and brushed Jimin’s hair off his forehead with just his fingertips, and
then he grazed his knuckles against the soft skin of Jimin’s cheek. He repeated the latter
motion, staring adoringly at Jimin as he slept, and then Jimin’s eyes fluttered open.

“Hi,” Jimin whispered, smacking his lips sleepily.

“Hi,” Jeongguk whispered back, scooting his head forward and kissing Jimin softly on the
lips. “How did you sleep?”

“So well,” Jimin breathed, blinking owlishly. Then his eyes opened wider. “Hyung? Hyung,
it’s Friday. You have to be at work. What are you doing?”

“Shh, stop,” Jeongguk said with a small smile, kissing Jimin again. “I called in sick. I took a
sick day. It’s okay.”

“You did what?”

“Took a sick day,” Jeongguk repeated. “I don’t need to go into the office today. It’s Friday.
The world still spins. I wanted to be here with you.”

Jimin smiled sleepily, shifting his legs and tangling them with Jeongguk’s. “You didn’t have
to.”

“I just got you back in my life. I’m not leaving you already,” Jeongguk whispered, combing
through Jimin’s hair. He slipped one hand onto Jimin’s cheek and kissed him, and then he
slowly lost himself. Sweet, soft, gentle, lazy morning kisses, a sleepy exchange, something
Jeongguk had dreamed of for most of his adult life. How had he gotten so lucky?

“Hold that thought,” Jimin said, kissing Jeongguk once more. “I need the bathroom. Wait
right there. Don’t move.”

Jeongguk snickered, but he rolled onto his back and threw one arm over his forehead, waiting
patiently. He heard the toilet flush, heard the sink running, and then the bathroom door
opened. Jimin extended one toothbrush to Jeongguk while brushing his own teeth, and
Jeongguk smiled and accepted. They finished brushing their teeth, and then both of them
crawled back into bed and burrowed under the covers, Jeongguk pulling Jimin into his arms
again in a back hug, spooning him in what was easily a perfect fit.

“Hyung?” Jimin asked, pushing his hips back and tugging on Jeongguk’s arm a little.
Jeongguk kissed the nape of his neck.

“What is it?”

“Nothing,” Jimin sighed, but then he stirred restlessly, turning his head a bit. Jeongguk
immediately kissed along his jaw, and Jimin let out a small whimper that caught Jeongguk’s
attempt.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and Jimin let out a short sigh.

“I’m really horny.”

Jeongguk let out a laugh, setting his hand on Jimin’s hip and sliding it underneath his shirt to
splay across his toned stomach.

“You and me both.”

“I haven’t been laid in almost three months.”

“You and me both,” Jeongguk repeated.

“This is a direct segue into asking you to have sex with me,” Jimin bluntly said, and
Jeongguk stifled a laugh, his pulse quickening. “Sorry. I know we just made up last night, and
I respect that, but I’m literally on the verge of sexual frustration and no one’s as good as you.
So I’m asking respectfully for you to fuck me.”

“Respectfully,” Jeongguk muttered, because fuck if he wasn’t hard already. Apologies be

damned. They’d said their fair share last night, and here was Jimin with his ass right up
against Jeongguk, asking nicely to be fucked. And Jeongguk was a weak, weak man. He
immediately licked his palm and slipped his hand past the waistband of Jimin’s briefs, and
Jimin let out a high-pitched whine that went straight to Jeongguk’s cock.

“God, I missed you,” he moaned, bucking his hips into Jeongguk’s fist. Jeongguk worked his
hand deftly around Jimin’s cock, stroking him to full hardness and kissing along his neck,
and then he nudged Jimin’s elbow towards the bedside table. Breathless, Jimin reached for
the drawer and grabbed the lube, setting it onto the mattress.

“I’d do it with more finesse, but now’s not the time,” Jeongguk whispered in Jimin’s ear,
feeling him shiver. He grabbed for the lube and rolled Jimin onto his stomach, and then
Jeongguk laid on his side and slicked up his fingers as Jimin kicked his underwear off and
threw it aside, t-shirt still on. Jeongguk quietly kissed every little gasp out of Jimin’s mouth
as he fucked Jimin open with one finger, and then two, going slowly and accommodating for
the weeks that he hadn’t been touched. When he twisted his fingers just slightly and stroked,
Jimin writhed and let out a breathy cry, hand smacking against Jeongguk’s thigh as his back
arched a little.
“Feels so good,” he sighed in pleasure, and Jeongguk hummed, his mind already wandering.
Jimin seemed to understand. “Just fuck me. Hurry up. Need you.”

Jeongguk sat up and grabbed the lube for himself, and then he watched as Jimin rolled onto
his back, licking his lips, skin already flushed in anticipation. Jeongguk situated himself
between Jimin’s legs, and then he grabbed Jimin’s knees and pushed them towards his chest.
Jimin eagerly lifted his hips a little, and Jeongguk pushed right in, absorbing all of Jimin’s
breathy moans and quiet curse words as he adjusted. Once he bottomed out, Jeongguk fell
forward and pressed his palms into the mattress, elbows gently resting on Jimin’s shoulders.

“Did you know…” Jimin swallowed heavily, gripping Jeongguk’s biceps, eyes sparking.
“That we’ve never had morning sex?”

“Not possible,” Jeongguk said, rolling his hips just a little.

“No, we really haven’t,” Jimin said. “You’ve definitely given me a few handjobs, and I’ve
given you, like, four or five blowjobs in the shower. But you’ve never fucked me first thing
in the morning.”

“...First time for everything,” Jeongguk said after a moment’s contemplation, leaning down to
kiss Jimin. “I love you.”

“Love you, too. Now fuck me like you missed me.”

Jeongguk wanted to record those words and replay them for a lifetime. He was positive that
there was no proper way to show Jimin how much he had been missed. Jeongguk kept his
lips on Jimin’s as he began to fuck into Jimin slowly, searching for all the spots that made
Jimin whimper and scrape down Jeongguk’s back.

“Right fucking there,” Jimin gasped, and Jeongguk didn’t waste a second. He sat back and
pulled Jimin with him until Jimin was straddling his lap, trembling because of how deep the
new position had sent Jeongguk’s cock inside of him, head dropping onto Jeongguk’s
shoulder for a moment.

“We can break the bed another day,” Jeongguk whispered. “I just want to touch you. Kiss you
like this.” He leaned in and kissed along Jimin’s chest, breath quickening, and then he
wrapped his hand around Jimin’s cock and stroked him slowly, letting Jimin roll his hips and
grip at Jeongguk’s hair.

“I missed you so much,” Jimin whispered, lips against Jeongguk’s ear. “So fucking much.
Missed everything about you.”

“I missed you too, baby,” Jeongguk said, one hand pressed to Jimin’s lower back as he guided
Jimin’s rhythm. “God, I’m so lucky to have you. I’ll make sure you know that every single
day, you hear me?”

“F-Fuck, just—keep going,” Jimin whimpered, his grip tightening on Jeongguk’s hair.
“Missed having you like this. Missed seeing you all worked up for me. Missed the way you
say my name when you come. Missed the way you feel,” Jeongguk listed, sucking another
mark onto Jimin’s neck and working his way down to Jimin’s collarbone as Jimin’s head fell
back in sheer pleasure.

“God, we’re gonna have so much fun,” he moaned, and Jeongguk grinned, lifting his hips up
just slightly. Jimin gasped and fell forward again, and that was all Jeongguk needed. He
grabbed Jimin around the waist, laid him back onto the mattress, and fucked him roughly, but
not fast. He grabbed Jimin’s hand and laced their fingers together, and one of Jimin’s legs
wrapped around Jeongguk’s waist. There were so many other times that the sex had been far
more elegant, more desperate, more everything. This morning, though, all Jeongguk wanted
was to be close to Jimin, to feel him intimately, knowing that they had a lifetime left to be
with one another. A lifetime to explore each other. A lifetime to love each other.

True to his nature, Jimin gasped out Jeongguk’s name without a single honorific when he
came, and only because Jeongguk came at the same time. Paying no mind to the mess,
Jeongguk stayed inside Jimin, rolled the two of them until Jimin was lying on top of him, and
closed his eyes, catching his breath as Jimin slumped against his chest.

“God, I needed that,” he said breathlessly, leaving kisses along the column of Jeongguk’s
neck. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Jeongguk murmured, tracing a line up and down Jimin’s spine with his
fingertips. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Do you think we can wear that phrase out in a day?”

“Not possible.”

“I want this forever, hyung,” Jimin whispered, and Jeongguk smiled, eyes still closed.

“I’ll make sure you have it forever,” he promised. “Now tell me what you’d like to do today.”

“I don’t know. Anything. You choose.”

“Well, I was thinking…” Jeongguk ran his hands along the curve of Jimin’s ass and rested
both hands on Jimin’s hips, savoring the feeling of having the man he loved back in his arms
so intimately. “I was thinking that we could take a look around Itaewon and Gangnam today.”

“Why?”

“Because there are a few spots I had in mind,” Jeongguk replied. “For you. For The Nook.
Places where you could set up shop and open your business. So I thought that maybe we
could go take a look at them together.”

Jimin lifted his head swiftly, eyes wide and glimmering with excitement, mouth slightly open
in surprise.

“Are you serious?” he asked, radiant. “You’re—No, you’re joking. You’ve seen a few places?
Are you kidding?”
“I’m serious,” Jeongguk said with a smile. “I’ve been eyeing a few places for awhile now, but
I haven’t been able to act on it because we weren’t together. But I want to show you some
that are within your budget. Although, this is you we’re talking about. I’d buy an entire
twenty-story building for you if you asked.”

“Nineteen stories is just fine, hyung, no need to overdo it,” Jimin said, and they both burst
out laughing as Jimin buried his face in Jeongguk’s neck, both of them blissfully ignoring the
mess of cum and sweat between them. “Are you serious? You’ll really take me to see a few
places, hyung? You mean it?”

“I mean it. And if you don’t like any of them, we’ll go back to the drawing board and find
one that you absolutely love. We’re not settling. We’re finding the one, okay? The perfect
place to open The Nook,” Jeongguk declared, and he felt Jimin kick his feet happily against
the mattress.

“The perfect place,” he whispered. “I’m so excited, hyung.”

“You deserve it,” Jeongguk said.

“My rich sugar daddy boyfriend, bringing me building shopping,” Jimin sighed happily, and
Jeongguk reached down and smacked Jimin’s bare ass as Jimin snickered. “Kidding. Should
we get ready?”

“Together,” Jeongguk said, and he felt Jimin nod against his shoulder. Together. That would
be how they move forward. That was how they would heal, how they would make decisions,
how they would love one another—together. Jeongguk had been waiting a lifetime to find
someone to love so deeply that he was willing to offer up his whole heart, and Jimin was the
one. He would love Jimin so fiercely, so wholly, so completely that Jimin would know it
every single day. He had let Jimin slip through his fingers once, and he would never let it
happen again. Everything that he had, everything he was, belonged to Jimin now.

They would do it all together.

***

mood: “your love” by little mix

Dating Jimin, Jeongguk discovered, was an adventure. It was something new every single
day. Some days, Jeongguk would have lunch sitting on his desk at the office. Some days,
he’d have Jimin himself sitting on his desk at the office. Some days, Jimin would turn up
unannounced at Jeongguk’s doorstep asking if they could watch a movie together or just sit
on the couch and scroll through social media together, which was mostly just Jimin scrolling
through Reddit to find funny posts that would make Jeongguk laugh. There was plenty of
sex, but more than that, there was so much laughter that Jeongguk hardly knew himself.

He felt like a fool thinking it, but when he said it to Seokjin and Yoongi, they both
understood. Jeongguk swore that being with Jimin made him feel like he was twenty-three
again. It made him feel young, and it wasn’t that he was old—he just felt so alive. He had
never felt such pure happiness in his life as he did with Jimin.

It wasn’t until mid-February, about five months into their relationship, that Jeongguk made
the decision. He had hemmed and hawed over it for weeks, asking all of his friends’
opinions, only for them to laugh and ask why he hadn’t done it sooner. But Jeongguk was a
patient man, and a careful one as well, so he waited for the perfect moment, and mid-
February was it.

It was on a rainy Sunday afternoon that Jeongguk realized the timing was right. He was
lounging on the futon by his living room window in comfortable clothing, reading Caste by
Isabel Wilkerson with his glasses on, some soft music playing in the background that had
been turned on hours ago. His left leg was hanging off the futon, right knee bent with a foot
pressed to the fabric, and he was holding the book in his right hand, thumb pushing the pages
apart. His left hand was busy rubbing Jimin’s back. Jimin was lying on his stomach between
Jeongguks’ legs, hugging Jeongguk around his chest, head against Jeongguk’s left shoulder,
and he was fast asleep.

Jeongguk lowered the book just slightly and glanced out the window, watching the rain
trickle down in random patterns. Sundays were the best days, in his opinion. Jimin was at
The Nook in Itaewon (the perfect little spot tucked away on a cobblestone path with
maximum foot traffic) six days a week sometimes, but on Sundays, he left it all up to Sana,
the manager. When Jimin had opened The Nook, the first weekend had been a smash hit, and
word of mouth had been the catalyst. The Nook now made a kind of profit Jeongguk hadn’t
seen in years, and it had roughly 4.9 stars across multiple review platforms on the internet.
There were already a few requests to franchise, all of which Jimin had turned down thus far
in favor of growing his first “baby” to its fullest potential. To say that Jimin’s success was
both astronomical and well-deserved was an understatement. But he was also exhausted, and
Sundays were his day to do absolutely nothing.

“What page are you on?”

“Hmm?” Jeongguk tilted the book to the side a little, lifting a hand to stroke Jimin’s hair.
“I’m on page ninety-five.”

“Mm. I slept for eighty-seven pages,” Jimin murmured.

“You did. Do you want to sleep some more?”

“No. Just wanna stay here,” Jimin muttered.

“That’s good. Then I can ask you something.”

“What’s that?” Jimin sleepily rubbed his hand on Jeongguk’s chest a few times like he was
self-soothing, and Jeongguk dropped a kiss to the top of Jimin’s head, trying not to let his
nerves get the better of him.

“What if we could do this all the time?” Jeongguk asked.

“Cuddle like this? That’d be nice.”

“What if you were here for dinner every night?”

“You’re a good cook.”

“What if you slept over every night?”

“Well, that would be a little much, seeing as I have a cat to feed.”

“What if you moved in with me and you understood what I’m asking you?” Jeongguk asked,
amused. Jimin grunted slightly and shifted so that he could tilt his head upward, eye wide in
surprise.

“What?”

“Move in with me,” Jeongguk repeated. “You’re here all the time, anyways. Half of your
clothing is here already. I want to see you when I come home. I want you to wake up in the
morning because I decided to kiss you. You said the other week that your apartment lease
finishes at the end of February. Move in with me instead.”

“I—You—I have a cat,” Jimin blurted out, and Jeongguk snickered, endeared.

“I’m aware that you have a cat.”

“Do you want a cat in your home?”

“I’ll buy her a massive cat scratching post with towers and everything,” Jeongguk declared,
and Jimin’s face split into an absolutely radiant smile. “You don’t have to decide right now,
baby. I know it’s a big decision. But I wanted to ask you, because I want you to live here with
me if you feel ready. I’d love to have Sammi walking around here all the time. And I’d love
to come home from work and see you on the couch, or making dinner. We already do all the
dinner and bike rides and stuff. Now I just… I want you to be home. Home with me.”

“Hyung,” Jimin whispered, eyes illuminated. “You… You really mean it?”

“I mean it.”

“It’s not a big decision,” Jimin replied. “You think I need time to consider, but I don’t.
Hyung, being with you is… the past five months have been the best of my entire life. You…
You told me you’d show me how much you trust me and—God, I don’t even know.
Everything you’ve done for me since we’ve been together has just been…” He scooted up
further and kissed Jeongguk firmly, and Jeongguk smiled into the kiss, his heart soaring.
“You’ve done so much for me, Jimin-ah,” he whispered, thinking of all the times Jimin had
gone out of his way to help Jeongguk, look out for him, take care of him, love him. Quiet but
fierce—a coffee in the morning, a new watch battery, supportive words and kisses when
Jeongguk had a difficult day at work.

“Of course I’ll move in with you. I just—Are you serious? You’re really—you really want
me to?” Jimin asked, and Jeongguk smiled.

“I do. I’ve been wanting to ask you for weeks, but I was worried you might not want to,”
Jeongguk admitted quietly. “I didn’t want you to think I was taking anything away from you
by asking you to live with me.”

“You’re not. You’re not at all,” Jimin said, smiling. “I’ll move in with you.”

He meant it. Jeongguk had never prepared so diligently in his life. When March came around,
Jeongguk realized that he had met Jimin one year ago, that he had had Park Jimin in his life
for three hundred and sixty-five days, and that the day Jimin was slated to move in was the
very day that they met one year ago.

Accordingly, Jeongguk decided to go all out. He purchased the best cat scratching pole and
assembled it himself for Sammi, putting in the corner of his living room. He cleared out
space in his closet and drawers and even thought about cleaning out the refrigerator, and
decided that Jimin moving in with him was the perfect time to purchase balloons. He
considered for a moment that he was going overboard, but then he remembered that Jimin
had set up a party at The Nook to celebrate Sammi’s second birthday back in January, so no
gesture was too grand. He had another surprise up his sleeve to share with Jimin in hopes that
he would feel at home.

“Shit,” Jeongguk whispered to himself when he heard a knock on his door. He glanced over
his shoulder one more time, and then he hurried over to the door to open it.

“Hi. I’m here to move in,” Jimin said happily. He was wearing his blue be nice shirt and he
had two bags slung over his either shoulder, one of which was a carrier for Sammi. Jeongguk
glanced over to the elevator and saw two very familiar faces, two people with whom he’d
become well-acquainted over the past few months—Taehyung and Hoseok. They both
waved, encumbered with bags and boxes but looking quite amazed by where they were.

“You’re right on time,” Jeongguk said, and Jimin shrugged right out of the bags, slipped his
arms around Jeongguk’s neck, and kissed him. Jeongguk’s arms naturally found their way
around Jimin’s waist as he deepened the kiss, and he almost lost himself until he heard
Taehyung’s voice.

“Get a room, come on,” he complained good-naturedly. To Jeongguk’s surprise, Jimin pulled
away and shyly rested his head on Jeongguk’s shoulder, smiling. Jeongguk kissed Jimin’s
forehead, and then he beckoned to Taehyung and Hoseok to invite them inside.

Taehyung and Hoseok didn’t stay for long. They set Jimin’s belongings where they were
meant to be, unboxed a few things, marveled at the view, and whispered loudly about how
they could completely understand why Jimin was so lovesick, and Jeongguk’s ears burned in
embarrassment as Hoseok made some kind of comment about how hot Jeongguk was,
wondering if Taehyung agreed with him.

Once Taehyung and Hoseok left, Jeongguk swept Jimin off his feet in a hug as Sammi leapt
up excitedly onto her new scratching post, meowing and clawing at whatever she could find,
including some of the toys Jeongguk had gotten her.

“You’re really here for good,” he whispered.

“I really am. I’ll have to go to The Nook tonight to supervise closing, because there’s a new
hire. But I’m here, and I’ll get to come home to you,” Jimin said happily, kissing Jeongguk’s
cheek.

“Well, don’t go quite yet. I have a few surprises for you,” Jeongguk said, taking Jimin’s hand
and guiding him closer to the futon, where the balloons were floating. Jeongguk reached into
his pocket and took out his pocket knife, and then he handed it to Jimin. “Pop the balloons.”

“Pop them?”

“Pop them.”

Jimin blinked at Jeongguk curiously, but then he took the pocket knife, reached up, and
popped the first balloon. When he did, he let out a little yelp and laughed, because a flurry of
confetti burst from the balloon and fell onto both of their heads. Excited, Jimin reached up
and popped the second balloon, triggering another explosion of rainbow confetti. The
moment he popped the third balloon, Jeongguk grabbed him and kissed him just like he had
that night one year ago, still full of the same thrilling sense of hope, a sense of new
adventure, both of them laughing as confetti fell into their hair.

“I love you so much,” Jimin said with a smile, fingers laced behind Jeongguk’s neck. “I love
you, Jeon Jeongguk.”

“I love you, too,” Jeongguk said, brushing his nose against Jimin’s. “Will you accept one
more housewarming gift?”

“What is it?” Jimin asked eagerly. Jeongguk kissed him quickly, and then he bent down to the
large box that he had with a lid on it. He pulled the lid off, and then he bent and reached into
the box, gently scooping up the next little gift he had to present to Jimin. The moment Jimin
saw what Jeongguk had in his arms, he gasped and lunged forward.

“Oh my God. No, oh my God,” he whispered, eyes shining. “Oh my God, is… is this…?”

“She’s a rescue kitten,” Jeongguk quietly said, and he handed the little kitten over into
Jimin’s arms. She was black with a white underbelly, and she was fast asleep, wearing a little
blue scarf around her neck. “Her name is Talli. She’s eight weeks old, and she’s ours.”

“S-She’s ours? We can keep her?” Jimin asked.

“We can keep her.”

 “And you? Can I keep you, Jeon Jeongguk?” Jimin asked, stepping forward with Talli in his
arms, bringing her up to his face so he could nuzzle into her soft fur. Sammi leapt down from
the scratching post, and Jimin plopped down on the floor cross-legged in the confetti to
introduce Sammi to Talli, cooing and scratching two sets of ears happily. Then he glanced up
at Jeongguk expectantly, seeking an answer.

I found you, and I want to keep you.

There was so much uncertainty in the future, and before, the lack of insight would have
frightened Jeongguk.There was no doubt in Jeongguk’s mind that one day, the two of them
would be faced with judgmental questions from people who didn’t understand, who couldn’t
wrap their heads around a love that spanned fourteen years. He knew that Jimin’s
stubbornness would lead to some arguments down the road, where one of them would be
tempted to storm out. He knew that his own tendency to run from confrontation would trigger
a few fights. He knew that one day, the honeymoon phase would be over, and real life would
come knocking on their door.

But it was their door. Jeongguk would lead Golden Co. Publishing House into an acquisition
merger in a few months. Jimin would be going back to school for his Master’s while
maintaining one of Itaewon’s hottest hangout spots and hosting open mic nights for poets and
songwriters alike. And each night, when they were utterly drained from what the world had
dealt them, they could come home to each other. Find comfort in each other. Seek love from
one another. If Jeongguk had learned anything in the past year, it was that Park Jimin was the
solace he had been praying for his entire life. Jimin often said that he had never expected to
love anyone the way he loved Jeongguk, that he couldn’t believe he had found his soulmate
so unexpectedly. Jeongguk only ever replied that he was lucky. So lucky.

“Hyung?”

Jeongguk slowly sat down on the floor across from Jimin, and Sammi immediately crawled
into his lap and nudged his hand with her head, seeking the same affection that Talli was
receiving. Jeongguk pulled her in closer and stroked her fur, and then he leaned in. Jimin met
him halfway, and over the mosaic of confetti, they kissed like they had a thousand times, and
like they would for a lifetime.

“I love you,” Jeongguk whispered. “You can keep me. And I’ll keep you.”

“That’s good.” Jimin straightened up, and then he smiled brilliantly at Jeongguk. He stroked
behind Talli’s ears a few times, and then he gazed around the living room. Jeongguk cocked
his head to the side, watching the man he loved take in their new life together.

“What is it?” he asked. Jimin rubbed his lips together, and then he turned back to Jeongguk.

“Do you think I should have confetti-filled balloons at The Nook?”

Chapter End Notes

ABOUT COMMENTS: I’ve gotten so many comments on chapters 6-9 that I haven’t
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Thank you so much for being here. I hope you come back to this fic from time to time!
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