Stranger | Jikook/Kookmin

Jimin (Point of View PT3)

It has been four years ever since.

Jimin shakes him a little. He can't stand seeing Sungwoon helpless one bit. It makes him want to go find Nisa and bring her over to him, just so this yearning can come to end — happily or differently.

"Hot chocolate?" he asks instead, elation sparking through him when a small smile replaces Sungwoon's lips. "Yeah? With whipped cream and barbecue sauce?"

Sungwoon makes a face. Jimin chuckles, tilting his head in angles to meet his friend's eyes.

"No barbecue sauce but extra whipped cream?"

"Mm."

Jimin jumps to his feet, grabbing Sungwoon's arm and pushing him around until his friend is allowing himself to be dragged to the coffee shop right across the street.

"Come on, you big lover boy. Let's sprinkle some chocolate over your soul."

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The world with Jungkook is a totally different place.

Colors are more vibrant, days are more meaningful, and cuddles are nicer than Jimin ever imagined them to be.

Jungkook has long and strong arms, accommodates Jimin perfectly in his embrace but best of all, knows to never let go. Sometimes they sit in each other's warmth for hours, quiet and at peace. It's rare to feel this easy around someone without having to say a word to make up for the silence. There is still so much they don't know about each other, but for some reason, time doesn't feel rushed.

They are each other's comfort buddies more than ever, tackling issues as they come, asking questions about each other then. There is no pressure, because Jimin knows Jungkook will let him in as they go, and Jungkook will be patient with him as long as it takes Jimin to tell his stories.

In between the lines, Jungkook meets sadness when he receives his parents' divorce notice. Meanwhile, Jimin meets a sadness of his own when his university re-enrollment plan collapses. Even though their sadnesses are separate from each other, both are painted over with baby blue blankets, sweet petnames, strawberry kisses, and lots and lots of cuddles.

Life keeps carpeting tides their way, but Jimin and Jungkook are anti-fragile, meaning, they don't settle with bouncing back from adversity but bounce back in such a way that they are better, stronger, closer.

So close, indeed, that Jimin looks into Jungkook's eyes and all he thinks is three words.

He regrets keeping them to himself when he watches Jungkook walk into a tunnel of uncertainties, sitting inside the darkness of his jeep with his heart on his throat, scolding himself through tears for not confessing as he should have.

Jungkook returns, and Jimin drinks him like his elixir of immortality. He ends up in Jungkook's bed later that night with Jungkook's lips kissing and caressing his body and Jimin is dying inside because he still hasn't told him. He promises to say it when Jungkook makes love to him finally, and then Jimin will let go of the burden of holding this scary secret, tell Jungkook he lo–

That's as far as he goes.

The next minute he is inside a cab with his eyes stirring over the endless roads, blaming and chastising himself.

He is crying because he is supposed to be worried about his sick son, yet here his heart angrily beats because he left Jungkook's side. It had been a while since Jimin had felt like being a father was a nuisance, but tonight it comes back. It comes back so strongly that Jimin doesn't know how to stop hating himself.