My fake boyfriend | VMIN

chapter 8

The girls' voices soon disappeared along with their owners.

Jimin clutched the coke bottle in his hands, all sorts of feelings welling up in his heart.

Alright, what separated him and Taehyung wasn't just an entire galaxy anymore, but also a goddess.

......His dad's goddess.

As he was spacing out and staring at the ground, a familiar-looking pair of shoes appeared before his eyes. Jimin blinked. Seems like Taehyung also came to use the restroom.

"Hi." Taehyung probably greeted him because he recognized Jimin from their duet earlier, but didn't know what else to say. He paused for a few seconds, then asked, "What's your name?"

Hearing this question for the 2nd time while seeing the curiosity of a 1st meeting in the other's eyes, Jimin didn't know what he felt.

He threw away the empty bottle in his hand, adjusted his bag, and made to leave.

As he brushed past Taehyung, he threw out 4 words at a volume only the 2 of them could hear, "I'm not telling you."

Taehyung: "......"

Jimin swore that once he became strong enough, he'll appear before Taehyung full of confidence and force the other to properly look at him, to remember him. He'll never give his name again just to have it forgotten.

After going home, Jimin pulled out all his sheet music and decided to continue practicing piano.

It seem that his duet with Taehyung had reignited this lost passion, and even though there were no more level exams to take, with his foundation, he could learn any song he had the score to.

In the following year, Jimin mastered all of Chopin's and Beethoven's works by himself.

He didn't have Taehyung's circumstances to learn so many things, but at least for what he already knew, he wanted to take it to the highest level.

That included his schoolwork, so after he came back from the TV station, Jimin poured a lot of time and energy into his studies. Before, he was satisfied with getting into the single digits in class rankings, but now, he worked hard until he became #1.

As long as there was a single point he didn't completely understand, he'd consult reference books until he thoroughly grasped the concept and wouldn't fear it appearing on any exam.

Other than this, Jimin also scheduled to run regularly, played sports, and even asked his mom to order fresh milk for him, drinking two bottles a day.

Under his body improvement efforts and a strong desire to grow, Jimin finally welcomed his belated puberty.

In the latter half of his 3rd year of middle school, he suddenly shot up over 10 cm, changing from a child to a teen. His features also matured and no longer looked so juvenile, bearing the bright and keen aura of a growing young man.

Due to his stellar grades, handsome looks, and piano skills, countless girls blossomed to their first love as they chased after him, and many even secretly called him 'Prince Charming'.

However, Jimin had no awareness of his own excellence and only thought that these girls were immature and ignorant.

If even someone like him could be called "Prince Charming", then when they saw Taehyung, wouldn't they completely lose their minds?

While Jimin drastically changed into almost a new person, only his parents, while happy about their son's growth, worried for his personality.

That's right, Jimin was way to introverted, so introverted that he gave others the impression that he had no need for social interactions.

Though in the eyes of his classmates, this was called a "lofty coolness".

Someone with too much time on their hands had once observed how many times Jimin talked to girls, and the result was that on average, he wouldn't say more than 10 sentences a week.

Though he didn't talk with the male classmates much either, having an average of only around 20 sentences a week.

But here, what's most important was one's grades. As long as you had good grades, everything else could be overlooked.

Jimin didn't participate in the middle school advancement exams and was directly recommended to attend the city's best public high school on a full scholarship. This made his parents extremely proud.

As a reward, they bought Jimin his very first smartphone.

After that, even Mama Park's education policies changed, and she would often say, "Little Minie, sometimes you need to take a break, chat more with your friends, or find a game to play for a bit. Don't always be so grave."

To this, Jimin's response was slight widening of his eyes and absolute silence.

......A young man's heart was too difficult to understand.

After shutting his parents outside his room, Jimin fiddled with his phone and downloaded Instagram.

He would still visit Taehyung's page every now and then to look at the photos.

When he returned from the TV station that year, Jimin knew exactly what his contradictory yearning and avoidance towards Taehyung really was. It wasn't just because of their chance encounter, or because of the other's seemingly perfect image, but also because......of his gender.

Yes, Jimin realized that he liked boys.

And he accepted this fact without much struggle.

Perhaps he had already converted all his fears concerning his sexuality into motivation for his studies, or perhaps by using the piano as a way letting out his emotions, he didn't need to go through the typical phase of self-doubt and confusion.

Even after these two long years of following Taehyung, Jimin didn't actually know what he truly thought of the other boy.

Previously, he had treated Taehyung as his goal for self-improvement, but gradually, he realized that he was more attracted to the other's looks.

Using a current way of describing it, Jimin felt that he was a "Taehyung's face stan".

He followed Taehyung just like those infatuated girls, feeling his heart beat when seeing a picture of the other's smile, and inwardly flailing when seeing the other's sweat-soaked back captured on film after a basketball game.

By now, he didn't care how many new skills Taehyung learned because he himself had also become very outstanding.

What he did care about was if Tae posted any new photos, and if he could use those photos for the purpose of jerking himself off shamefully while hiding under his covers at night.

Jimin felt despondent over how his body and mind was being controlled by these primal urges, but he had zero resistance against the Taehyung's natural allure.

Like a moth to a flame, again and again, he was sucked into this deep, deep addiction.

-

[A small interlude]

Taeyang: "Saw a boy at Mama's TV station today and played a duet with him. I have to say, he plays Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu a lot better than you do."

Taehyung, full of objection: "Oh? What's his name? Does he have an ig?"

Taeyang: "......No idea, didn't ask."

Taehyung: "Che, then why bother mentioning it. Like I'll believe you."

Taeyang: "......"