FLOWER | Winrina

Chapter 5

I changed Giselle's brother's name to Yuuto instead. Not related to anything or anyone, just fits better.

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"Hey, there," Jimin greeted, raising her eyebrows carefully as she approached Jeno, who looked up from his phone.

"You were hanging out with that girl again. She's friends with those people you were sitting with at lunch, right?" Jeno questioned.

"Yep," Jimin answered, giving her best friend a careful once over. "She's really nice."

"I'm sure," Jeno stated, and Jimin couldn't tell if he was being bitter or not, so she just ignored the comment altogether.

"What did you want to talk about?" she asked, her heart rate speeding up as she waited for him to answer.

Jeno inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry. For... being rude to you about you wanting to hang out with new people. I guess I'm just not used to it. You used to be so happy with just our friendship, and it's weird."

Jimin bit down on her tongue. "I'm changing, Jeno. I think it has to do with losing my dad this summer, but I'm different. I'm not happy with anything right now. I feel this need to do things differently and to change - although that seems to already be happening."

"Change can be good sometimes," Jeno stated, his eyes suddenly lighting up as he took a step away from the wall. Jimin felt her heart clench because she felt like she knew where they were about to be headed.

"Do you have anything else you want to say?" Jimin asked. "Because if not, I do."

Jeno looked her up and down and shrugged. "Go ahead."

"Jeno... you're my best friend... you know that, right?" Jimin asked slowly, aware that her words were dripping with the friend-zone tone. Jeno just nodded, the glisten in his eyes disappearing. "You know... you know that we can't go past that, right?"

Jeno suddenly looked defensive. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I think that you're interested in me as more than a friend and that I'm not interested in you like that," Jimin stated, deciding that it would be better to just come out and say it.

Jeno didn't say anything for a moment, instead running his hand over his head. "Jimin... I've felt like this about you for over a year now. And you just now noticed."

Jimin nodded. "I'm sorry that I didn't notice sooner and tell you that I don't feel the same. I love you, Jeno, as my best friend. You're like a brother to me." Her best friend winced at the word brother, and Jimin felt her heart sink.

"Friend zoning is hard enough, Jimin. Saving the sibling shit for a different time," Jeno snapped, surprising Jimin. He hardly ever let curse words slip out of his mouth. "I'm sorry, Jeno, I-"

"It's fine, Jimin. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," Jeno muttered, walking past the dark-haired hastily and hurrying into the parking lot. Jimin turned and watched him for a moment. She wanted to yell at him to stop walking, and to talk to her, but she didn't want to hurt him any more than she probably had.

Jimin wasn't used to this - to having to reject people. She wasn't the type of girl to have boys crawling after her, and yes, this was the first time that she had ever had to tell someone that she wasn't interested in them the way they were interested in her. And it was even more horrible that it was her best friend.

Footsteps behind Jimin drew her attention away from Jeno's receding figure, and she turned her head to see Yuuto. "I take it you broke the news to him?" he asked.

Jimin was slightly confused as to when Yuuto had shown up, and as to why he was talking to her. It was like as soon as Aeri had accepted her into their friend group, everyone in the group felt the same way. She made note of that silently and then nodded to Yuuto. "I don't want to talk about it."