Push and pull

Theirs had always been a push and pull relationship. Right from the start, Jimin felt close to Jeongguk. His sweet and shy nature had him caring for the young boy like a brother. Jeongguk was so shy, in fact, that in the beginning he used to avoid the other members of Bangtan to the extent of using the shower while all of the others were asleep. That didn't last too long - Jimin and the others weren't the kind of people to put up with such behavior. They cornered the scared boy one day and had a long discussion about the whole thing, assuring him that he wasn't a bother, they cared and they wanted to get to know him. Jeongguk was a blushing, stuttering mess throughout the conversation, and Jimin always got a smile on his face as he reminisced, thinking back to the time when Jeongguk was that shy.

Much had changed since then. BTS had debuted, and while not everything had been easy, they worked hard for their dreams, and they got results. Jimin was so proud of them all, his brothers in all but blood. Jin, their eldest, with a caring nature and his dad jokes that always made himself laugh the hardest. Namjoon, their leader, taking such responsibility right from the start, and managing to lead them expertly through their struggles. Yoongi, their grumpy grandpa, who said his favorite way to pass the time was sleeping, but Jimin and the others all knew that what made him smily his biggest gummy smile was music. Hoseok, their very own sun, always making them laugh by being so overly extra that they just couldn't help themselves. Taehyung, Jimin's best friend, his platonic soulmate, fellow 95-liner. Jimin could never find the right words to describe him, he was too special. With his boxy-smile and deep voice that both fit and didn't fit his appearance at all, Taehyung was everything good in the world, and Jimin was happy that he was just as much a clingy koala as he himself was, if not more. And then there was Jeongguk.

While it was true that Jeongguk had grown, both in his body and otherwise, he still kept his childlike mind in many ways. He was still their maknae, and one of his many hobbies was teasing his hyungs. They didn't mind much, especially since his teasing meant they'd successfully broken through his shell, and they got to see him grow more confident, and there was no greater reward than that.

Jeongguk liked to tease Jimin the most. Sometimes Jimin wondered if it had to do with how much he doted on the maknae. He couldn't help himself, Jeongguk was just so cute whenever he was embarrassed, and Jimin got addicted to seeing him become shy in front of the cameras whenever Jimin would ask cheekily for a kiss, or a date, or whatever else he could come up with at the time. Jeongguk would always push Jimin away, rejecting him with an embarrassed smile, and Jimin would laugh, because he knew why Jeongguk did it.

At the same time, Jeongguk would always assure interviewers and whoever asked him that no, he didn't hate Jimin, no, Jimin wasn't ugly despite him ranking last in looks in BTS, he was handsome. He even had said that Jimin was his favorite hyung, and that if he was a girl, he'd date Jimin. So Jimin wasn't hurt. This was their relationship, push and pull - mostly from Jeongguk's side, yes, but all the same... It was exciting, because he never knew what to expect.

The dynamics of their relationships changed a bit through the years. This was to be expected, they were growing up. Jimin was no longer a teenager, and Jeongguk got more mature as well. At least in some areas. Jimin stopped almost alltogether trying to get Jeongguk embarrassed - it didn't work that well anymore anyway - and Jeongguk seemed more comfortable with skinship, many times seeking out Jimin's company. He offered back hugs, not caring about cameras, and he was always up for taking a cute selca, even in front of hundreds of fans at fansignings. The dynamics of their relationship had changed indeed. And Jimin didn't mind. It was nice to know, for real, that Jeongguk enjoyed his company as well.

Somewhere along the way, Jimin couldn't pinpoint when, his feelings for the maknae had changed. Maybe it was when he'd seen him in his police uniform during their Dope music video shoot, maybe it was during one of their fansignings when Jeongguk would cutely try to bother him while he talked to fans, maybe it was one of those times Jimin would see Jeongguk's smile directed at him, his eyes crinkling and his bunny teeth on display. Yes, Jimin didn't know when his feelings changed, but from the end of 2015, Jimin knew he no longer saw the maknae as his cute younger brother. He was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with him.