stutter | jikook

38 | when i'm wiser and i'm older

HE knocked violently on the wooden door. Jimin was shivering, cursing under his breath. He had ran from the diner to the second dorm building on campus with only a thin jacket on. He wasn't even warm after running up three flights of stairs as if he was still scared of the monsters following him up the stairs after he turned the hallway lights off (which, for the record, he still is scared of that).

The door opened up after the third round of knocking. Jimin's fist was beginning to hurt and to be completely honest he wasn't actually expecting the door to open, which is why he almost punched the person who opened it in the face.

"Jimin?" The brunette asked, hair messy and shirt falling off of one shoulder.

Jimin smiled, "H-Hi Hoseok."

Hoseok blinked tiredly and looked out into the hallway in confusion. He looked at Jimin once more before moving out of the way so the younger could enter his apartment, "What are you doing here?"

"I need s-some ad-advice."

"...And you decided to come to me for that? Isn't that what we have Namjoon for?" Hoseok frowned, shutting the door.

Jimin laughed softly, taking a seat on the beat up couch the elder had. He looked up at Hoseok, watching as he awkwardly stumbled his way around to the other side of the couch. Jimin grinned, "N-Namjoon is busy with S-Seokjin. Y-You're the only single hyung I h-have."

Hoseok rolled his eyes, "So, Jimin, what can I help you with. Tell me your problems and I might give you an answer."

Jimin nodded and began to tell the story. He explained everything that was going on the last year. He talked about his crush on Jungkook, everything that happened with Hani and Jungkook dating, how Taehyung is probably the best friend anyone could ask for. Jimin was looking down at his lap for the most of it, but he knew Hoseok was listening because he could hear the elder let out understanding noises and he could see him nod every once in a while.

Hoseok was a good listener.

"So basically, what you're saying here, is that you like Jungkook?"

"I'm n-not done." Jimin said with a playful glare, "There's a-another part."

Hoseok fell silent again so Jimin continued, "I f-fell off my bed the o-other day. S-So I went to go see T-Taehyung."

"Mhm."

"He w-wasn't home. S-So I figured he w-wouldn't mind that I used h-h-his laptop." Jimin said, playing with the hem of his shirt, "I-I unlocked it and there w-was a t-t-tab open. S-So I accidentally read the p-page cause I got c-curious and figured it'd just be f-full of medical lingo I wouldn't b-be able to un-understand anyway."

"Okay."

"B-But it was something e-else, I g-guess it was l-like some kind of j-journal thing? It b-basically said that T-Taehyung likes me."

Hoseok frowned, "Like— Romantically?"

Jimin nodded.

Hoseok took in a deep breath, shaking his head. He brought a hand up to rub at the nape of his neck.

"I-I just d-don't wanna hurt him, y-you know?" Jimin said softly, "H-He's my best friend and h-he deserves the world. I-I just can't change my feelings towards J-Jungkook."

"You shouldn't have to either. The way I see it, Taehyung knows about your crush anyway. He hasn't done anything to try and change it and has even been supportive of you. For fucks sake, the man is even coming up with plans to set you up with Jungkook." Hoseok said. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"H-He must be go-going through so much pain th-though. I mean, I t-tell him everything that h-happens with Jungkook and he just sits there and cheers. I w-wish he would've j-just told me straight up."

"Well, I'm sure he didn't want to just be like, 'Yo man, I love you. Like I'm totally and helplessly in love with you,' when you have romantic feelings towards Jungkook."

Jimin sighed and slammed his head back against the couch. "Ugh."

"Listen, the only advice I'd give you is to work it out with Taehyung. Tell him what you know. Don't lead him on, but don't be afraid to be a little harsh if you need to." Hoseok said. "Then I'm sure you two will go back to being the best of friends and eventually you'll end up dating Jungkook."

It was silent for a while. Jimin sighed after a moment then lifted his head up and smiled gratefully at Hoseok, "Thanks, hyung."

"No problem. Now, either get out of my house or be quiet, I'm going back to sleep."

Jimin hummed and reached for the television remote, watching as Hoseok stumbled into his bedroom.