Peculiar You •• Namjin AU

34 : Gifts

For some reason Jungkook kept seeing Namjoon and Jin doing the weirdest things.

First the impromptu date in the festival with a poor third-wheeling Jimin, second the kiss, and now--

"Why am I carrying this monstrosity??" Namjoon asks, fumbling with the too large elephant stuffed toy in his hands.

Jin hums, pretending to be distracted by the stores they're passing by. "Because I've got my hands full too."

--a (kind of?) official date in the mall.

Jungkook never knew Jin liked stuffed toys, much less elephants. He also didn't expect Namjoon to be buying one for him, but there's a first for everything.

He pretends to be scrolling through his phone as they walk away.

"Bullshit, you're carrying one bag." Namjoon complains as he follows Jin, squeezing the toy in his hold. "And it's not even that heavy!"

Jin ignores his whining. "I need to buy new facemasks, hurry up Joonie."

Jungkook watches in amusement as Namjoon struggles to hold the elephant plushie under his arm, while Jin prances away freely.

Looks like he's got another story for Jimin.

★

Taehyung watches Jimin play a game in his phone, tapping and swiping aggressively, as he's perched on the bed.

They're at his house for their weekly hangout, where they pretend to study but really just laze around and play games.

Today, however, Taehyung has a mission.

"Hey, Chimchim." He calls, catching the boy's attention.

"You've been hanging a lot around that cookie guy lately."

Jimin raises a brow, eyes not leaving the screen of his phone. "Jungkook?" He guesses, and when Taehyung doesn't respond he continues. "Yeah, why?"

"You like him or something?"

"No?" Jimin replies, pursing his lips in thought. "At least I don't think so."

Taehyung narrows his eyes in suspicion. "You don't sound too sure."

Jimin shrugs, "'Cause I'm not." He replies simply. There's a small pause until he speaks up again, "Why do you ask?"

"I'm jealous." The brunette answers with a pout. "You don't spend a lot of time with me anymore."

"What're you talking about? We meet up every weekend." Jimin says, laughing a little.

Taehyung counters his jest with a whine. "It's not enough!"

"We go home together."

"Doesn't count!" Taehyung rolls unto his back, staring at the ceiling. "Every lunch I have to spend it with Tao because you're with him."

Jimin frowns, "Tao's cool though."

"Yeah, but I miss eating with my best friend." Taehyung huffs, before muttering his next words. "Why do people always ditch their friends when they get boyfriends? It's not fair."

"He's not my boyfriend, Taehyung." Jimin explains yet again, sounding exasperated. "Plus, I'm helping him with something."

"With what?"

"Um."

Jimin's character dies in-game.

Taehyung eyes his expression as Jimin finally puts the phone down.

Jimin clears his throat, "...Stuff."

"Park Jimin." Taehyung reprimands as he sits back up to face him.

Jimin sighs.

"Trust me, it's nothing bad." He says, trying to reassure his best friend. "He just needs some advice."

Taehyung crosses his arms. "Advice on what?"

Before Jimin can reply, his phone rings.

He scrambles to answer it but Taehyung manages to wrestle it out of his grip first, he does catch a glimpse of the caller I.D. and it's--

--Jungkook.

★

Jungkook decides to call Jimin straight away after his encounter and tell him all the details, so he finds a small cafe just outside of the mall and makes his call there.

After making sure to be out of range if the couple ever passes by, Jungkook dials Jimin's number.

"Guess who I saw today." He greets.

"Get away from my best friend!"

Jungkook blinks in surprise.

There's a bunch of noise following the exclamation until he hears Jimin sigh.

"Sorry Kookie, that was Taehyung." He mutters.

In the background Jungkook can hear Taehyung whine.

He decides to point out the use of his overly cute nickname first before questioning the threat, "Stop it with the 'Kookie'. Is there a reason why Taehyung hates me?"

"He thinks you're stealing me from him." Comes Jimin's reply, sounding tired, as if they've been debating this for a while now.

Jungkook plays along.

"I guess you can call it that."

He hears an indignant sound coming from Taehyung and he smirks triumphantly.

"I'm on speaker, aren't I?"

Jimin groans, "Yes."

"See, Chimchim?!" Taehyung shouts, causing Jungkook to flinch. "He's a no-good player!"

"I'm very loyal, thank you very much." Jungkook replies, offended.

"Anyway, what did you call for, Kookie?" Jimin asks, steering the conversation away from his best friend's possessiveness.

"I just saw Namjoon and Jin shopping around here."

Jungkook can hear Jimin perking up in curiosity, "Really? What were they buying?"

"Namjoon had a pretty big elephant plushie and Jin was buying skin products."

"That sounds so domestic." Jimin coos.

"Is this what you two talk about?" Taehyung asks, sounding bored and confused. "Namjoon's love life?"

"Yeah." Jimin answers, voice all smug and mighty. "See? Jungkook and I are purely platonic--"

"So he knows about your crush on--"

Jimin squeaks in alarm and Jungkook saves him from any further embarrassment by cutting Taehyung off.

"Yeah, I already know." He answers. "Poor Jimin's got it bad." Jungkook adds, unable to resist a little teasing.

He hears Jimin whine again, this time a little lower in volume as Taehyung seems to have taken over the hold of the phone.

"We're friends now." Taehyung declares excitedly, "When did he tell you?"

"During the festival."

"Sweet."

"Guys." Jimin tries to cut in, his voice wobbling from embarrassment. "Can we get back on topic?"

Taehyung scoffs, "And listen to you mope about Namjoon? No, sorry, not an option."

"Yeah." Jungkook agrees with an amused huff, "Have you no shame? Going for taken guys."

"Jeon Jungkook!" Jimin shouts back as he snickers. "I just--He's still single!"

"Then find someone else who's single." Jungkook states, chuckling. "I mean I'm single, maybe we can mingle." He adds jokingly.

"Watch it." Taehyung warns.