METANOIA | TK

Chapter Four

"Very good actually, I just bought him a nice Gucci jacket he's been wanting for so long. I need to spoil my baby but he spoils me just as much. But in other ways." He winks teasingly and Jeongguk almost chokes on his water.

"You'll be out of money before you know it if you keep it going this way."

Jimin just smiles at that because they both know he won't, their projects are providing them with enough money to last them a long time. His friend is at least using his in a decent way, spoiling his boyfriend, whereas Jeongguk is just throwing it on random stuff or simply investing.

"At least I'm doing something with mine, ok? You bought yourself a nice car, a huge ass apartment, you're investing, but what will you ever do with you money, huh? It's no good to have so much if you're not using it, you know? And, you know what they say, spending money on others makes you ten times happier than spending it on yourself."

"I think investing is a good choice and," he takes a sip of his water "besides, I'm using it well and I don't quite have someone to spend it on."

Jimin raises a brow towards him before leaning his chin on his hands. "How? By having dinner with me in a fancy restaurant that's probably overpriced? That's not spending well."

"I bought myself an artwork that cost me a lot of money." Jeongguk almost wishes he could punch himself because Jimin would throw a tantrum if he knew that he gave the said artwork back to the artist.

"Oh? I'm glad to hear that then. See, investing in your passions is nice."

They eat in silence afterwards, Jeongguk not even bothering to say anything when Jimin's phone rings and he answers it with a sickeningly sweet smile that makes his heart turn painfully in his chest. Jimin talks with Hoseok for a few minutes, swirling the wine in his glass as Jeongguk keeps munching on his dessert, then he finishes and sighs.

"Would've you ever imagined me, myself, acting like this?"

Jeongguk is already rolling his eyes by the time Jimin finishes but his friend doesn't notice him since his eyes are trained on the waiter that's coming to hand them their note. Jeongguk turns around too, seeing a different person than the one that's served them, but he doesn't pay him much attention before he pushes his plate aside and gets his wallet out.

The boy talks softly, telling them how much they have to pay and, when he looks up, Jeongguk can see Jimin basically throwing heart eyes at the boy. He shakes his head, being used to his friend already, then gets one of his cards out and hands it to the boy, finally looking at him. He looks oddly familiar, doe, brown eyes blinking at him from under a few strands of soft looking hair.

"Thank you, sir." He answers quietly, taking the card and swiping it on his device before handing it back to Jeongguk.

Jimin moves his head and Jeongguk wants to throw himself into the pond outside. "Has anyone ever told you that you'd be a very good model? I so happen to know a photographer that would love to work with such a pretty and symmetrical face—

The boy, when Jeongguk looks up, is frowning and looking down, like he's trying to make himself small in front of Jimin. He's uncomfortable and Jeongguk understands that so he quietly gets up, smiling before thanking him for his service, then he glares at Jimin.

"We're leaving."

His friend simply scowls at him before taking his jacket and going outside for a smoke, a habit they both picked up on the way due to too much stress.

Jeongguk looks around, trying to find the boy, spotting him near the bar, talking to a girl while frowning. He approaches them, flashing a smile towards the blonde before slightly bowing towards the boy as he looks up.

"I'm really sorry for my friend, he had maybe too much wine to drink. Did he make you feel uncomfortable in any way?"

The boys shakes his head, still looking down, pretending that he's reading over his notepad even if Jeongguk knows he isn't. "It's alright, he was nice. I'm just not used to people being that straight forward with me and I'm also a little shy. I hope you enjoyed your dinner here."

"We did, it's a very beautiful restaurant indeed. Here, let me at least offer this in exchange for my friend's rudeness."

Jeongguk takes out a decent amount of money and leaves it inside the tip jar, smiling towards the boy as a quiet way of letting him know that those notes belong to him. He doesn't wait for a response, taking his leave and finding Jimin outside, smoking his way out of probably the second cigarette. Whereas Jeongguk doesn't smoke that much, only doing it when he lacks sleep or is especially stressed, Jimin is indeed a heavy smoker, something that is not beneficial to his health at all.

"Done flirting with the pretty boy?" He asks, squinting his eyes at Jeongguk once he reaches his car and leans on it.

Turning towards his friend, Jeongguk frowns. "What do you mean?"

Jimin almost chokes on air at that, rolling his eyes playfully. "Oh, please, like you weren't staring at him while I was trying to find out his name."

Jeongguk knows he wasn't staring but Jimin seems to be a little too tipsy so he just sighs, motioning for him to get inside the car so he can drive him home.

"He had a name tag, idiot."

But Jimin is already asleep by the time he says that.