Lost & Found

4 - Presents

Jimin isn't the kind to hold anything back. He isn't the one who can't read between the lines. And, when it comes to Taehyung, he enjoys reading him like his favorite book.

So, Taehyung isn't surprised when Jimin nudges him in the ribs the day after their luncheon, raising his eyebrows but not verbally saying anything.

They are the only ones in the kitchen eating the rice that Yoongi cooked for them before he rushed to his lab to meet Namjoon and Hoseok. Jungkook is in the gym with Jin (who, Taehyung noticed, was missing for their usual dorm breakfast).

Jimin is persistent. He continues poking him in the ribs and raising his eyebrows.

"What?", Taehyung whines as he tries to scrape the rice stuck to the bowl. He missed their dorm food.

Jimin smiles like he already knows that Taehyung would give in. He asks with an impish energy, "What did you get for Jin-hyung from Japan?"

Taehyung glances at him and shrugs, "Why do you care?"

Jimin snorts. He says, "When you called me at 3 in the night crying about making a mistake, I know you meant about Jin-hyung. I know you still like him and you always get him the best gifts."

"So?", Taehyung questions and Jimin grins because his best friend didn't disagree with any of the points that he made.

Jimin takes both their bowls and drops them in the sink. He replies, "So, I want to know what you got for him."

"We should clean the utensils. It's our turn.", Taehyung says as he turns on the tap.

Jimin groans as he looks at the pile. He says, "Not fair. I feel like only when it's our turn the utensils are more!"

Taehyung agrees. He then scoops a little water and splashes it at Jimin, who repeats the same. They get into a little water fight which somehow escalates to a thumb fight and they decide non-verbally that whoever loses does the dishes.

Jimin loses and he complains about Taehyung's ridiculously long fingers. Taehyung anyway helps him – mostly because he doesn't want to leave him alone. But also, because he is thankful that Jimin forgot about Jin and if he doesn't keep his best friend's mind occupied, he might bombard him with questions again – questions he has no proper answers for.

....

It's been two days since Taehyung came back and he hasn't exchanged a single word with Jin. He is nervous as he stands outside the door – he knows Jin is inside. He may or may not have waited all day for him to come home.

He lets out a puff of air. He isn't sure why he is nervous – It is the same guy that he shamelessly kissed during dance practices; it is the same one with whom he shared uncountable naked, moaning nights with.

When he opens the door, he sees Jin sitting at his desk, with what looks like an essay open on the laptop screen. But Jin himself is looking at his phone and smiling. From this angle, Taehyung can't see the phone's screen, but it didn't matter. His heart warmed seeing Jin smile without any pretenses.

But his heart breaks as the smile morphs into a forced one when Jin looks away from the phone to look at him. Taehyung almost cries out loud but swallows the pain.

"Hi.", Jin greets him, with the new smile still intact.

Taehyung waves back and remembers why he is here when he sees the plastic covers in his own hand.

He says, "I couldn't give this to you yesterday. I got them for you. From Japan."

Jin notices that Taehyung is fidgety and is almost standing on his heels, something that he does when he is nervous. It is either this or he goes awfully silent. Jin finds it endearing – has always found it cute. He tries to neutralize his expression that wouldn't probably give away how madly enticed he is by every little action of the boy in front of him.