thick as thieves || bts x mamamoo

thirty six;

It's a bit ironic how almost like clockwork, Hyejin suddenly finds herself back at the place the two of them last spoke, when at the moment she isn't quite sure what to say to him anymore. But perhaps it's even more ironic how no more than five to ten minutes pass of her absentmindedly gazing out into the distance, legs dangling off the edge of the ship just like last time, before she hears an ever so familiar voice ring in her ears.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

She can't help but snort quietly to herself at his words. After all, it was the exact same thing she had asked him back when their positions were switched not too long ago. And somehow here they were once again. She nods and he takes her brief gesture as an invitation, making himself comfortable as he plops down and mirrors her own position, the fabric of his trousers brushing up against her calf as he swings his legs back and forth.

Unlike their first time here at the front of the ship, they're sitting closer together now, arms pressed against one another. Despite their physical closeness, Hyejin can't help but feel that barrier, that wall of awkwardness and unspoken confessions distancing them further than ever before. She bites her lower lip, unsure of what to say until she hears him speak up once again. "So..."

"So..." She echoes quietly.

"How have you b-"

"I wasn't trying to avoid you, I swear!" She accidentally blurts out at the same time he tries to start up a proper conversation. Her cheeks burn as the reality of her blunder sets in, casting her nervous gaze back down to where their feet hang next to one another over the ocean waves. "I... shit."

"I- I didn't think you were avoiding me," Jimin stammers, clearly just as nervous as her. He runs a hand through his hair. "Were... were you avoiding me?"

"No... yes... maybe?" Hyejin groans in frustration at her own reply. "I don't know. This isn't how I thought our conversation was going to go."

"And how did you picture it going, exactly?" Even in this awkward situation, he still manages to tease her in that cheeky manner of his. She knows he's doing it to make her feel more comfortable, because despite everything, Park Jimin will almost always put the people he cares about before him. That much she knows.

"Just... different," Hyejin lets out a soft huff, blowing several stray hairs out of her face. She should have tied her hair up before coming back out onto the deck. "I guess part of me wanted to wait for the right time, when I would somehow miraculously somehow know what to say to you. But maybe the right time doesn't exist. Sometimes you just have to go for it."

Jimin's chuckle is forced and the underlying disappointment in his tone makes Hyejin's chest twist in discomfort. "Why is this starting to feel like a rejection?"

"It's not, I just-" Hyejin plays with her fingers, too nervous to look over in Jimin's direction at the moment. "I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"I just- back when we first met I warned Wheein, told her that we knew nothing about you all and to be careful and make sure we knew what we were getting into, but now... Now we've reached this point and yet part of me is too scared to take that risk, to risk ruining what we have now for something that could fall apart." The brief laugh Hyejin lets out is bitter. "I see Wheein and Taehyung and want what they have but at the same time all I do is come up with stupid, hypocritical excuses to run away. And now all I'm doing is leading you on and I hate that. Hate knowing that I'm dragging you into this stupid mess of emotions all because I can't make up my own mind."

"Hey, hey," Jimin reaches over to grasp her closest hand in his own, rubbing his thumb into her skin in little circles to help calm her down. "Breathe, Hyejin. It's okay."