The rumours hit Twitter before Mimie had even gotten out of the car. Someone on the plane must have been a hardcore Army who recognised Mimie as she went through customs. There were pictures of her all over Twitter. Bang PD's niece had just arrived in the same country as Bangtan. Was it a coincidence? Was it more than that? The news outlets were going crazy.
When she was pictured climbing out of a private car heading into the venue for BTS' concert the following day, the chaos went from bad to worse. It wasn't a secret that they were rehearsing there that afternoon and the crowds of fans gathered by the gates in the hopes of catching a glimpse of them were very much aware of that. They were also very familiar with who Mimie was. Although she'd spent a lot of effort concealing her friendship with the Bangtan members over the years, her relation to Sihyuk was public record. On top of that, now that she was moving into the industry in her own right, it was even more impossible to keep her face out of the news.
Jungkook would have answered his own questions if he'd stopped listening to her voicemail on repeat, and checked some of his notifications. Meanwhile, the other members' five-minute break turned into a fifteen-minute one because they all got distracted by Mimie trending suddenly. Jimin saw the picture of her at the venue before anyone else, announcing it to the room and focussing all their attention on flicking through the social media outlet. However up-to-date they kept their feed, they were still two minutes behind Mimie, who was already being guided backstage by a member of staff from the venue, who was clueless to her sudden significance.
"Mimie-ah?" Sejin called, being the first to set his own eyes on her. He hadn't been on social media, so he hadn't known she was coming, hence him being so surprised that he called for her across the stage where the members were supposed to be rehearsing.
JK's ears pricked and he jumped to his feet, first looking at Sejin and them catching his breath seeing the manager's eyes focused on someone across the stage. Terrified to be wrong, Jungkook turned his head slowly towards where Sejin was staring. Forcing his eyes open he felt himself crumble inside.
"Mi-ah," he breathed, frozen to the spot, taking in the sight of her. A wave of relief washed over him, despite his palms dampening from nervousness. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, but she had a duffle bag in her hand in place of the small purse she'd been carrying on her shoulder yesterday. She looked a little messy because she'd come straight from the plane, but still, she had his heart fluttering.
"I couldn't wait," she admitted, eyes red and wide. As the smile broke onto JK's face, she found the courage to move towards him, almost running by the time her body slammed into his.
Instinctively he wrapped his arms around her, whilst she buried her face into his shoulder. Her body shook against him, like the flood gates were finally opening and three years of confusion and pent up emotions were flooding out of her in a single moment. He could feel how hard and fast her heart was beating from how she was pressed into him, clinging on to JK with everything she had.
Doing his best to calm her, Kook whispered gentle shushes and gave light strokes over her head.
"I'm sorry," she finally voiced, although he was the only one who would have been able to hear it. "God, is this weird?" she panicked, pulling away to wipe her tears as if that would recover her lost dignity. "I left a message, I didn't mean to interrupt..."
"I got your message," He smiled softly, hand cupping her face so she had to stay close to him. His thumbs wiped at the tear stains down her face and then at the final drops that escaped.
She relaxed into his hands, but there was still a crease in her brow. Her arms secured around his waist but he could tell she was still holding back from the way she looked up at him.
"Hi," she flushed, trying to avoid his deep brown eyes staring quizzically back at her, but she couldn't resist. They drew her in against her better judgment. God damn Bambi-eyes.
"Hi," he returned, lightly amused by her flustered state. You'd think by this point they would be past bashfulness.
"We still need to talk," she announced in return without being questioned.
"About what? You just flew halfway across the world- aren't we on the same page about this now?" Kook teased, trying to bring a smile onto her face because he'd yet to see one and he was desperate for it.
"It's not that simple," she sighed, "A few grand gestures don't undo the hurt we've both been through," He tensed at the bombshell, his hand falling from her face.
"It could be that simple," he argued sadly, "What are you afraid of?"
"Kook-ah,"
"I'm serious," he stepped away from her completely, forgetting the public setting they were in. It felt like she was dangling his favourite food in front of him and yanking it away every time he got close enough to taste it.
"What's holding you back?" he raised his voice a little. The lack of sleep clashing with the emotional rollercoaster of the day in the worst way.
"Because," she returned with equal attitude, "You make bad choices, Jungkook-ah!"
Seeing him frown, Mimie took a calming breath before elaborating. Laying all her worries out on the table, but summing them up in this one confession.
"What if I'm a bad choice? What if I'm the worst choice for you?" He stared back in silent incredulity, "What if choosing me ruins everything? I'm just not sure if I'd survive if one day in what? 16 years you wake up and realise what a horrible choice you made. And because everything was so ruined you can't even get away and then you resent me and everything and I have to live knowing that I should have known better than to allow you to make this choice?"
Mimie stared up brokenly, she was reaching out for him in her mind, but in the real world, she couldn't seem to unfreeze her terrified body.
"Ok," Kook nodded, confusing her by stepping a little closer again although his words seemed to agree with her reasoning for distance, "Maybe I do have bad taste..."
"Kook-,"
"But maybe you have even worse taste and therefore I have a duty to protect us all from allowing you to make the choice to not allow me to make the choice?"
"... huh?" She was genuinely lost. How people followed maps without google was beyond her. She couldn't even find her way through that sentence.
"Trust me," he whispered, leaning back in, yielding to his need to be closer to Mimie.
"I want to..." she tried to fight the resentful smile growing up her face. Coming to her aide, Jungkook stopped her lips from smiling by busying them with other activities. Kissing her firmly and with need, Kook pulled her tightly against him and let the world disappear for a moment. If he gave his brain the chance, he could probably still hear the busy crew members working around him or feel the breeze from the aircon they had on full power.
He didn't care about that though. He didn't care about the goosebumps forming on his exposed arms because Mimie was warm against him and her heat was enough. He definitely didn't care about the crew talking amongst themselves, because that would have stopped him from hearing Mimie's heavy breathing and almost inaudible whimpers as he darted his tongue into her mouths briefly before sucking on her bottom lip ever so slightly. The kiss was getting a little heated, considering they were in public, but Jungkook felt as if he'd been waiting his whole life for this moment and he was making the fucking most of it before Mimie changed her mind.
Tightening his arm around her waist and letting his fingers tangle into her hair, Jungkook sent a silent prayer out that she never changed her mind. His heart pounded through his chest, no doubt echoing in Mimie's ribcage the same way he found himself able to feel her. Now he had tasted her, Kook was sure he'd never survive a day without her again.
His breath caught when Mimie's fingers made contact with his bare skin, having crept beneath his t-shirt, running her nails lightly over the muscles of his lower back. A choked laugh got lost between their moving lips, as reality seemed to creep back in and bring them back to the present moment and then like a bucket of icy water...
"Do you think we should leave them to it?" Jimin whispered, knowing full well his mic was on and ruining the moment like the little shit he was.
A wide grin plastered on his face as he received his scolding from his hyungs, who were laughing despite themselves. Meanwhile, Mimie had buried her face into Jungkook's clavicle as the maknae dropped his head back and giggled. Neither needed to bother looking over to know the rest of the members and a hand full of staff were stood to the side of the stage enjoying the moment that looked right out of a Kdrama.
"Alright Kook-ah, can we get on with this rehearsal now?" J-hope smirked, not waiting for a reply before stepping towards their starting positions. The other members following after the dance leader, although they were all still giggling between themselves. Mimie flushed and began to pull away, but Kook held her close for a moment longer, pressing a sweet kiss to her cheek.
"Give us an hour and then we can talk," he promised, finally releasing his hold of her. Watching with a proud smile as a dazed Mimie followed Sejin blindly off to the side of the stage, seemingly unable to stop looking back over her shoulder at him.
This time, he wasn't even listening to Hobi-hyung, his body just began to move when the familiar beat played over the speaker. Something about knowing Mimie was watching had him working even harder than before, but also, her being there put everything in its place. The moves flowed through him like usual, his second left foot had corrected himself. With Mimie there everything just made sense. He only faltered when he saw her smile and watch Jin step forward for his solo lines. Ok, so she was right, they had a lot to work through. But that was ok because he wanted to work through it with her.
*******
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KOOKIE 😘🥰🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
WE GOT PARADISE PEOPLE !!!
no but seriously what will i do with my life after this cause like its nearly finished 🤷♀️
Theme: JUNGKOOKS BIRTHDAY!!!
:')