"I swear there are moments when I am prepared to swap you out for one of my other close friends," Taehyung said as he gazed at Seokjin, who was smiling.
Sitting in the passenger seat of Taehyung's car, Jin reached over and kissed his best friend's cheek before saying, "I love you and thank you. Send me a text when you get to work and be careful on the road."
Taehyung rolled his eyes and said, "if you love me, you wouldn't have awakened me up so early to bring whoever-" Taehyung's words were followed by a long pause. He stopped and stared at the skyscraper they were in front of before continuing, "I am confused why this rich dude wants you to bring him coffee again."
"I don't know, but his assistant claimed he got harmed by Bailey, and I felt like the least I could do was bring him the coffee. Bailey's owners will take care of his medical expenses; I am just returning the coffee that spilled all over him."
"Interesting. At his penthouse, are you sure that's safe?"
Jin shrugged, "I don't know, but I will be in and out...unless-"
"No!"
"Taehyungie, please! This won't even take five minutes. I mean, come on, are you going to leave me here and go to work feeling fine, knowing that I may be on the next episode of lost and forgotten?" Jin made a judgmental face at Taehyung, hoping he would give in and agree to come with him.
"There is no show like that, and no, this is your personal business-"
"Telling your mom you got dump again and also, will tell her about that one time you gave the guy-"
"Shut up and fine! I can see why your parents never want you home." As Taehyung unbuckled his seatbelt, he let out a hissing sound.
Jin smiled, happy at his accomplishment, "I will pay you back with a nice home-cooked meal."
"It's wonderful that you've turned into a liar now." As Taehyung stepped out of the car, he couldn't help but shake his head. He was more aware than anybody else that Seokjin was not planning to cook anything in the kitchen.
"No, I am serious; wait until you return to the house later; you will be blown away!"
As Taehyung and Jin approached the front door of the building, Taehyung did not answer since he was well aware that he should not.
*****
Jungkook inspected his appearance in the mirror and smiled as he flexed his muscles while wearing his suit. He was confident in his appearance and felt that the suit was only an accessory that complimented him.
When he heard the doorbell to his penthouse, he knew it could only be one of two people: his new assistant, Park Jimin, or the person who had set up his dog to attack him the day before and was coming to bring him back his coffee.
After giving himself one more look in the mirror, he smirked and said, "Perfect!" before walking out the door.
He turned off the alarm in his suite and opened the door, saying, "it's about time you arrived with my two cups of coffee."
Seokjin, standing in front of his door with one cup of coffee and a slice of banana bread in his hand, gazed at him in surprise but managed to keep his remarks under control. He glanced over at Taehyung, who was standing off to the side. Before speaking, he took a few moments to compose himself and said, "Good morning; I am sorry to hear about your injuries and visit to the hospital. As I told your Assistant, Bailey's owners would pay for the reasonable expenses. As a means to extend my apologies and make up for the inconvenience, I would like to give you a cup of coffee and a slice of banana bread. Here you go."
"So, you insulted me yesterday with that dog, and now you insult me again by only giving me one cup of coffee when I requested two?"
"Is there a problem here?" Taehyung moved from where he was to make his presence known to Jungkook while establishing eye contact with him.
Jungkook's eyes widened in surprise. He instantly regained his composure and glanced at Jin before asking, "who is this?"
"He-"
"It has nothing to do with you. I think that Seokjin is extending his kindness to you as compensation for the incident that transpired yesterday; you may either acknowledge it and cease nagging him with obvious lies, or if you find him attractive and feel too-"
Jin swung around, dropped the banana bread, and said to Taehyung, "okay, that's enough," He placed his hand over Taehyung's lips.
He took a moment to compose himself before turning his attention back to Jungkook and said, "I am not sure how I insulted you yesterday, but if you feel that way, it's your own emotion. I am unable to change how you are feeling. You can take the coffee and banana bread or leave them here for someone else to enjoy. I am done." Jin set the coffee down on the ground next to the banana bread, grabbed Taehyung's hand, and pulled him along.
"You, come back here!" Jungkook yelled. How he had been treated had absolutely angered him.
Both Seokjin and Taehyung proceeded on their way to the elevator, paying him no attention whatsoever.
*****
"Handsome and wealthy, tell me the truth, did you get Bailey to attack him on purpose?" Taehyung inquired as he buckled his seatbelt and cast a peek in Jin's direction.
"You forgot, rude and arrogant!"
"He was rude; I can see why you were so upset yesterday. You handled yourself well; my favorite firecracker appeared for a moment."
Jin smiled, "my heart was racing so much, though. I don't even remember what I said."
As Taehyung drove Jin back to their apartment, they shared a lot of laughs because Taehyung had reenacted everything that Jin had done.
"Listen, don't think about it anymore; go on and get rest. You did your dues, and you did it with a kind heart. He is an asshole for not accepting your kindness. Don't worry about cooking today. I will bring dinner- wait, actually, I can't. I have a date tonight."
Jin's eyes widened, "what? You just got dumped; what date do you have?"
"Before you judge me, I reactivated my dating account last night, just to see what it looked like. I saw this guy immediately, and I swore that he was flawless. Anyway, I decided to swipe on him even though I didn't believe there was any chance we would match, but to my amazement, we did. You know me, so I immediately wrote to him, and we chatted the whole night through. He had a terrible day at work and said it felt amazing talking to me, so I told him that if he wanted, he could talk to me over dinner, and he agreed, he said his boss would be away, and he won't have to go work early the next day, so yup, I got a date tonight."
Jin sighed and shook his head, "good luck!"
"That's all you have to say?"
"Taehyung, what does it matter? You are going to go on this date regardless of what I say. Just, please use your head this time around and the one above the waist."
With a grin, Taehyung nodded, "I always use that one first."
When Jin heard this, he rolled his eyes and said, "if only you did. Anyway, I just want to thank you very much for this morning; if you hadn't been there, I don't know if I would have been able to pull it off. I have a paper due later, so I need to start on it now. After that, I have appointments with two dogs in the afternoon. I'll see you later if you decide to come home. Have fun on your day; fingers crossed this guy is a good one."
"Love you, Jinnie, and thank you. Wishing you the best of success with your paper, and please refrain from harming anybody else on the streets."
"Bye!"
******
Jimin took a few long, deep breaths as he tried to contain his excitement at the prospect of Jungkook's upcoming trip. It had only been 10 minutes since he had arrived at Jungkook's suite, but he already regretted not going to the office rather than coming there.
"He was disrespectful and brought some other guy here with him. I need you to find out more about him; I will not let this go. Never in my life have I been made out to be a fool."
As Jimin sat there and listened to Jungkook yell, he kept checking his phone, hoping that Jungkook's driver would text him and say he was downstairs.
"Are you listening to me?"
Jimin glanced up from his phone and smiled at Jungkook before responding, "sure, sir, I am listening to every word you say. His name is Kim Seokjin, he is twenty-two years old, and he is now a student in his last year of college. He also works as a part-time dog walker; the fact that he was seen with the dog the day before explains that. Would you also be interested in learning more about his family, including his parents and any siblings he might have?"
As he leaned against the opened door frame, Jungkook cleared his throat and asked, "He is twenty-two?"
"Yes, sir, he is. Also, your driver is downstairs. I wish you the best of luck on your trip to Canada." Jimin stood up, feeling a great relief that Jungkook was leaving.
"How did you find his age?"
"Through reputable available public sources and his website."
"What website?"
"He advertises his services as a dog walker on his own website."
"Does he have pictures on there?"
Jimin was a bit confused, "of dogs?"
"No, of himself."
"Yes, he does, not a lot."
"So, people see him and still request him to walk those big dogs?"
"I am not sure, sir."
"Send me the website. I need to review it."
"Umm, okay. As a reminder, your driver is downstairs."
"I heard you the first time. I don't need a reminder. However, I'm curious as to why you won't be joining me on this trip."
Jimin's eyes widened in response to Jungkook's question, to which he responded, "sir, you told me that my attendance was not necessary for this trip and since there is so much for me to get done here, I decided to stay back."
"So you made the executive decision not to join me on this trip?"
"No, sir, you told me I was not needed on this trip. I have a text message from you telling me that."
"You most likely made up that text message," Jungkook yelled at the top of his lungs, showing his irritation. "Because you are my assistant, there's no reason for me to suggest that you stay home from this trip."
"Understood, sir. I will be joining you on the trip then." Jimin knew it was pointless to go back and forth with Jungkook.
"No, you will not. You don't get to suddenly decide to join me on anything. I am the boss; I make that decision."
"Okay."
"Jimin, you will join me on this trip to Canada!"
"With pleasure."
"No pleasure! I am your boss."
Jimin made a terrible face when he realized what Jungkook had inferred, and then he said, "sir, I did not intend it in any way."
"I don't care. I know I am an attractive man; however, I am not for everyone. You are also not my type."
"Not a problem. We all have our preferences. That's what makes us unique." Jimin was becoming more irritated at Jungkook.
It wasn't what Jungkook had said that upset him; rather, it was the fact that he would not be able to go on his date with the man he had just met and was looking forward to their first date together.
*****
Jimin sat on the aircraft opposite Jungkook, and he was boiling on the inside as he did so. Even though Hoseok was there, and Jimin usually felt amazing when he was around Hoseok, he could not shake his anger because he had to cancel his date.
"Jimin, I need a dog."
"Sir, I am sorry; what was that?" Jimin questioned as he looked over at Jungkook, wanting to ensure he heard him correctly.
"I need you to get me a dog."
Hoseok was confused when he heard Jungkook's request. "You want a dog?"
"I wasn't talking to you. Jimin, get me a dog when we get back to Seoul. A small to medium size one. Actually, a small one."
Hoseok chuckled and asked, "Wait, was this because of that guy yesterday? Jimin, didn't you say he was a dog walker?"
"Mind your business!" Jungkook snapped.
"You know there are other ways to ask someone out if you like them, right?"
"I don't like anyone, and again, mind your business."
"He is twenty-two, Jungkook; I am sure he is not looking for a grandpa."
"You are going to get fired!"
"Then fire me, big bad bunny."
"I don't know why Yoongi brought you into our family."
"Funny, he asked his mother the same thing about you."
Jimin wanted to escape the room because he disliked being in the center of the conflict between Jungkook and Hoseok.
When he saw a text from the guy he was talking to, his face lit up with excitement. He was overjoyed to learn that the guy was not upset that he had to cancel their date; instead, he had been understanding the situation and suggested that they reschedule their date for when he got back. That had a really positive effect on Jimin's mood.
"I hope you are smiling cause you found me a dog."
Jimin glanced up from his phone and said, "Mr. Jeon, this is a serious, respectful question. Are you aware of what it takes to care for a dog? If you want a dog because of Seokjin, then as someone who loves animals, I highly advise you not to have a dog. Usually, I don't provide my opinion, but in this case, I feel compelled to do so. Perhaps you might use different approaches to get Seokjin's attention."
"Who claimed that I was making an effort to talk to him? If you continue to make assumptions that aren't supported by the evidence, Jimin, you might lose your job."
"Understood, sir; my apologies then. I will proceed with getting you a dog."
"Forget getting me a dog! I will get it myself."
"About time you do something yourself."
"Jung Hoseok, I dare you to utter another word during this flight and see what happens!" Jungkook yelled.
Hoseok sealed his lips and looked over at Jimin, who appeared terrified.