Jin groaned, stretching his arms as he entered the gym locker room. His heart was still beating rapidly from his previous workout.
Leg day was a bitch.
He enjoyed coming to the gym early in the mornings before work. There were barely any people there and it was better for him to get to know the machines.
This whole thing started to get Hoseok back but it sort of stuck to him. Also considering he paid for a membership in advance it would be a waste of money to not use it.
He removed his sweaty tank and pulled out his towel from his locker room. As soon as he turned around he screamed, falling back against the lockers.
"Ahh! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Why would you throw yourself against the lockers?" Namjoon asked. He stepped closer to him and Jin bawled his fist.
"I didn't do it on purpose! You startled me!"
"You left me behind. That wasn't so nice." He accused him while crossing his arms over his chest.
"I didn't. I told you that I was done and heading to the locker rooms. You would've heard me if you didn't have your humongous ear muffs."
"They are headphones!" Namjoon was offended.
"Yeah well they look fucking ridiculous."
Namjoon huffed, "What if I would've gotten jumped by that strong guy out there? You wouldn't have been there to help."
Jin paused briefly, examining Namjoon. He still had his arms crossed over his chest and he was also wearing a tank.
Despite Namjoon not working out previously he was still pretty toned and now that he had started lifting he could see the progress.
His chest was broader and his biceps bigger. Jin gulped down nervously as he came to the conclusion that they were in the men's locker room alone and that he himself was not wearing a shirt.
"Something tells me you could've taken him on with no problem."
Namjoon stared at him a bit puzzled until he analyzed Jin's expression and tone. He wasn't mocking him, Jin was checking him out.
He felt himself smile and stuck his chest out a little more. Jin quickly turned around to his locker and opened it up though he had everything he needed.
The last thing he could do right now was look at Namjoon in the face. His back tensed once he felt his cool fingers slide across his back.
"Hey! What are you doing? Hands to yourself!" He screamed, turning back around. His voice was a bit shaky.
"I'm trying to see if you have any scratches on your back."
"I'm fine." He said, stepping back. His back pressed against the cold locker yet again. His breathing suddenly increased and his chest began rising. His body was reacting like he had run a marathon.
"Okay." Namjoon responded by stepping back and holding his hands up in the air.
Jin relaxed a little, he could still feel his face being pink. Namjoon smiled in an almost teasing way. He enjoyed this and Jin could tell.
"What?" He snapped loudly and a bit flustered.
"Nothing. Do you want to come read a book with me? I volunteered at the library to read to a group of kids and I could use another voice."
"Huh? Kids? I—I'm not a kid person."
"That doesn't matter. You can follow my lead."
"When is this anyways?"
"Saturday."
Jin huffed, "Well I can't. That's technically considered a date."
Namjoon raised his eyebrow, "That's not a date."
Jin was flabbergasted. "I—I didn't mean that. I don't know why—I need to shower."
"If I wanted to ask you out it wouldn't be there." Namjoon said, following him behind.
Jin hung his towel on the towel hook. "Who says I want to date you?"
"Why not?"
Jin turned to face him, "What do you mean why not?" His voice was unsteady, shaky. His knees trembled and his pulse pounded fast against the side of his neck.
"Why not try?"
"You don't—you don't even like me."
"I like you." He admitted.
Jin closed his mouth and released a deep breath through his nostrils. "I mean it in a romantic way." He finally murmured.
"I think you're attractive. I like hanging out with you. I'm not in love with you, but if we got to know each other it could evolve. Or what? Do you not find me attractive?"
Jin felt put on the spot, his hands started sweating and he looked down. "You're a little cute."
Namjoon reached over to grab his chin and lift his face up. It basically forced him to meet eye to eye with him. "See. We could make it work."
Jin's breath hitched, "I suppose."
"Should we kiss now?" He asked with a smirk.
Jin's mouth opened, unable to respond. His skin got goosebumps and the room suddenly felt like it was spinning. He didn't even notice that his body had started leaning in voluntarily.
He wanted to kiss him.
Bad.
But before he could even try to, Namjoon let go of his chin. "Sorry. That was a joke. We will get to the kissing part eventually. I'm assuming we're good for Saturday? After the library we could go grab something to eat."
Jin nodded, "Yeah. Whatever." He attempted to keep his tone uninterested, but his body language exposed him.
"Good. I gotta go get my towel." He grinned.
As he walked away Jin stumbled back holding the shower door for support. He ran his fingers through his damp sweaty hair as he processed everything that just happened.
For the first time in a long, long time his heart was beating for someone that wasn't Hoseok.
•••
"Taehyung please!" Yoongi begged while clasping his hands together.
"Yoongi, I doubt Nayeon wants to play hide and seek. We're pretty busy, you know? We're not just chilling out there."
"She agreed to do it! I called her desk phone."
Taehyung sighed. He would typically say no because he did not like for Yoongi to leave his room. Especially around other patients with cystic fibrosis.
"Fine but—"
"Yeah, yeah. No leaving the floor and always six feet away from others. I got it."
"Okay then. I'm giving you five minutes to find a spot."
Yoongi grinned quickly, grabbing a mask and putting it on before heading out. He started his timer and when fifteen seconds went by he walked back to his desk.
He doubted Yoongi would hide anywhere near his desk either way. Once he logged back in his computer he continued to enter Yoongi's recent vitals.
His phone vibrated next to him and he glanced at it briefly. His heart thumped as he read the message across his screen.
"Must be good news for you to be smiling like that." Jimin said.
Taehyung flinched and put his hand over his heart. "Fuck. You scared me. When did you even get up here?"
"About ten seconds ago."
"Yoongi is not in his room right now. We're playing hide and seek."
Jimin furrowed his eyebrows confused, "How does that work?"
"Yoongi likes to play with the kids upstairs. Nayeon lets two hide at a time and I let Yoongi hide. If I find him first the kids win and vice versa. We have to switch things up since they
can't technically leave their floors."
"Oh. That sounds nice."
"You're not here to see Yoongi are you?"
Jimin tapped his fingers on the desk nervously. "Who was that messaging you?" He wondered while changing the topic.
Taehyung hummed, "It's my ex."
Jimin's eyes widened, "Oh. So you two are...?"
"She will be in town again and she wants to meet up." His face turned a light pink shade and as hard as he attempted to hide his smile he couldn't.
"Well, if you two are reuniting again that's a good sign."
"Yeah but again, that does not answer why you're here."
"How long until your lunch break?" Jimin asked impatiently.
Taehyung glanced at his clock on the computer screen. "Roughly an hour and half."
Jimin groaned, putting his hands over his face. Chan was exiting his patient's room while he was still groaning.
He stopped once he realized Chan sat next to Taehyung. He had forgotten that Jungkook no longer worked on that floor.
Chan glanced at him briefly and Jimin cleared his throat, "Oh. Hi Chan. Uhhh...so I guess I'll wait for your lunch break." He murmured the last part because he knew he couldn't speak in front of him.
"Hi Jimin." Chan replied, still avoiding eye contact. At this point he knew too much information without even trying to. He didn't want to get involved again.
Taehyung's timer watch went off. He looked back at Jimin who had this worried sick expression on his face. He knew it had to be serious for him to bother him during work hours.
Namjoon had to be in school and it was harder to get in to see him. So he pressed the x on his watch screen to stop the vibration and stood up.
"Come on." He said, motioning him to follow.
Jimin did while fidgeting with his fingers back and forth. He could feel the sweat droplets form around his nose and upper lip.
"You can tell me about it while I look for Yoongi."
"No. Yoongi can't hear about it." Jimin whispered with a blushed face.
"Ahh. So it's about him. Well, I'll tell you one thing he hides very well. It's difficult for me to ever find him. We will keep our voices down. I wouldn't insist but you look like shit."
Jimin rolled his eyes, "Great. Thanks a lot."
"I'm being honest here. You're so fidgety, nervous. It's so unlike you. I would hate for you to wait another hour and half to speak to me."
Jimin did feel shit. He hadn't been able to sleep the night before. Running on four hours of sleep was hell. There was a nagging headache behind his eyelids that made him feel even more irritable.
It was like being hungover all over again minus the good time with the alcohol. His thoughts were racing in his mind over and over and he truly needed to speak to someone about it.
After serious debating, he eventually gave in because he was truly desperate. He reales a deep shaky breath, "Fuck. Where do I start?"
"The beginning would be nice."
"I like Yoongi."