Sorry for taking so long to write this one! Finals went pretty well (I didn't fail any of my classes! YAY!) but this chapter gave me some major issues. It took me a really long time to decide just how I wanted Jimin and B to react to each other, and I'll try to keep their personalities consistent, but it gets really hard the further on I write... especially while trying to shove some of the crazy plot in here...
Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.
"Come on, get up you lazy bum! Don't make me get an ice cube and shove it down your boxers! 'Cause I will if you don't get up!"
Jimin shoots up in bed, almost knocking foreheads with a very frustrated looking Hoseok. Jimin freezes in place, his mind fuzzy and his eyes darting around the room as he attempts to coordinate himself.
Where the heck am I? This is definitely not my room. Basketball jersey on the wall, Kumamon plushie on the shelf, 'GENIUS' poster on the wall... Suga?
Oh.
Jimin glances down at the bed to see his hyung curled up like a cinnamon roll, Suga's arm still stretched out to grasp Jimin's small hand in his own. Jimin smiles when Suga groans and buries his head under his pillow, obviously bothered by Hobi's loud pestering. Hobi sniffs in disdain and sends Jimin a pointed look.
"What?" Jimin protests quietly, his voice groggy and his eyes blurry. Hobi watches in amusement as Jimin rubs one eye with his free hand before blinking hesitantly at the boy standing at the foot of the bed.
Wait... Hobi?! When did Hobi get here? And why isn't he freaking out about Suga letting me stay with him in his room?
"Come on, Jimin-ah!" Hobi rambles on, giggling only slightly quieter than before and earning another annoyed groan from Suga, "Do you want the others to find you in here? Suga's manly pride would be crushed for all eternity if they knew he let you stay and I'm sure he doesn't want that, so you better get up now before any of the other boys do! We can make breakfast together; won't that be fun? What do you wanna make? Pancakes? Kimchi and eggs?"
"Hyung..." Jimin stares at Hobi in bewilderment, his eyes moving up and down in time with Hobi's excited bouncing, "How did you even know I was in here?"
"Don't you worry about that Chimchim!" Hobi giggles, tugging gently at Jimin's sleeves, "Your hyung knows everything! He has eyes in the back of his head, ears in every wall, and he wants you to get out of bed and make breakfast with him! Won't you listen to your awesome hyung?"
"But, Hoseokie-hyung-"
"I heard a noise, and I was making sure it wasn't anything to worry about," Hobi's voice lowers in seriousness, giving Jimin whiplash with his sudden mood-swings, "I overheard you two last night, and thought it'd be best to leave you alone. You handled it perfectly all by yourself, by the way, Jimin-ah. Good job! But now it's my turn!"
Hobi giggles again, the sudden serious glint in his eye vanishing in an instant. Jimin closes his eyes, his head spinning.
"Come oooon, Jiminie!" Hobi whines, shaking Jimin by his shoulders in impatience, "I wanna make breakfast with you for all the boys before Jin wakes up and makes it for us. Won't that be awesome?"
"Fine, fine. I'm coming, Hobi." Jimin groans, sounding nearly as annoyed as Suga. He painfully pulls his legs out of the warm, fluffy blankets on Suga's bed. As soon as his legs are free he looks up at Hoseok, his eyes, still puffy from sleep, full of hope, "You really won't tell the others?"
"Not as long as you make breakfast with me." Hobi cheers, clapping his hands in a fashion similar to a drunk sea-lion. Jimin gives Suga's warm hand one last squeeze before gently peeling off his vice-like grip one finger at a time.
"Suga likes Kimchi best."
"Then Kimchi it is!"
* * * *
The bell dings cheerily as Jimin pushes the door open, the bright smile on his face greatly contrasting the exhausted look it sported just the day before. The dark bags under his eyes are still there, same with the paleness of his complexion, but the difference from yesterday is instantly noticed by Mina's observant eyes.
"The usual?" Mina asks sweetly, her hands already moving for the medium size cup, "Without the extra two shots this time?"
"Yes please," Jimin chirps, his eyes twinkling as he strains to save his cheer-worthy news for B's ears only. In all honesty, he wants to shout it out to the world so that everyone can share his joy for the successful completion of his mission, but he also wants B to know about it first, since she's the one who made it happen. Well, second, if you can count Hobi. Not that Jimin's counting Hobi.
"What's got you all bright and sunny this fine morning, Jimin-ssi?" Mina asks, her honey brown eyes sparkling with their usual mischievous luster as they flicker from coffee machine to Jimin and back again, "Going on a date with your girlfriend? Getting married? Having a kid?"
"W-what? No!" Jimin sputters, completely caught off guard by her strangely personal questions, "I don't even have a girlfriend, why would I be getting married or having kids?"
"I don't know," Mina giggles at his response, laughing again when he gives her an incredulous look, "I just assumed that a handsome man like you wouldn't be single, that's all."
Handsome man? Did you hear that, Jin? I'm not some bratty kid anymore; I'm a handsome man! I'm so shoving this in Jin's face when I get home.
"Uh- thanks?" Jimin scratches his neck, blinking repeatedly before shoving the odd compliment out of the way of his supreme-reigning joy, "Actually, it's one of my friends that's made me this happy."
"Oh really?" Mina muses, inwardly cheering as if the Seahawks had won the Superbowl (Not that they have the Superbowl in Korea, and not that I actually like football (I hate football) but you get the expression). Sweet, single, and loyal to his friends? Mina, you've hit the jackpot and better make it happen this time, or it'll never work, "Mind if I ask what?"
"Yeah, actually..." Jimin smiles and looks down at the floor in embarrassment, "I actually want to tell B first, before I tell anyone else."
"B?" Mina's head snaps up, surprise lurking in their light depths, "The nerd girl?"
"You mean the girl you called your best friend that you made me do the dare on?" Jimin snorts, rolling his eyes playfully at her surprise, "Yes, her. She actually helped me with an issue I was having, and it worked really well."
Both pairs of eyes flicker to the table in the back, where the girl with shimmering silver-white hair is already sitting with her entire face hidden behind a book. Mina raises an eyebrow, secretly impressed with herself. I know I'm good, but I didn't know I was this good. Mina smirks before handing a brightly smiling Jimin his coffee.
"Then I shouldn't keep ya waiting." Mina giggles, watching closely as Jimin heads towards the table with a spring in his step. I thought some of my others were cute, but this is a whole new level! I better start working on ship names already... Mina turns to her next customer with a smirk on her face.
Jimin sits down in his normal seat with gusto, the smile stuck to his face like glue (AN: Pardon the cliche simile. I would've said 'like Yoongi to Kumamon' or 'like Jin's beauty to his face' but they seemed kinda weird, so... I refrained). Jimin's smile grows even wider at the tired sigh the girl gives him.
"Well?" B lazily flips to the next page of her book, her eyes not yet visible from behind the cover.
"It worked!" Jimin giggles excitedly, somehow holding himself back from clapping like a demented seal, "Really well, actually! It made him cry even more for a little while, but then he slept, and he actually ate, and he even smiled four times at breakfast! Four times! I think that's the most I've seen him smile in the past week! And he didn't even scream at Hobi when Hobi was loud when waking me up. Do you know how amazing that is? He's always cussed at us for waking him up, but he barely even complained!"
"I'm glad." B softly responds, the corner of up lips curling up into a hesitant smile that the book blocks from Jimin's sight. Jimin falls silent for a moment, his gratitude so overwhelming it nearly drives him to tears.
"B-ssi?" Jimin hesitantly starts, his eyes wandering across the open cover of 'The False Prince', a book he's surprisingly never read. B hums in response, signalling that she's listening even if her eyes don't leave the pages in front of her. A weird airy feeling fills his stomach as he stares at her hidden face, and he contemplates whether or not he should finish his question. If he does he'll be leaving himself completely at her mercy, but if he doesn't ask the question then he'll be living with the guilt of an unpaid favor for the rest of his life. Ask the question, you coward.
So he does.
"How do I repay you?"
B's head snaps up at this, her pretty eyes wide behind the glinting frames of her glasses. She places the book on the table and it flips itself shut, but she doesn't seem to notice; her eyes locked onto Jimin's now baffled expression. Maybe people don't usually repay her kindnesses?
"Repay?" Her doubt is obvious from her tone and the glint in her eyes, and Jimin gulps nervously as he nods, not wanting to upset her, seeing as she's already unsure of his intentions, "You want to repay me for helping you?"
"Yes?" Jimin pokes at the tabletop, "Isn't that the polite thing to do after someone helps you?"
"I-I suppose so." B relents, the doubt fading into confusion, "You're really willing to do something for me, even though all I did was give you advice?"
"Of course." Jimin states with a cheery smile, his happiness returning as soon as her uncertainty fades. She's a little scary when she's unsure... "Within reason, of course. I'm not gonna buy you a Ferrari or kill somebody for you."
Jimin's heart nearly explodes when her befuddled look suddenly transforms into a pout, her shimmering pink lips dipping down into one of the cutest expressions he's ever seen. RED ALERT. RED ALERT. CUTENESS OVERLOAD ~ MENTAL ASSISTANCE REQUIRED ASAP.
"Why not?" B asks, the pout leaking into her voice and raising the pitch a couple steps. Jimin fights back a blush as he struggles to reply, his wild thoughts of just how much he wants to squish her cheeks nearly drowning out everything else.
"Well- uh- because I can't afford a Ferrari yet?"
"No. The other one," B smiles, the pout disappearing into a semi-cheeky look as she watches Jimin embarrass himself yet again.
"Uh- because it's illegal and I'd be thrown in jail?" Jimin blinks repeatedly as a full blown smile spreads across her face. Her quiet chuckle sends his already racing mind into a new, wilder frenzy as he struggles to keep himself from lunging at her and hugging her to death. Wow, Jimin. Great job at keeping your cool. You've known her for what, a week? And you already want to hug her to death like Kookie.
"So your saying you would kill someone for me if it wasn't illegal?" The mischievous smile on her face yet again reminds Jimin of Suga, and the question he's repeatedly forgotten surfaces.
"Well, no." Jimin shakes his head at her unorthodox thinking, fighting a smile as he repeats the question over and over again inside his head, so he won't possibly be able to forget it, "Other than me killing for you, how do you want me to repay you?"
Sensing his seriousness, she pauses and sets both of her elbows on the table as her dark, thin eyebrows crinkle in thought. Her eyes slowly slide away from his face as she stares off into space, her finger tapping the side of her jaw. Jimin's eyes never leave her own, so when her sharp gaze snaps back to his face their gazes meet in a clash of bitter and sweet. (Excuse the rhyming... I'm having writing issues...)
"You'll really do almost anything?" B asks quietly, searching his face for answers to questions he doesn't know.
"Yeah, as long as it's not insane." Jimin assures.
"Then... as payment for your 'debt', I want..." B trails off, her eyes flickering to the floor as she drags her arms back to her body, "I want you to come here, to this shop, and sit at this table in that seat at exactly 10:30 AM on every week day until I tell you to stop. And you're to continue what you've been doing when you come."
Jimin blinks once. Twice.
What? She wants me to come Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at exactly 10:30 AM, and... continue what I've been doing, whatever that means? And as my payment? Why doesn't she want money or clothes or something? Isn't that what most people would want?
"What do you mean 'continue what I've been doing'?" Jimin splutters, choosing the easiest question out of the hundreds now spinning in his head, "Drinking coffee? Rambling? Asking for advice?"
"T-talking." B's almost inaudible stutter catches Jimin off guard. Her eyes refuse to meet his own, instead focusing on the coffee cup in front of her. Her voice lowers in volume and conviction with every word she speaks, "You've been talking. To me."
"W-well, I guess I could do that, but are you sure that's what you want?" Jimin asks softly, still confused far past his capacity to understand. Does no one else talk to her? Am I the only one? "I mean, I ramble more than I actually talk, and I'm a pretty boring person."
"Yes, I'm sure." B finally looks up, her dark eyes unwavering and her lips pressed into a straight line, "Will... will you do it?"
"I don't see why not." Jimin chuckles nervously, running a hand through his currently orange hair. B jumps on his semi-committal statement, her eyes blazing.
"So you'll be here every day at 10:30 sharp?" Some of her shimmering silver hair falls in front of her face, but B doesn't waste the time to push it back behind her ears, "And you'll talk?"
"If you want me to, yeah." Jimin nods. B sticks out her arm, her pale hand open and waiting for him to shake it.
"So it's a deal?" Her coal eyes bore into his soul, her dark lashes curling around the edges. Jimin hates that he has to blink. He hesitantly reaches his right hand out to hers and grips it in his own, not flinching even though her skin is as cold as ice.
Her hand's so small...
"Deal."
This was NOT how I planned the chapter to end... It just kinda happened... Well, I hope it wasn't terrible, but I honestly have no idea. I'm just glad I finally finished this evil chapter. Thank you guys for reading my story! You guys are awesome.
Please VOTE (so I feel loved).
And COMMENT (so I know what the heck I need to fix)
And keep on swimming...
~singformeangel