"So who's going first?" A random girl asks excitedly, clapping her hands as if it would make the process go any faster. You only sigh, forcefully frozen in your spot, Yuna's nearly deathly grip on your arm only serving as a reminder.
At the question, all the females immediately burst from their spots, the uproar of shrieks and excited cheers making your head spin. You only furrow your brows at the way your female friend's eyes glistened with both excitement and mischief, prompting you to sigh at how much unwarranted anticipation is going into a simple game of truth or dare.
Taehyung, being the quote unquote 'leader' of this entire idea, chooses a random girl from the crowd to go first as the aforementioned female squeals in response, making you roll your eyes. The game starts off simple, someone spinning the bottle as whoever ends up on each side has to either ask or be asked a question. You only watch random questions be thrown as most of the ones being asked decide to go with truth instead of dare, the usual.
It's rather humorous to watch the girls pray for the bottle to point at one of the boys, only to be disappointed when it doesn't. Which is most certainly not the case when the bottle points at, low and behold, your one and only crush, and the other end to point at—
Not you.
"Oh my gosh, Yoongi-ssi!" Yuna gasps at the sight of the bottle, your head spinning with nothing but delirium as the groans of frustration from the crowd enters one ear and goes out the other. So much cliche bullshit- "I know just what to ask!"
You give her a look of pure and utter terror. She imitates it mockingly. You shake her shoulder as subtly as you can, but it proves to be hard when she asks the inevitable— "Kiss my friend, Y/n." Oh my fuck.
Your heart was beating with fear and adrenaline and excitement and anticipation all mixed together.
Yoongi's eyes widen and he blinks in surprise, and you wanted to squeal and cry and grin and run and you didn't know which to do first. The whole situation just seemed so incomprehensible that you weren't sure what to do, didn't know whether you wanted to jump into his arms or if you wanted to run away in embarrassment.
The thought of actually sharing a kiss with your crush after months and months of nothing but shy smiles and shy eye contact and just a painful one-sided love sounded way too surreal, so surreal that you could do nothing but sit frozen in place. So surreal that you could barely even blink. So surreal that you didn't notice Jimin get up and slam the door behind him, his jaw as tight as his eyes, as tight as his fists, as tight as the strain in his arms.
But his friends did.
"W-we don't do those kinds of dares, sorry!" Taehyung said before sprinting out the door that was left slightly ajar, the other boys wanting to follow after him but the females' squeals restricting them from doing so. You feel the giddiness in your chest slowly dwindle into nothing, lips falling into a frown. Yuna frowns along with you, patting your back as a silent apology, but you can't seem to feel as reassured as you'd like to be.
Yuna smiles a small smile, "Right, sorry about that. I was pushing something you guys aren't comfortable with." They say nothing in response.
The seconds tick by agonizingly slowly. Everything felt so still, and you later find yourself making a quick excuse to the female beside you to leave, and she graciously took the hint and left with you. At least, that's what would have happened if the bottle didn't then land on you, of all people. At the worst goddamn time.
"Y/n!" A male you briefly recognize as the hyper male- Hoseok, you recall- smiles in your direction, the bottle having landed on him as well. And you couldn't even choose truth because you had chosen it already. Oh god. It can't be that bad, right? He was known to be an angel among the group, right?
Apparently frick frackedy not is what you learn the hard way as you now, in the present time, find yourself in front of Jimin's apartment, sweat threatening to trickle down your temple. Your feelings towards this entire situation can pretty much be summed up in one single word: fuck, and even that isn't enough to encompass the overwhelming feeling of apprehension that fills your blood, that's making your heartbeat ring in your ears.
"I have a dare." Hoseok had started oh so innocently, a hearty laugh surfacing from his lips that, at the time, had made you feel secure and not at all worried for the amount of unspoken power he held over you. The innocent male (although you're seriously reconsidering that title now) continued with a smile that at the time you didn't realize reeked of mischief, "I'll give you the address, but you have to go to our dear friend Jimin's house..."
You now stand in front of that very same house, your finger hovering over the doorbell for at least a few minutes now, the male's words ringing in your mind like a song that's stuck in your head— "..And ask to borrow a condom."
Fuck Hoseok and his cute ass smile, really.
You were too prideful to lose your dignity, and even that was hanging by a thin strand now. Different escape routes started forming in your mind; you could just buy a condom from a local convenience store, but Jimin would certainly be asked about this later by his friends, so that idea is shot down. You could.. break into his house and get the condom yourself- yeah, no, that idea is immediately shot down. You consider just leaving completely and abandoning the idea of friendships entirely, create a new ID and escape the country and start a new life...
Yeah, no.
So you then consider just praying for the ground to swallow you whole.
You try steeling your nerves momentarily, your index finger inching slowly but surely towards the doorbell, the rate of your heartbeat increasing each second that passes, face scrunching while you held your breath before quickly dropping your hand to your side, grabbing a fistful of hair in frustration as you shuffle away from the entrance.
You inhale deeply. You try to convince yourself that maybe this friendship you had with Jimin wasn't going to go as far as you expected; maybe he was just one of those people that will come and go in your life, maybe Jimin wearing that bomber jacket or those leather jeans that really show off his nice butt, like goddamn- maybe it wasn't as cute nor as endearing as you think.
So as you straighten your back, swiftly turn around by the heel of your foot and march right towards the entrance with a sort of idiotic courage that you will surely cringe about later, you're just about ready to punch that goddamn doorbell when suddenly the door opens by itself, an all too familiar male presenting himself with the cutest set of dog pj's that you've ever seen.
Your index finger pointing at the doorbell freezes, your posture straightening like a board as the male you were somewhat dreading to see scans the area, back hunched slightly as he slowly blinks away sleep. The "ground swallowing you whole" idea could be really damn useful right about now.
After seemingly forever, Jimin turns towards you, eyes narrowing as if he couldn't believe the sight in front of him. Then suddenly his half lidded eyes are widening as quickly as the increase of speed of your heartbeat and he could do nothing but stare at you with awe and confusion and apprehension all at once.
Well, shit. "Uh," you start, taking advantage of the hand you had raised to ring the doorbell that's still frozen in place to change it into a wave, the smooth recovery probably not looking as smooth as you'd like to believe it looked. "Hi."
The male's eyes momentarily sparkle with familiarity, and it seems like he's about to raise his own hand to wave back, only to briefly catch sight of what he's wearing and—
Slam the door in your face.
You blink. Furrow your brows. Narrow your eyes. And before you could truly process what's happening, Jimin is opening the door again, a random jacket he hastily threw on covering the pajamas he was probably still wearing underneath, the long pants with dog printings over it peeking out from underneath the shorts he was also now wearing. His hair was still as tousled as ever, and you couldn't help but think how much it helped adorn his features.
He leans against the door frame, hands stuffed in his pockets, cocking his head upwards as he replies, "Sup." —And you barely contain your snort of amusement at the sight. "What are you doing here?"
At the question you consider running away then and there just to drive yourself into a wall. Or off the nearest cliff. "Oh, uh-" You clear your throat, "I uh.. well.."
"Why don't you come inside?" He asks before he can stop himself, eyes widening at his own words. His eyes widen especially when you shuffle inside, the male only watching as you slip inside his apartment, awkwardly stopping to stand in the middle of his living room. Jimin slowly closes the door behind him, standing in place to keep his distance as if it would make the situation less awkward. "Um, you didn't have to-"
"N-no, it's uh, it's fine." You really don't know why you accepted his proposal, either, but it was too late to back out now.
He approaches you, clearing his throat, "Why don't you sit?"
"Okay." You sit down, watching as he stands frozen in place. You pat the spot beside you, "Sit down, too."
His eyes widen as he silently complies, sitting next to you. There was silence, and you could only guess the buzzing from your phone was only frantic texts from Yuna asking for updates on your situation. Damn her. "I, well-" You start, the words forming at the tip of your tongue, but Jimin interrupts you unexpectedly,
"Are you hungry?"
~
"Do you think Jimin's gonna do it?" Namjoon asks, conflicted, brows furrowed as his fingers drum the table in nervousness, the other males' expressions mirroring his.
Taehyung thinks back to his friend bursting out the door from the party last night. He frowns. "I hope he does. This crush of his is hurting him too much.." He shakes his head to himself, "I don't like seeing him like that."
The oldest's beaming smile eases some of the tension in the room, "He will! Even if he doesn't ask her out, at least he'll get some time with Y/n." Jin's smile dwindles as he then turns towards Hoseok, slapping him upside the head, "And you! Condom, really? Out of all things?!"
"I couldn't think of anything else, I'm sORRY-" Hoseok pouts, rubbing the back of his head exaggeratedly.
"It's okay!" Jungkook piped, speaking cheerfully, "Jimin will be okay."
~
Jimin couldn't be less okay.
It's the middle of the semester, school couldn't be more stressful. And now with what his friends and his reputation demand of him, he's forced to attend parties he didn't feel like attending in the slightest and participate in whatever they have to offer. He wanted nothing more than to come home, slip into his pj's and collapse onto his bed and maybe even sleep off the rest of the school year.
Surprise, bitch, that didn't happen.
Jimin is a man. Men aren't supposed to use words like 'cute' or 'adorable' or 'oh my god, I want to squish your cheeks and cuddle you so damn hard' but shit.
The male plays around with his food, staring at his eggs with the kind of attention he normally reserved only for his physics homework. He tries so hard to focus on his food and not on the person sitting directly in front of him with the smile that never fails to melt his heart and with a smell strikingly similar to Busan sunshine and forests and flowers and every damn color of the rainbow.
"Erm.." You clear your throat, briefly wondering how in god's name a simple dare that should have taken at most five minutes ended up with you eating dinner with the man. How did it come to this. "Well, I have something to say." Here we go.
He stares, dumbfounded for a moment, his blank expression slowly morphing into a smile, "Shoot."
"Can I-" You swallow hard. "Can I..." You hold your breath. "Can I—" And then comes the inevitable- "Can I just say.. how much I love your cooking!" Good freaking job.
As much as he'd like to coolly, calmly, collectedly reply with his lips twitching into a smirk along with some other dumb line his friends loved to say 'makes the ladies swoon' he is just.. completely and utterly incapable of doing so. His cheeks flush involuntarily, lowering his head, hoping his hair would maybe hide the reddened color, "Thank you."
"A-also," You start, setting your utensils down as you finish your food. He does the same, lifting his head so that you're filling the whole of his peripheral.
"I agree."
You snort. "I didn't even say anything."
It's hard enough to pay attention to the words you're saying instead of focusing on the.. really pretty and soft looking lips forming them, but when that same person is your crush? Yeah, it just adds unnecessary fire to the flame.
So, naturally, he plays it off with an almost innocent smile, "I mean, I can agree you're one gorgeous human being."
He anticipates for the soft, mellifluous laugh that follows his statement even with just how ridiculous it is, he'll take it. And his smile only widens when he really does hear it, a heart filling, bubbling sensation surfacing in his chest. You're smiling as you speak, "I don't know if I can trust that."
"Why wouldn't you trust me?"
"Plenty of reasons."
"I wasn't lying when I said you were gorgeous, though."
"...You lied when you said you liked the potato salad I brought to one of our library meetings, though."
"You're still gorgeous!—" He countered before you could even think of responding, continuing just as quickly, "—And I didn't say I didn't like it, I said it was the best you could do."
"You could have just.. told me you didn't like it."
He holds a look of disbelief, "Are you serious- are we really going to make this about potato salad? That was ages ago."
"It was last week!"
"Just admit my cooking is better." Jimin holds a smug smile as he leans back in his seat, wiggling his eyebrows excessively as you scoff at the sight,
"Whatever." You take your plate from the table, standing up from your seat to wash the plate you used. He stands up quickly, hands flailing around as he approaches you hastily,
"Oh no, you don't have to do that, I can do it myself-"
You're already dropping your plate in the sink before he can continue, washing it right in front of his eyes, "What kind of person would I be if I let you do that, in your own home, even?"
His lips twitch into a smile, "Thank you."
Time ticks faster and faster, the end of the day approaching too quickly for Jimin's liking (even though it was already late when you arrived, you were not expecting to stay for this long). The words are on the tip of his tongue, a million different scenarios in his mind, but why was it so damn hard to just say it?
He goes for a different approach. "Did you like the food?"
You flash him a quick smile as you finish cleaning the plate, drying your hands with the nearest towel, "Yes! Thank you for that, by the way."
"It's nothing." He finishes washing his own plate, muttering a 'thanks' as you hand him the towel, "So.." He drops the towel on the counter, clasping his hands together, "My potatoes are.. pretty damn great, right?"
You raise a brow. "Yes, my potato salad sucks, I freaking know-"
His eyes widen, "nO, that is nOt WhAt I mEaNt-"
You wave him off, "Yeah, yeah, I know. And yes, your potatoes are pretty good, I admit."
"So.." He drags off, rocking back and forth on his heels, "Would you consider.. coming again?" He pauses only to wave his hands around, as if trying to dismiss your nonexistent thoughts, "Just for the potatoes though!"
You raise a brow, teasingly dragging your words, "...Just for the potatoes?"
He nods furiously, "Yes."
"Will your parents allow that?"
He dismisses you with a wave of his hand, "They're barely ever home, it's fine."
Your eyes glisten with an idea. "Then..."
And that's how you started your weekly encounters for the project at his house instead of the library.
And as you're leaving just a few minutes later, it's also then that you remember—"I didn't do the freaking dare!"