I'm freaking in love with the plot of my gang au, but I gotta finish this series first~ I've got too many cool ideas, and not enough time to write them all! *pouts*
Okay, on with the drama.
Jimin can't quite place the feeling-- it's an odd sort of ache that he can't describe with words. It hovers in the corners of his sight and in the back of his chest; hesitant and dark. If he tried to explain it to someone else, all that would come out is a jumbled mess of words associated with a thousand different emotions, and none of them would be exactly right.
Only experience can give someone true understanding of it-- of the sensation of emptiness. Of this feeling of longing.
Jimin hates it. He hates the surging feeling in the pit of his stomach that appears when he looks around for her little face-- only to realize a second later that she's not here. He hates the sharp pain in his abdomen when he opens his mouth to tell her something-- only to realize that she's not here. He hates the desperate look in his own eyes when he stares in the mirror- worry bubbling in his gut like an incurable sickness. Because she's not here.
Why do I feel like this? Jimin questions himself, helplessly searching for the explanation to his frantic emotions. Why do I feel as if the world is ending? It's not like she told me that she hated me, or that she's dying. She just left early because her friend had an emergency and needed her.
But now she's at work with the boss that treats her like a lower class citizen. Jimin hates how even the thought of her being left alone with that man makes him shudder in horror.
She's probably fine- she isn't the one who had the accident, after all. But I can't help feeling that the longer she works there, the higher the chance that her situation will get worse.
The look on her face when the driver of the black SUV closed her door had sent chills down Jimin's spine. Her expression was lifeless, almost like a corpse. Pale cheeks and down-turned lips had given nothing away. But her eyes were a patchwork of worry, uncertainty, and fear.
Jimin had had to physically restrain himself from sprinting over and gathering her into his arms- where she could be safe. Protected. Away from whatever it is that put that terror in her eyes.
He hates the look of fear in her eyes more than anything else.
Jimin knows Byeol-- knows her blunt way of solving disputes and timid avoidance of her own insecurities. He knows that she's not an easily affected person-- she watched the rap line viciously argue about the difference between composing and producing for two hours yesterday morning and she didn't bat an eye. And he knows that she wouldn't look that terrified if the only reason was because one of her friends had a minor accident. The fear in her eyes only further proves what Jimin suspects about her boss:
He's a cruel, heartless man who should be fired immediately.
She's so strong; stronger that I give her credit for, but she's not infallible. Please, just let her be okay.
Jimin's eyes burn as he stares down at his phone, squinting as he tries to focus on the bright screen. He didn't sleep a wink last night; his brain refusing to stop conjuring up as many worst-case-scenarios as it could think of. Yoongi, who is currently hunched over his cereal directly across the table from Jimin, hasn't fared any better. The older boy had tossed and turned next to Jimin all night, falling restlessly asleep for a few minutes only to snap awake with a jolt. Nightmares weren't something that Yoongi had often, but the frightened thrashing and distressed breathing of the pale rapper only made Jimin feel worse about the situation.
Yoongi's intuition is rarely wrong, and if both him and Jimin are getting bad vibes about this... then something really must be wrong. The absolute worst part about it is that they're powerless- anyone could hurt her right now, and neither of them would have a clue. Jimin's getting anxiety just thinking about it.
Her boss doesn't seem that extreme. Jimin consoles himself, pushing the terrible thought of B being injured into the back of his mind. From what she's said about him, he didn't seem very physical-- just pressuring and belittling. And I doubt the staff would actually let him hurt Byeol-ah. He's just a jerk, Jimin, not a monster. Stop freaking out-- she's fine.
Jimin hopes his sanity can hold out until Thursday. The KMAs can't come soon enough. It's been less than 24 hours and the whole dorm misses her terribly already.
Jimin drags his attention back to the screen in front of him, his eyes straining to read the article about the new rookie groups attending the KMAs. There's quite a few new ones-- boy groups especially, as they're becoming more and more popular internationally. But Jimin can't find the energy to look into any of them properly. He glances over the names and the group pictures, trying to commit them to memory, but the bright colors and many new faces are only giving him a headache.
Just as he finishes scrolling through the new boy groups, and is about to look through the girls, a notification covers the top of his screen. The contact name immediately draws all of his attention.
Beautiful 💜: Jimin-ah, don't worry! I'm sneaking in my lunch break right now~~
She texted me?
Jimin blinks at the message in surprise, tapping on the notification bar and opening the full page. The only texts Jimin had received from B so far were a number confirmation text and one from two weeks ago (before the whole Min-sibling-fiasco) stating that she would be five minutes late. Jimin's heart starts to speed up as rereads the new text, equal parts shocked and elated.
She texted me so I wouldn't worry about her. Jimin realizes, his eyes disappearing into crescents as he smiles. Who knew that the grumpy nerd girl who just wanted her coffee could could turn out to be so sweet?
Another text arrives after the first, and Jimin quickly reads the new message.
Beautiful 💜: One of the stylist unnies is helping me. She's heating up my ramen while I work~
His heart is beating a lot faster than usual as he carefully taps out his response, but Jimin doesn't question it.
Jiminie: I'm glad at least one of your unnies has a speck of common sense
Beautiful 💜: Don't be mean!
Beautiful 💜: My ramen's done! It looks so good~
Beautiful 💜: Do you need picture proof?
Like heck would Jimin turn down a photo.
Jiminie: Yes, please
Jimin waits patiently for his photo, internally begging for it to include B's face. He knows that this is just supposed to be a way to make sure that Byeol's actually eating, but he can't help but want a little bit more. Especially after their "wanna-be date".
Jimin cradles his phone in his hands, his eyes fixed on the screen. When the photo finally blinks into existence, Jimin doesn't know how he manages to keep from falling off the chair.
The steaming bowl of ramen is in the forefront of the photo, but it isn't the first thing that Jimin sees. The first thing that catches his attention is the pair of eyes peeking right over the edge of the cup, mischief sparkling in their depths. Pitch black eyelashes curl around the edges of her dark chocolate eyes, and the crinkles in the corners of her eyes give away the smile she's hiding behind her lunch. Jimin can't help but break out into a smile of his own, his heart palpitating at the adorable picture.
Beautiful 💜: Happy now?
Feeling bold, Jimin smirks as he types out his response.
Jiminie: I would be happier if the picture showed your whole face, but I suppose it'll do.
To Jimin's great surprise, another photo appears before his eyes only half a minute later, this one without the ramen obstructing his view. The smile is shy, one eye half hidden behind her metallic bangs. Her lips shine with a shiny gloss, and her cheeks are a pretty pink that sets Jimin's chest on fire. One of Yoongi's hoodies that had mysteriously disappeared when she left hangs loose from her shoulders, the black fabric accentuating her pale complexion.
Beautiful 💜: Better?
Jiminie: Much
The longer Jimin stares at the photo, the more the ache in his chest grows. As wonderful as it is to know that she's doing okay, the minimal contact doesn't do anything to lessen how empty the house feels without her.
It's crazy to think that he's only known her for a handful of months-- it feels like a lifetime. And now that he's got to know her, he know he won't ever be able to live without her.
Jiminie: The dorm feels so empty without you
Nervous jitters slither through his gut as he presses send, the text so much more personal (and cheesy) than Jimin's used to sending. He knows that they aren't even official yet (not without Yoongi hyung's approval), but he wants her to know just how precious she is. Even if it takes sending embarrassingly truthful texts.
"The dorm feels so empty without you?" Please-- kill me now. When did I get so cringy?
But honesty is the best policy for a reason.
Beautiful 💜: I miss you too~
Beautiful 💜: Thursday is too far away to wait to see you
Beautiful 💜: Are you free Tuesday? At 10:30? Our normal meeting time?
If his schedule wasn't empty before, it definitely is now.
Jiminie: Of course. Coffee and sandwiches at the cafe?
Beautiful 💜: Yes, please.
Jimin is tempted to reply with "Then it's a date", but he isn't sure if that would would B feel uncomfortable or not, so he doesn't. The conversation comes to a halt-- leaving Jimin feeling even lonelier than he did before. The silence is suffocating, dispelled only by the soft sound of Yoongi's halfhearted chewing.
Yoongi's phone, laying face-down on the table in front of the grumpy man, suddenly vibrates. Jimin startles, nearly dropping his own phone. The older boy doesn't even blink at the sound, completely ignoring the device. Yoongi continues moodily crunching on his cereal, a depressingly dead look in his eyes.
Normally Jimin wouldn't dare bother his hyung, especially when he's in a bad mood. But today Jimin has the sneaking suspicion that Yoongi's mood will improve exponentially if the rapper picks up his phone. So, being the loving, caring, sweet dongsaeng that he is, Jimin decides that a little encouragement couldn't help.
"Hyungie~" Jimin softly addresses his friend, and the older boy raises his head to meet his eyes, "You should check your phone!"
"Mwo?" Yoongi frowns, swallows his mouthful of lucky charms, and trails his eyes down to the device sitting in front of him, "Wae?"
"Please, hyung." Jimin pouts, "Please? If it is who I think it is, you'll really want to see their message."
"Jinjja?" Yoongi dangerously narrows his eyes, a warning hovering in their dark depths, "This isn't a prank, right? Taehyung-ah and Kook-ah aren't in the living room preparing to spam me with Pokemon memes as soon as I unlock my phone, are they?"
"No!" Jimin protests defensively, his tone morphing into a whine halfway through the word, "Honest, hyung! Please check your phone."
Yoongi's eyes are no more than terrifying sharp slits when he finally caves to his dongsaeng's pleads, and reaches to pick the device up off the table. His eyes don't leave Jimin's until the very last possible second, flickering down to glance at the notification on his lock screen. After a second of delay, Yoongi shoots up out of his seat like his pants are on fire, his thumbs frantically darting to unlock his phone.
Jimin laughs happily at the joy enveloping his hyung's face as he reads the message he undoubtedly received from their favorite person in the world. Yoongi is quick to reply, a gummy smile on full display as he carefully types out his response. B must have been prepared with another selfie, because only a couple of seconds after Yoongi hits send, his eyes widen and his already full-blown smile grows even bigger.
Jimin's never seen his hyung coo at a screen before.
To the dancer's surprise, Yoongi flips his phone around and practically shoves it in Jimin's face, his eyes gleaming with adoration.
"Jiminie- how the heck am I related to someone so absolutely precious?" Yoongi demands, the smile frighteningly bright, "Thirty seconds ago I thought I was going to die of depression, and now I feel like I'm gonna die from uwus. How is that even possible?!"
Jimin soaks in the picture of his crush, her smile small but oh-so endearing as she holds the half-empty bowl of ramen in front of her. A computer is visible behind her, displaying a music program that looks somewhat similar to the one Yoongi always uses, but the photo is too blurry to see for sure.
"She sent you photos too, right?" Yoongi looks right into Jimin's soul, his question somehow sounding more like a statement than a question, "Can I see those too?"
Who is Jimin to deny his beaming hyung?
Jimin doesn't question how his hyung knew that B had texted him, and scrolls up in the chat to see photos that B sent him. Yoongi nearly melts into his bowl of cereal as he leans over the table to get a closer look. All his stressed induced tight muscles relax into puddles of goo, and the rapper's heart-eyes are glowing bright enough to rival Jimin's. Yoongi's smiling so hard that it almost looks like it hurts.
After a long minute of careful examination ("My princess is so freaking cute, Jiminie! How in the world am I supposed to look away?") Yoongi pulls away and turns his attention back to his own device.
"Freaking cute princesses destroying my manly image." Yoongi mutters as he lifts his phone to take a quick selfie, his gummy smile bright as he smiles to the camera, "But whatever. My princess deserves the world-- who cares about manly pride anyway? Mins are born swag."
Jimin snickers at Yoongi's petulant mumbles, the joy in the elder member's eyes contradicting every word he says. Yoongi sends the photo along with a speedily typed out message, nodding to himself in satisfaction. Jimin rolls his eyes at his hyung's nonsense, far too accustomed to it by now to do anything other than sigh fondly.
A new text pops up on Jimin's screen, and he turns his attention back to his angel.
Beautiful 💜: Is Yoongi oppa upset with me?
Jimin eyes widen, and he rereads the message. Caught off-guard, Jimin looks up at his hyung to gauge his expression, but the older man radiates absolutely nothing except happiness and contentment. With a confused frown Jimin lifts his phone to take a quick photo, and sends it to B.
Jiminie: He looks pretty happy if you ask me
Jiminie: Why? What makes you think that?
I can't imagine that Hyung's texted her something that upset her-- why in the world would she think that he's mad at her?
Beautiful 💜: I just-
Beautiful 💜: He looked really mad when I left last night. I guess I'm just worried that he thinks that I didn't want to stay.
Beautiful 💜: And he's texting me funny photos and super sappy stuff, which he doesn't usually do.
Jimin blinks, shocked that B opened up, even if it's about something as little as this. But before he can respond, a couple more rapid fire texts pop up.
Beautiful 💜: sry, im being stpid
Beautiful 💜: forgt it
Jimin's heart plunges into his stomach, his worry multiplying a thousandfold. B never makes spelling mistakes. Never.
Jiminie: It's not stupid, angel. I would freak out if hyung was texting me sappy things too
Jiminie: You're right- he was super upset. He moped all morning because of how much he misses you. He told me last night that he really wished he could've kissed you goodbye
Jiminie: But he looks much better now that you've texted him, beautiful. If he was acting strange, it's because he misses you, not because he's angry
Jimin couldn't have said truer words. Yoongi would rather lose all his swag and never listen to music again than make his sister sad. The brilliant smile on the rapper's face as he snaps silly photo after silly photo to send to his princess is a testament of that.
Beautiful 💜: Oh
Beautiful 💜: Really?
Jimin's heart hurts.
Jiminie: Of course really, angel
Jiminie: He loves you. He couldn't hate you if he tried
Beautiful 💜: ☺
Beautiful 💜: Thank you. That makes me feel a lot better
Jimin types out "anything for you <3", but a sudden wave of nervousness floods his senses, and he deletes the message. He glances up at his favorite hyung, Jimin's mind rewinding to a certain promise he made yesterday. Jimin bites his lip, his stomach churning in an odd mixture of excitement, guilt, and anxiety.
Guilt swirls in Jimin's chest as he reads back through his messages. He's been so much bolder than usual, and Byeol hasn't once complained. She told him that she misses him. It almost feels like they're dating already, and Jimin feels awful doing it behind Yoongi's back.
Jimin meant what he said when he told B that he was going to ask for Yoongi's approval, but now that he's sitting across from the man the task seems a lot more daunting. Yoongi's in a good mood, and Jimin knows that it's an opportune time to ask, but how in the world does one go about asking for permission to date Yoongi's precious, beloved, treasured little princess? Jimin would rather not lose his head. Or any other body parts, for that matter.
She means everything to him. Jimin stares at his hyung, fighting the storm in his gut. And I'm just... me. She could have someone so much better than me. Why wouldn't hyung say no?
From the moment Jimin met him, Jimin admired Yoongi for his blatant honesty. The rapper always said what was on his mind, disregarding the consequences as if they were ants he could crush beneath his feet. It took a lot of accidentally hurt feelings and misunderstandings for Jimin to finally recognize just how valuable Yoongi's words were.
Yoongi never said anything he didn't mean.
When the young dancer doubted his own abilities, he always went to Yoongi. He knew that Yoongi would always tell him the truth. If he needed improvement, Yoongi told him so. If he performed perfectly, Yoongi told him so.
The elder's blunt nature is something Jimin loves about him, but now all it does it send ripples of fear cascading down Jimin's back.
I really like her. Really, really like her. But I don't deserve her, do I?
Of course Jimin doesn't deserve her. She's Angel.
Before Jimin can work up the courage to talk to Yoongi, another text vibrates his phone.
Beautiful 💜: Jiminie? Would it be okay if you brought Yoongi oppa with you on Tuesday?
Beautiful 💜: I miss both of you
Only a monster could tell Byeol no.
(Like her boss.)
Jiminie: Sure
A minute later Yoongi looks up from his phone, his eyes warm as sunshine.
"I'm assuming you already know that we're going to the cafe on Tuesday to see princess?" Yoongi asks, mouth quirked in amusement.
"Yeah." Jimin nods sheepishly.
"That's what I thought." Yoongi snorts, pouting as he talks, "I think my princess likes you better than me! She tells you everything first."
"That's not true!" Jimin protests, but Yoongi had a good point. B almost always tells Jimin about things first. Jimin can't even deny it.
"It's very true." Yoongi deadpans, eyes locked on his screen, "She texted you first, sent photo proof of her lunch to you first, and asked you about Tuesday first."
"That doesn't mean-"
Before Jimin can defend himself his phone vibrates again, and he drops the argument in favor of checking the new message. There's a photo waiting for Jimin, and he taps it to get a closer look. B is holding her empty ramen bowl in one hand and sending him a finger heart with the other. The smile on her face is the slightest bit brighter than her smiles in the previous photos, and it gives Jimin chills to think that he might've been part of the reason.
Beautiful 💜: My break is over~~
Beautiful 💜: My project is due in an hour, so I better get back to work :(
Beautiful 💜: 안녕~ [Annyeong]
Jiminie: 안녕! 화이팅! [Annyeong! Hwaiting!]
Yoongi frowns deeply when he recieves the same message a couple seconds later, his mirth dissolving back into worry.
"Byeol-ah never procrastinates, and she's an extremely fast worker." Yoongi states, staring at his phone as if it's committed a heinous crime, "How in the world is she not finished with a project that's due in an hour? She's always done early."
"Well..." Jimin considers the possibilities, none of which are pleasant, "Her boss probably sprung it on her last minute."
"Either that or he's putting too much on her plate." Yoongi agrees, his eyes swimming with dark thoughts, "I just... I can feel it. I can't explain why or how, but I know something's wrong. And either she doesn't trust me enough to tell me, or she's too scared to ask for help, and I'm not sure which one's worse."
But the worst thing of all-- Jimin knows he's right.
I know it's not a Thursday, but I was like "Heck, why not." so I posted this. Summer is three days away! I'm excited~~ Congratulations to all of the graduates! (Myself included XD)
I'm finally to the point where I can recognize that there's something seriously wrong with my writing, but I don't know how to fix it. It's very frustrating.
I hope you guys like the chapter. Don't forget to COMMENT and VOTE!
~singformeangel