Work Text:
______₩______
Some people just walk in the light.
You know the type. They’re the people who get front row tickets to see their favourite band when they didn’t even plan to, and then get soundcheck without even realising it. Backstage passes? Meet and greet? Why not. Life just gives it to them.
Jimin is not one of those people.
Jimin is the type of person who scrimps and saves, and has a twenty step plan that he’s been calculating for months to be able to get those A1, Row 1 tickets, then the moment the tickets drop- his laptop dies. Then his iPad dies. Then his phone dies. Then he cries. Then he panic buys tickets from a scalper on the internet and ends up being scammed, sent an empty envelope, and refused a refund.
This pretty much sums up Jimin’s life.
Shitty parents. Shitty love life. Shitty apartment. Shitty job. Jimin can safely say he is at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to luck in life.
But his luck is about to change. Today, he is going to turn his life around.
Jimin is in an especially bright and optimistic mood, practically skipping along the street between the stony-faced, early morning commuters. His pale grey suit is hugging his body just right. He calls it his lucky suit, and it’s going to help get him this promotion. If there’s one thing he has going for him, it’s his figure. Hopefully it will give him the edge over Minjun when he gives his presentation today.
“Good morning,” Jimin says to the cashier as he buys his favourite canned coffee from 7eleven.
“Oh,” the cashier looks up, probably not expecting Jimin to greet her in such a friendly and upbeat manner so early in the morning, “good morning. Will this be all?” she asks, holding up the can in question.
“Yes, I’m in desperate need of caffeine,” Jimin giggles.
The cashier nods, tapping at the screen with her long nails.
“I’m up for a big promotion today you see,” Jimin continues, letting his mouth run away with him as he usually does.
“Oh… I see,” she replies dismissively, “that will be 600 won.”
Jimin takes out a crumpled up 1000 won note from his pocket, trying to flatten it on the counter before handing it to her with an awkward laugh, “it’s the first time I’ve ever been up for a promotion, and I’ve been at this company for six years. Crazy, huh?”
The cashier doesn’t even answer this time, simply giving him back the small change and averting her eyes, probably hoping that if she ignores him he’ll go away.
“Well, anyway,” Jimin chirps, not really caring that she doesn’t want to talk to him, “wish me luck!”
He turns and skips out of the door, not bothered whether she wished him luck or not. He doesn’t need it. Nope, today he will make his own luck. He drops his change into the cup of an elderly homeless man, and hurries back down the main road, passing those walking slower than him like a breeze, throwing a glance at his watch. He needs to make a quick stop before work.
The bank.
That morning, Jimin had received a letter through his door. His landlord is threatening him with immediate eviction unless he comes up with his overdue rent.
It isn’t his fault that his shitty job works him to death but pays so little. And it isn’t his fault that his damp, shoebox sized apartment has a rent that threatens to choke him dry every month. That’s why he prefers to avoid his landlord at all costs, coming up with the needed funds any way he can and taping them to her front door when she’s not at home. She used to put up with it, probably with the knowledge that his apartment has more than one health and safety code violation that she hasn’t fixed. But it seems she’s finally lost her patience with him.
Jimin hopes that his lucky suit will work in his favour once again by helping him get a short term loan from the bank. Just enough to tide him over until the new pay checks from his promotion start coming through.
He hums his current favourite song under his breath as he pushes through the heavy revolving glass door into the bank. It’s a magnificent building, it’s striking vaulted ceiling stretching high overhead. Jimin would usually go to a smaller branch closer to his apartment, but this one is on the way to his office, smack bang in the centre of Gangnam.
The heels of his black chelsea boots tap on the marble floor, the sound echoing around the large room. Jimin slows as he sees the small queue by the counters. There aren’t too many people, so he joins the line, pulling a ring-binder out of his bag so he can go over his presentation as he waits.
His job isn’t an exciting one. Quite the opposite. He spends most of his time sat in a cramped cubicle inputting data. It’s monotonous, and mind-numbing, and Jimin hates it, but after sending his rather unimpressive CV to literally hundreds of companies, it was the only job he’d been offered, and beggars can’t be choosers. Maybe when he gets this promotion he will actually enjoy going to work for once, who knows.
Jimin flips through the pages, mumbling under his breath the introduction to his presentation as the line gradually moves forward. When he finally reaches the desk of an extremely serious looking man with thick rimmed glasses, he closes the folder, and tucks it under his arm.
“Good morning!” he smiles, leaning against the counter as he hands his bank account details to the clerk.
“Okay, Park Jimin-ssi. How can I help you?” the man says stiffly, eyeing the cheap can of coffee Jimin sets on the counter between them in disgust.
“Hello…” Jimin looks at his name badge, “Kim Joseon. Can I call you Joseon-ssi?”
“Joseon-nim will be fine.”
“Fair enough. I need a loan, Joseon-nim.”
“A… loan?” the man looks at Jimin over the top of his thick rim glasses.
“Yes. It doesn’t have to be huge, just like- 500,000 won?” Jimin smiles, leaning his chin on his hand and swaying a little. The man looks at Jimin’s credit history on the screen and raises an incredulous eyebrow at him.
“Park Jimin-ssi. Your credit score-“
“I know, its a bit rocky…”
“It’s atrocious.”
“Well, that’s a little harsh.”
“It’s not. You’ve literally been in debt since you opened your account as a teenager.”
“It’s not my fault my parents walked out on me and left me alone to fend for myself!” Jimin pouts, “I have a tragic backstory! Can’t you take pity on me?”
The man sighs, “I’m sorry, but this bank does not give out small loans. You will have to look somewhere else for that sort of money. Next please!”
“Wait- I’m going to get evicted!“ Jimin grips onto the counter, refusing to move. If they want him to leave, they’ll have to drag him away. He will protest for- well, at least another twenty minutes until he needs to get his bus to work. “I’ll be thrown out on the street!” he whines.
“Well, we all have bad days,” the clerk replies dismissively.
Jimin didn’t know how true those words were about to become.
It all happens so fast. There is a sudden eruption of commotion behind him, and Jimin is able to see the exact moment realisation washes over the clerk’s features. His face pales behind his thick rim glasses, and his throat bobs in a dry swallow.
Click click.
The unmistakable sound of a gun loading comes from directly behind Jimin, and he turns to stare straight down the double barrel of a shotgun. His eyes go wide and he freezes, gaze shifting up the shaft of the gun to the wielder. Tall, strong arms, broad shoulders. He’s dressed in black from head to toe including a pair of black gloves and chunky black boots, and he’s wearing a latex rabbit mask which covers his face. His outfit brings back memories of a late night in Itaewon that Jimin would rather forget.
The bunny man gestures with a wave of his gun for Jimin to move out of the way, and Jimin complies, stepping sideways, taking his can of coffee with him. The man aims his gun at the clerk.
“Don’t even think about it,” he says slowly and clearly.
The clerk takes his trembling hands away from the panic button he had been reaching for, holding them up in surrender.
Jimin stands there, taking a sip of his coffee as he tries to make sense of what is happening. That’s when he sees the four other animal masked people stationed around the bank, holding their guns up and waving them around. The loud bang of a gun firing into the air rings out, making Jimin flinch and causing the bank to erupt into a chorus of screams.
“EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR, NOW!” a tall person in a koala mask shouts.
“Oh fuck,” Jimin groans.
He really does have the worst luck.
______₩______
“So, Robin Hood- good guy or bad guy?”
“What are you on about, Hoseok-ah?” Yoongi mumbles from the back of their blacked out van, tinkering with his specialised equipment- a mishmash of complex machinery set on a wheeled cart to make it easier to wheel in and out of their bank jobs.
“Well, technically he was a thief,” Hoseok says from the front seat, playing with the squirrel mask in his lap, “but he was giving it to the poor. So was he a good guy or bad guy?”
“Neither, I guess,” Namjoon replies from the drivers seat with a shrug. “Yoongi-hyung,” he calls over his shoulder, “is Jaws ready?”
“She’s all running and ready to go,” Yoongi replies, patting the machinery lovingly.
“Perfect. ETA five minutes guys,” Namjoon nods.
Seokjin chimes in from where he sits beside Jeongguk. “Well, Aristotle defines a virtuous person as someone who is able to perform the act of being a ‘person’ well. Therefore, a Virtue Ethicist could argue Robin Hood's actions are ethical, because Robin Hood possesses the traits of a virtuous person, and therefore the immoral act of theft is excused,” he casually says, his mouse mask pulled up on top of his head.
“So, he is a good guy?” Hoseok turns to look at Seokjin, his head tilted.
“You could argue either way,” Taehyung nods from where he sits opposite Jeongguk, his bear mask already pulled down, “it’s called a moral dilemma.”
“So we’re actually good guys?”
“We’re not giving to the poor, hyung,” Jeongguk cuts in, pulling his rabbit mask up and letting his purple hair fall around his face.
“I was poor!” Hoseok pouts, “that’s exactly why I joined this crew! Does giving to myself not count?”
“No it doesn’t. Why are we having this conversation now of all times?”
Hoseok grumbles as he turns back around in his seat.
“ETA one minute,” Namjoon calls out, “everyone get ready.”
“Don’t listen to him, Hoba,” Seokjin says, pulling down his mouse mask, “I love having moral debates. I’ll have one with you any time.”
“Maybe not when we’re about to rob a bank though,” Jeongguk sighs as he tugs his rabbit mask back down, making sure his purple hair is tucked away. He carefully loads his trusty shotgun with cartridges.
Jeongguk is used to these heists, having been raised around them. His first heist was when he was fourteen, and his uncle had said he was a natural. Jeongguk had a cool head even from a young age, and that worked wonders in jobs like this. Being able to keep calm and collected could mean the difference between succeeding in the robbery, and failing. He had grown numb to the fear of being caught, no longer flooded with adrenaline. It was just another day at work for him.
Seokjin is a little newer to the scene, having slipped into criminal activity later in life, and as they neared the bank, the incessant bouncing of his leg exposes his nerves.
“You’ll be fine,” Jeongguk says, squeezing his hyung’s knee to stop it bouncing, “it’s just like we practiced, okay? All you need to do is drive the van to the pick up point, and meet us in the tunnel. It’s all been worked out, and the CCTV is down. Nothing will go wrong.”
“Okay,” Jin replies from behind his mouse mask, giving a small nod.
The van pulls up just in front of a large bank in Gangnam, the facade alone enough to suggest the amount of money kept inside its vault. The preparations for this job have taken months. They have carefully researched the floor plans, and secretly dug an escape tunnel under the foundations. Now it’s finally D-day.
“Let’s go,” Namjoon calls out, jumping out of the drivers side door with his koala mask on, Hoseok following behind him. Seokjin jumps up to slide open the side of the van, helping Yoongi and Taehyung roll out the equipment on the trolley, before jumping into the drivers seat that Namjoon had vacated.
Jeongguk steps out of the van, resting his shotgun casually on his shoulder as he walks towards the front door of the bank, another two hand guns strapped to his thighs, and a belt of cartridges hanging diagonally across his chest.
Namjoon, Taehyung and Hoseok follow behind him, and Yoongi brings up the rear, pushing Jaws (the nickname of the complex machine he had invented to crack into vaults) along on it’s trolley. The van veers away, speeding down the road. Everything needs to happen quickly for them to be able to stop any of the staff pressing their panic buttons, and activating the security system which will put the whole building into lockdown.
Jeongguk walks through the large revolving doors, the bank quiet and unaware of the masked men’s entrance so far. Well, that is until Namjoon pulls out a crowbar from the side of the trolley, and shoves it with a crack into the side of the revolving door, grinding it to a halt behind them. That’s when people look up and realise what’s happening. Jeongguk has seen that look hundreds of times- wide eyes, pale faces, slack jaws- fear, ice cold fear mixed with a feeling of helplessness when their eyes settle on the gun in his hands.
Jeongguk heads straight for the counters, immediately holding up his shotgun. Luckily this early in the morning the bank seems to be running on minimal staff, and there are only three clerks at the desks, two of them not sitting down at that moment. The only one sitting at his post is a serious looking man with glasses. He is distracted, seemingly having an argument with a man in an extremely figure hugging grey suit with black hair that hangs low on his neck. The man is clinging onto the counter with his boots swinging off the floor as he whines something Jeongguk can’t make out to the clerk.
The clerk looks up and meets Jeongguk’s eyes, face blanching in sudden realisation, hand instinctively reaching under his desk. Jeongguk loads his gun, and the man in the grey suit stills and turns around, his brown eyes growing wide and round as he looks straight down the barrel of the gun. Any normal person would probably scream, or run, or cower, or even faint at this moment, but the man just stares at Jeongguk, his brows drawing together in confusion.
Jeongguk motions twice to the side with the shotgun. The man’s mousy brown eyes follow the movement until he understands, his full lips forming a little ‘oh’ as he scuttles to the side, reaching back to grab a can of disgustingly cheap coffee off the counter.
“Don’t even think about it,” Jeongguk aims the barrel of the gun directly between the eyes of the clerk who quickly raises his hands in surrender.
“EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR, NOW!” Namjoon shouts out, shooting his gun at the ceiling. There is a chorus of screams as people cower to the floor.
“Oh fuck,” the man with the grey suit groans beside Jeongguk as he sips on his can of coffee.
Jeongguk motions to the bank clerk with his gun again, “come out from there, nice and slow.” The clerk comes out with his hands raised and joins the other hostages who are now sitting as a group on the floor.
“You,” he turns to the man in the grey suit, holding up the gun to his chest, “get on the floor with the others.”
“Double fuck,” the man says, eyes flicking down to the gun and back up to Jeongguk’s masked face. He reaches out and pokes at the gun with his index finger almost playfully, “Listen.. bunny-ssi? Can I call you that? I’m Jimin, and I have this meeting I really need to attend-”
“I don’t give a shit. Go and get on the floor with the others, before I blow a hole in your chest.”
The man, Jimin, whines helplessly, his features crumpling, “but- but this presentation will decide if I get promoted- ow!”
Jeongguk jabs the barrel hard into Jimin’s chest, making him stumble backwards.
“Hey, that really hurt!”
“Good. Go and join the others or I will shoot you. What do you prefer, your promotion, or your life?”
Jimin rubs at his chest, a look of hurt filling his face, “honestly, I don’t even know anymore…”
“Just get on the fucking floor-”
“JK!” Namjoon calls out.
Jeongguk huffs and grabs Jimin’s arm, yanking him along towards the hostages who are sitting in a group on the floor. He shoves him down and Jimin’s can of coffee, which he is still apparently holding onto, splashes out all over Jeongguk’s legs, his favourite handguns now coated in the cheap brew.
Jeongguk groans and Jimin looks up at him with puppy eyes, laughing awkwardly, “oops… sorry… accident.”
Jeongguk just grits his teeth and turns away, speaking to the group as Taehyung and Yoongi disappear out the back of the bank with Jaws to get started on the vault.
“If you all listen and do everything we say, no one will get hurt. Keep your hands on your heads and file into the back room in an orderly manner. Once we’re done here you are all free to go.”
“Um!” Jimin raises his hand, and waves it around in the air like a child in a classroom. Jeongguk ignores him.
“Excuse me,” he waves more frantically, “bunny-ssi?”
Jeongguk groans, turning back to face him, “what?” he says impatiently. He doesn’t even know why he’s humouring him.
“How long will this take?,” Jimin asks, “it’s just, I really need to get to work. I’m already running late now, and I have a really important presentation which will finally get me a promotion. It’s kind of a big deal,” he flips his hair as if bragging.
Jeongguk rolls his eyes inside his mask and turns back around, ignoring him again, “right everyone, let’s go. You,” he points at the clerk with the glasses who is now sweating profusely, “lead the way.”
Jeongguk leads the hostages by gunpoint into a large staff room, getting them to all sit on the floor with their hands on their heads. Namjoon stays behind in the main area of the bank, hopping up to sit on a desk with his semi-automatic rifle pointed towards the door. Namjoon is the expert at keeping the police at bay with the facade of ‘negotiating’ for hostages.
Hoseok appears beside Jeongguk to take over watching the hostages so that Jeongguk can go and assist Yoongi and Taehyung with the vault. Jeongguk is the person with the most bank heist experience, and there isn’t a vault he hasn’t seen before, so it’s always best if he is the one to work on the vault with Yoongi and his mad scientist inventions. Jeongguk clicks the safety on his shotgun and slips it into the strap on his back, turning to address the hostages one last time.
“Right, nobody move, and this will all be over quick and-” there’s a sudden shuffle, and Jeongguk turns to see a grey ass wiggling away from him as Jimin crawls towards the door. Jeongguk stares in disbelief. Does he honestly think they can’t see him? The entire room has literally turned to watch him shuffle away. He sighs and walks up behind Jimin.
“What are you doing?”
Jimin freezes, turning and looking up at him, his black hair dropping across his cheekbone as he smiles innocently up at Jeongguk, “…nothing?”
Jeongguk huffs, turning to Hoseok, “keep an eye on this one, he’s trouble.” He turns back to see an empty space where Jimin had just been.
“What the-” Jeongguk looks up and just catches the heel of Jimin’s boot disappearing out the door. “Shit!” He runs out into the hallway after Jimin’s fleeing form, pulling one of his handguns from the holster around his thigh. He fires a warning shot which zips past Jimin, not close enough to hit him, but close enough to scare him.
“Eeep!” Jimin yelps, and instantly flops face first onto the floor as if he had actually been shot. Jeongguk rolls his eyes, marching over and tugging Jimin to roll him over onto his back.
“You shot me!” Jimin wails, betrayal filling his eyes as his chest heaves, his long hair fanning around him on the marble floor.
“You are really starting to piss me off,” Jeongguk waves his gun in Jimin’s face, watching in satisfaction as Jimin’s wide brown eyes follow the movement in fear, “Get. Back. In. That. Room.”
“No!” Jimin shouts, clambering onto his feet and slowly backing away from Jeongguk, “you don’t understand! I’m so close to this promotion! Do you have any idea how much ass-kissing I had to do to even get this chance?! My presentation is perfect too! Look, let me show it to you. It’s the perfect balance of light humour and professionalism. Listen-” he clears his throat and stands up straight, hands folded in front of himself as he starts to recite his presentation, “good morning everyone, my name is Park Jimin, today-”
Jeongguk loads his gun again, pointing it at Jimin, “I’m not going to tell you twice.”
“You’re seriously doing this to me?” Jimin whines, “I had to show Manager Yang my nipples! Do you know how gross that guy is?”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“You’re really going to let Minjun get the promotion over me? Minjun?!”
“Hard way it is,” Jeongguk clicks the safety on his handgun and slips it into its holster, grabbing Jimin and throwing him effortlessly over his shoulder, drawing a surprised gasp from him.
“Put me down!” Jimin flails as Jeongguk turns and starts to walk back towards the hostage room, “put me down you asshole!”
“God, I can’t wait to put a gag in your mouth.”
“Ah! Pervert! Sick, perverted bunny!” Jimin smacks at Jeongguk’s back erratically. He then changes tactics and tugs at the shotgun a few times, the trigger clicking useless in its safety mode before Jimin finally goes limp in defeat.
“Asshole…” Jimin mumbles again, poking at Jeongguk’s ass a few times. Jeongguk just ignores him, the thick leather of his pants protecting him from Jimin’s assault.
Suddenly Jimin’s foot shifts and the toe of his boot starts to nudge gently at Jeongguk’s groin. He tweaks his foot a few times, and Jeongguk stops mid-step.
“What are you doing-”
It’s only when Jimin lifts his leg that Jeongguk realises what’s happening. He was aiming.
Everything goes to shit pretty quickly. Jimin’s leg swings down hitting Jeongguk’s dick with precision accuracy. Jeongguk yelps and curls forward, causing Jimin to slip off his shoulder. Jimin screams and reaches his hands out, grabbing the front of Jeongguk’s mask, accidentally pulling it off before they both crash to the ground.
The two freeze as Jeongguk’s purple hair settles around his face, curling up under his jaw. Jimin looks down in panic at the latex mask crumpled in his hands, then back up at Jeongguk. His face morphs into surprise when his eyes flick around Jeongguk’s features.
“You’re hot?!” Jimin blurts out, surprising them both, “what the fuck? Purple hair? Was not expecting that.”
Jeongguk curses under his breath, grabbing the mask and pulling it back over his head to hide his features again. This is an unexpected complication. The CCTV is down, but now Jimin has seen his face and will be able to describe him to the police when they interview all of the hostages. No one has ever been able to identify him. Their group has a huge bounty on their head, a list of robberies as long as his arm that the police would love to finally convict someone of. If he’s arrested now he will definitely be spending the rest of his life in prison.
He has no choice but to take Jimin with him.
“Shit,” he groans.
“What?” Jimin’s tilts his head, hand reaching up to tug at a loose strand of purple hair that pokes out of the bottom of Jeongguk’s mask, “you missed a bit,” he comments.
Jeongguk bats Jimin’s hand away and tucks the hair back, before grabbing Jimin and throwing him over his shoulder again. He ignores Jimin’s cries of protest, and marches towards the vault with him. Once they reach Yoongi and Taehyung, who have managed to get the vault open and are filling the bags with money, Jeongguk drops Jimin heavily onto his ass.
“Ow! My ass! I think you broke it,” Jimin whimpers as he rolls around in pain on the marble floor, “do you know how many people admire this ass?!”
Jeongguk grabs a cable tie from one of the many duffle bags laid out on the floor, and tugs Jimin into a seated position, binding his hands together in front of him with the tie.
Jimin’s cries quickly turn into a smirk, “Ooo, kinky bunny.”
Jeongguk desperately looks around for something to gag Jimin with, but unfortunately comes up empty.
Yoongi stares at Jimin through his cat mask, then looks at Jeongguk, head tilting in confusion, “what the fuck is a hostage doing back here?”
“Don’t ask. We’re taking him with us.”
“This isn’t how we usually do it…” Taehyung says.
“We’re taking him with us,” Jeongguk repeats, leaving no room for argument.
“Okay then…” Yoongi nods in acceptance, turning back to look at the piles of money in the open vault, “we just need to pack these-”
A round of bullets suddenly fire out from the main hall of the bank. A sign that Namjoon is struggling to ward off the armed police.
“Shit. We’ve already been here longer than planned,” Jeongguk throws an angry glare at Jimin, who can’t see it because of his mask and just smiles obliviously at him, “let’s just load everything we can.”
“Wow,” Jimin whistles, his eyes practically turning into heart shapes as he watches the large wads of money being loaded into bags, “that’s a lot of money.”
“That’s the point,” Yoongi replies.
“Don’t talk to him,” Jeongguk warns, “you’ll encourage him, and then he won’t shut up.”
“I’m super behind on my rent, cat-ssi. Do you think I could have like- 500,000 won?”
“No,” Jeongguk says bluntly as he packs another bag to the brim and zips it closed.
“I wasn’t asking you, you- stingy, sexy bunny,” Jimin huffs.
They load six of the twelve very full duffle bags onto the cart before setting Jaws up in just the right position on the marble floor, and pressing a few combinations of buttons. In response the machine braces itself up on steel legs.
“Ready?” Yoongi asks, the three of them backing away from the robot as Yoongi fishes a remote button out of his pocket.
“Ready.”
“Ready for what?” Jimin asks in curiosity.
Yoongi presses a button and a hydraulic arm slams down out of the bottom of Jaws, causing the floor to cave in just where they had dug the escape tunnel under the foundations of the bank.
“Wow!” Jimin gasps, “now that was cool. This is all very exciting!”
Yoongi let’s out a sigh of relief and presses another button causing Jaws to close back in on itself. Taehyung helps him load it back onto the cart just as a ramp slides up out of the crater now set in the marble floor.
Seokjin’s mouse head pops out of the ground, “everything done?”
“We’re all set,” Jeongguk nods.
Namjoon and Hoseok appear behind them, the blast from the hydraulics loud enough to alert them that it’s time to get the hell out of there. They pick up four of the remaining money bags, Taehyung taking the final two.
“Ready?” Namjoon asks.
“Ready,” the group reply in unison.
“Ready!” Jimin chirps. The group all halt and turn to look at Jimin who is still sitting on the floor, hands bound, then back at Jeongguk in question.
“Jeongguk-ah? Care to explain?”
“Oh, your name is Jeongguk?”
Jeongguk groans, internally cursing Namjoon for saying his name out loud. “Look, it’s a long story,” he responds curtly, “I’ll explain everything later. You guys take care of the money, I’ll sort this liability out.”
“Hey, who are you calling a liability?” Jimin frowns as Jeongguk walks over to him and pulls him to stand.
“Just shut up and don’t slow us down,” Jeongguk says, waiting for the others to roll the trolley down the ramp and into the tunnel, before following with Jimin.
“Oh no!” Jimin cries out once they enter the cramped and dark tunnel, the way ahead lit up by torches held by the others, “Jeongguk-ssi!”
“What?” Jeongguk pauses, not releasing his death grip on Jimin’s bound hands.
“My presentation!” Jimin whimpers, “I left it in the bank.”
“You’ll get over it.”
Jimin falls silent as Jeongguk drags him along. “I can’t believe you fucked up my promotion,” he grumbles under his breath, “I hope you’re happy. You’ve ruined my life.”
“Just be thankful I didn’t shoot you,” Jeongguk says bluntly, tugging Jimin through the end of the dug tunnel into an unused sewer passageway, which leads to a wide manhole where their van is parked waiting.
“Ah, the sewers,” Jimin lets out a long exaggerated sigh, nodding in acceptance, “how perfect. This is exactly where I belong. I’m already at rock bottom.” The group doesn’t respond, but Jimin goes on, “You might as well leave me here so the rats can feast on my beautiful corpse.”
“Please make him be quiet,” Hoseok says over his shoulder as the others take turns in pushing the heavy trolley.
“Believe me, I’ve tried,” Jeongguk sighs.
“Hold up,” Yoongi says, pausing and pressing another button on his remote control. Another series of small explosions go off at the mouth of the makeshift tunnel, causing it to collapse in on itself, stopping the police from being able to follow.
Taehyung whistles, “Perfect controlled implosion. You never cease to amaze me hyung.”
“Thank you,” Yoongi nods, tucking his remote away. They all turn to continue down the dark empty tunnel, feeling a little more relaxed knowing they can’t be followed now.
“My wrists hurt,” Jimin whines, pouting when the group collectivity ignores him. He tugs against Jeongguk’s hold on his hands, trying to get his attention, “and my lucky suit is ruined. I demand compensation. 500,000 won and I won’t sue you.”
Jeongguk can’t help himself as a laugh sneaks past his lips, “Well, I don’t think you can call it your lucky suit anymore. It doesn’t seem to have helped you today.”
“Huh,” Jimin sighs dejectedly, “I guess you’re right.”
They reach a ladder leading to an open manhole, the light from above streaming in like a spotlight into the dark tunnel.
“Well, you know what they say,” Jeongguk shrugs, looking up at the opening, and then back to Jimin, “when you’re at your lowest, the only way is up.”
______₩______
It’s been a while since Jimin has been in a car. Being tight on cash for the last ten years has left him with the option of either taking the bus, or walking to wherever he needs to go, occasionally grabbing a rental bike if he is feeling particularly wild. So, laying face down on the floor of a van is a foreign and somewhat exciting experience for him.
“Can I really not just sit up next to you?” Jimin mumbles, his cheek pressed against the cold metal floor of the van.
“No. I don’t trust you,” Jeongguk responds from above him. His mask is off now, his long purple hair hanging loose, and Jimin can safely say he’s the most beautiful man he has ever hated.
“But it hurts,” Jimin tries to lift his head to look up at Jeongguk, failing and flopping back down, “can’t you at least untie me? My hands are crushed under me, I think the circulation is being cut off. What if they drop off? I promise I’ll be good.”
“That’s what you said when we were getting into the van, and you ended up running off down the street,” Jeongguk reminds him, making the bruise on Jimin’s side throb from the memory of being tackled by a very unamused Jeongguk.
A cheerful song plays on the radio, and Jeongguk’s heavy leather boots tap along to the beat either side of Jimin’s head.
“So this is you punishing me?”
“Sort of. You almost ruined our entire heist today, and you’ve pissed me off to no end. I think I have the right to punish you.”
Jimin huffs against the cold metal, rolling onto his back with a few calculated twists. He practically moans at the release of pressure on his bound hands as he looks up at Jeongguk from between his feet, “I don’t mind being punished, I’m into that sort of thing,” Jimin bites at his lip suggestively.
“God, you’re a nightmare,” Jeongguk groans, not even looking at him.
“Seriously though, where are you taking me?”
Jeongguk doesn't answer, so the guy with the mouse mask, who Jimin has learned is called Seokjin, answers instead, “to a safe house.”
“Really? Like in the movies?”
“We have a place where we can lay low if needed. It’s off the grid, just up in the mountains.”
Jimin reaches up with his bound hands, and tugs playfully at the laces of one of Jeongguk’s boots, “can’t you just drop me off somewhere?”
“No,” Jeongguk dismisses as he looks out of the blacked out window, “the police will be looking for you. And you’ve seen all of our faces now. You’re a key witness.”
“So what, you’re going to keep me at that safe house forever?”
“If I don’t shoot you first,” Jeongguk’s eyes flicker down to Jimin, the weight of his heavy gaze pinning him to the spot.
Jimin falls silent, narrowing his eyes at Jeongguk.
Just then the van hits a large bump in the road, jolting Jimin and causing his head to crack against the metal floor.
“Ah!”
The sudden bump causes one of the heavy bags of money to be jostled loose from its bindings. It slides off of the pile, falling towards where Jimin is laying on the floor. Jimin yelps and tenses, flinging his bound arms over his head, bracing for the imminent pain of the impact.
But it doesn’t come. He blinks open his eyes, and peeks past his arms to see that Jeongguk has leant forward and caught the bag, currently strapping it back into place.
“Yoongi-hyung, can you tighten the strap the other side.”
“Got it,” Yoongi replies.
“Ow…” Jimin pouts, the back of his head still throbbing, “that hurt. Your driver sucks.”
“Such a liability,” Jeongguk huffs, bending forward and lifting Jimin up to sit on the seat beside him, “just don’t cause any trouble or you’ll go back on the floor.”
“Yessir,” Jimin nods, agreeing instantly.
The group falls into a comfortable silence the closer to safety they get. The safe house is much further than Jimin had thought it would be. The journey seems to be going on forever. Jimin had only slept a few hours the previous night, kept awake by anxious energy as he went over and over his presentation in his head. Now that all the excitement of the morning is over, he feels the last of his energy flake away.
His eyes begin to droop, head sagging forward as the gentle rocking of the van gradually lulls him to sleep. His head feels much heavier than usual, dropping to the side until he feels Jeongguk’s solid shoulder under his cheek. Jimin lets out a content sigh, nuzzling to get more comfortable.
Jeongguk suddenly shrugs his shoulder, trying to shake him off. Jimin let’s out a pitiful groan as he slips forward off Jeongguk’s shoulder, and flops face first into his lap. He doesn’t even care at this point, too physically and emotionally exhausted to lift his head, so he just settles comfortably with his face pressed into the leather of Jeongguk’s crotch. There are worse places to sleep, he supposes.
“What the fuck?” Jimin feels Jeongguk grab him by his collar, tugging him back to sit upright, frustration rolling off him in waves, “you really are the most irritating person I’ve ever met, you know that?”
Jimin doesn’t respond. He doesn’t even open his eyes, letting his long black hair fall forward over his face like a curtain as he lays his head back on Jeongguk’s shoulder again.
“He’s really gotten under your skin hasn’t he Jeongguk-ah?” Taehyung says, suppressing a laugh.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen you emote so much,” Hoseok chuckles.
Jimin hears Jeongguk sigh in defeat. This time he doesn’t shake him off. A small smile tugs at Jimin’s lips as he finally gives into the pull of sleep.
—
“Get up.”
Jimin is shaken awake, jostled out of a dreamless sleep by a firm hand. He groans, squinting his eyes as the door of the van slides open. He had a surprisingly good sleep considering he was involved in both a bank robbery, and a kidnapping in the same morning.
The group of men kick into action, sliding a ramp out of the side of the van and rolling the trolley full of stolen money out into the open.
“Are we there?” Jimin yawns. He tries to stretch, but is quickly reminded by the tight pull across his wrist that his hands are still bound by a cable tie. “Can you please take this off now?” Jimin winces at the cut of the unforgiving plastic, “it hurts.”
“I’ll take it off when you’re inside,” Jeongguk says as he gestures for Jimin to get out of the van, “I don’t trust you not to run away.”
Jimin looks around as he climbs out of the van. They’re at a large modern cabin surrounded by trees, half way up a mountain, not another building in sight.
“Run away where exactly?” Jimin says sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.
Jeongguk checks on the others as he keeps a firm hold of Jimin. They wheel the piles of money into an open garage at the side of the large cabin. The garage is full of computers and money counting machines set out on long black desks.
“Soyeong-ssi will come to collect the money tomorrow. It will come through into our accounts within twenty four hours,” Jeongguk says to the others.
Jimin whistles, “theft and money laundering. You are a busy bunny.”
Jeongguk turns his dark eyes onto Jimin, not amused in the slightest.
“Don’t make me get my shotgun.”
Jimin just smirks in response, tilting his head and letting strands of his long black hair thread into his thick eyelashes. Jeongguk’s frown deepens and Jimin smiles wider, enjoying pulling that reaction from him.
Jeongguk grabs Jimin’s arm and pulls him towards the open front door of the house. Namjoon simply steps to the side as Jeongguk drags Jimin through a large open plan kitchen / living room towards a door set just off it.
He stops outside the door, pulling out a key from god knows where to unlock it. Jimin takes this moment to have a quick look around. The cabin is all laid out on one level, the bathrooms and bedrooms set off a large living space with a high ceiling, dark wooden beams stretching overhead. The kitchen sits at one end, and surprisingly large sliding glass doors open onto a terrace which looks out across a stunning view of the trees and mountains. The whole place screams ‘expensive’. Crime really does pay it seems.
“Nice place,” Jimin comments with an approving nod.
“I’m so glad you like it. This is your room.”
Jimin turns to look into a rather poky room. It has a small locked window, a decent enough single bed sitting against the wall, and a closet sized en suite attached. It’s definitely not up to the standard of the rest of the luxury cabin.
“Why is it so… basic?” he asks as his eyes scour around the room.
Jeongguk pulls a blade from his belt and taps underneath Jimin’s chin with the cool metal, smirking at his intake of breath before lowering it to cut off the cable tie, finally releasing his hands. Jimin moans loudly in relief. It comes out sounding a little too sexual, and he relishes in the small reaction it draws from Jeongguk- his eyes widening briefly.
“It’s a spare room that’s never used,” Jeongguk says dryly, “perfect for liabilities like you. Look- I can even lock you in!” He shoves Jimin into the room, closing and locking the door behind him with a clunk.
“Wait!” Jimin lurches towards the door, grabbing the handle and wiggling it, cursing when it doesn’t give, “dammit!” He slams his hands against the door over and over until they sting. “So you’re just going to keep me locked in here?!”
“Yep,” Jeongguk replies, a lilt of laughter in his voice. Jimin’s anger rouses.
“Bastard! Asshole! Fucker! Dick-munch!” Jimin shouts as he kicks the door repeatedly, hard enough to leave dark scuff marks.
“Dick-munch?!” Jeongguk says in surprise. Then he does something unexpected. He laughs. Jimin stills at the sound. It’s an actual real, genuine laugh, from his very core, and it is so very different from what Jimin had imagined. Softer, and more gentle.
“Yeah,” Jimin replies, resting his forehead against the cool wooden door, a smile tugging at his lips, “…dick-munch.”
“I’ve never heard that one before.”
Jeongguk’s laughter recedes as he walks away somewhere in the house, and Jimin slides down to the floor, finally giving up all together, flopping onto his back to stare up at the ceiling.
Well. This is a very interesting development in his life.
He should think of the positives. He’s not dead. He has a roof over his head, and a place to sleep, which he wouldn’t have had due to being evicted from his apartment. This room is actually a lot nicer than his apartment. It’s pretty much the same size, there isn’t a funny smell, there’s no cockroaches, and there isn’t a daily risk of his lungs being infected by the black mold climbing up the walls. And he doesn’t have to pay rent. Plus, his kidnapper/new landlord is pretty easy on the eyes.
Jimin feels better already, sitting up and smiling to himself as he slips off his leather boots. That’s when his stomach lets out a rumble.
______₩______
“Where’s the stowaway?”
“He’s locked in the small spare room,” Jeongguk replies, twisting his knife in his hand before slipping it back into his belt.
Taehyung grabs the remote, and turns on the large television above the fireplace. As expected, the bank robbery is all over the news. Images of the bank taped off by police, the occasional hostage being pulled to the side by the press and interviewed. The screen changes to the police commissioner at a press conference, flashes from photographers filling the screen as he opens his mouth to speak.
“We are treating this case as top priority due to the high amount of money stolen from Gangnam Central Bank. We believe it is the same crime group who have orchestrated dozens of robberies across the country. This time however, they have done something which they have never done before. They have taken a civilian hostage with them.”
A street CCTV image of Jimin striding into the bank with his cheap can of coffee comes up on one side of the screen as he continues.
“The civilian is named Park Jimin. He is officially classed as a missing person, and is a key witness in this case. If anyone has any information on his whereabouts, please contact the police right away. Thank you.”
Jeongguk curses, and the group all turn to look at him.
“What are you going to do?” Hoseok asks.
“He’s on every channel,” Taehyung adds, flicking from channel to channel, revealing the same CCTV image.
“It will be fine,” Jeongguk says calmly, trying to reassure them, “we’ll just have to lay low with him until this all blows over. Then Soyeong-ssi will make him a new ID, he’ll be classed as missing/presumed dead, we’ll give him a bit of money to stay quiet and send him to Jeju where he can start a new life.”
“Wait, wait… we?” Namjoon shakes his head, “nope. No way. You are the one that got him involved, you can deal with him.”
“Yeah, sorry man,” Yoongi shrugs, “I’m not going to stay here longer than I need to. I’ve got places to be.”
Taehyung nods, smiling apologetically when Jeongguk looks at him, “I’m getting picked up at 3pm so…”
“Seriously guys?” Jeongguk let’s his mouth fall open, “Jin-hyung?”
Seokjin takes a sip if his drink, avoiding Jeongguk’s eyes.
“Hah!” Jeongguk snorts, “I see how it is,” he nods, “no honour amongst thieves, huh.”
“It won’t be for long like you say,” Namjoon pats him on the back, “just don’t kill him, okay?”
“No promises.”
—
“Hello? Hellooooo?” Jimin taps insistently on the door, and Jeongguk’s hands curl into fists, “Jeongguk-ssi? I’m hungry! Can I please have some food?”
Jeongguk tries his best to block him out as he watches the news for any updates. At the moment it’s just the same press interview repeated over and over, with a few recycled articles about their prior bank jobs thrown in.
“Jeongguk-ssi?” Jimin calls out again, “are you there?”
“I’m going to make some food in a bit. Be patient,” Jeongguk calls towards the door.
“But I haven’t eaten anything all day! My stomach hurts so much! Don’t you have any snacks… even a little energy bar or something?”
“I’ll make food later,” Jeongguk repeats, smiling in satisfaction at the sound of Jimin’s frustrated whine.
“It’s so boring in here. Do you have any games I can play?”
“I’ll get you a deck of cards later.”
“A deck of cards?! I could hear you playing on a PS5 earlier!”
Jeongguk smiles again, “well, it’s because of you that I’m stuck here for god knows how long. So, no. You don’t get treats like getting to play the PS5. You can stay in that tiny room forever for all I care.”
“Dick-munch!”
Jeongguk has to physically hold back his laughter. At least he can keep himself entertained by teasing Jimin for however long they are stuck here.
“Now now, that kind of language won’t get you fed any faster.”
Jimin lets out a long, frustrated moan, before he eventually falls silent. Jeongguk laughs to himself, quite proud that he has finally gotten him to shut up. Although he does actually start feeling hungry himself.
“Fine, I’m going to make food now.”
“Really?” Jimin says hopefully.
“What do you want?”
“Hmm,” Jimin contemplates behind the door, nails trailing up and down the wood as he thinks, “I don’t really mind. Anything but pizza.”
“Pizza it is.”
“Hey!”
Jeongguk chuckles as he makes his way to the kitchen. They always have a fresh supply of food at the safe-house, as they never know when they might need to use it. He opens the fridge, tapping his fingers against the door as he looks inside, thinking about what to make. He decides on kimchi fried rice, and grabs all the ingredients, placing them on the counter. They already have rice in the rice cooker, and they have pork belly in the freezer which he decides to cook as well because pork belly is life, obviously.
He fries everything up, dividing it into two large bowls, topping each one off with a fried egg and a sprinkling of dried seaweed. Maybe he’s making a little more effort than he usually would if he was only cooking for himself, but that’s neither here nor there.
He grabs a tray and places one of the two bowls on it with a spoon, chopsticks, and a can of beer, walking over to Jimin’s door and pulling out his key.
He taps on the door. No answer.
He taps again a little louder, “hey, you alive in there?”
Still no reply. He starts to panic. Did Jimin manage to climb out of the window? No. It’s locked, and even if he did, it’s a sheer drop down into the forest. He’d die from a fall like that. He’s not that stupid… actually, he might just be that stupid.
Still gripping the tray, Jeongguk unlocks the door and pushes into the room, eyes darting up to the window for any sign of a fallen idiot. He heaves a sigh of relief to see the window is still locked tight.
Turning around, he freezes, eyes widening in shock when he is met with a very naked Jimin standing in the open bathroom, fresh out of the shower. He’s in the middle of towel drying his long wet hair which hangs around his neck, eyes growing wide at Jeongguk’s sudden presence.
In that moment, Jeongguk can’t help but admit how utterly gorgeous Jimin is. His skin is flawless, his face is beautiful, and his body… well. His eyes flicker down to the surprise ‘NEVERMIND’ tattoo across his ribs, eyebrows raising in approval.
Jimin doesn’t even seem to care that he’s naked as his gaze locks onto the tray in Jeongguk’s hand, eyes turning into little half moons in excitement.
“Kimchi fried rice, my favourite!”
Jeongguk snaps out of his stupor, averting his eyes and turning to put the tray on the bed, “uh- yeah, s-sorry, um, here,” he clears his throat awkwardly, “I didn’t realise you were- you didn’t answer when I knocked.”
“Oh, my bad,” Jimin giggles, as if he has only just realised that he is naked, “I just got out of the shower, I didn’t hear you knock.”
“Yeah- um, okay. Well, let me know when you’re done showering- I mean eating,” Jeongguk fumbles for the door, not risking looking at Jimin again as he practically runs out of the room, locking the door quickly behind him. He can hear Jimin’s laughter echoing behind the door, and curses himself when he feels his cheeks flush.
“Jeongguk-ssi?” Jimin calls through the door, amusement still in his voice.
“What?” Jeongguk replies, trying to keep his voice even.
“Can I borrow some clothes? Otherwise I’m just going to have to stay naked, which I don’t really mind, but the air-con is a bit cold and my-”
“YES! Yes, I’ll lend you some of mine,” Jeongguk replies quickly, trying to wipe the image of Jimin’s naked figure from his brain. His brain doesn’t cooperate at all. Jeongguk fetches an old Wutang t-shirt, some baggy shorts, and a pair of boxers from his room, and passes them to Jimin through the door, keeping his eyes down.
“Thank you,” Jimin says, taking the clothes, “ooh, your fabric softener smells so good. I bet you use the nice, expensive stuff. Mmm, I’m going to enjoy sleeping in these.”
Jeongguk leaves Jimin to eat his food, sitting down on the sofa and taking a deep breath as he tries to figure out what mental image playing through his mind is worse, Jimin naked, or Jimin curled up asleep wearing his clothes.
______₩______
Jimin has been stuck in the same tiny room for three days now, and he is done. He’s done with this. He feels like if he stays in here any longer, Jeongguk will have to pad the walls because he’s going to end up smashing his head against them.
That bastard hasn’t made it any easier for him either. Jimin is sure that everything Jeongguk is doing is to annoy him. He keeps playing his PS5 on maximum volume, ignoring Jimin begging to join in through the door. When it’s time for meals, Jeongguk will make him wait for ages, or give him things he didn’t want on purpose. He also wakes him up at the crack of dawn, blasting music through the cabin when he’s apparently ‘working out’.
He keeps laughing at Jimin’s misfortune, and while at first Jimin found his laugh cute, it’s starting to really piss him off.
Jimin has concluded that Jeongguk is not only a bastard, but also a sadist.
However, he has thought up an ingenious plan to get revenge. It’s unfair that Jeongguk gets to tease him while he is stuck behind the door with no way to respond. No, today karma will be on Jimin’s side. He will be the one messing with Jeongguk, and it will be sweet.
It’s dinner time, and Jeongguk shuffles around in the kitchen, before walking to the door and knocking as usual.
“Yes?” Jimin asks, as innocently as possible.
“Food. It’s Jokbal today,” Jeongguk says as he unlocks the door, and pushes into the room to place it on the bed like he usually does.
That’s when Jimin executes his plan. He jumps out from behind the door and shoves a very surprised Jeongguk to the side before escaping out of the room.
“Ha-ha!” Jimin laughs triumphantly as he hears Jeongguk curse and put the food down to chase him. Jimin’s face spreads into a grin, and a series of giggles erupt from him as he runs in zig-zags across the large living room, executing perfect evasive manoeuvres as he feels Jeongguk gaining on him. Jeongguk lunges, and Jimin leaps majestically over the back of the sofa, rolling off the other side and darting towards the front door.
He knows that he can’t get anywhere even if he gets outside, but it’s fun to imagine Jeongguk’s panic when he runs out into the open air. Maybe he could get him to chase him around the front garden for a bit. Jimin could even kick his fancy car a few times for good measure, just to piss him off more.
“Goddamn it! Don’t you dare go out that door!” Jeongguk growls from behind him, and it only spurs Jimin on, his giggles going up a pitch as he dodges Jeongguk again and runs towards the door.
But he has miscalculated how damn fast Jeongguk is, and his giggles are quickly cut off when Jeongguk tackles him, wrapping his arms around his thighs and slamming his full body weight into him.
Jimin yelps and and falls forwards, hitting his head off the side of an impractically placed shoe cabinet with a loud thud. Pain shoots through his skull, his vision going white for a second as he cries out and crumples to the floor under Jeongguk.
“Oh shit! Oh fuck! I’m sorry!” Jeongguk suddenly sobers, anger gone as worry takes its place, “hey, look at me. Are you okay?” He carefully turns Jimin over, holding his face gently in his hands as his eyes dart around his face in concern.
To be fair, it does hurt a lot, but Jimin also exaggerates just a touch, relishing in the concern and care Jeongguk is suddenly showing him.
“Oww- my head! Why would you do that?” Jimin wails, holding his hand up to the lump which was now forming under his black hair. He pulls his hand away to see a little blood on his palm. “Blood! Look! I’m bleeding! Jeongguk, I’m dying!”
“You’re not dying,” Jeongguk replies softly, rolling his eyes, “come here.” He reaches for Jimin, scooping him effortlessly into his arms and carrying him over to the kitchen.
“It hurts so much. You’re a violent bunny,” he whines, his chin resting against the juncture of Jeongguk’s neck as his arms loop around his strong back.
“Well, you shouldn’t have run away.”
“I just wanted to mess with you a little,” Jimin pouts, head throbbing.
Jeongguk sits Jimin carefully on the granite counter next to the sink, wetting a wad of paper towels under the tap. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you that it’s dangerous to run inside?”
“My parents were assholes,” Jimin grumbles, wincing as Jeongguk parts his hair to inspect the damage, “they abandoned me when I was fourteen. Left me to fend for myself. So no, they didn’t teach me common household rules.”
Jeongguk hums, “I see. Well, in that case allow me to teach you,” he leans down slightly so that their eyes are level, his gaze feeling weighty, “don’t run inside, you’ll get hurt.”
Jimin narrows his eyes at Jeongguk, and the corners of Jeongguk’s mouth lift a little in response. He stands back up and presses the cold compress onto Jimin’s head, then holds up his index finger in front of Jimin’s eyes. “Follow my finger, Jimin-ssi,” he says as he moves it slowly from left to right.
Jimin smiles a little as he follows the movement, “you said my name.”
“Huh?”
“You called me ‘Jimin’. Up until now you only called me ‘you’ or ‘hey’.”
“Is that so?” Jeongguk replies airily, lowering his hand, “Well- like I said, you’re not dying. It’s just a bad bump.”
“I feel like I’m dying,” Jimin whines as Jeongguk removes the cold compress. He hops down off the counter, padding towards his room to pick the tray of food up off the floor, before making his way to the very comfortable looking sofa.
He flops down onto it, wiggling a bit to get comfortable before setting the tray on his lap. Searching around, Jimin finds the remote just next to him on the sofa, and lifts it to turn on the tv as he takes a big bite of Jokbal.
With his cheeks puffed full of delicious braised meat, he glances over and sees Jeongguk still standing by the sink staring at him, mouth agape.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jeongguk splutters.
Jimin lifts his hand to the wound on his head, “you slammed my head off the cabinet!”
“I-” Jeongguk stammers, a look of guilt filling his face, “I didn’t mean to. And I said sorry!”
“Well, even so, you should never leave a person with a head injury on their own, everyone knows that,” Jimin says matter-of-factly around another mouthful of meat, “I might have a concussion.” He pats the sofa next to him, “come, sit down and have your food. Let’s watch a movie.”
“I- you… fine,” Jeongguk sighs, walking over and dropping down beside him in defeat.
Jimin pulls up Netflix, scrolling through the movie options as he tucks into his food. He chooses an extremely appropriate movie about a bank heist, and Jeongguk shrugs in a noncommittal manner as he eats his own food beside him, so Jimin takes that as a silent agreement that he wants to watch it too.
As the pair watch the movie, he asks Jeongguk questions about his previous bank heists and how they measure up to the movie, what similarities there are, or differences. Jeongguk gives vague answers, probably not wanting to give away too much information to someone who is currently a key witness to his most recent crime. Jimin enjoys it anyway. He finishes his food and sits with his body turned towards Jeongguk, knees tucked up as he rests his head against a cushion and listens to him recall a few stories.
Jeongguk gets a little carried away at one point, tongue loosening after a couple of beers. His passion for his alternative lifestyle choice shows as he describes one robbery which almost got him caught with his pants down… literally. Jimin laughs. Jeongguk laughs. It’s nice. Jimin doesn’t really have friends… besides his colleagues, who can’t even remember his name, and the random drunk he often meets at his local bar. It’s been a long time since he’s had such an easy, enjoyable conversation with someone. He didn’t realise how much he’d missed it.
“Right,” Jeongguk stands up when the credits start rolling up the screen, turning to look at Jimin. He quirks an eyebrow, “don’t think you’re not going back in that room.”
Jimin goes stiff, his eyes widening as he glances towards the front door.
“Don’t do it,” Jeongguk warns.
Jimin deflates. “But I don’t want to go back in there. Let me stay out here. Please? I’ll be good!”
“You? Be good?” Jeongguk laughs like it’s the funniest joke he’s heard in a while, “I’d pay to see that.”
Jimin perks up at that, “really? How much? 500,000 won?”
“You’re going in that room.”
“Wait, wait! H-how about a bet?” he barters, clinging onto the sofa when Jeongguk moves to pick him up, “if I beat you at FIFA I can sleep where I want…” He knows Jeongguk likes the game, having heard it through his door every day. Jeongguk considers it.
“Come on- one game. Winner takes all,” Jimin tempts further.
“If I win you’ll go in that room? No complaints?”
“No complaints,” Jimin nods, holding out his hand for a handshake.
“Okay, fine,” Jeongguk shakes his hand, “deal.”
______₩______
Park Jimin is a cheating-ass bitch and Jeongguk should never have agreed on this bet.
He grunts as Jimin presses his foot into his side for the hundredth time, wiggling his toes to tickle him and put him off. Jeongguk manages to twist and pin his troublesome legs down using his elbow, but the distraction allows Jimin to score yet again.
“Yes!” Jimin cheers in glee as the finishing score flashes up on the screen- he won by a landslide, “I won, I won!”
“You cheated!” Jeongguk turns, batting Jimin’s hand away when he reaches out and playfully twists at the ends of his purple hair, “that doesn’t count.”
“I may have used certain techniques. But I played the game fair and square. It’s not my fault you get distracted by my charms easily,” Jimin’s voice drops an octave lower as he leans closer, arching his body towards him flirtatiously.
“Tickling me isn’t a charm.”
“It’s cute that you’re ticklish,” Jimin grins, reaching towards him with a wicked look in his eye. But Jeongguk is quicker and stronger. He grabs Jimin’s hands and pushes him down, pinning them to the sofa either side of his head.
“Stop it,” Jeongguk warns, looking down at him.
Jimin giggles for a moment, looking like he’s enjoying every moment of this. But then his flirtatious smile wavers. “Please don’t lock me in there again… it’s driving me crazy. I’m a free spirit! I don’t like feeling trapped,” he says quietly, eyes pleading.
Jeongguk must be going soft. He must be losing it. It’s the only explanation.
“Fine,” he relents, letting go of Jimin’s wrists, “but I’m locking every damn exit of this house, every way out, so you better not start a fire or something.”
Jimin’s face spreads into a relieved smile, “really? Thank you! I won’t, I promise.”
—
Jeongguk wakes up the next morning to the distinct smell of something burning.
Sheer panic floods over him as he clambers out of bed and bursts out of his bedroom in nothing but his boxers. His eyes dart around the house, looking for fire. Instead, he finds Jimin at the kitchen stove, trying to flip something akin to charcoal in the frying pan. He is wearing one of Jeongguk’s oversized t-shirts, the material reaching to mid thigh. Jeongguk wonders if it covers a pair of boxers, or if Jimin has finally just gone full commando.
Jimin seems to have become very comfortable with his current situation, quickly making himself at home. Jeongguk has come to learn that a comfortable Park Jimin is a half naked Park Jimin. He usually wears nothing but boxers and a t-shirt, refusing to wear any sort of pants due to them being ‘too restrictive’. Jeongguk doesn’t complain anymore, finding his eyes following the shape of Jimin’s legs instead. The constant sight of him in nothing but Jeongguk’s t-shirt and boxers has his gut twisting regularly.
“What are you doing?” Jeongguk groans, pinching the bridge of his nose as the bitter smell of burning batter floods his senses.
“I’m making pancakes for our breakfast,” Jimin replies like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “what are you doing?” His eyes drag up and down Jeongguk’s body approvingly, “strip tease?”
An unexpected feeling of shyness comes over Jeongguk, and he can feel himself start to blush, but he’ll be damned if he’s going to let Jimin know he’s affected. He’s proud of his body, he works hard for it, and he won’t give Jimin the satisfaction of making him squirm. If Jimin can prance around half naked, then so can he. He marches over in his boxers and looks into the pan at the blackened mess, lips pursing in disgust, “these are pancakes?”
Jimin looks down into the pan, and then to the plate on the counter with an equally burnt stack on. His eyebrows draw together in frustration, “well, I can’t work out how to control the heat on this stupid stove. It’s not my fault.”
Jeongguk sighs, “move over.”
Jimin steps aside, eyebrows raising in surprise. He has his long black hair pulled into a little ponytail, tendrils falling around his face. “You’re going to make me pancakes in your boxers? What did I do in my past life to deserve this honour?”
“Pass me the bowl of batter,” Jeongguk says, ignoring his teasing. Jimin passes him the bowl and he checks it, brows raising in pleasant surprise, “this is actually a good mix.”
“See? I told you. I just can’t work out the stove settings,” Jimin pouts, “my apartment only had a single, portable stove. This is all fancy and touch sensitive. I don’t know how to use it.”
Jeongguk chuckles, tugging Jimin over by his waist, “look here. You press this to choose which hob you want on, see? Then you slide your finger like this for the temperature settings. Simple.”
Jimin’s pouty lips turn into a little ‘o’ shape as he nods, “Oh, that is quite simple actually. Thank you.”
“No more pancake massacres?”
“No more pancake massacres,” Jimin promises.
“Thank god. Now, how many pancakes do you want?”
“As many as possible,” Jimin chirps from beside him. Jeongguk nods in response, turning down the heat and getting to work.
Jimin watches him flip the pancakes in silence, resting against the counter beside him. He reaches out and runs a finger along Jeongguk’s tattooed arm, eyes following the patterns he traces.
“I like your tattoos.”
Jeongguk stills, feeling the ghost of goosebumps rise under Jimin’s touch.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. They’re so intricate.”
“Yours is nice, too,” Jeongguk comments after a moment, flipping the finished pancakes onto a plate, before starting on some more, “the one on your ribs.”
Jimin’s brows furrow in confusion, then he smiles, tiling his head to the side, “I forgot you saw that. I’m glad it made an impression.”
Jeongguk finishes the last pancake, placing it on the plate before turning to Jimin, “you could say that. It’s certainly a statement piece.”
“I have others too you know, like here,” Jimin holds out his wrist, a number 13 inked just beside his pulse. He then lifts his arms, dropping his hands backwards behind his head, the oversized sleeves sliding up to expose ‘YOUNG FOREVER’ tattooed just above his elbows, “…and these.” Jimin steps forward a little, “do you like them too?”
Jeongguk swallows nervously, “I, um didn’t notice those ones.”
Jimin drops his arms, “how could you not see them? You were staring at me naked long enough.”
“I- you…just eat your pancakes,” he splutters, turning and storming to his room to get dressed, feeling heat flood his cheeks.
A lilt of laughter fills Jimin’s voice as he calls after him, “it was because you were distracted by my dick, wasn’t it? Admit it!”
“I still have my shotgun, you know,” Jeongguk shouts back as he roughly tugs on a t-shirt, “I can easily go and get it.”
Jimin’s laughter is light as it filters through the open plan room, followed by a scrape of a chair. When Jeongguk re-enters the room, Jimin has made two coffees, and set the table for them to eat, waiting patiently with his legs crossed under him on one of the chairs.
“Come sit with me,” he gestures at the seat opposite, “let’s eat.”
Jeongguk walks over and pulls out the chair, lowering himself down opposite Jimin. The table is in a perfect position next to the large panoramic window. It makes for a stunning view to look at while eating. It’s one of Jeongguk’s favourite places to sit and relax when spending periods of time here.
Though this time his eyes drift away from the view, and instead fall on the beautiful man opposite him who is drowning his pancakes in an excessive amount of syrup.
“Would you like some pancake with your syrup?” he teases. Jimin pokes his tongue out at him before taking a big sticky mouthful.
“This is nice,” Jimin comments as he finishes his mouthful and sips on his coffee, “it’s been forever since I sat down and ate breakfast with someone like this. I never really eat breakfast. I don’t even have a table in my apartment.”
“You don’t eat breakfast?”
“I have to wake up really early for work,” Jimin shrugs, “plus, it’s one less meal to pay for.”
Jeongguk thinks about all the small comments Jimin has made about his life the last few days. The things he has said about his apartment, which sounds like a health code violation. And his job sounds pretty terrible too. There’s also the thing about his parents abandoning him. And his financial situation. Not to mention he’s been kidnapped, evicted, and probably fired.
“For someone who doesn’t have the best life going, you’re pretty cheerful and positive…” Jeongguk comments, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head, assessing the man before him.
Jimin looks over the rim of his coffee cup, his elbows resting comfortably on the table as he thinks for a moment. “I think it helps to be positive. Nothing good will come from me crying about my circumstances. I just try and make the best of them.”
“Hm,” Jeongguk nods, feeling his respect for Jimin grow.
“So, what’s going to happen to me?” Jimin asks, his fingers brushing around the rim of the coffee cup in front of him.
“Well, I’ve already contacted someone about getting you a new identity and a new passport. Once you get those, you can go and do what you want.”
“A new identity?”
“Yeah, it’s the only way to get the police off your trail. Park Jimin will be presumed dead, and you can start new somewhere else. Dye your hair, move to a new city. It won’t be too hard for you because you don’t have any family ties. By the sounds of it, it will be good for you to have a fresh start.”
Jimin thinks for a second, “Can my name still be Park Jimin?”
“Why?”
“I like my name.”
Jeongguk could say no. He’s sure Soyeong has probably already assigned him a different name to go on his forged identification, and it will probably be more work to change it now. But he seems to be getting soft when it comes to the man sitting opposite him.
“I don’t see why not. There are countless Park Jimin’s out there. Though I definitely suggest starting up in a new city if that’s the case.”
“No one knows me in Seoul anyway. My colleagues still get my name wrong, and I’ve been in the same position at the company for six years,” Jimin laughs, shaking his head, “even if I stayed in Seoul, no one would know any different.”
“Starting over in a new place is nice sometimes though,” Jeongguk shrugs, adding a small amount of syrup to his pancake. He isn’t a huge fan of sweet things, but seeing Jimin practically cry from happiness with each sticky mouthful has made him curious to try. He takes a bite. It’s sweet. It’s actually not bad.
Jimin has already finished his stack of pancakes, so Jeongguk picks up one of his own and places it on Jimin’s plate. Jimin’s eyes light up and he grabs the bottle of syrup, drowning the new addition. “So, what are you doing after all this is over? Which bank is next?” Jimin asks with a playful grin, taking a mouthful of the pancake.
Jeongguk thinks for a second whether he should tell Jimin or not, but after a moment he finds his lips loosening.
“I’m going to Monaco.”
Jimin glances up, mumbling around the pancake in his mouth, cheeks puffed out, “Monaco? Like- as in the country? Europe?”
Jeongguk nods. “Yeah. I’ve got a house out there. We all do actually, my crew and I, we stay out there sometimes in between jobs. This time I want to stay long term though. I’ve been in this game a long time, and I always planned on eventually taking a break from it all,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair, “so yeh, that’s where I’ll be going. My house is on a cliff, overlooking the sea. It has amazing views, a little private beach, a pool. I have my vintage Cadillac waiting in my garage for me. I’d probably already be there now if it wasn’t for someone,” he says pointedly.
Jimin narrows his eyes at Jeongguk, “hey, it’s not my fault. I didn’t exactly ask to be kidnapped. You’re the one who dragged me into all this.”
“True,” Jeongguk chuckles, taking a sip of his coffee, “either way, I’m getting on that plane as soon as possible.”
“So, why Monaco?”
“It’s beautiful there. The weather is amazing. The way of life is really chilled. It’s a great place to be if you have money, you can basically do anything you want, travel around Europe. The main reason though is because you can keep your money in banks there and not pay tax.”
“Oh, so tax evasion on top of theft, kidnapping, and money laundering,” Jimin lists off on his fingers.
“Pretty much,” Jeongguk chuckles, pushing his chair back and standing up.
“Wait… have you ever murdered anyone?” Jimin asks while looking up at him with wide eyes.
Jeongguk smirks down at him, contemplating how much to tease him.
“No wait, don’t tell me! Plausible deniability!” Jimin squeaks, covering his ears.
Jeongguk throws his head back as he laughs. “No, I’ve never murdered anyone,” he says, grinning down at Jimin mischievously, “not yet anyway… but there’s always time.” Jimin gasps and Jeongguk laughs again.
He seems to be laughing a lot these days.
______₩______
Jimin decides he likes this place very much. It’s been over two weeks since he got there, and ever since Jeongguk has taken the stick out of his ass and let him have a decent amount of freedom, he’s felt right at home. His favourite spot has become the floor in front of the large window. It feels great to lay stretched out on the wooden floor, heated by the warmth of the sun, the view stretching outside undisturbed. Jimin feels like an incredibly large breed of cat, practically purring on the toasty surface.
Jeongguk seems to be having quite a heated discussion on his phone. He’s actually been talking for an hour now, Jimin knows because he’s been intermittently checking the clock on the wall, then staring for a while at the closed bedroom door. From what Jimin has managed to work out by sneakily pressing his ear against the door, the conversation is about money, and bank transfers. It seems like a lot of accounting is involved in theft. Who knew?
Jimin props himself up on his knees and strips off his oversized t-shirt, which smells like Jeongguk’s expensive detergent, leaving him in just his boxers. It isn’t like Jeongguk hasn’t seen him naked anyway. He lays back down on the floor, and sighs at the feeling of the sun warming his skin. His bare back pressed against the heated wooden floor feels so good. He stretches a little, the vertebrae in his spine cracking in places, the feeling of relief immediately following. It’s nice to have the space to do this. In his old apartment he couldn’t even risk laying on the cramped floor, lest he got attacked by rogue cockroaches.
“So… what exactly are you doing this time?” comes Jeongguk’s confused voice, apparently finally done with his phone call.
Jimin peeks open one eye to see Jeongguk standing above him, his phone still in his hand. He stares down at him with a mixture of mild confusion and acceptance. He’s grown used to Jimin at this point, and isn’t really phased by his odd behaviour anymore.
“I’m basking.”
“Basking… right. And why are you in just your boxers?”
“It’s like photosynthesis. The sun feels amazing, and it’s the closest thing I can get to being outside. You should join me,” Jimin murmurs as he stretches out again, lifting his arms above his head.
Even with his eyes closed, he can practically feel Jeongguk’s eyes on him, raking across his bare skin.
Jimin doesn’t expect Jeongguk to respond to his request, but surprisingly he feels Jeongguk lay down beside him in the sunlight. He opens his eyes and turns his head to see Jeongguk looking up at the ceiling beside him, his beautiful purple hair fanned out around his head. Jimin closes his eyes again and smiles, “feels good, right?”
“Surprisingly, yes.”
“See? You should always trust me on things like this. Now, stretch your arms up like this, really stretch your back out.”
Jeongguk does as Jimin says, stretching his arms above his head, groaning a little as his muscles strain against the warm wooden floor. Jimin does it beside him, letting out a satisfied sigh. He then rolls onto his side propping himself up on his elbow to look down at Jeongguk. “You need to chill out like this sometimes. All your criminal activity is going to make you go bald, and I’m quite fond of your pretty purple hair.” He reaches out and twists a strand of purple hair around his fingers.
Jeongguk opens an eye, squinting against the sunlight as he turns his head to look at Jimin, “I think the stress of having to take care of you is more likely to turn me bald,” he teases.
Jimin relaxes his arm and drops his head down, resting it on his bicep as he looks at Jeongguk, “I’m not that bad. At least you never get bored. Imagine if you had to keep bank clerk Kim as your hostage? Imagine walking in on him naked.”
Jeongguk laughs, “very true. I would have hated that.”
“See? It’s all about perspective. We’re having a great time as housemates.”
“It’s certainly never boring,” Jeongguk admits with a smile, and Jimin smiles in agreement. They’ve grown surprisingly close over the last two weeks. Jimin has discovered that when Jeongguk isn’t being an ass, he’s actually really good company. He’s smart, funny and so easy to talk to. It sort of feels like they’ve know each other forever.
“Listen,” Jeongguk says, sitting up, “I’ve got a few more things to sort out before I go abroad, so I’m going to be on the phone a lot today.” He looks down at Jimin with a stern expression, “try not to cause any trouble while I’m working.”
Jimin rolls onto his back, resting his hands above his head as he watches Jeongguk’s internal battle. He’s trying to be stern with Jimin, and he’s also trying to fight the urge to look down at Jimin’s bare torso stretched out beneath him.
Jimin knows Jeongguk finds him attractive. He also seems to really like his tattoo. Jimin’s felt his eyes lock onto it whenever he takes his t-shirt off, so he arches his back slightly so that more of the writing can be seen, the ink stretching with each breath. It’s fun to mess with Jeongguk, but it also feels nice to have someone find him attractive, especially a gorgeous man like Jeongguk. It’s been a long time since anyone has looked at him the way Jeongguk does.
“Okay, I’ll be good,” Jimin says, smiling up at him.
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
—
To be fair, Jimin has been well behaved for a good few hours. Jeongguk has been gone for most of the day, probably in the garage seeing that his car is still pulled up outside, and Jimin did as he promised. He behaved. He sat and finished off a series on Netflix, then he did some more stretching by the window. Then he decided to see if he could do a back bend like he used to be able to. It turns out he can, but it came at a price of some pulled muscles, which then resulted in more stretching. He then looked at the view and contemplated his crappy life for roughly thirty minutes. He really has been good. But sometimes he just can’t help himself.
Walking over to the kitchen, he opens the fridge, a smile tugging at his lips when he sees the bottles of soju inside.
______₩______
It’s evening when Jeongguk re-enters the house, walking into the open plan living area he has grown so used to. The sun is now setting outside, the sky glowing with various hues of pinks and oranges. The living room is lit up with the warm glow from a few lamps turned on around the room.
Jeongguk rolls his shoulders, trying to ease some of the tension that has become knitted into the muscles there. His day has been filled with a series of long and arduous phone conversations with multiple people. It’s safe to say that his uncle was not happy when he explained his plans to take a long term break. Eventually though, Jeongguk was able to convince him that everyone would be perfectly capable of carrying on without him. It was mostly settled now. The bank transfers have all gone through, and Jeongguk was able to move all the money to one of his many accounts in Monaco. He’s basically ready to go.
Well… almost.
It isn’t hard to miss where Jimin is. It’s impossible not to see his strong yet elegant legs hanging over the back of the sofa from where he is laying practically upside down with his feet in the air, swinging to the beat of the music playing overhead.
Jeongguk slowly walks over, positioning himself between Jimin’s feet, wrapping his hands around his calves and squeezing the muscles as he looks down at him.
“I thought I told you to behave.”
Jimin’s eyes widen in surprise as he looks up at him, having not noticed his return. He’s currently trying to down a shot of soju while laying down, which rather impressively he manages, spluttering a bit as he swallows.
“Jeonggukie, you’re back!”
“I’m back. How many of those have you had?” Jeongguk asks, his eyes darting to the collection of bottles on the coffee table.
“Um… none?”
“Uhuh, so what about the one in your hand? And the empty bottle on the table?”
“…okay, it’s my second,” Jimin admits. His cheeks are a little flushed from the alcohol, hair messy from rolling around on the sofa- and probably the floor too, knowing Jimin.
Jeongguk tugs at Jimin’s legs, relishing in the fact his eyes widen a little in surprise. It’s fun to catch him off guard sometimes.
“Liar,” he murmurs.
Jimin’s narrows his eyes, “thief.”
Jeongguk chuckles, “liability.”
Jimin pulls his legs from Jeongguk’s hold, wriggling round to kneel on the sofa, hands curling over the back. He looks up at Jeongguk, eyelids a little heavy as he lets his head drop back a little.“Come and drink with me,” he requests. Jeongguk doesn’t answer, looking at the bottles of soju and then back at Jimin. “Come on,” Jimin whines, “you’ve sorted everything out right? My new identification will be ready any day now. I’m not really on the news anymore- I checked today. So I guess I’ll be leaving soon?” His eyes look a little sad, before they glaze over with the alcohol and he smiles softly, angling his face so his sharp jawline catches the orange glow from an adjacent lamp.“This can be my farewell party.”
Something inside Jeongguk stirs at those words. What Jimin doesn’t know is that his new ID has been ready for over a week. Jeongguk hasn’t told him, and he doesn’t really know why. What he does know is that something sharp tugs at his chest every time he thinks of Jimin leaving. He’s gotten so used to him being there that he can’t imagine not having him around. Jeongguk has found himself waking up in the mornings looking forward to spending his days with Jimin, and he knows that means something… he just doesn’t know what to do about it.
“Okay,” Jeongguk nods in agreement, leaning forward a little into Jimin’s space, before stepping back and walking round to sit on the sofa next to him, “pass me a glass.”
Jimin smiles as he slips down to sit on the sofa, pulling some cushions down with him. He is still dressed in his boxers and oversized t-shirt ensemble, his hair in a ponytail, and his legs curled under him as he reaches forward and pours a glass of soju, handing it to Jeongguk, “for you, good sir. Now you have to catch up with me.”
“I didn’t know this was a competition,” Jeongguk chuckles.
“If it was I’d be winning, two to zero,” Jimin picks up his glass and clinks it with Jeongguk’s, the sound crisp against the gentle hum of music.
“Bottom’s up,” Jimin quips.
Jeongguk quirks an eyebrow, bringing the glass to his lips and downing it in one go. Jimin laughs in response, nodding as if he were impressed, taking another sip of his own. Jeongguk can’t help but smile. It’s been a rough day for him, the angry conversations with his family draining him. But now he can feel all his stress fading away. Just being around Jimin boosts his energy instantly. He feels like he’s a solar panel, and Jimin is the sun. They talk, and laugh, and enjoy each other’s company as the evening fades into night.
—
The music changes, and a slow jam filters through the speaker, low base notes pleasing to Jeongguk’s ears, the subtle hum of alcohol pumping through his veins as he finishes his second bottle of soju.
“I love this song,” Jimin says, his eyes drifting closed briefly before he stands up from the sofa and walks around the coffee table towards where the entertainment station is set on wooden shelves. He presses a button, turning up the music and swaying to the beat slowly, his eyes closing again, head lulling to the side.
“So you can work that device just fine, hmm?”
Jimin’s full lips pull into a smile, but his eyes remain closed as he continues to sway to the beat, “it took some experimenting, but I have it all worked out now. Just like the stove.”
Jeongguk leans back on the sofa, soft cushions moulding to his body as he holds his glass loosely in his hand. He takes a breath, and simply let’s himself watch Jimin. The way the wide neckline of his oversized t-shirt pulls down slightly on one side, exposing the honey skin across his collarbone. The way his hands twist the material of the shirt, like even that layer is too much for him. The way his movements are so elegant, like a dancer, even though he isn’t even trying. How he can be the most clumsy human being at any other moment, but right now under the influence of alcohol, he is somehow in complete control of his movements. Jeongguk can’t help but be in awe.
Jimin places his glass down on one of the shelves and turns slowly, tugging at the hairband in his hair, letting it fall loose.
“Are you going to miss me?” he asks quietly, his cheeks rosy with the flush of the alcohol. Jeongguk blinks, pulled out of his daze by his words.
“What?”
Jimin walks towards him as the music changes key, and Jeongguk watches his every move. “When I finally leave, we won’t ever see each other again. You’ll go to Monaco, and I’ll disappear into my new life in Korea.”
“…I know.” Jeongguk says quietly. He knows. He just doesn’t want to think about it.
“Won’t you miss me?”
Jeongguk takes a deep breath, eyes locked with Jimin’s. Yes, of course he’ll miss him. He can’t tell him that though… can he?
“I- do you want me to miss you?” he says instead.
“Yes,” Jimin answers softly, honestly. He steps around the coffee table, tilting his head, letting strands of his loose hair fall across his cheek, “I want you to miss me.”
Jeongguk’s eyes widen in surprise at Jimin’s sudden confession. Jimin continues, moving to sit back down next to him, “I’ll miss you… so it’s only fair.”
“Y-you’ll miss me?”
“Yes,” Jimin says softly, leaning into Jeongguk’s space, and Jeongguk feels like he’s forgotten how to breathe, “I’ll miss you. I’ll miss your pretty purple hair,” he whispers as he reaches up to twirl Jeongguk’s hair around his fingers, “and I’ll miss your cute laugh.” He strokes a finger along Jeongguk’s arm, and Jeongguk can’t stop the goosebumps that erupt on his skin. “I’ll miss your tattoos.” Jimin reaches down and brushes his hand against Jeongguk’s knee, and Jeongguk feels a swirl of heat rush through his body.
“You w-will?” he stammers.
“Mhm,’ Jimin replies, slipping his hand further up Jeongguk’s leg as he leans in to whisper in his ear, “wanna know what I’ll miss most,” he purrs, his lips brushing against Jeongguk’s ear, and Jeongguk feels like he might actually explode. He nods, unable to form a coherent reply.
“I’ll miss… beating you at FIFA.”
And just like that, the moment shatters.
Jeongguk snaps his head around to look at Jimin who bursts out laughing, throwing his head back against the sofa.
“You cheated!” he yells as Jimin laughs louder, “you distracted me!”
Jimin’s eyes sparkle mischievously as he leans closer again.
“I’ll miss you cooking me pancakes in your boxers…”
“That was one time!”
“I’ll miss you slamming my head against the cabinet…”
“Oh my god, that was an accident! I said sorry!”
“I’ll miss-“
“No, I don’t want to hear it, just stop talking,” Jeongguk huffs, grabbing hold of Jimin’s wrists when the other attempts to tickle him, “I- god you’re so infuriating- stop!”
Jimin smirks, biting down on his bottom lip as he tugs against Jeongguk’s hold on his wrists, closing the gap between them.
“Make me.”
______₩______
Jimin has barely gotten the words out before Jeongguk is crashing his lips into his, answering his challenge and silencing him with a bruising kiss. He lets out a muffled surprised sound which turns into a moan as he throws his arms around Jeongguk’s neck and falls back onto the soft cushion beneath them, pulling him down on top of him. Jeongguk goes readily, his heavy body pressing down on him as he settles between Jimin’s legs, his bare thighs spreading to accommodate him. They slot together so naturally, so effortlessly, and Jimin feels himself smile into the kiss.
He’d be lying if he said he hasn’t thought about kissing Jeongguk… he has, a lot, and it’s everything he imagined it would be. Jeongguk kisses him like he’s trying to devour him, pressing him deeper into the sofa, and it has Jimin’s toes curling as he wraps his legs around his waist, trying to pull him impossibly closer.
He opens his mouth to say something, or maybe moan- he doesn’t quite know yet, but his voice is quickly cut off when Jeongguk sees his opening and deepens the kiss, slipping his tongue inside.
Jeongguk is definitely doing a great job of shutting him up. He doesn’t even remember where he is, let alone what sarcastic or teasing remark he had been planning to make. His hands go straight to that beautiful hair like a magnet, fingers tangling into the purple strands like he’s holding onto the last bit of coherent thought he can. But his head is swimming, gasps and groans slipping past his lips and into Jeongguk’s mouth as he kisses him back with just as much urgency.
His spine arches instinctively up against Jeongguk the moment he feels his tattooed hands push up under his shirt, strong fingers splaying out over the skin of his ribs brushing across his tattoo. His fingers grip tighter in his hair, chest heaving as the other breaks their kiss and trails kisses along his jaw.
Jimin feels an overwhelming heat thrumming under his skin, rushing to every spot Jeongguk touches, every part of his body where their skin meets. Jimin opens his mouth to speak again, but again nothing comes out as Jeongguk’s hand slips from under his shirt and reaches up to coax Jimin’s head to the side.
He brushes his lips against his ear, breaths heavy against the shell before he takes the lobe in his mouth, biting down gently yet firmly, drawing another shuddering gasp and unplanned sound from Jimin’s throat. The sound seems to do nothing but urge Jeongguk on as his hips press down against Jimin’s boxers, hand travelling further up under his shirt until his fingertips brush against his sensitive nipple, making Jimin’s body jerk involuntarily.
Jimin feels heady, mind growing cloudier under each of Jeongguk’s touches. A pressure hums behind his eyes as his head lulls to the side, another moan drawn from his lips as Jeongguk attaches himself to his neck, nipping at the skin before sucking hard, and Jimin doesn’t have to even look to know he is leaving behind a scattering of purple bruises in his wake.
It’s been forever since he’s been with a man like this. His love life has been bleak to say the least, consisting of a few creeps from dating apps that he had to literally run away from, and one or two hook-ups in the bathrooms of clubs which he would much rather forget. Right now he thinks he might have died and gone to heaven.
Jeongguk tugs down the neck of Jimin’s t-shirt to kiss across his collarbone and Jimin huffs in frustration because he’s wearing way too many layers. Well he’s actually only wearing one, but right now that is one too many.
He reaches down with shaky hands and tugs at the material, “J-Jeongguk-ah, o-off,” he stutters, barely able to form words. Jeongguk sits up and pulls the offending garment over Jimin’s head, discarding it before he’s diving back down, the strands of his purple hair brushing against Jimin’s skin as he leaves open mouth kisses over his chest.
Jimin whines, tugging at the hem of Jeongguk’s t-shirt, hoping he’ll get the message. He does, sitting up just enough to pull his own t-shirt over his head, casting it to the floor before he’s bending down to capture Jimin’s lips in a fierce kiss which has him whimpering.
Jeongguk cages him in, pressing his thigh in between Jimin’s legs and Jimin bucks up against it, seeking some kind of friction. He’s fully hard already, and he can feel that Jeongguk is too. It makes his stomach flutter to think that Jeongguk wants him just as much.
Jeongguk kisses back down his neck, between his collarbones, and across his chest. Jimin gasps as Jeongguk licks at his nipple, teasing it with his teeth before taking it into his mouth and sucking hard, causing him to let out a sinful cry.
He feels Jeongguk chuckle as he pulls off his nipple with a pop and lifts his head to look at him with hooded eyes.
“You’re lucky I don’t have neighbours,” he says with a mischievous look in his eyes, “I’m pretty sure everyone in Seoul can hear you.”
Jimin wants to respond, wants to make some sort of snarky comment, but his voice is cut off in his throat as Jeongguk moves to the other nipple, taking it into his mouth. Jimin throws his head back with a moan, gripping Jeongguk’s hair tightly.
He’s never been this turned on in his life. He’s trembling, his breaths coming out fast as Jeongguk kisses slowly down his body, nipping at the tattoo on his ribs, before he moves down to kiss across his navel.
Jimin pushes his head back against the cushions under him, panting. He’s starting to think he might actually come like this when Jeongguk’s movements start to slow, his kisses lingering in place before he stills with his head on Jimin’s stomach. Jimin lifts his head to look down at him, “J-Jeongguk-ah?” he stutters, reaching down to push his purple hair back off his face, “you okay?” What he gets in reply, is silence.
Jeongguk is asleep.
He’s fully passed out between Jimin’s legs, cheek squished against his abs, lips slightly parted as he breaths gently. Jimin drops his head back with a groan, covering his face with his hands and laughing in disbelief because if this isn’t just his luck.
He stares at the ceiling, combing his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair gently as he slowly comes down from his high. This is his fault for encouraging Jeongguk to drink that second bottle of soju. He literally cock-blocked himself.
The longer he lays there, the buzz of the alcohol starting to wear off, the more he decides that it was probably a good thing that they stopped. He’s supposed to be leaving soon anyway, and Jeongguk will be off to Monaco to live his best life. No point starting something they can’t finish, even if it probably would have been the best fuck of his life.
With a head full of Jeongguk’s lips Jimin drifts off to sleep.
______₩______
Jeongguk wakes up with that familiar dry mouth and throbbing head he always gets when he has drunk too much the night before. He blinks open his eyes, instantly regretting it due to the bright sunlight flooding in through the large window. He stirs with a husky groan, rubbing at his face, realising that he’s laying on something soft and warm.
He lifts his head up, sucking in a breath when his eyes find Jimin sprawled out underneath him wearing only his boxers, one arm thrown across Jeongguk’s back. He looks breathtaking, his long black hair messy from sleep, his full lips parted, chest rising and falling as he breathes steadily.
Jeongguk tenses as his gaze falls onto the deep purple bruises littering Jimin’s neck and memories of the previous night come crashing back. Soju, lots of Soju. Late night conversations, and Jimin’s dancing. Jimin being sexy and infuriating as hell. Jimin’s lips on his. Jimin moaning under him…
He panics and pushes himself up, jostling Jimin who stirs beneath him, stretching his arms above his head with a groan before blinking his eyes open slowly. Jimin looks up at him, brows furrowed in confusion, before his eyes widen in realisation. He pushes himself up on his elbows and glances down at his almost naked state before his eyes not so subtly slide up, taking in Jeongguk’s equally bare torso and his current position between Jimin’s thighs. They both look at each other for a moment, tension heavy in the air.
“Uh…” Jeongguk says, clearing this throat, “so, that happened…” He can’t help the nervous laughter that comes out. He’s not sure how to play this off. He isn’t sure how Jimin is going to react, and the silence is making him nervous, so he panics, and decides to play it nonchalant.
“It’s no big deal thought right?” he says, hoping it’s the best way to ease the awkwardness.
Jimin chuckles as he pushes himself to sit up, “it’s no big deal Jeongguk-ah. We were drunk… it happens.”
“Yeah…” Jeongguk nods, ruffling the hair on the back of his head, “you can really drink.”
Jimin grins proudly, “it’s one of my many talents.”
Jeongguk chuckles, shaking his head as he stands, “Well, um… I’m gonna shower?”
“Yeah, me too,” Jimin groans, cracking his neck.
“Oh, okay, you go first, I’ll wait till you’re done.”
“I have shower in my room…” Jimin says with a bemused look, tilting his head.
“Oh,” Jeongguk let’s out a stupidly forced laugh, and he wants to just swallow his own tongue and die right there, “yeah, of course, I knew that. Why would you use my shower? That so stupid seeing as you have your own. Yeah. So, um, I’ll see you for breakfast?”
“Of course. I’ll make pancakes again,” Jimin says with a smile.
“Just don’t cremate them this time,” Jeongguk teases.
“Hey!” Jimin whines, and like that the awkwardness is lifted.
Jimin disappears from view and Jeongguk drops back onto sofa, groaning as he rubs his hands roughly over his face. He really made out with Jimin. That really happened. He lays back, closing his eyes as a small trace of Jimin’s scent reaches his nose from the cushions beside him where Jimin had been sleeping. Jeongguk has noticed that Jimin has a natural scent that no amount of his shower products could cover, a mild floral tone which reminds him of orange blossom. He slowly draws circles on the cushion as he tries, and fails to resist recalling memories from the previous night- Jimin’s smile, and his laugh, the softness of his skin, the taste of his lips…
Shit.
Jeongguk takes an extremely cold and self-reflective shower before throwing on a black t-shirt and joggers, towel drying his hair a bit and leaving the rest of it damp to air dry. He checks his phone. There is a message from Soyeong asking when he would like to collect Jimin’s new ID.
He puts his phone in his pocket, worrying his lip between his teeth as he leaves his room. He finds Jimin in front of the stove, making pancakes in a long purple oversized t-shirt, his slightly damp hair loose around his face. He smiles a victorious smile as he successfully flips a pancake in the air, catching it back in the pan. He looks across at Jeongguk, smiling a bright smile which makes Jeongguk’s stomach clench.
“Hey, check this out,” Jimin moves away from the stove while holding the pan handle with two hands, angling towards Jeongguk. With a playful grin, he flings the pancake into the air and goes to catch it in the pan, but it flies too far and lands on the floor between them with a splat.
Jimin’s face crumbles, “no!”
Jeongguk can’t help but burst out laughing, almost doubling over.
“Yeah okay, laugh it up,” Jimin quirks an eyebrow, “that was going to be yours.”
“What?” Jeongguk’s laughter cuts off and he looks down at the pancake in mourning, “is there enough for another?”
Jimin returns to the stove, ladling more batter into the pan, “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know?” Feeling playful, Jeongguk steps over the deceased pancake and up behind Jimin, poking a finger into his side to tickle him.
“Hey! I’m working with fire here.”
“There’s plenty of batter left, look at that huge bowl!”
“That’s all mine.”
“All of that is yours?!”
“Yes. I am a growing boy.”
“I’m younger than you!”
“You are?” Jimin pauses and looks over his shoulder, long eyelashes fluttering. From here, Jeongguk can see the marks he has left on Jimin’s neck up close, the deep purple bruises promising they will last for a while. He tries not to stare.
Jeongguk nods, “yup. Your age was on the news.”
“Well if you know that, you should be calling me hyung,” Jimin says, raising an eyebrow.
Jeongguk reaches around Jimin as he continues to fry, pulling a piece off a finished pancake and popping it into his mouth, smirking, “well, I can’t do that now.”
“Why not?” Jimin frowns.
“I asked for you to be made younger than me on your new identification.”
Jimin turns and looks at him with wide eyes as Jeongguk bursts out laughing, “are you serious!?”
Jeongguk nods, laughter going up a pitch as Jimin growls and raises his spatula over his head. Jeongguk quickly darts away and Jimin proceeds to chase him around the kitchen.
“Is this any way to treat your hyung?” Jeongguk teases. He can’t even breathe properly through the laughter.
“You little-” Jimin takes a running leap and succeeds in tackling a hysterical Jeongguk to the floor, straddling his chest as he waves the spatula threateningly in his face, “tell them to change it! Put it back to my normal age!”
“I can’t,” Jeongguk tries to catch his breath, “you already have the same name, the same age is too much.”
“Ugh, fine,” Jimin accepts, “then just make me older than you.”
“But, isn’t it nice to be made younger again? Who else can turn back the hands of time like that? Youth is fleeting, you know?” Jeongguk says in such a convincing tone, a salesman would be jealous.
The spatula stills mid swing, and Jimin mulls it over, “…that is true,” he nods.
“See?” Jeongguk takes a few steady breaths. He hasn’t laughed that hard in who knows how long. Maybe ever.
Jimin narrows his eyes and leans down, “you should still call me hyung.”
Jeongguk smiles up at him fondly, finally conceding, “…hyung.”
Jimin smiles in satisfied victory, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to his forehead, “good boy.”
Jeongguk stares at the ceiling in shock, his heart beating in his chest at the surprise show of affection. Jimin doesn’t seem to notice as he gets up, gasping and running over to the stove.
“Oh no, the pancake is burnt!” he cries in distress, voice falling to a whisper as he sneakily shifts it onto a plate, “…this one can be Jeongguk’s.”
“Hyung!” Jeongguk whines as he sits up, “stop giving me the bad ones!” He watches as Jimin crouches down in front of the pancake on the floor, attempting to scoop it onto the same plate, “what the fuck!? Don’t you dare give me that floor pancake.”
Jimin looks up at Jeongguk with a serious expression, “there are children starving in the world, Jeongguk-ah.”
“Says the guy who burnt an entire batch of pancakes before.”
“I learned from my mistakes. It’s called character growth. Now, be a good boy and eat your floor pancake.”
“You- don’t you come near me with that plate,” Jeongguk warns as he backs away from an approaching Jimin.
It turns out Jimin had only been joking. He leaves the plate of disasters on the side, and makes a new batch for them to share, placing them onto the table for their breakfast alongside two cups of fresh coffee.
Jeongguk sits down and Jimin slides into the seat opposite him, bending his knees up comfortably as he munches on his syrupy pancakes. Jeongguk can’t help the way his heart warms as he watches him. Jimin has this childlike innocence about him that is just so endearing. He’s loud yes, and hyper, and a little odd sometimes, but he’s also kind, and funny, and just… a good person. Jeongguk can’t help but feel like Jimin deserves much more than the life he’s had so far.
“Jimin-” he starts, before a notification from his phone interrupts him.
“Everything okay?” Jimin asks as Jeongguk pulls his phone out, staring down at the message with a frown.
“Yeh, erm- “ Jeongguk blows out a breath, “It’s- your new identification documents are all ready.” He forces a smile. “Welcome to the world, Park Jimin 2.0.”
“Oh…” Jimin replies, deflating slightly, “wow, that’s… yeh… you really do have your connections.” He stares down at his plate with a frown on his face, “so, I guess it’s time for me to leave then?”
Reality hits Jeongguk like a truck, and he feels his stomach drop like a stone. This was the plan all along right? Jimin’s leaving. Just like they always agreed.
“I mean, I guess so?”
Jimin falls quiet for a while, the two of them sitting in silence, before he looks up at him and speaks again, “so, you’re going to Monaco?”
“Yeah…” Jeongguk replies quietly.
Jimin lips pull into a small smile, “that’s good. Now you can finally have that break you wanted. I’m really happy for you, Jeongguk-ah.”
“…thanks,” Jeongguk tries to smile back, but it doesn’t really reach his lips in time.
Jimin takes a deep breath and pushes his chair away from the table, standing up and taking his empty plate towards the kitchen. He washes the plate in the sink, speaking as he rinses it off under the faucet, “I guess I’ll get dressed, and then we can go and collect the documents?”
“I mean… yeah, if you want to?”
Jimin falls quiet again. It’s very uncharacteristic of him. Jeongguk wishes he knew what he was thinking.
“We don’t have to though!” he blurts out, “maybe we can-“
“No,” Jimin cuts in, “I’ve delayed you for long enough right? I’m sure you want to get going…”
“I-”
“It’s fine Jeongguk-ah. I’ll go and get ready. It shouldn’t take me long, it’s not like I have anything to pack,” he jokes, dryly.
Jeongguk deflates. “I… okay. I’ll arrange to meet my contact in the city then?”
Jimin nods, disappearing into his room quietly before appearing a little while later in his lucky grey suit. Instead of his shirt however, he’s still wearing Jeongguk’s oversized purple t-shirt, tucked stylishly into the front of the pants. It shouldn’t look good but it does, because it’s Jimin.
Jimin catches Jeongguk staring, “um- I hope it’s okay? I just.. I wanted something of yours so I can remember all this,” he gestures around the house, but his eyes stay glued on Jeongguk.
“Yeah, of course. It’s fine. It looks better on you anyway.”
Jimin nods and looks around the large open plan room. “Bye house. It was a lot of fun,” he throws up two fingers, “peace out!” He turns back towards Jeongguk, “okay I’m ready.”
Jeongguk nods, not trusting his voice. He leads Jimin out of the house, fishing out his car keys and clicking the button, the sleek black Mercedes unlocking with a melodic beep. He climbs into the drivers seat as Jimin slides into the passenger side next to him.
They sit for a moment in silence, and Jeongguk almost blurts out that they should just go back inside the house, eat more pancakes, mess around on the PS5 and maybe carry on from where they left off last night... but the words stay lodged in his throat. Instead he starts the engine, and pulls out onto the mountain road.
“So,” Jeongguk says after the silence drags on for too long, “where shall I tell my contact to meet us. Anywhere in particular?”
“Seoul station,” Jimin replies.
“Yeah? Why there?”
“I think I’m going to get on a train,” Jimin hums, looking out of his window at the trees moving by.
“A train?”
“Yeah. One of those fancy long-distance ones.”
“You think they’re fancy?”
“They have tables. It’s like a moving restaurant. That’s pretty fancy.”
“Yeah,” Jeongguk nods, humbled by how impressed Jimin is with something he probably wouldn’t think twice about, “I guess you’re right.”
Jimin stretches a little, sliding lower in his chair, “you don’t get tables in the city trains. You have to be going far away. Somewhere new.”
“Where are you going to go?”
“I was thinking of Busan,” Jimin says as he breathes condensation onto the window, drawing a little heart with his finger, “if you’re going to the ocean, then I want to go too.”
Jeongguk turns the car onto a larger road, finally hitting civilisation as other cars appear around them, “I thought you were going to stay in Seoul?”
“I guess I could. But with a whole new identity, maybe a fresh start is what I need.” He draws another smaller heart next to the first.
They fall into a steady silence, and Jeongguk peeks over to see Jimin staring out the window, lost in thought. He sends a message to Soyeong to meet them at Seoul station, a confirmation coming almost right away. Eventually they reach Seoul, the trees thinning out, and large buildings of glass and concrete replacing them.
Jeongguk weaves through the city, and sooner than he would have liked they reach Seoul station. He turns in next to the station, pulling into a large underground car park, descending a few levels before he parks. He didn’t really need to travel down so many levels, but maybe he wants to extend his time with Jimin, even for just a few minutes.
As the car’s engine quiets, Jimin unclips his seatbelt. “Thank you,” he says softly.
Jeongguk reaches into the glovebox and pulls out a face mask, handing it to Jimin, “keep this on in the station, just in case.”
Jimin nods, putting it on.
Jeongguk glances at his phone, seeing an exact meeting spot sent by Soyeong. “My contact will meet us up in the station. They’re waiting already.”
“Okay,” Jimin nods.
When they emerge from the elevator into the bustling station, Jeongguk is borderline overwhelmed by the amount of people moving past them in waves. A few commuters shuffle past them onto the elevator, one particular man jostling Jimin who simply steps to the side like it’s something he’s used to. Jeongguk scowls at the man, taking Jimin’s hand and pulling him close.
He leads Jimin into a 7eleven, buying him one of those awful cans of coffee he remembers being splashed all over his his legs at the bank, before sitting him down at the bench seat by the window.
“Wait here, I’ll be right back,” he says, opening the can and handing it to Jimin. Jimin nods, taking the coffee gratefully.
Jeongguk walks out of the 7eleven, darting though the crowd to the spot where Soyeong arranged to meet, and as always she’s there waiting. She smiles as he approaches, reaching into her bag and pulling out a large brown envelope. “Jeongguk-ssi,” she bows before handing him the envelope.
“Thank you. It’s all here?”
“Yes. Everything Park Jimin will need to start over. His prior identification didn’t include a passport, it seems he never applied for one, but I have included a new passport to ease any issues with consistency if he wanted to apply for one in the future.”
“I see,” Jeongguk nods, looking into the envelope at the documents filed inside, “did you also sort out a bank account and card as I asked?”
“I did. I have transferred the money to his new account from yours as you requested. His new card is enclosed as well as all the bank details he will need.”
Jeongguk nods, “thank you, Soyeong-ssi. I can always count on you.”
“It is my job, Jeongguk-ssi. And I am extremely good at my job.”
Jeongguk smiles, looking over his shoulder to the 7eleven at the other side of the large station. Jimin is still sitting at the window, sipping on his coffee.
“I heard you’ll be going away for a while. I’m happy for you,” Soyeong smiles, “you look better already. Happier.”
“Oh, yeah, I am… thank you. I’ll stay in contact electronically as usual if I need any assistance.”
Soyeong bows, tucking her bag under her arm and turning to slip away into the crowd. As quick as she was there, she’s gone, and Jeongguk turns to make his way back to Jimin.
Jimin sees him approach through the window and gets up, disposing of the empty coffee can before meeting him in front of the shop.
“Here,” Jeongguk says, holding out the envelope of documents, “this is everything you need to start your new life.”
Jimin takes the envelope and peeks inside, “wow, so many documents. Oh, a card,” he pulls out the sleek plastic card, scrutinising it, “it’s a bank card?”
“There’s some money on that… to help get you started,” Jeongguk shrugs.
Jimin looks up at him, a surprised look in his eyes before it changes into something softer.
“Is it 500,000 won?” he asks fondly.
Jeongguk can’t help but laugh. “It’s a little more than that,” he says, reaching up to tuck a strand of Jimin’s black hair behind his ear. Jimin’s eyes fall to Jeongguk’s lips, and then back up to his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, but then hesitates.
“I… I should get my ticket,” he sighs, walking over to the ticket counter. Jeongguk follows, hanging back slightly as he watches Jimin hang off the counter as he buys his ticket. It reminds Jeongguk of the moment he first saw Jimin, hanging off the counter at the bank arguing with the clerk.
After a few minutes, Jimin returns with a one way ticket to Busan in his hand.
“What time does it leave?” Jeongguk asks.
“In like ten minutes, they’re boarding now.” Jimin takes hold of Jeongguk’s hand, “come on, we have to hurry.” He pulls Jeongguk until they’re both running, fingers tightly entwined as they weave through the crowd until they reach the KTX platforms, a large sign saying ‘Direct trains to Busan.’
Jeongguk is finally able to catch his breath when they arrive on the platform beside the train. “Last call for the 16:18 Seoul to Busan service,” a polite voice announces overhead.
Jimin stands facing the open door of the train. He looks down at the envelope in his hand, then back at the door and takes a deep breath. “This is my first ever long-distance train journey. I got a window seat. It has a table and everything.”
“This train will be departing shortly, any remaining passengers, please board the train.”
“Well,” Jimin chirps, pulling his mask down as he turns to face Jeongguk, “that’s my cue, I guess.”
“Jimin-”
Jimin steps forward and wraps his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Jeongguk-ah. I know when we first met I said you ruined my life, but actually, I think you kind of did the opposite. It’s nice to be given a chance to start over… maybe it’s what I’ve always needed. And spending that time with you was really… yeah. It was really nice.” He pulls back, turning to press a gentle kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek, “Thank you for everything. Have fun in Monaco.”
Jeongguk opens his mouth to speak, but his words get stuck. He doesn’t even know what he wants to say. Don’t go? Stay? Before he can say anything, Jimin turns and steps onto the train.
Jeongguk stands, glued to the spot. He watches as a couple of passengers run onto the train. He tries to leave. He tries to turn and walk back up to the main station, to get in his car, and drive back to his apartment in Hannam, to where his suitcases are already packed and waiting, to fly to Monaco and open the door to his beach house. But he can’t move. It all suddenly feels empty.
All he can think about is burnt pancakes, and too much syrup. Explosions of giggling and chases around the house. Coffee that’s too sweet. Oversized t-shirts. A deep pair of brown eyes. Long black hair pulled so effortlessly into a ponytail. Soft lips. Flawless skin. That damned tattoo. Easy conversations and laughter… so much laughter.
For the first time he realises how empty his life was without Jimin.
“This train is ready to depart. Please stand clear of the doors.”
The doors beep and begin to slide shut, and before Jeongguk can even think, he darts forward, sliding into the carriage as the doors close behind him.
______₩______
Jimin sinks into his seat next to the window, hugging the envelope he’s holding close to his chest. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as the train lurches to life, pulling out of the station.
This is a good thing. He should think of the positives. He’s been given a chance to start over. He has a new identity, and probably more money than he had before. He can find himself a much nicer apartment in Busan, maybe find a better job too. Something he actually enjoys. He’ll be by the sea. So yeah, this is a good thing.
Except it doesn’t feel good.
Jimin is used to being alone. He’s been alone since he was fourteen. He has never really formed any meaningful relationships with those around him, no real friends or family. He’s only ever relied on himself, and that’s worked out fine for him until now. He’s always made the best of it.
So why is it that now, after living with Jeongguk for that short time, he suddenly feels so lonely?
He rests his head against the window, eyes still closed, feeling a lump in his throat. He can’t help but let his mind go to the one person it always seems to. Pretty purple hair and intricate tattoos. A toothy smile. Strong arms and soft lips. Pancakes and laughter.
After so many years of relying on no one but himself he realises he doesn’t want to be alone anymore. He wants to be with Jeongguk.
“So, I was thinking…” a familiar voice cuts through his thoughts.
Jimin jumps out of his skin, opening his eyes to see Jeongguk sitting in the seat opposite him.
“J-Jeongguk-ah?! Wha-”
“You have a new passport in there,” he gestures to the envelope.
Jimin looks down at the envelope, his heart thundering suddenly. He looks back up at Jeongguk, “…yes?”
“And you’ve never been abroad before?”
“…no?”
“Well, what do you think of Europe? Specifically Monaco. It’s a great place, I think you’d love it.”
Jimin stares at Jeongguk, completely lost.
“I- you don’t have a ticket for this train…”
Jeongguk bursts out laughing, the sound so beautiful to Jimin’s ears. He gets up and slides into the seat next to Jimin.
“Come to Monaco with me.”
Jimin sits there stunned, mouth open, not sure if he’s heard correctly, or if he’s dozed off and is actually dreaming.
“M-me?”
Jeongguk nods, a fond smile on his face. He reaches out and gently tucks Jimin’s hair behind his ear, “turns out, I’m kind of attached to you. I don’t think I can let you go after all.”
Jimin swallows, his eyes turning watery, “…you really want me to come?”
Jeongguk nods, “yeah. Just you. No one else will do. What do you think? Be warned, if you say no I will have to kidnap you again.”
Jimin laughs a watery laugh, “are you kidding! Yes! Of course I want to come with you!” He throws his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, catching the other off guard as they both nearly topple over. Jeongguk chuckles and holds Jimin close, before leaning back and pressing their lips together.
Jimin sighs into the kiss. Jeongguk came back for him. Jeongguk wants him too. He’s not alone anymore.
Jimin deepens the kiss, attempting to climb into Jeongguk’s lap before the other reminds him that they’re on public transport. He huffs and sits back in his seat, curling into Jeongguk’s side, resting his head on his shoulder.
“So tell me more about this Cadillac.”
“You’re not allowed to drive it,” Jeongguk says firmly, putting his foot down there and then.
“What- why?! I have a driving license.”
“You’ll crash it.”
“I promise I won’t,” Jimin says, reaching up and scratching lovingly under Jeongguk’s chin, “what colour is it?”
“Powder blue.”
“That’s so sexy. I can’t wait to drive it.”
“You’re not driving it…”
“Imagine how good I’ll look behind the wheel.”
“You’re not d-”
“Mmmm so exciting,” Jimin hums, nuzzling into Jeongguk’s neck like a cat. Jeongguk sighs in defeat, and Jimin giggles, then yawns. There’s something about the steady movement of transport that always makes him sleepy. Jeongguk leans his head on top of Jimin’s, their fingers loosely threaded together.
Jimin lets out a content sigh, slowly drifting off to sleep.
That is until the ticket inspector’s voice booms through the carriage, “tickets please.”
“Oh fuck.”
______₩______
“Hyung, I know you’re excited, but please stop shaking me or I will crash,” Jeongguk chides as Jimin grabs him and shakes at his shoulder again, eyes sparkling with excitement.
“We’re really going straight on the airplane?” Jimin ignores him and continues his excited questioning.
“Yeah, why not? My luggage was packed and ready to go before I even did that last bank job. So why wait? I’ve already called someone to take it to the jet,” he shrugs as Jimin leans over and rests his chin on his shoulder, fingers twisting at the purple hair against his nape.
Luckily they didn’t have to stay on the train all the way to Busan, getting chucked off at the next station with a warning due to Jeongguk’s lack of ticket. He decided then not to delay any further, and head straight to Monaco.
He’s been planning it for months, probably years now, and Jimin’s excited reaction when he’d asked if he would like to leave straight away had sealed the deal. Jimin had told him that he didn’t need to go back to his old apartment, explaining that he didn’t have anything sentimental there anyway, and seeing as he was presumed dead by the authorities, the landlord would have definitely already gotten rid of all his stuff.
“I’ve never been on an airplane before. Is it true your ears pop? Do they have inflight movies? Will I get sick? Can I have the window seat please?”
Jeongguk smiles fondly, “I’ve got a private jet, hyung. It will just be us, and a few crew members. You can sit wherever you want.”
Jimin falls uncharacteristically silent, before his loud voice echos through the car.
“You have your own plane?!”
Jeongguk chuckles. “I mean, yeah. I travel quite a lot internationally. And I hate the bustle of airports, and all the waiting.”
“You hate airports, so you bought your own plane instead?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
They are approaching Incheon airport, the large road splitting into lanes to the different terminals. Jeongguk follows a lane marked ‘cargo and freight’, his sleek black car slotting between large trucks, before slipping into a discreet lane to the side reading ‘private charter flights.’
Jimin sputters in disbelief. “How can- you’re acting like it’s not a big deal… just how rich are you?”
Jeongguk follows the road around the terminals, pulling up to a security checkpoint to gain access to the airstrip. He hands his and Jimin’s passports to the guard, who quickly checks over the information on his computer, before handing them back with a bow, “have a safe flight, Jeongguk-nim.”
Once through, the road disappears and the vast black tarmac opens up before them. Jeongguk turns to Jimin as he drives to where he can see his jet in the distance, “hyung, I’ve been doing these jobs for about ten years. We don’t do petty theft. Each job has a huge payout. Once I acquire funds, I invest them wisely, which quickly increases the amount of money I have tenfold.”
“So how much money do you have?”
Jeongguk raises an eyebrow, “I’m not telling you.”
“A billion won?”
“I’m not-”
“Two billion won?”
“Hyung-”
“More?!”
“Hyung, two billion won is not a lot of money…”
“Oh my god, you did not just say that!”
Jeongguk can’t help but laugh at Jimin’s reaction. “Just… think much bigger. That’s all I’m saying.”
Jimin thinks for a second, brows pulling into a frown, “and you couldn’t spare me a measly 500,000 won when I asked for it? I was right, you are a stingy bunny!”
Jeongguk chuckles, “I didn’t know you then. And I stick by the fact that I was doing you a favour by not shooting you.”
Jimin sinks back into his seat with a pout, grumbling something under his breath before he speaks again, “so, if you’re that rich, then why don’t you pay someone else to do your dirty work?”
“Because I’m good at what I do,” Jeongguk smirks, “no one can do it like me and my crew.”
Jeongguk pulls his car up alongside his Gulfstream G700, the sleek jet custom painted a shiny black, his personal choice of colour. The smartly dressed crew are waiting patiently with a welcoming smile at the bottom of the lowered stairs, his luggage already packed on board.
Jimin’s chin practically hits the dashboard as he jolts forward to look up at the jet like he had only just realised it was there.
“Oh my god!” he turns and looks at Jeongguk, “so you’re RICH rich.”
Jeongguk smiles, placing a soft kiss to his lips, “come on, let’s get going.”
Jimin doesn’t need to be told twice. He practically throws himself out of the door, boots tapping on the tarmac as he runs to the stairs, babbling something excitedly as he bows to the crew.
One of Jeongguk’s drivers is standing to the side waiting for his car keys, ready to return the car to the dealership. He hands the man his keys and thanks him, before turning towards the jet again.
Jimin is no longer outside. The crew look flustered, glancing between the open door and Jeongguk, not sure whether to wait for him to enter as they usually would, or to follow Jimin who has apparently scurried onto the plane first. Jeongguk just shakes his head and chuckles, greeting the pilot and crew before climbing the steps and stepping into the jet.
The interior has a luxurious white and black decor, with plush white leather seats dotted around, strips of downlighting set into the walls which can be dimmed at the touch of a button. Jeongguk wanted his jet to feel sleek but comfortable, and he feels like he accomplished that.
Jimin has already started to cause chaos, as predicted. He’s darting around the plane touching everything, a flurry of ‘ooo’s and ‘aah’s spilling from his lips. Jeongguk smiles fondly as he rests his hip against the edge of a chair and watches him, endeared by the behaviour.
“This is amazing!” Jimin squeaks, running to the room at the far end of the plane, “oh my god, you even have a bed back here! We could totally have sex in the sky if we wanted to!”
The two cabin crew members awkwardly busy themselves with their pre-flight checks, pretending not to hear his loud voice in the small aircraft.
“Wait,” he continues, popping his head out from behind the wall which separates the bedroom suite with the main seating area, “do you even have lube on this jet?”
Jeongguk throws the crew an apologetic look, before pushing off the chair and walking down the aisle towards Jimin. He takes his hand and leads him to the seats, “come and sit down, we’ll be taking off soon.”
Jeongguk sits down in his preferred part of the plane, one of two chairs facing forward with a sleek table in front. He usually sits next to the window, using the table and chair beside him to sit his laptop and other things on. But this time, keeping his promise to Jimin, he leaves the window seat beside him empty.
Jimin steps around him and drops into the seat next to him, fastening his seatbelt. He presses his nose against the glass of the window, his knee bouncing with nervous energy, “I’ve never flown before… I could never afford to.”
Jeongguk strokes Jimin’s back, nodding to the crew member who quietly informs him they will be departing momentarily.
“Jeonggukie, there’s a man outside with lights. What’s he doing? Oh, we’re moving!”
“He will help direct the plane to the runway,” Jeongguk explains, “we’ll taxi a bit to the main runway, and wait until we’re given the green light. Because we’re using a commercial airport, we need to wait for a designated slot to take off. We should get priority though, so it won’t be long.”
Jimin sits back in his seat, turning to look at Jeongguk, his eyes sparkling. “This is so exciting. I never thought I would go to Europe in my whole life. Now I’m flying there on a private jet with a millionaire!” He sighs contently, “I’m so glad you kidnapped me.”
Jeongguk laughs, leaning in to place a soft kiss to his lips, “so am I.”
“So, how long will this flight take?”
“About 12 hours.”
“12 hours? That’s a whole day! Do you have Netflix?”
“I do indeed.”
“Awesome,” Jimin grins, his eyes turning into little half moons. He turns his head, eyes glued out of the window as the plane starts to move forward. He tenses slightly as the engines fire up when they reach the runway.
Being much smaller than a commercial plane, the jet is a little more prone to being bumped around during take off and landing. Jeongguk is more than used to it, but it seems to make Jimin nervous. His eyes flicker from the window to Jeongguk, then to the front of the plane before they lock back onto Jeongguk, “um, are you sure this is safe?”
“I’ve flown on this plane countless times, hyung. It’s a little bumpy during takeoff and landing, but that’s completely normal. There’s nothing to be worried about, just- here,” Jeongguk offers his hand, “hold my hand if you’re scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Jimin says defensively.
“Okay well, hold my hand anyway.”
Jimin uncurls his fists, lifting them from his lap and placing his hand in Jeongguk’s, who links their fingers together. The plane speeds up for takeoff, and Jimin gasps, squeezing his hand. Jeongguk decides to distract him, turning his hand over and tracing the number thirteen inked on his wrist, “tell me why you have this.”
Jimin opens his eyes which had scrunched closed, and gazes down at his wrist. He seems to relax a little, his eyes locking onto the movement of Jeongguk’s fingers. He smiles a small smile, eyes lifting to Jeongguk’s, “you know how in some countries 13 is an unlucky number?”
“Yeah?”
“Well it’s my favourite number. Ironic right? I was born on the 13th. Maybe that’s why I’m so unlucky,” he laughs, “I think it sums me up pretty well though. I have the worst luck, but I make the best of it. Although,” he smiles at Jeongguk fondly, giving his had a small squeeze, “my luck seems to have improved a lot lately.”
The plane reaches full speed and they are both pressed back into their chairs as it takes off, but once off the ground the pressure eases. Jimin leans forward, hand still tightly locked in Jeongguk’s as he looks out of the window.
“Wow! This is insane, we are literally in the sky! It’s so beautiful. Look at the sunset, it’s like a painting,” he bounces excitedly in his chair, “Jeonggukie, can I borrow your phone please? I want to take a photo. My phone is probably in some police station evidence room along with my beautiful presentation. R.I.P,” he sighs dramatically.
Jeongguk takes out his mobile phone, handing it to Jimin who quickly starts to snap photos out of the window. He seems to have forgotten any nerves as he clicks off his seatbelt and jumps past Jeongguk to get to the window on the other side of the cabin when the plane suddenly turns and tilts to the side, sending him crashing to the floor with a yelp.
“Ah!- I’m okay! I’m fine, I’m good.”
“Um, excuse me Jimin-ssi,” one of the cabin crew calls over nervously, “we haven’t finished our ascent yet… I’m sorry, please sit back down for now and put on your seatbelt.”
“Oh, is that a thing? Blame Jeongguk, he didn’t tell me. I’ve never flown on an airplane before, you see. Hold on let me just take one more-”
“Come here,” Jeongguk leans over and grabs Jimin, tugging him backwards and lifting him across his lap to place him back into his seat, “sorry about him.”
The crew member gives an appreciative bow. Jimin is quickly distracted, taking photos of the view out of his window instead. “It’s so beautiful up here, look we’re already over the ocean! Look, look!”
Jeongguk leans forward and looks out at the quickly disappearing shoreline of South Korea behind them. He nods, “say goodbye to South Korea for a while.”
Jimin raises his hand and waves silently, then turns to Jeongguk. “Are you going to miss it?”
“No, I’m excited to get away. The only thing I’d really miss is my friends, but they’re already in Monaco right now. Apart from that, not really. I’ve been planning to do this for a while now. I’m actually amazed I’m finally doing it.”
Jeongguk has pictured this moment for a long time. After doing bank jobs for ten years he had started to crave a change of scenery, something a bit more slow paced. He always used to daydream about driving his Cadillac in the sun, down the winding costal roads cut into the cliffs. The funny thing is, he never pictured someone in the passenger seat until now.
When the jet evens out in the air above the clouds, one of the cabin crew comes over. “You are free to move around the jet now. Would you like any food or drinks?”
“Drink?” Jimin perks up, “what do you have?”
“Anything really. Perhaps you’d like a glass of champagne?”
“Ooh, yes please! I’ve never had champagne before. How classy.”
—
Jimin is three glasses of champagne down and is back to ransacking the entire jet. Jeongguk has settled back in his chair, sorting through his emails and making sure everything is prepared for their arrival in Monaco.
“Jimin-sii … p-please, don’t distract the pilots.”
“Wow, there are so many buttons up here! What does this button do?” Jimin’s excited voice comes from the cockpit.
“Please don’t press that!”
Jeongguk takes that as his cue, standing up and rolling his shoulders as he walks to the front of the plane.
“Oh, I’m sorry! How about this one then?”
“Jimin-ssi, p-please…”
“Can I have a go at flying it? I swear I’ll be careful. Oh, what does this shiny red lever do-” Jeongguk steps up behind Jimin and picks him up by his waist, turning to carry him out of the cockpit. The crew all give a collective sigh of relief.
“Jimin,” Jeongguk says in a warning tone.
Jimin deflates in his hold, “I’m sorry. I’m just excited.”
“No more trying to crash the plane, okay?”
“Fine.”
Jimin wriggles out of his hold and disappears into the bedroom suite at the back of the plane, returning few minutes later dressed in a set of black silk pyjamas.
“Jeonggukie, look! There are fancy pyjamas next to the bed,” Jimin twirls, showing off the shiny black material which slips off his shoulder slightly. He has tied his hair up again in that ponytail Jeongguk loves so much, his cheeks flushed from all the champagne. His boots have been kicked off and replaced with a pair of fluffy socks, “You should wear them too, it’s so much more comfortable!” He runs to the bedroom and comes back with a set for Jeongguk, “here, put them on!”
“Now?”
“Please?”
Jeongguk closes his laptop and stands, taking the pyjamas from Jimin. He usually only wears them when he wants to sleep, but he doesn’t mind putting them on now if Jimin wants him to. Jimin’s face lights up when he appears with them on.
“It’s like we’re wearing couple pyjamas!” he giggles, “um excuse me, Nayeon-shii?” he calls to the crew member whose name he has apparently learned, probably when he was bombarding her with questions. Jeongguk had heard part of their conversation where Jimin had asked about the number of parachutes on board, and gasped in horror when he was told there were none, and that wasn’t really a thing in real life.
The crew member walks over with a polite smile, her nerves looking like they have been slightly frayed at the edges. Honestly, Jeongguk had been like that at the beginning too. Jimin can be a bit of a shock to the system. He’s certainly a handful, but now Jeongguk just finds all of his little hyperactive quirks endearing.
Jimin picks Jeongguk’s phone up off the table and hands it to Nayeon, “please could you take a photo of us?”
“Yes, of course,” she nods, holding up the phone.
Jimin wiggles excitedly and wraps his arm around Jeongguk’s waist, holding up his re-filled champagne glass with his free hand and smiling for the photo, “make sure you get the socks in too!”
After what turns into a mini photo shoot directed by Jimin, they sit down to eat a selection of dishes, a mixture of Korean dishes with some Italian and French dishes too. With the press of a button, the lights dim and a flat screen television rises from a discreet compartment near the wall. Jimin’s jaw drops, and he talks about that for close to an hour.
A few hours into the flight Jeongguk decides it would be good for them to sleep to try and stave off any jet lag. He notice’s Jimin’s eyes turning sleepy, his movements slowing down which is a sign he’s tired.
They’re watching a movie, Jimin tucked into his side. He’s wearing just his boxers and the silk pyjama top now, having removed his pyjama pants and socks not long after putting them on, which didn’t surprise Jeongguk at all.
By the end of the film Jimin’s head starts to lull forward, and slowly drops off the front of Jeongguk’s shoulder a few times as he falls asleep. The crew clear away the table as Jeongguk picks Jimin up and carries him down the aisle to the bedroom, laying him gently down on the bed which has already been turned down.
Jimin stirs a little, clinging onto Jeongguk and dragging him down into the bed with him. He sighs as he curls up against Jeongguk who contentedly strokes at his hair, kissing his forehead gently. He watches Jimin for a while, not even phased any more by the warmth that blooms in his chest when he looks at him. Instead he pulls Jimin closer as he himself is lulled into the best sleep he has had for a long, long time.
______₩______
Jimin wakes to a stream of light filtering through the oval window next to the bed, casting a golden glow on the white crumpled sheets. He turns slightly to see Jeongguk’s sleeping face next to him. He’s facing towards Jimin, his lips parted slight, eyelashes dark and thick, a few strands of purple hair across his forehead. This is the first time Jimin has looked at him asleep, and he can’t hold down the somersaults that his stomach does. He is, by far, the most gorgeous man Jimin has ever seen. He really can’t believe his luck.
To think that not even three weeks ago he was stuck at his dead-end job, about to be evicted from his tiny, mould infested apartment, no money, no friends, no family. And now he’s here, with Jeongguk, leaving all that behind and going somewhere completely new. If feels so much like a crazy dream that part of Jimin is scared that he will wake up and find himself back where he was stuck for so long.
He lifts his hand, eyes following his movements as he ghosts the tip of his finger across Jeongguk’s features, as if outlining them to store in his memory. He runs his fingertips down his nose and along his jaw, over his lower lip, pressing softly on the little mole that sits underneath, before lifting his hand and stroking it across Jeongguk’s neck, shoulder and down his arm which is thrown over Jimin’s waist, then all the way back up again.
“What are you doing?” Jeongguk mumbles, eyes still shut, voice thick from sleep.
“Looking,” Jimin replies with a lazy smile, voice equally as gruff.
Jeongguk peeks open one eye, “at what?”
“You.”
“Is that so? Do you like what you see?” Jeongguk asks with a sleepy grin.
“Very much,” Jimin whispers, leaning in to press a kiss to Jeongguk’s lips. Butterflies erupt in his stomach as Jeongguk pulls him closer, rolling him onto his back as they start to lazily kiss in the warm light from the window. Jimin hums happily as Jeongguk’s teeth graze his lower lip, threading his hands up into Jeongguk’s beautiful lavender hair.
“How long until we land?” Jimin asks against Jeongguk’s lips.
Jeongguk nips his bottom lip, before rolling over and grabbing his phone to check the time.
“About two hours,” he says, placing the phone back on the side table and turning to hover over Jimin again.
“Two hours eh,” Jimin says suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows as he runs his hands over Jeongguk’s chest, “so we have some time to kill…”
“Don’t even think about it.”
“I haven’t even said-”
“We’re not having sex.”
“What- why not?!”
“Have you heard yourself? It’s a small plane. You’ll scar the staff for life.”
“I’m not that loud!”
“Hyung, the people in the country we’re flying over will probably hear you.”
Jimin whines in frustration, “I promise I’ll be quiet! Put a pillow over my head!”
“I’m not-”
“You can gag me!”
Jeongguk drops his head onto Jimin’s shoulder, cursing under his breath, “you’re going to be the death of me.”
“I just want some dick,” Jimin whines, pouting, “is that really too much to ask?”
“I’ll give you as much dick as you want when we get home, okay?”
Jimin opens his mouth to protest again but what Jeongguk says stops him in his tracks.
When we get home.
Home.
Jimin feels a swell of emotion in his chest as Jeongguk pulls him close again and presses a soft kiss against his temple, a kiss which tells Jimin everything he needs to know. Jeongguk is his, and he is Jeongguk’s. They are stuck with each other from now on.
And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
A knock on the door interrupts them, “Jeongguk-ssi? Jimin-ssi? We should be landing in just under two hours,” one of the crew says.
“Yes, thank you, we’ll be out in a minute,” Jeongguk calls out, running a hand though his dishevelled hair.
“Very good. I will get breakfast ready,” they reply.
Jeongguk pulls Jimin close again, and Jimin practically melts into him, “I can’t wait to show you Monaco. You’re going to love it.”
“I know I will. Anywhere with you will never be boring,” Jimin smiles.
Jeongguk chuckles in response, “I can definitely say the same about you.”
—
After probably the best breakfast of his entire life, and definitely the best coffee he’s ever had, Jimin is practically buzzing with excitement as they make their final descent into Nice Côte d’Azur airport.
They’re flying over the coastline and he can see houses scattered on the cliffs, the yachts in the water below them. He can understand why it’s called Côte d’Azur, the water is the bluest he’s ever seen.
The landing is actually surprisingly smooth, and after a few minutes of taxiing they’re pulling up in what seems to be some sort of private jet parking lot.
“Is everyone here rich as fuck then?” Jimin asks as he steps off the bottom of the steps onto the tarmac, squinting against the bright sunlight. The Mediterranean sun is no joke. It’s a different type of heat to Seoul, but it feels just as stifling, so he swiftly takes his suit jacket off.
“Pretty much,” Jeongguk chuckles, slipping on a pair of Gentle Monster sunglasses and handing a pair to Jimin. Jimin tries to figure out where he even pulled them from, but it seems like they just appeared out of nowhere. Maybe that’s another characteristic of the super-rich, to be able to miraculously produce designer sunglasses from thin air.
A sleek white car pulls up in front of them, and the crew get to work moving the luggage from the plane to the car. Once they are done, Jeongguk and Jimin thank the crew and captain, then Jeongguk turns and opens the car door, ushering Jimin inside before following him and closing the door. The air conditioning is instantly cooling, and Jimin sighs in relief.
“Good day monsieur Jeon,” the driver says, “would you like to go straight to your house?”
Jeongguk shakes his head, “no, could we go to Monte-Carlo Shopping Promenade first please.”
“Yes monsieur.”
Jimin turns to Jeongguk as the car sets off, excited by his words, “shopping?”
“Yep. You have no belongings, and a brand new bank card. Let’s go break it in, hm?”
—
As they cross the border into Monaco, heading to Monte-Carlo, Jimin can certainly see why Monaco is said to be the international capital of luxury. Their comparatively humble car is surrounded by bright sports cars, the enormous harbour filled with huge white yachts. Luxury brand shops and restaurants set into beautiful stone buildings zoom by one after another. When they finally pull up outside a series of glass buildings filled with luxury designer shops, Jimin is quickly feeling out of his depth.
Jeongguk steps out of the car, telling the driver to wait here for them as he motions for Jimin to get out. He holds his hand out for him, and Jimin shrinks back, looking down at his mismatched outfit, suit slightly scuffed from when he had been dragged through the sewers by Jeongguk in a rabbit mask.
“What’s wrong?”
“Look at me, I look awful. I’m going to embarrass you.”
Jeongguk rests his arm on the upper frame of the door, leaning his forehead on his forearm as he looks over the rim of his sunglasses at Jimin, “hyung, let me be blunt. You are drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously, you’re fucking stunning. Even if I dragged you around in a trash bag people would think that it’s some high fashion outfit. You can pull off anything, just own it.”
Jimin smiles, taking Jeongguk’s hand, letting him pull him out of the car. He leaves his jacket behind, tucking the oversized tee into his suit trousers, his sunglasses sitting low on his nose under his long hair.
Jeongguk nods in approval, “you’re going to fit in perfectly, don’t worry.”
Jeongguk links their fingers together, and leads him across the promenade towards the designer stores. Jimin looks down at their combined hands, a warmth blooming in his chest that Jeongguk is happy to be seen holding his hand in public. He glances around, seeing that no one seems to care. Yeah. He thinks he likes it here already.
They slip into the first store, Saint Laurent. The shop is luxurious, with white marble floors and mirrored walls, and Jimin feels a little overwhelmed. He likes shopping, sure, but on the very rare occasion that he does treat himself to new clothes, they are definitely in the lower price range. The sunglasses he’s currently wearing are by far the most expensive thing he’s ever owned.
A shopping assistant walks over, her long blonde hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. She gives them a warm smile, welcoming them in English, and luckily Jimin remembers enough of his rusty English to greet her back. Jeongguk, of course, is fluent. While they are talking Jimin wanders over to look at a pair of distressed black jeans that caught his eye when they walked through the door.
“Those would look great on you, you should try them on,” Jeongguk says, walking up behind him. Jimin hums, turning over the price tag and nearly choking.
“They’re 700 euros!” he squeaks, turning to look at Jeongguk.
“Yeah?” Jeongguk says, tilting his head in question.
“T-that’s more than my rent!” he whisper yells, and Jeongguk chuckles, bringing his hands up to cup Jimin’s cheeks. “Hyung, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Just pick out what you like, okay? Trust me, money is not a problem.”
Jimin stands there for a moment, reminding himself again that this isn’t a dream. This is really happening. He turns and runs his hand over the jeans, “I like these,” he says quietly, and Jeongguk grabs them, handing them to the assistant. Jimin can’t help but let his excitement take control. The assistant takes him around the store and he picks out different things to try on, some t-shirts, more jeans, a leather jacket and some killer boots.
Each time he tries on an outfit, he comes out of the changing room to show Jeongguk who waits patiently on a plush sofa. Jeongguk compliments every outfit Jimin puts together and it does wonders for his confidence. He leaves Saint Laurent in a pair of figure hugging jeans and a soft white t-shirt, as well as four large bags filled with clothes which they place in the car before they head into Chanel.
“This is crazy,” Jimin comments as they stop for the most delicious iced coffee he has ever had in a very chic cafe overlooking the marina, “no ones ever done anything like this for me before. I feel very spoiled.”
Jeongguk smiles, “well, you deserve it. And honestly, I’m barely spending anything in relation to what I have.”
“Oh my god, stop saying shit like that, it’s terrifying.”
Jeongguk chuckles as he slips his sunglasses onto the top of his head, his purple hair pulled back with them, “to be honest, it’s nice to have someone to spend all this shit on.”
“You mean all the money you acquired illegally?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Theft.”
“Yes.”
“Fraud.”
“Yep.”
“Debauchery?”
“There was no debauchery involved.”
“I distinctly remember you doing a few debauched things to me.”
“You were an exception,” Jeongguk grins, leaning in to kiss him softly.
Jimin hums against his lips, “will you do more debauched things to me?”
“If you behave.”
Jimin gasps, “that’s not fair. It’s not in my nature to behave, you know that.”
“This is true,” Jeongguk sighs, sipping his coffee, “and that is what I like about you. Fine. Forget behaving. Just try not to get arrested or killed.”
“Deal.”
They finish their coffees and then Jimin clears his throat, putting on a very serious face, “Jeongguk-ah…” he says solemnly, “I have a question I’ve wanted to ask you for some time now. It’s… very important.”
“Yeah?” Jeongguk looks at him expectantly, waiting for his question. Jimin takes a deep breath, and then points over Jeongguk’s shoulder, “…is that a casino?”
Jeongguk frowns in confusion, glancing behind him to where Jimin is pointing. He pauses, then laughs loudly. Jimin beams at his amused reaction. In the past, people have always told him he was annoying or weird. But Jeongguk seems to find him funny and endearing instead. It makes Jimin feel all warm and fuzzy.
“It is indeed. Casino Monte-Carlo. Do you want to check it out?”
Jimin claps his hands excitedly, practically vibrating on the spot, “yes please!”
______₩______
Jeongguk walks away from the ATM machine towards Jimin who is looking around the casino like a child at Disneyland. To say the place is grand is an understatement. Marble pillars hold up the intricately carved gold ceiling, crystal chandeliers hang over tables of patrons chatting and laughing as they gamble.
The casino is loud and bright, an attack on the senses, probably not the best place for Jimin to be seeing that he is easily excited. Still, Jeongguk holds out a large wad of euro bills, brushing them under Jimin’s chin playfully, “use them wisely,” he warns, knowing what Jimin is like.
Jimin nods, taking the bills with a quirked eyebrow, “don’t worry, Jeonggukie. I’ve played my fair share of back alley poker games in Seoul. I know how to gamble.” He runs excitedly over to the first roulette table he sees, placing the full stack down, “cash me in!”
He receives his stack of chips and instantly pushes them all into the middle of the table, “21 black, all in!”
The wheel spins. “16 red,” the dealer says in a monotone voice, reaching out with his stick and pulling the large pile of chips across the table with the rest of the chips. Jimin’s face drops.
Jeongguk steps up behind him, pinching the bridge of his nose, “did you just loose all of it?”
“I don’t know.”
“You did.”
“I… maybe I did. I’m not sure.”
“Jimin.”
Jimin turns to him, puppy eyes on full display, “I… I need more chips.”
“Right. Let’s get some more chips, and this time watch, learn, and try to bet wisely, okay?”
“Okay!”
The pair spend the rest of the afternoon in the casino, each taking turns at the different games. Jimin, by some miracle, actually ends up winning a couple of poker games and somehow wins back all the money he lost, plus a little extra. They end their casino visit with a meal overlooking the beautiful azure ocean. As they sit and watch the sun set, eating, and talking, and laughing, Jeongguk thinks that this is the happiest he’s ever been. He always thought he had everything he needed in life, but as he looks at Jimin sitting opposite him, stuffing his face with gelato, he realises he’s found the piece he didn’t even know was missing.
—
It’s dark by the time they finally make their way to Jeongguk’s house, set just along the coast in Cape Martin. It’s built into the rocky cliffs on a private road which leads to a few different mansions dotted along the coast, all overlooking the endless ocean and the bay of Monte-Carlo. Jeongguk’s house is spacious, but not ridiculously huge. It has glass windows making up the majority of the outside walls, almost as if bringing the ocean into the house. Outside there’s an infinity pool overlooking the ocean, and hot tub set into the terrace. To the side of the house is the garage where his beloved powder blue Cadillac is parked. It was one of his first big purchases when he turned 20.
Jeongguk gets out of the car and opens the front door of the house, walking back to the car to help the driver take out all the bags as Jimin runs excitedly inside. He follows his usual pattern of running around, exclaiming at the top of his lungs, pressing buttons and touching everything he can, leaving fingerprints on every surface. He’d make a terrible criminal.
Jeongguk takes all of their bags into the bedroom and thanks the driver, before kicking off his shoes and flopping down on the sofa, stretching out with a satisfied sigh. He’s finally here, where he’s wanted to be for so long, and this time with a very welcome addition.
“Your house is amazing,” Jimin says as he walks around the large living area, “it’s beautiful! No wonder you couldn’t wait to get here. There’s so much space! I couldn’t even fit that sofa in my old apartment.” He walks over to the kitchen and starts looking through all the cupboards, “wow, you’ve already had them all stocked.”
“I did, and there’s plenty of ingredients for pancakes, if that’s what you’re wondering. I made sure of that.”
Jimin smiles, his eyes turning into little half moons, “Well, I know what I’m making us in the morning then.”
“Did you look outside yet?” Jeongguk asks, happy that Jimin likes their new home so much, because he plans to live here with him for the foreseeable future.
“Sort of, it’s hard to see because it’s dark outside now. I can see the lights of Monte-Carlo though. Wait, let me go and look.”
Jimin runs outside, and it’s only when Jeongguk hears a loud splash that he realises he forgot to turn on the pool lights. He grimaces as he jogs out onto the terrace, switching the pool lights on to find Jimin coughing and spluttering, clinging to the side of the now lit up pool like a wet cat.
“O-oh,” he splutters, “a p-pool! There’s a-a pool here!”
“Fuck, I’m so sorry baby, I forgot to turn on the lights. Are you okay?”
“Im standing in a pool in 700 euro jeans,” he says wetly, scraping his hair back off his face. Jeongguk can’t help but laugh.
“Such a liability,” he says fondly.
“H-help me,” Jimin says, holding his hand up. Jeongguk goes straight to him, bending down and taking his hand to lift him out. Jimin smirks and pulls, taking Jeongguk by surprise, making him pitch head first into the pool with a yelp.
Breaking the surface coughing and spluttering, Jeongguk goes straight for Jimin who’s laughter cuts off quickly. He squeaks and attempts to swim away, but now that the lights are on in the pool Jeongguk can see his legs easily and grabs his ankle, dragging him back towards him.
“Aaah- I’m sorry! It was an accident!” he squeaks as he is helplessly pulled towards his doom.
“Yeah sure, ‘accident’,” Jeongguk wraps his arms around Jimin’s waist so he is flush to his chest and dunks under the water again, pulling Jimin down with him. When they re-surface, Jimin splutters, scraping his hair back off his face. Jeongguk laughs, shaking his head and flipping his purple hair back.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have pulled you in,” Jimin says, clinging to his shoulders, “but you should have turned on the light. How was I supposed t-to know there’s a huge ass pool out here?”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry too. Come here,” Jeongguk holds Jimin close, and Jimin wraps around him, chin resting on his wet shoulder. Jeongguk walks them to the edge of the infinity pool, where it drops off to nowhere and the ocean opens up before them, “look. This is the view.”
Jimin turns his head to look, his nose brushing against Jeongguk’s cheek with the movement. He gasps “wow, it’s the most beautiful view I’ve ever seen,” he whispers, body wrapped tightly around Jeongguk’s under the surface, the buoyancy making it effortless for him. Jeongguk combs his hand through Jimin’s hair as they look at the beautiful twinkling lights of the city reflecting on the ocean.
______₩______
“Jeongguk-ah,” Jimin whispers, warmth blooming in his chest despite the cool water around them as they stare out at the twinkling lights of Monte Carlo, “thank you for bringing me here- for, well, for everything really.”
“Even for kidnapping you?”
Jimin rolls his eyes, his smile growing, “Well, yeah in a way. I can’t tell you how much you’ve totally changed my life. You’ve given me a new start. I owe you a lot.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” Jeongguk tilts Jimin’s head up and waits for his eyes to find his, the water moving gently against their chests, “to tell you the truth, you’ve totally changed my life too. I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf. I’m not that close to my family, not emotionally anyway, and my friends just assume I’m reserved by nature. And to be honest, I always thought I was like that out of choice. It’s like…” he struggles for the words. Jimin squeezes at the nape of his neck reassuringly, hands rubbing across his shoulders in comfort as he listens intently, nodding for Jeongguk to continue.
Jeongguk takes a breath, “it’s like- I always thought I was a solitary person, but now I’ve met you, I’ve realised that actually I was pretty lonely all along. It’s not actually that fun doing things on your own. And it’s not like any companionship would do, because I’ve never really wanted anyone else, it’s… just you.” Jeongguk presses a kiss to his lips and he sighs, legs tightening around Jeongguk’s hips. “You’ve made my life a whole lot more fun. I don’t remember ever laughing as much as I do now. It’s- yeah, it’s a lot better with you by my side. Now it’s like I can’t imagine life without you. So don’t think you owe me, okay? If anything, I owe you.”
Jimin stares at Jeongguk, feeling such a rush of emotion he doesn’t know what to do.
“Is that- shit- is that too much too soon?” Jeongguk says, looking worried, “I suck at emoting. Have I scared you off?”
Jimin answers him by practically knocking him backwards into the water with a deep kiss, arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders, fingers in his hair, pulling Jeongguk impossibly close, “no- it’s perfect- it’s not too soon,” he says against Jeongguk’s lips between kisses, “I feel the same- I- life finally feels good now- with you.”
Jeongguk smiles against Jimin’s lips, running his fingers up to cup his jaw. He coaxes his head to the side to deepen the kiss, brushing his thumbs affectionately across his jaw. Jimin can’t stop the quiet moan from escaping his throat and feels like he’s about to turn to jelly at any moment as Jeongguk licks into his mouth. He tastes so good, Jimin can’t get enough. He’s been craving this ever since the other night.
He’s addicted to everything about this man. He doesn’t think he will ever get enough.
He nips at Jeongguk’s bottom lip before biting down hard, revelling in the groan it draws from him. Jeongguk slips his hand down to grab Jimin’s ass under the water over his wet jeans, pulling their hips flush together even though Jimin thinks they can’t possibly get any closer. Both of their breaths catch, and Jimin starts to feel the hum of arousal stir low in his stomach.
“God, I can’t get enough of you,” Jeongguk groans against his ear.
Jimin drags his full lips along Jeongguk’s jaw, tasting the chlorine on his wet skin and feeling the drag of subtle stubble which is beginning to show through slightly after the long flight.
Jimin quickly starts to feel fuzzy, his heartbeat loud in his ears along with the sound of their tangled breaths. Goosebumps rise on his skin, anticipation dancing down his spine as Jeongguk walks them slowly to the shallow end of the pool to where there are large steps descending into the water. Jimin continues to explore the stubble across Jeongguk’s jaw, letting the excitement take over as he drags his teeth teasingly across skin.
“Are you going to keep biting me?” Jeongguk asks breathily.
Jimin hums, his own voice sounding distant, eyes heavy and cheeks hot. He feels like he’s floating, and the buoyancy in the water doesn’t help. He clings onto Jeongguk in an attempt to not completely loose his head, hands bunching in the back of his shirt, “I- I can’t help it. You taste so good…” he murmurs, words heavy on his tongue.
He moans as Jeongguk sucks a hot mark on the side of his neck, “You’re quite sensitive aren’t you, hyung?” he says against his skin “so worked up already.”
Jeongguk isn’t wrong. He can barely think straight and they’re only kissing. Jimin opens his heavy eyes, looking at Jeongguk glowing against the light of the pool, the patterns of the ripples dancing across his skin, the way he looks as equally affected by Jimin.
“I-It’s because it’s you,” Jimin purrs, head tilting to give Jeongguk more room as he attaches his lips to his neck again.
They finally make it to the steps, which lead to a shallow platform inside the pool. Like an extended step, it has some sun loungers on, sat in a few centimetres of water, giving the illusion that they’re floating. It adds to the luxurious look of the pool. Jeongguk sits him down on it, the water lapping a few centimetres around the lower part of his hips and between his legs.
Jimin opens his mouth to make a comment about this fancy feature, but his words are cut off by Jeongguk’s hands running up and down his wet jeans hungrily. He parts Jimin’s knees, fitting his hips perfectly between them as he cages Jimin in, coaxing him to lay back in the shallow water.
Jeongguk kisses him with a new kind of hunger. His hands are everywhere and Jimin doesn’t know when he ends and Jeongguk begins. The world is glowing azure around him, the stars sparkling brightly overhead.
Jeongguk moves his hands down to unbutton Jimin’s jeans, trying to pull them down. “How the fuck did you even get these on?” he says through gritted teeth, attempting to pull the tight wet jeans over Jimin’s ass as they stick to his skin. Jimin grips onto the lip of the platform tightly as Jeongguk tugs hard, almost pulling him back into the deep part of the pool.
“It was easier when they weren’t wet,” Jimin chuckles breathily, “not much easier though.”
After a lot of struggling, the offending garment is finally peeled off and discarded, along with his underwear, cast to the side in a wet pile. Jeongguk stares down at him with a look of awe and lust, running his hands up his legs gently.
“Holy shit, Jimin,” Jeongguk gasps breathily, “you’re perfect.”
Jimin struggles to think through the haze, pondering if there was any time before this that a man looked at him like Jeongguk did, with such intense desire, but he comes up short. The thought brings another surge of heat to his cheeks.
He shivers as he feels the open air brush over his exposed body, his bare legs parted around Jeongguk’s hips, chest heaving as he lets Jeongguk explore his body with hungry eyes and firm hands. He can feel that his cock is painfully hard now, curled up heavily atop the wet T-shirt plastered against the skin of his stomach. His shirt is white, and Jimin can only imagine how see-through it has become, his dark nipples and tattoo visible through the material.
Jeongguk quickly drags him back into a heady daze, pressing him down and kissing him breathless. Jimin reaches up and brushes at his cheeks, running his fingertips along his hairline and down across his shoulders.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Jeongguk growls, capturing Jimin’s wrist and pressing a tender kiss into his palm, then to his wrist, his forearm, his bicep, his shoulder blade, his collarbone, “I’m so lucky I found you.” He leaves open mouthed kisses across Jimin’s chest and down his stomach, goosebumps erupting wherever he touches. He moves down, kissing at the inside of Jimin’s thigh, sucking bruises on the sensitive unblemished skin which has Jimin trembling, before without warning he’s taking Jimin’s cock into his mouth.
“Fuck! Holy shit- ah! J-Jeongguk- oh my god!” He grabs Jeongguk’s hair in a death grip causing him to yelp and pull off.
“H-hyung, gently,” he says as Jimin releases his grip, carding his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair softly in an apology.
“S-sorry, sorry, I just wasn’t expecting it, I haven’t- no ones ever- sorry,” Jimin pants, stroking Jeongguk’s head.
Jeongguk looks at Jimin in confusion before his eyes widen, “No one’s ever sucked you off before?!” Jimin feels himself blush a little as he plays with the hem of his wet t-shirt. “No,” he says with a pout, “I’m usually the one doing the sucking.”
Jeongguk looks horrified. “What kind of sex have you been having all these years?!”
“The shit kind apparently,” Jimin whines, “which I’m hoping you’re about to change, so less talking, more sucking, please,” he pushes Jeongguk’s head back towards his cock and Jeongguk snorts, shaking his head as he takes Jimin’s cock in his hand, licking a strip along the length before taking it into his mouth again, sinking down.
Jimin drops back into the shallow water, head tilting back against the tiles. He can feel the water moving through his long hair as his eyes fall closed with the heat of Jeongguk’s mouth on him, around him. It’s borderline overwhelming, in such a glorious way. Jeongguk runs his tongue over the head of his cock before sinking down again, and Jimin’s is unable to control the obscene sounds coming out of his mouth.
He feels his thighs tremble as Jeongguk pushes his arms under them, coaxing them up onto his shoulders. Jimin holds onto Jeongguk’s hair more gently this time, arms moving up and down as Jeongguk bobs his head. Jimin’s breath comes out staccato, each drag of his lungs mixed with some sort of moan.
This must be what heaven feels like because holy shit.
Jeongguk swallows around him and Jimin’s whole body arches in pleasure. When he feels that familiar heat growing low in his belly he taps at Jeongguk’s shoulder, “J-Jeongguk-ah s-stop, I don’t want to come yet, p-please, I want- I need you to fuck me, p-please.”
Jeongguk pulls of his cock with a pop and looks at Jimin with so much want it has his stomach doing flips. He yelps as Jeongguk grabs him by the waist and stands up, water dripping down around them. Jimin naturally moulds to him, legs and arms wrapping around his frame as Jeongguk presses kisses over his flushed face and walks them through their home to the bedroom.
“We’re gonna make it wet,” Jimin comments as Jeongguk places him down onto the king sized bed, the sheets billowing up around him.
“I don’t care,” Jeongguk mumbles as he kisses Jimin, his hands roaming over the wet t-shirt stuck to his body, “also for future reference, you should definitely enter a wet t-shirt contest one day, because fuck, you’d win by miles.”
Jimin giggles, shaking his head as he looks up at Jeongguk, “this is only for you though,” he whispers, running his hands over his body.
Jeongguk pretty much growls in response, making light work of peeling off Jimin’s t-shirt, throwing it to the floor with a splat. Jimin lets his knees fall apart, and watches as Jeongguk kneels between his legs and pulls his own t-shirt up over his head. His damp purple hair falls down over his face and he pushes it back with his hand, heavy eyes dragging up Jimin’s body. He strips off his pants and boxers, dropping down onto Jimin again, slotting himself between his legs.
Jimin mewls at the hot feeling of their skin touching, cocks slotting alongside each other. He writhes and pants as Jeongguk leaves another series of bites along his shoulder, slowly beginning to rock against him, only taking a few rocks to coax him back to full hardness. Jimin can feel his cock leaving smears of precum between them, quickly feeling like he is about to loose his sanity if Jeongguk didn’t take it further.
“J-Jeongguk” Jimin whimpers into Jeongguk’s hair as he nips at his collarbone “you have lube, right? A-and condoms?”
Jeongguk chuckles lightly, his breath tickling Jimin’s damp skin. He sits up, reaching over to his side table and pulling out a condom and a bottle of lube. Jimin raises an eyebrow when Jeongguk hands him the condom to hold, “only one?”
“For now,” Jeongguk grins.
He opens the bottle with a click and pours the gel out onto his hands, warming it between his fingers before leaning down to kiss Jimin. He slips his hand between Jimin’s legs and presses a lubed finger against his entrance.
“Wait,” Jimin breaks the kiss, and Jeongguk’s finger stills as he looks at him in question, “aren’t I topping?”
Jeongguk stills, his eyes widening, “W-what?”
“Me… I’m a top.”
“I… you’re… what?”
“I need to be top,” Jimin says sternly as his breath continues to come out staccato.
“Oh. Um, yeah. Okay,” Jeongguk nods, his brows draw in confusion as he moves to sit back.
Jimin bursts out laughing, brushing his damp hair off his forehead as he falls into a fit of giggles. Jeongguk’s face turns from a look of confusion to realisation, “you little shit! You can even fuck around at a time like this?”
“I couldn’t help myself.” Jimin pulls Jeongguk into a kiss, nosing at his cheek gently, “would you really have let me top? You’re so cute, Jeonggukie. You looked so confused. I- wait- ah!” Jimin’s voice cuts off as Jeongguk’s finger pushes through the tight ring of muscle without warning, “ -ahh! Okay, okay, I get it, I’m sorry for teasing you… ah, fuck, it’s t-too much.”
“It’s only one finger,” Jeongguk chuckles as he slowly pushes his finger in and out, rubbing against Jimin’s walls.
Jimin’s legs shake, the muscles in his abdomen tensing, “Ah! it’s- it’s been a long time Jeongguk-ah. I haven’t even, ah! I haven’t been able to use my toys either because I was too tired from working thirteen hour days. Be gentle to my poor unused ass.”
Jeongguk drops his face against Jimin’s chest with a snigger, a lilt of amusement in his voice, “just- try to relax, okay? I’ll make you feel good, I promise.”
“O-okay,” Jimin wills himself to relax, closing his eyes and letting himself become distracted by Jeongguk’s kisses across his chest, his licks at his sensitive nipples. His legs go limp again, spreading under Jeongguk’s hips as he pumps his finger in and out until Jimin adjusts to the intrusion and gets lost in the rhythm, crying out as Jeongguk crooks his finger in just the right place.
“Ah! sweet jesus, fuck, ah, yes, right there.”
Jeongguk stills at the response, and rubs again in the same spot, watching Jimin jolt at the explosion of pleasure running through his body.
Jeongguk slips in a second finger, and Jimin’s legs spring up again, clamping down on his hand as he digs his nails into Jeongguk’s shoulders, “o-oh, Jeongguk-ah!”
“Relax, baby,” Jeongguk murmurs against Jimin’s lips, biting his lower lip and making him cry out as he slowly works him open, adding a third finger and a forth, pausing to pour more lube onto his hand.
Each extra finger feels like it’s becoming too much, but just when Jimin gets too overwhelmed with the stretch and is about to tap out, Jeongguk moves down his body and settles between his legs.
“W-what are you- ngh!” Jimin keens as Jeongguk licks up the underside of his leaking cock, taking it into his mouth again and sucking slowly as he continues to pump his fingers, covering the discomfort with bouts of insurmountable pleasure.
The pleasure outweighs the stinging sensation, and Jimin can feel his hips cantering as a reflex, pushing up into Jeongguk’s mouth. He reaches down, tangling his fingers in Jeongguk’s long hair, letting out a strangled cry as he continues to simultaneously push up into Jeongguk’s mouth and drop down onto his fingers. It’s all so much and yet, not enough. Jimin sees fireworks flashing behind his eyelids, and he quickly becomes a writhing mess amongst the damp sheets.
“J-Jeongguk, t-that’s enough,” Jimin stutters between heavy pants, tugging at Jeongguk’s tangled hair. Jeongguk slowly comes off, dragging his tongue purposefully over the prominent veins before circling the head one last time, relishing in the way Jimin’s hips jolt in response. He lets go with a pop and Jimin reaches down and wipes at the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand, “p-please don’t make me wait any longer. I need you.”
Jeongguk nods and sits back on his knees, positioning himself at just the right angle before reaching to the side to grab the bottle of lube and the condom that Jimin had dropped onto the mattress beside his shoulder. He tears the wrapper with his teeth as he lubes himself up and adds a bit more to Jimin’s hole for good measure which Jimin appreciates. He pumps himself back to full hardness, and Jimin can’t help the drool the escapes from his lips as he stares at Jeongguk’s cock, because hello sir, are you even going to fit?
“You ready?” Jeongguk asks, and Jimin feels the head of his cock brush down his perineum to his waiting hole, slightly loosened and dripping, waiting to be filled.
Jimin nods quickly and opens his mouth to give some sort of snark reply for the hell of it, but that plan goes to shit as all the air gets forced from his lungs when Jeongguk pushes in. Jimin let’s out a long crying moan as he feels Jeongguk rock into him steadily, listening to Jimin’s body as he slowly accepts the intrusion until he finally bottoms out, hips flush against his ass.
Jimin shudders at the overwhelming feeling of fullness, pulling hard at the sheets beneath him until he feels them untuck at the corners of the mattress. He doesn’t even attempt to suppress his moans as Jeongguk starts to move. Instead he let his moans come out loud and tempting, echoing around the room.
“H-hyung,” Jeongguk snorts as he shallows his thrusts, rocking against Jimin’s prostate just right, “this is the noisiest sex I’ve ever had. S-Seriously, I’m glad that there are no people living nearby, I bet your voice can be heard for miles.”
“Shut me up t-then,” Jimin replies, throwing his arms around Jeongguk’s neck, pulling his weighty body flush on top of him, crashing their lips together in a passionate kiss which is all teeth and tongues. He wraps his legs around Jeongguk, his moans muffled as Jeongguk sets a gruelling pace, thrusting deep into him.
He feels Jeongguk moan against his skin, biting onto his neck just hard enough to make Jimin whine. His cock is trapped between them, rubbing against their stomachs with each thrust, and the feeling just adds to the intense sensations which thrum through him.
It’s so much, he feels so many feelings at once and his voice goes up a pitch as he nears his release. Jeongguk speeds up at the sound, pushing Jimin closer and closer to the edge. He trembles as his walls clench down around Jeongguk’s cock, a hoarse cry bursting through him as Jeongguk thrusts into him at a relentless pace, forcing him up the bed as he groans against Jimin’s open mouth, teeth dragging down his chin.
“J-Jeongguk, I-I’m close… I’m gonna…” he pants as he feels the wave of pleasure crash over him, his muscles all tensing at once and his vision going white as he comes untouched with a sinful cry. The orgasm is intense, the high lasting for what feels like an eternity as his body twitches under Jeongguk, walls clenching and unclenching around his cock.
Jeongguk quickly reaches his own orgasm with a loud groan, his thrusts turning sloppy as he releases. His body goes limp on top of Jimin, completely satiated as he presses a kiss into his neck, chest heaving.
“T-that was… incredible,” Jimin sighs breathily, his head spinning. He can safely say he has never been fucked so good in his life. He can barely feel his limbs. To the extent that he barely feels it when Jeongguk pulls out of him. Nor does he feel it when Jeongguk wipes him down with a damp cloth, or when he switches off the lamp and covers them both with a soft blanket. The room falls into a deep dusky glow, the blue from the pool outside the window, and the distant twinkle of lights from the across the bay casting shadows on the wall.
Jimin simply smiles a satiated smile as Jeongguk pulls him into his arms, pressing a gentle kiss to his temple. Jimin curls against him, his arms sliding over Jeongguk’s which wrap around his waist. Just as he gives into the pull of sleep, wrapped in Jeongguk’s warmth and surrounded by his scent, a small voice in the back of his head whispers to him that there is no place he would rather be.
______₩______
Jeongguk watches Jimin’s shoulders slowly rise and fall as he sleeps peacefully, his cheeks still lightly flushed, his kiss swollen lips in a small pout, neck littered with the marks he’s left there. He loves seeing Jimin like this, unaware that he is so beautiful, or what kind of affect he has on him. He also loves seeing him cause chaos every moment that he’s awake too.
Jimin always talks about luck, and Jeongguk doesn’t know if some higher power caused them to meet, or if it was complete coincidence that Jimin stepped into that bank on that particular morning and fell right into Jeongguk’s life, changing it forever.
Either way, he feels pretty damn lucky right now.
—
Jeongguk is woken up the next morning by Jimin covering his face in gentle kisses. He hums happily, stretching his arms above his head before wrapping them around Jimin, pulling him down on top of him to press their lips together.
“Good morning,” he mumbles against Jimin’s lips, feeling Jimin smile. He can’t believe he hasn’t been waking up like this his whole life.
“Good morning Jeongukkie,” Jimin replies softly, running his fingers through Jeongguk’s hair.
Jeongguk sighs, blinking his eyes open, “something smells good.”
Jimin smiles excitedly and turns around, leaning over the edge of the bed as Jeongguk pushes himself up to sit against the headboard. “For you,” Jimin says, turning back around and placing a tray on Jeongguk’s lap. On the tray is a plate of freshly made pancakes, a pot of syrup, and a coffee. Jeongguk looks down at the tray, and then back at Jimin.
“You made me breakfast in bed…” he whispers, feeling a sudden rush of emotion because no one has ever done anything like this for him before.
“Mhm,” Jimin nods, “sorry it’s not very fancy. It’s just… you’ve done so much for me, I really want to do stuff for you too. Im not good at a lot of things, but I can cook, and I like-”
Jeongguk pulls Jimin into a crushing kiss, careful not to knock the tray off his lap. He kisses Jimin with every bit of emotion he’s currently feeling, before pulling back, holding Jimin’s face in his hands to look him in the eyes.
“Just you being here is more than enough,” he says, stroking this thumbs along Jimin’s cheekbones, “also, don’t you dare say you’re not good at anything ever again, okay? I won’t hear any Park Jimin slander in this house,” he says sternly, and Jimin beams, his eyes turning into little half moons.
After eating their breakfast in bed they find themselves tangled up together again, Jimin perched on Jeongguk’s lap, kissing lazily. They’re interrupted by Jeongguk’s phone ringing on the side table. He detaches himself from Jimin and leans over to grab it, looking at the caller ID.
“Oh, it’s Jin-hyung,” he says, answering the call and bringing the phone to his ear. “Hi hyung,” he says, shivering slightly when Jimin runs his hands over his bare chest, “yeh I’m here, flew in yesterday, I’m- ah!” he yelps as Jimin leans down and bites his nipple teasingly, “no, I’m fine, sorry, what were you saying? Today? Uhh…” Jimin starts to kiss down his body and Jeongguk promptly forgets what he was saying. “S-sorry Hyung,” he stutters, swatting a giggling Jimin’s head away, “what did you say? Today? No, no plans, why? Yeh that sounds good, what time? Okay hyung, see you then- ah fuck..” Jeongguk curses as Jimin grinds down in his lap, “gotta go, b-bye hyung!”
Jeongguk throws his phone to the side and pounces on Jimin, pinning him to the bed. “Think that was funny, do you?” he growls as Jimin giggles under him, obviously pleased with himself, “Jin-hyung probably thinks I’ve lost the plot.”
“I mean… haven’t you?” Jimin smirks, raising an eyebrow.
“Right, that’s it,” Jeongguk grabs Jimin’s arms and uses one hand to pin them above his head while using the other to tickle him relentlessly. Jimin squeals, trying to escape without success.
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he cries, and Jeongguk relents, pulling back and letting his arms go. Jimin’s lies there for a few moments, catching his breath.
“Is everything ok with your crew?,” he asks, and it takes Jeongguk a second to realise he’s talking about the phone call.
“Huh? Oh, yeh, everything’s fine. They’re just meeting up today and want me to come along.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Jimin smiles up at him, “I bet you’ll be glad to see them again. I think I’ll test out the hot tub while you’re gone.”
Jeongguk brows draw into a frown, “what? No, you’re coming too…”
“Huh?” Jimin says, eyes widening slightly.
“I’m not gonna just leave you here… unless you don’t want to come?”
“N-no, of course I want to come! It’s- I just didn’t want to presume, you know?” Jimin says, worrying his lip between his teeth, “I didn’t know if they knew I was here…”
“…I haven’t told them yet,” Jeongguk admits, “not because I don’t want to, I’ve just been… distracted by a certain someone,” he smirks, leaning down to peck Jimin’s lips, “I’ve actually only messaged the group chat once since the bank job, just to say I was flying out here.”
“So I was right, you were distracted by my charms,” Jimin says smugly.
“By your legs more like,” Jeongguk says, giggling when Jimin slaps him playfully, “seriously though, I’d like you to come.”
“Okay,” Jimin smiles, “I’ll come. What time do we need to go?”
“Jin-hyung said to get there about 2pm.”
Jimin nods, reaching up to thread his fingers into Jeongguk’s hair, pulling him down to press their lips together. “Do you want to have a shower with me before we go?” he whispers, biting down on Jeongguk’s lower lip.
“Fuck yes,” Jeongguk groans, scooping a giggling Jimin up and marching him to the bathroom.
—
“Oh my god, it’s even more beautiful than I imagined!” Jimin squeaks, running towards the vintage powder blue convertible Cadillac. Jeongguk smiles. The car is definitely his pride and joy, and he’s pleased Jimin loves it as much as he does. Jimin wastes no time, opening the door and jumping into the driver’s seat. “It’s so pretty,” he says, running his hands over the white leather seats, “look at the speedo, it’s so retro!” He grips the steering wheel and looks up at Jeongguk with puppy eyes, “can I drive it?”
“Not a chance.”
“Please? I’ll be careful!”
“You’ll crash it.”
“I won’t!”
“When was the last time you even drove a car?” Jeongguk asks, raising an eyebrow.
“I… when I passed my test,” Jimin pouts.
“Years ago then…”
“So? It’s like riding a bike, you never forget.”
“That’s not-”
“This is the brake right,” Jimin says, gesturing to one of the pedals on the floor.
“No it’s not-”
“Does this do the gears?” he pulls a lever to the side of the steering wheel and the windscreen wipers turn on.
“Just move over,” Jeongguk sighs, pushing Jimin along the front seat to sit down next to him.
“You’re so mean,” Jimin pouts, sliding down in his seat and crossing his arms sulkily. Jeongguk chuckles feeling utterly enamoured. He really can’t say no to Jimin.
“I’ll make you deal,” he says, poking Jimin’s cheek, “I’ll take you out driving in a different car, and once I know you can actually drive and won’t crash, I’ll let you drive this one. Deal?”
Jimin beams, sitting up excitedly and pressing a kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek, “okay, deal!”
The drive from Cape Martin to Monaco is probably Jeongguk’s favourite drive. The road runs all the way along the coast, with stunning views of the sea the entire journey. Jimin makes him pull over a few times to take pictures on his new phone he’d bought the day before, which adds an extra ten minutes to their journey, but when they finally get to Monaco and pull up at the marina, Jimin’s jaw drops.
“Don’t tell me you have a fucking yacht?!” he splutters.
“Of course I have a yacht,” Jeongguk replies nonchalantly, “it’s Monaco, everyone has a yacht.”
“Right, of course, silly me,” Jimin says sarcastically, “So which one is yours?” he asks, looking around excitedly.
“I’ll show you it later,” he says, getting out of the car and holding the door open for Jimin to slide out, “today we’re going on Jin-hyung’s yacht.”
He takes Jimin’s hand and they walk along the dock, passing yachts of all shapes and sizes until they reach a rather grand one moored at the very end.
“Holy shit, it’s like a cruise ship,” Jimin gapes, taking in the large white yacht in front of him.
“Yeah, Jin-hyung isn’t one for subtlety,” Jeongguk chuckles. Jimin looks at the name painted in script on the side. “Worldwide Handsome…” he reads, turning to look at Jeongguk with a quirked eyebrow.
“Yeah… like I said, not subtle.”
They walk to the deck at the rear of the yacht where there’s two parallel sets of stairs leading inside.
Now, Jeongguk has a rough plan of how he’s going to tell the others about Jimin. He’ll get Jimin to wait outside a moment while he goes in and breaks it to them gently. He’ll butter them up first, and then he’ll bring Jimin in, on his best behaviour, to meet them officially.
Jimin is seems, has other ideas.
“I can’t believe I’m going on a yacht,” he squeaks excitedly, bouncing up and down on the spot, before jumping onto the deck and running up the stairs.
“H-hyung, wait a second!” Jeongguk exclaims, chasing after him, but it’s too late. Jimin crashes through the door like a whirlwind into the lavish lounge.
“Hi everyone! Long time no see!”
Five heads promptly turn in their direction from where his hyungs are lounging on plush sofas, and Jeongguk winces, hanging his head. He is never going to hear the end of this.
There’s a drawn out silence before Taehyung and Hobi bursts out laughing, falling back against the sofa. Yoongi smirks, turning to look at Seokjin, “you owe me a billion won,” he says nonchalantly, taking a sip of his whisky.
Jin turns to look at Jeongguk, “you’ve let me down Jeonggukie,” he sighs, shaking his head.
“I- what?” Jeongguk splutters, looking between them all.
“Yoongi-hyung bet Jin-hyung a billion won that you’d keep Jimin,” Namjoon says with an amused look, taking a sip of his beer.”
“Wha- …you bet on me!?” Jeongguk exclaims, feeling utterly betrayed. He looks at Jimin who just shrugs, looking amused.
“It was a pretty safe bet, I don’t even know why Jin-hyung took it,” Yoongi gestures to Jin, “you saw them in the van. I called it the moment we left the bank.”
“Me too,” Taehyung chuckles.
“Me three,” Hoseok adds, giggling at the betrayed look on Jeongguk’s face, “I’m sorry Jeonggukie, but it was pretty obvious.”
Jeongguk stands there, mouth hanging open as his hyungs all walk past him to greet Jimin.
“Jimin-ssi, its nice to see you again,” Jin beams, “welcome to my humble abode. Would you like a drink?”
“Yes please!” Jimin chirps happily.
“You scrub up well,” Taehyung says, giving Jimin a once over, “is that Chanel?”
“Uhuh,” Jimin smiles, doing a little twirl to show off his outfit, some fitted white slacks and a white embroidered silk shirt, “Jeonggukie took me shopping.”
“Did he now,” Taehyung quips, looking at Jeongguk with a shit faced grin.
Jeongguk feels his cheeks redden as Hoseok wraps an arm around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug. “You’ve done well for yourself Jeonggukie,” he winks and Jeongguk chuckles, pushing his hyung away playfully. But as he glances over at Jimin, he can’t help but agree.
His hyungs all welcome Jimin with open arms. When Jin offers to give him a tour of the yacht, Jimin can’t contain his excitement, dragging a wide eyed Jin out of the room while asking a million and one questions about icebergs and life jackets. Jeongguk can’t help but laugh. That’ll serve Jin right for betting on him.
After a catch up with his hyungs, Jeongguk finds himself standing on the deck with Namjoon, looking out at the ocean.
“You seem really happy,” Namjoon comments, taking a sip of his beer.
“I am,” Jeongguk smiles, taking a sip of his own drink, “it’s funny, I though I had everything I needed in life, you know? And then ‘boom’, along comes Jimin.” He chuckles, shaking his head, “it’s like he’s filled a hole I didn’t know was there.”
Namjoon smiles fondly, “they say the best things always come along when you don’t expect it.” He pats Jeongguk lovingly on the back, “I’m really happy for you Jeongguk-ah.”
They chat for a little longer before making their way back inside to find Jimin and Yoongi sitting at a table with Jin, Tae and Hoseok standing around them.
“What’s going on?” Jeongguk asks, walking up behind Jimin.
“Yoongi hyung bet Jimin a billion won that he couldn’t beat him at poker,” Taehyung says, trying to hold back a laugh.
“He what!? Hyung!” Jeongguk exclaims, glaring at Yoongi who just smirks back at him.
“Better get your check book out Jeongguk-ah,” Yoongi grins, laying his hand down on the table, “straight flush.”
Jeongguk groans as everyone ‘ooohs’ excitedly, before turning their attention to Jimin.
Jimin smiles a beautiful smile up at Jeongguk before laying his own cards down on the table. A royal flush.
“No fucking way!” Taehyung barks, erupting into hysterical laughter as Yoongi’s face falls.
“You won!” Jeongguk laughs in disbelief, “you actually won!”
The others all woop and cheer as Jeongguk pulls a giggling Jimin into his arms, “you are something else, you know that,” he says before pulling him in for a kiss.
“Get a room,” Taehyung shouts, throwing a cushion at them.
“Do not get a room!” Jin yells, hitting a laughing Taehyung round the back of the head.
Any worries Jeongguk had about Jimin fitting in are all thrown to the dust. Everyone adores Jimin. Tae is convinced that him and Jimin are soulmates, and tries to get Jimin to go home with him instead. Jin wants to take Jimin fishing. Yoongi has arranged a poker date. Namjoon has invited himself over for pancakes, and Hoseok has promised to take Jimin out shopping to spend his poker winnings.
As Jeongguk lays in bed that night, staring at the beautiful man sleeping next to him, he thanks his lucky stars that out of the billions of people in the world, he was lucky enough to meet Park Jimin.
______₩______
6 months later
Jimin adjusts his sunglasses and runs his fingers through his long black hair, looking at what has become his new true love, the sky blue Cadillac he has taken upon himself to name ‘Caddy’. The Mediterranean sun warms his skin, giving him that golden glow he loves on himself as he watches Jeongguk reverse the beautiful car from the garage.
“Remind me again why you won’t let me drive her?”
“I did let you drive her, and you almost crashed.”
“Okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration…”
“You almost killed a pedestrian.”
Jimin puts his hands on his hips defensively, “he appeared out of nowhere!”
“He was on the sidewalk!”
Jimin relents, “ugh, okay I’m sorry. I promise not to do that again! Come on, let me drive, pleaseeee?”
“I’ll let you drive her next time,” Jeongguk chuckles as he tucks his newly re-dyed purple hair behind his ear, and slides on his sunglasses, “for now, let me drive because I know where we’re going. Get in.”
Jimin opens the passenger side door, sliding into the beautiful vintage convertible and placing the extravagant picnic basket he’s made in the back seat, a fresh baguette sticking out of the gingham cloth, as well as a bottle of white wine. He loops his arms around Jeongguk’s neck and nuzzles against his cheek, kissing him affectionately.
“Are we really going to a private beach?” Jimin asks, wiggling excitedly.
“We are.”
“Is it a nudist beach? You know, i’ve always wanted to go to a nudist beach.”
“That’s a strange goal in life… but duly noted. I’ll find one for you to visit. Today however is just a small private beach,” Jeongguk says as he pulls out onto the winding coastal road, reaching for Jimin’s hand and threading their fingers together.
Jimin rests on the door frame, watching the sun sparkle off the waves of the azure ocean, the white yachts dotted around just off the cliffs. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get bored of this place. He’s lived here for six months but he still wakes up excited every morning. Though that might have something to do with the man he’s waking up next to.
“But if it’s private, then technically we can turn it into a nudist beach,” he grins, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Jeongguk turns to look at Jimin with a mischievous look, “I mean, skinny dipping in the ocean is definitely on the table.”
Jimin sighs contentedly, “I’m so happy I found you,” he says, lifting his free hand up, letting the wind curl around his fingers as he moves them through the air.
When they reach the beach, Jimin realises Jeongguk really did mean private. Set away from the bustle, far down the coastline, it is like they are on their own desert island. White sand and crystal waves surrounded by trees and cliffs. It’s only small, but it’s perfect.
Jimin can’t help himself. He puts the picnic basket down on the sand and sets off in a run down to the ocean, turning to run backwards when he hears Jeongguk running to catch up with him. They run through the waves which roll up onto the shore, both laughing as Jeongguk scoops him up and threatens to drop him into the water.
It’s late afternoon, and maybe a bit of a strange time to have a picnic, but they’d spent the rest of the day in bed, tangled together between the white sheets, lost in each other. So when he’d suggested they turn their ‘picnic lunch’ into a ‘picnic dinner’, Jeongguk had agreed readily, leaving them more time for their lazy Sunday together.
Jimin had bought the picnic foods from a local artisan food market, driving back and forth in the convertible Audi which Jeongguk trusts him not to crash. And to be fair he has only almost crashed it twice… and it’s been six months. That’s really good for him. When he’d told Jeongguk this, his face had turned an amazing array of colours and he’d called Jimin a ‘liability’ more than once. Jimin finds it cute when he gets mad. His favourite hobby is getting scolded by Jeongguk.
By the time they finish their food and wine, the sun is setting, and the sky is a beautiful mix of pinks and purples. Jimin stands up, holding his hand out to Jeongguk “come on, bunny-ssi, let’s take a walk.”
Jeongguk pushes himself up and pulls him into his arms, placing a kiss to his lips. “I love you,” he whispers, and Jimin’s heart feels so full as he looks at the man in front of him. His best friend. His partner. His soul mate.
“I love you too,” he replies, “so much.” Jeongguk smiles that beautiful bunny smile and presses a chaste kiss to his forehead, before taking his hand and leading him towards the waves.
Some people just walk in the light.
Maybe Jimin will never be one of those people. But as he tightens his hand around Jeongguk’s and looks up into his big brown eyes, he realises something.
He doesn’t need to walk in the light… because walking into the sunset with Jeongguk is just perfect for him.
.End.
