Chapter Text
The apartment was dark and too loud. Jimin laid sprawled across his bed, one leg hanging off the edge, phone resting on his chest. A distant wall-clock ticking somewhere.
1:30 AM, at night.
The ceiling fan spun lazily above him, clicking every few seconds. But, every sound around him somehow managed to turn into Jeongukk's voice.
Recently everything had. His brain wouldn’t shut up.
Jimin had tested him. Thoroughly.
Observation Result — Final Conclusion:
* Attentive? ✔
* Protective? ✔
* Romantic? (and a flirt) ✔
* Jealous? (very much) ✔
Jimin groaned, dragging his hands down his face. “Passed. Questionably, but he passed in everything." He muttered to the empty room.
Which was the problem. Because no one was supposed to be that consistent. That intense.
His mind flickered back to Jeongukk's eyes darkening when that guy had stepped too close.
The way his big, warm hand gripped around his neck.
The quiet, controlled voice that never raised at him, but still made him listen.
The way he always looks at him like...
Jimin sat up abruptly. “Like I’m already his.”
Silence crowded him.
“Why do I not hate it?”
He blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Oh.
Oh.
“Oh... oh no.”
Jimin grabbed a pillow and smashed it over his face. Screaming in it.
“This is bad. This is so bad.”
Because it wasn’t just curiosity anymore. Not just a test or observation.
He threw the pillow aside, staring at his mother's picture frame, on the wall. “I like him.”
The words sat in the air. Real and raw.
A second later...
“I... really like him.”
A slow, creeping heat spread up his ears, then face.
“This is ridiculous. It has been what, two? three week? How could i just..."
He stopped. Because he did, and worse thing was. He wasn’t even unsure about it.
Jimin grabbed his phone, unlocking it, staring at Jeongukk's contact.
His thumb hovered over it.
“What am I even going to say to him?” he whispered.
The clock read 2:04 AM.
Any sane person would sleep at this time. Jimin was not that person.
“He must be sleeping.”
Before he could overthink it again he pressed call. "It's fine, he'll wake up."
It rang once.
Twice.
By the third ring, he picked it up.
“Hello?”
__________________________________________________________
Documents were spread across the table.
Voices low and controlled.
Jeongukk stood at the head, gaze fixed on the man speaking on his left.
“Shipment will be moved by...”
His phone buzzed. Soft, barely there. Jeongukk ignored it.
“...by tomorrow night."
Buzz. Again.
His hand moved this time. Absentminded. Eyes still focused on the man ahead.
The moment his phone buzzed up the third time. He stilled. Looking at screen.
Jimin.
His eyes moved to check the time, at the corner. 2:07 AM
A flicker of concern ran through his body. Sharp.
Jeongukk answered it without any further delay. Stepping away from the table.
Postures shifted behind him. Eyes following his movement.
But he didn’t care. He stepped outside the room, the door closed behind him.
“Hello?”
A pause.
Sound of breathing on the other end was soft, uneven.
“Don’t...” Jimin’s voice came out low. Strained. “Don’t ask anything.”
Jeongukk's brows pulled together. “…Alright.”
A long pause, which he didn’t interrupt. Rather just waited, and then...
“I was thinking.” Jimin said quietly. Like he was still in the middle of it.
A soft exhale followed. “…about you.”
Jeongukk's grip on the phone tightened slightly. Silence stretching.
“I tried to make sense of it.” Jimin continued. A small, almost breathless laugh slipping out. “I really did.”
Jeongukk leaned against the wall.
“But you don’t make sense." Jimin murmured. "And I think…”
He stopped talking. Then started again. "No. I know.”
Jeongukk's jaw tightened faintly. Something in his chest thumping little too loud, little too much.
“I like you.”
Jeongukk closed his eyes. Taking it all in. "You..."
“Don’t." Jimin cut in immediately. Nervously. “Don’t say anything yet.”
Jeongukk went silent again.
“I’m not done.” Jimin said with shaky breath. “I thought it was interest. Or just you... but as you said. It’s not going away.”
Jeongukk's fingers curled against his phone.
“And I don’t think i want it to go away.”
“So I’m done testing you.” There was small shift in his tone. It was steadier.
Jeongukk opened his eyes. Focus sharpening, as if he was looking at Jimin right then.
“And I’m not going to overthink this anymore." Jimin added after a beat.
Quieter.
“I like you too. And I want to see where this goes.”
There it was. The truth of heart. Naked.
Jeongukk didn’t answer immediately, because something in him moved.
Something deeper.
“Say that again.” he murmured.
A sassy, yet embarrassed scoff left Jimin's mouth. “I just said it twice.”
“Once more.”
Warm silence settled in between them.
Then...
“I like you.”
Jeongukk exhaled deeply. Full of contentment.
“Okay.”
“Wha...that’s it?” Jimin shouted. Disbelief slipping through.
Jeongukk's voice dropped lower. “I started liking you the moment i saw you at the gallery, for the first time.”
There was complete silence on the other end.
“You are... such a flirt, Mr. Jeon.”
“It's the truth.”
Jimin didn’t say anything. Because for him the first meeting Jeongukk was nothing, but a rich, snobby man. Who insulted art and was unbearable.
“Mr. Jeon..." his tone shifted suddenly. Firmer, as a thought crossed his mind. “If this becomes something, it’s not casual for me.”
Jeongukk straightened. “Good. It won’t be.”
“Don’t say that so easily.”
“I’m saying it because I mean it.”
Jimin breathed out slowly. "I'm sorry for disturbing you this late at night, but i needed to let it out."
"I'm glad you did."
A soft humm...“Goodnight, Mr. Jeon."
“Goodnight.”
The line went dead.
For few seconds, Jeongukk didn't move. He just stared at his phone. Then he turned, opening the door, walking back inside the meeting room.
Which was exactly the same. How he left it.
People waiting. Atmosphere thick with tension.
His father spoke immediately. “This meeting was not finished Jeongukk.”
Jeongukk walked towards the table. Steps calm and unhurried. One hand in the pocket. And his Composure... stitched.
He sat down on the head chair, placing the phone down. Besides his right hand.
“I know. Father.”
His father’s gaze sharpened. “You left in the middle of...”
Jeongukk cut him off.
Not loud or aggressive. But Certain.
“That call was more important.”
No one argued.
Just his father, who glared at him. Trying to make sense of his behavior.
_______________________________________________________
Jimin stared at his phone, after the line went dead. Then flopped back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling.
“I’m in trouble.” He said with a big goofy, grin on his red face.
This was his decision.
He had chosen this.
Jeon Jeongukk.
And weirdly, he didn’t want to run away.