Jimin's shift went by smoothly. As he made his way home, he was happy. His encounter with the Kim brothers was the reason why even after a long shift, he felt cheerful. He looked out the window of the bus, his earphones in place and emerged in his own thoughts.
Even a month ago, if anyone had asked him whether talking to a stranger would make him this happy, he would have laughed it off. But not now. His small talk with Namjoon was simple and sweet. But what threw him off was the new information he learnt from Jin.
Taehyung's reaction. Or his lack of reaction for that matter.
Why didn't Tae get uncomfortable with his presence just like he felt with the others? I mean, it's not like I want him to be uncomfortable. But does this mean anything? Will he ever look at me? Or talk? Yoongi Hyung did mention that he only talks or rather utters a few words in front of people he's known all his life. So Jimin doesn't make the cut nor will he ever.
Dammit!
He sighs. A long sigh of disappointment.
He got off the bus and made his way home. Yoongi should be home any minute and then they would go grocery shopping. Jimin walked up to the kitchen , had a glass of water and started making a list of all the things they needed from the store.
Milk, bread, eggs, rice, seasoning, bananas and the list went on.
The front doorknob turns, and Yoongi walks in.
"Ready for some grocery shopping?"
"Ready Hyung. Let's go!"
^^^^^^^^^^
The car ride was short. They pulled at the parking lot, grabbed a shopping cart and headed inside. Jimin shared the list with Yoongi so they both know what was needed.
As they were looking around in the fresh produce section, Jimin bumped into someone else's cart because he was too focused on which fruits and vegetables to buy. He frantically apologized by repeatedly bowing.
"I am so sorry sir! I wasn't looking where I was going. Wait, Namjoon Hyung?", Jimin had finally stopped with his non-stop bowing and looked up to catch a glimpse of the person who was on the receiving end of his apologies.
Namjoon was a carrying a cart of his own, along with Tae who had his headphones on as usual and was completely focused on the produce isle, intently staring at the fresh and juicy strawberries.
"Hey Joon, Tae", Yoongi, who was probably in some other section but came over hearing the commotion. "I see you have met Jimin."
"So this is your cousin? Jimin?", Namjoon asked, looking between Jimin and Yoongi.
"That's him. We were almost out of groceries and Jimin wanted to get acquainted with the area, so he tagged along. How about you guys?"
"We are out of strawberries and everyone knows we can't have that right?", Namjoon chuckled and looked back at Tae, who had picked up one strawberry and was now examining it closely.
"Of course. Absolutely", Yoongi laughed, knowingly.
Yoongi and Namjoon ended up discussing some important matters at work, that led to the two younger ones to be on their own.
Out of nowhere and without not much of a thought, Jimin walked up to where the strawberries were piled and where Tae was standing. He picked one up.
"I love strawberries too!", he chimed, not making eye contact with Tae and keeping a safe distance. Tae froze, still holding one at his eye level.
"You do too, right?", Jimin asked softly. He wasn't expecting an answer, it was more to keep himself busy. Tae didn't say anything, but after a long minute, shook his head just a tiny bit.
The movement of his head was minuscule, but it was there.
"I am Jimin, but you already know that, don't you ?", another intense minute passes, before his head nods in agreement for just a split second.
"And you're Taehyung?", Tae confirmed with a delayed nod.
The whole time, Jimin kept himself busy fiddling with strawberries and made sure not to make any eye contact with Tae and kept sufficient distance between them.
"Strawberries are just the right amount of sweet and sour, right? That's what I love about them", Tae listened intently.
"You know how you can tell if a strawberry is ripe enough or not? If the stem is flipped up, it's ripe. Like this one right here", Jimin picked up a ripe one and kept it back in the pile, only this time it was closer to where Tae was standing.
Tae picked it up hesitantly and looked at it. He nodded his head.
Unbeknownst to Jimin, Namjoon and Yoongi had stopped conversing since a long time and were observing the two younger ones interacting with wide eyes. They dared not move or interrupt the connection, because god knows this was the first in years for Taehyung.
"Here, let me help you with some ripe ones", Jimin picked up one after another, checked their stems and put them in a neat pile back on the shelf, closer to Tae.
The minimum distance and no eye contact policy was followed throughout.
Tae didn't react nor did he attempt to pick them. He simply stared at the pile.
"It's okay, if you don't want them. Maybe we just helped whoever picks them up, with all ripe strawberries", Jimin smiled as he spoke.
"Minnie? We gotta go. It's getting late and we still have dinner to cook."
"Coming Hyung! It was nice being you Taehyung. But I gotta run. I will see you at the cafe hopefully. Take care okay?", Jimin said cheerfully, turning on his heels and walking to Yoongi. They both bid their goodbyes and made their way to billing station.
Namjoon who had a dumbfounded expression on his face, snapped out of his frozen state and walked up to Tae.
"Come on TaeTae. We gotta go too", he still stood by the strawberries. Slowly, he picked the pile that Jimin had set aside and put them in a plastic bag, one at a time.
"Good job. Here let me place it in the cart", Namjoon extended his hand to take the bag from Tae, but the younger pulled the bag behind him and shook his head.
"M-mine!"
"All right. It's all yours. Come let's pay for it", Namjoon was frankly taken aback for a moment. He pulled himself together and then he led them to the billing counter.
They finished paying and pushed the cart to the their car. All the while, Tae was holding his plastic bag of fresh strawberries. Even when he sat down in the front seat, the plastic bag got the seat of honor on Tae's lap while the other poor groceries were thrown in the boot of the car, in peasant class.
Namjoon was equal parts shocked and happy. What he witnessed today can only be dubbed a 'miracle' or a 'turning point', because nothing like this had ever happened since as far back as he can remember.
What did you do to my brother Jimin? What kind of powers do you have?
Help him, if you can. We will forever be indebted to you.
YOU ARE READING
A Beautiful Enigma (VMIN FF)
Fanfiction|| COMPLETED|| VMIN FF Jimin is what you describe an extrovert. He is outgoing, extremely talkative for his own good and a trouble maker. Most of the time, doesn't know how to channelize the excess energy his body produces. Suddenly, he is cut off...
