A Beautiful Enigma (VMIN FF)

Ripe

Namjoon and Taehyung lived in one of the quieter parts of the neighborhood. The house was left in their name by their grandmother before she passed away. It was neither too big nor too small, just the perfect size for the two of them to share.

The older pulled the car into the driveway and carried the groceries inside while Tae held onto his tiny plastic bag of strawberries.

The interior of the house was decorated simply. A brown leather couch with two arm chairs, a small coffee table and a TV on the wall right in front of the couch. Rest of the walls had old paintings and family pictures and brass light fixtures. There was an open kitchen with bar stools towards the left. It was spacious and had lot of counter space. Towards the right, a door led to a cosy library. Dark teakwood shelves housed books of all genres. There was a big arm chair with a throw blanket on one side and a desk on the other side. This was one of Namjoon's favorite spots in the house. Another door led to a small home art studio. Multiple canvases stood leaning against the walls. A big easel stood in the center of the room with an unfinished canvas. For an art studio, the room was surprisingly clean. Everything was placed neatly in the wall shelves. There were no paint splatters anywhere. This was Taehyung's safe space. He would stay cooped up in here for hours at a time.

The bedrooms were situated upstairs.

An old chandelier adorned with crystals was hanging off the ceiling and was casting warm yellow lights all over the place, in the living room. There was a brick fireplace too which housed multiple photos on the mantle.

The entire atmosphere of the house looks as it was transported through time from the 90s. Everything had a vintage charm to it. This was because the house was decorated by their grandparents and no attempt was made to change anything after the both of them passed away. Namjoon did want to paint the walls white and sell the old furniture to make the place look more open and spacious, but he can't. Because Tae won't have it any other way.

Taehyung can't accept changes, at least not the big ones like changing the entire face of their house.

Over the years Namjoon did manage to add small plants because he loved the outdoors, but the process took time and a lot of convincing. However, changing the colors of the walls was too much.

Taehyung made his way upstairs. His room was to the left. He opened the door and pushed it close gently behind him. His room was extremely tidy. It housed a queen bed with two pillows, white sheet and white comforter. There was a small desk which had two or three notebooks in a neat stack and one pen holder with exactly two pens and two pencils. There was also a small table clock and a calendar.

The night stand by the bed had a children's story book and a table lamp. Tae sat down on the bed, took off his headphones and put it to charge on the nightstand. He picked the bag of strawberries to his eye level and observed. Very gently he opened the bag and took a strawberry out. He analyzed the stem, the ends of which curled upwards. He nodded in satisfaction.

There was a small knock and then Namjoon walked in.

"Wanna help Hyung make dinner?", he asked softly and stood by the bed. Tae nodded his approval.

He noticed that Tae was still obsessing over the strawberries. It's not uncommon for him to do that, but this was different.

"Did Jimin help you pick those?"

"He d-did."

"Something wrong with them?"

"N-No. TaeTae likes. They are r-ripe. He said."

"TaeTae likes them because Jimin says they're ripe?"

He nods slowly.

"Let's go and check it for ourselves. We can eat one and see if they're actually ripe. If they are, we can thank Jimin later. Okay?"

"O-okay."

^^^^^^^^^

Jimin has been busy. Very busy. There has been a constant stream of customers since the morning. The bell on top of the door constantly chimed alarming the staff of the entry and exit of people. Jimin didn't get time to even stand for a second and breathe. They had a shortage of staff, so he was cruising around from one job to another. Sometimes he was at the counter, sometimes waiting and he was even brewing coffee at some point.

Damn, the amount of work I am doing today is way more than all the work I have ever done up until now. My legs are killing me.

Jimin didn't realize when the bell chimed and his favorite brother duo walked in. Taehyung had managed to grab his spot by the window and Namjoon was walking up to Jimin.

"Good morning Jimin. How are you doing today?"

"Oh. Namjoon Hyung? Sorry I didn't see you there. The shift's been very hectic. How about you and Taehyung?", Jimin asked, looking around for the younger. Finding him at his usual spot, he was satisfied.

"We are both doing fine. We will have the usual"

"Of course. It's gonna be a little late than usual. 20 minutes. I will bring it over."

It took a bit longer than usual. Jimin walked up to the booth and started placing the plates in front of the brothers. Just as Jimin was placing the coffee cups, Tae slid a piece of paper towards him. Jimin stared at the paper, dumbfounded and looked up at Tae, who was still staring out the window.

"Is this for me?", Jimin asked to no one in particular. Frankly, he thought Tae can't hear him through his headphones, but he actually nodded his head slowly to confirm.

"Really?", Jimin was still in disbelief.

He picked up the paper. It was neatly folded in half. Something was scribbled on top.

For Jimin

When he opened the fold, there was something else written inside too and a small sketch.

Thank you, Jimin.

With a sketch of a strawberry. What surprised Jimin more was the fact that the strawberry had its stem curling upwards.

It had the same effect on him. His lips curled upwards in one of the brightest smiles in the longest time that reached his up to his eyes, turning them into crescent moons.

"You're so very welcome Taehyung. I am glad you took them. Were they ripe?", he asked softly to the younger who had now turned his gaze to his plate.

Taehyung nodded.

"I am glad. Enjoy your meal sir", Jimin bowed and left them.

Namjoon was smiling at the two of them interact. He couldn't believe how patiently Jimin behaved with his brother, how he kept his distance making sure to not make Tae uncomfortable and how he didn't push him into conversation.

"You did good TaeTae."

"T-TaeTae did g-good", Taehyung confirmed.