Warm Hands (Ice Cold Heart) | Jimin x Reader

Four

He's smiling.

That's the first thing you register as Jungkook steps into the foyer in a dark navy suit. It's a new one you've never seen before. It's clearly tailored and expensive -- a sharp contrast from the thrifted blazer he used to get away with at the rare formal events you once attended. You'd found the blazer together after digging in piles and piles at a rummage sale, spending hours tossing clothes in the other's direction, each a more outrageous look than the last until you finally shut him up in a good way by trying on the completely see-through tank top. Yeah, that blazer had all these stubborn wrinkles that you remember smoothing down in the faded doorway of your old studio apartment, taking your time in running your hands along his broad shoulders while he bent down, never able to resist the chance to press eager kisses to your forehead, even if it slightly ruined your makeup.

...He clearly doesn't need your help anymore.

Still, you can't help yourself. You watch him greet someone warmly by the door, flashing his slightly-bucked teeth with his grin and that's enough. Enough to start that dull twist in your gut, even though you told yourself you weren't allowed to miss that smile when you blocked him on everything last year, even on Steam, and scrubbed every single picture that he ever sent you. Every sleepy morning selfie with dark mussed hair and half-lidded eyes, peeping out from crumpled bedsheets. Every precious video of his soft voice singing a made-up ballad for the pure falling snow or sprouting baby buds of a pink spring. So many years of your life, thrown right into the void where you hoped it would stay. But things... Things seem to have a way of coming back to haunt you, like when you thought you'd seen the last of Jimin the day he graduated.

You grit your teeth and force your gaze away, realizing that your conversation partners left at some point when you weren't paying attention.

Evidently having followed your eyes, your husband tilts his head to a side, his coffee-colored hair shifting along with it as he finally steps back to give you some space. "Nik went to get food. You know Jeon Jungkook?" he asks. Then, when you don't answer right away, "he's the cinematographer that won Promise's video contest in October. Nice guy. Really skilled. The entire filming department is thrilled to be working with him for the next year."

Of course Jungkook did. You always knew he had what it took to win such a flashy contest and catapult his career into outer space in one go, but he was always too afraid to apply. Too scared of failure, no matter how much you tried to push him towards taking a chance. Life's only worth living if you take risks. If you let yourself go after what you really want. That's what you said to him, again and again, but it never took. He liked his dead-end job too much to even try. Guess the kick in the ass he needed was for you to leave. And now... he's here, among all the glitz and glamor. Settling in so seamlessly while you... made your choice.

Should you tell Jimin the truth? There are so many lies flying all around this place. What's another one? It wouldn't hurt him. It could only hurt you more. But even your bones feel exhausted, hollowed out yet somehow still brimming with lead from keeping everything so close to your bleeding heart.

"We, uh. We used to date." Your voice is small. You don't mention the velvet ring box you found in the back corner of the dresser. How the dainty diamond looked against your skin.

"Oh." Jimin's eyes wane at the edges as they scan your face. You don't know what he finds there. What he might hope to find in your expression. "...How long were you together?"

Your nails cut into your palm before you force your fingers to spread on the tablecloth. "Almost six years. Broke up last year." And because your mouth is a traitor and you feel petty enough to let the thought slip, you add, "December 5th."

(Does he recognize the date you can never forget? The day you were summoned to his headquarters, completely bewildered and blindsided as you were thrust into a private meeting room and told, yes, told that you were to be married to this man, basically a stranger, before February.)

But before you can scrutinize Jimin's reaction, you realize Jungkook's spotted you. He was always uncannily good at that, like he was at everything he tried his hand at. His big eyes widen with recognition and you watch his hands flutter as he seems to be excusing himself from whoever he's talking to and then he's starting to walk towards you. Panic shoots through your veins as you imagine what he could say, the accusations he could hurl your way that you completely deserve, and you must let the fear reflect clearly on your face because Jimin nudges his shoulder against yours. Just hard enough to rip you from your thoughts.

"Hey. Wanna get another drink at the bar?" Jimin offers, his voice far too light to be actually normal, but you don't notice. Is he giving you a way out? Or is it merely a distraction from the inevitable?

Either way. Your heart thuds against your ribs, but you nod. Reach out and take his hand. Choose him again, letting him lead you away from the man you once loved more than anything in the world.