And The Games Begin

Chapter 35

The morning before their final one-on-one date, Jungkook shows up at Jimin's door with the camera crew and a bag full of the essentials: Pop-Tarts, Cheetos, Nutella and M&M's. He tosses the bag to Jimin and he takes a seat on the couch, pulling his knees up to his chest.

" What the hell is all this crap? It's amazing, you're an angel."

He laughs. " I dunno. I had a bunch of junk food in my room and thought, who better to share this with than the trash King himself?"

" Oh, wow, what a flattering nickname, thanks."

" You're welcome."

Jimin rips open the bag of M&M's, spilling them out into the coffee table in front of him, sorting them by colour. He can feels Jungkook's gaze on him as he reaches for the red ones, leaving the others behind. " Are you staring for a reason?"

" You're something else. You know they all taste exactly the same, right?"

" Your palette clearly hasn't evolved if you think the red taste the same as the others."

" You're like my kids at work. I probably spend about twenty-five percent of my day waiting around while kids try to choose between either purple or the green toothbrush."

" I mean, that's an important decision. Dr Jeon. Who are you to judge?"

" I suppose your right." He clears his throat and rubs the back if his neck.

" Speaking of work."

Jimin looks up. " What about it?"

" So, like, if at the end of this whole thing, we end up together...." He trails of frowning. " Would you leave Chicago to move to San Francisco to be with me?"

" Oh." He puts down the rest of the chocolate and wipes his hands on his shorts. " I hadn't really thought about it much."

" At all?"

He shrugs. " Not seriously."

" Okay, well, that kind of sucks, because I'm trying to picture a future with you and it hurts to know you haven't given it any thought."

" Hey." He twists on the couch so he's facing Jungkook completely. " I have. I promise. I just don't have an answer, I guess..is what I meant." Jungkook's still frowning. " Okay, let's talk about it now, yeah?"

Jungkook nods. " Okay."

" What're you thinking?"

He exhales loudly. " That I'm not sure I can leave California."

Jimin rolls his shoulders, already irritated. " Okay....And I don't know if I can leave Chicago."

" But it's different for me. I have a practice there. And all my family."

" So, I have a job, too, one I've worked really hard for, and I have all my friends there. Why should I be the one to leave?"

" Don't get all defensive, Min."

" Of course I'm defensive. My life is important, too. I already picked up and moved once.  And that was hard enough."

" So, why can't you do it again?"

" What the fuck?" He clenches and unclenches his fists. " Do you know how selfish you sound? Moving to another country was the most difficult thing I've ever done in my life. You know how important my family is to me. And to suggest I have to do it all over again? Jungkook. Can you imagine being six hours behind your family?"

He shakes his head. " No, I guess I can't."

" If I permanently moved to California, I'd be behind eight. When would I ever be able to talk to them?"