And The Games Begin

Chapter 47

He pushes open the door, kicking off his sandals, and Jungkook is in the exact same spot, same position, as he when Jimin left nearly two hours ago. He turns when he hears Jimin make his way into the living room.

" What did you get from the shop?"

Jimin clears his throat. " I didn't see anything I liked."

" You didn't see one thing you liked at the shop?"

He shrugs. " They were out of everything."

Jungkook sighs. " Baby, why didn't you tell me?"

He's already tearing up, fuck. " I didn't want to have that conversation with you on camera."

" But screaming it at Lydia on the beach was a better alternative. Oh, and it was still recorded, obviously."

He puts up his hand. " Jungkook, I don't want your sarcasm, okay? Just. I don't."

Jungkook nods. " Sorry. I wasn't expecting any of that, is all."

Long pause. " Yeah."

" Can you come here, at least? Sit down? Pretend you're not ready to jump out of your skin?"

He huffs out a laugh at that, because it's true, and Jungkook's always calling him out on shit like that.

" Okay, I'll sit down." He joins Jungkook in his usual spot, crossing his legs, and when he looks at Jungkook's face, his stomach sinks when he sees tear tracks. " I'm sorry I couldn't get the words out before:"

" I just wish I had known? Like, it would have made so much more sense, Min. I spent weeks, months even, wondering why all of that freaked you out so bad. And in a three minute clip, it all clicked. I shouldn't have to learn about and understand my future husband through a TV show. I should be able to hear it from him."

Jimin nods. " I know, you're right."

He reaches out and grabs Jimin's hand. " Can you tell me more about Nathan, please? The whole story? All I know is what you told me on our first date, which was barely anything, and what I just learned on there," he says, nodding towards the TV.

" Okay, let me start off by saying it's not personal, Jungkook. If this was under normal circumstances and we met at a bar or on a blind date or at a football game...."

" What the hell would you be doing at a football game?"

"...I most likely - you can shut up...wouldn't have told you about any of this already, yeah? It just so happens that I was triggered in, like, the worst scenario possible and now I'm humiliated but I'm gonna tell you anyway because I hate that pitiful look on your face."

" You don't have to, if you don't want to."

" Weak argument, Jeon. I want to tell you now. You deserve to hear it. To learn what you're now stuck with for eternity."

Jungkook smiles and squeezes Jimin's hand, encouraging. " Okay, Min. Tell me."

" But I want you to know first, before I start, that since I met you, my feelings for you have never wavered, okay? Like. You're it for me. None of this Nathan stuff really mattered, until it did. But it doesn't anymore, and nobody or anything has any effect on how I feel about us. Anything that's in my past will remain there. You are my present and my future. And that's it."

He swallows abruptly. " I love you."

Jimin blushes. " I love you, too, now shh. My turn."

He tells Jungkook all about Nathan, about how unprepared he was to find out he'd been unfaithful for so long, and that it wasn't just a casual fling. He talks about the overwhelming feeling of grief when he realised Nathan was in love with this guy, in love with both of them, actually, he didn't know how to sort it out, how to make sense of it all.

Jimin clutches the pillow next to him. " I was so stupid, yeah? Like, I was in denial, not accepting the fact that not only had he been unfaithful, but he'd been in a real relationship with someone else for a long, long time. It's stung so much, do I basically pretend it hadn't happened. I told him that we could move forward, and we could be together, as long as he chose me in the end." He stops to collect his thoughts.

" I remember standing in front of him, forcing myself to smile when I told him to pick me, all while screaming In my own head. I shouldn't be asking you to pick me, you should want to." He runs his fingers through his hair.

" Jesus, I never expected him to say no, either, and then I felt like an idiot for merely suggesting he stay and work on things. Like, I looked pathetic.  I begged my cheating boyfriend to stay and the whole time, he wanted to leave."

He sighs. " I don't think I was thinking rationally on that beach, either."

He's quiet for a minute, tracing along Jimin's knuckles. " The Bachelor was clearly a great choice for you, seeing as the object of the show is to chose between two people. We should send Tae flowers and a thank you."

He snorts. " I don't think he knew, really. I mean, he knew what happened with Nate, but I don't think he ever thought I would explode like that. I didn't think it would happen, either." He takes a deep breath. " I was standing on that beach with Lydia and I just kept thinking over and over again, I am so desperately in love with you, Nathan, pick me. Except, it was almost two years later, and I instead of Nathan, it was you. And it hurt worse, somehow. History was repeating itself and I panicked."

" If you had told me then, I could have told you how in love with you I was, too." He frowns. " I'm so, sorry."

" It's my doing, yeah?"

Jungkook nods. " You can't take all the blame. It's not all your fault."

" I guess."

" I'm glad I understand it all now, but Jesus, I wish you could have said it at the time. It would have saved me a lot of wondering."

He shrugs. " Well. Now you know.

" I do." He kisses the back of Jimin's hand. " You won't ever have to ask me to pick between you and someone else, just so you know."

Jimin makes a face. " Kook."

" Again, you won't ever have to to pick between you and someone else again."

He laughs. " Thank you."

" We couldn't have found each other on a different reality show? Something less emotionally traumatic? Like Big Brother. Or Survivor."

" If you think I'd willingly end up on Survivor...."

" You didn't even willingly end up on The Bachelor. You were forced into it."

" Ah, true."

He kisses the top of Jimin's head.

" Hey, Min."

" Mhm."

" Thank you for not leaving when all of that happened. And for not leaving now."

" Thanks for listening." The way Jungkook is rubbing his leg feels nice, and his eyes start to slip shut.

" Baby."

" What."

" Can I take you on a date?"

Jimin cracks one eye open. " We're in hiding."

" No one is gonna see us at 12.39 in the morning."

" Wait, you mean right now?!"

" Yeah." His smiles is contagious.

" Let's get the hell out of this house and away from this shitty conversation and let's go have our first date. No cameras, no crew, just us in our city."

" Nothing is even open right now."

" we'll find something. Get up."

" Ugh. No. You just made me spill my heart and guts out to you and now I'm tired."

" Heart and guts?"

" Yeah, all over the floor."

" I'll clean it up later, but right now, I want to take my fiancé out on a date."

He rolls his eyes. " Alright, Jeon, but you better make this worth it."

" I aim to please."