IMBER | jikook

5 • you'll learn

The door of the apartment in the upscale neighborhoods of Gangnam-Gu slammed shut as the sound of wet socks echoed against the pristine parquet floor of the hallway. Jimin thought to himself that he was really unlucky; he was ruining all his favorite clothes. He stopped Jungkook with his arm, who had followed him home after the elder insisted he dry off before going in. It had puzzled Kook, but the reason for Jimin's sudden kindness was his fear that his mother's client—who was incidentally the mother of his counterpart—would tell his own mother about the situation Jimin had been in. He didn't need to worry his mother over something so trivial.

    - You can take a shower; I can lend you clothes while yours are in the wash.

Jungkook looked at him for a moment. It felt odd taking showers at a stranger's place. True, they weren't really strangers, their mothers were working on a project together at the student's house, and Jimin didn't seem dangerous. His frail appearance and the fact that he was a head shorter than him helped reassure him and set aside his paranoia. He followed his host's instructions and went into the bathroom. The room was filled with plants and all sorts of accessories in a very soft style. The decor perfectly reflected the personality of its owner. Jungkook wondered how Jimin could afford such a place, especially in the center of Gangnam-Gu, a sought-after neighborhood where stars often decide to live. He wasn't going to lie, Jimin didn't seem to be the son of wealthy parents since his mother had just opened her flower shop. And he wasn't as boastful and arrogant as the students at his university who had gotten there through their parents' money. Jungkook was passionate about being better than them in every discipline, to show them that his mind went far beyond the money jingling in their pockets. He had gotten to the university through his talent and nothing else. And he liked to make that known, naturally. He knew his worth and wasn't ashamed of it.

After showering, wrapping a towel around his waist, he went out to get the clothes promised by his counterpart. The latter entered the bathroom directly without even looking at him, simply saying the clothes were on the bed before slamming the bathroom door. He was really strange. He took the clothes and dressed. It was clear that they were oversized for Jimin, but fit the younger perfectly. Despite telling himself he was older, Kook didn't believe it. He was so much smaller and more...adorable? It was hard to believe he was the age he claimed to be. Once dressed in a sweater and black joggers, he sat on the bed, looking around. There was a huge painting divided into three canvases that spanned the length of the wall above the bed. Jungkook had rarely seen something so beautiful, so harmonious. They were yellow waves in a very specific style with mingling blue reflections. The painting wasn't logical, there was nothing rational about it, but Jungkook felt a strange emotion in his heart. He remembered when he still lived in Busan and his father would sometimes take him fishing with him and his colleagues. Jungkook could almost smell the algae and the cold wind stinging his child's cheeks. He could even hear the sound of seagulls and unconsciously squinted his eyes, as if protecting himself from a sun radiating from the painting. Only one person had managed to make him feel things like this. There was only one painter who could move him. He approached the painting to better see the signature. It was elegant and very slanted handwriting, but he could easily guess the name. "Chimchim." Chimchim. This cute and childish nickname wasn't just anyone. He widened his eyes as he took out his phone from his pocket and typed the name into Instagram. Immediately, a page came up; it was the account of an artist. Very famous. VERY famous. The style was exactly the same as on the painting. How was this possible? Chimchim didn't sell his paintings. Even exhibitions were rare with him. At that moment, the bathroom door opened, letting Jimin out, who walked past him without paying him any attention to get clothes from his closet. Jungkook stared at his back with opaline skin, his shoulders were delicate despite the slight muscles he could see in his arms. His waist was as slender as those he often saw on female models he sometimes had to draw. And his expressions...he would have imagined him more as a model than as a painter. He had always thought that Chimchim was a man like him, a man who worked hard to become better, serious and logical, who knew exactly what he was doing. It was unthinkable that this oddball who liked to make origamis was actually behind the renowned painter. He came back to his senses when the bathroom door slammed again, Jimin having returned to get dressed. A few minutes later, he came out, his usual mask on his face, erasing the expressions that Jungkook liked so much to observe despite himself.