Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
— i want him to smile again.
OCTOBER 18: PARK JIMIN
==
it takes seven hours of taehyung's silence for jimin to finally corner him.
"you weren't yourself at that meeting this morning, tae."
the afternoon is thick with muggy rain, and they're collapsed onto taehyung's thick, soft bed (it's such a contrast to the old one back in that apartment jimin has grown so accustomed to that he double-takes). all the others, including jae, are busy in the living room discussing everything under the sun concerning abraxas. jimin should be there. he should. most of their problems are things he's created, anyway. but for now, he just wants to lay with his best friend and pretend everything is normal again. even when his words are far from.
"when have i ever been," comes the scoffed response.
"i mean you were...you looked almost scared, taehyung. you looked like you wanted to cry."
silence.
"i thought you wanted to do this, buddy. go after abraxas. save people, save—" jimin manages a laugh. "save the fuckin' world, if you will. but if you're having second thoughts, then that's okay, it's natural, we're still—"
"that's not it, jiminie." taehyung turns over onto his side, facing him, lips pursed into a thin line. "i need to do this, i'm not—i'm not abandoning that. my motive's just as strong as anyone else's."
rain patters against the window as jimin glances around. taehyung's room is expressive: neat, colorful, stacks of books and papers and posters, a shaggy rug and full closet. it hurts jimin. it hurts him to know that this life is better than taehyung's true one. he turns back to stare at taehyung, sore in the fact that the latter can't quite meet his eye. he's healthy now (and grown, too; the four years are evident in his features), but the exhaustion in his face has never seemed to leave him.
"then what is it?"
taehyung presses further into the mattress.
minute passes after minute into continued silence. eventually, jimin props himself onto one elbow and ventures a tentative smile.
"how about this," he says, quietly. "tell me one of your old concepts."
taehyung looks up.
"christ," he chuckles lowly, and jimin grins wider, "don't bring those up, those were crazy, chim."
"so? they were entertaining. some of them actually made a bit of sense."
