it's just kissing | m.j ✓

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

Jimin really shouldn't be surprised, considering his track record. Of course Kim Mingyu was bound to pop out of nowhere and enter his life less than a week after he talks about him to his boss. Of course. Trust his streak of bad luck to land him where he is, with a somewhat tipsy Mingyu watching him with a toothy grin that somehow, to this day, is making his stomach do flips.

"Holy shit, Park Jimin? I didn't expect to see you here. Wow, how long has it been?" Mingyu begins, his tequila shots forgotten on the bar counter. Jimin can vaguely make out Taehyung and Seokjin watching their interaction curiously, but he can't even bring himself to look away from Mingyu.

Oh god, the man asked him a question.

He should answer.

He should really move his lips and say something.

"Um...years?" Jimin blurts out almost stupidly, but the taller man doesn't seem to mind too much. Perhaps it's the alcohol or maybe its his innate good-natured personality. Whatever it is, one thing Jimin is glad for right now is how dim Bulletproof is, because he's certain that his cheeks must be burning scarlet by now.

"I didn't know you were..." Mingyu trails off, waving a hand around the sea of people and then flashing one his lopsided grins again. "But then again, here I am too, right?"

"...Yeah. I...I really didn't...oh wow," Jimin replies slowly, and suddenly everything is slapping him right across the face. Mingyu is in Bulletproof. A gay bar. Mingyu is gay. And he had pined after a gay guy thinking that he'd never ever have a shot, because lets face it, Mingyu was way too popular to begin with anyway, and well, if his memory serves him right, Mingyu always had girlfriends. Sure they never lasted long and it was always the girls who asked him out but- oh...ohhhh...

"Man, I can't believe this! I never expected to see anyone from high school here," Mingyu continues, and Jimin lets out a nervous laughter he hopes is doing a good job of concealing the storm of emotions coursing through him.

"Yeah....I didn't either...?"

"You come here a lot?"

"I um...sort of...work here?" Jimin answers, flashing the red band around his wrist, and Mingyu raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"This is my second time here, I wonder how I missed you?"

"Oh, I mean, I'm not really an official employee here, if that makes sense. I kind of help around here and there. Taking a break from college," Jimin explains hurriedly, doing his best to not trip over his own words. There is no question that he's feeling extremely nervous at this point. Can anyone blame him? His crush of three years is leaning almost dangerously close to him, his insanely handsome features basically radiating under the dim lighting of the club. 

"That's cool. Hey, I'm with my friends right now if you want to come join?" Mingyu offers with a tilt of his head towards the tables, and Jimin swallows hard. Is Mingyu seriously asking to hang out with him??

"I...can't," Jimin manages to squeak out. "Not when I'm working." At this point, Jimin isn't sure if he should be disappointed or glad. Probably the latter, because he's sure that he's going to end up embarrassing himself somehow if he were to hang out with Mingyu and his friends (who by the way all seem to be just as ridiculously hot as Mingyu from where he's standing).