red ribbon : yoonmin

three

Jimin's really been pulling his life together. Even though he's only got a bit of money, he did laundry for the first time in months! He made himself a salad, and found some time to try and start paying some bills. All thanks to his mystery miracle. He spent hours and hours on end trying to clean and fix up his apartment along with cleaning himself up. He's been working on his poetry, he's been working on feeding himself and getting himself ready for the day. Jimin is becoming more of a person, now.

It's been days since Jimin had even glanced at that old journal from Miryang Mocha. When he walked past his desk, he spotted the red ribbon hanging from the edge of the desk and decided to see if he had received a response. And to his surprise, he did.

" Jimin -

First of all; you look absolutely stunning in your new clothes. Wonderful choices you've made. I understand where you're coming from. Maybe distancing yourself from me would be a wise choice for you and your job. But please, please know that I would never hurt you. You have no reason to be hurt. You're such a good person, you know? All I know for sure is that you go to Miryang Mocha, your name is Jimin, and you're quite attractive. Why don't you focus on your poetry and let me know how it goes, okay? I hope all is well."

Jimin read the paragraph over and over again. His mystery miracle had responded to him two days ago and he didn't even realise. He picked up his black ballpoint pen and stared at the page.

" I'm not afraid of you."

☁

By the end of the day, Jimin had planned to finish his poetry book. That's his new goal. No writing to this person, no waiting for responses. All he needs to do is finish his poetry.

But as Jimin sat down to start writing, he couldn't get a single word onto his page. All he could think about was that one damn person. His chocolate eyes glanced over at the digital clock to his right. 12:42 a.m.

He reached for the phone and started dialing a number. He waited for a response. He wasn't expecting one, knowing it was nearly one in the morning, but he could try.

"Hello?" a groggy voice on the other line asked.

"Jungkook," Jimin said quickly. "What does love feel like?"

"Well," Jungkook sighed. "Love feels like setting an alarm to get up early just to meet that one person, even though you don't like waking up early. Love feels like having all of your pain and worries go away when you see them or talk to them. Love feels like taking the long way home just so you can see them. Love feels like having a really bad day and that one person is the only person in the entire universe who could ever make you feel better."

"Hey," Jimin said softly. "Let's get coffee."

"At one in the morning?" Jungkook chuckled.

"Yeah. I need your advice."

"Miryang?"

"Miryang."

"Right here," Jimin pointed. "Right here is where it started." His index finger pointed to the ripped and cracked leather seat where Jimin found the journal at. He remembered the happiness and excitement when he was given the box of $255. He remembered the strange feeling he had when he found the journal. Everything came back to him, right then, right there.

"I found a journal here," he looked up at Jungkook, who was wearing grey sweatpants and a hoodie. Lazy attire. "And whenever I write in it, somebody responds."

Jungkook looked at Jimin like he had three heads.

"Are you feeling alright, Jimin?"

"I knew you wouldn't believe me," Jimin sighed. "I'm serious. I have proof at my apartment, honestly."

"Well...tell me more, change my mind." Jungkook smirked.

The two boys sat at a familiar booth together. In their college days, they would go to this exact coffee shop every week on Saturdays, to catch up with each other as they never would see one another otherwise. They both remember the happy feeling they'd get when they'd see the other walk into the coffee shop and sit in front of them. This booth was practically reserved for them on Saturdays. They'd always sit here. After awhile, Jungkook stopped coming. Jimin would sit and wait for him every Saturday morning with a cup of coffee in front of him, and a preordered steaming caramel macchiato on the other side of him. The macchiato was Jungkook's favorite. Jimin would always order for him and pay, even though he didn't have much money, but Jungkook didn't know that. Jimin just wanted to be a good friend.

He had never been in a relationship before, but he felt true heartbreak when his best friend stopped being there for him.

They never had spoke since then. Jimin had called Jungkook for the first time in three years today.

And damn, did it feel good to hear his voice again.