Unknown Number

Chapter 24

You eventually found the energy to make your way to your room. Luckily, you weren't as much of a mess as you imagined; firstly, you washed your face and hands, then went through your wardrobe to find another shirt to put on. While looking through you found a hoodie that you hadn't worn in a while. It was pretty baggy so you took it out and brought it downstairs with you after changing.

You walked into the kitchen to find Jimin focused on cooking - you felt guilty that you couldn't help out but knew that if you offered he'd just tell you to rest.

"Hey, I'm back," you greeted almost immediately, "I found this hoodie for you to wear if you wanted to wash your shirt here?"

"O-oh yeah thanks, I'll do that after finishing up."

"Alright, I'll leave it here for you." You draped the hoodie on the back of one of the dining chairs and sat down on another.

Jimin continued to cook in silence, and you couldn't help but notice that he seemed very tense and hadn't turned to look at you at all, you presumed he was just focused on cooking but he still seemed very off. You started to get concerned and remembered what you had promised Ash and took out your phone just in case.

"The vegetables just need a few more minutes to cook and then they'll be ready to serve." he finally announced.

At this point your mouth was watering, "Awesome! I'm starving."

Jimin began cleaning up and he still seemed very tense, so you decided to speak up, "Jimin, are you alright?"

You saw him almost freeze, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

That was obviously a lie. Was he mad at you? As you looked back on the situation you realised that it probably was uncalled for you to wipe food on his face so suddenly, and you were a little harsh on him.

"I'm sorry about wiping that vinegar on you," you started, "It was uncalled for. I won't do it again."

Jimin's head snapped towards you almost instantly, "What?" This was the first time he had faced you since you had come downstairs and he seemed to realise this by quickly turning his face away again, "Th-that's not something you should apologise for."

Your words were caught on the end of your tongue for a moment, "Then why do you seem so tense? There must be something I've done."

There was a moment of silence... 

"It's silly..." he finally mumbled.

"If there's something that is making you feel uncomfortable then it's not silly. What's up?" You tried to reassure him.

After a few seconds of contemplation, Jimin sighed and turned to face you, "I had to wash my face and now I don't have make up on..." his voice had a hint of embarrassment in it.

Your eyes widened in shock - that's what he was self-conscious about? And you couldn't even tell, "J-Jimin-"

"I told you it was silly!"

"It's not silly, there are a lot of people who feel self-conscious without make up on. In all honestly I couldn't even tell. And that's not just a way to make you feel good. I'm genuinely surprised." your eyes furrowed in confusion for a moment, "You've sent me outfit updates without makeup on before, right?"

"I know but this time I can't use filters." he answered.

"That sort of thing doesn't bother me, you look great as you are. Trust me." You could see him relax a bit as you spoke - you felt so bad for him since you didn't realise he was so self conscious about this. This was a side of Jimin you weren't familiar with on a personal level, and you hoped you could maybe help him through that a little.

Jimin then went to turn off the vegetables since they had been cooking for long enough. The smell in the room was mouth watering - and there was plenty to eat. Your attention was suddenly drawn to a sound coming from Jimin's direction.

"Ah!" He waved his hand violently for a second or two before examining his finger.

You pulled yourself to your feet. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I just burned my finger on the pan." He said before sucking on the burn.

"Hold on, just run your finger under cold water for a while, I'll be right back." You headed upstairs and grabbed the first aid kit you kept in the bathroom cupboard, then rejoined Jimin in the kitchen. Though a little fiddly, you managed to tear off a piece of bandage and handed Jimin some medical cream, "Put this on it, it'll help it heal, then I'll wrap this around it to keep it clean."

Jimin presented his injured finger and spoke in a light-hearted tone, "You gotta kiss it first."

You looked up at him with a deadpan expression, "Yeah, that's not happening. I may be tending to your wounds but I'm not your mother." Jimin's head tilted backwards in laughter at your response as you wrapped up his finger with a couple layers of bandage.

"There, all done!" Jimin examined your handy work, "Don't fiddle with it too much cause you'll end up pulling it off."

The both of you finally managed to sit down at the dining table with your bowls of delicious binomial. Your mouth watered as the smell hit your nose, you were surprised by how good of a cook Jimin was. You hadn't had a good meal like this in a while - especially one that was made by someone else. It tasted like heaven.

From the corner of your eye you noticed jimin struggling a little. The bandage wrapped around his finger was getting in the way and making it ever so slightly harder to use the chopsticks.

"You struggling a bit there?" You joked.

"No don't look at me!" He said giggling as the food repeatedly fell out of the grasp of the chopsticks. After several more failed attempts, Jimin huffed in frustration and let the chopsticks rest on the side of the bowl.

"You gotta use your hands now!" You gestured the motion of shoveling food into your mouth.

"No, I'm not using my hands to eat hot food!" He said through a laugh.

"Do you want a spoon instead?"

There was a short pause. "Nah I don't wanna use a spoon." he shook his head.

"Hands it is then!" You said, enthusiastically.

"No! I have a better idea."

"What's that?" You lifted your head and your eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

"You could feed me?" he smirked.

You internally burst out into laughter. "You're asking someone who has a broken arm to feed someone else with a burned finger? The best you're gonna get out of me is getting food thrown at your face."

"That's fair enough, I'll take the spoon instead." After handing Jimin the utensil you both went back to digging in. It really was a lovely meal.

After you both finished your bowls you cleaned the dishes together, which after a few minutes of disagreement, Jimin finally agreed to let you help.

Once they were finished you and Jimin headed into the living room, "So, it's 2:00, do you want to watch that movie now?"