butterfly lips。『 minjoon 』

nine

》chapter nine: lying till the web breaks《

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JIMIN rolled up the sleeves of his periwinkle button down, then rolled them back down. he was standing in front of taehyung's front door, staring at it head on with a knotted brow. he rolled his sleeves back up in a split second decision, reaching to knock on the door. he paused momentarily, staring at the rich chestnut colored wood. he was actually quite nervous, his chest and stomach squeezing into one certain spot in the middle of his abdomen. almost as if there was a black hole inside of him, trying to suck everything in.

he swallowed thickly and he knocked twice, leaving his clutched hand up in midair. he heard the soft patter of feet and then the click of the door unlocking. he smiled weakly at taehyung's large forgiving smile. he had a beautiful smile, one that could never fail to make him smile too. yet this time, it only made the feeling of being encapsulated stronger.

"hi, come in."

jimin tucked a strand of hair behind his ear as he walked inside. he breathed in deeply, the intoxicating smell of food making him hungry. he hadn't eaten much for the past week. it showed of course, in his hollow cheeks and pallid skin. "it smells good. samgyetang?" he asked, placing his coat on the hanger.

taehyung nodded with a grin, "it turned out better, didn't it?" 

"oh definitely. i can smell it." jimin's smile suddenly widened, the black hole unable to suck out the joy that jimin felt from seeing taehyung in the frilly yellow apron that jimin got him as a gag gift for his birthday years ago.  

taehyung made his way to the kitchen first, untying the apron from his waist and hung it up on a wooden hook near the window. he smoothed out his silk blouse that draped over his body loosely. the blouse was tucked into beige colored slacks that complimented the gold and red designs on the black silk of the blouse. he looked so effortlessly beautiful, angelic even. jimin couldn't help but think how unlucky namjoon was, to not have taehyung as his soulmate.

instead, he had jimin.

he tried shaking those thoughts out of his hair, knowing that thinking like that wouldn't do him any good. the two men sat down at the round dinner table, right across from the kitchen area, where two bowls of samgyetang sat in front of two chairs. the two bowls were steaming hot, freshly made and out of the pot. 

it looked so good. the chicken was a soft golden colour, green spring onions sprinkled over it. 

"oh wow. it looks good too. taehyung, why did you out do yourself?" jimin asked, sitting down on one of the chairs. 

taehyung laughed and shrugged coyly. "i want to do something nice for my bestfriend... it's been a while since i've done anything like this for you. also as an apology... for last time"

"i should apologize too. i wasn't being a very good friend- i've been struggling honestly. it's been hard, work and all." jimin bit down on his lip, looking down for a second.

"it's fine... i wish i could help though." 

"just being with you helps me." jimin smiled, looking at taehyung sincerely. 

they began to eat. jimin was unable to hold himself back. how could he? the chicken was so tender and flavorful in his mouth, he couldn't speak for fear of not fully experiencing the food. yet jimin didn't mind. this time, silence was okay for him. the topic that lingered over his head like some dark cloud for the past few days was easy to ignore. this time at least. with taehyung there, his presence brought a peace to jimin's soul.

when he was nearly done, jimin finally decided to touch on the things that have been plaguing his mind since he last talked to hoseok. 

"taehyung... uhm... i know it's probably really horrible of bringing this up but i couldn't let this be on hold any longer. i can't do that to you." 

"what... what is it." taehyung asked, his entire posture stiff. 

"i'm moving to japan." jimin pushed out, it wasn't easy to do and it came out awkward and quick. 

"already?" taehyung asked, his voice rising in pitch. 

"yeah. i'm really sorry. my company thought that it would be best to have me move there for a while."  jimin lied. he avoided touching his face and looking away too much. it was kind of difficult sometimes but when it was done over and over again. it was like he was speaking the truth. 

"jimin... why can't you have someone else?" 

jimin paused, "i'm sorry. it pays really well and i get to visit. it won't be as work intensive either as the last trip." 

taehyung jutted out his lip, looking down at his hands. "i'll miss you a lot. i missed you when you were gone and i was really looking forward to spending more time with you. i wanted it to be like how it was before you began to travel so much."

"i'm sorry... i know. hopefully i'll be back sooner than you'll think." jimin didn't know. he didn't know when he'll be back- hell he didn't know if he's going to make it alive. his stomach twisted and turned, the samgyetang no longer pleasant inside his stomach. he clutched his shirt tightly, the feeling getting worse and much more unbearable. 

taehyung looked at him worryingly, getting up. "min... are you okay?" he asked. "you look sick." he pointed out. he walked closer, placing his hand on jimin's cheek. the skin was cold and clammy. 

"i-it's nothing. this stress and all has just been getting to me. i haven't been able to hold food down." jimin said, gently pulling taehyung's hand away from his face. 

"let's go sit on the couch then." 

jimin got up, holding taehyung's hand and leaned on his shoulder for support. he wasn't sure why but he suddenly felt so weak. he rested his head on taehyung's shoulder, closing his eyes momentarily.

"i wish you could tell me what is truly bothering you..."

jimin heard what taehyung had said that very moment, yet he did not say thing back. instead he reached for taehyung's hand and gripped it. taehyung gave it a gentle squeeze, a sigh leaving his lips. 

note;
im having trouble figuring out how to write the ending so it's gonna take a while to update.