just ash

chapter 17

"Jesus Christ, Ash! You nearly made me piss myself, why scream? Was that necessary?"

Ash pressed a palm to her chest, willing her heart to stop beating against her ribs like a drum. Susie had jumped to her feet and squealed in terror when Ash had obnoxiously entered the apartment. Jimin mirrored Ash's stance from his perch on the couch, pressing a small, chubby-fingered hand to his chest, his eyes wide and mouth parted in surprise. Or fear. Both were valid.

He somehow looked even better than he had the night Ash met him outside the club months prior. His hair had been a soft brown then, but now it was a light, steely grey. The pale strands brushed his high cheekbones and accentuated his smooth, honey skin. Although his hair was drastically different, there was no way Ash could have forgotten his alluring gaze, or his little button nose, or his plump lips.

Goddamn.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, um ah – mianhae – er, joesonghaeyo," Ash stuttered, a blush creeping up her neck at the way she stumbled over formalities.

"He knows what sorry means, Ash, you freakin' psychopath," Susie muttered, and Ash looked back to Jimin, absolutely mortified.

"Helloooo," Jimin said sweetly, removing his hand from his chest to raise it in a tiny wave. "Don't be scared."

Ash nearly melted into a puddle. By the way Susie looked back at the man with stars swimming in her eyes, Ash figured she felt the same.

"What's going on, Suz?" Ash asked, desperately wanting to know why Jimin was there, staring at her like a lost puppy.

"Well, as much as I wish I could say he's here to confess his undying love for me, Jimin is here for...you."

Ash raised her eyebrows and looked at Jimin, trying and failing to read the look on his face. He was just sitting there calmly, like he belonged on their tiny, shitty couch. The way he oozed luxury and godliness contrasted starkly against Ash and Susie's very plain apartment, though, and Ash panickily coughed out a laugh.

"Wh-what?"

"You...come with me?" Jimin said, his voice raising inquisitively. He widened his eyes again, but this time in question rather than in fear.

"Wait, what?" Ash ground out again, and Susie sighed.

Jimin and Susie exchanged a few words in Korean. Ash did her best to keep up and although there were a few words she managed to pick up, her heart twisted at just one – Namjoon.

Susie looked at Ash with concerned eyes.

"Ash, he wants you to go back to their dorm with him. He says...he says that Namjoon needs you."

"Is he okay?" Ash's voice came out strangled, and the anxiety that punched her straight in the gut left her breathless. She took a few shaky steps toward Jimin. "Gwaenchanayo?"

Jimin's eyes widened even more than they already had been, and he raised up his hands, silently asking Ash to calm the hell down.

"Ne, yes," Jimin said urgently.

"Ash," Susie said softly. "He says he's worried about him, though. I think you should go with him."

"Okay...okay. Now?" Ash looked at Jimin as she asked, and he pressed his lips together and nodded earnestly. Ash huffed out a breath before again saying, "Okay. Let me change."

Ash hurried to her room and changed out of her school clothes and into a casual outfit of an oversized sweatshirt and leggings. She didn't take much time to be sure she looked presentable, feeling that the situation must be urgent if Jimin had bothered to come to their apartment. Her head spun with questions and fears and worst-case scenarios.