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Jimin knew his brother was going to kick him out sometime soon. Jihyun was pretty understanding when Jimin showed up to his house, usually completely unannounced, because of something he was dealing with. Jihyun would let him crash for a while, let him eat his food and drink his beer, before he would shove Jimin back into his reality. It had already been a few days, and Jimin knew it was coming.


Jimin glanced down at his phone as it vibrated insistently on the table in front of him. Taehyung. He ignored it, just like he had been doing for the past few days. He took another swig of his beer and kept his eyes trained determinedly on the TV in front of him, which was blaring some action movie he didn't really care about.


When he saw her and Taehyung curled up on the floor together at nine in the morning, he felt something inside him growl and claw to get out. He wanted to pick Tae up and smash him through the table behind him, grab her and take her away and make sure she only laid in his arms. And he knew what the monster clawing around inside of him was called. 


Jealousy.


But he wouldn't admit it to himself, wouldn't let that thought linger in his head for more than a second before he shoved it out. Because jealously meant he cared about her a lot more than he wanted to. And caring let to being emotionally reckless. And neither of them could afford with Jimin being emotionally reckless. 


He had already fucked everything up by getting wasted and showing up to her house. He didn't know what he said, and he was too mortified by what he had done to ask her. He had barely been able to bring himself to apologize, even sitting behind her during the lecture. Jimin knew he had probably stumbled into her house, collapsed on the floor, and stammered on and on about how pretty she looked and how much he missed her. 


He shook his head, knowing that thinking about what he had done would only make him angry and more embarrassed than he already was. 


His phone rang again. Jimin glanced down to see Taehyung's name flashing across his screen again. He reached over to deny the call, but Jihyun came around the corner and smacked his hand.


"What the hell, dude?" Jimin said, furrowing his eyebrows at his brother.


"Answer the damn phone," Jihyun told him, "You can't ignore your friends and run away from your problems forever."


Jimin squinted at Jihyun, hoping he could stall him long enough for the phone to go to voicemail. Jihyun huffed, knowing all of his little brother's stupid tricks. He grabbed the phone and answered it, shoving it to Jimin's ear.


He huffed, glaring up at Jihyun.


Talk, his brother mouthed to him.


Jimin cleared his throat gruffly, "Hey, Taehyung," he said.


"Oh," Tae's voice went up several octaves when he spoke, "Hey, man," he was clearly surprised Jimin had picked up this time.


"What's up," Jimin said hollowly, only speaking because Jihyun was glaring at him, arms crossed. He knew his older brother wasn't going to let him get out of this one.


"I just wanted to tell you that I didn't sleep with your girl," Taehyung said simply, "I wouldn't do that."


"She's not my girl," Jimin told him, "You can do what you want, it doesn't concern me."


"Jimin," Tae said, "That's bullshit. I'm not calling to help you guys figure out what the hell is going on with you. I'm calling to tell you that I didn't sleep with her," he paused, "I wouldn't do that to you. And neither would she."


Jimin let out a slow breath before responding, "I know you didn't fuck her, Tae," he told him. Taehyung let out a sigh of relief, and Jimin couldn't help but chuckle dryly.


"Then why'd you leave, dude?" Tae asked, "If you knew we didn't do anything."


Jimin paused for a long time, debating if he should tell Tae. He knew his best friend knew him better than anyone, and that he would be understanding about it, but that didn't make Jimin feel any less ashamed.


He finally spoke, "Seeing you guys all cuddly like that.. I wanted to hurt you, Taehyung. I did. I wanted to hurt you to get you off of her. And I didn't like feeling like that, so I left for a little while."


Taehyung was quiet for a few moments, processing what Jimin said, before he let out a low whistle.


"Wow," he said, "That's intense."


"Yeah, no kidding," Jimin let out another humorless laugh, and Tae laughed with him


"I know what you mean," Taehyung said, "Take as much time as you need, but you should probably be back in time for the wedding. Jin and Hobi would murder you if you missed it."


"I wouldn't dare," Jimin laughed, this time more genuinely.


They both paused as words rolled around in their heads, both of them wanting to speak but neither knowing exactly what to say. 


"Anyway.. I'll.. uh, I'll see you soon," Taehyung said, "Be safe and stuff."


"Yeah, of course," Jimin swallowed thickly, "I'll see you guys soon."


There was silence for a few more moments before Jimin gently removed the phone from his ear and ended the call. There was a muffled beep as the line went dead, and Jimin dropped the phone back on the table.


"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Jihyun said, looking pleased with himself. Jimin flipped him off and Jihyun laughed, returning to the kitchen. 


Jimin sat placidly on the couch for a few moments, staring off numbly, before his phone dinged. He pulled his phone out to reveal a text from Taehyung.


You should text her, by the way, it read, She's worried out of her mind.


Jimin gritted his teeth, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He pressed the heels of his hands roughly into his eyes, trying to shove away the emotions that were surfacing. She didn't have any business worrying about him. He had been a dick to her, and it would make life easier for everyone if she would just move on.


But he knew she couldn't do that any more than he could.


Jimin stood up and walked into the kitchen, where Jihyun was getting ready to cook. 


"Jihyun," Jimin said, his voice thick. His older brother glanced up at him.


"What?" he arched an eyebrow.


"I think I should go home."

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