Rental Boyfriend [NAMJIN]

Chapter 23: Apart

Jimin hesitantly reached for the phone laid on his bedside table, turning on the phone only to be greeted with no notifications. Namjoon was out, presumably to mope at Starbucks or go grocery shopping and Jimin knew that it was the perfect time. However, he couldn't help but feel anxious. An impending sense of doom, it seemed. He felt like he'd have a lot of work to do in order to fix things, but he was determined to make it right, so he swiped up and entered his password.

He had gotten Seokjin's contact a while ago from Namjoon, who wanted them to become closer and hoped that they would call or something of the sort. They didn't. All of their interaction was in-person, Jimin felt as if Seokjin belonged more to Namjoon than to him in closeness, so it was awkward occasionally, but they got along well enough.

Jimin hadn't taken the time to consider before what would happen to the father-son relationship between him and Seokjin, one he treasured a lot, despite it being brief. Jimin had been very isolated his entire life, he didn't really interact with kids at school, he didn't know what it was about them but he didn't like them. Instead, he stayed inside and he played with Namjoon as a child. As they got older, both of them, it was watching movies or reading trashy articles made by Namjoon's colleagues and judging them harshly behind their backs. Hence, interaction with Seokjin was a slight blessing, it was less friend-like and more guardian-like. It was refreshing.

Then the anger rushed through him. He had heard Namjoon's cries at night, he had heard the whispers: "Why Seokjin, why would you do this to me? To us? I thought we were perfect..." He saw the tired eyes, he saw the red rimmed around them, he saw the exhausted smile. Jimin had enough of it, he didn't want to see it anymore. Once, that had been him. Tired eyes with the red rimmed around them and the exhausted smile, but that wasn't him anymore. That was Namjoon now. Suddenly, without Namjoon knowing, they had swapped roles. But Jimin wasn't parenting. He was lashing out. He was taking his temper out on anyone that would listen, and Seokjin would be that person.

Jimin couldn't explain the emotions he was feeling. He hadn't ever felt them so strongly before, he hadn't ever felt so angry with someone before. The epiphany that devotion must be genetic in the Kim line did not hit him as he was not focused on it. He wasn't focused on anything except for giving Seokjin the tongue lashing he knew he deserved.

He knew that they belonged together, Seokjin and Namjoon were not a fallen fantasy for Jimin, as Jimin had hope for them, hope he wished to be extended to Seokjin.

The phone rang quietly in Jimin's ear as he waited for the person on the other end to answer. Eventually, they picked up, evidently surprised judging by the tone of their voice.

"Jimin?" Jimin however had no time for it, he was furious. Perched on his desk, feet on his chair, resisting the urge to punch the desk beneath him, Jimin started strongly, causing Seokjin to flinch.

"How dare you!" He yelled, balling his hand into a fist and breathing deeply. "How dare you hurt him as you did!" He could hear Seokjin's heavy breathing on the other end of the phone in tandem with his, he could hear Seokjin's fear. Jimin was on a roll, he kept yelling, his voice grew louder and louder.

"Your last words were 'I love you' before you left him. How could you give sense of false hope? My father loved you, he treasured you, you were family to him, hell, TO ME! Why would you leave him the way you did?" Jimin's voice cracked hopelessly, but he continued to shout nonetheless, rage circling around him, consuming him.

"You left him! For what, the job you don't even want? The friends you don't even have? The customers you don't even like? Why would you leave him you useless piece of shit! Do you have any idea how much sorrow my dad has been in since you've left? He's been in tears and utter devastation, for what? An asshole who doesn't know what he wants? Don't you understand? He loves you so fucking much, he does so much for you, you did so much for him, for what? Only to leave in the end?" Jimin exhaled deeply, the tears starting to spike at his eyes as he stopped yelling. Instead, he spoke with a broken whisper.

"You better get your shit together or so help me god. You love him, I know damn well that you love him, and he loves you too. I just want to see Dad happy, he's the best father in the world and I want him to be happy." The tears fell down gently, Jimin could hear Seokjin's breathing hitch on the other side of the line from pure shock. He did not care.

"Don't talk to me until you've worked your shit out." Jimin then hung up, shutting off his phone and dropping it onto the desk. He slumped to the floor, exhausted, tears falling slowly. All Jimin wanted was for his dad to be happy, after years of him being confined in parenthood. Why was he feeling like this? He didn't know how someone could feel both upset, angry and optimistic at the same time. He didn't know how someone could feel so many emotions at once, perhaps his drama class did a lesson on it and he slept through it, he didn't know.

Jimin stood up and wiped his tears, looking in the mirror and nodding in determination before exiting his room and slamming the door shut behind him. He knew his next destination.

Taehyung and Yoongi's house.

Jimin knocked on the door, seething in his rage and his own ambition. He had to do something, or at the very least, say something. Yoongi opened the door and his eyes widened at Jimin's dishevelled appearance, shyly biting his lip and speaking quietly.

"Good afternoon, is there anything of concern that must be addressed?" Jimin would've laughed if he wasn't so angry, Yoongi always spoke incredibly formally, more so than his own father. Perhaps it was from his mother, Jimin wouldn't know.

"Please bring your father here." Yoongi paled and quickly nodded, disappearing as if he was never there. He then came back with an annoyed older man who looked similar to Yoongi but with harsher features. Yoongi bowed in departure and walked away silently, presumably going to him and Taehyung's room, the two were extremely close after all.

"Would you like to come in?" Jimin rejected the offer silently, shaking his head, eyes furious.

"I'm going to speak, and you will listen to me. No talking, don't make a sound." The man looked shocked at the audacity of this teenager, who thought he had a right to speak to him in such a way.

"How dare you?" Jimin said exactly the same first words he spoke to Seokjin, however his tone was icy cold and filled with a lot more hatred than the man thought a teenager was ever capable of. Jimin's eyes shone darkly as he continued to speak, tone only getting colder, words only hurting more and more.

"I've heard all about you, and your company. I've heard of your rules, I've heard of your destruction. You destroy any chance people have of romance, you destroy their chances of having friends, for what? For business? For wanting a scandal free company? Well, companies like yours will always be in scandals, no matter how much you run around it, so give up. Stop trying to interfere in the lives of others. I might be furious with Seokjin, but it is no more than the feelings I have regarding you." The man flinched, horrified at Jimin's choice of words. He expected cursing and yelling, but he did not expect him to be calm. Eerily calm.

"I hate you for tearing my family apart. I hate you for contributing to the broken hearts both of the father that I can't live without and the man who I never expected to be a part of our lives. I hope you can live with yourself, knowing how many hearts you've broken, potential friendships you've destroyed, children you've brainwashed. How can you live with yourself when you're this terrible of a person? How could anyone live with you as a family member, knowing the hurt you've inflicted onto others? Seokjin's told me all about it, as has my dad. You can't brainwash everyone sir, especially not the members of my family." Jimin inhaled sharply, keeping eye contact with the man as if to scare him. It worked.

"I will see myself out. I sure hope that the regret you face is painful and that on the other side of it all you turn out a better person. Goodbye." Jimin slammed the door shut, turning around and walking back to his house triumphantly.

It had felt exhilarating, euphoric almost to know that he had done something to help. He knew he was going to get his family back, he just knew. 

Author's Note: Jimin's getting shit done! Please, leave comments, vote on chapters, there's not much of it in the later chapters.