My Heart's On Fire For Your Love | Jikook

Chapter 5: Thrice

As Jimin had contemplated, for the second year in a row, the happy scene of the villagers ringing in the new year, flanked by his brother and his boisterous friends, he had made a wish upon the moon. He had hoped that the upcoming year would be drama-free and filled with the simple delights of life, from good health to fulfilling friendships.

November had proven these hopes tragically, heartbreakingly false.

The new year had brought with it fresh challenges and changes, but Jimin, fortified by his loving support network, had been more than up to the task of coping. Spring had arrived with great fanfare, adorning the village with pastel pinks and verdant greens. This leafy splendour, alongside the milder weather and the inevitable lightening of Yoongi's workload, had been a cause of emphatic celebration for Jimin, whose peony garden had flourished beautifully.

Furthermore, spring had symbolised the continued development of Jimin and Jungkook's relationship, which had now deepened to a true friendship. Jimin, growing less skittish as the days passed and learning slowly to share more, had found a kindred spirit in the alpha. Sharing many opinions in common, and able to engage in spirited discussions where they had disagreed, the alpha had often been found, in his spare time, seated at the Mins' kitchen table, lukewarm mug of chocolate in his hands as he argued with Jimin over something nonsensical, such as the superior cuteness of rabbit kits over chicks.

Jimin had felt that a true turning point in the friendship had been when Jungkook had come over on Yoongi's twenty-fifth birthday in search of Taehyung, and been met with a bustling Jimin in the midst of cleaning up after a stint of baking. Inspecting Jimin's output, which had included a large chocolate cake (Yoongi's favourite), variously-shaped gingerbread men, and, impressively, four trays of assorted mini-cakes, Jungkook's mouth had formed a small o as he'd looked on with undisguised longing.

Jimin, swatting Jungkook's hand away as he'd prodded several of the sweet treats like a toddler, had asked the alpha if he'd wanted one, fully expecting him to decline as he'd always been known to. Jimin had been astonished, therefore, when Jungkook had eagerly agreed, snatching a cherry-topped cupcake off the cooling rack before Jimin had even blinked. His subsequent moans of delight as he'd furiously chewed the food, and insistent claims that the cake was almost as good as his mother's, had made Jimin laugh, and Jungkook had left ten minutes later, happily taking five cupcakes with him in addition to the three he'd eaten in quick succession.

After that, Jungkook had begun to drop in at random to inquire, specifically, if Jimin had any sugary treats, and, before Jimin knew it, he had subconsciously taken to preparing an additional portion of food or pastries whenever he expected the alpha to visit, offerings which the alpha always accepted. Jimin, well-aware of Jungkook's rigid adherence to his no-gift principle, had been pleased by Jungkook's tacit confirmation that he considered Jimin a family-friend with whom he felt comfortable enough to accept food.

While the dynamic had certainly been different to that between himself and Taehyung, his other omega friends, or even Namjoon, Jimin had cherished the friendship no less, glad for the alpha's company. He had refused to countenance any tiny whispers at the back of his mind that had intimated a longing for more. And if he had felt a flicker of relief upon Jungkook's fierce refusal to participate in the courting season again, or a hint of anticipation if he had happened to catch Jungkook staring at his profile with that single-minded intensity so characteristic of the alpha, he had kept those sensations firmly classified under the mental pigeonhole of 'inappropriate'.

The courting season, which straddled spring's end and summer's commencement, had come and gone uneventfully. Its arrival had proved tricky to Jimin, who hadn't really wanted to get involved. It had been easy to abstain the previous year, for Jimin had cited his father's death (and the necessity to stay in mourning) as an explanation for his non-participation. However, the following year, Jimin, who'd unwittingly charmed a number of the unmated alphas in the village with his peaches-and-cream beauty and glorious smile, had received a clamour of requests to join, which had been laughed off and ultimately declined by him.