EDEN | Yoonmin

thirty-eight

thirty-eight

_____ 🌿 _____

JIMIN FELT ALMOST EMBARRASSED AS HE LED YOONGI DOWN HIS STREET. There was nothing flashy about Porter's Avenue, with it's dull shades of greys and browns, and cracked cobblestone sidewalks. Jimin had lost count of how many times he'd tripped and fallen over the jagged edges. Fog crept around the corners of alleyways, like shady criminals lurking for fresh meat to play with. His street was boring and plain, and yet had the ability to look like the beginning of a horror film.

It was nothing like the pathway up to Eden, an abundance of greens, and interesting foliage. Soft pinks and harsh reds of the roses that litters the front yard; intricate designs created by the vines that crawled up the side of the house. Eden was beautiful, and his street was...nothing more than a horizontal hellscape that led down to the water.

Yoongi didn't mind. He'd seen it all before — he'd been here so long. Nothing had changed much in terms of architectural style; the tall narrow buildings smushed together with no spaces between them. Every other building had some sort of shop resting beneath the apartments above. Cafes, tailors and taverns were amongst the few, all dark and dingy looking, as if creatures lurked in their shadows, waiting. Nothing like the nicer shops on the other side of the town with their bright colours, and large bay windows that allowed for the light to pour in abundantly. Porter's Avenue had always been like this, and Yoongi doubted that it would ever change.

The sound of their boots crunched against the gravel as they narrowly avoided puddles in the concrete. They walked in silence. Every so often, Jimin would steal a glance in his direction, and Yoongi would open his mouth to say something, but shut it shortly afterwards. He wanted so desperately to talk to the younger, but talking meant that he would have to say goodbye at some point, and he wasn't ready to say goodbye yet.

He shoved his hands in the pockets of his sweater. Jimin would never admit it, but Yoongi looked rather odd in sweats and a heavy sweater. It was odd to see him look...human. He had grown so accustomed to the suits he wore, or the white button ups, that anything else seemed strange.

Jimin felt sick as they stopped in front of his building. Yoongi hadn't noticed he'd stopped, and had nearly kept going if it weren't for the soft, "it's this one," that tumbled from Jimin's lips. He halted, and peered over his shoulder. Jimin was looking up at his sadly, as he pointed to the building with his eyes.

It was hard to believe a month had passed.

Yoongi watched as Jimin pushed open the front door, nose scrunching up in the process. The stench of the hallway was foul, but Jimin didn't seem to be affected by it. He was nose blind at this point, pushing the musty smell from his mind. From upstairs, the two could hear the faint sounds of yelling; the familiarity of his neighbours shouting brought Jimin back to reality.

He could barely hear Yoongi behind him as he trudged up the three flights of stairs to his floor. He was anxious to get out of the hallway, but not quite ready to re-enter his own apartment. He wondered if Yoongi would stay a while, or perhaps the night with him.

It'd been so long since he'd stood out front of his own apartment, that it felt foreign to him. Once more, he felt like a stranger in his own life, his own body even. He felt like a sim if he was being honest, and that someone was messing around with the controls. Except that person was him. He was the sim and the master behind the strings.

"Jimin?"

His gaze flickered upwards to where Yoongi stood, leaning against the doorframe of his apartment. He could sense the younger's unease, and desperately wanted to comfort him. Jimin held his arms out, and Yoongi easily slipped them around his neck, bending down for a kiss. Jimin relaxed in his hold, drawing the older closer by his hair. It was needy, but managed to be far from desperate. He somehow managed to get him up against the wall, trapping Yoongi between his body, but he knows the older is much stronger than he is, and is more than capable of changing that. Yoongi is letting him pin him there, meaning he isn't eager to say goodbye. But oddly enough, it's Yoongi that's pulling away first, much to Jimin's dismay.