Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop || Jikook [COMPLETE]

Chapter 3

Jimin was breathing heavily, exhausted from practice.

"Heads up!"

Jimin looked up just in time to see Taemin toss a bottle of water his way. He didn't even attempt to catch it, instead sidestepping so it hit the wall behind him with a thud. Jimin let out a groan as he dropped to the floor and crawled over to the bottle, now on its side against the wall, Taemin chuckling behind him all the while.

"Jimin, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were a freshman with how you've been dancing lately."

Jimin scowled at Taemin's jab. Really the scowl was more directed at himself, because he knew his dancing as of late had been subpar compared to what he was capable of.

"Come on. Don't look at me like that," Taemin grinned as he pulled Jimin up into a sitting position before plopping down next to him against the wall.

Jimin lifted his bottle of water and went to open it when it was taken from him and replaced with the one Taemin had already opened. Jimin lifted the bottle to his lips, and the moment the cool water hit them he drank greedily. Afterward, he let his head fall back against the mirrored wall and closed his eyes. He could feel Taemin's eyes on him. Jimin knew Taemin had been concerned these past few months with the decline in his concentration. Taemin was his senior and good friend, someone who had taken Jimin under his wing when he was a sophomore struggling to nail a solo choreography he'd been thrust into when the dancer originally assigned to it was injured.

"I'm okay," Jimin breathed out into the quiet of the dance practice room.

Taemin didn't speak but continued to watch Jimin thoughtfully, even as Jimin told him he was okay. Taemin knew he wasn't. Jimin was the type of person who internalized his problems until he couldn't anymore. Taemin knew better than most how that went. Jimin opened his eyes and looked at Taemin.

"Really," Jimin spoke, though he wasn't sure who he was trying to convince himself or Taemin.

Taemin gave him a small smile before nudging Jimin with his shoulder. "We both know that isn't true." Jimin opened his mouth in protest when Taemin spoke over him. "And that's okay. I don't know exactly what's going on, but if I had to guess, it has to do with a certain someone." Jimin groaned, dropping his forehead against the top of his knees, pulling his legs into his chest. Jimin felt Taemin ruffle his hair. "You want to tell me what happened?"

Jimin let out a sigh. He didn't really want to talk about last night. About what he had overheard Jungkook say to Taehyung, not realizing Jimin had come back from the bathroom. He felt like voicing what Jungkook said would make it impossible to pretend it hadn't happened; he hadn't heard it. Jimin couldn't even bring himself to tell Hoseok, instead crying in his arms until he passed out from exhaustion. But part of him did want to talk about it, because part of Jimin was simply tired of being stuck in love with someone who, as of last night, he knew with certainty didn't feel the same way.

"I got friend-zoned last night. Well, truly friend-zoned," Jimin spoke, his head turned to face Taemin. "I went over to Tae's and Kook's last night to help Tae out with a project. He needed a model at the last minute. I overheard the two of them talking about me when I came back from the bathroom."

"What did you overhear?" Taemin asked quietly, already feeling sad for his friend.

"Tae was just complimenting me like he usually does when I model for him. Just saying how pretty I was and how I was the only man he'd ever be willing to switch teams for," Jimin chuckled, a small smile on his lips. "But." Jimin's smile faltered. "Tae had asked Jungkook why he didn't make a move since he was actually gay." Jimin swallowed thickly. "Jungkook said that there was no way he could ever see me that way."