second choice. ʲʲᵏ ˣ ᵖʲᵐ

[05]

jeongguk had vaguely remembered a drunk taehyung asking him last night to hang out the next day to get brunch.

yet there he was, wandering the streets with park jimin, who seemed to be walking a bit too close for jeongguk's well-being. he secretly hoped taehyung was too hungover to want to get out of bed.

jeongguk did try to distract himself by focusing on the different buildings and cars passing by; however, he couldn't help but slightly jump every time jimin's shoulder brushed against his. jimin, on the other hand, hadn't seem to notice, instead focusing on searching up nearby places on his phone.

jimin turned to look at him. "are you okay with eating some ramen? there's a ramen place down the street," he suggested.

"uh y- yeah, sure. i like ramen."

at jeongguk's response, jimin studied his face, scrunching his eyebrows. jeongguk could feel the heat rising up his cheeks. he looked away, silently praying that he didn't look like a complete tomato.

luckily, jimin didn't seem to notice. (or at least, he acted like he didn't.) instead, he took jeongguk's nervous stuttering as hesitation and indecisiveness.

"are you sure? we can get anything you like, just name it, jeongguk." he playfully punched jeongguk's arm.

"no, ramen is good, hyung," jeongguk confirmed quietly, a smile appearing on his lips at jimin's behavior.

jimin stopped in his tracks, staring at jungkook with a slightly incredulous smile.

"um... is everything okay?" jeongguk asked, confused.

"oh sorry, it's nothing," jimin said, shaking his head and resuming his walking. "i just... that's just the first time you called me 'hyung'. it was really cute," he chuckled.

if jeongguk had any hope he hadn't looked like a tomato earlier, he definitely did not have any hope left now; his entire face burned with heat. did jimin just call him cute?

he tried to keep himself distracted by focusing on the colors of the stores' logos as they walked past, but he couldn't hide the unwilling, cracking smile starting to appear on his face. he had wanted to remain cool and collected around jimin to make up for acting like a complete idiot around him yesterday, but jimin's smile and attitude was proving to be dangerously contagious.

they reached the ramen shop: a cute, small, locally-owned store. the little restaurant was decorated with plants, lettered calligraphy and a few warmly-lit lanterns. the aroma was amazing inside; it made jeongguk realize how hungry he had actually been this entire time.

"ready to eat?" jimin asked, looking over at jeongguk. jeongguk nodded.

"i'm starving."

twenty minutes later, they were headed out of the tiny restaurant, their stomachs full. jimin had been relatively quiet during their meal, and hadn't made as much small talk as jeongguk had expected him to. but it was a comfortable silence, as they both had mostly focused on their meals, with the occasional slurp or "mmm" filling the air.

"that was probably the best ramen i've had in a long while," jimin chuckled as they made their way back to the dorm the way they had come.

"yeah," jeongguk agreed, smiling slightly to himself. the image of jimin with his mouth full of ramen, slurping up noodles filled his head. how could someone be so cute and hot at the same time?

jeongguk was suddenly broken out of his thoughts when jimin suggested, "do you want to walk around the park? it's really pretty this time of day." his eyes twinkled with a hint of adventure. "unless," he quickly added, "you have somewhere to be."

"sure," jeongguk replied, a little too quickly. noticing how it came out, he cleared his throat. "i mean, i heard that too. about the park. so." he could feel the blush creeping up his ears.

jimin chuckled softly, clearly amused by jeongguk's bashful response. "great, let's go then," he said, leading the way.

as they walked towards the park, the city seemed to buzz with life around them. jeongguk found himself stealing glances at jimin, who looked effortlessly cool, his hands in his pockets as he navigated through the crowd with ease.

the park was a refreshing change from the concrete jungle of the city. tall trees offered shade, and the sound of birds chirping filled the air. the sun cast dappled shadows on the path, and a gentle breeze made the leaves rustle. there was a bike path around the park as well, carving a concrete sidewalk that curled around the entire plot of land.

deciding he really needed to stop sneaking glances at jimin and making it too obvious, jeongguk decided to take in the scenery of the park instead. he had never visited this side of the park, anyway. as they walked along the bike path, he stared up at the trees, the curves of the tall, winding branches, the leaving slowly starting to change color...

"jeongguk, watch out!"

his head snapped down just in time to see a handful of people wearing biking gear on bikes, heading straight for him, going way too fast to hit the brakes in time. jeongguk had slowly wandered into the bike lane without knowing, but he couldn't get himself to move out of the way; his feet were frozen as his eyes widened in terror as they grew closer, yelling at him to move out of the way.

a strong arm wrapped around his waist, and pulled him out of the way just as the bikers flew past him at an incredible speed. jeongguk lost his balance as he wobbled backwards, but jimin held his waist, steadying him.

"oh my god, i'm sorry i-"

jeongguk turned around to face jimin when he noticed jimin was staring at him with an amused look on his face. not wanting to seem too flustered, he stopped mid sentence, muttering a small "thanks" instead.

he stared into space again, looking at the ground, looking at the bike path, the cars he could see zooming outside the park in the distance, anything...not wanting to make eye contact with jimin due to the huge wave of embarrassment that washed over him. why does everything go wrong in front of him? i must look like such an idiot.

he thought he saw jimin smile slyly in the corner of his eye, watching him. still he refused to make eye contact, settling on dusting off his clothes, when suddenly jimin's face came extremely close, startling jeongguk. with this close of a proximity, jeongguk was almost forced to look at jimin, a surprised look on his face. then he said something, in a low voice, so that only jeongguk was able to hear him.

"you know, you're really cute when you're flustered."