General Jeon (Jikook)

chapter seventeen

'For once in his life felt the desire to play. Play with someone so innocent.'

-The Baking Session-

"Who taught you to cook?" Jimin asks from beside the focused man, watching as Jungkook pours batter into a bowl and grabs the other ingredients from a cabinet.

"My mother." The raven says immediately, not sparing the curious boy a glance as he puts milk into a measuring cup and sets it down.

"Is she a good cook?" Jimin asks, his voice cheery as he realizes this is the first time he's heard about Jungkook's family.

The man stays silent for a moment. "She was." He says, turning on the stove while Jimin's eyes sadden slightly. Even though he wanted to, he knew better than to asks Jungkook about it, knowing the man well enough to know Jungkook would probably snap at him if Jimin asked such things.

"W-Well my mom is a really good cook!" Jimin chirps, attempting to lighten the air to make the General happier. It seems to work when the raven glances at him, a small smirk on his face when he sprinkles baking powder into the bowl.

"Is that so?" The raven asks, watching in amusement as Jimin happily nods his head.

"Yup! She used to make chocolate chip pancakes for me every morning, and every Wednesday when I came home from school she would help me make chocolate chip cookies for all my teachers." The boy says happily, a big smile on his face as he thinks back to the memory.

Jimin remembered in middle school how badly he wanted his teacher to like him, so like a kid would, he begged his mom to help him bake cookies for them. Though she didn't want to at first, of course Jimin and Taehyung were just too adorable for her to say no to, and after that it became a ritual.

Jimin missed those days more than anything.

"And what happened to this tradition of making unhealthy meals?" Jungkook jokes, tilting his head when Jimin's eyes sadden slightly, the blonde biting his lip when Jungkook stops mixing.

"Not a whole lot of people survived when the attack happened, y'know?" Jimin says quietly, letting out a small chuckle to soften the blow when the man's eyes soften.

"But I don't like to think about that too much. In my mind I like to imagine she still watches over me, and when I eat pancakes I feel like I'm eating hers all over again!" The blonde tries to say cheerfully, forcing a smile on his face to convince the man. However, Jungkook only continues to glance that him in not just pity, but..

Understanding.

"I'm sorry." Is all the man says, but Jimin hears it well enough to know those words held more vulnerability than Jungkook had ever been willing to show him.

He was willing to show Jimin that he understood that pain too.

"Me too." Jimin offers after a moment, giving the raven a small smile that Jungkook attempts to mirror.

It wasn't much, but to Jimin it felt like in that moment they got just a little closer..

"I think your suppose to put the milk after the eggs." Jimin says after a few seconds of comfortable silence, walking behind and standing on his tippy toes to peak over Jungkook's shoulder so he can see the man's progress.

"Why would the order make a difference?" Jungkook asks with a raised brow, accepting the change in subject gratefully as he continues to stir the bowl.

Silence.

"I guess your right.." The blonde says after a moment, his cheeks turning pink as he once again tries to peak over Jungkook to look at the process.

Okay maybe it was a little bit of a lie to say that was the only reason the blonde was so close to the man. Honestly, Jungkook smelt so good Jimin wanted to find any excuse to be by the raven and stand enveloped in his masculine scent.