Low Stress: Puppy-Love (Jikook)

Chapter Seven: Sunday Scaries

Park Jimin woke up dressed in the exact same clothes he'd gone out in: same pink sweater loose around his pale shoulders and same tight pants restricting his legs. His makeup was smudged on his face, the light eyeliner having bled into a full grunge look. The only thing he seemed to successfully take off last night were his chunky black boots and one single sock.

Jimin jolted upright, his eyes scanning his sunlit room. He had ended up in his bed, but had no idea how. Technically, it wasn't even his room; it belonged to Taehyung in Gangnam while Jimin's own place was in Apujeong a district over. But after spending so much time there over the past year, the room with its golden accents, richly stained furniture, and expansive windows felt more like home to him than his own place.

Jimin's eyes narrowed on a pile of leather near the bed, but a violent ache in his muscles distracted him from investigating it. His body hurt. Every movement caused a wave of nausea to flood through his veins, but trying to sleep more only made that sick feeling a thousand times worse. His head was so heavy and it felt like his brain was physically throbbing against his skull.

How much did I drink last night?

Something in his stomach twisted. Jimin threw the covers off his body, darting for the bathroom before his foot tripped over that pile of leather. The turbulence caused his hand to press into his lips as he ran for the toilet and threw up. A lot.

It just ... kept going. How could such a little body vomit so much? Jungkook always said Jimin was the strongest drinker out of the group of them, and while it's true it took an astronomical amount of liqueur for him to truly get drunk, Jimin wasn't sure if the title was all that worth it when he had to throw up twice as much the morning after.

His entire body froze at the thought of Jungkook. Did he - wait. Did he talk to him last night?

Oh fuck, please no. Jimin whimpered as his chest contracted and he vomited again. He was breathing heavily, hugging the toilet seat as he waited to see if any more acid colored liquid came up. When it seemed like God was giving him a break, Jimin wiped the vomit off his lips. He sat with his back to his bathroom wall in defeat, closing his eyes while his head throbbed.

A sense of absolute dread crept over him while Jimin pieced together fragmented memories from the night before. He could recall vague snippets: chatting with Taehyung in the back of a taxi, taking photos with his friends, laughing with Jungkook inside the restaurant. Then, there was the image of himself standing outside, watching a breathtaking man in a leather jacket casually extinguish a cigarette. When was that? When had Jimin been outside with Jungkook?

"Shit." Jimin said, rinsing some water in his mouth before grabbing the jacket off the ground and racing to Taehyung's room. He slammed Taehyung's door open. He couldn't remember the last time he'd truly blacked out. Which he guessed was the point but - fuck.

Taehyung grumbled and pulled his dark green bed sheets over his head as Jimin climbed in next to him.

"Mercy." Taehyung mumbled, curling in on himself as Jimin snatched the sheet away. His brown hair was a mess on his head, the white t-shirt and boxers an indicator that Taehyung had been the more sober of the two of them if he had managed to change before bed.

"Did Jungkook come home with me last night?" Jimin asked, the words escaping out of him as he threw Jeon Jungkook's jacket onto the bed. Jimin didn't need his memories to know it was Jungkook's. His friend had filled out with muscle this past year, all sharp lines and angles, but his style stayed the same.

Jimin's jaw practically dropped when Jungkook walked up to them in the restaurant dressed head to toe in black with hair crowned in rain drops. And god, the tattoos. The tattoos. When had Jungkook gotten those all inked? Had it hurt? Jimin imagined it would have. Jimin had gotten the moon cycle tattooed down his spine before leaving for Busan and had to physically hold Taehyung's hand through the whole process of it. He wanted to ask Jungkook about them but didn't know how to without making it weird. It felt too close to flirting to bring the tattoos up.