take two | VMIN | BTS

...ready for it?

It had been a really nice day.

Despite some really disappointing revelations regarding Jimin's past life - i.e., his husband procuring loans under false pretenses and then tricking Jimin into paying the installments - his day was going pretty well.

He managed to do some personal shopping (maybe too much shopping), bought Taehyung's mother the apology goodies, and made a new friend.

Taeri was the sweetest bean. Jimin had always dreamed of having a sister, someone he could baby, spoil and love. He got the sister, but not someone he could do any of the other wonderful stuff with.

But today his dream came true. He found that beloved sister he always yearned for in a sweetheart named Taeri. She had arrived from New York just this morning and the evil airline lost all her luggage. The poor pet had dinner with her mother, who Jimin understood was a little difficult.

They had spent their morning getting to know each other, shopping, and going to the salon to get her hair and makeup done before dinner.

Taeri was coincidentally staying at Prometheus Towers. The very same one where he met Taehyung, told him that his family was headed for doom, kissed him, and then ran away like a coward. He visibly cringed at the memory of his actions.

Thankfully Taeri didn't seem interested in the coffee shop and led Jimin to the hotel's Japanese restaurant. They had a lovely lunch there with Hyunwoo. Well, 'with' was a stretch since the bodyguard insisted on sitting two tables away from them. But lovely nonetheless!

The prices were slightly less lovely. Buuuuuut, the Kim family would need all the money they could get when their fraud bubble burst. And Jimin was all about supporting small family-owned businesses.

After lunch, when Taeri excused herself to use the restroom, he quickly paid the bill for their meal.

Taeri was a darling, feisty, generous girl. Jimin just hoped her generosity wouldn't be exploited here in Seoul. If there was one thing he had learned, from his seat at the fringes of wealth, it was that the ultra-rich people in this city didn't pay. It was disgusting honestly.

Vendors, like high-end restaurants, hotels, and stores would give the ultra-rich credit, knowing they'd have the money to pay... and then would have to chase for months to get their dues paid. Similarly in a friend group, it was usually the 'rich' person with the least amount of wealth that picked up the tab. Always to prove that they could.

His skin crawled at the thought of someone as sweet as Taeri being amongst those vultures. She had been with Jimin for only a couple of hours and her Korean had already improved so much. Still an accented, broken, English mix but a huge improvement nonetheless. She had been in the US for the last 6 years working on her bacherlor's degree and MBA, and before that was in an international boarding school. So Jimin could understand why her Korean was so shakey.

He was sure that in a week or so she'd be fully acclimatised to her environment back here at home. Hopefully, her family life was less complicated than the typical affluent family dynamic that both he and Taehyung had.

He smiled up at Taeri when she returned from the washroom and was greeted by a pouty face. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"I tried to be sneaky and pay but you were sneakier."

Jimin grinned. "Guilty as charged."

Before they could get any further in the conversation, Jimin's phone buzzed.