On-Way Passage || ᴠᴍɪɴ

Chapter 53

The next morning, Jimin woke up a little later than usual. The space next to him was empty—Taehyung had probably gone downstairs to have breakfast.

He dressed and went up to the window, where he could hear noises downstairs. In the next second, he caught sight of Yoongi leaving the house and driving away to work.

Taehyung had just about finished his meal when Jimin came down, but he lingered in the dining room, waiting for Jimin.

Jimin walked over and took a seat."How was I out for so long?" he said as he stroked his unkempt hair.

Taehyung poured him some milk. "You were completely exhausted."

Jimin thought about it before leaning into Taehyung's space and mumbling in his ear, "Exhausted from watching last night's show?"

Taehyung gave him a look. "Exhausted from work."

Jimin's brain never once stopped working while he was at his lab yesterday. He didn't notice anything when he was too focused, but once his body relaxed, the fatigue set in, causing him to inadvertently sleep till this hour.

Jimin yawned as he dug into his breakfast.

Taehyung sat next to him and kept him company. "Don't go to work if you're too tired to."

Jimin's chopstick-holding hand froze as he cast an inquisitive glance towards Taehyung. "You're not even a little worried that I'm working too slowly on the R&D end and will drag down Hyungjin's profits for the coming year?"

Taehyung leaned back in a relaxed manner. "No."

"Mo Ze's about to launch their pheromone perfumes," Jimin added as he moved closer.

"I'm not worried," Taehyung responded.

A laugh escaped Jimin's mouth when he heard this.

After breakfast, while Taehyung and Jimin were preparing to leave for the company, Seokjin suddenly called Jimin and summoned him to the third floor.

Taehyung scowled and looked at the time.

"Are you in a hurry?" Jimin asked Taehyung, peering in the direction of the stairway.

"I have a meeting this morning," said Taehyung.

"You can go on ahead then," Jimin suggested. "I'll head over to the company on my own in a bit."

Taehyung's face looked solemn, his brows furrowed. His coat was draped over his arm, and his back a ramrod-straight line as he stood at the doorway of the dining room. "I'll have them reschedule the meeting," he remarked a few moments later.

"You don't have to do that..." Jimin thought his nervousness was a little out of proportion.

"I'm not leaving you alone in this house."

After experiencing the events of that night, they could basically conclude that someone intended to harm Jimin. Taehyung was naturally apprehensive about leaving Jimin alone in the Kim residence.

Jimin, aware of the man's concerns, didn't persist. He gave a nod and said, "I'll go up and take a look and come back down as quickly as possible."

Upon arriving in front of Seokjin's third-floor bedroom door, Jimin gently knocked on it, then heard Seokjin's voice coming from inside shortly after. "Is that you, Jimin? Please come in."

When Jimin opened the door and entered the room, he discovered that Seokjin had already gotten out of bed and was sitting on a recliner near the window in his pyjamas.

The curtains were flung open, the glass window covering the entire height of the wall was spotless, and golden early morning sunlight flooded in, enveloping Seokjin's body. His eyes were half-closed, still a tad tipsy from the previous night, and he presented an indolent image.