CIGARETTES AND TULIPS // jikook

2 - they mean a lot to me

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the next morning dawned grey and uninviting. jimin showered quickly, the hot water doing little to ease the tension knotting his shoulders, then dressed in his usual attire: a simple white shirt and jeans, paired with a soft purple cardigan.

he slipped his phone into his pocket, grabbed his bag, and headed out into the crisp autumn air.

the city was already bustling, and jimin navigated the crowded sidewalks with practiced avoidance, keeping his head down and his earbuds in to block out the noise of strangers' conversations.

the university campus was only a short bus ride away.

the bus was crowded, filled with students and professionals all absorbed in their own worlds, and jimin clutched his bag a little tighter, focusing on the faint hum of his music. he kept his gaze fixed out the window, watching the city blur by in a haze of muted colors and movement. he still felt so sleepy that he hard to try hard to keep his eyes from shutting.

as he stepped off the bus, he spotted taehyung waiting near the entrance to their building.

tall and effortlessly stylish, the curly haired boy stood out even in a crowd with his boxy smile, his vibrant personality radiating through his confident demeanor.

today, he wore a mustard-yellow sweater over a pair of loose, high-waisted trousers, a combination that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else but somehow seemed perfectly natural on him. he just had a natural charisma and an amazing sense of style. paired with his confidence and uniqueness it made him the sun in every room taehyung stepped into.

"jiminie!" taehyung's voice cut through the soft music on jimin's ears. he waved enthusiastically, a broad grin spreading across his face as jimin approached.

jimin felt a small smile tug at his lips in response.

taehyung had that effect on people, drawing them out of their shells with his infectious energy and genuine kindness.

"morning, tae," jimin mumbled, adjusting his bag on his shoulder.

taehyung fell into step beside him as they walked towards their lecture hall.

"you good, hyung? you look like you didn't sleep much," he observed, his tone laced with concern.

"just couldn't sleep," jimin replied vaguely, not wanting to delve into the restless night he'd spent tossing and turning.

taehyung nodded, his expression understanding but not prying.

he had a way of sensing when jimin needed space and when he needed a friend, and today, he simply kept the conversation light, talking about a new art exhibit he wanted to visit and the latest film he was excited to see.

he knew that jimin had problems sleeping some nights. well, most of the nights.

he studied a lot and then ended up wide awake in bed with thoughts that he had suppressed the whole day running through his mind.

their lecture was a blur of voices and powerpoint slides, the professor's monotone droning on about statistical analysis and research methodologies.

jimin took meticulous notes, more out of habit than necessity, his pen moving automatically across the pages of his notebook. the numbers and graphs offered a kind of comfort in their predictability, a stark contrast to whatever the fuck was going on inside his head.

he loved the lectures and everything because it consumed his mind for a few hours.

but whenever his thoughts would sneakily leave whatever the professor was saying they would bring him back to this indescribable feeling inside. no matter how hard he tried, whenever it became silent around him he felt this incredibly heavy feeling in his chest.