CIGARETTES AND TULIPS // jikook

25 - he's done

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the evening had started on a strangely bittersweet note. jimin had found himself sitting next to  dean in his appartment again. dean's smile was as smooth as ever, his words flowing like honey.

"i'm really proud of you, jimin," dean said, his voice low and soft, eyes gleaming in a way that made jimin feel weirdly good. "you went to uni, got into psychology, all those dreams you used to talk about, huh? becoming a scientist. you were always the smartest one."

that old warmth flickered inside jimin, just for a moment. it felt strangely nice that dean had remembered. dean really knew him. but there was an edge to it, something fucking twisted, because they both knew jimin had been dumb enough to sit here now, on his couch, again.

"thanks," jimin murmured, his voice small as he tried to keep his posture together, shrinking slightly when dean's hand landed on his waist. the touch felt cold, like a cage he couldn't escape from, and no matter how much he tried to make himself smaller, dean's hand stayed, creeping into his space.

he tried to move away, but dean kept him close.

the drinks came quicker than jimin had anticipated. maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was something else entirely, but soon enough, the world began spinning. 

they had a good conversation, he found out more about dean's work, he was a teacher. jimin was really impressed how in love he was with his job, how much effort he put into it. he seemed put together, like he was now truly doing what he loved. 

but as the minutes kept running, jimin felt more and more drunk. drunker than he should've gotten. he could barely keep his head up.

and then, suddenly, he dropped his glass, and the sound of shattering made dean flinch a bit.

"you've had enough," dean said, not unkindly, but with an air of control that jimin was too drunk to fight against. "i'll drive you back."

the car right was silent, except the radio. jimin tried to lean back, but he kept feeling like he needed to throw up. 

dean noticed that and said "nope, not in my car, man"

with that, he stopped the car and opened jimin's door so that he could stumble out.

but dean didn't stay. he left jimin outside, drunk and disoriented, on the cold street. 

jimin looked up and recognized something. yoongi's bar. he ran towards it, sight blurry, stumbling over his own feet. 

as he crashed through the door, he looked around, trying to find familiar faces. and he found some: jungkook, namjoon, yoongi and taehyung. they sat in a booth, laughing, playing cards. once their eyes met him, they weren't laughing anymore.

they had met without him.

taehyung stood up and walked over to him in a fast manner, his expression full of concern as he pushed jimin outside the bar just in time before jimin threw up on the side walk. 

taehyung bent down and held back jimin's hair while he threw up, sobs tearing through his chest between each retch. jimin was a mess.

taehyung's voice was full of worry as he kept jimin upright. "what's wrong, hyung? i'm so scared."

jimin could barely hold himself up, his body slack in taehyung's arms as he whimpered, "i'm sorry."

"just tell me what's wrong, please," taehyung pleaded, his hands gently holding jimin's face. "why did you drink so much?"