| Curiosity || Yoonmin |

Ch29 ~ Life's Too short...

A/N: Dedicating this to Kookie, cuz he's a sweetie pie and the way he was treated on Flower Crew was just too much, sooo rude. He didn't deserve that.

~4 months before the accident~

"Kookie I just don't know what to do!" Taehyung decided he'd had enough of being avoided and went to Jimin's place, only to find that the only one at his house was Jungkook (Minji was running errands).

"I'm pretty sure he has a good reason for avoiding you." Jungkook told him as he sucked on the jelly Minji had gotten from the corner store. "Eat something Hyung, I bet you haven't even eaten breakfast yet."

"I can't eat right now dude." He banged his head on the table, completely confused and lost as to what he should do about his situation. He hadn't talked to Jimin in months, not since he'd gotten out of the free period with Hoseok. Jimin was avoiding them like the plague, afraid he wouldn't be able to say a word to them at all, after what Hoseok had implied at the shower rooms.

"But you haven't eaten!" Jungkook complained. "Minji'll be upset if she finds out you haven't been eating properly!"

"Oh my God, why does she care if I haven't eaten yet?" Taehyung asked, slightly annoyed. "It's not like I'm an older brother she needs to take care of."

"You don't have to be her older brother for her to care about your health, hyung," Jungkook seemed a little angered by Taehyung's statement. "She thinks of you like an older brother too y'know." He scooped up the rest of his jelly and swallowed it down.

"Yah Jeon Jungkook," Taehyung smirked suggestively at the younger. "you like her, don't you?" he pried. Jungkook fell alarmed at the elder's blunt (but true) assumption, choking a little on some of the spit in his mouth.

"WHERE THE HELL DOES THAT COME INTO THE PICTURE!?" He hollered at the elder in embarrassment, knowing his statement was wholeheartedly true. "MY INFATUATION WITH MINJI HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS!"

"AHA!" He howled in triumph. "SO YOU DO LIKE HER!" Jungkook pulled out his hair in frustration. "When did this happen?!"

"Oh c'mon hyung!" Jungkook walked away, heading for a chair so he could rest his head on the couch. Was he really that obvious? Did it actually, physically look like he was made happy by her presence? "This is about your trouble with your best friend, not my relationship with Min-ah!"

"Yah! You just admitted you like Jimin's little sister!" He growled. "You can bet your pretty little head I want details on this matter!"

"I never said it." Jungkook denied.

"Oh yeah?" Taehyung grinned, plopping himself down on the sofa. "Mr. 'My infatuation with Minji has nothing to do with this'?" He teased.

"It really doesn't though."

"But you're infatuated with her?" Jungkook rolled his eyes and leaned his head back on the couch. How did all this lead to talking about Minji? This was suppose to be a meeting of helping Taehyung figure out why Jimin had been avoiding him for so long and well, not his long term illness that Minji was responsible for (Jungkook suffers from young love sickness).

"Will it make you feel better if I told you that I am in love with her?" Taehyung nodded. "Fine! I'm in love with Park Minji! There I said it! You happy?!" Just then, Minji was walking into corridor and was overcome with confusion, she stood behind the door way, escaping the sight of her best friend and the prying twenty year old.

"What?" Minji began to shake with curiousity, she'd only heard 'I'm in love with Park Minji'. She was eager to know why it was that he was in love with her.

"Seriously? You're doing this to me right now?" Our socially anxious Jungkook was already exhausted with fear, overcome with embarrassment and semi immersed in insecurity, Minji could very well be able to hear the conversation they were having, easily comprehending what it was Jungkook true meaning was. The reason behind all the 'meaningless' smiles she often caught him wearing; the reason behind high tailing her all the time; the reason behind the endless happiness he felt when he was with her, and just her.

"Yes, it'll make me happy if you tell me why you're in love with Minji." Taehyung held his chin on the palms of his hands and smiled happily, finding out how amusing it was to fluster the young, raven headed boy. Naive Jungkook was the perfect person for Minji to have as her boyfriend, everyone could see it except for her, even her older brother was starting to believe it.

Minji leaned back on the wall of the corridors, clutching the plastic bag of groceries she'd bought while listening intently for Jungkook's answer.

"I...well..." he couldn't find the words, speechless. He started thinking about why it was that he was so in love with her in the first place. The way her hair looked, the way she held herself, the way she made him feel. "...she's always there for me. She's never left me alone, not once. She makes me feel strong, good about myself even though there's really nothing to feel good about. She's the only person I can fully depend on in this world. I love her but.." he sat up, again, speechless and befuddled.

"But what?" Taehyung was on the edge of his chair, anticipating a reply from the child.

"...but I can't ever pursue it." He smiled sadly, Minji widened her eyes at the words she heard from her best friend, she had no idea. "She doesn't like me, I'm her best friend and that's all I'll ever be." He felt his heart aching at the words he was letting escape his mouth. "And that's ok."

"Well, I guess if you're satisfied with the way things are with the two of you.." Taehyung looked at the floor, knowing all too well what loving a cherished friend felt like. Jimin was a prime example of that. "..then that should be enough." He got up and made his way to the door of the living room, to make his way back to his humble abode, only to find his Minji parked at the wall of the corridor, shell shocked at the amount of heartfelt words Jungkook had said about her, behind her back. "You heard all of that right?" Minji looked up, only to signal a yes. "Go in there and talk to him."

"but..."

"Get in there!" He pulled her by the wrist and shoved her into the living room, closing the door shut and locking them in with every bit of strength he had.

"OPPA!" She banged her fists on the door, suffocated with the damp air that now surrounded her, knowing Jungkook was every bit as surprised by her sudden entrance. "OPEN THIS DOOR OR I SWEAR TO GOD!"

"I'M TELLING AUNT JI SWORE TO GOD!" Ji was Minji's mother.

"UGH! YOU'RE SO FULL OF IT!" she complained, turning around to face her best friend, red in the face and brimmed with feelings of uneasiness and shock. Jungkook looked away from her, hoping desperately that she didn't hear any of what he'd said in that short time he spent, describing why it was that he fell for her in the first place. "Um... hey, I got the popcorn you wanted." She grinned nervously, holding up the bag of instant popcorn.

"You didn't....by any chance.." he prayed she didn't. Of course, his prayers weren't granted, God had something else in mind for the two.

"I heard it all." Minji answered his unfinished sentence, making him cringe. He collapsed back down on the sofa, simultaneously hitting his head on the arm of the couch. Embarrassment does awful wonders to the nervous system, especially when you're an awkward teenager, in love.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that." He tried to laugh, but it came out like a cry for help, the way he'd curled himself up on the sofa. "You don't need to go out with me or anything... I-I'm fine with the way things are."

"Hey, we go out anyway." She jumped on the couch next to his legs, leaning her hands on them, her chin propped on the back of her pale palms. "Nothing has to change, ok?" She smiled. This was another thing Jungkook loved about Minji, he could say or do the most cringe worthy of things, and Minji would brush it off and continue life as it they had always done. It was one of her sayings, 'life's too short to avoid people over petty, uncontrollable matters, so just move on, proceed with life as you did before'. And it was so true, life was too short - always has been, always will be. So maybe it was a good thing Taehyung reached in, and pulled that speech out of him, since, he would never have done it on his own free will...