Like Brother, Like Lover

Chapter Fourteen

If he thought he had fucked up before, this definitely took the cake. After his eyes had adjusted to the situation, Jimin realized that not only was Yoongi standing there, but so were Hoseok and Jin.

Nobody dared to move, or breathe for that matter. It felt as if all the air in the building had been sucked out. Jimin could tell that the elder wanted to run, but they maintained eye contact for what seemed like five years, but was probably only ten seconds.

Taehyung was the first to speak.

"The rest of the group and I kind of put two and two together a while ago," he began. "I mean, first it was back at the hotels, where the two of you were rather strange with us, but after being together alone, the next day there was just a different feeling. And I'm sorry, but not matter how much makeup you tried to put on, those hickeys definitely were still blatantly visible. We knew that we hadn't been with anyone outside of the group, so we just kind of assumed...." he trailed off.

Jimin's voice came out as a whisper when he spoke.

"So you knew? All this time? Why didn't you guys say anything or ask or yell or react in any way?" At this point he finally tore his eyes away from Yoongi and turned to face Tae.

"Yes we knew. I'm not sure how long this has been going on, but we've known about it for at least two weeks or so."

"Yeah, we have," added Hoseok, as he and Jin lightly pushed Yoongi into the room along with them as they shut the door behind them.

"We all kind of figured out one by one day after day, and then we talked about it together. We didn't want to bring it up because honestly, we don't really care. As long as your performance isn't disturbed and as long as you guys are happy, we didn't really mind what was going on," finished Jin.

"And when you say everyone," Jimin didn't feel any more relaxed. "You mean everyone? Like Namjoon hyung and Jungkookie?"

"Ne, we mean everyone. Some staff, too. We're just glad none of the fans have found out at this point, though I'd be lying if I said that a lot of them wouldn't be happy to hear this." At this point Hoseok was giving off his signature sunshine smile. But Jimin wasn't really feeling the warmth. He took in a deep breath, and started to clench and unclench his fists.

"I can't believe this is happening. This can't be happening. How can you guys not care?"

"Why would we care? The time you two spent together seemed to be times of pure bliss. Why would we do anything to stop that? We love you both, and only want you to be happy," Jimin could feel a twinge of annoyance in Tae's voice. "We really wanted and still want things to work out for the two of you."

And with that, Jimin heard the bustling of feet as Taehyung stood up from where he sat on the couch, and slowly walked towards Jimin, whose back was still to him.

"You two have to work things out. For us. For the fans. And especially for yourselves." Jin and Hoseok nodded their heads in agreement. Jimin grimaced as he felt Tae's hand on his shoulder as he walked past. The younger refused to make eye contact with Yoongi as the other three members headed out. Just before they shut the door behind them, Tae gave Jimin a reassuring wink, something that if they were in a different situation would've given Jimin comfort, but right now, it raised his anxiety levels even more.

The two stood in an awkward silence for around a minute before surprisingly, Yoongi spoke.

"I figured they would've figured out by now." Jimin jumped, startled at the sound of the elder's voice.

"Yeah," Jimin whispered back. The fragility of his words clung to him like the feelings he had for Yoongi. The warmth of his own tears were the only thing that Jimin felt physically. The elder was staring at the ground, seemingly dead inside, and Jimin felt as if he had done that to him. He had put Yoongi under so much stress, trying to hide everything that they were doing. Jimin didn't even know for sure if Yoongi truly loved him the way that the younger did. Maybe, those special nights that they had spent together were only out of pity, not out of love. That was more plausible than a God sent angel loving Park Jimin back. There was so much he wanted to say, so much that he had to say, but through his throbbing throat and brittle tears, the only thing that he managed to let out was, "Joesonghamnida."

Although Park Jimin was tired of crying, apparently crying wasn't tired of Park Jimin. The fact that he could barely even see through his tears was something to attest to, but for the first time in a while, Jimin felt as if his actual heart was crying. The way his chest pained him every time he let out a sob, only made him cry harder. This is when I lose him. This is when I lose him. This is when I lose him. Those were the only words Jimin seemed to make out from the mess that was happening in his head. He buried his face in his hands as he made his way to the couch, where he sat down with an alarming ferocity.

As much as he tried to ignore him, Jimin couldn't not hear the elder's footsteps as he approached the couch. The younger still refused to look up though. He had already exposed so much of himself to Yoongi, he didn't need to expose this part of himself again.

The couch sank a little as Jimin felt the elder sit next to him. Was this attention out of love or out of pity? The younger snuck a peek through his hands at Yoongi, who was only a mere five inches away. The elder had his elbows resting on his knees, and had his hands clasped in front of him, with his head down towards his chest and his gaze directed at the floor. Jimin could tell from Yoongi's eyes that he was thinking about something. When the elder spoke again, Jimin quickly reburied his face.

"Did you mean it?" was all the elder said. His voice was quiet, and when Jimin peeked once again, he saw that the elder's eyes were closed. The younger cleared his throat.

"Mean what?" Jimin mimicked Yoongi's soft voice.

The elder pursed his lips and lightly cleared his throat.

"The part," he paused. "The part where you said that you loved me."

Jimin wanted to tear his heart out when he saw how Yoongi was struggling. It almost seemed as if he, too, was about to cry. However, the worst part was, that for some reason, right then and there, the elder was as attractive as he had ever been in Jimin's eyes. Vulnerable, unsure. The younger felt his heart rate pick up. This was why he had fallen in love with Yoongi. Because not only was the sexy, hard working, almost cold hearted façade attractive, but so was this vulnerable, battling, almost seemingly broken side of him as well. He truly was the perfect man. And the most beautiful one too. The way his hair seemed defeated yet lifelike, and how his large hands squeezed and released each other. The way his thighs were shown off. Everything about this man was absolutely, jaw-droppingly, impossibly perfect.

Mustering up what little courage he had, Jimin lifted his head, turned, and responded.

"Ne."

He watched as the elder's body seemed to tense, and then, just as quickly, relax. Yoongi turned to face him, and the younger continued.

"I am in love with you."