𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

𝖮 𝖮 𝟤

⊹ chapter two ⊹

just like he was told, jimin came home about two hours after taehyung left.

"welcome home," jeongguk greeted as jimin dragged himself through the door, kicking off his shoes at the entrance.

"yeah..." jimin dropped his bag to the floor, throwing himself down onto the couch, yawning as he leaned his head against the cushions. between being woken up early this morning after not going to sleep till late, then dealing with this new... gift, jimin didn't really have the energy to play kind host.

jeongguk watched from near by, shifting his weight from foot to foot. jimin looked exhausted, dark smudges under his eyes, and jeongguk wanted to help somehow. it seemed jimin felt the weight of a gaze and tilted his head back to look at jeongguk, waiting for him to spit whatever it was out.

jeongguk hesitated for a moment before quietly asking, "..would you like me to make something to eat?"

"no, it's fine, i'll fix something later. taehyung said he—" jimin paused, his eyes jumping from place to place around the room. "did you clean?"

would jimin be mad because he did it without permission? jeongguk fidgeted in place, eyes tracing a scratch on the hardwood floor as he gnawed on his lower lip. "y-yes."

jimin jumped up, darting into his room like someone just told him something was on fire, jeongguk following closely behind him.

papers that had been messily laid out on his desk were now in a neat pile. jimin groaned, scrubbing a hand down his face. "thank you for cleaning, but my room is off limits. those—" he pointed at the pile of paper."—are school papers that needed to be rewritten in that exact order i had them grouped in, which means i'll have to figure out what order they go in again."

jeongguk's shoulders sagged, head hanging like a dog that had just been scolded. he fiddled with the hem of his shirt, daring to peek at jimin through his lashes. "i—i'm sorry, i didn't mean to mess them up... i just thought straightening them up would make it easier to find everything and make it so you had less to clean up later." 

for a second, jimin felt like he was being too mean. logically, he knew most people would think the same way as jeongguk— better to clean the mess up now than have to do it later, since more scattered papers equaled harder to find specific things. but he'd had about twenty papers cut into smaller sections, reordered, and linked together with a few other groups of paper in the way they needed to be rewritten. he sighed tiredly and walked past jeongguk, making his way to the kitchen.

jeongguk silently trailed behind him, unsure what to do with himself or if he should even attempt to offer his help in finding the right order again. it was probably best he just stay out of the way, lest he screw something up again. he just sat on the couch and kept his mouth shut. maybe if he was quiet and still, jimin would like him better. he was upset with himself for already breaking the promise he made to himself to be good and not upset jimin anymore. it's no wonder he doesn't want jeongguk; all he does is upset him, and it hasn't even been a full day yet.

jeongguk was ripped from his spiraling thoughts when jimin called out from the kitchen.

"i'm making something to eat, do you want any?"

"no, thank you," jeongguk said, his voice soft and just barely loud enough for jimin to hear.

they spent the rest of the evening in silence, watching whatever was on tv. the small frown tugging jeongguk's lips downward never left.