Autumn Leaves / Park Jimin fanfiction

12. A Handsome Friend

Nubivagant
Moving among the clouds.

-

It had taken 2 hours by coach to finally reach the airport. During that time, I'd blocked out the noise of the world with my earbuds. I'd planned on sitting next to Jimin, but as usual, he'd been late, meaning the only empty seat left had been at the front of the bus. I could just about make out the top of his head which became my centre of attention for most of the journey.

The airport itself was a sea of faces moving as one current, flowing like a river. Giant plasma screens displayed arrival and departure times which plastered the walls of the airport. We line up at the check-in desk with our suitcases and baggage for the long haul flight ahead. Once we had finally checked in with no major mishaps we reach the departure lounge which looked similar to that of a shopping centre. There were glass elevators leading to an upper floor which appeared to be a food court. Downstairs, rows of blue fabric-covered seats filled the floor, while classical music played in the background drifting over the heads of a mixture of bored and excited looking people.

"This is so exciting. I can't believe we are actually going to London," Jimin bursts out beside me, looking like it was taking all he'd got to not jump up in the air. I hadn't noticed him follow me to the chairs that stood next to the giant glass window. I laugh quietly at how extra adorable he was acting today. "Have you ever been on a plane before?" He asks looking over at me, as I stare out at the runaway at the planes that sporadically land and take off.

"Yeah, I used to live in Shanghai before I moved to Seoul," I answer, turning my head to look at Jimin who looks surprised by my answer. "Really? I assumed you'd grown up in Seoul. I guess the slight accent makes sense now." He nods his head in understanding, his eyes still widened at the revelation.

I don't respond, as I try to move away from the subject of my childhood without it being too obvious. "What's it like to fly? On a plane that is." I notice Jimin is now fiddling nervously with his fingers, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he watches a plane plummet down the runway before lifting into the sky at a steep incline. "You'll be fine, there's nothing to worry about." I give him a confident smile trying to do my best to calm his nerves. To be honest, I wanted to squeeze his hand in mine and pull him into a hug, making sure he knew everything would be alright, but that would be massively inappropriate.

"At least I'll have you by my side." He smiles, and I expect him to give me a playful wink, but he doesn't. He was being deadly serious. "Class B, we'll be boarding now, collect your belongings and find your partners." Mr Kang shouts over the noise of the airport. Jimin stands up from the seat he'd sat himself on and reaches out his hand, offering it to help me up from my seat. He doesn't let go straight away, his hand lingering over mine a little longer than required. I bite down on my lip, trying to stop the grin that was currently attempting to display itself on my face as we walk down the tunnel to the plane.

-

I make myself comfortable in Row 15, Jimin sat next to me, with an empty seat to his left. He'd been more than happy to swap seats with me as I'd declared my love for the window seat the moment we'd stepped on the plane.

"Jimin?" A voice calls over to us. I look up to see who it was, but the boy is unfamiliar to me. Jimin laughs as he pulls the other boy into a tight hug. "Jungkook, what are you doing here? You don't take art?" He smiles, clearly glad to see him. "I heard there was an art trip to London so I asked Mr Kang if I could tag along. He said it was fine as long as I appreciated the art or something like that," he rolled his eyes. It was fair to say Jimin's friend was almost as handsome as him. His hair was longer than Jimin's as it fell in waves that cascaded around his face. A mole made its home just below his bottom lip. He looked younger than Jimin but not by much. He wore a denim jacket with a noticeably large American flag stitched on the back, paired with a plain white t-shirt and black skinny jeans.

Jungkook sat down in the empty seat beside Jimin as he shoved his carrier into the overhead compartment. "I don't actually have a partner, so I was thinking you could be mine." Jungkook gives a sideways glance to Jimin, still not having noticed me sat beside him. "Sorry Kookie, I already have a partner." Jimin points over to me and Jungkook finally glances up at me for the first time since he had arrived.

"Oh I see, is this your girlfriend Jimin? she's pretty." He playfully tickles Jimin who kicks out his limbs trying to get Jungkook's hands off of him. "No, we only met a few days ago, idiot." Although Jimin's words weren't anything but true it still stung slightly. How could I be falling for a boy I had met just days ago?

"I see. I'm Jungkook, it's a pleasure to meet you." Jungkook gave me a wink whilst putting on a fake British accent.
I giggled at his silliness before making eye contact with Jimin. Jimin lent forward slightly to block Jungkook from my sight.

"Would you look at the view." He gasped dramatically whilst looking out the plane window.

"We're still on the ground Jimin." I responded whilst looking out the window myself. Jungkook laughed at Jimin whilst keeping his gaze on me. His eyes darkened slightly before he leant his head back on the headrest whilst sighing heavily.