Jimin's Pet | Park Jimin (a hybrid story)

~~Thirty-four^.^

Hoseok~
Two days after the meeting with Jimin, I was on my way over to check up on Poppy and Jiwoo. They had been living together about a week and I wanted to make sure everything was working out well between them.

I also needed to make sure the apartment was as safe as possible, considering the things I had found out about Mi-cha's feelings toward Poppy and the things she had already done.

Jimin made us promise not to say anything to Poppy about what he told us until Mi-cha had been dealt with. He took me at my word that Poppy was in a safe place and we all decided she should stay where she was while Mi-cha was still a threat.

I realized something during that meeting with Jimin. I thought I had deep feelings for Poppy before, but they didn't even begin to compare with how Jimin felt about her. I couldn't imagine doing the things he'd done to save Poppy from being exploited by Mi-cha. He nearly broke himself to keep her from harm, something I couldn't say with any certainty that I would have done in the same circumstances.

I'd like to say that I decided to step away from the situation and leave it wide open for Jimin, but to be fair, I'd always known how Poppy felt about him. Even after Jimin had broken her heart, she still pushed me away in favor of him. And the fact that she needed to leave to get over him meant that she still hadn't, in fact, gotten over him yet.

Besides, I kind of had my eye on someone else recently.

Someone I'd never really noticed before—

—someone with a tell-it-like-it-is attitude—

—and who was unapologetically her own person.

Someone who wasn't afraid to tell me when I was being a piece of shit.

Thinking of her charging at me, while Jimin held onto her, trying to keep her from killing me, somehow brought a smile to my face. She sure was a feisty one.

Even though I was already over halfway to Jiwoo's apartment, I picked up my phone and dialed her number.

She was laughing as she picked up and before she could even speak, I said, "Hi Hae. It's Hoseok."

I grimaced as there was a sudden absence of sound on the other end of the line. After a few seconds, I could hear urgent whisperings going back and forth between her and another person.

I cleared my throat, about to hang up, jealously wondering who was with her, but before I did she finally responded, "Yes? What can I do for you, Hoseok?"

So businesslike, I thought.

"Um... well, I wanted to ask if maybe you'd like to go visit Poppy. I'm heading over to check on her."

"Oh really?" her voice perked up, becoming more friendly. There was more whispering in the background and she asked, "Can Valeria come too? She's at my place hanging out."

The relief I felt was surprisingly overwhelming. I pulled over into a parking lot to turn around, mentally high-fiving myself.

"Of course, she can come too. The more the merrier, I say. I know Poppy will love seeing both of you."

Sitting at the intersection, waiting to turn onto the street to retrace my route, I thought about how long I had known Hae. How could I have not noticed her before? There were so many things about her I admired, but I hadn't really seen them until recently. I suddenly couldn't wait to get to know everything about her.

Pressing down on the gas, I sped up and within a short amount of time I was pulling up to her house. Before I even moved the shifter into park, they came out, Valeria waving at me as they ran to the car.