Jungkook POV
He looked up over the rim
of his coffee cup at Jimin.
It was hard to believe they were really sitting together talking
in person after all this time.
Jimin still looked just as good
as ever, Just like Jungkook remembered him.
No, not just as good.
Better than ever.
"I'll be honest." Jungkook said.
"It's been so long that I didn't know if you'd even still want
to come here with me."
Jimin's eyes went wide then laughed.
"I know it's not really funny
but I was worried about the same thing."
"It's just... you never know, right?"
Jungkook grinned, wondering why he'd ever doubted how strong their feelings had been.
Of course the friendship they
had could withstand a little
break in communicating.
They were both busy.
They both had lives and they were both old enough to understand that.
But damn, it felt good to
know for sure.
"You're exactly right." He
agreed.
"But I should have known it
was a sign when we saw
each other at Rocket."
"I mean, what are the chances that we're both back here at
the same time after both
being gone all these years?"
"It's like..."
"Like it was meant to
be." Jimin finished for him.
"Like Fate."
Jungkook didn't normally do
all of that woo woo fate stuff
but he had to admit that it
was a hell of a coincidence,
at the very least.
Besides, being around Jimin
had always made him start
to believe in things he
normally wouldn't have.
"So what have I
missed?" Jungkook asked.
"Doesn't seem like a lot has changed around town, this
place is still here and Rocket."
"I don't know, to be honest."
"I just got back in town
myself." Jimin shrugged.
"From what I've seen though, there's definitely more
options for shopping now."
"And takeout."
"There's a Chinese place just outside of town that I've
been meaning to try."
"But I'm pretty sure Grind
and Rocket are always going
to be fixtures in busan."
Jungkook nodded.
Maybe it felt like things hadn't changed much because he
had only visited their old hangouts so far.
Sitting at Grind for hours and drinking too much coffee had been the thing to do when
they'd been in school.
The same with late night
greasy breakfast at Rocket.
But now that Jimin had pointed
it out, there were some new places that had popped up in town, as well as plenty of
diverse new faces.
Sitting there with Jimin, it
might have been easy to
forget that so much time
had passed.
Jimin still looked fresh-faced
and his green eyes still
sparkled exactly the same
way he remembered from
high school.
But they had both changed
in other, subtle ways and so
had Busan.
"So you're back in town with
Pa?" Jungkook asked, taking another drink.
He didn't want the conversation to get too heavy at least not
until they'd had time to get reacquainted but Jimin's
grandpa had always felt like family to him and had always treated him that way.
He'd always seemed so big
and imposing when they
were kids but there was no
denying that the old man
was starting to show his age.
"Is he doing okay?"
"He's not getting around as
well as he used to." Jimin answered, his easy smile dimming a little.
"He's always trying to do too much and it's really interfered with his recovery from the
hip replacement."
"He's flat-out refused to
have in-home care, so I
decided I'd use my vacation
time at work to come down
here and to hopefully convince him that having a little help around the house isn't such
an awful thing." Jimin sighed.
"I'm pretty sure he
understands that's why I'm
here but as long as we can
both say it's just an extended visit he seems okay with
letting me help out for now."
"Sounds like he's keeping
you on your toes."
"Not that I would have
expected anything less."
Jungkook said, feeling
relieved that there was apparently nothing more
serious going on.
Along with Rocket and Grind,
Pa was another busan fixture that couldn't be replaced.
"It's definitely a balancing act
to make sure I'm there when
he needs me but to also
respect his space and independence."
"Two things he happens to
be very protective of."
"But anyway, how about
you?" Jimin asked.
"What's been going on in your life lately? I assume that you being here means you're
done with the Marines?"
"Yeah, unfortunately."
He nodded slowly, taking
another drink.
"I always assumed I'd be in
the Corps for life but then I fucked up my knee and they
sent me packing."
"Now I'm sort of at a loss."
"I needed that kind of structure and stability and sense of belonging in my life."
"I've spent the last couple of weeks feeling kind of aimless."
"Things are starting to look
up, though."
"I've got the house and some
job prospects, plus enough money in savings to get me through at least a few months."
"It's good that things are
looking up." Jimin said, smiling.
"And maybe you can at least enjoy sleeping in and taking
it easy until you start
something new."
"You definitely deserve good things in your life."
"And at least your dad seems
to be um... supportive."
Jungkook shrugged and bit
back a sarcastic remark.
They both knew that the word supportive was a bit of a
stretch, even if his dad was
being uncharacteristically
helpful at the moment.
Not that he had anything to
lose by helping Jungkook
with the house.
Sure, he had co-signed for the bank loan but Jungkook had been the one to come up with the deposit and Jungkook was the one making the payments.
In the end, his dad still got to say he was helping and he got his own place, so they were
both pretty happy with the arrangement.
"He's come through for me
with this deal on the house."
"I'm hesitant to say it but
maybe he's even mellowing
a bit in his old age."
Jimin pressed his lips together and he thought for a moment that he might have more to say on the subject but the cloud
over his features only lasted a moment before his green eyes started to light up again.
"So it sounds like you're really putting down roots here?"
Jimin asked.
"I mean, just with the house though right? It's not like
you've made long-term plans
like getting married or um, engaged... have you?"
Jungkook felt the corners of
his mouth turn up as he
tried not to smile.
He knew exactly where Jimin
was going with that line of
not-so-subtle questioning.
And he was more than
happy to answer truthfully.
"Nope."
"Nothing like that on the
horizon for me." He finally couldn't hold back a grin.
"Why do you ask?"
"Did you want to hang out
while we're both in town?"
"You could come over later
if you want, you know."
"After we leave here."
Now Jungkook was the one
who was being completely transparent and he knew it
as soon as the words left
his mouth.
He couldn't help it, though.
Being around Jimin, seeing
the way his expressive
features still gave every
single one of his thoughts
away made Jungkook
remember just how much fun they used to have together.
Both clothed and otherwise.
Not that he needed too
much of a reminder.
It had pretty much been the
only thing on his mind from
the moment he'd made eye contact with Jimin at Rocket
until now, several hours later.
"I, um... I hadn't really
thought about it too
much." Jimin said even though the delicious shade of pink
that was spreading from his chest over his whole face
told a different story.
"But I mean... if you want
me to then, um... okay?"
When the last word came out
as more of a squeak, he
knew for sure they were
both on the same page.
Even without hearing it in
Jimin's voice, he could see
it in his eyes.
They were still into each
other.
That hadn't changed at all.
Thank God.
Coming back to busan was turning out to be one of the
best decisions he ever made.
And this was only the first
week.