"So, what do you want to do?"

Jimin hummed as he buckled up in Namjoon's passenger seat. "Let's go to Lotte World."

"Are you serious?" Namjoon laughed as he then nodded. "Lotte World it is. Care to make reservations for us?"

The pink haired boy quickly got his phone out and dialed up the center as Namjoon emailed that he'd have to cancel classes for the day. "Hello?... Hi! I'd like to make reservations for two tickets... For today. Um, yeah any opening really... Park Jimin." Jimin turned to his professor, who just stared at him. He flashed Namjoon a smile and the older looked away. "Yes, I'm still here... Oh, no openings?"

And just as the woman was about to let him go, Namjoon took the phone from him and spoke instead. "Check again... For Kim Namjoon." Namjoon clenched his jaw, waiting for a response and Jimin just watched as his face relaxed.

"Ah, any hour I'd like? How about in an hour? Thank you so much darling, we'll be there."

As the driver hands Jimin the phone back, call ended, he can't help but question what just happened. "D-Do they know you there?"

"Something like that." Namjoon started his car, smiling at Jimin before beginning to back out of his parking space. "We've got an hour before we can actually get those tickets. Want to talk over coffee?"

The boy smiles as he looks down at his hands. "I'd like that."

The car ride was rather quiet. Namjoon wasn't really good at starting conversations and Jimin preferred enjoying the scenery on their way to the coffee shop. He was also somewhat worried about skipping. He hadn't skipped since sophomore year of high school and that ended in a suspension, a failed test, and two months being grounded. But who cares? He's in college, he's seen people show up only for test and ace classes, there were no tests scheduled for the day, and he didn't live with his parents. He really didn't care.

But then... why was he so nervous?

"You know," The two make their way inside the shop, Namjoon opening the door for Jimin. "For a film major, you rarely ever talk about film."

The younger chuckles as he rubs his arm. "To you. Taehyung has heard enough and more about film because of me."

The two wait in line as they continue their conversation. "What's your favorite movie then?"

"The Others, with Nicole Kidman. Truly a masterpiece for it's time."

"American and a classic; noted." Namjoon shrugs. "Personally prefer The Sixth Sense if we are talking about the suspense genre."

"Ah, the birth of twists." Jimin's eyes have a different shine to them, he seems more relaxed as he talks. "The Orphanage is a good one. The cinematography, the editing, the casting choice—" He sighs in satisfaction as he makes an okay sign. "Spanish film makers are doing it right."

"So let me guess..." Namjoon raises an eyebrow. "Guillermo del Toro is probably one of your favorites."

Jimin gasps as he slightly bounces on the ball of his feet. "Yes! Pan's Labyrinth is just..." He sighs as he lets his shoulders fall. "I'm getting way too excited about movies."

"It's adorable." The blond turns to the barista taking orders. "One large chai latte and you?"

Jimin clears his throat, "Matcha frap." He watches as his professor pulls out his credit card and without warning, pays for both their drinks. "I could have paid just fine..."

"Ah come on, Jimin." Namjoon takes his receipt before pushing the younger onto a table for the both of them. "It's your first time breaking the rules, my treat."

"This isn't the first time I break the rules." The student huffs sitting down, crossing his arms in annoyance. "I'm starting to regret coming with you."

"Hey now," The man takes off his glasses and puts them in his chest pocket. "Isn't this how it's supposed to be between us? Constant annoyance and love?"

"Love?" Jimin scoffs as he crosses his legs under the table. "Maybe from you. Would like to point out, that everyone skips every so often. I don't think it should be considered breaking the rules."

"Right, because going to the amusement park with your professor isn't breaking the rules."

The boy is quick to bite his bottom lip, realizing how bad that actually was. "W-Well we aren't doing anything bad."

"Hmm, I just paid for your drink and the tickets are under my name, which I'm also paying for." Namjoon leaned over the table as his order was called up. "You are on a date with your professor. That's pretty bad."

Like that, he stood up and went to get their drinks, leaving Jimin with wide eyes and pretty much scared. This isn't a date. Never would he want to go on a date with cocky, asshole, condescending Namjoon. He turned to watch as said cocky, asshole, condescending man, smiled kindly at the barista, leaving a big tip for her on the counter.

Dammit, he turned back to his thoughts, he isn't that bad. But he didn't know him. The more he thought about it, it seemed as thought Mister Kim and Namjoon were pretty different. All the times Jimin had spent time with Namjoon outside of class, he wasn't picking on him, he wasn't mean or crossed the line with his jokes.

As his drink was placed in front of him, he shook his head. "This isn't a date. I don't even know you that well."

The tall man tilted his head as he smiled, "Aren't dates for that?" He sipped from his latte as he raised his eyebrow at Jimin.

"I don't just go on dates like th—"

"My favorite color is red by the way." He smirked and Jimin knew exactly why he said that. "Yes, I was awake. Sorry about your date with Wonho."

"You said you didn't remember—"

"Nope. Said I didn't remember after the car ride." The older pointed at his drink. "Your frap will melt."

Angrily, Jimin grabs onto his drink and sips from it before he speaks. "Fine! Why did you follow ethics as your major?"

"Not my major." Namjoon looks away, embarrassed. "My major was music and my minor was ethics."

"Oh." Jimin frowns. "You are a genius and you decided to study... music?"

"That's the usual reaction I get." He chuckles after taking another sip from his coffee. "I loved music—still do— and I secretly studied it, told my parents I was majoring in Ethics... I told everyone that, actually."

"Why did you hide it?" Jimin sipped from his drink as he listened.

"Ever since my parents knew I was a genius, they pressured me into doing something that would not only make a change, it would also carry loads of cash." Namjoon put his drink down and sighed. "All I ever wanted was to make a change as well, but the right way. Statistics say that music delivers a message better than any book, article, speech... So I pursued it. But as you can tell, It didn't go so well."

"Did your parents find out?" Jimin thought back to that text message he accidentally saw. "Or... what happened?"

The older thought about whether he really wanted to tell Jimin. Sure, he was already breaking the rules, but is this the type of thing you talk about on the first date? But what did he care, he was only joking about the date. Maybe not... "My parents were greedy. That break I took after I graduated wasn't planned. Because I was so well known due to my genius, I took that fame and turned it into something good. Charity."

Jimin smiled and pointed at his cellphone. "That's why they knew you at Lotte World. You did charity there, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did a lot of charity there." His hand twitched in annoyance as he thought about what happened. "Although these charities were non profit, I was given money for appearances, speeches, advice—all that." He fidgeted with his ring before speaking again. "I wanted to start my own organization through music and when I finally gathered all the funds to start it... my parents took the money."

"Ah... not such a good relationship with them then?" Jimin really didn't know what to say or think. He thought his relationship with his parents was bad, but they never stole from him or charity he had worked on.

"The worst, I'd say." He laughs as he waves his hand in the air. "So that's what I was upset about. I decided to come out to my parents, tell them I was going to start my organization again, and keep them away from it because I still didn't trust them so they removed my beneficiary from both their wills and called me a disgrace."

Jimin let his eyes fall and he placed both his small, cold hands on Namjoon's. "I'm really sorry, Joon." Namjoon smiled because in under a day, he went from first name, to nickname status. But really, Jimin's sympathy felt nice. Because it felt genuine. "I kind of get the feeling of being excluded from the family for doing what you wanted, so I'm sorry you have to go through that." Empathy... that's even nicer.

The professor grabbed onto Jimin's hands, shaking them firmly, before letting go of them, clearing his throat. "Anyways... there's my sad back story. Hopefully yours is happier."

Jimin laughs as he puts his phone in his pocket. "Well... I wasn't always a goody two shoes." To that, Namjoon gasps.

"No way! Jimin, not a goody two shoes?"

The boy giggled, which made Namjoon smile.

"Yeah, I know. But you can ask Taehyung. I skipped a lot, I was pretty disrespectful—"

"Still are."

"I spit on a teacher's face."

Namjoon's mouth dropped open. "No way."

"And then after sophomore year, I came out to my parents." Jimin sipped from his frap. "That changed everything." He put down the cup, ready to pour his heart out to Namjoon. "They said they didn't care, that it was okay, but I could tell their act was a lie. They started treating me differently, they loosened up on the rules as if they didn't care about me anymore. My brother then got all the attention when he became a freshman. He was going to carry the good legacy of our family name. So they gave up on me by semester one of my junior year."

"Sounds a lot like my situation." Namjoon says as he looks down at Jimin's hands, which scratched themselves out of nerves.

"I developed really bad anxiety from the pressure of becoming better and trying to be the son my parents wanted me to be. But that would have never happened if I stayed gay or continued the path of film production." He shrugged and smiled at the memory. "So Taehyung's mom told me, 'You're welcome in my house any day and once you graduate, move in with us.' And I did. My parents started sending me money every month since then."

"Well that's good."

"They did that so they wouldn't have to see my face." Jimin grabbed his drink. "But yeah, better that than fake love, right?"

The two stared at each other. Now it made sense why they were so similar. Their struggles of neglectful or hateful parents affected a lot more people than anyone thought there to be. Jimin and Namjoon both happened to be two of those people. Namjoon couldn't stop thinking about that. Fake love.

"I'm sorry, this got tense suddenly." The older blond chuckled as he fanned his face. "Can't help but feel that it's my fault."

Jimin smiled as he stood up to throw away his cup, "No, it's fine. It's actually nice letting it all out to a friend."

Namjoon smiled to himself as Jimin threw away the empty cup. Friend.