31 | The maneuvers of this relationship.

It was unusual, or rather arbitrary for Jimin to call at almost 1 in the night. Daehye was just close to switching off the light in her room.

"Hey." She hoped that there wasn't a minor accident, the last they talked was just before dinner, him asking if the day was fine and if anything happened out of the blue.

"I miss you." A light smile, and then reddened cheeks- she wasn't used to receiving calls of people claiming to miss her in the middle of the night. "Well, so do I."

"No you don't understand me; my oxytocin is low, you know why right?" He was currently walking, to a neighborhood he wasn't familiar with. "Oh, is it because it's been three days since you received any kisses, hugs, you need sex?" He laughed at her openness, and was no stranger to her bold answers.

"You're gonna top the university, you know your subject well."

"I just know you well." She now laid on the bed and just then her window clattered.

"Tell me which one is safer, the main door or the window." She sprang up, no fucking way- she wore her slippers in a hurry and then in one long stride opened the curtains only to see him standing there. She was blushing harder now. She hated surprises, they were unpredictable and she would never be able to welcome them but now, holy lord she loved these kinds of surprises.

"In all honesty, I think the window is better." He was standing outside the house boundary. "Okay." And then he cut the call, despite the fact that his face was covered by the mask she could see his smile. And then she opened the window.

"I'm gonna check if everyone is asleep." The cold air nipped her skin, she thought he didn't hear as he climbed up the wall grills but he gave her a thumbs up. And just then she left her room, hurried downstairs and grabbed the tub of whatever flavour of ice cream and then ran towards her parent's room, put her ear against the door, no sound and then opened it slightly only to see them sleeping.

She then ran back upstairs, and hurried towards the far corner of her brother's room. "When are you planning to sleep?" She made sure to put the ice cream on the floor and then enter the room or else he would also ask for it.

"After an hour." He was too focused on what he was watching, it seemed that he wouldn't disturb. She got out, slightly breathless not because of all the running but because of the nerves. She pressed her hand on the door of her room and then she was pulled inside, arms wrapped around her. "I missed you so much." He breathed in her scent. "You smell nice, why won't you say anything?" He said again.

"Because you're not letting me spea-" and then he kissed her way too hard on the mouth.

"Hi." She finally said as he released her. "Hi back." But now she kissed him back, part reason because she didn't know what to say and part reason because with his jacket hanging loose and his hair a little ruffled, the top shirt buttons weren't hiding his chest and his ear piercings, motherfucking hell, he just looked like a five course meal.

"Glad to see that I'm not the only one who was touch starved."

"Are you coming from somewhere?"

"No I was back before seven but I didn't get time to remove these.." he signalled to his ear. "And then I was thinking to call you, as in meet you but then I was like nah."

"But you did come here."

"You make it hard not to."

"You're lovesick." He tried to tug a strand of her side fringe, "give me a cure, you're an aspiring scientist."

"I'm not certified though."

"Okay then kiss me, increase my oxytocin levels. Adrenaline and testosterone work too."

"How much did you even study? Are you trying to impress me?" Jimin would always glance at the thick stacks of her PDF printouts, would find somethings which were interesting and worth knowing. When he read them he had vague recollection of what he studied in high school.

"When is the time when I'm not trying to impress you?" And even though the bed was literally four steps away, he still picked her up, bridal style. "You're heavy."

"You can pick Taehyung but you can't pick me?" She lightly tapped his cheek as he put her down, it was a light tease from his side. He took off his shoes and then laid next to her, as if it was a reflex she put her head on his chest. "I'm leaving for the tour." He still had two weeks but all the stage costumes were already in their suitcases, the makeup artists and everything already decided. The only thing left was them leaving for it.

"I know." She sighed, if asked two months back, Park Jimin would've said that he was super excited for the tour, he would meet his fans, travel around the world but now all the seemed to blur. He loved all those things but now Daehye had become an integral part of his life, she was almost his life now.

"Five months worth of long distance, it's gonna be exhausting." She got up again and locked the door. "It will be fine. We'll just chat a lot okay?"

"No but I'm gonna accept the fact that the tour season is kinda off."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're leaving in mid autumn. You're abandoning me in the middle of winters? The season of hot chocolates and sweaters and staying all day in front of the fireplace." Jimin took off his jacket and sat straight.

"Don't you dare give me a guilt feeling." Now that she spoke about it, he actually did feel it somewhere that he really was leaving, in the months of Christmas and new year, and of snow. He stared at the ground where his shoes were sprawled messily.

"Wait dude, I was kidding... Jimin look at me." She was trying to control her laughter, the sound of her laughs who he was so accustomed to that he would recognise it in a crowd. She held his face and looked in his eyes, she saw her own reflection, "you're so cute," she kissed the tip of his nose. "I know right." He smiled back, charmingly.

"You're supposed to say thanks." He pushed her but carefully. And then kissed her, "does this count as a thanks?" He asked, his hands already on her waist, him hovering over her, he lifted the hem of her camisole "Not so easily."

—-

It was when Daehye was putting on her socks, Jimin was still wearing his hoodie, pulling his jeans up lazily, a knock and then a series of thuds on the door.

"Dae what are you doing, you never lock your door." Right, and she was regretting it, she should've always locked her door. At least there wouldn't be questioning in the dining hall.

"I'm busy, I'm changing my clothes."

"You are my daughter, I've seen you naked since the day you were born." Jimin was panicking, he already had tangled in his undone jeans and lost his balance twice. "You stop falling goddamn, you're literally best friends with the floor." Daehye whispered under her breath, almost shouting under her voice.

"There's a man in my room, he's naked. Do you still want to come in." Jimin held his hair, no he was pulling them. He had known that Daehye had courage but no he didn't have the courage to get thrashed by his maybe mother future in-law, when he was about to speak Daehye shushed him.

"Wait for her response." They then waited for a second and "A man in your room? You don't lie in the morning. Breakfast in five minutes.."

Daehye tilted an eyebrow as she heard the footsteps go quieter by the turning second. "Your mom has an eternal faith that you're dying single."

"And see you're here to stomp your heeled shoes on that faith of hers."

"And you have faith that I'm going to die with you." Jimin was the one who raised his left eyebrow, she didn't pay him attention so he went in front of her and blocked her by wrapping his arms around hers. "I don't think so and I do think so simultaneously, what are your opinions on this?" She wrapped her arms around his neck in return. "Uhm, I don't know honestly." He turned serious and then she smiled, "of course, it's too early for that." And then she left his side and went to her study table to pack her bag.

He didn't know but he did want her in his future, he did want her to be an integral part of it. But who knew what the next sunrise and sunset would bid you with? Such was life, full of unprecedented weather. "Let's just leave it to time." Leave it to time, yes the passage of months would test them, "Great idea." Daehye knew that understanding was all that was needed in a relationship, it was now that she saw it and it was now that she experienced it.

"Say the next time you come, you should come through the main door. Let's really just falter the faith of my parents."

"Right, Daehye's parents and their unwavering faith in their daughter remaining single for the rest of her life."

—

Daehye made a conclusion, at the fresh age of seventeen, that her relations with her parents were good. They did not trust her but that didn't mean that they would think that their daughter is a gone case. Though it didn't take long to fade. It was when she finally got rid of all the college applications and exams and while she sat alone and helpless out of boredom, she realised that maybe, just maybe her parents never said anything and she never said anything back which would cause any verbal fights. Now they are happening on a daily basis. Fights which had no point.

Her parents found her newfound, non stressful freedom out of all entrances of college seeking, odd. Odd to a point where they would tell her to start tutoring her brother. Odd to a point where her mother and her father had way too many arguments with her. So she did one single thing. She told her father how she would get distracted if she lived in the house too much and the travel to college and back would be time wasting. The next day they were searching for a studio house, and luckily found one. But the homesickness tagged along.

Like right now when she stretched on the bed and wondered how much she was missing Jimin. It had been three weeks since his tour. Three weeks since twitter wouldn't stop with bangtan hashtags of the concerts. The maknae line which wasn't so maknae anymore proved to give a show of their dance, vocals and their god forbidden six pack abs cause men went shirtless at least during one song. How Jimin would casually just sing with his jacket zip open or how Jungkook would fake feeling hot in the middle of November and undo his shirt buttons. Taehyung? No, his looks were enough to cause a mass slaughter.

And she was missing him, like crazy. Not just because she wasn't seeing his face or getting to hug him but because of the communication, different timelines took such a fucking toll on their calls even. Her mood was off and there was no other-way of telling it. Partially because she did have a fight with both her parents and she was meant to go back to her studio house in December but due to egoistic circumstances she decided to just leave today. She could not handle another insult, another insult of being told that she hadn't achieved everything when she did often gave her best to whatever she was on. Okay maybe not the best at academics but she did get the validation for it. Yet there was no appreciation from her parents, there was some from her mother but god knows how high standards her father had.

She needed an immediate girls night with Ara or maybe She needed immediate boyfriend cuddles and kisses. Or maybe she needed to watch a movie alone, in solace. The third one seemed a good option. She wouldn't disturb anyone and it would shift her emotions to a lighter side. First she decided to do her night care routine and then set her bed, an initiative to stand up was interrupted when her phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hey, how's it going?" Jimin knew, by the pitch of her voice that something was off, her mood a little low. "As fine as it could be. Why did you call?" She said back while she stared at the ceiling.

First he thought, but now it was confirmed that something indeed was going on. "What do you mean by that? Can't I even call you?" Jimin excused himself from the breakfast table, Taehyung and Jungkook exchanged a look.

Daehye felt guilty of her flatness in her voice, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound like that. Let me reframe. I'm fine Jimin, how are you?"

"It's fine; I didn't mean to sound rude too, I'm sorry for that. Concerts are awesome and yeah, I'm having breakfast and getting ready for rehearsal." Jimin leaned on the wall beside the window, the sunrise looked beautifully serene, it looked the same in every place as if it was the only constant in any geography.

"The moon looks pretty today." He heard her, she looked at the moon while he looked at the sun. "Makes me remember that Dua Lipa song, guess which one?" She said again, the sadness faded a little and he hated himself so much for now listening to Dua Lipa often.

"Which one?" He asked, giving up. " Be the one." He gave himself a mental note of listening to it later.

"What's wrong with you?" He continued when she didn't say anything else. "Nothing, just a long day."

"You sure?" He wasn't a bit convinced. "Obviously yes, don't worry about me and all the luck for today, send me pictures." She tried to sound giddy, "I will, you know that."

"Bye." She waited for him to cut the call, "Bye, I love you." And despite her depressed ass, she did feel the butterflies in her stomach.

"I love you too." And then she cut the call. They weren't talking much. It was now that she realised that she was missing him, and she wanted to call him again but she wasn't going to be the one who would break his rehearsal. Jimin was hyper focused when it came to giving a good performance, if he didn't rehearse well for it then there was a slight chance of messing up. His mess ups on stage often put him in a position of him thinking lowly of himself, getting an overdose of imposter syndrome and she didn't want to see him hurt. Without thinking anything else she left the phone and left for the washroom.

Jimin rejoined his band mates. "Everything good?" Taehyung kept his fork down and Jungkook glanced up. "Yeah everything's fine, we were just catching up." Jimin picked up his knife but hung it midair, he wasn't, just couldn't seem to continue his day without knowing what was the deal with Daehye. It wasn't as if Daehye communicated with all her emotions, it wasn't often where she displayed signs of life in showing warmth but today her sarcasm was even off. If he were present there with her then he would've eased whatever tension she had but right now? "Hey give me fifteen minutes or so, I'll be back." Jimin left the table, and the plate consisting of the most so-called important meal of the day.

Three rings before the phone cut, and the reason was because she was brushing her teeth and needed a minute to get rid of the foam in her mouth. She dialled his number back, he picked up on the very first ring. "Honesty is a policy, Eklavya." She was silent for the most part, he had figured it out didn't he? That she lied about her well being.

"You know the non existent promises we have which build the foundations of our relationship?" He waited for her to answer, "I know some, but would you enlighten me?" Her voice wavered.

"Don't lie please." And then she had to keep her hand on her mouth. People took out their aggression in different forms, for her it was by crying. And she had felt angry but didn't shed a tear. Now she did, tears breaking away but her voice remained steady. "Okay."

"What happened now, tell me."

"I'm getting a strong sense of déjà vu." Jimin somehow knew what she was talking about, knew the questions and still had no answers to them.

"Is it the long distance?" He was aware of their current situation, they talked so much but since his tour happened there wasn't a single day where they both had a proper conversation. "No it's just, I'm missing you a lot, I don't know why I'm not usually this needy."

"I get it, I understand."

"You do? Jay and I used to be like this. Barely talking, in the start we tried to keep the relationship afloat but he stopped caring. What was it like with Grace?" This was the first time she had bought up Grace, and it was the first time that Jimin realised how long it had been since he last thought of his ex love. It had been long but there was no heart wrenching like previous times. His expressions remained languid and his heart beats remained calm.

"Me and Grace, we never communicated a lot. I mean we did but only when we were in front of each other."

"I understand, was it because you both were making your careers at that point? It was most probably. So busy with each other's work that you barely paid attention to each other." Daehye had found this relatable, because Jay and herself didn't communicate alot because of their will to build a foundation they would thrive on for the rest of their lives.

"Exactly but I found it disturbing, love and all those other things related to it, they give me a good push to achieve more than what I have. But I wasn't receiving the kind of attention I wanted; but I had no right to say so because I was the very same. But still I tried whenever I could, not seeing her try did affect us somewhere in the long run." Jimin and Grace did reach multiple points where they would've split but it never happened.

"Same, like hating the other person for trying, too relatable. Careers, well the blessed curse they are. It is at these points where I think about our age gap, you have established yourself while I'm still trying to figure out everything."

"Eklavya, you're one of the most stable adults I've seen. Trust me when I say this, I feel that in this relationship you're the more mature one, and in general too. I think you're an old soul. You have everything figured out, don't worry okay? I'm here, one call away. If something weighs down on you then share it, don't keep it to yourself." Because it hurt Jimin when he saw her hurting. Daehye smiled, constant reassurance was her need, but asking for it at the same time felt disturbing. "I don't come off as needy, do I?"

"What? No, obviously not. I like it when you talk to me, I love it in fact."

"Thanks, I'll stop taking your time now. You must not get late for rehearsals." The love they shared, it gave her a push to do better for her own self. It wasn't that her inner motivation was absent but when she saw him work hard, she wanted to work harder, strive better to achieve what she was after. The final year of university was coming, it was just time to start preparing for an entrance in the PHD program of Stanford.

"You never take my time, I'll talk to you after and before the concert?"

"Hmm, take care."

"Love ya bye."

"Bye."

Author

I'm back, I guess. My days have been shitty lately but okay. I'm having that kind of time in my life. I can't wait to escape them. How are you guys doing>? There are chances that I'll be publishing something new in a few days. And yea for C&C, shit is about to go down after the next chapter, so enjoy the fluff while you still can.

Leave comments and votes because they give me a fraction of happiness i need in this fuckshit life.

edit: wait yall i forgot to ask you, do you guys need smut for the next chap??? don't expect alot it would be my first time writing it, but will try my best.