All week, Seokjin was upset.

  He didn't understand why Jimin would stop being his friend, but he knew that maybe Jimin was just doing it for himself. Like perhaps he never wanted to be Jin's friend in the first place. But then Taehyung messaged him and Seokjin was even more confused.

  Why would Jimin use codes? Why couldn't he have just told Seokjin? And more importantly, what was to expose? Donghyuk?

  Jin couldn't comprehend.

  He didn't understand until Kim Taehyung tweeted that thread. The thread of how weird Jimin was acting, the weird tweets, and Dispatch even somehow making fake tweets. Taehyung believed that Dispatch made a deal with Donghyuk and his company. A deal that directed Jimin into fake dating him.

  And then Beomgyu spoke on it; someone who no longer works with that company because of how he outed them. Seokjin read the article and his heart was beating loudly in his chest as he read the interview, the paragraphs of Beomgyu explaining how Jimin came to him for help, how Donghyuk made him fake it all. Even controlling him.

  Seokjin found himself crying.

  He must have made it so much harder on Jimin for no good reason at all. And Jimin didn't even want to tell him about it, but he somehow managed to get Taehyung's help?

  He must not like Jin, right?

  But then Jimin messaged him, which means he had to unblock him from both messaging and Twitter. Seokjin didn' tknow anything anymore. He went to Jimin's house like he was asked, but he felt uncertain.

  "Hyung!" Jimin tossed his arms around Seokjin as soon as he opened the door. He squeezed tightly around Jin, hugging his face deep into Jin's neck. Startled, Seokjin barely knew what to do besides just stand there with his hands up in the air, not sure if hugging Jimin was something acceptable.

  "Jimin," he breathed out.

  Jimin released his hold and pulled back, staring at Jin in confusion instead of joy like he was two seconds ago. "You're not hugging me back," said Jimin, now entirely releasing his hold on Jin. "Please come inside. I'll explain anything. Everything." He frowned, pulling gently at Seokjin's wrist, closing the door as he lead them inside the house.

  They went to the couch and Jimin, now that Seokjin had a clear look, looks like shit. Bags under his eyes, looking tired, clothes wrinkled, and something that looked like a fading hickey on his neck. When Jin noticed that, he furrowed his eyebrows in disgust.

  Not that Jin looked great or anything right now, but Jimin looks way worse. Especially with that hickey on him.

  "Hickey?" He questioned.

  Jimin shuddered. "He did that," he spoke low, eyelids slowly closing as he covered the nearly faded mark on his neck. "We didn't do anything. He just left a mark because he wanted the paparazzi to see and take photos of it." He smiled weakly at Jin. "Hyung, his father is my boss. If I didn't do what he wanted, he was going to lie and get me fired. I thought it would be harmless, but then.." He squeezed his hands in between his thighs.

  "Why couldn't you tell me this?" Jin moved closer to Jimin and wrapped his arm around his waist, pulling him into a hug. Jimin wrapped his arms around his neck again, this time both of them falling into each other's touch. "I thought you must hate me."

  Jimin chuckled. "You're the one person that I knew would probably most definitely go straight to the media and tell without even letting me explain. I needed to figure out how to do all of this on my own." He sighed as he snuggled into Jin's neck again. "I signed a contract with Donghyuk. They could sue me if I told anyone, and if we were caught then he would still fire me. I panicked. I'm sorry."

  He started sniffling.

  Jin held him tighter. "Please don't start crying." He cursed to himself. "I would've helped you. I would've listened. You got almost a complete stranger to expose the guy.."

  "Yeah," Jimin said as he pulled back to wipe the few tears rolling down his cheeks. "If you would've exposed him then I would be sued and fired. But since Taehyung did it, it was less suspicious that I told him. Donghyuk doesn't even know that I told him. Actually, I didn't tell him. He figured it out." A smile came to Jimin's face. "That boy truly is something else."

  Seokjin smiled down at him. "Can we go back to being friends now, then?" He asked.

  "Oh." Jimin sank back into his couch, eyes staring at the floor. "About that— are you still questioning your sexuality, hyung?"

  Embarrassment fell over Jin's body. "Yeah," he said quietly, begging his voice not to crack. "I mean, my ex-girlfriend was very nice. She was very affectionate and pretty, but I found myself worrying about whether I was the right person for her. I wondered if I was a good boyfriend more than I was worried about her or sex or anything." He sighed to himself. "I wanted to be a good boyfriend, but I felt nothing. We were good friends who just somehow fell into a relationship."

  "I didn't think about it," he continued. "My sexuality, you know? I never considered looking into the fact that I found Brad Pitt sexier than my own girlfriend."

  Jimin chuckled as Seokjin did too.

"Brad Pitt?" He asked.

  Jin nodded. "I told my girlfriend that I would like to experiment," he mumbled. "She broke up with me— more like set me free." He looked back at Jimin with a weak smile. "I moved back home to experiment, but then I met you." He leaned back into the couch, straight back pressed up against the soft cushion. "And now I'm here. Still questioning. I've never even kissed a boy or... Yeah."

  Jimin was silent for a moment, picking at the thread coming off from his jeans.

  "You could now," he eventually said. It was a low mumble, but Seokjin could hear it. He looked at Jimin in confusion, but Jimin's cheeks bunched up into squishy dumplings as he cringed to himself, pulling his hoodie over his head and hiding into the fabric. "I mean experiment, hyung. With me."

  Jin could feel his ears turning red, flustered. He suddenly recalled the day that Jimin got drunk and tested him. How he specifically thought about Park Jimin and his pretty face that night. The thighs he got to touch for mere seconds, the feel of Jimin's crotch pressed against his own so deliciously, and their faces merely centimeters apart.

  "I don't want to ruin our friendship, Jiminie," he said as he shook his head to himself.

  Jimin gripped tightly onto his hoodie strings as he pulled them, closing the hoodie over his face. "Right," he muttered quietly. "Then stay here a little while, please." His voice was small and his body tiny as he sank into himself.

  "Of course, I will."

~