~One Week Later~

"Are you working again?"

You bite your lower lip, nodding. "Sorry Chim, they called me in. Apparently it's an emergency, something about my co-worker calling off out of the blue. Family emergency." Jimin pouts, watching as you gather your stuff. "I'll be back in a couple hours, it's not a long shift, only like two hours to oversee the place for the end of the night." He somberly nods, still pouting like a four year old.

When you're finished getting ready, you walk over and place both your hands on his shoulders. "Hey... I'll make it up to you tonight, okay? How about I pick us up some food on the way back. Chinese? Deli? Pizza?" His lips slowly spread into a smile, "pizza." You chuckle, pecking his lips, "pizza it is, anything for my baby boy. Want to watch a movie and cuddle?" He instantly nods. "Choose a movie then babe, they said two hours, three max. If they hold me any later I'll sue them." Jimin laughs, "so cute baby girl." You sigh, keeping your hands on his shirt. "I'm really sorry, I know we wanted to have a cuddling night since I've been gone so much..."

He shakes you off, "don't be. We chose to move in together, I was apart of that process. I knew as well as you did that you'd have to work as much as possible. It's not your fault, I'm not mad at you. I'm just... sad, I guess. I miss you." You frown, "how about this, I'll try to get an extra day off to spend some time with you, okay? And if they call me in I'll say no, no matter what." "Really?" You firmly nod, "really. Nothing's more important to me than you. You're my priority, not work."

Jimin smiles softly, kissing you for a few seconds. When you part, he keeps that smile on his face. "Thank you baby. I... really appreciate that. If I'm being honest, I've been getting lonely. Basketball has kept me occupied but I miss walking you home. I miss seeing you at dance." Yeah, had to give that up for the house. He argued against that but unfortunately, it was either live on-campus separately or move in together off-campus. Since it was your activity, you made the decision. It's safe to say he still feels bad about that.

"I'm sorry," you say with a frown. He holds you close, "like I said, it's not your fault. I'm not mad or anything. You're only doing work because you love me and want to be here with me. I really admire that. More than you know." He places his forehead on yours, "I love you... I don't want this whole situation to put any strain on us. Let's figure this out when you get back, okay? Maybe... we should go back on-campus."

"But... babe..." "I know, I know. You've worked so hard and I don't want that to be for nothing, but maybe moving back on-campus can help ease your mind about the debt. You made a lot of money, keep it as an emergency fund instead of hammering out checks for rent every month," he softly explains. As much as you hate to admit it - that's not a bad idea. Doesn't change the fact that you love living with him though.

"I love our house," you say with a sigh, "I do, and I'm more than happy to work this much for it, but I also don't want to hurt you. What's the point of having a house if I'm not here to live in it?" He pecks your lips, pulling you into a hug, "it's okay baby, we'll figure it out. Now go have a good night at work. Come back to me soon. I want that pizza."

You giggle as you pull back, placing a hand on his cheek, "I love you." "I love you too. I'll miss you." You kiss his nose, "I'll miss you more." He laughs as you fully back away, grabbing your keys and shoving them in your pocket. "Remember to pick a good movie!" you call as you walk over to the door. He smiles at you while leaning against the counter, you waving goodbye before leaving. However, unbeknownst to you, as soon as the door closes Jimin breaks down...

~~~

Jimin stays curled up in a ball, staring at the TV. Some stupid rom-com is playing, but he doesn't care. He's still waiting for his girl to come home. Basketball has been a major tear on him, but not as much as Y/N barely being here. She works five to eight hours five or six days a week. She's literally a full time worker at this point, which isn't supposed to happen but after she explained the situation, they allowed it.

He misses her so much. She has class during the day then work right after. It's insane how that works. Jimin wishes he could pick up a job to help her, but she told him that they're both balancing the same thing. Her working five to six days on top of classes and Jimin being basketball captain with practice six days a week on top of classes. D1 sports pretty much means that they own you. Jimin couldn't get a job even if he found one and asked his coach nicely about missing one practice a week. As if that would work.

Ironically enough, despite it being a D1 school, Jimin doesn't have a full ride scholarship. He got a hefty amount, some memorial scholarship worth 12,000 per year, but with a school that has a tuition of 30,000 dollars (not even counting room and board, meal plans, groceries, etc.), Jimin will still be in-debt for a long time. Of course his scholarship helps a lot a lot, but still. It was a combination of his athletics and his academic achievements. He believes he should have gotten if not a full ride, almost a full ride, but even after appealing he got rejected. So here he is with his 12,000. Not bad but it could be better, especially considering how good of a student he was in high school.

However none of that is important right now. Right now all that matters is his girlfriend. He cried for a good half hour, missing her touch so much that it hurt. They've barely been touching recently. They haven't had sex that much, normally twice a week at most. Good news is the twice a week lasts a while, a good four or five rounds due to their pent up sexual frustration... but still. They go from having it almost every day to barely twice a week. She's been too tired coming home late at night from work not to mention she still has homework. Sometimes she'd be so tired she'd pass out before even giving cuddles. And by sometimes he means all the time. It's getting really, really lonely for him.

He keeps his knees pressed against his chest as he watches. It's been almost two and a half hours since she left. Hopefully she'll be back soon. Truthfully, Jimin doesn't know how much more energy he has. It's really late, he thought the library would close by now. He wants his girlfriend to come home with that pizza already. He wants love.

After about ten minutes of silent TV watching, the doorknob jiggles. Jimin pipes up, watching as the door opens, revealing a very tired Y/N. "Baby!" Jimin cheers. So much for no energy. He hops up and rushes over to her, engulfing the girl in his arms. She groans, then giggles and hugs back. "Hey babe, I got the pizza it's still in the car." He sighs in relief. She remembered. He was half expecting her to forget out of tiredness, but she actually remembered.

"Thank you princess," he mutters, pecking the side of her head and pulling back. She looks so, so tired. The bags under her eyes are starting to get concerning. What's even more concerning is that she isn't even using makeup to hide it. That's the real thing that scares him. Is that how little energy she has? Is she hiding something from him?

"Want me to go bring it in?" "Please," she replies. He pecks her lips, "I have the DVD on the table babe, can you set the movie up?" She softly hums, the two parting to do their tasks. He skips down the sidewalk and finds the pizza in the passenger seat of the car. Pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza. Jimin likes pizza, but he likes it even more when his girlfriend is eating it with him.

Jimin brings the pizza inside, surprised to see Y/N missing. The movie is set up, but she's gone. Huh? Is she in the bathroom or something? He was only gone for a minute how the hell did she set up so fast? Jimin wouldn't be able to set up within five minutes.

"Baby?" he calls out, surprised when he gets no answer. He sets the pizza on the table and shrugs. She'll come back, she always does. Jimin decides to make himself useful and grab two waters for them. By the time he's finished, the stairs creak, and Y/N comes into view.

"Hey babe," she greets. Ah, she got changed that's all. Why is he worrying over nothing? Maybe that's just how he is. Oh who is he kidding if she doesn't text back within five minutes he gets worried, of course he's the overprotective type. Jimin smiles as he walks over with her to the couch, the girl grabbing some plates and napkins for them as well.

By the time they sit down, Jimin finally feels like he can relax. Y/N cutely smiles while opening the pizza box. "I have to say it's been a while since I've had pizza. It's been a lot of ramen and sandwiches. If I had a dollar every time I ate ramen this month I could pay a year's worth of rent." Jimin chuckles, "do you want me to do the math there?" "Oh shush you and I both know I'm exaggerating a little bit." "A little?" he questions in a teasing tone.

She giggles, leaning against him. "Maybe we shouldn't eat. Maybe we should just cuddle" Ah this girl... he's been dating her long enough to know the difference between her real smiles and fake ones. It's all forced. One look in her eyes tells him all he needs to know. She's exhausted and wants to sleep, but she's hanging on for him. He's feels both grateful and guilty. Should he let her sleep or keep her up for a little bit longer? Poor girl has work tomorrow too.

"I think you need some nutrition." "Pizza is nutrition?" she asks. He shrugs, "to some I'm sure. I mean really, after working you must be starving." "I'm hungry but I wouldn't say starving." So that's pretty much code for 'I'm too tired to be hungry'. Ugh he should really let her sleep but he misses her so much. Is he selfish for wanting her to stay awake with him? Sure he's waited hours for this but he was all cuddled up on the couch crying, meanwhile his girlfriend was working hard like she always does.

"Maybe we shouldn't watch a movie," he offers, "maybe like... an episode of an anime or something. They're short and sweet, then we can go upstairs and cuddle." There, middle ground. He keeps her up for about half an hour longer then gets cuddles tonight.

"Something wrong?" she inquires. "No, I'm just tired you know? I'm sure you are too after work. We should get some rest." She cutely hums, "I'll never say no to that. Okay Mr. Park, set up the episode!" He does exactly that, setting it up and playing it while they eat. They finish eating their pizza only ten minutes into it (goes to show how hungry Jimin was, Y/N stopped after two slices), deciding to cuddle instead.

At this point there's only five minutes left, but out of curiosity he looks down at his girl. He's a little shocked to see her peacefully sleeping on his chest. Jimin lets out a sigh. So much for kissing in bed. He pecks the top of her head, turning off the TV. They can watch it another time, right now all that matters is her.

Jimin's careful not to wake her as he picks her up bridal style. They'll clean up tomorrow. Sleep is more important. He brings her to their bedroom, gently placing her on her side before he goes on his. She naturally shifts closer to him, even in her sleep. Of course he blushes at that. What a cutie. He's so lucky, isn't he?

He turns off the lamp before bringing her up against his chest, kissing her forehead. "I love you baby," he mutters, closing his eyes. Their legs get tangled together despite only one of them being conscious. "I love you so much. I'm so sorry you have to put up with me," he mumbles, "I'm making it worse, aren't I? I'm making it so much worse..." Jimin sniffles as he tries not to cry. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."