"Is Jeon gonna be there?" 

"No"

---

"I miss Tako can I see him?"

"Jungkook isn't around so you'll have to go see him at his parent's house"

---

"Easter is in a couple weeks, is Jeon gonna be back home?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him a while"

"Same, the fact that he's barely on campus with this semester's classes makes it worse"

"I call sometimes but it's generally brief"

"Okay I see"

---

Jimin sighed as he flopped on his bed. He pulled his phone ahead of his face and stared at the contact name for the hundredth time that month, deep feelings of longing and frustration swarmed in his heart when the "Typing..." notification disappeared yet again. Why couldn't he just send the text he wanted to type. Why must Jungkook always second guess himself.

He huffed, bouncing his leg then threw the phone somewhere besides him. The burning sensation in his eyes not going away even though there was nothing to cry about. It was not Jimin's fault that Jungkook was distancing himself, the older even texted him about it one day, yet Jimin cannot help but feel bad about this entire situation. Maybe it was the fact that Jungkook was hurting alone. Maybe it was the fact that he was hurting for someone else. He couldn't tell.

Shaking his head, he thought of the older and how much he just wanted to see him. He wanted to meet him and put a big punch right in his face for making all of them worry like that. "Seriously who does he think he is" Jimin sniffed. Rubbing his eyes aggressively to lose the discomforting burn.

"Fuck you Jeon, I don't wanna talk to you again" He whispered to himself in the darkness of his room. He got up and decided to work out a little just to blow off some steam since the room was already tidy and clean. Jimin found himself engaging in comfort cleaning more than he usually did this past month, he wonders why.

Suddenly the sound of a notification caught his attention in the middle of doing his crunches. He immediately got up and grabbed his phone, turning the screen and squinting at the brightness. A small smile making its way on his face upon seeing the name, and he was curious to know what it was about.

Jeon009
Hey

Me
Hi

Jeon009
Can you tell Tae to pick up my calls?

The smile was replaced with a frown. Jimin sat on the bed, thinking of his next text and what he should say. There was so much to talk about, so much to ask, but the young boy didn't know where to start or if it'll make things better or worse.

Me
That's it?

Jeon009
Yeah that'll be it thanks

Me
You're fucking kidding me 

Jeon009
I'm serious

Me
You have to be kidding me Jeon 
You didn't just text me in a month for something like that
What now, you're just gonna go into hiding again?

Jeon009
I was never hiding

Me
Jungkook you just stopped talking to all of us for weeks 
Maybe you weren't hiding but none of us saw you for so long
We're worried about you

"I'm worried about you" Jimin thought but never typed it out. He didn't need to add another problem to the mix, it was bad as it was. 

Jeon009
I'm doing fine kid

Me
Well I didn't know that
Yoongi didn't either
You wanna know why Tae doesn't pick up your calls?
Because you never picked up or replied to any of his calls or texts either
Not even one Jungkook

Jimin was furious, he hated this conversation because it was the first one in such a long time where he only missed being in the presence of the college boy. Yet, here they are now arguing, at least he was.

Jeon009
I'm sorry

Me
No you're not
You're selfish
You only come to us when you need something 
You show up and leave as you like not caring about anything
Have you ever asked Tae if he was doing okay? Have you ever asked if he needed anything?
It's always the other way around, he's the one always trying to take care of you
You're the older one ffs
Get your shit together

Jimin finally had his outburst because he finally could, and didn't know when another opportunity would present itself. He had to tell him about Tae because even though the youngest didn't want to say it, sadness was visible on his face whenever Jungkook's name was mentioned. 

Somewhere in those texts, the same applied to Jimin. He knew that he would never be able to ignore the taller. He would be there for him if he asked, but he couldn't help but feel sad that it wasn't reciprocated. Jungkook wouldn't drop a thing for him, hell he wouldn't even know if something happened.  

"I just want to be mad at you for once" Jimin whispered, watching the typing bubble appear and disappear again. With a long sigh, he locked his phone and walked out of his room, hoping to find some sort of distraction.

One the other side, Jungkook sat at his balcony with a lollipop in his fingers. After putting his phone down, he rubbed his face and let out a breath he didn't realize he was keeping. "But I'm doing this for you all" he mumbled.

He was aware that walking away from his friends, ignoring their calls and messages then texting as if nothing happened wasn't nice, but that's all he knew how to do. He wasn't very open to the idea of confrontation, in fact, he would rather avoid that as much as he could because he's always in the wrong. He doesn't have anything to put the blame on and doesn't want to take it either, so he runs away.

If there was something Jungkook knew, was that he felt much better about the breakup. He thought about it less and less, filling his mind with memories of his friends instead. One would ask, why wouldn't he hang out with them to forget her? He would reply that he doesn't want a temporary distraction from his feelings. He wants to move on without the help of a rebound or someone new either.

Only then will he be sure that she can no longer hurt him, and only then can he return to his friends for good.

"Jimin... I don't know what to say" Jungkook spoke to himself when he couldn't text anything else. He was standing with his forearms on the railing, looking at the trees behind the parking lot of his apartment building. 

Lisa had picked up her things a few weeks ago, she moved in with two of her friends until finding another place to live. She looked fine the few times he saw her, it seemed like she wasn't too affected by the breakup. She did tell him she fell out of love, so it's not surprising.

"Well... Her loss" Jungkook chuckled humorlessly and went back inside. 

---

The sun shined on a new morning, Easter was in a couple days and Jungkook had to look around for a bakery that did Easter themed sweets, he was actually going home for the occasion. He didn't tell anyone because he wasn't sure he would keep his promise when the time comes, so he didn't want to disappoint anybody further. Especially not his cousin. 

He got out of the lonely apartment and walked down to his car. He looked up the pastry places near him and drove off to the first one on the list. A few minutes later, he found himself in the 5th address on the results.

"Hello" he said, greeting the person ahead of him behind the counter. He put his hands in his pockets and walked closer.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" the young lady asked and he smiled politely.

"Does this place do Easter themed pastries?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yes sir, although they have to be ordered first. If you want I can show you the different things we make, you can then choose what you like best" she said, already starting to walk towards the monitor on the desk. He pointed at the ones he liked before leaving the place and sitting back inside his car. 

He decided he wasn't ready to go back home, so he drove downtown looking around until something caught his eye. He parked the car and turned around to see the girl in question. She was holding hands with some other guy, walking in the streets like nothing else mattered. 

"I see how it is" he whispered to himself and drove off. The sudden engine sound didn't go unnoticed by the couple who was now staring at his silver mustang in the distance. Jungkook thought he was doing so much better, but it appeared he wasn't ready to see her with another man. 

'That's how things should be' he knew this, but it still made him feel empty inside. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his ringtone. He huffed in annoyance and sped up in the empty road. He didn't want to talk to anyone at that moment. He just wanted to be alone and wallow in his sadness.

When he reached a random parking lot, he decided to check his phone,'I thought he was mad at me' . The call came from none other than Jimin himself. Jungkook sighed and read the message he received after.

Chim
Pick up the phone Jeon

He knit his eyebrows and decided to call him back. Jimin was the only one he could feel comfortable calling and texting even while he's distancing himself. Was it because he was relatively new to the group? Did he not care about arguing with him? Was losing him not as important as losing the others? 

He called. He didn't think about it too much this time, he just pressed the button and somewhere inside him regretted that decision, but it was too late because the younger picked up shortly.

"Jimin?"

"I'm glad you remember my name at least" Jimin said, though his voice was a little rough. 

"Always as sassy" Jungkook replied, trying to lighten up the mood. 

"Jungkook"

"Yes" he started feeling nervous, the other sounded very serious and he wondered if something bad had happened. 

"I just wanted to say, I think it would actually be good if you don't come home for Easter, so don't feel bad about it" Jimin said and he felt his heart drop to his stomach. 

"Why are you saying that?" he simply asked.

"Shouldn't I?" the younger asked and he pushed his tongue into his cheek.

"Do you hate me that much now?" he said, afraid of the answer because if ever it was true, he wouldn't know what to do.

"We don't hate you... I just guessed that you didn't want to show up and thought you might be feeling bad about it. So don't, it's okay just focus on yourself for now" Jimin explained and the older's expression relaxed.

"You called to make me feel better?"

"I guess... I don't know Jungkook" the truth was, Jimin told him so because he didn't want to see Jungkook so soon. He decided he wanted to get rid of his feelings towards the older boy because he knew Jungkook wouldn't return them. Also because even if he miraculously did, Jimin didn't see himself in a relationship with someone who wouldn't have time for him. He couldn't stay with someone who would disappear whenever they feel blue or keep their issues to themselves.

"That day you asked if I ever checked on any of you... So let me ask you, what's going on Cupcake?" Jungkook said, oblivious to the effect that nickname had on the other. 

Jimin pursed his lips ignoring the burn in his nose. He didn't think this situation weighed so hard on him until he heard that question come out of Jungkook's mouth. His deep yet soft voice, his slight hesitation, he noticed it all.

"Jungkook are you really not coming for Easter?"

"Answer me first"

"It's nothing... My dad's death anniversary is coming up soon" Jimin replied, but Jungkook wasn't exactly satisfied. He heard the little sniffles from his speaker and knit his eyebrows.

"I'm coming for Easter Jimin. I was planning to show up even before you called" Jimin felt a mixture of relief and disappointment. He didn't know what to do with his emotions, they were all over the place and he blames Jungkook for every single part of it.

"I see, that's a g-ood thing I guess" he replied, cursing his voice for breaking mid-sentence.

"Jimin, listen to me" Jungkook started and he hummed. "I will come see you, and then you will tell me what's really going on. Okay?" Jungkook demanded.

Did the other know anything? Why wouldn't he think that was the actual answer, it was convincing enough, no?

"That is all that's going on Jeon"

"You're lying, there's something else. You wouldn't have called me if that was the case... you would be too hung up on your dad to care about me" Jungkook said, his voice getting softer every time he spoke and Jimin wishes he could just hang up not to hear any more of it.

"You're right... I'll tell you."

"Promise?"

What's the point in promising Jungkook anything, he could just lie when the time comes, but he nodded regardless.

"When I see you on Easter, I'll tell you" 

"Okay"

"Okay... Bye"

"Later." Jungkook said and hung up the phone. He couldn't deny how bad he felt when he heard Jimin's trembling voice, he mostly felt like an asshole for not being there for anybody at the moment. 

Jungkook is no fool; that last party, the texts and calls he continuously got from the other, the crying... Just the fact that Jimin's worries might have to do with him is making him frustrated. 

"I promise I'll do better" he muttered and drove back home. 

---

It looks like things aren't going too well for Jimin...

What do you think?

-Aida-