To whom it may concern,

After thorough assessment of the application submitted to the Admissions Committee of Alford University in Clairmont, we are pleased to inform that candidate: Park Jimin, is admitted to the BSc. Biomedical Engineering...

"Oh my God!" Jimin jumped out of his seat in shock, balling his fists in the air as he celebrated himself, then rushing to hug his mom who was just as excited.

"My baby" she cooed in his ear, "You did it" she shed a tear or two on the way, moved by her son's achievement and perseverance.

"I made it mom! I can't believe it... I really hope the scholarship application comes through as well" he smiled, looking at the acceptance letter again and reading the rest of it.

"Don't you worry about that Jimin. There's your college savings, and if it's not enough we can try for financial aid elsewhere, we can make it work okay?" she reassured, hating that her son had to stress so much about something she was supposed to provide for him.

"Of course we will, we're a good team mom" Jimin giggled.

"Just thinking about it, the one university you applied to accepted you right away, that's amazing" she squealed while scooping some ice cream into two bowls. It was their little tradition to have ice cream together when something worth celebrating happened in their lives. It was mostly a mother-son thing though, his dad preferred celebrating over a Sunday barbecue.

"Actually it's not the only one" Jimin informed, picking up spoons for both of them, "What flavors are these?" he asked, pointing at the scoops.

"I got us a few different ones last time at the supermarket. Cookie dough, Mint Chip, Raspberry, and Caramel" she listed.

"Ouu... Delicious"

"Which ones did you apply to then?" she went back to the topic while sitting on a kitchen stool.

"Bayman" he simply said.

"Same major?"

"Yup"

"Did they reply?"

"Last week"

"you're in?"

"I'm in"

They were looking right at each other, his mom trying to read the room for more insight on the situation, and him focusing on not giving away anything more than what he said.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I just did"

"Okay I'll cut the back and forth dialogue... You're not excited about Bayman, are you." she deduced.

"My opinions aside, what do you think about it?" he asked his mom in return.

"I... don't want to tell you which university to choose. I mean I know your friends are all going to Bayman and that might be why you applied as well, but I think you might need to think about what you want to achieve by going to university at all" she started, unsure about how to tackle the topic.

"My academic goals you mean" he reiterated.

"Yeah, your academic goals. Will you be able to reach what you want all the while keeping your friends? If so then go for Bayman why not. If you're not convinced with that though, there's Alford" she explained.

"Are you saying that I won't be able to keep my friends if I go to Alford?" he asked.

"No you can still talk to them and stay in contact of course... I mean you can keep seeing them on weekends like you did the entire year" she suggested.

"Yeah... Yeah you're right, we've basically done a long-distance friendship the whole time anyway" he chuckled.

"So, what are you leaning towards?" she asked.

"Obviously Alford was my first choice so I have a stronger preference towards it. I just hope I don't regret not spending my college years with the first friends I ever truly liked" he sighed. He doesn't know if he'll ever find other friends like them, and suddenly, meeting them on weekends doesn't feel enough. Seeing Jungkook on weekends doesn't feel enough.

"It's true that if you choose Bayman it'll be easy to hang out, spend time, strengthen your bond with them. But then nothing guarantees that you'll stay this close when they leave. The four college boys only have one year left there Jimin, maybe they will all move on with their lives" she cautiously stated.

"You mean when they graduate"

"They will need to find jobs, maybe here, maybe in another city, or even out of the country. So I don't know what you will decide but you should think whether it's worth going through 3 more years in a college you didn't want" she advised, telling him all the words he didn't want to hear, but needed to regardless.

If I don't spend this year with Jungkook, I might never get the chance to give us a try, he thought. He will only be so accessible during this year and then who knows what he'll be up to... Am I willing to put 3 more years into Bayman knowing he won't be there?

"I'll think about it, but in the meantime, are you going to tell me why we haven't had a cookout with the neighbors?" he asked suspiciously.

"A cookout, right um... Well, it was your dad's job to take care of the grill so..."

"Yeah and? That's what I'm here for"

"You? No I don't think I want to serve people charcoal or raw steak" she denied.

"Come on! I'm not that bad, I used to stand with him the whole time, I learned a lot since last time" he reassured.

"Are you sure? I like cookouts but I swear if you embarrass me-"

"I won't..." he dragged, taking confidence with his promise.

"Alright, if you say so. When?"

"As soon as possible"

"Like... Saturday?"

"Yeah sure, I'll tell my friends. Hobi and Jin live an hour away but maybe they'll show up" he muttered while unlocking his phone, already finding new notifications from the group chat.

Suga
I'm joining Joon's obv

Jin
You're missing out

Hobi
Nah ours is better, I'm gonna have extra fun hazing the hell out of you

Suga
Frats still do that?

Hobi
Is someone a little scared?

Suga
I just asked

RM
Yeah we do lol
But it's not like anything crazy
Just sport
Maybe some spooky moments
But the bros like you, so either they'll go easy on you or they'll do worse lmao

Jin
And that's why you should join my frat
It's all fun and parties from the start

Hobi
Lol @RM you think yg will do what he does every year?

RM
Shit I forgot about that
I hope you can pack a punch lil bro

Jeon009
I will never let a dude beat up on me not even for giggles

Suga
@Jeon009 speaking facts lowkey

Hobi
Someone's deeeefinitely scared

Suga
Can you shut up ong

Chim
I got into Alford

RM
Yoongi you're really not joining??
How dare you soil my legacy with your pussy-ery

TaeTae
I'll join Jin's
It seems more fun

Suga
Wait

Jin
That's right Tae

RM
Jin stfu
Ohhhhh

Suga
@Chim!!!!!

Hobi
Jimin congratulations!!

Jin
That's crazy congratsss

TaeTae
I had 0 doubts you're smart af my boy
Congrats 🎉🎉

Jeon009
Congratulations!!

Suga
Okay so what's the plan Alford or Bayman

TaeTae
Say Bayman I wanna hang out with you and Yoongs over there

RM
You got into Bayman too?

Jin
The guy got into freaking Alford and you're asking that?

Hobi
Legit didn't even know he applied

Chim
Actually...

Hobi
Cool join our frat!

Suga
This isn't your recruitment party go away

Hobi
@Chim don't listen to him he's just scared

RM
Disappointing really 😒

Jin
Join mine!

TaeTae
And we can be frat brothers!

Jimin chuckled at the few texts, knowing he would never join a frat anyway. It wasn't his scene nor did he need more groups to be committed to. In that sense he's much like Jeon, except maybe he's not going to as many parties either.

Speaking of, Jungkook's private chat just notified him. He found it nice to be able to have their own conversations aside and then go back to the group as though nothing happened.

Jeon009
You did it!🥳

Me
I did it!😊

Jeon009
But why didn't you tell me you applied to Bayman

Me
It just never popped up

Jeon009
I see
So you want to go?

Me
Maybe..
I'm still considering

Jeon009
What changed your mind?

Me
I don't know
Lotta things tbh

Jeon009
Like?

Me
Like not being able to see you all everyday the way I would if I choose Bayman

Jeon009
Okay
You know I just want to make sure you're not giving up something you want just for the group
If you want to attend Alford we'll all still be here every Friday

Me
I know lol
As I said I'm still considering

Jeon009
Do you know what this calls for tho?

Me
A celebration?

Jeon009
Damn right cupcake

Me
My hair's not pink anymore

Jeon009
Idc

Me
🙄
About that celebration I'm supposed to invite you for a cookout at my house Saturday

Jeon009
Oh
Only me?

Me
Lmao no
You as in all of you
Be right back
Act surprised

He ignored his mom's call for a minute and carried on opening the group chat, typing away his invitation and sending it, chuckling at the first reply he received.

Chim
Everyone is invited for a cookout at my house
Saturday 1pm

Jeon009
😲😲😲really???

Suga
@Jeon009 you knew

TaeTae
Of course he knew

Jin
I'll be there I got nothing else to do
Plus free food

Hobi
Oh I get to meet your mom!
Everyone said such good things about her
Everyone meaning Tae

Chim
@Suga You don't speak well about my mom??

Suga
I don't even talk to Hoseok like that

Hobi
Maybe you should

Suga
I complimented your spray paint flower ONCE and now you think we're best friends?

Hobi
☹☹

RM
Easy on our hope bro
In fact all three of your flowers were pretty @Hobi
I haven't met Jimin's mom either

Hobi
☺
Tae said she bakes the best cookies

Chim
Tae is basically best friends with her atp

Jeon likes her too

Jin
She made a whole nickname for him of course she's really nice

RM
Oh yeah uptight smoker

Hobi
I'm in for the cookout tho

RM
Me and Yoongi will be there ofc

TaeTae
I'll help prepare

Chim
Thank you I was hoping you'd say that

TaeTae
I'm not doing it for you

Chim
Ik 😃

Jeon009
I could help with the grill

Chim
No
Go away I'm on grill duty

Jeon009
Okay

Suga
Should we bring anything

Chim
Yourselves
Maybe drinks if you have specific preferences

Jin
Beer is family friendly

RM
We can bring some right?

Chim
Ofc

Hobi
Nah you take care of the food we do the drinks

Chim
Love you guys

TaeTae
Wow I think that's the first time you said that

Chim
I'm sure it's not

Hobi
Love you too 🥰

Suga
I appreciate yall

RM
Was that you trying to find a non-homo way to say it

Hobi
@Suga you can say you love me
I'm not gonna kiss up on you because of it

Suga
🤢

TaeTae
Ily hobi

Hobi
Ily2 tae

Suga
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

Chim
That was his 13th reason

Jin
I'll eat well at your funeral

Suga
That's just mean

RM
Okay everyone I got a summer gym membership to take advantage of so

Suga
Ttyl

Jin
Yoongi also hits the gym?

Hobi
Mans is scrawny
He'd better

Suga
@Hobi mind your business?

Hobi
"🤮" you didn't mind yours

Suga
So childish

Hobi
Still buffer than you

Suga
Nobody cares

Hobi
Apparently you do

Chim
Okay okay yoongi go to your gym or wtv

Jeon009
Oh no I just remembered there's this thing I gotta go to on Saturday

Chim
What?

Jeon009
I may have to sit this one out

Chim
But it's our first cookout

Jeon009
I know I'm sorry

Jin
What thing?

Chim
:((

Jeon009
I'll be there in the next one I promise

Jin
What's the thing out of town?

Jeon009
Mind your business?

Jin
Okay damn

TaeTae
I thought your car is in the garage
How are you gonna go out of town
Ain't no way your dad will give you his

Jungkook looked at his phone and cursed at the last message, he might have chosen the wrong lie to excuse himself because in reality, his weekend was free indeed but he wasn't too excited to attend for a few reasons. Thanks to his ex's messages from when they visited Jimin's hometown, he dove back into all the emotions he was trying to forget, the memories he was trying to leave behind.

Normally he wouldn't even tell anybody, he would simply not go to the cookout, but he promised not to isolate himself from the group again. That was in fact the only condition on which Jimin accepted to wait for him until he moved on from Lisa, but how could he even look at Jimin in the eyes now that he's made him wait for nothing. He still hasn't moved on, and he's not sure he will because he doesn't know how.

He would love to simply throw it all away, go back to that weekend Jimin spent in his studio and stay there forever. He'd never felt more alive and free from all the pain she caused him. He didn't think about her once, not even when Jimin slept on her side of the bed, but darkness sure knows how to catch up to him one way or another.

Jeon009
Shit you're right
I guess I'm coming to the cookout

Chim
Yay!

---

"Taehyung sweetheart would you put these by the drinks" Mrs. Park said, handing him the bowls of chips and dips on a tray.

"Sure"

The weather was perfect for this kind of activity, the Parks' backyard was all set up, ready to receive the guests and they had to thank Tae for his nice job organizing.

"I think everything is ready" Jimin announced, "Good job everyone" he said, giving high fives to his mom and friend.

"You didn't even do anything"

"Emotional support is never truly appreciated"

"Go to your grill already" his mom rolled her eyes, "Taehyung would you like some ice cream?" She invited the youngest, ignoring the betrayed look on her son's face.

It turned out, grill duty wasn't as nice as it sounded. The smoke was filling up his lungs the more he opened the metal lid, and he's quite sure he smells like the bag of charcoal next to him at this point. It hasn't even been more than hour and he's already over it, but at least everybody else seemed to have fun.

"Can I have a hotdog Chim" Hoseok asked as he walked over with his plate.

"Yeah of course" he replied, serving him the meat, "Anybody else want something?" he shouted over to the rest of his friends who shook their heads, smiling at Jimin's mom when she walked past.

Jungkook was sitting in the corner between the others, listening to their conversations without much participation on his end. Not that he wasn't interested in Lebron James's performance in last night's game, his mind was just busy thinking of other things, checking his phone every now and then to see if by any chance Lisa tried to contact him elsewhere now that he blocked her on Snapchat.

"Jungkook sweetie why aren't you eating? Did you go vegan?" Mrs. Park asked.

"Yeah Jungkook sweetie" Yoongi teased.

"Couldn't be me Jen, I like a juicy hamburger a bit too much... I'm just not very hungry at the moment" he informed humorously.

"Alright then, whenever you want, it's free" she joked and walked away to some other people.

"You call his mom by her first name?" Joon asked in his ear.

"I've been here a few times yeah"

"Jeon!" He heard his name being called from the grilling place. He turned to see Jimin gesturing him to come over there. He picked himself up, curious about what the boy would say at such a random time.

"Don't you think you got a bit lucky?" Jimin pointed out, crossing his arms against his chest.

"What do you mean?"

"You're the only one who didn't participate in the cookout"

"I offered"

"I'm thinking I should take you on that offer now" Jimin responded, chin high and confident.

"Oh yeah?" Jungkook smiled in amusement.

"Yeah, you should help out with the grill" he announced.

"And end up smelling like you? No thanks, you wanted the grill duty so bad so here you got it" he refused, standing his ground just as confidently as the former high schooler.

"Please Jeon don't be like that" Jimin pleaded, holding onto Jungkook's forearm to show how desperate he was to get out of there.

"I'll take over, you go change" he agreed, ruffling the shorter's hair and cringing at the whiff of smoke that reached his nose.

"You're the best Jeon, for real" Jimin smiled brightly, scurrying away to take a quick shower and wear fresh clothes.

Of course he would agree to do this, this was his chance to get out of the socializing circle. Another reason he hasn't eaten any grilled meat so far is because he knew it wouldn't be cooked right. It was too obvious that Jimin was an amateur, the effort was there but he has to say he makes much meaner steaks and burger patties.

He didn't mind the task, in fact he quite enjoyed it. The only thing he hated is sweating in this long-sleeved shirt. It was the middle of summer and he was covering his arms because the event was meant to be family friendly. There isn't much space for his full tattoo sleeve, not in addition to his piercings. The boring neighbors would start thinking a gangster made it to the cookout. He's sure they hate his loud mustang already.

"You didn't have to, you know" Jen said from besides him, hinting at the arm in question.

"It doesn't bother me, I know how they would react. I'm lucky enough you didn't think I was a delinquent" he shrugged.

"Please I've been young before. I feel bad that my son is making you do this, seriously he has no manners I apologize"

"It's totally fine, there's only a couple more rounds left. I hope you don't mind me abandoning the remaining raw veggies after that" he replied.

"Of course not, thank you for doing this. The next time Jimin wants a cookout it won't be at my house I'll tell you that" she joked before taking her leave.

A few rounds it was. Jungkook was finally done cooking all the meat when he put out the grill and closed the lid. With a drag of his cotton shirt across his forehead, he huffed out a long breath and looked around trying to find the others. He noticed that Jimin wasn't with everyone, neither was Yoongi. He decided he'll go find them and maybe hit the bathroom while he's at it.

He washed his face and opened the shower head to clean his hair, even thinking to pick the male shampoo which he assumed would be Jimin's, not really caring for permission since he was in this situation because of him. He didn't bother drying it mainly not to drench the fresh towels and walked out.

"Yeah well Alford is really prestigious"

He heard Yoongi's voice come from Jimin's room and almost pushed the agape door open, until he heard Jimin's reply.

"But there's no Jungkook in Alford" he said.

The college boy leaned his shoulder on the wall and listened to the conversation, curious to know why he was mentioned.

"You're choosing Jungkook over your degree?"

Huh? Jungkook thought.

"No I'm... I will still be studying biomedical engineering, I'm not giving up on that"

"But not in Alford"

"Does it matter?"

Yes.

"Of course it does. You'll be graduating from Alford dude"

"Okay yeah it does matter. But what about all of you, I won't be around you that much. I know how hard Alford is and I already know I won't be available every weekend"

"First of all don't talk like you care about all of us"

"Shut up this is serious"

"You remember when I talked to you way back, we had just started being friends I think... I told you about my ex and you said you didn't like the idea of senior year relationships" he heard Yoongi chuckle.

What's that about? he wondered.

"This is exactly what I've been avoiding and judging people for. Now look at me, doing the exact same thing for a boy that I'm not even dating"

Yoongi knows about Jimin and I?

"I don't know buddy, I don't wanna tell you that your feelings don't matter, but you should really make sure they're strong enough. You don't wanna find yourself in a college you don't want for someone who doesn't mean as much to you anymore"

"No Jungkook will always be my best friend, regardless of what happens between us"

You don't know that... Jungkook whispered to himself, thinking of all 3 of his exes he never spoke to since the breakup.

"Listen, I think you two are cute and all, but you've made like 0.2 progress since I found out. It's July now"

"We've made a lot of progress I think"

"If you didn't kiss it doesn't count"

"It's not just physical, we made progress emotionally"

"Did he tell you how he feels?"

"Not explicitly"

"Did he say anything about this relationship"

"Not explicitly..."

"I'm gonna give you a piece of advice, don't jump in blind Jimin. Try to talk to him about this, listen to what he has to say as I'm sure he can tell you things I don't know, since he experienced college life and a college relationship already" Yoongi replied.

"Did you know Ryujin got accepted in Alford too?"

"See you won't be alone in Alford anyway. Take your own advice and don't do something you'll regret"

Jungkook thought that concludes the conversation quite well and barged into the room as if he didn't hear anything. He sighed and ruffled his wet hair, making Yoongi groan at the cold water droplets.

"Bestie can I borrow a t-shirt? This one stinks" he asked, both hands on his waist, looking back and forth between the two boys, acting like he was confused with their silence.

"Yeah sure"

"Thanks" he removed his own and slipped the fresh one on.

"What are you two doing here anyway" he asked nonchalantly.

"I was just leaving" Yoongi announced before walking out, not spending another minute there and preferring to have the rest of his afternoon around some good food.

"Are you coming?" Jungkook asked Jimin as he followed the black haired boy.

"Actually, can we stay here for a bit?" Jimin suggested instead.

"Sure, should I close the door or is it okay if people see" he smirked suggestively, earning Jimin's signature eye-roll. "Just kidding.. what did you want to talk about" he added with a soft smile.

"I don't know I just thought we should spend some time together, I don't know if we'll get to do that after the summer" Jimin started as he laid on his bed, silently inviting him to do the same.

"We will spend enough time even if we're not in the same college" he reassured.

"Is that my shampoo I'm smelling?" Jimin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind"

"You don't care" Jimin deadpanned.

"I don't, but I was sure you wouldn't mind before I did it" he grinned.

"I guess it's okay"

"At least I'm not laying in your bed smelling like a chimney"

"Remember when you smoked? The grill smells like a flower in comparison" Jimin chuckled.

"Come on it wasn't that bad" he complained.

"Okay yeah it wasn't, only because of your little pocket sized hand creams and stuff" he added.

"Can't believe you made fun of me for carrying those one time" Jungkook turned on his side to face him.

"I was just picking on you because of, you know" Jimin replied, smoothing the sleeve of his own t-shirt while struggling to maintain eye contact.

"What do I know" Jungkook countered teasingly.

"Would you like it if I chose Bayman?" He asked instead.

"It's truly up to you kid, that said, Alford was your first choice, why did you apply to Bayman?"

"Because I didn't want to regret not doing it"

"Good job then, you've given yourself a choice that's only confusing you more"

"At least I have that choice" Jimin emphasized, not seeming sure himself. He looked at Jungkook in the eyes, searching for guidance and although the taller wasn't the wisest person, he did know one thing or two about college choices.

"I know I said it's up to you, but maybe you shouldn't actually choose Bayman. You probably wanted me to say the opposite, but maybe I don't want you to go there" Jungkook admitted.

"Ouch" Jimin awkwardly chuckled.

"Don't get me wrong, I would love for you to be in my college but only if you truly want it too. For yourself, not for any of us" he reasoned.

"For me"

"Yeah"

"I want to be with you, for me, does that count?" Jimin suggested, earning a sigh from Jungkook, who didn't know what to say to convince him otherwise.

Jimin was such a driven boy, he had goals and ambitions. He had the next few years more or less planned out ahead of him yet he was now trying to put it all aside for this relationship, at a time when Jungkook was not even worth it.

He truly believes the high school graduate could do much better than him, he could have a successful life with someone his age maybe in Alford, who will take care of him and not give him this much confusion and inner conflict for nothing. Maybe that's his low self-esteem talking, maybe it's the example set by his past relationships.

"Okay let's put it this way... What if you were in Alford and I was still in high school" Jungkook started.

"Do I get to have your mustang?" The shorter joked to lighten up the mood.

"Will you focus if I say yes?" he chuckled.

"Okay okay, I'm in Alford, you're in high school, carry on" Jimin nodded.

"What if the roles reversed and I wanted to join Alford for you, to be with you"

"I would be very happy that you would do something like that for me, you would be a freshman in Automotive, and I a senior in Biomedical" Jimin gnawed on his bottom lip to keep a smile in.

"That's the thing Jimin, there's no Automotive Engineering major in Alford" Jungkook finished, watching Jimin's eyebrows raise in surprise.

"There isn't?" he asked.

"Nope, Bayman is the only one in the area with that major... How would you feel if I said I would change my career plans and enrol in some other major just to be in Alford with you" Jungkook knew his example was solid, he just hoped Jimin wouldn't be too stubborn to accept it.

"But you love Automotive" JImin muttered, knowing the answer but not willing to give it just yet.

"And you want Biomed"

"There is Biomed in Bayman"

"Come on Cupcake, you and I both know that Biomed in Alford is not the same as Biomed in Bayman" Jungkook shook his head, dismissing the attempt at rebuttal. "You still have time to decide, and obviously I have no right to tell you what to do but I want the best for you... Please think about what I said" he insisted.

---

Hello!

How are you all doing today? We are now going to progress to some steps which are a bit more difficult. What do you think?

There have been some changes to this chapter, which will affect some events in the story so please, forget what you've read before and follow with this plot.

-Aida-