9 | WINGMEN & MISTAKES

"Would you stop playing with your food?"

For once, Jimin ignored Jeongguk. Usually, the jerk always found a way to get under his skin, and in normal circumstances, he would've argued back, but his mind, like it had been for whole day, was on Haeri.

She would walk through the cafeteria doors in any minute, and when she did, he would join her for lunch. He hoped that perhaps it would be enough, that she would see he really did want to be her friend.

He needed to let her know in some way, and this would be better than the nothing he gave yesterday.

"Mochi."

At the nickname, Jimin's head snapped to Jeongguk. His eyes immediately, and almost instinctively, narrowed in a heated glare. "I told you not to call me that."

"Knew it would get your attention," Jeongguk spoke with an ever-growing smirk.

At the least, it irked Jimin to the point he wasn't feeling so anxious, but he still didn't want to deal with this right then. Their banter, the rasing of his voice, and the frown that would one day become permanent with how often they did this back-and-forth.

It was becoming tiresome.

Jimin heaved a sigh. "What do you want?"

"You."

There was no pause, no hesitation. Jeongguk said it without an ounce of regret. That stupid smirk would eventually find it's home right there on his lips alongside Jimin's scowl.

"Stop joking around. It's not funny."

"I'm laughing." Jeongguk leaned forward, taking Jimin's fork, which had been stabbing his salad, right out from his hand.

"Hey!" Jimin lunged, reaching for it. "Give it back."

"You're not even eating."

"So?"

"So, it's giving me a headache, and not the good kind." Jeongguk's muscles strained against his black shirt as he kept the fork just out of Jimin's grasp. "I'll only return it on one condition."

"Which is?"

Sitting back down, only then noticing he got dressing on his jacket from his salad bowl, Jimin glowered. Typical.

He used a napkin to wipe away some of the vinaigrette. To no avail. The oil from it remained in a nice, big splotch. There went another one of his hoodies all thanks to the idiot in front of him.

"Just great," he muttered with a shake of his head.

Jeongguk continued, "Let me be your wingman."

Jimin took a moment to place the napkin on the table and meet the jerk's mischievous gaze. "Why?"

"Hoseok told me what happened yesterday."

Briefly, Jimin cast a glance at the only other person sitting with them. All Hoseok did was shrug as if it was no big deal.

But, it was. It was an extremely big deal. The last person he wanted help from was Jeongguk. Well, that is, right after Taehyung and Hyungsik, of course.

Jimin flicked his eyes to the fork in Jeongguk's hand. He didn't need it that bad. It wasn't like it was hard to get another utensil from the lunch line.

So what if he was in desperate need of a good wingman. Jeongguk's offer wasn't even slightly tempting solely based on who he was. It might seem like he wanted to help Jimin, but there was always a catch.

He wouldn't make that mistake ever again.

"No thanks. I'll be fine on my own," Jimin chortled.

Jeongguk scoffed, throwing the fork into Jimin's salad. "No, you won't. It'll be entertaining either way. Just thought you could use less embarrassment."

Unfortunately, that was true. He could use less of it, but to stoop so low and have Jeongguk guide him through dating wasn't something he wanted in place of it. Spending more time with him would only result in one of them killing each other. If things happened to escalate that far.

Like most of their conversations, it ended with Jimin feeling annoyed.

What made it worse was that Haeri didn't show up, so he was stuck sitting across from the guy who constantly irritated him. There were rare moments when Jeongguk wasn't such a douchebag, but they were getting fewer and farther in between lately.

After lunch, the rest of the day went by quickly. It wasn't until Jimin was walking to his dorm past the unkempt garden that he was hit with a sudden realization.

How could he be so stupid?