"Good boy." Jin said, patting Jimin's head. "I'll see you soon, mm? Pick you up tonight around seven?"

"OH MY GOD IS THAT A CAT?" Jungkook said loudly as he stepped into the actor back room. He over-animated his gestures and spoke way louder than he needed, swinging the door open to a glaring Jin. 

Jungkook waved his hands towards the pillow propped next to the couch. "NO WAY," he adlibbed as he really inspected the fine square shape of the throw pillow, staring in shock with his finger tapping his chin. "Well I'll eat my hat. That is not a cat."

Jungkook was never great at improv.

Jimin was staring at him, his cheeks stained from tears and finally Jin let go of Jimin's frame as Jungkook stepped between them and grabbed the pillow. "Wow. The betrayal. The absolute heartbreak. I thought this was a cat. Can you believe that? I'm actually allergic to them." Jungkook said matter-of-factly into the air. 

He looked towards Jimin to make sure he was okay and was surprised to find Jimin smiling - actually smiling - at Jungkook. Despite the tears down his cheeks and the weakness in his frame, he was beaming. Strength burst through Jungkook's chest and he waved the pillow in a large arc above him. "I'VE BEEN FOOLED! FOOLED GOD DAMMIT!"

"Idiot." Jimin said, laughing. Jungkook would have started jumping on his couch to keep Jimin laughing if it weren't for the very annoyed Seokjin staring at him. After a moment, Jin rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone like Jungkook was a bug on the wall he couldn't be bothered to kill.

"Seven o'clock, remember." Seokjin said as he squeezed Jimin's forearm before walking out the door, stepping around Jungkook as if his crazy might rub off on him.

The two boys waited for a solid minute after SeokJin left before Jimin broke out laughing. "A cat?" he asked, poking the fluffy pillow in Jungkook's arms. It was soft and made of white fuzz, but also very obviously square shaped. "OMG NO WAY!" Jimin teased, sniffling a sob in light of a small laugh. 

Jungkook waved the pillow, smiling. "Not everyone can be a king at improv like me. I have a certain delicate flare. It's a subtle art."

"Five stars." Jimin said despite his puffy eyes and still shaking frame. "And... thank you. Again. For saving my ass."

Jungkook eyed the tear streaks still left of Jimin's cheeks. He wanted to brush them away, his hand even twitched for the movement, but he spoke instead. "He seems like...a lot."

"It's..." Jimin started, running a hand through his hair as the words faded off his tongue. "Thank you though, seriously."

"Don't do that with me. You always deflect my questions. Just be real with me, Jimin. I won't run." Jungkook said.

Jimin parted his lips then closed them, giving Jungkook a strange look. Jungkook balled his hands near his side. He wanted to reach out, to hold Jimin and wrap his arms the frame of the man he'd admired for years. He didn't know what stopped him.

"It's complicated." Jimin answered while wrapping his arms around his own frame. Jungkook watched as Jimin allowed the encounter with Seokjin roll off his back as if it were water dripping down his skin. He straightened his spine, wiped off the tears from his cheeks, and let out one more push of air from his lungs expelling any shake left in his voice. How many times did Jimin do this? Pick himself up on his own? 

A sharp pain stabbed Jungkook in the chest. How many times had Jungkook done the same after Namjoon had...after their last conversation together before everything got fucked over?

"Jin, Tae, they have a way of getting in my head." Jimin answered, giving Jungkook an honest look. When their eyes met, Jimin's face softened. "Sometimes I don't even know if what I'm thinking is what I want to think or what they placed there for me to think. I thought LA would be far enough to escape but - well here I am with my top nemesis screaming about cats to save me from a date with my ex."

"Stay with me tonight." Jungkook blurted.

"What?" Jimin blinked.

"So that Jin can't pick you up. Think of it like a sleepover."

"Jungkook. We're adults."

"I don't see your point."

"Would you really be okay with that? Me crashing at your place?"

"I - I get it. Sort of. What you're going through, I mean. I was engaged before." 

Jimin's brows raised. 

Jungkook shrugged, he was too new for the media to leach off his relationships and Namjoon had ended theirs before Jungkook's big break. He wasn't surprised Jimin had no idea. "Not anymore though, we broke up a year ago after I - after I found out he cheated on me and lied about it for years. Trust isn't a hot commodity with me either."

"Jungkook, I'm so sorry." Jimin said and for once the words didn't sound plastered from someone's lips. Jimin spoke them with weight, he was deliberate in his pacing, making sure Jungkook felt - not pity - but true understanding for the pain it must have caused. 

Jimin reached out as a friend would and suddenly his soft palm, small and warm, was on Jungkook's forearm. 

"It's okay." Jungkook answered out of habit.

"No, no it's not okay." Jimin gave Jungkook's arm a small squeeze. 

"No. It's not. BUT - I do have a shit ton of Wii games and hot chocolate at my place so we can both pretend we're fully put together adults for a night." Jungkook said, slightly stepping out of Jimin's touch. 

"With a sleepover." Jimin added, his hand back at his side.

"We can even build a fort." Jungkook smoothed over. "Which, for the record, is also something only fully function adults can do." Jungkook added, ignoring his racing heart or the nerves bursting against his head. A sleepover would actually be really fun; Jungkook was an adult, sure, but he was a sucker for them and despite whatever was going on in his mind, he couldn't shake off the way Seokjin had held Jimin at the end. How possessively he had looked at him. No way in Hell was Jimin going to be home for whatever "seven o'clock date" SeokJin had planned.

"At this rate, I might have to come up with a new way to say thank you. Looks like it's all I say to you these days." Jimin said.

"A black Prada bomber jacket would do." Jungkook shrugged, swinging the fuzzy "CAT" pillow into Jimin's shoulder with a harmless arc.

"You want a sugar daddy, not a friend." Jimin said, swiping the pillow away before hitting Jungkook back by tossing the pillow at his leg.

"Of course I want a sugar daddy. You're lying if you say you don't." Jungkook pointed out and Jimin snorted.

"I'll go grab my things." Jimin said as he rolled his eyes. He handed Jungkook the pillow square in Jungkook's chest. "and if we build a fort, I call naming it."

___________

A/N:

1) Hey guys!! Please don't be afraid to leave comments as you read, it really helps me gauge what works and what doesn't. Plus, it's nice just to engage with you guys!

2) What have you guys been listening to recently? My repeat is LP "Girls Go Wild" since I am in fact, a girl, and I do go wild. Also KennieJD "Northen Lights" for the vibes. I originally found her from YouTube and I had no idea she did music?? But omg it's so so good.

ALSO HARRY'S PRE-RELEASE IS OUT!! 

- Vio