Too soon for another update? 😘
- Vio
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It's been a while since Jimin went to a party. Not years necessarily, but most large social events he went to were usually with Seokjin. Jimin liked to dance, loved to drink, but when Seokjin wasn't in the mood Jimin tended to talk himself out of going. Since they broke up, he'd gone out even less. A part of him wanted to ask Jungkook for weeks to go to a party together, but then they'd definitely be outed as a couple since gossip traveled faster through celebrities than through dispatch, so he tended not to pay it too much thought to protect their relationship.

Jimin huffed as he pulled out his phone, sending Taehyung a quick text that his car was only a block away from the address he'd gotten earlier that night. It was crazy how the last time he'd argued with Jungkook it was over going public - something that honestly felt really insignificant now. Maybe if Jimin had agreed, would Jungkook have had more security in their relationship when he ran into Namjoon?

Would it have even made much a difference? If him and Jungkook were public and Jimin managed to smooth over some of that uncertainty floating about Jungkook's head that Jimin was in it for the long game - would Jungkook be in a better spot regarding the two of them? Maybe, or maybe not. Jimin guessed even Jungkook didn't know until the moment he was confronted with his past head on how he was going to react.

So was it fair for Jimin to be upset?

Jimin thanked his driver as they pulled to a stop in front of a modern, three-story mansion with massive glass walls and a pool on the second-floor balcony. There were large lights illuminating the place and a massive outdoor pool - the luxury and over decoration a Jackson Wang signature.

He bit his nail as he walked to what looked like a side door. The wall was made of thick, dark blue glass and there was a silver handle sticking out. The music boomed from inside, but there was little commotion happening around the building. For the crowd Jackson usually brought, the outside calm was a bit unusual.

Jimin sent Taehyung another text as he waited at the door - trying not to laugh that he was partying with a friend that helped manipulate him instead of having birthday sex with Jungkook right now.

Fuck. Was he being unfair to Jungkook? A rock suddenly settling in his chest. When Seokjin walked on set in LA, Jimin felt like the whole world suddenly crashed around him. Like someone caged his lungs and stuck his feet in concrete.

But today had sucked, he reminded himself. Jungkook may have abandonment issues, but Jimin dealt with a fair amount of being ignored already. With each hour that past that Jungkook didn't show up, Jimin reverted further and further into himself until he felt so small and insignificant that a speck of dust could have overpowered him. His head floated with the idea that he wasn't enough, that he deserved another lonely birthday because maybe Seokjin was right. Maybe he would always be alone when it really matters.

Of course, Jimin knew that the thoughts were just his trauma speaking, but then another hour would go out and then another and suddenly it was almost eight at night and Jimin changed to go for a party and get fucking plastered instead. Because if he was to send one more unanswered text, he might actually lose it. The anxiety, that tug of fear of not only being alone on his birthday, but of Seokjin being right about Jimin, was too much to take on sober.

Then Jungkook stormed into his room, and they argued and - Jimin kept replaying that look in Jungkook's eyes after Jimin had broken it off.

That crestfallen anger.

I stood by you with Seokjin and when it's my turn you walk away?

Jimin's lungs hurt. God, he needed to get a fucking drink soon. Needed to be surrounded by music and superficial people before he ended up hugging his knees into his chest on the grass outside this fucking mansion.

How could Jungkook say that? As if Jimin and him hadn't been dating each other for months now, as if Jimin hadn't cradled his sobbing body and fucking washed him that first night Jungkook ran into his fiancé. As if he hadn't tried to get Jungkook to open up, to talk to him. As if Jungkook didn't realize that there was a huge difference between their situations: Jimin wasn't in love with Seokjin. He wasn't fully convinced Jungkook felt the same about Namjoon.

Jimin lied when he said it felt right to break it off - it felt absolutely awful. Like he was carving out the only good thing currently in his life. But what could you do if the person you're in love with is hung up on someone else?

And sure, today was just a birthday. Nothing crazy or big, but he chose Namjoon over Jimin. Which was okay, Jimin told himself, honestly. It was okay and not that big of a deal, but those hours he spent alone today scratched into his brain as if it were scarring it. That consuming feeling of not being enough, of not being able to make a choice, of questioning himself and then questioning Jungkook, was too much. It ripped out his lungs from his chest and strangled his throat even if tears didn't spill from his eyes.

Because in the end, Jimin was terrified by it. Terrified how he felt about Jungkook. Terrified how the younger felt about him. Terrified they'd hurt each other.

Maybe both of them were still too broken to be together.

"Jimin! You made it!" Kim Taehyung said, clapping his hands as he swung open the door and pulled Jimin into the party.

* * *

The first thing Jungkook did when Jimin left, was go for a run. A little bit of a stupid thing to do, not exactly productive or time saving, but it was the only thing he could think of to work through the storm of emotions riling through his system.

Back in his own apartment complex, his feet pounded against the treadmill as sweat covered the back of his neck and pooled at his throat.

The second thing Jungkook did that night, was text Celeste. His head spun from the argument with Jimin, the air cold against his lungs as he heaved it in after running and he was thankful for some physical pain outside of the awful tearing feeling in his heart.

He worked so hard to just be friends with Jimin - and somehow Jungkook had managed to actually date him. Then, somewhere in the mix, he found himself back where they'd originally started.

Jungkook took a towel, scrapping the sweat off his neck before sending that text.

Hey, tell Namjoon I'll meet with him. But it has to be tonight. Otherwise I'm out

Jungkook watched small bubbles appear underneath it before finally Celeste sent back a thank you, saying Namjoon would be there and where to meet.

The last thing Jungkook did before he left, was shower. The cold water hit his back, shocking his system as his muscles tensed then relaxed after his run. He washed everything off of him - surprised that at the forefront of his mind was Jimin's face and not Namjoon's. How his eyes ringed with tears. How his boyfriend feigned so much strength as he spoke to Jungkook. How his nails dug lightly into his elbows as he held them tight to him.

And God, that flash of thought across his brow. The way he swallowed, taking the smallest step back as heartbreak and understanding flashes across his dark eyes. Jungkook shivered, reliving the exact moment Jimin decided it was over between them.

But he had a point, Jungkook thought as he slung a shirt over his head and a pair of black jeans. He reached for a hoodie and some chunky shoes before heading out the door to confront his past head on instead of run from it.

This time, he was going to end it on his own terms. Because Jimin was right, and that's why it hurt even more, Jungkook wasn't over what happened with Namjoon. But after tonight, he would be.

Jungkook deserved to heal and move on too.

* * *

Jimin smiled as Taehyung pulled him into the party, the music hitting his ears like wine. He laughed, letting himself get lost in the moment for the slightest second before everything crashed down around him.

"No." Jimin said as Taehyung pulled him into a small lounge where a handful of models and actors were drinking together. They were sprawled around couches and the floor and dead in the center was Kim Seokjin.

"Nope." Jimin said again, whirling around to Taehyung who was standing with his mouth open. He looked between Jimin and Seokjin with an equal shock as if he hadn't just walked out of the exact same room to pick Jimin up.

"Babe," Seokjin started, eyes placed delicately on Jimin's frame as he cautiously approached. This time though, this time Jimin finally had enough.

He rolled his shoulder back, taking a confident step Seokjin's way, and was surprised to find no attachment or fear left in him as he did so. There was no tug or worry, no hesitation in his voice or posture, he felt free in a way he didn't know was possible. Like puppet string ribbons fully snapped off of his wrist.

"No." He repeated, holding up his hand as Seokjin was about to start some dumb bitch monologue. "No, Seokjin. I need you to listen to me first, because I will never be repeating it again. I will never have to say any of this to you again because you are going to hear me. Do you understand?"

Seokjin sighed, words jumping on the tip of his tongue but Jimin continued.

"You have no power over me. You will never have power over me again. You will never hold me, kiss me, or manipulate me again. In no reality, out of thousands and thousands of multiverses out there, will we date. So, stop coming after me. Stop going after those around me. Stop following me. Stop searching for me. Stop trying. Seokjin, I don't love you. It's not because of Jungkook, it's not because I'm not smart enough to make my own decisions or because I can't tell what's good for me. Because I can, and because I'm entirely capable of being myself, I need you to hear me when I say I don't love you." Jimin held back the last thing he wanted to say, the cruel thing, I'm not sure I ever did.

Instead, he swung around and flipped off Taehyung before looking back up at a man he felt no emotions towards exact an accepting calm. Jimin smiled then, reaching up for Seokjin's cheek and gave it a small pat. "Oh, and fuck you." He said in his sweetest voice before finally walking away.

Seokjin didn't call out for him, barely moving at all as he started to look around him at the celebrities taking videos and speaking in low voices to one another. Before the end of the night, the entire industry would know the truth between their relationship and there was no way Seokjin could twist his way out of it.

Jimin was free.

He smiled, his joy only dulled by the fact that Jungkook wasn't next to him to share in it with. But he came for a drink, and a drink he would have. It was his birthday after all.

So Jimin grabbed the collar of the first cute boy he saw and pulled him along to the bar like a rag-doll. "Alright pretty boy, how much cash do you have on you? Let's get shots."

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A/N
One ex down, one more to go?
❤️
- Violette