i tried my absolute best to make this chapter long. also, please, if you want, listen to the song in the media! i listened to it whilst writing this, though i don't know if it fits the story or chapter, but the band, paper kites need more appreciation. they make really good music!

you may notice some odd segments in this chapter and you might go, "we don't need any of that." you'll see later. it has something to do with jimin.

can y'all take a guess by the end of this? i'll reveal it at the end.

december 30

the current scene contains yoongi, underwater with his goggles on, staring at jimin, who's underwater as well. the younger was looking around the pool floor. yoongi's not sure why, but when they're underwater, jimin's eyes always seem to... stand out more.

upon emerging out of the water, "i declare war!" jimin yelled, gesturing for taehyung to come closer. with an excited look, the twin did, along with jinyoung who swam towards yoongi's side.

"he always does this." jinyoung muttered, before falling over, going under the water. puzzled as to what was going on, yoongi looked around for any sight of jinyoung's figure, but almost cursed loudly as he felt himself being lifted out of the water, legs on jinyoung's shoulders.

he quickly hit jinyoung on the head, "yah! what are you--"

over at jimin's side, taehyung had lifted the older boy onto his shoulders as well. "let the battle begin!" taehyung yelled, slowly walking forward with jimin looking ready to fight yoongi.

jinyoung stepped forward as well, a complaining yoongi yelling at jimin. "no, jimin! what the--" he looked down at jinyoung, "hey, i can't swim--"

"i'll catch you." jinyoung glanced up at him, before grinning towards jimin and taehyung, moving forward. "charge!" he screamed, yoongi yelling some more as the latter collided with jimin, who immediately tried to push them.

"jinyoung! jinyoung--" yoongi warned, nearly falling backwards if it weren't for jinyoung, who immediately stepped forward and crouched a bit, letting yoongi get back on his balance. jimin frowned, ready to push against yoongi once more, until the latter held his hands out to block as well.

and now there they were, jimin and yoongi's hands intertwined in a fierce battle.

jinyoung was doing some work at well, trying to kick taehyung's leg under the water, but the younger was able to dodge them easily.

"taehyung!" jimin yelled, and taehyung knew exactly what to do. he charged forward, nearly knocking jinyoung off of his feet. although the eldest, yoongi, quickly pushed jimin back, allowing jinyoung to secure himself by letting his right foot step back-- and they were on their feet once more.

"you'll never win," jinyoung stated.

jimin, with a frown, looked down at taehyung, who glanced at him as well with a small nod. with knowing looks, they charged forward, jimin grabbing yoongi's hands once more, squeezing them hard, making yoongi wince.

"sorry," jimin turned his head to the side for a quick second, letting his wet hair move to the side. "but we're going to win, babe."

(as you can see, babe is their #1 nickname. do you guys mind?)

jimin smirked, seeing yoongi flinch at the nickname. taking his chance, he pushed, making yoongi yell at jinyoung, before both the boys toppled over, splashing into the water.

laughing, taehyung put jimin down, giving him a high five as the twins watched jinyoung carry yoongi (bridal style) out of the water, unamused looks on their faces, whilst the younger boys had satisfied ones plastered on theirs.

however, for a second, jinyoung glances over to taehyung, who's looking at him with a curious and knowing look.

december 31

the sky looks so pretty today, jimin thought, his body relaxed, floating on the water as he stared up at the blue skies, anywhere besides the shining sun that made him wince every now and then from its rays in the corner of his eyes.

it was until a figure blocked his view, making him blink. upon squinting his eyes, he muttered,

"hyung."

"yah," yoongi tsk'd, "come on, jiminie. let's go have breakfast." before getting out of jimin's field of vision, the latter standing up on the water and shaking his head, water from his hair splashing around him.

looking towards yoongi who disappeared after entering the lobby, jimin frowned.

"jiminie?"

— — —

for some reason, jimin can't stop thinking of yoongi, as he stares at his pancake.

was it the pancake's shape? did it remind him of yoongi?

was it the fact that the pancake was small?

like yoongi's height?

perhaps not.

was it the fact that the pancake barely had any sugar? yoongi's not very sweet, so.

whatever it was, jimin still couldn't think of exactly why it reminded him of yoongi, but whatever the reason, he kept staring at the half eaten pancake. somehow, for these past few days, yoongi's always been on his mind for no apparent reason. in fact, nearly everything around him that's completely unrelated to yoongi ends up reminding him of yoongi.

it's scaring jimin.

staring back at the pancake, he ends up thinking about the days he'd spent with yoongi at bighit cafe, back when they had to know more about each other to make their 'relationship' more convincing.

meanwhile, jinyoung was sitting across from jimin, had a curios look on his face after seeing his brother stare at a piece of pancake for at least a minute. extending his arm and snapping his fingers, he watched as jimin snapped out of his trance.

"hey, you okay?" jinyoung raised an eyebrow.

jimin gulped. "yeah." he replied quietly, looking towards elsewhere, eyes landing on a plant.

does yoongi like plants?

— — —

it was some time before lunch time, jimin finds himself in his parents' bedroom, looking after yejin who was sleeping on their parents' bed, tired after swimming for a bit earlier on.

playing some games on his phone, jimin jumped at the sudden knock on the door, speaking out, "come in" in a moderate voice, enough not to wake up yejin but enough to let the person outside hear him.

he watched as the door opened, heart somehow racing at the sight of yoongi's face peeking from behind the door.

"hey," yoongi greeted, eyes trailing towards the sight of yejin. "oh. i was gonna invite you for some coffee downstairs. but i see you're quite busy." he gave jimin a warm smile.

but before yoongi could shut the door, jimin whisper yelled, "hyung, wait! i--"

yoongi stopped to stare back at jimin, "hm?" he hummed.

jimin bit his lip, looking between yoongi and the sleeping yejin. his mom would kill him if she finds out about him leaving yejin in the room. but still, something tugged at his heart, telling him to go.

"w- wait for me."

that's how jimin ended up downstairs, having coffee with yoongi, with a child sleeping comfortably on his back.

the coffee lasted ten minutes. even though it did, jimin found it worth it.

— — —

flash forward to lunch time, the seven of them are nearly done with their meal. somewhere along the way, yoongi starts a conversation.

"hey, um, do you guys think i could ask for some clean sheets?" yoongi scratched the back of his head, sheepishly.

mrs. park, an odd look passing by her face, slowly nodded. "maybe you can ask for some at the lobby's front desk, dear." she turned to glare at jinyoung, who cracked a joke regarding the sheets.

yoongi rolled his eyes. "get your mind of the gutter-- i spilled some water on the bed." he said, standing up, "if you guys don't mind, i'll go ahead now."

mr. park shook his head, putting his glass of water down. "go ahead, son."

"hey, um," jimin spoke up, "i'll go with you, hyung."

taehyung raised a brow, sneaking a glance at jinyoung.

yoongi blinked, before shrugging. "you don't have to. it'll only take a few minutes, and--"

jimin stood up. "no, it's fine." he insisted, walking over to yoongi and dragging him away.

jinyoung merely frowned at taehyung, to which the latter responded with an equally confused stare.

— — —

"jimin," yoongi called, looking over at the younger, who was seated on their bed, staring blankly at the floor. with a sigh, yoongi strode over, placing his hand on jimin's shoulder. "you okay?"

jimin hummed, looking up. "don't mind me. just thinking, hyung." he grinned, "and i'm kinda excited for the new year's eve party."

with a frown, yoongi sat next to the younger, nudging him on the shoulder. "i can tell something's wrong. come on, tell me."

jimin studied yoongi's face, heart slightly racing. after a moment, jimin let out a frustrated sigh. "i just. i'm sort of worried? i think i have a crush on this guy i met by the pool..." he bit his lip nervously, "he's-- his name's yugyeom..."

"well," yoongi said, "do you think our fake relationship's stopping you from making a move on him?"

jimin shrugged. "well, i--"

"jimin," yoongi scolded, "don't let it get in the way. i'm sure he likes you." yoongi encouraged him with a smile.

who wouldn't like you.

"um." jimin blinked down at his lap. "okay. i'll try."

yoongi patted jimin on the back, standing up. "i'll go get a drink downstairs." he quickly said, taking his hand back and striding towards the door, leaving before jimin could say anything else.

"o- okay..." jimin muttered, sighing when he realize that yoongi'd already left the room.

— — — near midnight — — —

through the music, jimin merely stares at the sight of yoongi under the flashing lights of the party and wonders how yoongi dressed up so simple, yet looked like a god at the same time. he's just in a white shirt. and some ripped jeans.

has science gone too far?

"now, boys," mrs. park began, "we'll be allowing alcohol tonight. but not too much." she said, hearing jinyoung and taehyung let out a little 'awww, yeah' before turning to the eldest, "jinyoung, i expect you to go upstairs and check on ye-jin every now and then."

jinyoung gave her a thumbs up, before waving shortly and walking towards the bar. mr. and mrs. park end up blending in with the crowd as well. taehyung decided to latch onto jimin's arm, dragging the older of the two towards the bar, suggesting that they buy some drinks.

that leaves us with yoongi, who walks over to the door leading to the poolside, leaning against the wall. a few seconds later, a waiter passes by, offering him a drink. heck, yoongi takes two, downing the one in one go and slowly sipping on the second. the waiter, who he realizes is jackson, gives him a concerned look, before walking off to give more drinks to other customers.

it's not that noisy. not exactly coming from the crowd's voices, but more on the music. yoongi knew some of the songs, but he couldn't care less and decided not to sing along.

was it bad that he took one more drink from jackson after finishing his second one?

it was new year, and he had to take his mind off of some things, especially when his previous conversation with jimin had him thinking.

he hasn't met this yugyeom guy yet, but it made him feel weird. he's never seen jimin interact with anyone other than his family and yoongi, but maybe yoongi was being ridiculous. jimin sometimes went out without him, so yoongi probably wouldn't know.

other than that, jimin's weird behavior was noticeable today, as well. yoongi would rather not look into it, but he couldn't help but be bothered.

he sees jackson passing by again, tray filled with drinks once more. jackson happened to be glancing over at yoongi, the latter gesturing for him to come over. jackson, striding over reluctantly, started, "what--"

before he could ask what yoongi needed, yoongi grabbed his fifth drink from the tray, taking a quick sip. "hello, jackson."

"i never got your name." jackson pursed his lips.

"yoongi."

"ah, yoongi."

"spending new year alone?" yoongi asked, curious.

jackson sighed. "my boyfriend couldn't make it." he lets out a small, yet sad smile, fixing the drinks on his tray.

yoongi stared, before downing his fifth drink, wincing at the stinging sensation in his throat. he placed the glass on jackson's tray. "sorry to hear about that."

jackson shrugged. "honestly, it's fine." he said, before narrowing his eyes at yoongi. "wait, you said your name's yoongi?"

before yoongi could sass him, jackson pointed towards the bar, "two guys were talking about a yoongi."

yoongi raised his eyebrows, taking one more drink from jackson's tray, to which the latter frowned at. "oh?"

jackson merely nodded, before giving yoongi a small smile, turning on his heel and walking away.

huffing, yoongi started his sixth drink, gaze peering over to the bar. the only thing yoongi could make out from his slightly blurring vision and from the distance was taehyung and jimin's backs turned on him. they were sitting down, facing the bartender. taehyung seemed to be...

...comforting jimin, giving him a worried look.

a small frown making its way up to yoongi's face, he watched as jimin nodded, getting up from his seat and rushing through the crowd, seemingly looking for something.

or someone, yoongi thought, thinking back to when jimin talked to him about his crush. yugyeom, was it? perhaps, he thought, jimin was looking for yugyeom.

his frown deepened when he saw someone-- he wasn't able to see a clear sight of their face-- grab jimin's arm, making the latter yell, a look full of anger shot towards jaebum. yoongi could already easily read the situation.

what.

"jaebum," yoongi muttered under his breath, putting his glass down on a nearby table, before stomping over (and stumbling a bit) to jimin's spot. upon arriving, jimin's eyes widened, "hyung--"

blood boiling, yoongi swung his arm, his fist directly landing on the side of jaebum's face. no longer caring whether or not he hit jaebum, neither did he care about the looks from the crowd of people around them, he grabbed jimin's arm, whisking him away, legs eventually starting to run out the lobby and into the poolside before he could hear anything from jaebum, the last picture in his head being jaebum's shocked look.

(i'm so excited guys omg)

jimin didn't say anything, just letting yoongi sit drag him to sit down on one of the pool chairs, both of them sitting next to each other in a somewhat comfortable silence.

coughing, jimin spoke up, staring at the dark sky, "thanks."

"no pro- blem." yoongi said, actually coughing from his alcohol intake earlier.

the two sat in silence, staring up at the stars. there weren't much tonight-- but it was all good.

"how many drinks did you have?" jimin asked, voice nearly a whisper.

"six."

jimin grinned victoriously. "nine."

yoongi rolled hi s eyes, "so," he started, "were you looking for someone earlier?"

jimin turned to him, "huh?"

"before jaebum grabbed you, you seemed to be looking for someone. was it your crush?" yoongi smiled teasingly.

"oh." jimin blinked, looking down at his lap shyly. "um. something like that."

(omg guys i'm so... excited.)

before yoongi could pry further, a rumbling sound was heard in the distance. the two looked up, seeing fireworks bursting across the sky, the colors reflecting off of the pool's clear water. inside the lobby, they started to hear a countdown.

"ten!"

"that was fast." yoongi whispered.

"nine!"

"right." jimin agreed, gulping.

"eight!"

suddenly, jimin let out a giggle.

"seven!"

yoongi turns to him, slightly baffled. jimin looks back, and just smiles.

"six!"

another burst of fireworks. the cheers were getting louder.

so was the ringing in yoongi's ears when he hears jimin speak,

"about your question earlier..." jimin said, referring to the 'was it your crush' question.

this sparked up yoongi's curiosity, still looking at jimin with an expectant and curios gaze.

"five!"

"i'm actually talking to him right now."

"four!"

yoongi's eyes widened in disbelief.

"three!"

somehow, yoongi doesn't know who started it or how it started, they're leaning towards each other, a smile on jimin's face.

yoongi has his lips pressed into a thin line, unsure of the situation, whether it was all happening too fast, and why he was so nervous.

he's kissed jimin before, right? well, if that's what's currently going to happen. hey, no big deal, right?

but yoongi felt his breathing go unsteady a bit, ringing in his ears no longer bearable.

"two!"

yoongi feels jimin's lips ghosting over his, merely inches away.

and before the people inside could count to one, yoongi finds himself leaning forward, pressing his lips against jimin's.

another set of fireworks go off, once more.

yoongi's drunk.

there's cheering from the inside, and oh. it's new year. but he paid no attention to that as he let out a small groan, his tongue slowly (and sinfully) dragging across jimin's bottom lip.

from the looks-- rather, taste-- of it, jimin's seemingly drunk as well. but with nine drinks, perhaps more drunk than yoongi. yoongi could taste the familiar alcohol on jimin's tongue, his mind in shambles as he somewhat enjoys it. jimin lets out a small whimper as yoongi feels the younger's hands traveling onto his shoulders and down to his waist, tracing circles against his clothed skin, making yoongi lean forward, their kiss somehow deepening. it lasts for a few more seconds--

goosebumps is what yoongi gets when they pulled away, watching as jimin exhaled shakily, scanning yoongi's facial expression for any sign of... well, anything, to put it simply, as all yoongi had afterwards was a blank face, his tongue quickly darting out across his bottom lip before pressing into a thin line, like before.

yoongi suddenly blurted out, "i'm sorry--" and watched as jimin's face paled, quickly drained of emotion, the orange haired boy rushing to his feet and frowning at the ground.

"oh." jimin breathed out, looking at yoongi, expression barely filled with determination or pride. "no, i'm the one who should be sorry-- what was i thinking?" jimin bit his already slightly swollen lips, and yoongi swore he could see tears forming at the corner of his eyes.

"no, jimin, i--"

"n- never mind. i'm sorry, yoongi." jimin interrupted, turning on his heel and dashing away, towards the lobby entrance.

and all yoongi could do was watch the scene unfold, the fireworks booming in the background, although he could care less about the colorful bursts across the sky.

anyway, the 'odd' moments (ffffff, i could've put more cute scenes into those parts but let me just say that i had no time to think of new stuff)-- jimin starting to take notice of small things (jiminie), things unrelated to yoongi that somehow remind him of yoongi, doing what it takes to spend time with him even though it's only for ten minutes and even wasting time to do boring stuff with yoongi... i found it on this website, but apparently, those are all signs pertaining to being in love.

haha i'm sorry if this chap was a flop. i tried ;;