Beach Towns and Beach Boys

"Our regular date spot was a store?" Jimin asked as Jungkook and himself walked down the calm beach city street. A couple blocks down he could see the coast line of a shining blue sea where couples were laughing hand in hand while the wind blew away their towels and sunhats.

He slid his eyes back to the street in front of him. Lines of unique little shops hugged his sides. An ice cream place painted baby blue with a life sized ice cream cone was to Jimin's right while a jewelry boutique with walls lined entirely with jagged seashells was to his left. Each shop was more creative than the last.

"Not exactly." Jungkook said, that strong arm of his reaching to rest on Jimin's lower back before stopping midair. He pulled Jimin's forearm instead towards a shop made of jagged colored glass. It made a portrait of a giant crab with a crown on its head. King Crab's Clothes and Jewelry, was sprawled on the blue wooden door, the gold paint flaking off of the words. "Our date spot was actually a movie theater a couple blocks down from here."

They walked into Patrick's Star's beach-side hideout and the first thing Jimin noticed about the store was the scent. It was like a fire was burning in every inch of it; ancient cider wood and char coated his nose like inscence. Jimin scrunched his nose, looking towards the two sets of carved wooden steps curving out and above them where shelves upon shelves upon shelves of clothes were lit with golden lights.

Jimin felt like he was on the set of Harry Potter.

"I saw you picking at your clothes." Jungkook said casually as a girl waved at them from the front counter. Her blonde hair swished over her shoulder as she did so, the freckles on her face stretching into a smile.

Jungkook didn't need to say anything for her to walk over to the changing rooms. She wrote down "Jeon" in chalk on doors that were basically just slabs of wood with little chalk crabs drawn all over them. 

Jimin stared at Jungkook. Really looked at that too gorgeous face of his, and balked. It was strange to have Jungkook notice something so little about him, not whoever he used to be.

Jungkook only shrugged his powerful shoulders, the loose shirt he had put on doing nothing to hide the built body underneath. In fact, it had taken Jimin a good amount of time reminding himself not to stare at it in the morning when Jungkook was making them breakfast.

Jimin had lost some memories, not his eyes.

"Look, I know it's been bothering you to have a closet full of clothes you don't remember buying so I figured it might be nice for you to pick some new stuff up. Things that you can feel like are really yours, you know." Then Jeon Jungkook, Mr. Tattoo Sleeve, Jeon Jungkook, looked at the ground and blushed. "I don't know. I mean we can head to the beach after this but I wanted to make a stop here first. Yoongi suggested bringing you to places you might remember but -"

Jimin blinked, looking around the store again. Little crabs were carved into slabs of wood everywhere, nearly as many as there were hangers of flowy t-shirts, of neat crewnecks, of sleeveless t-shirts, and collared button ups. And that was just what was visible on the first floor.

He wasn't sure why it mattered, that Jungkook cared if he felt comfortable, the current version of him and not the guy the stranger was in love with, but it did. It mattered. That he noticed.

Jimin swallowed the knot in his throat. "Thank you," he said and Jungkook looked away again, rubbing his forearm and then the back of his neck as he searched for something to say back.

Jungkook started playing with the end of a black flowy shirt that had a crab shape cut out of the back of it just to do something with his hands. When Jimin caught sight of the price tag he almost choked.

"I-I can't afford that. Is everything here that much?"

Jungkook blinked. "Right," he said after a moment. "Jimin, you're about six years out of college. You have a job, we both do. These prices are fine, don't look at them. I'll cover everything today as a gift if you're too worried about it."

Jimin blinked. Right, he thought.

"Um. What, exactly, is my job?" Jimin asked as he started to weave through the golden lit shop. He tried to keep his eyes off how the light made Jungkook's skin almost glow, like it had been dusted in gold itself .

"My parents hoped I'd go into finance, you know." Jimin said. "I had this awful argument with my mom over it once. I wanted to be a dancer, a professional one, and I wanted to study it. Craft it. I knew I could go far if I had the chance and then finally, there was an acceptance letter on the table from one of the best contemporary schools in the country -" Jimin stopped talking, seeing something like sorrow in Jungkook's eyes.

"Did I ever graduate?"

Jungkook reached up for a fuzzy blue sweater that was similar to one Jimin knew he wore in college and handed it to Jimin. "No." He said shortly afterward. "I'm sorry Jimin, you never got the chance to."

"Oh." Jimin replied, pursing his lips as Jungkook handed him a pale, sun colored shirt made of a cardigan type material. It was loose and clipped with a small crown shaped button. Jimin eyed it like the shirt would eat him and Jungkook put the shirt back down where he'd originally picked it up. "So...where do I work?"

Jungkook grabbed another shirt, this one white with little pink hearts around it, and handed it over. Jimin was happy to add it to his slowly growing pile as he picked up a plain turtleneck.

The tattooed boy started for the stairs. He didn't look back at Jimin. Just replied, about a beat late, "You're a florist."

"I dropped out of school to become a ... florist."

Jungkook didn't look at him.

"So I'm guessing the money to pay for these would have been from you either way." Jimin laughed, hoping to get a mirrored sound from Jungkook. Unsure why he wanted to hear it.

Jungkook didn't laugh. He ran a hand through his hair instead. "We uh, we work together actually. Not on flowers but - well - so my job is kinda different. Sorta business-y and you help me out a lot. So, technically, it's your money too."

"That was probably the most confusing thing I've ever heard - and I'm the one with amnesia." 

Jungkook shook his head and ran a hand down a shirt that was dip dyed to resemble water. He glanced at Jimin, his fiance, and then back at the shirt. Jimin furrowed his brows.

"This beach was where I asked you to date me." Jungkook said, changing the topic. "After the first semester of college, we took a taxi here in the middle of the night and sat down by the rocks. It was cold and the water was muddy but the moon was big. The beach had been completely empty except for us. That's how it's always felt, for me at least." Jungkook swallowed. "I asked you to be my boyfriend that night."

"Oh?" Jimin asked, happy to change the subject too. It was interesting to hear stories about himself too - as weird as it felt in his stomach.

Jungkook laughed. "You said that you were a handful I wasn't prepared for."

"Was I? A handful?"

Jungkook smiled sweetly; so wide and private Jimin had to look away as Jungkook tore his gaze away.

"Yes." Jungkook said, a smile tugging at the end of the word. "Like you wouldn't believe."

Jimin blushed.

"But I was too, if I'm being honest. It's sort of why we worked. You were the first person I was able to be myself around and not scare off. Which, Jesus I still don't understand. I love you for that. For seeing me and choosing to stay."

Love. Not loved, Jimin noted.

"Sounds intense." Jimin huffed, trying to shift the mood of the conversation.

"It was. We were."

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A/N:
Sorry for the week break!! I had some family visiting and didn't have how to hop on and edit. I hope everyone is having a smooth back to school transition. All I personally want to do now that I'm back is nap bwhaha

-Violette