chapter 3

Jungkook could hear his hyung’s footstep going away and he felt like cursing at himself. Why did he not respond to the other? It wouldn’t have been so hard, what the heck was wrong with him? Despite all the thoughts he found himself making up, he pulls the blanket off of his face in eeriness and hope of his hyung coming back, hoping the other just didn’t go away because he was tired of Jungkook’s pettiness.

Jungkook almost felt like wrapping himself up like a sushi roll again at that thought until he saw his cute little hyung’s figure at the door walking in with a tray. Jungkook forgets all about his appearance at the sight of Jimin meeting him with a soft fluffy smile that Jungkook didn’t know what he did to deserve this.

“Man, you look like a complete wreck,” Jimin said jokingly and Jungkook almost blushed in embarrassment from realization. Jungkook tried to open his mouth and speak but was quickly hushed with Jimin’s few ‘ah ah ah’ to mention him to keep quiet as he set the tray down on Jungkook’s nightstand.

“First of all, water is a human must need as your body is made up 70% of them.” Jimin starts to ramble on as he twisted a brand new bottle of water and the water almost leak out from Jimin squeezing the bottle too hard which surprised him that his instant reaction was to latch his plump lips toward the bottle mouth and drank a bit of its content before handing it over to Jungkook.

“What? Don’t look at me like that, at least now you know it's not poisoned. Or if it is, we die together.” Jimin said with a sarcastic tone at Jungkook who stared at the bottle of water weirdly then continues, “Do you want me to feed you or something?”

Jungkook doesn’t respond to that and only pouts his bottom lips out as he tried to stare into the blank air away from the elder. He hears Jimin sigh before a bottle appears right in front of his lips, inviting him to have sips at it. It wasn’t hard for Jungkook to accept it as his throat was already suffering and clear water was more than he could ask for.

“What a baby, looks like I’ll still have to take care of you for a long time.” Jimin ruffled the younger’s jumbled hair and grins widely at the younger who retreated his pouting lips to chew on it for a while before speaking up.

“‘m so…” Only half of his words seem to make out as the last syllable died off in a raspy whisper and a hiccup at the end.

“What?” Jimin asked with a hint of playfulness and smiled at how adorable the younger seemed to be now.

“‘m sorry…” Jungkook manages to speak louder this time before sniffing hard again as he stared into the air.

Jimin’s smile faded with concern written all over his face, frowning at the other with furrowed brows he asked again.

“Why? What makes you say that?”

“‘Cause,” Hiccup. “Don’t I look pathetic right now?” Jungkook sniffs again and felt tears threatening to slip once again even though he tried hard not to let it fall in front of Jimin.

“Oh my god, no. No.” Jimin quickly retorts as he cups the other’s cheeks in his small palm to make him face him, “Don’t say that. You’re so perfect and nothing else matters, don’t ever apologize for something you shouldn’t.” Jimin stares at Jungkook hard in the eyes before leaning in to touch both of their foreheads with a warm smile as his fingers smoothed across the other’s hair and into its locks as he caressed over certain spots lightly.

“To be honest, you do look like a wreck which I’ve said that before. But I love it, it’s adorable. And I’m the only one seeing it, it makes me even happier.”

“B-Bu-”

“Shshshsh,” Jimin hushes him while pulling away, “You don’t get to say anything after all you’ve told me, after all the times you tried to reassure me that I’m perfect.” The words almost come off as a whisper at the end of the sentence as Jimin felt his cheek heating up a bit at the sweet memories that he couldn’t ever forget.

“A m-man...only should cry t-three times in l-life…..” Jungkook would’ve burst out into tear right at his own sentence and Jimin could only laugh.

“Cheesus, why would you say that? You’re worse at making excuses than I am. Remember all the excuses I tried to make and you shut them all down just to remind me of who I am?” Jimin raises an eyebrow at that and leaned in to peck the younger’s forehead. “Stop copying every bad habit of mine, it’s not healthy.”

In normal states, Jungkook would’ve retorted but he couldn’t find the right words to say as tears slipped out again and he started to back off from the other. Trying to hide his face by curling his head into his own neck even though it was humanly impossible.

“Ah no no no,” Jimin tisked at the other and inched into the bed with the boy to the point where his whole *** is also sitting on the bed with Jungkook hiding his face right in front of him, though not without the company of Jimin’s hand rubbing the boy’s hair to comfort him.

“If you said that a man can only cry three times in their life, are you implying that females can cry for three thousand or even three million times?” Jimin starts to ramble again at the boy who still kept his head down but ears definitely open to hear every single word.

“It doesn’t matter baby, you can cry all you want. Everyone has their up and downs, everyone is one different individual with its own traits, and they’re not defined by the labels that've been put on them. Same goes with you, me, and all the others. We’re all grown men, but I think we all know we’ve broken the rule of crying three times in our lives.”

The words only make Jungkook feel like crying harder with Jimin’s marshmallow like caring mellow voice resonating in the silent room aside from his own little sniffs here and there.

“Well, I guess you don’t wanna eat now,” Jimin said as he veered over at the food he bought with the tray that’s been sitting on the nightstand. “Do you wanna...cuddle?” Jimin quickly flashes a smile at the younger who peeked his head up to make eye contact.

“...N-no….”

“What?” Jimin gasps dramatically with pouty lips, “Did you just refuse my offer to cuddle? No one ever rejects Park Jimin’s cuddling requests, how could you?” Jimin lifts his hand away from the other in order to cross his arm on his chest as he huffed in offense.

“N-no, I’m dir-dirty so……”

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