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Mornings in Seoul aren’t quiet— not even at 3am when Jimin strolls into the bakery, still half asleep and dragging his feet. Between the early risers and college students still enjoying their nights out, Jimin hardly ever gets a moment to breathe in the big city.
Groggily he throws on his favorite “kiss the cook” apron, still covered in yesterday‘s stains, and trudges over to the old, hardly-ever-working espresso machine he bought years ago.
Back in the day, he had had big hopes of selling intricate coffee creations along with his cakes. After a few weeks of fumbling with the damn thing and the drinks never coming out just right, he and Jungkook decided it was best to just leave it as a source of caffeine for the two of them during the grueling morning shifts.
He makes a so-so shot of espresso, his first of the day at 3:12am, and sets it aside to sip on while he starts working on the dough he’d left to proof overnight. After shaping the loaves and setting them out for their second proofs, he moves on to whipping up their signature chocolate buttercream frosting, all the while enjoying the momentary peacefulness of his precious little bakery.
“GOOD MORNING, SUNSHINE” comes a loud voice, shattering the moment.
Jimin groans, letting his head drape onto the countertop while the buttercream beats away beside him in the mixer.
“Why the fuck did I give you keys to this place?” Jimin grumbles, standing up to look at his business partner.
“Because I’m co-owner?“ Jungkook muses. ”Or perhaps you got tired of hearing me bang on the doors at 3:30 every morning serenading you to let me in?”
“Definitely the latter.”
“Ah, but this place would be no fun without me!” the younger chirps, a bright smile on his face, and it would be a lie to say Jimin doesn’t smile back, just a little.
“Fine,” Jimin begrudgingly huffs. “Turn on your silly music and take the strawberry turnovers out of the freezer to thaw a bit. We need to get them in the oven right before we open so they’ll be warm. The buttercream is almost done, too, so you better get to decorating the cakes I made yesterday.”
Jungkook hardly looks up from his phone, scrolling through his “OPENING SHIFT !!!!!” playlist and selecting what he knows to be Jimin’s secret favorite pick-me-up song.
Their morning brushes by in a breeze of smeared frosting, fragrant jams, sticky dough, 80s hits and soon enough 6:30am rolls around.
Though his morning bakes had turned out mostly successful— except for those pesky honey butter buns that didn’t rise as much as he hoped they would— Jimin groans before plopping down on the one chair they keep in the back of the kitchen.
Jungkook, sleeves rolled up to his biceps, flour coating the entirety of his forearms, says “What’s up with you today? You seem grumpier than usual.”
Jimin sends him an icy look and quips, “That’s rich coming from the guy who makes it his mission to annoy me as much as possible every morning.”
Jungkook’s face falls just a bit. “Hey.”
Jimin immediately feels bad for snapping. He stands and puts a hand on his friend’s shoulder and tells him, “I’m sorry. That was mean. I’ve just been stressed this week and haven’t been sleeping well. Didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
Jungkook’s shoulders relax and he goes back to rolling out the pastry dough. “S’all good. I did notice you’ve been a bit off lately. What’s up?”
Jimin sighs. He knows he should get back up front soon so they’ll be ready to open at 7, but like Jungkook said, he feels… off.
“I don’t know, I think I’m just being dramatic…” he says.
Jungkook raises an eyebrow, folding the pastry dough over a slab of frozen butter and rolling it out again. Jimin allows himself the comfort of watching one of his favorite treats being made with the love and attention to detail that Jungkook always puts in.
The morning hours always make him feel a bit more open than usual-- with only his best friend by his side in a bakery they built with their own blood, sweat and tears, it becomes easier to let himself admit to having emotions, as terrible as that sounds.
“You remember my friend Tae from high school?” Jimin quietly asks.
“You mean the super hot one who’s an actor now?” Jungkook fires back, never able to keep a conversation serious. “Why, yes, of course.”
“You have to stop calling him that, you have a boyfriend.”
“Joke’s on you, my boyfriend also thinks he’s hot.”
Jimin gags. “Please, I will do everything in my power to keep Tae away from you and Hobi hyung’s evil little hands.”
Jungkook smirks, eyes devious as he says “Oh trust me, that pretty boy would be lucky to experience hyung’s hands.”
Jimin snaps, “ENOUGH!”
Jungkook bursts into laughter and finishes the last fold on his pastry dough, tucking it away in the fridge to chill. He comes back to the work bench and leans against the table, crossing his arms. As disgusted as Jimin is by the previous conversation, he has to laugh at the fact that Jungkook now has flour covering his entire torso. The younger either doesn’t notice, or simply does not care.
He says, “Anyway, as you were saying?”
Jimin rolls eyes, but finally blurts, “He’s trying to set me up on a blind date tonight.”
Doe eyes huge, Jungkook shouts, “WHAT!?”
“Why are you so surprised?!” Jimin throws back.
“Hyung, in the 6 years we’ve known each other, you’ve never gone on a proper date.”
Jimin gapes, “That is so not true!”
Jungkook walks closer to him, clearly passionate enough about the topic to wave his arms wildly around as he speaks, eyes still as big as saucers. “That is absolutely true! Do you know how many times Hobi hyung and I have tried to set you up?”
Jimin remains silent, avoiding eye contact.
“No…” he lies.
“14 times!!” Jungkook roars.
“Okay, fine!” Jimin screeches, their loud shouts bouncing around the small shop, fighting for dominance with Jungkook’s still-blasting playlist. He turns his attention to zesting the pile of lemons they have sitting on the counter, waiting to be turned into his signature lemon tarts. “But that doesn’t mean I haven’t gone on a proper date in six years, Jungkook.”
“I’m sorry to say this, darling, but little hookups don’t count as proper dates,” Jungkook replies. “Especially when they ghost you immediately after.”
Jimin tries not to show the hurt on his face; not at Jungkook’s words, because he’s right, but because those experiences left a mark on him. He always tried to laugh it off when he told his friends, but there was a part of him that felt used and unlovable.
“Yeah, you’re right,” he says, eyes down and voice soft.
Jungkook feels the change in tone and softens.
“I’m sorry, that sounded harsh. I just mean you deserve better than that, hyung,” the younger says gently. “You deserve to be wined and dined.”
Jimin doesn’t respond, just keeps his head down.
Jungkook takes the hint and lays a flour coated hand on Jimin’s shoulder, “Well, I’m proud of you for going tonight. It could end up being a good experience!” His toothy grin makes an appearance as he tries a new tactic to make his hyung smile again. “Maybe you’ll meet your romantic soulmate.” He winks.
“Yeah, yeah,” Jimin relents, wishing he’d never told Jungkook that he believed in soulmates, even if the boy had never actually made fun of him for it.
Just then, bells tinkle harshly from up front-- the sound the door makes when someone tries to force it open while the main lock is still in place.
Rolling his eyes, Jimin sets down the lemon he was working on in favor of shooing away the early customer. If there’s one thing he and Jungkook always agree upon, it’s that no one is allowed to enter this bakery before 7am sharp.
He walks up to the front, trying to see if he recognizes the customer, but the large poster advertising their Open Mic Poetry Nights (Every Thursday at 7pm!) covers the top half of the glass door. All he can see are long legs and an endearing pair of what can only be described as dad sneakers.
Jimin sighs, unlocking the door, ready to give the gentleman a stern 15 minute warning. He opens it just a crack and lets his eyes adjust to the darkness outside.
Except, he doesn’t see a middle aged man standing out there, impatiently waiting to get inside.
Jimin stops cold as he makes eye contact with the most beautiful man he’s ever seen.
Ok, so he can’t see much of him-- the man is wearing a baseball cap low over his eyes and a black face mask. Really all he can see are his eyes, but God are they gorgeous. And the way Jimin has to look up just a bit because the man is a few inches taller? His knees nearly buckle right there.
“Hi,” the man says and he sounds almost out of breath. Jimin is inclined to believe he ran here, but there’s something about the way his eyes are running quickly over Jimin’s face that has him wondering if this man isn’t just as awestruck as he is.
The rest of the world forgotten, Jimin says “Hi,” as he continues to stare.
Seconds tick by.
“Hyung, everything alright?” Jungkook’s shout reaches their ears, and just like that, the trance is broken.
Both men take a small step back, as if they’d somehow accidentally leaned closer together in the 20 seconds they stood staring at each other.
“Yeah, Kookie, all good!” Jimin yells back, clearing his throat in embarrassment. He can feel the blush coloring his cheeks and hopes the man can’t see it.
“I’m-- um,” Jimin starts. “Well, we don’t open for another 15 minutes but--”
“Oh, I’m so sorry! I can come back,” the guy says, voice warm and bright. Jimin wants to wrap himself up in it like a blanket.
“No!” he rushes. “It’s totally okay. Come on in.”
He steps back and opens the door wide, letting the man come in. He contemplates locking the door after him to keep any other early customers out, but figures that might come off a bit creepy. He decides that if he has to start his day early, at least it’s for a good cause.
The “cause” being: staring into this pretty boy’s eyes a little longer.
Jimin’s heart does a somersault.
The man walks up to the counter a little awkwardly, eyeing the half-full display case. Jimin sashays behind the register so he can get the man what he wants.
“I’m really sorry, again,” the guy says, hands in his pockets. “I can totally wait until you guys are ready.” Though he can’t see his mouth, Jimin feels like he can hear a gentle smile on the man’s lips, a bit of embarrassment at arriving too early.
“Nonsense,” Jimin smiles brightly, knowing he’s probably coming off too strong. He tries to pull his expression back to one of neutrality, but then the man’s eyes soften as if he’s smiling back and his resolve crumbles. “We just haven’t put everything out yet, but it’s all ready to go.”
“Thank you,” the man responds, a bit shyly. “I was actually wondering if I could place an order for a specialty cake to be picked up next week?”
“Oh,” Jimin chirps, “Yeah, definitely!” He searches below the counter for a moment before pulling out an order form and a pen, handing them over to the guy. Their hands brush for just a moment and they make eye contact as it happens.
Jimin bites his lip to avoid a squeal as the man begins filling out the sheet in front of him.
“So when it asks how many tiers, that means like.. how many layers, right?” the guy politely asks.
He and Jungkook had spent hours creating that form. Jimin knows that there is absolutely no room for confusion on any inch of that paper, so it only takes half a second for him to realize that the guy might actually just be searching for an opportunity to talk with him more.
Jimin can’t help but smile, “Correct. The little diagram of a cake on the side outlines any vocab you may not know.” He has to hold back a little giggle at the embarrassed gleam in the man’s eyes.
“Ahh, yes.. Thank you..”
Jimin pretends to meticulously wipe the counter down, though it was one of the first things he did when he stepped into the bakery this morning. He can feel a special electricity in the air and tries to seem busy, but can’t help but take every opportunity to glance at his customer.
On his third swipe over the display case, Jimin hears, “When it lists off the filling options--”
“Those are the options, yes. You just have to pick one,” he smiles.
“Got it, thank you.”
“Absolutely.”
“So if I want pink frosting, what shade of pi--”
“The back of the form lists all of the shades we can provide, but if you have an even more specific choice, you can write it on the ‘Other’ line.”
“Oh, I see now. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
By the fifth question, Jimin is leaning against the counter, chin propped on his hand and fondly watching the man fill out the form.
“So for the chocolate buttercream--”
Jimin laughs-- really laughs. A twinkly chuckle straight from his chest.
The other man lets out a laugh too, “Sorry…”
“No, no, it’s endearing. I’ll get you some to try if you want,” he beams, not even waiting for an answer.
Jimin walks into the back, letting his hips sway just a little bit, hoping the man is watching him go.
Once the door has shut firmly behind him, he hears “Who was at the door, did you tell them to go away?”
Jungkook is back to working on his pastries, folding the dough once more and rolling it out. He casually looks up and makes eye contact with a frazzled Jimin, hastily using any metallic surface as a mirror to make himself look more presentable.
“What, what?” Jungkook says, confused.
Jimin huffs and loudly whispers, “The most beautiful man in the world is out there and I need to bring back the best chocolate buttercream South Korea has to offer or he may never fall in love with me!” He slams the sheet pan he was holding onto the table and the bang is catastrophically loud, making both of them wince.
“Uh,” Jungkook pauses, brain glitching.
Jimin throws his arms up in annoyance and grabs the fresh frosting he’d kept chilling in the fridge and gets a hefty scoop of it on a spoon. He takes a breath and glides out of the room, leaving a blankly staring Jungkook in his wake.
“Everything okay back there?” The guy questions when Jimin walks out. “Heard a loud bang, hope you’re alright.”
“What?” Jimin stops, suddenly recalling the tray he had slammed onto the table. “Oh! Oh, yes, no, sorry-- I just, uh, dropped something. It’s fine.”
“Dropped something?” he says, eyebrows raised.
“No! I mean yes, but everything is clean, I promise. I didn’t drop anything anywhere gross, or, you know.. I-- yeah. It’s fine,” he fumbles for words, caught off guard suddenly after his embarrassing stunt. “Here’s the buttercream, by the way.”
He holds the spoon out to the man, who gingerly takes it from his fingers.
The guy pulls down his mask to open his mouth and God, if Jimin was gone before, he’s nonexistent now.
His stomach erupts into butterflies at the sight of the man’s entire face. Bright, lively eyes framed by full brows. A long sloped nose with high cheekbones. And full, pouty lips that could rival even Jimin’s own.
He worries he may be drooling at the poor guy as he puts the spoon in his mouth.
Then one second later, the man’s eyes light up. He looks directly at Jimin and says around a mouthful of frosting, “Oh my God.”
Jimin chuckles nervously, praying he likes it, a question in his eyes.
“This is the best frosting I’ve ever tasted in my life,” the man says upon swallowing, eyes still massive. “Oh my God.”
Jimin positively glows at the praise, pride filling every inch of his body. His eyes crinkle into crescents as he smiles, bowing his thanks at the customer.
The man continues on, “This will be perfect, thank you so much. Namjoonie will love it!”
Jimin falters. His stomach twists into something he doesn’t like and the smile fades from his face. Namjoonie? No use of honorifics?
“Ahh.. I’m glad to hear it,” Jimin chokes out.
The man doesn’t seem to notice, preoccupied with filling out the rest of the form as quickly as possible and handing it over to Jimin for final checks.
Jimin swallows and tries to cool his thoughts. He feels like such an idiot. Of course this man is already taken. They’re always taken. Just his luck.
He looks the sheet over and sees the custom writing request spelling out ‘Happy Birthday, Namjoon!’ and figures he’s got nothing left to lose.
“Is Namjoon your boyfriend? Lucky guy if he’s getting a 3 tiered cake for his birthday.” He almost grimaces when he realizes his voice sounds icier than before. How embarrassing-- this poor man didn’t do anything wrong. Jimin was the one to make assumptions.
“Pardon?” he asks, genuine confusion showing on his face.
“I’m sorry, that was rude,” Jimin apologizes, hoping he doesn’t seem as sad as he suddenly feels. “It’s none of my business, my apologies.”
Jimin bows gently to the man and turns to place the request form somewhere out of the way to work on later.
There is a second of silence and then --
“Wait, no, I-- no,” the man chuckles lightly, “Namjoon is my assistant.”
Jimin pauses, a soft “Huh?” breaking through his lips. His back is still to the man and it takes all of his mental strength to avoid whipping around to gape at him.
The man laughs again, “More like a saint, honestly, the poor guy does everything for me. But--” he coughs into his fist and his tone shifts back to one of slight embarrassment-- “it’s a purely platonic cake, nonetheless.”
Jimin finally turns to look at him again, but is at a loss for words, brain turned to dust.
The man is standing there, hands in his pockets again, his wide shoulders slightly hunched forward in awkwardness. He rocks back on his heels and seems to take Jimin’s silence as a request for further explanation.
The guy says, “You’ve probably actually seen him in here a lot-- I’m sort of obsessed with your lemon tarts. He stops by at least once a week for me and grabs a few.” He looks at Jimin’s face, searching for any signs of recognition, “Big guy? Tall, well built? Super deep dimples? Incredibly clumsy, too-- I’m almost positive he’s knocked over a few of your displays.”
This smacks Jimin’s soul back into his body and he emits a sudden giggle. “Actually-- I think I do know who you’re talking about,” he breathes, still reeling from the realization that he just made an absolute fool of himself in front of this guy. Who gets jealous that quickly over a man they’ve only just met? Maybe the blind date this evening will bring him back to reality.
They settle into an awkward silence, unsure how to proceed, both knowing the man has no reason to stay any longer now that he’s filled out the request form. Jimin isn’t sure where to look.
Jimin’s about to say /Thank you for placing your order, we will have it ready to go at noon on the pickup date you specified, please be ready to pay at that time/, when he hears “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Jimin looks up fast and gulps at the mischievous smile gracing the handsome boy’s face. He waits for clarification, but the teasing gleam he sees gives him the little extra push he needs to be just as bold.
“Girlfriend, then?” Jimin inquires.
“Nope, definitely not.”
Got it, he’s gay, Jimin thinks. Oh God, he’s /gay/.
Jimin’s heart rate picks up.
“What was your name again?” the handsome man asks.
This time, Jimin laughs. “I didn’t give it. But it’s Jimin.”
“Jimin,” the man says, seeing how the name tastes in his mouth. Jimin tries not to scream. He’s not sure how the speaker feels about it, but to Jimin, hearing his own name on the other man’s lips feels heavenly. Goosebumps rise on his arms.
“My name is Jin.”
Jimin bites his lip, holding his smile in as he gently says, “Hi, Jin-ssi.”
They both stare at each other as Jin slowly backs up, heading to the door. The little bells tinkle as he leaves the bakery and Jimin lets out a squeal.
Immediately, the back door crashes open and Jungkook shouts, “Ok, WHAT was that?!”
He’s standing in the threshold between the kitchen and the front register, hands on his hips, flour coating his entire frame, a grumpy expression on his face at being left out of the conversation.
But Jimin doesn’t even have a chance to answer before the bells tinkle once more as Jin comes striding back into the bakery, walking directly up to the counter and looking Jimin straight in the eyes before--
“Will you go on a date with me tonight?” Jin blurts.
His eyes are fierce, like there was some sort of internal battle over whether or not he should come back to ask Jimin out and eventually decided on hell yes.
He looks so certain, so determined, and Jimin has had one too many shocks this early in the morning.
“Yes!” he barks.
Jin smiles at him and Jimin feels dizzy, he can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t move. Jin walks closer and puts a card on the table, face down, and tells Jimin to text him when he’s free tonight-- that they’ll figure out the plans via text. Jimin’s brain is so fuzzy he just tries to take it all in and manages to nod his acceptance. Jin backs up again and bows to the both of them before leaving the shop for a second time, a massive smile gracing his beautiful features.
Jimin turns to Jungkook with a glazed look on his face and finds the younger looking just as shocked.
They both stare at each other in silence for nearly a full minute, jaws hanging open.
Jungkook’s eyes grow larger every second until he shouts, “WHAT WAS THAT?!”
“I HAVE NO IDEA, BUT I’M MARRYING HIM,” Jimin screams back.
“OH MY GOD, THAT WAS LIKE A MOVIE!”
“I KNOW!”
“HOLY FUCK!”
“I KNOW!”
“Why do I feel like he looked familiar?” Jungkook questions.
Jimin hardly even gives the idea a second thought. “He said he loves my lemon tarts, so you’ve probably seen him around here before.” He says, heart still nearly pounding its way out of his chest.
“Hmmm,” the younger mumbles, confusion clouding his features.
Jimin puts his hand on his head, catches his breath, and tries to relax. His thoughts race in a spiral.
/Baking, I’m in my bakery, I own this place, Jungkook is here, we have an order for a cake, I need to finish my tarts and take the strawberry turnovers out of the oven soon, oh God have they burned? Did Jungkook take care of them? That man was so beautiful, the most beautiful face I have ever seen-- WILL ever see. And now I have a date with him tonight. I have to tell Taehyung, he’ll go crazy. Oh my god, Taehyung!!!!!!! A DATE!!!! I ALREADY HAVE A DATE TONIGHT WITH ANOTHER GUY!!!/
“Jungkook, oh my God,” Jimin says, panic rising again as he looks up at his best friend. “I just said yes to the date with that guy,” he begins, but Jungkook cuts him off.
“Uh, YEAH, hyung, I watched it happen,” he laughs.
“No! I mean, yes, I know, but I already had a date planned for tonight!” Jimin’s voice rises, but Jungkook still looks confused. “The blind date that Tae was setting up for me!”
The younger’s eyes widen by a fraction at the predicament, but he says, “Just call and cancel it, super easy.” He brushes his hands on his apron and goes to make himself a shot of espresso.
Jimin bites his lip, he knows it sounds easy enough, but he fears hurting Taehyung’s feelings. Tae had been gushing about this guy for weeks now, claiming that he’d be the perfect match for Jimin-- tall, broad, handsome, funny, emotionally intelligent with a gorgeous smile.
God, Jimin thinks, I guess I really do have a type.
Tae had fawned so much that Jimin suggested he date the man instead, but his friend had gagged and said the other guy was too much like a brother to him. They’d worked in the industry together for years, Tae an actor and the other man a musician.
Jimin wipes his hands down his face but decides that he should just call Tae now. As disappointed as his friend might be, he’ll be even more excited to hear that Jimin had his very own real-life meet cute.
It would be fine, right? And if worse came to worst-- if the date with Jin-ssi went poorly-- Jimin could always reschedule the blind date. He simply couldn't imagine the date going poorly, though, which sends a shock of electricity up his spine.
Just as he is about to pull out his phone, it begins to ring.
SOULMATE it says in big letters across the screen.
He answers, “Taehyungie, our soulmate telepathy is off the charts today, I was just about to call you!”
“Hello my angel,” Tae croons into the line, his usual greeting for Jimin.
Jimin smiles, tucking the phone under his ear and moving towards the kitchen. He tilts his head at Jungkook as a request for him to stay up front should any customers come in. The younger boy nods his understanding and moves towards the register.
As soon as the kitchen door closes behind him, both boys say into the phone, “I have some bad news.”
Jimin laughs, “Wow! That’s even crazier, you go first.”
Taehyung giggles, a bit nervously, “Well, okay. I just wanted to let you know I got off the phone with my hyung just now, the one I was going to set you up with tonight.”
Jimin’s heart beats harder for a moment, worried that whatever his friend says next will make it harder to cancel. “About that--”
“I’m sorry, Jiminie, he told me he had to cancel tonight.”
Jimin stops in his tracks, his mouth agape. “Oh--”
“I’m so sorry, it had nothing to do with you, I promise! He said something came up and he can’t make it tonight. But I also sort of asked if he wanted to reschedule and he said he wasn’t sure if that would be necessary…” his voice dies, afraid the news might hurt Jimin’s feelings.
“Well,” Jimin says, several emotions battling in his chest. “That sounds a little harsh,” he responds gently.
He supposes he has no real right to feel offended since he was calling to say almost exactly the same thing, but he does feel a little sad to have been so easy for this other guy to ditch without a second thought.
Taehyung murmurs another apology, but Jimin shuts his own pity party down before it can become a real problem. “No, no, that’s totally okay.” He takes a deep breath. “It works out kind of perfectly, actually! I sort of met someone today…”
“You WHAT!” Taehyung croaks. “TELL ME EVERYTHING!”
Jimin lets himself giggle, all sadness forgotten and replaced with giddiness.
“This guy just came into the bakery and asked for a custom cake and, Tae, he was so gorgeous. Like, celebrity gorgeous. And we flirted a bit and he asked me out.”
“You’re biting your lip right now, I can literally hear it in your voice,” Taehyung bursts. “Park Jimin, you little minx!”
All anxiety oozes out of Jimin and he lets himself finally relax. He feels good-- he feels confident. He feels excited.
“What’s his name? What does he do for work? Does he have a criminal record?”
Jimin rolls his eyes, he sets his cell down on the table and puts it on speaker phone. He notices that Jungkook did take the turnovers out of the oven, leaving them to cool down on a spare rack.
He begins plating them for the case out front. “His name is Jin, I don’t know what he does for work, and dear God I hope he doesn’t.”
Taehyung’s voice is full of disbelief, “You don’t even know what he does for work? What did you guys even talk about?”
“He was buying a cake, Tae, we talked about cake.”
“Yeah, I sure bet you did.”
Jimin doesn’t even have to be in the same room with his friend to know when there is an evil grin spreading over his face.
Before Taehyung has another chance to pull an even dirtier comment out of his back pocket, Jimin reprimands, “Take a breath, my love. Jin was very polite and respectable." He begins to clear the dirty dishes out of the way and into the sink. “That musician guy you wanted to set me up with is probably just as crass as you are, on the other hand.”
“You know what’s even crazier?” Taehyung asks, ignoring Jimin's dig. “My guy is named Jin, too.”
“What?” Jimin quips, stopping in his tracks. “Is he really?”
“Well, it’s Seokjin, actually. So no, but kind of? Close enough, if you ask me.”
Jimin's eyes nearly roll back in his head and he croaks out a chuckle. “Was it Jee Seokjin?” he jokes.
“Yeah,” Tae responds, voice completely flat “I was setting you up with 57 year old Running Man star, Jee Seokjin.”
Jimin erupts into laughter-- he’d really missed talking to his friend. Jimin had been avoiding the other for a while because of the blind date, but this was good for them. He didn’t know anyone else in the world who could outmatch Tae’s dry humor.
Taehyung giggles too, obviously still giddy over the situation at hand. “I’m kidding. And there’s no way my Seokjin hyung would go out to a bakery on his own, he’d send his assistant instead.”
A thought nags in the back of Jimin’s head, but he refuses to allow it any further space. There is just simply no way. His Jin was not a musician, just a regular guy. A regular guy with an assistant who does things for him! Many people have assistants, not just musicians. He takes a clean rag from the storage shelf and begins wiping down the table, cleaning all of the flour and pastry remnants from its surface.
Taehyung continues, “Plus, and I guess I can tell you this now without fear of you killing me, but Seokjin hyung is actually an idol, not a musician.”
Silence.
And then--
“YOU WERE GOING TO SET ME UP WITH AN IDOL?” Jimin barks. He grabs his phone again, taking it off speaker and putting it up to his ear to lay into Taehyung.
The line is dead quiet. Jimin has no patience.
“Kim Taehyung, you answer me right now and tell me which idol he is.”
A pause.
A small sniffle.
“I don’t like when you use your angry voice on me, Jiminie,” Tae fake pouts on the other line.
“Ugh, Kim Taehyung, you lied to me!” Though stern sounding, he’s not actually that angry at Taehyung. Sometimes the boy just needs a bit of sense knocked into him.
“Kim Seokjin,” Tae whispers.
“KIM SEOKJIN?”
“Okay okay, let’s stop the yelling,” Tae scolds.
“Taehyung, WHY would you set me up with one of Korea’s most beloved singers?” Jimin simply can’t believe this.
“How in the world would you even know that?” the other boy says in utter disbelief, “You aren’t even on instagram, how do you know him?”
Jimin retorts, “I don’t know his face or his music, fine, but I’ve definitely heard the name or something.” He starts to feel a little embarrassed at his lack of pop culture knowledge. “Jungkook sometimes reads the Twitter trending topics to me like they’re the newspaper, so I must have heard his name from there. He’s with Bad Hot Music, or whatever?”
“I’m obsessed with you,” Taehyung says, completely serious, an endeared lilt to his voice. “My little grandpa soulmate, you’re so cute. It’s Big Hit, but you were so close.”
Jimin huffs in annoyance.
“But be honest! Would you have ever gone on a date with him if I had told you the truth?” Taehyung prods.
Now it’s Jimin’s turn to go silent.
“EXACTLY!” Taehyung bellows. “I don’t like the idea of you losing out on your chance at love because you’re judgmental of the other man’s career.”
Jimin scoffs, “I’m not being judgmental, I just don’t want to be involved with a celebrity!”
“But you’re involved with me,” the pout returns to his voice.
“Taehyung, you’re my friend, not my boyfriend. The press goes crazy for boyfriends.” Jimin reminds him, having witnessed his friend dragged through hell and back over baseless dating rumors a few years ago. He could never handle being a participant in one of those scandals.
“I understand your hesitation,” Tae says gently, “but I really did think you and Seokjin hyung would be a good fit. That’s the only reason I lied… I’m sorry and I love you,” he tags at the end.
Jimin sighs and reassures Taehyung that he knows and understands. “I love you and appreciate you. I have to go now, though, before Jungkook gets into another surprise wrestling match with a customer.”
Tae chuckles, “I certainly wouldn’t mind wrestling that guy--”
“ENOUGH!” Jimin shouts, hanging up immediately.
He puts his head on the clean table, inhaling deeply. He lets the smell of fresh dough surge through his nose and calm him down. He counts in for 4 seconds, holds it, breathes out for 4, and holds it. After a few minutes of this breathing rotation, he can feel his heart rate slow to normal once more.
/I can’t believe he wanted to set me up with someone that famous,/ he thinks. Maybe it was for the best that Kim Seokjin had canceled their date-- Jimin surely would have looked like an idiot when he didn’t immediately recognize the guy. He’d never be able to live that down.
He grabs the neatly arranged tray of strawberry turnovers and leaves the kitchen.
Jimin sees Jungkook finishing up a sale and bows to the elderly woman carting away a fresh loaf of milk bread.
Once alone, the younger says, “How’d he take it?”
“Good,” Jimin responds, crouching down to rearrange the labels in the display, “the other guy canceled on me first, actually.”
A gasp, “No way!”
“Yeah, it’s fine, though, obviously.” He grins. “I’ll be going on a date with Jin-ssi instead.”
“I still feel like I recognize his face from somewhere, though,” Jungkook pushes, teeth fiddling with his lip ring. It was a habit of his when deep in thought.
Jimin stands up, giving his back a quick stretch.
“I don’t know how to help you, Kookie. I’ve never seen him here before, but he said he was a big fan of our bakery, so that’s probably it.”
Jungkook doesn’t look convinced, but he drops the topic.
“Oh, here’s his card by the way.” Without looking at it, he hands Jimin the business card Jin had left for him. “Don’t wanna lose that! Go text your boy,” Jungkook says with a wink in Jimin’s direction.
Jimin giggles a bit and grabs the card. One side is completely blank-- usually the sign of a man with a big, important job, if he only needs one side to advertise himself.
He flips it over and sees--
Kim Seokjin
Big Hit Music
Jimin drops it to the floor.
“No. Fucking. Way.”