A contemplative silence was reigning in your bedroom. You and Jae were side by side, not speaking, just thinking.

You stared up at the ceiling blankly and sighed. Laying limply beside you, Jae echoed the noise.

"What are we doing?" she mumbled.

You couldn't answer her.

Since yesterday, you hadn't talked to one of the boys. The anger between you and Jimin had dissipated, but a uneasy and awkward tension still kept the two of you apart.

Because of Hani's presence, you had decided that a sleepover wasn't the best idea and sent everyone home. Enough drama had happened last night; you didn't need Hani to kill you in your sleep to add to it.

Jae also had been through the wringer at the so called 'party'.

Jungkook hadn't been able to look at her after they came out of the closet.

When the bottle had landed on the maknae, you remembered visibly seeing Jae deflate in disappointment. Her reluctance had been obvious. But after they emerged, there was a completely different feeling to the air; it was charged and tensed, similar to the air between you and Jimin. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, but he wouldn't look at her.

Jae hadn't told you what happened, and you didn't want to ask.

"I'm so stupid," you whispered to her. "Why couldn't I have been happy with how things were?"

Jae snorted and turned over to face you. "He's so stupid too," she said. "It isn't all you. You're both idiots."

"Thanks," you replied dryly.

For a moment, the two of you returned to that busy silence.

"Jungkook-" you started, but Jae cut you off.

"Don't," she said. "I don't even want to think about that, it was so embarrassing. He wouldn't even make eye contact."

"He's stupid, too," you chuckled, mirroring Jae's position so you were facing each other.

"Will you ever tell Jimin?" Jae asked seriously. "That you love him, I'm mean."

Gulping hard, you thought about her question. When you were playing that game, you were sure that your feelings had been there in your eyes for him to see. Except, he didn't see them.

"What's the point?" you snorted. "He's with Hani, and he thinks it's all because of this whole hybrid thing that we're attracted to eachother in the first place. It would just make things worse."

"Or better," your cousin suggested. "What if he feels the same way but thinks that you don't? And he's using Hani as a buffer between the two of you?"

You shook your head in denial of the idea. Jimin had told you repeatedly: he fully believed that Hani was the one for him. It didn't seem fake to you, not at all.

"I doubt that," you told her.

Jae huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

"You should still tell him," she grumbled.

Your phone rang.

Sighing, you grabbed it without looking at the caller ID and lifted it to your ear.

"Hello?"

"...Y/N?"

You sat up in shock, grabbing Jae's arm. She jumped and covered your hand with her own.

"What?! Who is it?" she hissed.

"Yes, Jimin?" you said carefully, looking at your cousin with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just...I think I need your help," said his tenor voice, sounding tentative.

Jae shook her head.

"You don't have anyone else to call?" you asked quietly.

"Everyone else is busy," Jimin mumbled. "I've already tried."

"Not even Hani?" You tried to keep the jealousy out of your voice and held Jae's hand for support.

"She can't help me with this. I don't want her to see my ears," he told you.

You frowned, exchanging a confused glance with Jae as she tried to gauge the situation.

"What exactly do you need help with?" you said.

He cleared his threat. "I, um, need some help...washing my hair."

"Excuse me?" you choked.

"I can't do it by myself, Y/N," he murmured. "I don't like to get my ears wet, and I need help."

"How have you been washing your hair all of this time?!" you said in shock.

"Jungkookie or Taehyungie usually come help me," he sighed. "But they're busy. Please, I just...I know you don't want to, but I really need help."

"You should say yes," Jae whispered into your other ear.

Hesitating, you finally breathed into the phone, "Fine. I'll be there in a second." You hung up on him.

Jae grabbed your bicep and shook you. "This is your chance, Y/N! Just confess once and for all."

"Once and for all," you parroted. "Right."

"He could feel the same way," Jae encouraged.

"And if he doesn't?" That was your worst fear; confessing and being rejected and, due to that, separated from Jimin for the rest of your lives.

The though terrified you.

"You'll know, then," Jae said. The tone of her voice calmed you down a little and you nodded.

"Okay," you whispered. "I can do this."

*

Your hands shook a little as you rang the doorbell to Jimin's house.

It was an awkward motion: you'd never had to use the doorbell before, you'd always jut walked inside.

He answered its almost immediately, opening the door as if he had been waiting a step away from you to get there.

Or maybe it was just your wishful thinking.

The worst part about it was that he didn't have a shirt on, only dressed in sweatpants with a towel resting around his neck. He gave you a sheepish smile when he answered the door.

You gulped.

You can do this, Y/N.

"Hi," you said.

"Hi," he answered, motioning slightly to invite you inside.

You walked in behind him, observing the once-familiar space that now seemed incredibly new.

"Thank you for helping," Jimin said as he led you up the stairs to the bathroom. You kept quiet and watched the muscles of his back shift as he moved.

You hoped that he wasn't looking for any in-depth conversation; when he was shirtless, your focusing abilities were at a minimum.

In the bathroom, he handed you a large cup and gestured awkwardly toward the sink. There was a small stool in front of it.

"We've tried a couple different ways," he told you, "-but this one seems to be the easiest." There were two plastic zip-lock bags that had rubber bands on the two corners that opened, forming a little pocket-like covering that would fit over his ears and keep them from getting wet. He slid them on, blushing when you giggled a little.

It was strange, how the atmosphere felt almost like how it used to be. Easy, comfortable, and familiar.

Pushing the shampoo bottle your way, Jimin sat on the stool and leaned back so his head and hair rested in the basin of the sink.

You cleared your throat and turned the sink on, cupping your hands so you could bring some of the water up to wet his bangs.

He winced a little and laughed. "It's cold."

"Sorry," you murmured, turning the handle so it pointed toward warm. You soaped up your hands after thoroughly wetting his hair and gently ran your fingers through the damp strands.

Jimin sighed.

You ignored him and also tried to ignore his impressive chest displayed in front of you, emphasized by his arched neck. Your breathing was getting a little funny.

Jimin's hair puffed up in a funny way as you scrubbed it. The soap caught up between the blond strands and doubled the normal volume.

You laughed a little, biting your lip to stop when he looked up at you and said, "What is it?"

"Nothing," you chuckled and pushed his head back down, continuing to scrub. When you finished, you turned the water back on and filled up the cup, rinsing all of the shampoo out. You made sure to get up around the base of his ears, as close as possible without actually touching the fur.

"You're finished," you said softly, drawing away as he sat up and covered his wet hair with the towel. "Did you want to dry it, too?" You were sort of reluctant to leave now that you felt normal again.

Jimin hesitated before nodding and opening up a drawer to reveal a blow dryer.

He sat up on the stool as you removed the plastic bags and blow-dried his hair, sifting your hand through his silky blond mane. He unconsciously leaned back against you, closing his eyes.

He started to purr.

This time you didn't stop, letting his purrs grow louder and louder until they were vibrating your whole body and his hair was dry. The absence of the dryer's noise left a gentle silence in the bathroom.

"Thank you," he whispered. "Muffin."

Muffin.

It was that name that encouraged you, backed by Jae's words from earlier.

Confess, once and for all.

"Before I go, can I talk to you a minute?" you asked him quietly. "It's kind of important."

Your ex-best friend stood with a look of mild surprise on his face. "What's up?"

You took a deep breath and started to speak, but got distracted once again by his muscles.

"Um...first, could you put a shirt on?" You gave him a sheepish smile and he laughed.

"Sure. Wait for me downstairs," Jimin told you. "I'll be down in a minute."

You nodded with a big grin, turning to skip lightheartedly down the stairs. You had been so hesitant before, but now there was hope in your chest that made you giddy.

He called you Muffin again.

You sat on the couch to wait for Jimin to return, humming happily.

Your humming was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.

"Jimin!" you called. "There's someone at the door!" There was no reply from him, so you got up to answer it.

The second you cracked the door open, a body started to push inside, simultaneously talking 90 miles a minute.

"Oppa, I have this really great plan for us today, I found this awesome place an I -"

Hani cut off abruptly when she realized that you weren't Jimin.

"Y/N?" she sneered. "What are you doing here? Where's Jimin oppa?"

"He's upstairs putting a shirt on," you responded thoughtlessly, then slapped a hand over your mouth.

That did not sound good.

"What?!" Hani screeched.

"I didn't mean it like-"

Hani was suddenly on top of you then, pulling on your hair like a psycho while screaming, "You slut! Did you sleep with my boyfriend?!"

"Yah!" you shrieked back, wincing in pain. "I didn't!"

You struggled with her, trying to not hurt her until you could clear up the misunderstanding. She moved her hands to circle around your throat, shocking you.

She squeezed.

Desperate, you gathered all of your strength and landed a solid punch on the edge of the maniac's jaw.

Hani fell off of you and the couch, making a loud thud on the floor as she collapsed. She cried out in pain.

At that moment, Jimin came down the stairs (thankfully with a hat on)'and saw her on the ground with you kneeling tensed on the couch.

"Hani?" he said.

She whimpered and yelled, "Oppa!"

Jimin slowly approached the two of you while taking in the scene.

"What happened?" he asked.

Before you could explain Hani clasped a hand to her jaw and whispered pitifully,"I just came to see you, and she was in here! She said that you slept together and that she was tired of me interfering, and she hit me, oppa!"

"Are you kidding me?" you gritted out. You turned to look at Jimin and shook your head.

"Jimin," you said. "Chim. You know me. I wouldn't ever do that!"

Jimin was speechless, looking between the two of you.

"Oppa," Hani whined.

"Jimin!" you barked.

Jimin flexed his fingers and slowly said, "Hani? Are you okay?" He walked past you and moved toward the crying girl.

"Jimin," you said in disbelief. Your chest hurt like crazy, as if your heart was bursting apart.

He ignored you and crouched beside Hani, holding her chin to look at her jaw.

"Jimin." Your voice was a whisper now, uncertain and weak. "Ask me for my side of the story. Jimin, please."

He stood to face you with resigned anger in his eyes.

"Y/N," he said, "-I think you should go."

"Don't do this," you mumbled.

"Go."

Before your brain could process what was happening, your mouth blurred out, "I think I love you."

Hani scoffed and Jimin stared at you like you were another species.

"Stop playing around, Y/N," he said somberly. "That's not funny."

"Please," you begged, trying to convey all of your sincerity and love through your gaze. Your voice got louder with every word until you were almost shouting. "I'm serious. Jimin, please."

"Please leave."

His tone contradicted yours completely; firm, steady. He knew exactly what he was doing. At his final words, you felt something inside of you pop and bust.

He doesn't love you, stupid. He just picked her over you again; that's the last time, right?

No more.

Your brain and heart both went sort of empty and blank; you couldn't really feel anything at all.

It was almost funny.

"Okay," you murmured in a monotone. "Thank you for your consideration."

Like a zombie, you wandered out the door without another word. You stared blankly ahead of you and just walked, past your house and on down the sidewalk. You didn't know where you were going but you didn't really care, either.

Your worst fears had just become reality. You confessed and got rejected brutally, the left over choice in an ultimatum of love.

Jimin was gone forever, and you were too empty inside to be scared of losing yourself along with him.

❤️