Chapter Text
Jimin is sick of being alone. Honestly, he was really tired of being all by himself. It’s been ten months since he moved to Seoul. He knows that moving to a new city brings loneliness with it, but this was too much.
Actually, Jimin had always been a social butterfly. Back in Busan, he could barely keep up with his friends. Everyone wanted to spend time with him, and he tried his best to make time for all of them. But here, he didn’t have a single friend. Worse yet, it was impossible to reach his old ones.
By the tenth month of slowly losing his mind to loneliness, the thoughts crossing his mind were no longer the kind you could call sane. People avoided him for no reason, and after exchanging just a few words, they backed away with awkward smiles, almost as if they somehow sensed he was dragging some kind of trouble behind him. Jimin was exhausted by it. Truly exhausted.
So when he reached the twelfth month of his solitude, those ridiculous thoughts stopped sounding so ridiculous. And by the thirteenth month, he already had a brilliant plan. If people ran away from Jimin without even getting to know him, then Jimin would simply kidnap one of them and show them just how wonderful he really was.
Jimin usually worked around Eulji-ro. People coming out of the Compose Coffee across the street or visitors in the small park behind him made up most of his customers. Sometimes he went near Gyeongbokgung Palace to draw portraits of tourists.
The plan was simple. He brought his van right next to the park and prepared his materials. To avoid drawing suspicion, he placed his art supplies in his usual corner, but behind his paints, he hid a cloth and a bottle of ether. He didn’t have anything else anyway. He hadn’t quite decided who to kidnap yet, but he was waiting for someone who looked just as worn down by loneliness as he was.
Let him wait. Yoongi, on the other hand, was about to lose his mind from the pounding in his head. As if that weren’t enough, he was nauseous too, and the car ride definitely wasn’t helping. When they passed near Eulji-ro, he told his driver to stop and had him park near the park. After sending his bodyguard to a pharmacy to buy him medicine and sending his driver to get coffee, he stepped into the park himself to get some fresh air.
Even on a normal day, Yoongi was someone who radiated stay away from me energy. People found him a little intimidating. His pale skin, expressionless eyes, and jet-black hair made others feel like he was dangerous—he’d even overheard small children whispering that he might be a vampire. But today, people would do well to stay at least ten meters away from him. The look on his face alone made that clear.
After a short walk beneath the trees, the dizziness joined in with the nausea, and he let himself collapse onto one of the benches. He felt so awful that he didn’t even care how dangerous it might be to sit there alone. Besides, in the middle of a park, in broad daylight, nothing could really happen to him.
Or at least, that’s what Yoongi thought.
Jimin had been watching Yoongi ever since he stepped into the park. He was alone, he looked miserable, and it was obvious he wasn’t feeling well. Without sparing a thought for his own condition, Jimin decided, impatiently, even that this man must be suffering from the same loneliness he was. This had to be the “friend” he’d been looking for.
Yoongi had sprawled across the bench, head tilted back, eyes closed. His brain felt too big for his skull, as if it were trying to spill out through his eyes, nose, and ears.
“Sir,” someone called out to him. He had no desire to open his eyes, so he simply ignored the sweet voice. But when the voice came closer, he had no choice but to crack his eyes open. “Are you okay?”
Yoongi wasn’t much of a talker. He usually opened his mouth only to give orders, scold someone, or issue a threat. So it would be wrong to claim he had strong social skills.
Without taking his eyes off the sky, he said the one thing that would send the man away—at least, so he thought.
“Get lost.”
Yoongi’s tone might have been threatening, but Jimin didn’t listen. Hiding the ether-soaked cloth behind his back, he stepped right up to Yoongi without hesitation and rested a hand on his forehead.
“Are you sick?”
Reflexively, Yoongi grabbed Jimin’s arm, glaring at the face suddenly in his field of vision with a deadly look. Normally, he had rules about not harming innocent people, but this was a moment where he had absolutely no patience for anything.
When the dizziness finally cleared from his eyes, Yoongi found himself staring up at an incredibly handsome man. Full lips, striking eyes, and an alluring face. His hair fell forward toward Yoongi as he leaned over him.
But before Yoongi had the chance to fully process how beautiful that face was, his vision dimmed- and then went completely black. The last thing he saw was that pretty face he remembered.
***
When Yoongi came back to his senses, he definitely had no idea where he was. He was lying on an uncomfortable couch, and his hands and legs were tied as well as his mouth. Even though he was in a really unfortunate situation, finally his headache was gone.
He calmly checks his surroundings to see where he is or why he is in this situation. It was clear that he had been kidnapped by someone. Probably by one of his enemies. Someone must have been following him, and when he saw that he was alone, they made their move. But why is Yoongi lying on a couch, not being tied to a chair? Also, this seems like a camping van, not a basement or warehouse or something like that. Van seems like someone is living in there.
He checked the ropes; they seemed that he could solve them easily, they were not that tight to hold him still. Since he hates the taste of the fabric in his mouth, he shakes his head and frees his mouth easily from the fabric.
He breathed deeply for some seconds; his hands were tied in front, which was a really amateur move. None of his enemies could be that stupid or collaborate with that many amateur ones. It was apparently someone else's plan. Who? He didn't know it. Yet.
Yoongi straightened up and reached his foot to untie himself. In the meantime, the door was opened, and Jimin entered the van. "Oh," he said when he saw that Yoongi was awake and already started to untie himself. "You're awake?"
Yoongi turned his head to him and saw that the man in the park was there. Clearly, this pretty man was the one who had kidnapped him, and he was as stupid as he was pretty. He was smiling sweetly at Yoongi, completely unaware of the trouble he had just gotten himself into. Instead of hurrying to knock him out, he calmly set the bags in his hands down on the counter.
“You look better now.”
After placing the packages on the counter, he slowly walked toward Yoongi. “When you didn’t wake up, I thought I’d given you too much medicine and got worried. I’m glad you’re okay now. Apparently, you just needed a good sleep.” Jimin knelt down in front of Yoongi and started helping him untie the ropes.
Not gonna lie, Yoongi was a little surprised. He already knew the guy was an amateur, but he definitely hadn’t expected him to just set him free. This man knew absolutely nothing about kidnapping.
“Who the fuck are you?” As soon as his hands were free, Yoongi immediately untied his feet and stood up.
“I’m sorry I was so rude that I didn’t even introduce myself properly,” Jimin said.
“Are you a lunatic or something?” Yoongi muttered. His wrists didn’t really hurt, but he massaged them anyway.
Jimin rolled his eyes. “I’m Park Jimin. I’m an artist.” He put his hand on his waist.
“Who do you work for?” Yoongi asked sharply.
“I work for myself,” Jimin replied with a shrug. "I work in Eulji-ro's corner."
"Are you a street dealer?" Yoongi asked. You didn't need to be a genius to understand the disappointment in his voice. The Min Yoongi had been kidnapped by a ridiculously stupid candy man. Fortunately, he is extremely beautiful, but that didn’t change the fact that he was an idiot.
Jimin's eyebrows are furrowed. "I'm not a drug dealer. I told you, I'm an artist. A painter."
"If so, why the hell did you kidnap me, dumbass?"
"Excuse me?"
"I hope your art is better than your intelligence." This time, it was Yoongi who rolled his eyes.
"You’re so rude. You haven’t even introduced yourself, but you’ve already sworn at me more than a million times."
"You kiddnapped me and I am the rude one? Excuse me, I'm the victim here."
"I'm sorry for kidnapping you…?" Jimin said, sounding genuinely unsure.
"Yoongi." He didn’t even know why he told him his real name. Why the hell had he given his first name of all things? He could’ve just given his family name. The family name, but no, he shared his first name with him.
"I'm sorry for kidnapping you, Yoongi."
"Are you a joke or something?" Yoongi asked.
“I’m pretty sure I’m not a joke.” He nodded, continuing to speak as if he completely understood why Yoongi looked confused. “You must get confused a lot, since your kidnapper is so polite and the cutest.”
“I think you’re the confused one. Why did you kidnap me?” He paused for a moment, then added, “And more importantly, how dare you kidnap me? Do you know who I am?”
“Actually, no. You just seemed lonely to me, so I decided we could be friends.”
“Friends?” Yoongi rubbed his forehead. “Are you fucking kidding me? Who do you work for?”
“Do you ever listen? I’m an artist. I work for myself.”
“Cut the crap. Your boss must be even more of an idiot than you are to put you on this job.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re just a dumbass. If you were going to untie me anyway, why did you tie me up in the first place?”
“So you wouldn’t run away if you woke up while I was gone.” Jimin lifted his brows as if saying So, who’s the stupid one now?
“Then why did you untie me?”
“Are you making fun of me?” Jimin frowned his eyes with disbelief. He thought Yoongi was making fun of him or just trying to annoy him.
“Are you making fun of me?” Yoongi said. He was actually starting to think that he was being made fun of.
“I’m trying to explain myself fully here.” Jimin crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. He was trying to look serious so Yoongi could understand him properly.
“And I’m literally asking you a serious question.” Yoongi copied Jimin and crossed his arms, too.
“Since I’m here now, you can’t escape,” Jimin said if he is revealing something that everybody knows.
“And what makes you think I can’t escape just because you’re standing here?” Ironically, Yoongi wanted the laugh, but he is not a laugher type of man. Yoongi gave him a slow once-over, weighing him. “I could kill you easily and walk right out.”
“Kill me?” Jimin looked shocked. “Don’t talk nonsense. Are you really going to kill me just because I kidnapped you?” He couldn’t believe what Yoongi said to him.
“It sounded like a perfectly valid reason.”
“I’m sorry to hear you think that way.” Jimin pursed his lips. He actually looked genuinely apologetic. “I just thought you were a nice person.”
“A nice person?” Yoongi almost scoffed. “And why exactly did you think that?”
“Because you seem lonely and overwhelmed.”
“And you think that you can kidnap me to be friends with me?” Yoongi seems to be having fun. “You really think that I'm an idiot to believe this?”
“Why don’t you believe?” Jimin asks. He seems offended by Yoongi’s words.
“Why should I believe that?”
He put his pursed lips, puppy eyes on his face. “Because I’m lonely. I need a friend.”
"You are lonely?" Yoongi couldn't believe his own words. Jimin seemed like a guy everyone would get in line for. He was angelic, with a pretty face and a heavenly voice. Yoongi wanted to laugh at the statement; Jimin was definitely bluffing. He couldn't be a guy who would have ever been lonely. Now Yoongi might not be very social, but he knows, he understands what people really search for. Jimin was the exact kind of person people would love.
And a cherry on top, Jimin was cute. No one can deny loving a cute person. "I don't believe you. A cute person like you can't be lonely."
“Don’t you believe it?” Jimin is suddenly excited. He knows he is cute. Yoongi understood it already, but hearing an approval, he looked literally blooming. “I don’t know why, but no one here likes me.”
“I’m curious why.” He rolled his eyes, but when he checked Jimin’s face, he saw that he had almost cried. His face is swollen, and he bites his lips. “Fuck, why are you crying right now? I’m the victim here, not you.”
“You are not a victim. Don’t call yourself that.” His tears rolled down his cheek, and Yoongi couldn’t believe what was happening in that moment.
“I said, don’t cry. Why are you crying?” He asked genuinely.
“You don’t understand, don’t you? I’m fucking lonely here. I hate to be here, but I can’t turn back.”
“Then go. Why don’t you go?”
“I can’t tell you.” Jimin cleanses his tears and looks anywhere except Yoongi and in some way, he looks sadder.
Yoongi isn't a type of caring person. He just does not care about others' situations, not an emotional or empathetic type. It is not only about the "I'm a bad guy" situation, but it is just his personality.
However, he wanted to understand what kind of situation this maniac was in. If he was so unhappy in this city, why didn't he just move out rather than kidnap someone to become a friend? Also, kidnapping someone just to be friends is what level of insanity?
Yoongi was sure that he was a lunatic. A cute lunatic. Yeah, lunatic but also cute one.
Jimin chose to ignore Yoongi's questions. He didn't want to ruin his only chance at friendship by bringing up the trouble he was following him to this man's attention. Yes, he still held out hope that he and Yoongi could be friends; after what they'd done, he truly believed it was possible.
When Yoongi realizes that Jimin doesn't answer his question, he asks him another question.
"Why are you so lonely then?"
"It's hard to believe that, isn't it?" Jimin wiped his face again. "I want to learn that too. People always run away from me, and I don't know why. Don't think that I'm a weirdo but-"
"It's too late for that," Yoongi murmured and cut Jimin's monologue for a sec. But Jimin doesn't care about it and continues his speech; however, he doesn't hold himself back to rolling his eyes.
"When I was in Busan, it was not like that. I have a lot of friends, and everybody wanted to spend their time with me. They were adoring me, to be honest. But since I moved here, no one has approached me. They won't even talk to me properly. How can I make friends if no one talks to me?"
“Interesting,” Yoongi said. “You're actually a pretty man.”
"Don't I? But I don't know why they don't even talk to me?"
"When you say no one, do you really mean no one?"
"No one." Jimin shook his head back and forth as if to emphasize his point. "It's weird, isn't it? It's like they see something bad in me."
"It's maybe about your appearance."
Jimin really seems curious. "But why? I'm quite handsome. Also cute. Also pretty."
“Don’t gonna lie, you are,” Yoongi admitted without hesitation.
“Do I?”
"Yeah, if I saw you outside, I'd think a lot of people were after you."
"Right? But it's in the perfect life. In this life, I'm completely alone. Since I moved here, it's been more than a year, and you are the only person I talk to this much. I'm in that much miserable situation."
Yoongi didn't want to admit it, but he's having fun. Jimin is cute and dumb, and makes Yoongi talk. Generally, Yoongi is not a talkative type, as I said before.
"Are the people of Seoul weird, or am I the weird one?"
"Let's be on the same page, you are weird." Jimin frowned, but Yoongi ignored it and continued. "But people are weird, too. If it's any consolation, let me tell you that people are also scared of me, too." And they have the right to be scared of Yoongi.
"You?" Jimin shocked. Forget his miserable situation and focus on Yoongi's. He couldn't believe that. He seems like a nice person. Why the hell do people scare of him? He looks like a cat. "Nobody can hate you or be afraid of you. You are a cutie pie."
Yoongi thought he was going to choke on his own saliva. Cutie pie? Yoongi? Nobody except Jimin can mention his name with those words. Cutie pie? Yoongi remains speechless. This boy's judgment material is broken. Definitely. If Yoongi wasn't sure about that yet, he is completely sure about it now.
“If you did know me well, no way you would say that to me.”
"I mean, that's what I try to say. I'm going to know you very well, and I'm gonna say "cutie pie" to you anyway."
"I don't recommend you say that to me." He hates to admit that, but hearing this from a completely stranger and cute man, Yoongi liked it. He hates it, but he likes it too. It's a really weird situation. "At least in front of other people around."
"Why not?" Jimin pursed his lips. He's not realizing that he is acting to him like he is a teddy bear, yet.
But Yoongi doesn’t care at all. On the contrary, he kind of likes it. Even in his childhood, no one dared to talk to him like that. As the heir of the Min empire, everybody acts like he is a grown-up man; he is never an actual child, and eventually, when he was in his mid-thirties, he became a teddy bear for a dumb. A dumb person who is extremely beautiful.
Yeah, Yoongi won’t deny how beautiful he is. There is no regret to say or realize that? This man never creates any danger for himself. What could he have done to threaten him? Killing him with his cuteness. Yoongi couldn’t know that in that moment, but Park Jimin, this beautiful creator, can start a war. A real, brutal, modern-times kind of war.
“You’ll see. I can’t tell you everything now. You need to live and see by yourself.”
“Does it mean that you are not leaving me?”
“Why the hell do I leave you?”
“Don’t you forget that I kidnapped you, silly?”
Jimin giggled, which sounded like heaven to Yoongi. Yoongi doesn’t believe in heaven, yet it sounds like it. Yoongi only believes in hell because he created it for mankind by himself in the current world. If heaven could be real, if there is any chance of it being real, he knows that he already doesn’t go anywhere near it. Apparently, Jimin’s giggle was the only thing he got from there, and also, apparently, that was enough for Yoongi.
“Oh, about that,” Yoongi murmured and averted his eyes from Jimin’s. “Let's forget that you’re a kidnapper.”
“Fine by me,” Jimin said, literally blooming. “As I said before, I’m an artist anyway.”
***