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❄ -10- ❄
A branch of mistletoe: a Vmin Christmas story
When Kim Taehyung was still in primary school and his parents announced they were going to move to the other side of the country things didn’t seem so bright.
Starting in a new place halfway the current scholar year wasn’t either and during the first two weeks of spring, Taehyung was the new kid who spoke with no one and that was too scared to even talk to his own teachers. Often, he would sit alone in the classroom during the breaks where all he could do was reading manga and wishing for time to pass faster. Most of his days elapsed like that.
Until the day Park Jimin sat in front of him after the first period while they were still in recess.
“What are you reading?” He asked.
Jimin was one of those children who always had a reason to be happy.
Taehyung felt a little restrained in front of him because he thought there was nothing special he could tell to someone like Park Jimin.
He shrugged and extended the current number of One Piece he had brought to school.
“You don’t speak much.” The boy puffed his cheeks and then looked at the volume on his hands. “I like this one! My brother and I read it always… although he hasn’t returned the last one he borrowed… uh.” Jimin scratched his scalp. “Do you have any siblings?”
“A brother… and two sisters…” Taehyung replied in a barely audible tone. He couldn’t look at Jimin in the eyes.
He liked his old house, he didn’t like the new things and he especially hated to be in a new school. He used to have friends, teachers that adored him and he just wanted to be at home…
The boy’s eyes became watery and even if he didn’t want to cry in front of that boy with the cheerful smile and cute little eyes that turned into crescents every time he laughed, Taehyung burst into tears just by the single memory.
“Ah! Why are you crying? No… please don’t cry…” Jimin didn’t know what exactly to do to comfort him.
Hugs always work so he held him tightly into a hug until the crying boy wetted the sleeve of his shirt completely. When Taehyung stopped sobbing, Jimin patted his back and tried again.
“I-I... m-miss…my…” Taehyung stammered still holding Jimin’s arm.
“It’s okay… it’s okay… I get it. I moved here last year and I felt the same. I still miss my home in Busan.”
The little boy’s eyes twinkled; even looking puffy and reddened there was a spark on them.
“R-really? He looked directly at Jimin’s face.
The boy nodded and smiled in a way that made Taehyung feel warm inside.
“Yes. Don’t worry; I’ll be your friend... I’m Jimin by the way.” He offered his free hand to be shaken as if they were in a business meeting.
“I’m Taehyung.” He grabbed the boy’s hand and shook it energetically.
That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
As the seasons changed and the years passed, Jimin learnt that that little bundle of joy that was Kim Taehyung was actually a chatterbox. He talked so much he was often misunderstood and whenever there was a word no one else could decipher, Jimin came to translate it right away.
In high-school, they were the dynamic duo. If Jimin was there, so was Taehyung and vice versa. They were practically glued to each other 24/7, both of them were teachers’ worse nightmare during studying hours where it was primordial to keep it quiet, got scolded five out four times for being too loud and laughing too much. Both were also the major pranksters that got away with any new ingenious idea they came with, with that, one hundred and more anecdotes were created and frequently told over and over again for those acquaintances that happened to be close with the pair.
After miraculously graduating from high-school even under the headmaster’s threatens and Jimin taking his Physics exam for the fourth time, both of them headed to the next step: college. Of course, the college welcomed them even better than middle school, they were those two friends who everyone loved to have around, for their contagious energy when they were together, for their mood-making labor or just because they had a friendship that was worth to envy. They were the definition of the friendship-goals-expectations.
But there was just one thing none of them could find and that was love.
After all those years, besides some random encounters in arranged dates, diverse hookups with I’m-not-looking-for-something-serious and one night stands… things weren’t precisely in the best place in the romantic field. According to Taehyung, Cupid had decided to turn a blind eye for them.
Nevertheless, none of them was willing to give up just yet.
That’s why when a common friend offered to set up a double blind date, both of them agreed instantly.
However, as usual, they always found a way to blow those things.
“…and then…” Jimin couldn’t keep telling the story because he was already half laughing and hitting Taehyung on the shoulder. “I’m sorry… then he just went straight to the owner of the dog and asked if he would take a $20 bill as part of the payment.” He cracked and burst into laughter while holding his tummy.
“First of all…” Taehyung looked at their dates. “That was like… five years ago? And secondly, it was an adorable puppy with the fluffiest hair and…” He stared at his friend’s eyes, he was still in the middle of an intense cackling. As multiple times before, he couldn’t help but fall too and start laughing at loud.
The people across the table exchanged a puzzled look.
The initial chit-chat had passed long ago from a «How long have you known each other?» to an exclusive conversation between two longtime friends that knew every inside joke, little gesture and look of complicity. Their respective dates didn’t have time to say a word because every empty space one of them left, the other filled it perfectly.
“What are you guys drinking?” One of the dates asked, desperately after the fifth story in the past hour.
“Hot chocolate with a lot of whipped cream.” Taehyung beamed and bash his lashes.
“We’ll get some more then…” Jimin’s date also stood up and followed the other person across the room.
When they were left alone, Taehyung and Jimin exchanged notes.
“They’re nice… Hoseok was right. I have a good feeling about them.” The chestnut haired boy elbowed his friend.
“You think? I’m still not sure about it.” Jimin sighed. “This is the third time he tries to arrange a date for us but… it just… it doesn’t feel right.”
“Well… it’s never going to if you keep that attitude. Cheer up, we’re just having fun if at the end you still don’t feel comfortable we say good-bye at the door and see you never again.”
“That’s actually very mean, Tae.” Jimin couldn’t hide his small smirk.
“Hey, there’s a reason why we go on double dates… I’m your wingman but also your excuse if you don’t like someone. That’s the deal; I know you’d do the same for me.”
“Sorry, it’s just… I keep wondering how many others I’m going to date until I find the One.” Jimin drank what was left on his cocoa cup.
“The One as… the one with a capital «O»? Like the «O» in Oceania or the «o» in onomatopoeia?” Taehyung mouthed exaggeratedly making the boy next to him smile broadly.
“Like the «O» in Oceania. Yes. That One.”
Jimin tried to be positive, sometimes first appearances could be mistaken and misinterpreted. Perhaps he hadn’t seen enough of his date yet to judge it properly, perhaps…
He looked out the window and saw, both of their dates leaving together in the opposite direction of the café.
Forget it.
He frowned. “They left.”
“What?” Taehyung asked with his mouth full of a ginger cookie. “What do you mean?”
“Our dates just left, they went through the front door and walked away.”
“Maybe they went to smoke.”
Jimin rolled his eyes. “They are gone. C’mon, let’s pay for this and go back home.” He was beyond tired at that point.
It was a cold evening, there were still a few days before Christmas but the streets were full of decorations and carols playing on the streets. In one particular group Taehyung had liked, he approached and left a generous tip followed by a «merry Christmas». Jimin was still sulky after their failed date but Taehyung, who always found the bright side of everything, was enjoying to the maximum.
“Chim… don’t be grumpy.”
“I’m not grumpy… I’m furious with them… with Hoseok for sucking as matchmaker and… in general.”
“You know what we should do? Why don’t we buy a couple of bottles of wine and forget about it?”
“You don’t even drink wine.”
“But I know you like it and what kind of friend would I be if I let drown your sorrows in alcohol by your own?”
Jimin had never said no to Taehyung, not even when he had the stupid idea of that date.
He sighed and nodded. “Let’s find some convenience store.”
Taehyung clapped with excitement. “That’s my friend!”
One of the many reasons why Taehyung didn’t drink was because he was light-weighted and after one and a half… not even half, a quarter of the second glass the boy wasn’t able to stop laughing. On the other side Jimin, a habitual drinker was barely tipsy with the sweet red wine they were having.
They were back in their shared room on the campus. Jimin had plastic wine cups saved somewhere in that messy organization they called home. There were piles of clothes in the corners of the small room, Tae was resting on his UK’s flag-themed bean bag chair while his friend was lying on the bed with a cup next to him.
The pink haired boy kept texting all his anger toward Hoseok.
Message to Hoseok: You owe me and Tae a meal… seriously what kind of date leaves in the middle of a conversation? That was rude.
Message from Hoseok: I just spoke with my friends, seriously guys you two don’t have an idea, do you?
Message to Hoseok: What are you talking about?
They didn’t have an idea of what? That was probably just one of Hoseok’s tricks.
“Jimin…” A hiccup. “Tell me… what’s wrong with me?”
“What’s wrong with you? What the hell do you mean?” The boy lifted his gaze from the phone that was still buzzing.
Taehyung hugged a pillow against his chest. “Well… I was thinking about what you’ve said earlier…” He kept dragging words as he spoke. “And… I’ve been thinking about finding the One with the Oceania O… and maybe… I don’t know, maybe there’s something wrong with me.”
“Tae… no. What are you saying? There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“And then… tell me why it’s been so long since I’ve been into a relationship… it’s been eighty-four years…”
Jimin dropped the phone and kneel on the floor right where his friend was sitting.
“Listen to me, Kim Taehyung… you’re a wonderful human being, caring, dedicated and extremely talented. You’re funny without even trying it and… you have a smile that would make crops grow… and I could hear you rambling about dogs and fashion for hours because you’re so passionate about it it’s just… enthralling. Don’t you ever dare to say there’s something wrong with you.”
Jimin’s phone buzzed again and the boy took a look at Hoseok’s last message.
Message from Hoseok: YOU TWO ARE IMPOSSIBLE I SWEAR! You’re in love with Taehyung and it’s mutual! God, you can’t even date other people because you’re so blind!
The pink haired boy stared at his phone screen for a little eternity.
He wasn’t in love with Taehyung, was he?
They were like brothers, they knew everything about each other and…
Taehyung knew his favorite ice cream flavor without even ask, he could walk to his house in reverse and still find it in the dark… he knew when Jimin wanted to cry and what made him laugh, all his dreams and goals and his fears and flaws… Taehyung knew it all.
His hands were shaking when the first tear rolled down his cheek.
“Chim… are you crying?” Taehyung got closer and wiped his tears with his own sleeve. “Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?”
He shook his head.
“Then, what is it? Please don’t cry…” The brown haired boy rubbed his thumb on his cheek trying to disperse all those heavy tears.
A distant memory came back to Jimin’s mind at that moment, a scrawny boy in primary school that used to be quiet and sat alone in the back of the classroom with his volumes of manga and cried a river on his sleeve many years ago…
He burst into laughter after remembering that.
Taehyung went sober right away of seeing Jimin crying, he was still a bit dizzy but he was in all his senses and he was more than confused.
“Remember… when we were sixteen and we fight for the first time?” Jimin asked, covering his mouth to avoid laughing again.
“Of course I do… when that senior invited you to his party because he wanted to get into your pants.”
“And he didn’t invite you because we always stuck together.”
“God, I was so upset. I mean, can you imagine a party without Kim Taehyung?”
“I had told you, you were just jealous because you weren’t invited and we didn’t speak for like… two days.”
“Two and a half.”
“But then… it was late at night and he did what you’ve told me he was going to try and… when I called you, you picked after the first ring. It didn’t matter what an asshole I had been with you… you just dropped everything and came to pick me up from that awful party.”
“I stole my dad’s car to pick you up, I didn’t have a license and I was grounded for two months.”
Jimin beamed. “And… remember when I didn’t get accepted into my first college option?”
“You wouldn’t leave your room for a week.”
“And you came with a big bag of junk food, three bottles of Coca-Cola and a pile of video games to cheer me up.”
“I told you there was nothing to worry about it and then the following week we were in the same university.”
“The thing is… Tae… every time I look back.” Jimin played with a loose string of his sweater. “All I see is you… you were always there, Taehyung.”
“And I’ll always be.”
Jimin shook his head. “I don’t know after tonight. You may go if I tell you what I just realized.”
“Ok, but… Now I know I get to be the distracted one but I’m confused. What are you saying right now?”
“The reason why I keep failing at these stupid blind dates, the reason why I can’t find the Oceania One is because… I love you, Taehyung. I’ve always had.”
Jimin’s heart kept beating non-stop when he lifted his gaze.
Taehyung’s mouth fell open.
“I knew this was a crazy and silly idea and… perhaps it was just one of Hoseok’s occurrences… but I know what I feel. I love you, Kim Taehyung and I was too blind to notice before.”
“I-I…” Taehyung hadn’t stammered in more than a decade. He was truly speechless.
“You don’t have to say anything. I understand.” Jimin managed to curve his lips into a tiny smile. “We can pretend this never happened tomorrow. It doesn’t have to be awkward because I can’t lose you… you’re still my best friend but… if you think you need some space… I’ll go to take a walk.”
He didn’t even turn back to pick a bigger coat. He needed to get out of that room. As he left, he could hear Taehyung calling his name but Jimin wasn’t returning, at least not now. They had a few days off, he could always go to his parent’s house for the break and then, luckily, Tae would forgive him for his impulsiveness
It was cold outside and he cursed in a mumbling for not bringing that coat. The hallways of the campus were empty and just a few Christmas lights were hanging on the residence’s hall.
A breathless Kim Taehyung jumped the stairs with great strides.
Jimin’s heart stopped.
“Ya! Ya! Are you deaf? Can’t you hear me calling for you from the other side of the dorm? I’m sure I’ve awakened everyone at this point!”
Taehyung walked a bit more until he was in front of him. He extended one of Jimin’s coats and the pink haired boy took it avoiding visual contact.
“You’re quiet now? Great because I have something to tell you too and please, look at me.”
Jimin reluctantly lifted his gaze as the boy had asked.
Taehyung wrapped his hands around Jimin’s, the difference had always been fun for them but now Jimin’s were cold as snow when Taehyung’s were as warm as a hearth.
“Sixteen years ago when I moved here and I knew no one I was a brat that cried all day… and since that day you haven’t left my side no matter how bratty I was or how tired you were. You said you just realized but it was something I knew long ago and… I’m sorry I kept it for myself but I was a coward… I was scared of losing you and to be honest, I’m not sure I could survive a day without hearing you laughing. I love you, Jimin. You’re my One with Oceania’s «O».”
Taehyung’s hands were trembling.
“God, this is the reason why I don’t drink…” The boy laughed and so did Jimin.
They kept laughing so much even threw their heads back.
Hanging on the ceiling there was a single branch of mistletoe laced up with a red ribbon.
Both of them look at each other in the eyes.
& that was the starting of something new.