"he's getting expelled," jimin said.

jimin had just made his way out of the deans' office, joon waiting for him outside. the school had been reviewing and deciding how to handle the whole jungkook situation, eventually settling on just expelling him.

"expelled? really?"

jimin nodded.

"yup. they said that homophobia isn't tolerated at their school and that he's getting harassment, bullying, and homophobic behavior marked on his record. jungkook has three days to leave campus."

joon just stared at him, partially shocked.

"...wow," joon said, "that's amazing, jimin. now he won't be able to bother you anymore."

"...yeah."

joon could sense sadness on his face, wondering what was going on.

"what's wrong?"

jimin sighed, letting his cool composure go.

"i just... i don't know. i guess i just feel kind of bad. i just... i didn't think they would actually expel him. i thought maybe give him a warning or tell him to leave me alone... but expelling him? that could like... ruin his life, you know? who knows what college he can get into now. i mean... being expelled from school for homophobia and bullying... that can't look good to other schools."

namjoon nodded, understanding where jimin was coming from.

"i guess i see your point. but... i mean... he did bully you and he was homophobic to you. it's not like you lied or something. you just have to remember why we turned him in in the first place, you know? he's a bad person and now karma's catching up to him. he could have kept harassing you all year... and maybe other people, too. you did the right thing by letting the school know."

jimin sighed, with a nod.

"i guess you're right. i just... i hope he learns something from all this and can get into a new school."

namjoon smiled at how sweet his boyfriend was, quickly leaning in to hug him.

"i'm sure he'll be fine."

-

"i'll miss you," jimin said, pouting a bit.

the two boys had hung out together at jimin's dorm for about an hour. of course namjoon wanted to stay, but he also knew he should go and spend some time with his grandfather. jimin also had a ton of homework that he was procrastinating on, and joon wanted to leave so jimin could have some space to get started on it.

"i'll miss you, too," joon said, leaning in and giving him a kiss.

joon grabbed his jacket from jimin's coat rack and threw his shoes on.

"i'll see you tomorrow."

"okay. bye joon," jimin said, not so excited to spend the rest of the night alone, doing homework.

jimin stayed seated on his couch until he heard the front door to his dorm shut, signaling joon had left.

jimin sat there for a moment, thinking about what homework assignment he was going to start on first, when a great idea popped into his head.

the café.

jimin hated being alone. being at the café would be a much more fun and upbeat environment to do his homework. and he could also treat himself to another hot chocolate since he and namjoon had already gone earlier.

jimin hopped up excitedly, running to his room to change.

although he hated being alone, there was something fun about going out and doing things by himself. it gave him a sense of freedom and reminded him that he was an adult now and could go out and do what he pleased.

jimin looked through his messy closet, deciding on wearing his blue sweater and black jeans. he also picked out a beanie to wear, since it was pretty cold outside and he had to walk all the way to the café.

after he put the outfit on, he headed to fill his bag with all his homework materials, not forgetting his laptop which was plugged into the charger by his bed.

jimin threw on his bag and headed over to his mirror to fix his hair and check out his outfit.

[a/n he has brown hair tho lol]

jimin smiled at himself in the mirror, happy with how the whole look turned out.

jimin had always prided himself on being good looking. he wasn't overly confident or anything, though. he could probably name a hundred people off the top of his head that he thought were far more attractive than him- including joon. he just never really had many self confidence issues. he was always happy and content with his appearance.

jimin checked his hair one last time in the mirror and scanned over his room to make sure he didn't forget anything, before finally heading off to the café.

-

jimin had been working on homework for almost two hours now, feeling tired and frustrated. but, he knew being at the café was helping his motivation- at least a little. there weren't many people still there considering it was a bit late, but there were still some groups of people around him, talking and drinking their hot cups of coffee. jimin was a bit envious of everyone else's drinks. he had decided against getting any hot chocolate, even though it did sound really good.

since it was his first year of college and his mom wanted him to focus on school, his mother supplied him with a budget every month to help with food and other expenses like gas money or rent, and jimin was very careful not to take advantage of it or overspend what his mom allowed- and he was right on the edge for the month.

drinks aside, the atmosphere of the café was very relaxing at night. jimin made a mental note that him and joon would have to come at night more often, thinking it would be even better if his boyfriend was there with him.

with a sigh, jimin shut his laptop, ready to take out some more assignments, stopping when he saw someone above him.

it was a waiter, holding his usual order of hot chocolate with extra whip.

jimin stopped for a moment, realizing he recognized the man in the apron.

"hoseok?"

he smiled, looking almost a bit sympathetic.

"hi," he said.

"since when do you work here?"

hoseok set the hot chocolate down by jimin, pushing it over to him.

"i started last week... and... i made this for you... if you want it."

jimin was a bit apprehensive, but caved and accepted the drink anyways, knowing he had been craving one all night.

"you remembered my order," jimin said, "thank you."

hoseok pulled out the chair beside him.

"mind if i sit?"

jimin suddenly got a flashback to a similar scenario, quickly speaking up.

"look, if you're just gonna give me another 'apology' like jungkook, i really don't need-"

"no!" hoseok said, quickly, "i mean... i do want to apologize... but not like that."

hoseok sat down, keeping a fair distance from jimin so he wouldn't make him uncomfortable.

"look... i... i'm so sorry, jimin. i should have helped you stand up to jungkook that day... when he was being so rude to you. i was afraid of what would happen if i sided with you, so i just stayed silent. that wasn't right. and then... i heard what happened when jungkook came to... 'apologize' to you and then i just felt so bad for you... and guilty. and... i hope you know i didn't have anything to do with that at all. i stopped hanging out with them months ago. i just... i know you probably hate me now... i mean... i would hate me, too."

jimin stayed silent for a minute, just looking at him, unsure of what to say.

hoseok obviously felt bad, almost looking like he wanted to cry as he stood up from the chair.

"well... anyways... i just wanted to say sorry. i hope you like the hot choc-"

"wait," jimin said, "sit back down."

hoseok obeyed quickly, sitting back down in the seat without hesitation.

"i don't hate you, hoseok. at all. actually... i think you're really nice," jimin admitted, "don't sweat it too much, okay? i don't blame you for any of that. jungkook... he's very intimidating."

hoseok smiled.

"not to you, though. you were so... brave... standing up to him like you did."

jimin just let out a small laugh, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"well... what can i say?" jimin said, with another laugh, "i guess he just doesn't scare me much."

hoseok laughed with him, "he doesn't. i really... admire that."

jimin thanked him and silence fell upon the two boys before hoseok spoke up again.

"so... we're okay, then?"

jimin nodded, with a smile.

"of course," he said, "you know what they say about café's..."

"what?" hoseok asked, seemingly very intrigued.

"they're the places of forgiveness."

jimin had a completely straight face, and hoseok looked amazed by what jimin said.

"really?"

jimin tried his best to keep a straight face, eventually breaking out in laughter, hitting hoseok's arm, jokingly.

"no," jimin said, "but it is starting to feel like it. every time someone has apologized to me this year it's been at this café. i can't tell if it's fate or if i'm just here way too much."

hoseok laughed, finding jimin to be very sweet, feeling happy that he was forgiven.

"maybe both," hoseok said, with a smile.

jimin took another sip of his gifted hot chocolate.

"aren't you supposed to be working?"

hoseok shook his head.

"my shift ended a few minutes ago."

"ah," jimin said, with a nod, "well... in that case... how good are you at calculus?"

______________________________

the jihope friendship is blooming 🥺💕

and sorry for the wait! i've been spending most of my time recently studying for a big exam so wish me luck !!