피부

And the clock ticked.

Now almost hitting the past midnight hours but neither one of them say a word. Not June, nor Jimin dared to speak up, to ruin the perfectly shaped silence that seemed to ease their troubled minds.

Jimin would tap his fingertips against the wooden table, creating a small song that seemed to mimic the moving hands of the clock, as June kept her hands wrapped around the tea cup, even though it was now completely empty.

She wanted to speak up so badly, tell Jimin how Taehyung didn't exist, how he was just a character she made up in her head, an anchor she had whenever things got too heavy to carry on her shoulders, but it was as if her own tongue was tied down and she couldn't utter a word.

Soon enough, Jimin noticed her struggling, but instead of continuing the mute conversation, his small fingers stopped tapping and he slides his hand back onto his lap.

"I think I should go."

"Stay." June blurted out, eyes not leaving the empty old tea cup.

But when he doesn't say anything back, his reaction being a tint of red color spreading across his cheeks, June laughed softly. "I'm sorry. That sounded weird. It's okay if you don't want-"

"I want to." Jimin interrupted, his mouth forming the words faster than his brain. And when he noticed it, he let out a small embarrassed giggle. "I mean, I don't mind staying and keeping you company."

Now flustered and surprised to his quick agreement, June's lips wore a smile with her hair covering the infatuation creeping its way onto her face.

In all honesty, she believed that he would turn her down, but now that he's said yes, she realised that she hadn't thought this out at all.

And that there remained one problem.

The bed that was placed right in the corner of June's bedroom wasn't large enough for two people to fit in.

But luckily enough, Jimin had a solution.

An idea of some sort to make a bed of their own, right there at the very wooden floor beneath their own feet.

After taking the blankets off of her bed, Jimin placed it onto the floor, creating a new bed-like place with the pillows on top of it.

As the two of them like kids, were busy spreading out the sheets, there was a certain feeling floating in the air - a mix between sexual tension and childish excitement while the fort, instead of a bed, was slowly being built in front of them.

It wasn't a secret that they had a thing for each other and that, at the back of both of their minds, they were purposefully doing this so that they could get closer to one another.

When the floor was covered with pillows and blankets, they laid down, the atmosphere changing a bit - a level of comfort but also an anticipation of some sorts settling among them, as if this was what they both wanted - the feeling of their skin touching.

Faces turned towards each other and almost like having a blinking contest, they couldn't close their eyelids.

"Jimin?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe in love?"

"I do.'' He said. ''Love comes in all shapes and forms, it happens between all kinds of people - between a man and a woman, a man and a man. It can be found in the most simple things like asking someone about their day, or giving a long warm hug. It's everywhere around you. You just have to open your eyes to see it."

His simple words brushed against her ear as he shifted his weight underneath the sheets, the movement causing her body to stiffen. He was so close to her she could almost feel his heart beating. "Do you believe in love, June?"

"I don't know."

"Why so?"

Jimin moved one of his leg, now it being only an inch away from hers but the warmth radiating off of him was enough to let June know that he was still so close to her own skin.

"Sometimes I know what I want, but often find myself maybe having high expectations. I feel like I can't be loved and won't ever be loved in the way you read about it in books or see it in movies."

"Ah", he shook his head in understanding, the low tone in his voice traveling across the room as he shifted once again, now turning his head towards the ceiling.

"June, you think too much. Of course you won't experience the kind of love people do in movies or books. That's stupid and boring in a way."

Before she could frown at him, he continued to speak. "It will be so much better from the scenes you see in movies and books, because you will be the one in love, and it will be your own love story."

Placing a hand on top of his stomach, he inhaled softly. "But in the meantime, you need to learn how to love yourself before you can let anyone else love you. No one will love you if you don't accept yourself first. It's not attractive."

"What does make a person attractive?"

His head turned towards her as he shrugged his shoulders. "Confidence, I guess."

"Are you confident, Jimin?"

"Sometimes." He admitted. "Are you calling me attractive?"

"Don't change the subject." With a roll of eyes, June crossed her arms.

Averting his view from her, he let out a fake frustrated sigh. "You haven't answered my question."

"And I'm not going to." Still laughing, June turned towards the ceiling as well, thinking for a moment, but Jimin's loud breathing distracted her, as she could vividly see his chest going up and down, even though the room was completely dark with just a small ray of moonlight casting through the curtains.

Within seconds his view darted to his left, seeing June's lips stretched out in a smile. "What is it now? Did I say something?"

"O-oh", turning onto her right side, she pursed her lips in order to stop herself from smiling. "It's nothing, really. You just breathe funny."

Jimin grimaced. "How is it possible for someone to breathe funny?"

Sounding somewhat offended, his whole weight now turned towards her, before he let out a huff of air. "Here I am trying to be wise, even share an amazing advice and yet the thing you give me in return is a laugh at my breathing?"

With her face covered by the help of the sheets, June shared a generous laugh, her toes brushing against Jimin's legs. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at your breathing."

''Aish, you're lucky I like you.''

There he was again, with his face resting against the pillow and trying to act all tough when in fact he was the exact opposite. He was like a small animal that jumped around the forest in the coming of late spring. His eyes were like smiles, crinkling up with joy and laughter with his face, so alive, being one of the things June could forever stare at.

And she did stare at him, for a minute more before she fell asleep, with her body peacefully resting next to his.

. . .

a/n: thank you for being patient with me & for leaving kindhearted comments on the previous chapter. i hope you are able to connect the dots in this story because so much more is going to happen, and i hope you won't abandon me. ♡

remember that you're loved & i'm beyond happy that you exist.