a/n: besties im sorry i had exams but one or two more updates after this and the book is ending :P enjoy

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It isn't long before Chaeyoung hears footsteps padding to the lake house again, and she immediately groans. She literally just need some time for herself, Jisoo just couldn't leave her alone, does she?

She rolls her eyes, readying herself for the onslaught of curses she's about to unleash. "Unnie, I told you-"

"Chaeng?" A voice that definitely isn't Jisoo speaks from behind her. Surprised, she turns to see Jimin, walking towards her direction. Oh my God. "Oh, it really is you. What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Min, hi," she greets nervously. Fuck, what is you doing here? "I'm just... uh... thinking, you know? Kinda wanted some alone time to myself."

Jimin snorts and stands next to her. "What a fucking loser."

This triggers her fight or flight response. "I'm gonna shave your balls while you sleep."

"Whatever." He shrugs, already used to the insults. "Do you want me to leave?"

YES! She wants to scream. "Nah, it's fine. You can sit here next to me.. if you want." Please don't.

"Are you sure?" No.

"Jesus, I'm not planning on pushing you to the water or anything." Even though she's dreading the thought of him being here, she manages to put out a pretend-thinking face. "That might be a good idea though."

Just go, Jimin, what the fuck?

"Okay, I'll leave." Chaeyoung lets out a relieved breath. "Just kidding. I need some alone time, too, everything that's happening in the main house is making me want to rip my hair out."

Oh my God, just leave, Jimin! "I can do it for you."

"Nah, you'd rip my head off, I just know it." Unfortunately, he moves to sit beside her. I'm going to kill myself, she internally screams, because she was literally just ranting to Jisoo how she couldn't seem to talk to him minutes ago, but ironically, he's out here approaching her.

The world must be playing a joke on her right now.

Just in time, the song on her phone comes to an abrupt end. Chaeyoung sighs as the quiet of the night envelops the both of them for a few seconds, before a familiar instrumental overtakes the phone speakers.

"It's amazing how you can speak right to my heart, without saying a word, you can light up the dar--"

"Oh, shit," she curses, scrambling to stop the songs--which was, again, ironically named When You Say Nothing At All.  What the hell is happing, she panics. "I'm so sorry, I had this thing on shuffle." She's going to have to sue the music app for this.

Jimin awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, seemingly unfazed after all that awkwardness. "It's okay, um, I actually..." Chaeyoung raises her brow. "I like the song."

What...

"Oh," she whispers, because what the fuck is she supposed to say to that.

They spend a few more moments not speaking again, to which Chaeyoung had the urge to just run back to the main house and bury herself under the blankets because shit, this entire situation is embarrassing and she just wants to piss herself.

"Hey," Jimin chirps out of the blue, to which she jerks involuntarily. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

Her stomach drops, but she masks it with a joke. "Ask away, I'm not going to bite."

"Are you... are you okay?"

The question sends her to a (more) panic mode. "What do you mean?"

He leans back on his palms and sighs. "It's just you've been acting weird lately... like you're avoiding me." An expression of genuine hurt flashes in his eyes for a second, before it was replaced by his usual indifference. "Did I do something wrong? Did I say anything to offend you?"

"You always offend me," Chaeyoung points out. Truthfully, her hold on her self control is loosening. She honestly just wants to pretend like she didn't do anything wrong but the guilt is just eating her up.

Fuck. Should I?

Expectedly, he rolls his eyes. "Okay, fine, but did I...?" His voice trails off. "Like, recently?"

Okay, okay. I should just talk to him, right? Just to get this over with. It's going to be easy, you can do it, Chaeng.

"Um, not at all, it's just I'm bothered by something," she starts off, hands now fiddling with the hem of her shirt out of nervousness, "I can't seem to get it out of my head."

"You can tell me, if you want," he offers. "Unless you're uncomfortable with the idea?"

Shit, shit. What the hell. She thinks she could distantly hear Jisoo's voice from afar, yelling at her to Pick your panties up and talk to him, idiot! But no words come out of her mouth. She was fucking tongue tied.

"Chaeng?"

Unintentionally, she flinches at the voice, to which Jimin frowns. "Ah, ah, yes. Um, yeah, okay sure."

She watches as he nods, and she rakes her hair with her fingers. Okay, how do I start this? Should I just take it slow or go to the point? Oh my God, think, Chaeng! Fuckfuckfuckfuck--

"You're spacing out again," his voice sounds softer, more gentle. Head turning, she sees him with a small smile plastered on his face.

Chaeyoung fakes a laugh. "Yeah, I'm... I'm trying to gather my thoughts." She takes a long, deep breath before popping the question. "Min, why did you step on my new Louboutins back in college?"

He looks at her in confusion. "What? Louboutins--" She watches as recognition flashes in his face. "Ah, that. It's because you're annoying."

"I know," she hums. "Well, then, why did you repaint my Porsche?"

"I was bored."

"Very direct answers, I see," Chaeyoung nudges him jokingly. "What about..." She thinks deeply, going back to hers and Jennie's messages. "What about the time where you embarrassed me in front of everyone back in college? When you poured that cup of beer on me?"

Jimin stops. "I was..." His tongue darts out to lick his lower lip. "You looked fucking stupid."

Ah, here it is, the lie. "How about when you tripped me and I had to stay at the hospital?"

"It's... it was an accident, Chaeng." She gives him a glare, to which he balks. "What's with the look?"

"I know you're lying," she accuses him. Here it goes.

"What?"

It's now or never. "Jen told me the truth behind all of this, why you're doing all this and I," she hears him sharply inhale, "I just... I feel stupid, you know? Like, this whole entire time I was accusing you of doing all these things for revenge just because I left for Australia without telling you but it turned out to be the total opposite."

The words spill out from her mouth without stop, but Jimin doesn't say anything. She continues.

"And all these years I spent on hating you and cursing you for nothing. I feel like an idiot, honestly, we've spent all this time fighting like imbeciles only for it to end up being a huge misunderstanding. It's all a fucking joke, seriously, and I can't seem to forgive myself for it. Speaking of, why didn't you tell me the truth? Why did you let me hurt you for the past years? Why didn't you even speak up about it?"

"Because I know you wouldn't believe me," he finally responds, and Chaeyoung could see him lowering his head down from her peripheral vision.

She scoffs. "Bullshit, Jimin. You're my bestfriend. I'd believe you."

"Chaeyoung, you left me without warning," he argues. Somehow, his words sting.

"I didn't know it was important!"

He lets out a harsh chuckle. "You were going to leave for years, Chaeyoung, it was important."

"It isn't..." she struggles, trying to find a good argument. "It's just... God, I don't fucking know. But I just really want to say that..." she gulps, and she's pretty sure Jimin had heard that. "I'm sorry. Really, I am. I was an asshole who thought of you as some fucking dickhead without knowing the actual reasons behind your actions. I'm so sorry, Min, I really am."

Silence.

"You were right, though," Jimin speaks after a few . "I wanted to take revenge on you for leaving, I was going to embarrass you in front of that frat party but then... I saw the guy messing with your drink and I just--" he stressfully rubs his face with his hands, "I realized our friendship is much more important than some stupid revenge plan."

Chaeyoung's eyes trace over his features. Under the faint glow of the moon, he looks tired, almost vulnerable. He's beautiful, she knows, but the moonlight softens his sharp edges and strong lines, and to her, he almost seems like her Minnie. Minnie, the nickname she used to call him back when she was 8 and he was 10. When they weren't fighting over cars or shoes or parties. When they were still friends.

Suddenly hit by a wave of nostalgia, she whispers, "Min?"

Jimin, who seems to be experiencing the same thing, looks at her like he already knows what she's about to say. "Yeah, Chaeng?"

"Can I..." she scoots closer, "Can I hug you?"

His face immediately softens, and he opens his arms. "Come here."

Chaeyoung doesn't waste any time and wraps her arms around him, burying her face into his neck. God, he smells good, she thinks as she breathes in his scent, smelling of lavender with a faint trace of alcohol. His hands rub circles behind her back soothingly, murmuring I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, all over again.

She unconsciously sniffs, and by then she realizes that she's crying and Oh my God, why is she such a crybaby?

"Why are you crying?" Jimin voices out, pushing away but not removing his arms around her. "We're okay, Chaeng, we're okay. I'm not mad at you, it's fine."

A sob makes it's way from her throat, and Jimin shushes her by pulling her back in his chest again. "I'm so stupid," she cries, partly because she felt stupid, mostly because she came upon the realization that she misses him--so much. "I'm so sorry, Min, I really am."

"Lord, you still haven't changed," she hears him chuckle from above her. "It's okay, don't worry. I'm not mad," he repeats, rubbing her back.

"Are we--" she moves to look at his face, "Are we friends now?"

And Jimin, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face, nods. "Of course we are, dumbass."

Chaeyoung cries even harder, to which he responded by laughing like a maniac.