Not edited in the slightest

Jimin

Jimin spends most of the plane ride dozing off, despite how uncomfortable the plane seats are. There are small screens in front of all the seats, which are programmed to a number of channels with crime shows, sports, new movies, and whatever else. Jimin isn't interested in any of them.

Y/n occasionally offers him a snack, reassuring him that he doesn't have to eat because he met his end of the deal for the day, but Jimin pieces some of the food anyway, because he's bored out of his mind and a little anxious. It'll make Y/n feel better anyway.

When the plane lands, Jimin is exhausted despite sleeping for most of the ride. By the time they've navigated the airport and picked up their luggage from the baggage claim, Y/n is shaking with excitement. She's been looking forward to going back home for a while now. Jimin can't blame her. It must have been kind of lonely in Korea even if she was surrounded by all of Jimin's friends. It's not like she could speak Korean anyway.

She checks her phone every three seconds, waiting for a text probably, squeezing Jimin's hand like her life depends on it.

"Mom says that she's waiting at the front entrance with Gabe and Lily for us," she says after a few minutes. "They couldn't come to the gate for pandemic reasons so we'll have to go find them."

"I'm excited to see them again," Jimin says. He is, but he's also nervous. He hasn't seen any of these people for like, a year almost. What if things are awkward?

At least he doesn't feel like shit today.

"Come on." Y/n leads Jimin away from the baggage claim and together, they make their way toward the airport exit.

Y/n spots them before Jimin does. She lets out a gasp and her eyes crinkle with a smile hidden under her face mask, and she stretches an arm out to point to her family. "I found them!"

Y/n's family stands in front of a large set of windows to the right of the main entrance to the airport, looking around for Y/n and Jimin. Gabriel is holding a poster board at his feet, and when Lily finally spots Y/n, she alerts the others and Gabe holds the poster board over his head to reveal a sign that reads, "WELCOME HOME" in purple glitter. Y/n squeezes Jimin's hand and starts a half-run toward her family, towing Jimin behind her like a child. The closer they get, the faster his heart beats.

Lily hurries toward them and meets them halfway, and when they're close enough, Y/n lets go of her suitcase and Jimin's hand to hug her older sister. Before Jimin gets a chance to understand what's going on, Y/n's mom is onto him like a bloodhound. She envelopes him in a bone-crushing hug, her familiar perfume wafting up to Jimin's nose. He returns the hug with the realization that he is taller than her now. He wasn't last year.

"We were all so worried about you!" Y/n's mom exclaims. "None of us knew if you were going to make it or not!" She pulls away to grope at Jimin's face and hair and examine him fully. "We missed so much!"

Jimin tears up, a stranger to all this motherly affection. He's wanted this for so long. He didn't think he'd miss Y/n's mom this much, but she treats him better than every other adult presence in his life. He can't help it.

"I missed you all too," Jimin says half-heartedly, voice quivering. Y/n's mom furrows her brows and cups his cheeks, brushing his tears away. "You must have had a long trip," she says. "When we get home, I'll make you and Y/n something warm to drink, and we can sit and talk about it before you go to bed."

Good god she's only making it worse by being nice.

"Can-can I have another hug?" Jimin asks, hoping to hide his tears for long enough to make them go away. Y/n's mom pulls him in for another tight hug, pausing by his ear to say, "Of course. You're family."

As soon as she says that, Jimin can't hold it in anymore and begins to cry.

"S-sorry," he hiccups. "I- sorry. I'm not- I'm not used to this."

"It's okay," Y/n's mom says. "It must be hard, what you went through. But you're safe now. You're one of my own now. You'll never have to go through that again."

Another pair of arms joins the hug, and Jimin glances over to see Lily at his other side.

"I've missed you so much!" She says. "You and I didn't talk as much but Y/n was a train wreck when you were gone."

"Shut up Lily, I survived," Y/n says. The hug breaks apart and Jimin turns to look for her and reach for her hand again.

"Barely," Lily mutters. Jimin squeezes Y/n's hand. Gabriel comes forth and wraps an arm around Y/n's mom's shoulders, sign hanging by his side.

"Alright kids, lets go back home," he says. "You two look exhausted."

Home.

"Oh yeah," Y/n says. "We could use some sleep." She looks to Jimin. "Especially you, sleepyhead."

Jimin smiles sheepishly and they follow Gaberiel and the others out of the airport.

When they reach the van, Gabriel tosses their luggage into the trunk and hurries to start the engine. Jimin and Y/n sit all the way in the back of the van, where it's more comfortable to doze off if they need to. Lily and her mom turn around to interrogate him and Y/n about their trip, but within like twelve minutes, they're completely passed out.

Lily wakes them up gently when they finally get home. "Come on," she murmurs to them. "Gabe's already taken your luggage inside. Mom's got a surprise for you."

Y/n rubs her eyes sleepily and unbuckles. "A surprise? I forgot about that."

Lily smiles. "I think you'll like this one," she says. She looks at Jimin. "You too."

Jimin mirrors her smile and unbuckles, then waits for Y/n to exit the car first before following her out. Y/n's mom is waiting on the porch, peeking into the house through the front door, which is open just a crack. She turns to give Jimin and Y/n a wink. "Here he comes!"

At first, Jimin thinks she is talking about Gabriel, but then a snout appears between her legs, trying to squeeze through, sniffing around frantically.

"Oh my god you didn't!" Y/n exclaims. "Is that a-"

Y/n's mom steps out of the way, and out tumbles a giant grey and white puppy, with eyes blue as ice and floppy ears that hang low to the ground.

"A puppy!" Y/n squeals. The puppy gets up and scrambles across the front lawn to barrel into her legs and she stumbles over, laughing with glee. "You're so cute!" She tells it. Jimin smiles so wide he can hardly see, and he kneels to the ground next to her and the puppy to pet it.

"Is it a boy or a girl?" Jimin asks.

"He's a boy," Y/n's mom chirps. "His name is Trevor. He's an anniversary present from Gabe."

"Trevor," Y/n repeats, cooing and scratching the puppy's head. "Who's the cutest boy in the world? You are, yes you are!"

Y/n's mom pats her thighs and whistles to him. "Trevor! C'mere boy!" She says. "Let's go inside buddy!"

Trevor gets off of Y/n and bounds over to her mom, tail wagging so hard his entire body shakes from side to side.

"I can't believe we have a puppy now!" Y/n exclaims. "I always wanted one as a kid."

Jimin leans forward and kisses her cheek, because she's cute, and stands up. "Come on," he says. "Let's go inside."

Lily is already inside, carrying Y/n's suitcase up the stairs. Jimin's is nowhere to be seen, probably in Y/n's room.

Jimin takes a deep breath and steps through the door, allowing the memories to flood him.

Like the night he stood here on the front porch in his green Bangtan varsity jacket, preparing himself to ring the doorbell and go on his first date with Y/n. And when he used to drop Y/n off after school with Mikey.

Jimin walks into the living room and takes a deep breath.

It looks exactly the same as he remembers it. Exactly the same as the time he and Y/n spent skipping school when he had a bad fever. Exactly the same as it was on Thanksgiving, when Jimin got to join Y/n and her family during the festivities. All the movies they watched together, games they played with Y/n's sister, naps they on the couch took after school- everything comes back to Jimin's mind as if all of it had only happened yesterday.

Jimin forgot what it felt like to be a part of Y/n's family, and now that he's here, he's home, it all comes back to him- and so do the tears. He sniffles and rubs his eyes, frustrated that he can't stop crying. Y/n wraps him in a warm hug and pulls his head into her shoulder, whispering, "We're home."

Jimin sniffles again, and though her words make him want to break down, he holds it in. He's had enough crying for today. His tears can wait until he can be alone with her.

"I've kept your room clean," Y/n's mom says to her daughter, a happy Trevor trailing behind her. He stalks up to Jimin and begins licking his hand. Jimin drops to the floor and pets him, feeling better instantly. Magic, dogs are.

"I haven't touched anything," Y/n's mom continues. "I just wanted to make sure you'd come home to a nice room. I've changed your sheets and taken the cover off of your window. I figured you wouldn't need it anymore."

Jimin looks at Y/n. "The... cover?"

Y/n shakes her head. "Thanks momma," she says, getting up to hug her mom. Her mom seems a bit surprised, which is... disconcerting, to say the least. "I'd love to stay up and tell you everything," Y/n says, "but we're really tired and we're gonna face a lot of jetlag."

"No worries," her mom says, tearing up. When Y/n begins to pull away, her mom holds her tighter for a longer hug. Then she lets go, sniffling, and gives her daughter a smile. "I'll get to hear all about it later, when you're well-rested. For now, I'll go make you guys something warm to drink before bed. Tea? Cocoa?"

Y/n looks at Jimin. "Want anything?"

Jimin shrugs. "Hot choco?"

"Me too," Y/n says. "I'll be back. I gotta use the bathroom." She turns, yawning, and heads upstairs.

"She hasn't hugged me like that in a very long time." Y/n's mom says it quietly, tears still prickling her eyes. "I'm glad you're back, Jimin. It was horrible, the way she turned out after everything happened."

Jimin is about to ask her what she means, but she sighs and nudges him toward the stairs. "Go get changed into something comfy," she says. "I'll start making that hot chocolate."

"Okay," Jimin says, and when Y/n's mom turns around and walks to the kitchen, Jimin heads upstairs after Y/n.

As soon as he enters her room, a strong wave of nostalgia slams into him like a wall. He remembers all the days they spent in here together doing homework, waltzing to their favorite songs, sneaking in early in the morning on the weekends so they could sleep together, kissing in the moonlight, all the endless conversations they had.

The first time Y/n told Jimin she was in love with him.

Jimin can't hold back his tears any longer. He shuts the door behind him and inhales deeply, breathing in the scent of his memories. He missed this so much.

Y/n walks in and goes straight to her suitcase to grab pajamas. After rummaging for a moment, she finds what she wants and heads to her closet to change. "I wanna take a shower," she mumbles sleepily, "but that can wait for tomorrow. I'm too tired."

Jimin agrees. It can wait. While Y/n is in the closet, he swiftly changes into a pair of sweatpants from his suitcase and looks around her room to see what has changed.

The purple curtains Y/n had last year are gone now, replaced by thick grey ones that block out most of the light from outside- which isn't much yet, because the sun hasn't risen anyway. The mirror from her closet door is gone now, which Jimin knows about already. There's no purple beanbag in sight, which makes Jimin sad because when he first started hanging out with Y/n, he'd usually sit there. Most of the pictures that were on her wall before are now gone.

Her room feels lonelier than it did before. Colder, even.

The mess of sketchbooks and pencils and markers and pens that used to be on her desk is gone too, except for a lonely art piece covered by another paper. From what he can see underneath, there are plenty of small, colorful flowers painted on the piece. Curious, Jimin removes the cloth to see the art underneath.

His breath catches in his throat.

It's him. There Jimin lies, peacefully asleep in a field of flowers, his silver hair fanning out around his face like a halo. The flowers are a vibrant range of colors, almost glowing. The details are unmistakably familiar. For a moment, Jimin can't remember why it's so familiar.

Then it hits him.

"I had a friend in elementary school. He was my muse."

"Was?"

"He died when we were in sixth grade. That's why his eyes are always closed."

In the painting, Jimin's eyes are closed.

Y/n steps out of the closet in her pajamas and shuts the door. "I missed my room," she says. "Although it is kinda cold in here. We'll just have to bundle up all nice and w-"

She stops herself short when she sees what Jimin is looking at. She doesn't speak. Jimin turns his head to look at her. She stares at her open sketchbook with a somber expression. For a moment, she's stuck in her own world. Then she snaps awake and turns red, snatching up the sketchbook and shutting it abruptly.

"That-That's nothing," she stammers. "It... I..."

"It's love it," Jimin murmurs. "It's beautiful." For a moment, he doesn't know what else to say. Y/n hugs her sketchbook protectively to her chest and bites her lip.

"I bet it feels different looking at it now that you know I'm not dead," Jimin says softly. Y/n meets his eyes and gives him a small, weak nod.

"It does." She shudders, then opens her desk drawer and shoves the sketchbook into it. "Let's go to downstairs. Maybe we can talk to mom for a little bit while she's making the hot cocoa."

This is definitely the most awkward place to end a chapter but this is the best I can do for you right now I'm so busy😭😭

Anyway love you have a good day/night!<3

-L