Taehyung's POV

"Mr. Kim!" The receptionist blushes and bows. "W-welcome to The Flowergarden. Table for one?"

I give her my best smile and say smoothly, "Table for two, please."

The girl seems to melt as the words leave my mouth. She appears to be on the verge of exploding with excitement, but the older man standing with her at the desk elbows her lightly.

"Stay professional." The man mumbles.

"R-right, sorry." The girl clears her throat and grabs two menus. "Would you like to be seated in the private party room?"

"That would be great." I reply.

The two of us weave through dim sum carts, crying children, bussers, and other various types of crowds. I keep my head low and avoid making eye contact.

Finally, we reach the private party room. The receptionist slides the door open and leads me into a quiet, dimly lit room with a few tables, most of which are unoccupied. There is an elderly couple at the corner of a room, and an American businessman sitting at a long table by himself.

Other than that, this room provides comfort from the chaos in the main restaurant. The only downside is the 200,000 W fee for sitting in this "VIP" room.

"Um, enjoy your meal!" The receptionist squeaks, clasping her hands together. She opens her mouth to say something else, then closes it. She looks at me one last time and scurries out of the room, mumbling to herself.

I chuckle to myself, but the amusement quickly fades away when I acknowledge the butterflies in my stomach.

Why am I so nervous? I'm just going to be having a friendly lunch with my best friend. Furthermore, I already have a script written out in my head. He'll ask me what my problem is, I'll talk about Yoongi's decision to go solo, then I'll change the subject. Eventually, I'll be more comfortable talking to him, and pretty soon I'll forget about the little crush I have on him.

Because it's easy to forget, right?

I sure hope so.

---

Minutes seem to turn into hours as I impatiently wait for Jimin's arrival. I begin to relax in my seat and lean back, tapping my fingers lazily on the table.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see the receptionist approaching me again, pushing through the crowds in the main restaurant. Her face is tomato red as she bites her bottom lip, trying to hide a smile.

As the receptionist walks closer to my table, someone else emerges from the crowds.

It is none other than Park Jimin, who is dressed so nicely that I have to force myself to look away before a blush can form on my face. He is wearing a clean black blazer. Under that is a loose black dress shirt with tiny white dots; the top two buttons are undone, exposing part of his collarbone. He also wears tight black leather pants and perfectly-shone shoes.

He struts into the private party room as he follows the receptionist, unnecessarily biting his bottom lip in the hottest way possible.

Damn.

The girl reaches my table and Jimin takes a seat across from me.

After the girl leaves, Jimin smiles at me.

"Hey." He greets.

I smile weakly and give him a small wave. He laughs and combs his hair back with his hand.

I let out a fake cough and bury my face in the restaurant menu, staring at the words "roasted duck" as my face heats up. My throat feels dry and I don't know how to start a conversation. Jimin must sense the awkwardness because I'm usually the more talkative one out of the two of us.

"Um." Jimin mumbles. I peek out of the corner of my menu and see that he is thinking. After a while, he seems to have an idea and sits up excitedly.

"Look, Taehyung! I'm wearing the ring you gave me for my birthday." He holds out his hand and there, on his right pointer finger, is a silver ring with the word Tokyo engraved on it.

I place the menu down on the table and rasp, "Cool."

I open my mouth to say more, but just then the waiter comes, asking for our order.

"Uh, I'll just have the spring rolls." I say. "Jimin?"

"I'll have the fried rice and sweet and sour pork, please."

The waiter writes our orders down and walks away, leaving Jimin and me alone again.

Jimin keeps glancing at me, but I keep my eyes down, staring at the detailed carvings on the table. It makes me sad that I can't even talk to my best friend normally anymore. Just earlier, I at least had some confidence that I would be able to handle this event smoothly.

But now, all that confidence is completely gone.

"Taehyung, just tell me what's wrong. Please." Jimin pleads.

I finally look up and take in his face. His eyes are big and sad.

I sigh and start to recite my script: "I'm just really sad that Yoongi hyung is leaving us, Jimin. He's such a good friend and I never expected that he'd do this to us, you know?"

Boom. Nailed it.

Jimin lets out the breath he's been holding and nods. "I know, right? It- it sucks."

I mumble in agreement and take a sip of tea. The hot liquid burns my top lip and my eyes water. I slam the cup on the table and clear my throat loudly.

Jimin raises an eyebrow. "Dude, you okay?"

"It fucking burns." I snap, nodding to the steaming cup of tea.

He snorts quite loudly. I let out a laugh at the sudden noise, and pretty soon we're having a fit of laughter. However, we stop when we notice the stares we're getting from the few people sitting quietly in the room.

It feels good to laugh like this again.

"Ah, that was funny." Jimin sighs.

Something happens inside my head and somehow I find myself saying, "I actually have another problem. It's not just Yoongi hyung."

"I know, Taehyung. You've been acting weirdly even before Yoongi hyung's decision." Jimin remarks seriously.

That's because I've liked you even before Yoongi hyung's decision.

"I know. I'm sorry, Jimin. I'm not mad at you or anything, so don't worry." I clear my throat and a flash of doubt passes through my head. But there's no turning back now.

"I'm in love... with someone." I confess. "And I don't know how to tell-"

"-her that I love her." I bite my lip. At the last second, I decided that I'm not ready to risk our friendship, so I must come up with a fake story again.

Jimin frowns in disbelief. "That's what's been bothering you? Taehyung, you're like... the best at flirting, dating, et cetera. Do I need to remind you how many girlfriends you've had? You should be an expert by now."

He chuckles and adds, "But since I promised to help, no matter what the problem was, I guess I'll just try to give you advice."

"Uh, thanks." I mutter.

Jimin shuffles in his seat excitedly. "So, where'd you meet her?"

"Um... at the club the other day."

Jimin hums to himself, deep in thought.

After a while, he asks, "Can I just ask one question, Tae?"

"Sure." I shrug.

"Is this girl really different? Because I've known you for the longest time, man. And I know that when you like a girl, you tell her right away. But this girl..." He doesn't finish his sentence and looks at me curiously.

"Yeah, she's really different. Special. In fact, she's one of my best friends. That's why I'm too scared to confess to her. I don't want to ruin our friendship."

Jimin tilts his head to the side, frowning in confusion. "Best friends? But didn't you just say that you only met her 'the other day'?"

Shit. "Y-yeah. We stayed in touch after the night at the club, and I got to know her more. See, that's the difference from the other girls, Jimin. Back then, I would just jump into a relationship right away, even though I barely knew the girl." I let out a shaky breath in relief. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this. I'm actually creating a believable story.

"Oh." Jimin pauses again, thinking. "Well, here's my advice: tomorrow- no, not tomorrow, let's see, today's Monday... ok, on Saturday, invite her to have coffee. Then, afterwards, take her to a walk in the park, and confess to her there."

I nod thoughtfully, but I'm barely listening. "Ok, what do I say? How do I not ruin our friendship?"

Jimin clears his throat and sits up, as if he is preparing a speech. He opens his mouth to begin talking, but then he looks at me and says, "Wait, what's her name?"

My eyes widen and my heart starts beating rapidly. I need to think of something, fast.

"I-Irene."

Jimin nods and takes a deep breath. "Irene. We've been friends for a while now, and I've been getting to know you a lot. There's something I need to tell you. I like you, Irene. I don't want to be friends anymore. I want to be more than that. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Jimin smirks and leans back in his chair. "I can't believe I just gave Kim Taehyung, a.k.a the ultimate playboy, relationship advice."

I laugh, clutching my stomach. "I mean... that speech was okay, I guess."

"Aw, c'mon. I tried." He laughs with me, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Wait. But how do I make sure she doesn't reject me and our friendship isn't ruined?" I ask.

Jimin smiles sadly. "There's no way of knowing, Tae. When you love someone, you need to take risks. So that means she'll either love you or she'll hate you, but you're gonna have to risk it. If you really love her, you shouldn't be afraid to tell her, no matter what her answer will be."

"Wow." I breathe. "Now that's what I call relationship advice."

"Yah, don't mention it." He shrugs arrogantly, making me laugh again. "So you're gonna do it? Saturday?"

"Saturday it is." I lie.

Jimin holds out his cup of tea. "Good luck, Taehyung. I believe in you! You can do this!"

I smile softly and clink our cups together, then I take a big sip. Luckily, the tea isn't burning hot anymore.

"Oh, Taehyung?"

I look up. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for opening up to me. I missed having conversations like this."

My smile grows wider.

I guess I'm gonna have to pretend that there really is a girl. For now, I don't even want to think about what the heck I'm supposed to do on Saturday.

Jimin isn't worried about me anymore, and that's all that matters.

Still...

I'm fucked.

---

[tbc]

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(A/N):

Even though I'm a little late: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAEHYUNG! I love you so much and I hope you had the best birthday ever. <3

We Gucci.