[mystery gang]

Taetae:
HAPPYYYYY
BIRTHDAAAAAAAYYYY
JIMINIIIIEEEEE

YourHobi:
hAPPY BDAY

Handsome_face:
heyy I didn't forget
happy birthday Jimin
probs won't see u 2day but I hope u have a gr8 day

Joonie:
yeah same here
happy birthday my dude

Chocochip_kookie:
I am gonna be seeing u later 2day lmao
but I'll guess ill say it here 2
happy birthday Jimin

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
:,) u guys are too sweet omff
idek wut to say

Joonie:
hold on
@Yoongi
@Yoongi
@Yoongi
yoongs hello
@Yoongi
huh
he's not responding
he usually responds by now
sorry Jimin

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
lololol y r u apologizing ?
it's ok, I'm sure he's busy

*

*

[Namjoon and Yoongi private chat]

Joonie:
ur not actually busy tho r u
cmon man
u walnut

*

*

[mystery gang]

Joonie:
yeah I can't seem to get a hold of him,,
maybe this is a late decision to go into hiding since i told him about his drunk behavior on movie night lmfaoo

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
U TOLD HIM??
I THOUGHT U WERENT GOING TO

Joonie:
i mean cmon jimin i couldnt not tell him
he feels rly bad btw
so whenever he decides to come out of hiding expect a verbal apology letter in full-block format

Handsome_face:
not sure that makes any sense but also lmao

Joonie:
so anyways what r ur plans 4 today Jimin?

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
umm
Jungkook, Tae and I are gonna be hanging out all day (well a little later cuz Tae has class this morning)

YourHobi:
yeah and I would be joining them but I'm busy today rip ;;-;;
sorry jimin

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
it's okay hobi rly
u can make it up to me some other time lmao

YourHobi:
ok I'll definitely do that

Chocochip_kookie:
the question is how is Yoongi gonna make it up to u

Blue_ribbon_mochi;
kook he doesn't have to make anything up to me

Joonie:
he'll probably disagree tho

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
well tell him it's fine then

Joonie:
to make up for his lack of presence allow me to show u this video of yoongi mercilessly judging me
[video sent]

Chocochip_kookie:
brutal

Taetae:
*gasp*
he was doing a noot noot at the beginning there
jungkook he can join our noot noot squad

Handsome_face:
your what?

Taetae:
noot noot squad
did i stutter

*

*

[Jimin and Taehyung private chat]

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
first of all he's so cute im mad
second of all also kinda sad
that he's not here i mean
it would be kinda nice to hear him say happy birthday,,

Taetae:
the day is still young jiminie
dont lose hope

Blue_ribbon_mochi:
yeah i guess so :)
but even if he doesnt, i mean, im still looking forward to spending the day with u and kook

Taetae:
:D me 2 jiminie
its gonna be the best day ever i promise

It took a lot of convincing himself, a long while to find the courage to carry out what he promised himself he would do, because Jimin deserved it, especially after all the boy had done for him. He did eventually muster up that courage, and he recalled Jimin bringing up his dorm number to someone in the group chat in the past, so he took himself there with tentativeness in his steps but persistence in his mind.

He checked his watch - 11:21 p.m. Later than he would have liked. Later than he should hope to disturb Jimin. He didn't wish to disturb him at all. He would have preferred to simply leave the gift outside the door, but there was no guarantee it would still be there the next time Jimin opened that door. Someone could very well take it without his knowing. So he hoped Jimin wasn't sleeping. If he woke the boy up, then he would only feel bad.

Heart in his throat, he lifted his hand, made it into a tightly clenched first, and was about to knock on the door when it was suddenly opened to him by a familiar boy with an unfamiliar hair color. Orange. Park Jimin, dressed in a pair of loose sweatpants and the cutest My Neighbor Totoro shirt, had now a head full of messy orange hair, not a trace of pure black to be seen. And it was cute - no, it was downright adorable, Jimin was downright adorable, and this new attribute of his for some reason just made things worse for Yoongi's fragile heart. He wanted to feel it. He wanted to run his fingers through those orange locks, which he just knew would be soft to the touch, and he wanted to tell Jimin the thoughts going through his mind, but he couldn't, not yet, anyway.

So here he stood, at nearly half-past eleven at night outside of Jimin's dorm, holding tightly behind his back the gift he had carefully picked out, but was unable to give to the boy yet due to his eyes still being fixed on Jimin's hair. And Jimin noticed. Even though it took a moment. He felt Yoongi's gaze on him, and it abruptly struck him that oh yeah, I dyed my hair today and didn't tell anyone besides Taehyung and Jungkook.

"Um-"

"It suits you."

It was better than admitting he found it attractive. It was better than saying nothing at all. It suits you was a compliment that couldn't go wrong. Well, he thought so, anyway. But as it turned out these three words triggered a hint of color in Jimin's cheeks and a big smile, which in turn brought about the same hint of color in Yoongi's cheeks, and caused his chest once again to tighten dangerously.

"I'm...glad you think so." Jimin reached up to comb a hand through his hair. "I've been considering it for a while now, actually, and I was out today with Tae and Kook, and they kind of gave me that boost of encouragement. I was pretty satisfied with the result, and I'm relieved you don't think it's weird or anything..." He stifled a nervous laugh.

Weird? Why would I think it's weird? It's cute and I hope you know that. Agh, if I could just kiss you right now...

"So, uh..." The sound of Jimin clearing his throat drew Yoongi from his thoughts. "Can I...ask why you're here? Oh! Do you wanna come inside? It's kinda chilly even indoors but the dorm room itself is pretty comfortable. My roommate's sleeping right now but he's the literal definition of a heavy sleeper, you could throw a rock on top of him and he still wouldn't wake up - not that I've done that before, I would never, I'm just saying figuratively. O-or, did you need help with the burn again? You could have just texted, you didn't need to come all the way over here just to......what's this?"

In the midst of Jimin's rambling, Yoongi urged himself to pull out into the open the gift he had been hiding behind his back - a small blue box. Inside it, Jimin soon discovered, was a Finding Nemo pendant, sturdy black string to which a charm that read "just keep swimming" was attached. As the orange-haired boy held it up and admired it, Yoongi sighed softly.

"I'm...not the best at getting gifts," he confessed, "and I had absolutely no idea what to get you, but then I remembered you mentioning a while ago about really liking the movie Finding Nemo so I figured it was a safe bet. I wanted to at least get you something. I mean...I owe you. For...for your kindness and what you did to help me. And I guess, in a way it's an apology, you know, for..." He paused to clear his throat after making the mistake of looking into Jimin's eyes. "I, uh...that is, Namjoon told me about how I got drunk that night, and what I did, and I don't remember a bit of it, but I...I'm sorry, I hope you weren't...I mean, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable or anything. I was careless. I-"

"Yoongi."

He stopped. Then, after a few moments of silence, Yoongi lifted his head and watched as Jimin slipped the pendant over his neck, then pulled Yoongi in for a hug.

"It's okay," he heard Jimin whisper next to his ear. "I hope you haven't been stressing out about this."

Yoongi hesitated but eventually hugged him back. "I have," he admitted. "A lot."

"Well, there was no reason for you to be. The gift...is really sweet, Yoongi. And the fact you got me anything at all is more than I can ask for."

"You're too selfless."

"No, I think that's you."

"No, I already told you. I'm not selfless, I'm stubborn."

"Well, then, I'm stubborn, too."

Just as Jimin was about to reluctantly pull away from the hug, Yoongi held on to him tighter, his heart just a bit scared and perhaps more so unprepared to look at Jimin's face again - besides, he quite liked hugging Jimin. It just felt...right.

"I wasn't kidding, by the way," he whispered, "in case I didn't make it clear that time. If you ever need help, with anything at all, if someone's giving you a hard time, if you can't open a pickle jar, I don't know, just...let me know, okay? I'll be there."

It did dangerous things to Jimin's heart. The sound of Yoongi's deep, soft voice uttering such sweet words in unadulterated sincerity, so close to his ears, which he knew were probably beet red right now, but that wasn't important. He could have cried just then. But on a positive note, this was a boost of encouragement. A truly significant occurrence that made Jimin consider the fact that maybe Yoongi did feel the same. Just maybe. Just.....maybe.

"I should get going," Yoongi said, abruptly bringing Jimin back to reality. "It's late. I don't wanna keep you any longer, so, uh....happy birthday, Jimin. And good night."