Jin is loud with the world, but with you he’s… settled. Still playful, still dramatic, but there’s a calm under it that only comes out when he’s safe. The kind of calm that doesn’t need to perform.

He jokes a lot around other people—on purpose. It’s armor. With you, the jokes soften. They don’t disappear, but they’re slower, quieter, meant just for the two of you. Half the time he’s not even trying to be funny; he just likes hearing you laugh.

He pretends he isn’t clingy. He acts like he’s independent, like he needs his space. But somehow he’s always in the same room as you. Sitting nearby. Leaning against the doorframe. Doing his own thing, but close enough that you can feel him there.

Mornings with Jin are gentle in a very Jin way. He wakes up before you but stays in bed anyway, scrolling on his phone with one arm around you like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Sometimes he looks at you and smiles to himself, like he’s proud. Of what? He’s not sure. Just… you.

He’s careful when you’re asleep. For someone so dramatic, his touch is surprisingly light. A thumb brushing your hand. Adjusting the blanket. Whispering something stupid under his breath and then immediately clapping a hand over his mouth because what if you wake up.

When you do wake up, he acts like he hasn’t been staring at you for ten minutes. Immediately switches to teasing mode. “Wow, finally awake? I was about to start my second life already.” But he doesn’t let go of you. Ever.

Jin shows love through care. Food appears next to you without explanation. Water is placed near your hand. He remembers things you forget about yourself and pretends it’s no big deal.

Cooking together is one of his favorite things. Not because he needs help—he doesn’t—but because he likes you being there. Sitting on the counter. Stealing bites. Complaining dramatically when you mess something up, only to fix it five seconds later with a smile.

He watches you eat with that soft, fond look he tries to hide. If you catch him, he immediately denies it. “What? I can’t look at my own partner now?” But his ears turn pink.

In public, Jin dials it down. He’s respectful, aware, gentle with boundaries. No big PDA. Mostly just hands brushing, fingers interlacing for a second longer than necessary. Standing slightly in front of you without realizing he’s doing it.

He likes sitting next to you instead of across from you. Always. Restaurants, cafés, buses—doesn’t matter. He claims it’s easier to talk. The truth is, he just likes being close. Shoulder to shoulder. Existing together.

When he’s tired—really tired—the act drops completely. No jokes. No drama. Just Jin, quiet and honest, resting his head on your shoulder like that’s where he belongs. Because to him, it is.

He’s surprisingly vulnerable with you. Talks about his fears in pieces, not all at once. Trusting you with them slowly. Letting you see the parts of him that aren’t confident, aren’t polished, aren’t sure.

And the thing is—he never doubts you. Not once. You are the one place he doesn’t perform, doesn’t second-guess, doesn’t overthink. With you, he’s allowed to just be Kim Seokjin. Enough as he is.

Dividers used in this fic are by @tinybeetiny and @crylynnluv on Tumblr. All credit goes to them for their beautiful work 🖤

Jin once again shrugged this off. “Maybe my eyes got a tick. I’m not glaring.”

Yoongi sighed and rolled his eyes. He hadn’t expected the prideful Jin to actually admit to him what was wrong, so he would just have to settle for surveying his friend. 

“I hate doing school work though.” Jungkook whined. He had only started his University course a few days ago but to anyone without prior knowledge he seemed like a veteran. Always complaining. 

“Doesn’t matter, kook. You gotta do it anyway.” Taehyung stated, pulling his glasses up his nose in a mature fashion that left the rest of you giggling. 

“Taehyung you’ve only been doing University for a couple of months.” You commented. Taehyung frowned and pinched the side of your cheek. 

“Shh. Tae is tryna sound smart.” 

The boys burst into laughter, you rolled your eyes at his typical behaviour. But the normal ear pleasing sound of Jin’s laugh was missing. You turned to him and he looked away. 

Seriously? What was wrong with Jin lately? He wasn’t this bad before… sure he’s always been a little cold but he was never straight up rude before now!

“Y/n you’re no better anyway really. How old are you now?” 

You shuffled at Hoseok’s question. You had really begun to feel old lately, realising just how much younger your friends were. 

“I’m 26…” 

Jimin grinned. “You’re only just younger than Jin and Yoongi. I can't say you’ve got too much to brag about.” 

You shrugged. “I’ve got a college degree under my belt. That’s more than I can say for dear Yoongi.” 

Yoongi laughed, not taking any offence from your teasing. “I’m a musician, Y/n. What use would a degree be?” 

You didn’t respond, knowing Yoongi was correct and instead raised your glass of beer at him, smirking. The others did the same, Jin reluctantly raising his last.

“To me.” Yoongi tried. The others snorted at his attempt for the spotlight to stay solely on him.

“To free will.” You decided. You heard Seokjin snort softly and, grin slightly forced, chose to ignore him. 

-❀-

“It’s getting late.” Hoseok stated. 

You turned your phone on. The bright light instantly lit up the dim room and the others turned towards you, mumbling about shutting the light off. They saw your lock screen was a photo of you and Taehyung, fingers in a peace sign, sipping from the same boba tea cup. 

Taehyung giggled. The others didn’t question it as they already know Taehyung was your best friend. But Seokjin had joined your friend group last. He didn’t know that initially it had just been you two, then Jimin, then Yoongi and Hoseok, Namjoon and Jungkook and Finally Seokjin. Seokjin frowned. 

He was about to ask if you two were dating, but was interrupted. “Baby do you wanna go home now? It’s now 11 pm..” 

You nodded. “I’m not tired, but Yoongi looks tired.”

Yoongi snorted. “Of course. I’m always tired.” 

Hoseok was leaning his head on the table, and turned sideways to face the older male.  

“You don’t look tired when you’re playing the piano.” He slurred the last word and you could tell he was drunk. “You look really happy. At peace… like you’re in heaven.” 

Yoongi’s face flushed red and for once the quick witted man was left speechless. 

The others laughed, even Jin who still didn’t look pleased couldn't help but chuckle. 

“So I guess Yoongi will have to drop Hoseok off tonight. He can’t drive like this.” 

“He can sleep here.” Yoongi suggested. Hoseok mumbled something about how soft Yoongi’s ‘fur’ was, which you assumed meant that his hair. Yoongi nodded slowly and patted the younger's head. 

Jungkook rolled a beer back and forth on the table. “I’ll drive. I didn’t have that much. I’ll take Jimin home with me. Jin is your car here?” 

He nodded. 

Suddenly Taehyung’s phone rang and he picked it up, running from the room. 

He came back a minute late and kissed your cheek. “Cmon baby lets go. I needa do some stuff when I get home.”

“If it’s urgent I can just stay at your place.” You offered. He nodded and began leaving the room, you following behind him, saying goodbyes to each of the boys, except Jin.

You began down the stairs, Taehyung already in his car, once again on his phone. 

The second you heard the door click closed, it was thrown open again. You spun and your arm was caught in a strong grip.

Seokjin.

He was looking at you, a blank look on his face. 

“Y/n why are you like this?”

“Like what?” 

“Do you hate me? Did I do something wrong?” 

You tried to step back, but Jin’s strong grip stopped you. “Me?”

“Yes obviously you!” Jin snapped. 

“You hate me for goodness sake!” 

“No I don’t! It’s because you’re so cold!” 

You frowned, crossing your arms. “I’m not cold to you at all! You’re always ignoring me and you don’t even say hi anymore!” 

“Why does saying hi matter anymore?”

Your eyebrows shot up, confused. “The others say it… It’s not that hard Jin.”

“Why would you need me to say hi? You have Taehyung!” 

“Taehyung? Why is that even relevant!” 

“He calls you baby for god’s sake!” 

Finally, you wrenched your cold arm from Jin’s grip. His eyebrows were still slanted down in anger, eyes on fire.

“Why do you even care?!” You snapped.

“Because I love you!” 

Time slowed down, the light snow around you falling still. After a few seconds you got over the shock and your face went red. 

“L-love?” 

He finally realised what he said and covered his face with both hands. “N-no! I didn’t mean that…” 

You raised an eyebrow, the effort to look sassy slightly tainted by your red face. Still, since he was covering half his face in embarrassment, he wouldn't notice. “So you don’t love me? Pity..” 

“Wh-what? No.. I do love you.” He sighed, rage flowing out from the relief of his confession. It had been weighing on his mind for weeks, maybe months now. “But I didn’t mean to tell you like this.” 

You rushed forward, burying your head into his shirt, taking in his scent. You had always loved the way he smelt, but it felt like so long since you had been anywhere near this close to him. You sniffed into his shirt, trying to suppress the urge to cry. 

All this time you had been worrying that Jin actually hated you. That he didn’t like you at all. 

But it was the opposite. 

You frowned. “Jin?”

“Y-yeah?” His face was completely red, his arms hovering behind you awkwardly, as if he didn’t know where to put them. A gentleman at heart of course, even if sometimes he seemed too cocky for his own good.

“Why were you mean to me?” 

He looked away, flushed. “W-well, Yoongi began realising I liked you and I thought he would tell everyone… and then I thought you were dating Taehyung.”

“Dating Taehyung?” You asked, surprised by this news.”

He nodded. 

“Jin…”

He met your pure eyes, devoid of malice or unkindness.

“Taehyung's my best friend.” 

Before he could respond, you were interrupted. 

“Speaking of best friend Taehyung, he needs to be going.”

You both turned to see Taehyung standing at the bottom of the steps, car keys and phone in hand. Jin went red and slightly pushed you away from him. He looked away, fingers twiddling the others. 

“Jin hyung can you drop your girlfriend off at her house? I’m running really late for something important.” 

Jin went a deeper shade of crimson then he had been. “G-girlfriend..?”

You rolled your eyes at the stuttering man. “Yeah my boyfriend can. See you later Taehyung. I’ll text you when I’m home.”

Tae waved his goodbye, then got in his car and drove off. 

“So you’re my girlfriend, huh?” 

Without someone else there and the faded initial shock of his successful confession, Jin had gone back to his self confident self. 

Which was okay. You loved that side of him as well.

“Well.. yeah. Unless you don’t want to date me?” 

Jin smirked. “Of course I want to date you. I wouldn’t have confessed if I didn’t.” 

You giggled. “Your confession was unintentional.”

“Nothing is unintentional.” Jin said. 

You laughed. “Well I’m glad you did confess.” 

He smiled, bringing his hand under your chin, and the other to your waist, gripping you against his stiff, lean body. You caught your breath, lost in the deep, endless void of his eyes. It began to seem like you couldn’t pull away, like this was all you wanted. Your happy ending. The thing you had been dreaming of, even if you would never admit it.

“I’m glad too.”

His lips met yours in the middle, both of your urges surpassing their limits. Your hands grabbed  at his arms, keeping his hands on your face as he cupped your warm face with strength. 

Being so close to him felt like heaven. Relief washed through your mind. You had been worrying that Jin hated you, that he would never return your feelings. But you were wrong. He had liked you. The perfect guy, liked you. Your eyes fluttered open. His eyes were still closed, his lips pressing harder by the second on yours. You could see slight pores on his skin. You smiled into the kiss. Maybe not perfect. But his tiny flaws made him more realistic, made it easier for you to believe someone as beautiful as him had fallen in love with you.

Of course, you weren’t the only one whose mind was racing. Jin’s mind was racing at almost the same speed as his heart. He was ecstatic that you had responded to his kiss. No, you hadn't just responded. You had tried to kiss him at the same time too. His mind slowly faded from euphoria to worry. Did he look weird? Was he kissing right? It had been too long since he had kissed...

Jin tried not to pull away when he realised he probably still tasted like the beer he had had over an hour ago.

You pulled back first. Soft breaths fell from both of your mouths, unsure of what to say. 

“I’m sorry did I do something wrong or-”

Jin was forced to stop speaking when your lips crashed back onto his. He blinked for a few seconds before you stepped back. “Jin, that was amazing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Y-you’re not just lying to make me feel better?”

“Jin, that was the best kiss I’ve ever had. Not just because you’re amazing at kissing but because it just felt right.” 

He grinned, hands snaking back to grip your waist again. You let him pull your body to his. “That sounds cringy sweetheart.”

You smiled. “Sweetheart? What should I call you?”

“How about ‘handsome’?” Jin tried, ego forever ready to be boosted. 

You shook your head. “As handsome as you are, I’d prefer to call you something that won't make me want to look at you.”

He nodded slowly.

“How about baby?”

His face flushed instantly. “I-I’m older than you. And I’ve heard you call Taehyung that too… I want the name to be just for me.”

“I could stop calling him baby.” When Jin didn't respond, you tried again. “Honey?”

“Reminds me of food.”

“What about babe?”

He looked down at you, your eyes widened in feigned curiosity. He realised you were pulling his leg; leading him on. “Call me baby.”

He leant down, face hovering just above yours so you could see straight into his bright eyes that seemed to control you.