パンジー
summer

Jimin and Jungkook lay on the floor of the older's bedroom, holding miniature fans in front of their flushed faces. The younger had his eyes shut, lacking the energy to keep them open.

"How's the shop?" Jimin asked. He licked his dry lips, wishing his drink bottle was within arm's length. It was a few metres away, but those metres were too far for him to try and reach. Instead he would just have to suffer.

"It's alright. We've started doing promotions now, so I have to dance around in a bear suit." This made the the older laugh ー a choked, croaky sound that bubbled up inside a dry throat. He was really starting to consider moving to grab his drink.

"I bet you look like an idiot." He said as he slowly rolled over. He lay on his stomach for a few moments before rolling again. His drink bottle now lay next to him. The water inside wasn't as cold as it could be, but it still brought relief to his parched mouth and throat. After he'd rehydrated, he grabbed his fan and returned to trying to keep himself cool. In this time, Jungkook had gotten warmer and pulled his shirt off. It now lay in a heap at the bottom of the older's bed.

"I think I probably look like a sexy idiot. The bear suit was cute." The younger responded. He then breathed in deeply, drawing Jimin's attention to his bare chest. The older had always worried about his friend; his old, almost obsessive habits of spending most of his free time in the gym had made Jimin worry that he might turn into one of the those massive bodybuilder-type people. Not that the male cared that much about what his friend looked like ー but Jungkook had been a tiny little thing when in high school and the older had always found it endearing. Just the sight of him would make him want to tightly hug him. Then as they grew up skinship, especially with another male, began to repel the boy.

But things to be better now. Jungkook was spending more time at the flower shop and less time at the gym. His 'my body is a temple' mindset seemed to have gone too. So Jimin was grateful for the shop and florists that worked there, and the overpowered his jealousy.

"Does Taehyung have to wear a bear suit too?" The younger shook his head.

"He spent the day running around town, handing out little arrangements. He complained when he got back about how hot and tiring it was, but then he started going on about some boys he'd chatted with so it mustn't have been too bad. Apparently they were cute, and thought he was a girl."

"Is he gay or...?"

"Yeah, he's a pansy." Jungkook chuckled. "Pun intended."

"You're an idiot." Jimin said in response to the boy's joke. He rolled his eyes, although a smile was still present in his lips.

"A sexy idiot though." It only took one glance at Jungkook as he lay stretched out on the floor, topless and sweaty, for Jimin to agree with that statement.

But instead of agreeing and increasing the boy's confidence or cockiness, Jimin just reached over and lightly shoved his friend, saying, "You wish."

ーー＊ーー

After slothing around at Jimin's house for a few more hours, the pair ended up going to Jungkook's house. The older stayed the night, binge-watching movies late into the evening. They fell asleep during some cheesy American movie that the younger had protested against but given into Jimin's insistence. The older was in the mood for some idealised, light-hearted romance at the time.

When they woke up, they showered and dressed. Jungkook then tried to make pancakes but he was unsuccessful. Jimin ended up having to step in, managing to salvage the last few attempts. They ate their limited fill and, when they'd finished, there was a knock at the door.

Jungkook was surprised to see Taehyung at the door, a helmet on his head and another in his hand.

"You're not coming to the shop today." The florist said in response to the younger's confused expression. "There's another festival on and I triple checked all the weather reports: there won't be any rain and it's one of the coolest days of the week ー perfect for a bike ride. Oh! You have a guest."

Jungkook glanced over to see Jimin standing behind him. The brunette nodded his head at the florist, a polite smile on his lips.

"Jimin, this is Taehyung; Taehyung, this is Jimin, my high school friend."

"I didn't know you had friends!" Taehyung exclaimed before shaking the older male. He smiled at Jimin. He's so pretty, Jimin thought as his petite hand curled around his own small, stubby one. He felt self-conscious standing beside this male, his mind automatically picking out what he believed to be his flaws. The pink-haired male seemed to be flawless, even with his heightened femininity. "But I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. If I'd known, I would've wandered around for a bit more. I can do that now, anyway; I saw this cool looking shop on the way here I can go check out."

"Oh, no, it's fine. I was planning on leaving soon anyway." Jimin piped up before the youngest could say anything. He then turned to Jungkook. "I was going to go meet Hoseok at the dance rooms and then we're going out to lunch anyway. I should probably go now so I'm not late."

"Oh, okay." And there was the jealousy again. Jungkook pushed it down, knowing he was going to go hang out with Taehyung anyway. He couldn't be too hypocritical. "Have fun with that then. Is there anything you need to grab before you go?"

"Can I grab a hug?" The brunette asked half-jokingly. He grinned as he watched the younger grow awkward and quiet, obviously suffering some inner turmoil over whether or not he should hug the older male. In the end he gave him a half-hug, a quick patting of the back essentially. Still, it was the most he was probably going to get from Jungkook and he accepted that. "Then that's all I need. Have a fun bike ride."

"Alright. Have fun with Hoseok." The last few uneaten pancakes lay forgotten on the table as Jungkook closed the door behind them. He accepted the second helmet from Taehyung and pulled it on his head as he walked down the path. When they reached the nature strip, he waved goodbye to Jimin and turned his attention to the florist, who was now walking over to two bikes that lay on the ground. "You brought two bikes here?"

"Yeah, it was difficult." Taehyung admitted as he lifted the first one. He brought it over the the brunette. "But I managed. Was that a surprise visit?"

"Surprise?" Jungkook asked as he took the larger of the two bikes. He then also accepted the helmet and pulled it on ー grateful it fit. The rose-haired male nodded.

"Yeah, like, did you not plan to have him over? Because he didn't need to grab anything... Just seemed a bit strange."

"Oh, well, it was kind of unplanned. One of us was going to stay at the other's, we just weren't sure which one." The pair pushed themselves onto their bikes and started pedalling down the street. "But Jimin has a toothbrush and some clothes at my place, I have some of my own things at his. We figured it was easier given how often we used to visit each other."

"How long have you two know each other?"

"I've known him my whole life. Our mums were best friends ー still are, to some degree ー and when they were younger they planned to make sure their kids were the same." Jungkook explained as they began their bike ride to the festival. "Both of them got pregnant around the same time, but Mum had a miscarriage. Jimin was born, but then there was a gap before Mum tried again and had me. Jimin's like a brother to me..."

"I'm sorry about the miscarriage... But you two seem cute." The younger shrugged as best he could on the bike. Taehyung smiled at him, going unnoticed as the brunette kept his gaze ahead. He watched Jungkook for a few seconds more before he too turned his gaze to the front and concentrated on riding down the street. The creaks of the bikes filled in the silence the fell between them, mixing in with the background noise of the day.

Despite Taehyung claiming it was the coolest day of the week, it didn't take long for the two florists to heat up and become tired. Jungkook could feel his shirt sticking to his back, and felt disgusting as he began worrying about it. A quick glance at Taehyung told him his friend was in a similar state, but it didn't ease his anxiety. They continued on, however, and because of that arrived at the festival early.

The displays were still setting up as the pair rode up to the park. They rested there for a few minutes in the shade of a tree, unfortunately unable to escape the heat even in the shadow. When they felt a little bit of their energy returning, they got back on their bikes and started riding again. Jungkook wasn't quite sure where they were, but based off the way the older led them around he assumed Taehyung did. The pink haired male led them to a small shop selling watermelon slices, and they then bought two.

Sitting on the edge of the pathway, they ate the slices. The watermelon was cool and it didn't take long for the pair to begin feeling more refreshed. After buying and eating another two slices, they decided it was probably time to head back to the park and see if things had started yet.

Jungkook should have been paying attention to the summer flowers and the elaborate displays the florists had with them. He should have been focusing on the very thing they'd rode there for. But he couldn't. He was too distracted by the way Taehyung was leading him around, his hand intertwined with his own. It was a tiny thing, really, to be worried about, but the younger couldn't help but stare at their hands and feel self-conscious.

For starters, it was a hot day and his hands were starting to get sweaty. He could notice it, Taehyung probably could too. And on top of that, he kept thinking about what others might think. What if they thought the pair were together? What if they misinterpreted what was really happening here? These thoughts worried him enough to almost want to pull his hand away.

But he didn't. Because, even though his hands probably felt gross, the older male's certainly didn't. They felt nice enough for the brunette to choose to continue holding his hand rather than stop and escape the potential judgement.

"Ooh~! This one looks nice." Taehyung said, pulling the younger over to a display that had caught his eye. Jungkook couldn't quite make sense of it; it looked like a pile of neatly arranged flowers ― it probably was a pile of neatly arranged flowers. A woman sat in the centre of it, dressed up so she almost blended in with the rest of it. The younger florist almost felt sorry for her, figuring it was probably hot in her costume. But when she smiled at them, he subtly hid himself behind the older, more friendly male. "Look how colourful it is, Kookie."

"It's, uh, very colourful." Jungkook repeated rather awkwardly.

"I wish I could make things like this... I'd make them in my front garden and have them set up until they die, then I'd replace them with new ones."

"You'd probably go through a lot of flowers..."

"Oh! Even better: I'll make one out of live flowers―"

"Aren't all flowers live?" The brunette muttered.

"―like, they'd be planted in the ground and grow, and I'd have to trim them to make sure they didn't go out of control. But it'd be cool!" This fantasy seemed to please the older male, and he smiled rather happily for a few moments as he looked off into the distance. Jungkook watched him, not wanting to burst this mood but also not knowing what to do. He, thankfully, didn't have to worry about this for much longer, as Taehyung was soon distracted by another flower and rambling on about how 'clever the use of pansies were'.

――＊――

By the time they'd gotten to Jungkook's house, the pair were thoroughly worn out. Taehyung didn't leave straight away. Instead they ended up crashing on the crouch, intending to watch some television but not having the energy to grab the remote. They lay on the couch, with Jungkook's head resting against Taehyung's shoulder.

Mrs Jeon walked through while they were nearly falling asleep and smiled fondly at the sight. She crept in, lightly pushing on Jungkook to wake him up. Her son looked sleepily up at her, a confused look on his face.

"Do you want me to get any snacks or drinks? Or I can put the air-conditioner on, if it's too hot..." She whispered, carefully not to wake the rose-haired florist up. Jungkook just shook his head, a small frown on his brow. She nodded and he settled his head back down, too tired to even care about the fact he was snuggling closer to his friend. He was back to sleep within minutes.

――＊――

note : I've started really wanting to finish this story, which sucks