Jimin wakes up the next morning with a blinding headache and a pit in his stomach. He nearly forgets why until the vision of Jungkook standing in front of him, crying, comes flooding back to him.

Fuck.

He reaches for his phone, hoping there isn't a trace of Jungkook. Nothing. He lets out a sigh of relief, but the pit in his stomach grows.

The more he replays last night's events in his head, the angrier he becomes. Angrier at himself, at Jungkook, at Tyler, at the entire situation for playing out the way it did. Everything escalated so quickly, and he ended up spewing comments that he didn't even know he was capable of.

But Jungkook. Jungkook takes the cake for that one comment at the end, just before Jimin kicked him out. Every time Jimin thinks about it, he has to stop himself from punching a wall.

He's angry, so, so angry, in complete denial that he just broke up with Jungkook, the only sane thing in his life, and it doesn't occur to him until three nights later that he's currently caught between stages one and two of grieving. And fuck, if it doesn't feel all too familiar.

The first week is easy.

At least, that 's what Jimin tricks himself into thinking.

Seven days pass without hearing a single word from Jungkook and he's grateful. The heaviness in his chest eases with each passing hour. They've never gone this long without speaking since meeting, and though that fact is prominent in Jimin's mind, not speaking makes it easier to push forward and be okay.

Or act like he's okay. Whatever.

Tae calls him after class that Wednesday night, asking what the fuck happened.

"I dunno," Jimin says, picking at leftover pizza from the night prior. He tosses the crust onto the floor for Link. Jungkook always scolds him for that. "It just... Wasn't working."

"That's the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard."

"I don't know what to tell you, Tae. It's just over, okay?" He hopes Tae didn't catch the tremor in his voice.

Tae scoffs. "Get your shit together. His heart is absolutely broken. It's like watching you when Tyler died all over again."

Jimin nearly sees red. "Don't you dare compare a breakup of six months to my fucking marriage, you got that?" He hangs up, not caring what else Tae had to say.

He's done for the night.

A few days before Halloween, Jimin makes the executive decision to scrub Jungkook from his house. He wants to push through this breakup gracefully and with some dignity. So, he takes down pictures, bags up his clothing, and snaps and throws away Jungkook's ugly pair of 8 reading glasses he left on the nightstand. He does so with zero emotion, tying up each garbage bag with a blank look on his face and an empty mind.

It takes him over three hours, and by the time he's done, he doesn't feel any better. The hope was that cleansing the house of Jeon Jungkook would feel cathartic, would get rid of the itch inside of him that he can't seem to relieve.

Rather, he feels the same as he did before: stuck and void of any feeling other than... Lifeless.

It occurs to him while he's placing the third garbage bag by the front door that he hasn't left the house - with the exception of work and to walk Link around the neighbourhood - since the day Jungkook left. He vaguely remembers his therapist gently telling him after Tyler died that isolation was in the first phase of grieving.

Jimin swallows heavily. He is not grieving. This is not the same situation.

He grabs his phone and dials a number he knows by heart. A voice he's missed for way too long answers.

" Jimin? How are you, sweetheart?"

"Hi, Maggie." His eyes are already starting to well up. "I'm doing okay. I, um." He shuffles from one foot to the other, watching as Link scratches behind his ear. "I was wondering if we could take that raincheck for dinner now. Like, tonight, if you aren't busy."

Maggie clearly catches the desperation in his voice. "Are you okay? What's going on?"

He clears his throat. "It's nothing. I just feel shitty since I wasn't able to make it for Tyler's actual birthday dinner and wanted to see you guys as soon as possible."

Well, it's only half a lie.

"Of course, Min. There's a restaurant about halfway between us that Rich and I have been dying to try out, if you wanted to meet us there later tonight. Do you want us to invite Carly along, too?"

Jimin feels a new wave of guilt hit him. He hasn't spoken to Tyler's older sister in nearly a year. "Yes, ask Carly."

"Okay, baby. We'll see you around seven?"

"Perfect."

He says goodbye and hangs up, taking a deep breath, steadying himself against the wall, and only curses three times when he trips over the garbage bags filled with Jungkook's things on the way to the shower.

Sitting next to Tyler's family, Jimin feels like he can breathe for the first time in weeks. He's always been comfortable in their presence, like he belonged as a member of the family. Even with Tyler gone, it still feels all too familiar, and for that, he's grateful.

After long embraces, Jimin and the Wells family spend the next hour and a half mindlessly picking at Italian food, chatting about Carly's upcoming nuptials to her longterm boyfriend Ian, the addition to the kitchen Rich has been working on since March, and Jimin's new job.

It all feels so calm and familiar, so regular and happy, Jimin forgets he has anything wrong going on in his personal life.

Maggie picks her napkin up off of her lap and puts it on the table. "So, it's been almost three years."

Jimin looks down at his plate. "December first, yup."

She hums. "You know, that's an acceptable amount of time for you to... Start dating again, love."

He perks up at that. "Actually, I am. Jungkook." The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them.

Carly raises a brow. "Jeon?"

Fuck. What's he supposed to do now, say he's just kidding? He pushes his hair out of his eyes and decides to just roll with it. "Uh, yeah."

Her face breaks out into a smile and Jimin wants to die. "For how long?"

"Since about April." Let the lies keep on coming.

"Why didn't you bring him tonight?"

"Uh, he had something to do."

Maggie doesn't seem to catch his hesitation and her smile is watery when she clasps her hands together. "That is... God, Jimin. Tyler would be ecstatic to know that."

Would he be ecstatic to know I'm lying through my teeth right now? he thinks. "Really?" is what comes out instead.

"His favorite person is taking care of his favorite person," Maggie murmurs. "Of course he would be excited over that."

Jimin nods, his own tears coming. His head is starting to hurt. "I hope so," he whispers.

They stay at the restaurant for another hour, Jimin desperate to avoid Jungkook's name at every turn, and by the time he says goodbye and climbs into his car, his hands are trembling.