As Jimin makes his way up Hobi's front walkway, he thinks the same exact thought he has every single time he walks across the stone leading the the front door. Who would've thought Jung Hoseok would be the first one to own a home, get married and reproduce.
It's been two years since he married his college sweetheart Sarah, and four months since his daughter Emma was born. She's unbearably cute, with Hobi's eyes and Sarah's everything else, and Jimin can't help but turn to a puddle of goo whenever she's near.
He enters through the front door, beer in hand, and calls out, " Honey I'm home."
Hobi appears from down the hallway with a tiny baby strapped to his chest and Jimin bursts out laughing.
" Jimin, Shh, She's asleep."
" I'm sorry but this." he says, gesturing to Hobi standing in front of him, " Is a look."
He smiles, apparently missing the sarcasm, clearly stuck in his new dad bubble. " Thank you."
Jimin rolls his eyes. " Is Sarah home?"
Hobi shakes his head. " Nope, told her to go out and spend some time to herself."
" How Hobi of you."
" Shut up." The baby stats to squirm from inside the carrier, and Hobi kisses the top of her head, rubbing her back. Jimin will never admit how much he loves this new version if Hobi. Ever. " Tae's already here," he whispers, now that Emma has stopped moving. " Let's go."
Jimin follows Hobi down the hallway and into the living room, pregame coverage playing on the TV.
" Hey," Tae waves, other hand busy dipping a tortilla crisp into salsa.
" You're not." Hobi says, sitting down in the recliner, giving him a face. " I am."
Tae laughs and Hobi shoots him a look too. " Sorry I'll be quiet."
" That's better." Hobi mumbles.
Jimin turns to Tae. " Great atmosphere for a game, huh?"
" Okay, seriously, if your going to be a dick, you can just get out now," Hobi says, expression unwavering, and when Emma stirs again, he begins rubbing once more.
" I'm only teasing, Hoseok. I love that baby, more than I love you."
" Yeah, you'd better." He looks down at his chest, watching his daughter still her movements, breathing growing steady. " She's no problem, anyway. Emma's a good girl. She's so easy."
Jimin is absolutely kicking himself for not getting Hobi's last statement on video, because a mere 15 minutes later, Emma decided it was her time to shine, preventing Hobi from watching the entirety of the game. He's walking around the house, close to tears himself, bouncing her, trying to feed her, and telling Jimin and Tae to shut the fuck up every time they laugh hysterically at his frenzied state.
At halftime, Jimin points to Hobi over his shoulder and says to Tae, " Sucks to be Jung right now."
Tae smirks. " No shit."
" Can't even sit down to watch a game for a couple of hours."
He hums in agreement. " Yup, that's what happens when you have a family, I guess."
" Apparently."
Neither of them speak for a minute, both staring mindlessly at the TV. Eventually, Tae clears his throat.
" You'll have it one day."
" Have what?"
He waves his hands around. " This husband, baby chaos. You'll be so good at it."
Jimin frowns. " Who said I wanted that?"
Tae shrugs. " Okay, my mistake."
He takes a deep breath. " But what if I never get the opportunity again?"
" You will."
" I dunno sometimes." He reaches for his phone on the end of the table and scrolls mindlessly for a moment before he says, " I was so close you know? I was married and it was so fucking great and then he had to go and die on me. Like...if you wanted a divorce, just say so. You didn't have to die, you drama queen." His voice is dripping in sarcasm and Tae bursts out laughing.
" Right, that's how I remember it too. He died to get away from you." He taps his fingers on his knee. " Do you think your ready to date again? Like, do you ever get lonely?"
" I have dated." Jimin says, tucking a piece of hair behind his ear, avoiding Tae's question entirely.
He doesn't seem to notice. " One night stands with random guys from the bar doesn't count as dating."
" Okay, fine, I haven't dated, per, se, but..."
" But what?"
" Ugh, I'm fucking terrified, Tae."
Tae smiles. " Just focus on what makes you happy. It's not as scary as you think."
From behind them, Emma stops wailing and Jimin turns around to congratulate Hobi on finally figuring it out, but as it turns out, she was only taking a deep breath to projectile vomit all over her father.
" Honestly, just fuck me," Hobi says out loud to no one in particular, face covered in baby throw up.
Tae is howling, slapping his knee, and Jimin has tears in his eyes, and yeah, maybe he is ready.
Maybe.
He gets home around nine, rushing through the door to feed Link, who looks down right pissed that he took so long to get home, but all is forgiven once the food is poured into the metal bowl by the kitchen. Jimin falls down into his couch once Link is taken care of, mindlessly drawing shapes with his pointer finger onto the back cushion as he looks around the room.
His living room - and entire home, really - is decorated moderately well, considering he would live in a pair of sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt for every occasion if it was socially acceptable. The throw pillows on his couch match the drapes hanging over the bat window impeccably, the tweed sectional couch frames an antique coffee table that he loves, a wedding gift from Jungkook's parents, stands in the corner, draped in twinkly lights all year round, making the room feel cosy, just like Jungkook's mum had promised it would when it was delivered.
But his favourite part of the room was his least favourite just two years ago, ironically. To the left of the fireplace, a variety of picture frames are hanging, pictures of Jimin and the people he loves throughout the years. Most of the photos are of Jimin and Tyler in high school, with the exception of their wedding photo, and for the longest time, it hurt to even look in that direction. He can remember calling Jungkook about three months after the funeral, sobbing telling Jungkook to come over immediately and take them all down, because Jimin physically couldn't get himself to do it, but he needed them gone. Jungkook did come over, but he wouldn't remove them from the wall. Instead, he gripped Jimin's wrists in his own and told him how Beautiful his life with Tyler was, even though it was hard to see at the time. Jimin had slumped to the floor, nearly hyperventilating, and Jungkook sunk down with him, holding him and petting his hair, promising that one day, he'd be able to look at the wall without any tears and he'd be so glad Tyler was still in his living room, smiling and gorgeous.
And of course, Jungkook was right.
Jimin often finds himself staring at the group of photos, sometimes tracing along the edges of the frames with his fingers. He loves his family photos - his sisters have grown so much - and he smiles every time he sees the first picture he'd ever taken with Tyler, Jungkook, Hobi and Tae. The picture from his senior prom hurts, though, and so does his wedding photo, but he could never take them down.
They belong up there now, right above the hideous picture of himself and Jungkook from his first day of college, when Jungkook had insisted he helped move Jimin into his tiny dorm room. They were both sweaty from unpacking, cheeks pink, and Jimin and Jungkook in a headlock.
He sits up reaching for the remote control to turn the TV, but instead grabs his phone. He goes into his list of favourites and hits Jungkook's contact, even though he had the number memorised years ago.
Jungkook answers one the third ring.
" What's up?"
Jimin kicks his feet up over the edge of the couch, elevated in the air.
" I'm bored."
" It's like almost ten o'clock, and I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I can't come over right now."
" Did I ask you to come over?"
He snorts. " I don't know how I can help you then."
Jimin looks back at the pictures. " Do you remember moving me into school?"
" Your freshman year? Yeah, why?"
" I dunno." He scratches his jaw.
" Just thinking."
" You just happened to be thinking about an extremely nontrivial day in our friendship from almost ten years ago?"
" I changed my mind, I don't want to talk to you anymore."
Jungkook laughs. " So sweet to me."
" I know, I'm the greatest boyfriend you've ever had."
" No, you hang up first," he croons stupidly, crunching on something that sounds like a pretzel.
Jimin hangs up first.
He changed into Pajamas and the TV is blaring some stupid movie on HBO when a text from Jungkook comes through. It simply reads, Aww, love you too, Jimin replies by sending a picture of himself flipping the camera off.
And that's the end of that.