When he pulls up to the front of his house ten minutes later, the first thing that he notices in the darkness is that the gate is wide open. Jimin gets out of the car carrying as many bags as he can hold and tries to peer into the backyard, but it's too fucking dark. He can't see a damn thing. It would help if the porch light was on, he thinks bitterly to himself.
"Link?" Jimin calls out. He doesn't hear any rustling in the backyard at all. He drops the bags on the front steps and jogs around back. "Link!" he tries again.
Nothing.
"Fuck!" he yells out. "Link!"
Jimin frantically runs inside, yanking open several draws in the kitchen to look for a flashlight. He comes up empty until he remembers Jungkook had put them in the nightstand next to the bed a few months ago. His argument was, "Well, what happens if the power goes out in the middle of the night and you can't see anything? You'll be happy you aren't rummaging through drawers filled with knives in the kitchen looking for one."
"Shut up, Jungkook," Jimin had said. He also says it out loud again now.
He heads back outside, still calling Link's name, shining the flashlight in every which direction. No Link. Shit, shit, shit.
Before he can talk himself out of it, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, dialing Jungkook's number with shaky hands.
" Min?" Jungkook asks after the second ring. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
Jimin hates that Jungkook has to assume something's wrong for Jimin to be calling him. How could this much have possibly changed in just four weeks? "No, I'm not, I'm..." His voice doesn't sound like his own and his teeth are chattering together. It's not even that cold yet.
" Jimin, calm down, what's wrong?"
"I can't calm down, because Link got out and I wasn't home and the latch was undone and that stupid fucker Matt from the grocery store wouldn't stop hitting on me and it's so dark out and I can't see anything and I can't find my dog and I'm freaking out."
The amount of times he's cried in the past month is bordering insanity, at this point. And he can't stop it from coming now, either.
"I'm coming." He doesn't add anything else, and he hangs up.
Jimin lets out a pathetic whimper and pockets his phone, calling out Link's name again, shrill and loud, and his throat is already hoarse.
He's still screaming Link's name, walking in aimless circles, when he hears the familiar rumble of the Jeep coming up behind him. He turns around as Jungkook is climbing out, holding the biggest flashlight Jimin has ever seen and he can't help but run right to him, barreling into his arms.
Jungkook wraps his arms around him on instinct, petting his hair, whispering, "We'll get him. It's okay. Come on, let's go. He's probably down the trail behind your house. Did you look there yet?"
Jimin's shoulders are shaking and he can't bring himself to pull away or answer any questions, so he squeezes tighter and stays silent.
He has to bite his tongue to stop from saying how much he missed the smell of Jungkook's t-shirts and aftershave, the way his arms tighten around him. Jungkook doesn't force him away and continues to rub his hands up and down Jimin's back. Jimin thinks he could stand here all night, Link be damned.
Link.
He forces himself to step back and he looks up, meeting Jungkook's gaze for the first time, and he looks like hell. His eyes are bloodshot, the circles under his eyes are purple, his flyaways out of control. He can't stop staring; his face is perfect and Jimin hates him for it. "Thank you for helping me find my stupid dog."
Jungkook's smile is forced and lopsided. "Haven't found him yet."
Jimin swallows. "Let's go, then."
They traipse through the property together, Jungkook's flashlight nearly blinding compared to Jimin's and Jungkook leads once they get to the trail. It connects to most of the houses on his street and at the end of the trail, there's a small pond. Jimin knows, logically, that Link hasn't drowned in the water, that he's probably trotting through Mrs. Bradley's bed of roses again, but he can't keep his thoughts from going there, anyway.
" Jimin, he's okay," Jungkook says, breaking the silence, as if he can read Jimin's thoughts.
He shrugs, breathing heavily. "But what if something happened and it's my fault because I didn't close the gate all the way? He never runs away, ever. And it's my fault and..."
Jungkook grabs his hand and squeezes briefly before he lets go. "He is fine."
Jimin believes him.
They keep moving, shining their lights through bushes and leaves, Jimin shouting Link's name until he physically can't anymore, and that's when Jungkook clears his throat.
"Hey. Min. Look over there." He aims his flashlight at the base of a pine tree, and Jimin nearly cries when he sees a mound of white and brown fur.
He surges forward, dropping down onto his knees in front of a sleeping Link and puts his forehead against the dog's. "What the fuck are you doing?!" he cries, voice raw and scratchy.
Link opens his eyes and pants, rolling over onto his back, and Jimin thinks he actually might drown him in the pond.
"Link, you brat," Jungkook says from behind him, and upon hearing his voice, Link sits up immediately.
"Oh, sure, that's fair, move for him," Jimin mumbles, making room for Link to scramble over to Jungkook, knocking into him.
"I missed you," Jungkook says, rubbing Link all over. "Missed you so much." Link is panting so hard, it looks like he's smiling, that son of a bitch.
Jimin has to look away, can't even stand it.
He hadn't noticed that Jungkook was carrying a leash, or dog cookies, for that matter, but suddenly, Link is clipped up and eating happily and Jimin wants nothing more than to drag him home and crawl back into Jungkook's arms for the remainder of the night. The worst part, Jimin thinks, is that if he asked, Jungkook would let him.
They walk back to Jimin's house silently, branches and leaves crunching beneath their feet, Link looking back every so often to make sure they're still following.
Jimin checks his phone and sees that it's nearly eight o'clock; they'd been looking for hours. Jungkook never complained once.
The house comes back into sight, and Jimin grabs Jungkook's arm. They both stop walking. "Wanna come inside?"
Jungkook looks pained. "Ah, I wish I could, Min but..."
"But..."
"But, like, I don't know."
"Solid answer." Jungkook smiles briefly, obviously uncomfortable, so Jimin barrels on. "Jungkook, you just spent the past five days looking for my dog after... all the shit over the past month. Shit on my end, anyway, so I'm assuming it was shit for you, too."
Jungkook nods after a moment, like a silent agreement, and then snorts. "Five days, huh?"
"Feels like it." Jungkook looks down at the ground, brows furrowed. " Kook, let me just get you a fucking beer, okay? It'll make this much less awkward."
He laughs and it's a real one and Jimin is so, so glad. "Yeah, okay."
They get inside and Jungkook lingers by the door with his hands in his pockets, biting his bottom lip. Jimin can't bear to look at him, standing so out of place like that, so he goes into the kitchen, praying he actually has a beer to give him. He comes up with a two bottles that he's pretty sure Jungkook bought himself a few months ago and Jimin hopes he won't notice.
"You can, like, come in," Jimin says, gesturing toward the living room.
Jungkook nods, face turning red. "I'll come in." He saunters over and takes the beer, breathing deeply. "I hate this."
"I think you bought it, though? I can look to see if I have anything else but I'm thinking you're out of luck."
"No," Jungkook says, waving his hand around. " This. That I don't know how to act in here."
Jimin slumps down onto the couch, leaving room for Jungkook, and he sits down beside him. "I hate it, too."
It's quiet while they both sip at their drinks, they only noise coming from Jimin's fingers as they drum on his knee and Jungkook's foot as it taps on the floor. Jimin's at a loss for what to say when Jungkook looks over and smirks.
"So, Matt's still in love with you, huh?"
Jimin laughs. "He wants the goods."
"I bet."
They sit in silence again before Jimin grabs the remote to the TV - anything to make this less weird - and he stops flipping through the channels when he lands on an old episode of Friends. He takes a long sip of his beer, trying to work up the courage to tell Jungkook he could power through this awkward stage to get their friendship back up to what it used to be, if it's at all possible, because his chest physically aches with how badly he misses Jungkook. He'll take him in whatever way he can have him. But when he looks up, Jungkook's expression has gone slack, eyes unmoving, and Jimin realises with a sinking feeling in his gut that Jungkook has noticed the half empty wall of photos.
Jungkook places his nearly full bottle of beer on the coffee table in front of him. "This is nothing about you, Min, I'm just really tired and wanna head home, okay? Glad Link is safe." He pats Jimin on the knee and Jimin lets his head drop to the back of the couch.
He stands up and makes his way to the front door, and Jimin glances over just in time to see Jungkook flip on the front porch light.
Jimin gets a text about an hour later. It's from Jungkook- his first text from him in an agonizingly long time - and it simply reads,
"Don't forget your shopping on the front porch Matty would be heartbroken if he knew how poorly you were treating his products."
He nearly chokes when he reads it, but the smile comes immediately afterward, and he feels better than he has in days.