I stood there for a second and stared at Taehyung's outstretched hand before realizing that I was being rude. Placing my own hand in his, I voiced my curiosity.
"How did you guys even find this place?"
Taehyung pulled his hand from mine and laughed, the sound filling up the hallway.
"We didn't. Originally we all lived separately, you know? But after our meeting today, we were told that they wanted us to live together and told us to start moving our things into here. You think they would've mentioned that you live next door."
I wish they would've at least gave me a warning.
I didn't voice my thoughts to Taehyung, though. That probably would have hurt his feelings. Instead, I just nodded. It's not that I was against having neighbors, I just liked my privacy. And living next to people I worked with took away some of that.
Taehyung leaned his tall frame against the wall, smiling at me.
"Anyway, I didn't just come over here to introduce myself to my new neighbor."
I looked at him, raising my eyebrows slightly. Seeing the question in my eyes, he continued on.
"I came to ask you for a favor, hyung. Of course, I didn't know you lived here but now it makes it easier to ask because we already know you," Taehyung smiled at me before continuing on, "We need some things from the store but none of us have any idea where it is. Would you mind taking one of us and showing us the way?"
I thought about his request. I wasn't really in the mood to go back out, but I thought it would be rude to leave them stranded. Maybe they needed something important.
"Yeah, that's fine. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be ready to go."
Taehyung's smile widened at my agreement. Pushing off the wall, he stood back up.
"Awesome! Just come knock when you're ready," he said, waving at me before walking back to his apartment.
Closing the door, I moved back into the living room. I picked up my dishes from lunch and set them back in my sink. I grabbed my cell phone, checking the weather. Seeing that it was a relatively warm afternoon, I sighed. I was happy I didn't want to have to walk in the cold. I had my license and a car, but the store wasn't far so it would just be a waste to drive there. I put on my shoes and coat before finally slipping my sunglasses over my eyes.
I locked the door behind me. Walking down the hall, I knew Jimin was close by as color started leaking into my surroundings. The process would never cease to amaze me. With every step forward, color slowly started to seep in to the objects around me, starting out faded until eventually everything was vibrant. I reached out my hand to touch the wall, recognizing the color as purple since I looked it up this morning. It was a darker shade than Namjoons hair, but it was beautiful nonetheless.
Coming to their room, I saw that the door was already open. Carefully walking around the boxes placed outside their door, I started to hear voices. I was never one for eavesdropping, but it was hard to ignore the voices drifting out from the open door.
"You lost the game, Jimin! You have to go, that's the rules," I heard Jungkook say.
"I know that was the agreement, but you don't get it. I can't go with him. It would be super awkward guys," Jimin cried, making me recall the reason for our so-called "awkwardness". I once again regretted rejecting him as harshly as I did.
"Why, Jimin? Cause you asked him out and he said no? Can you blame the guy? You've known him for like what, 24 hours? How can you go out with someone after that much time, huh," Taehyung's harsh tone carried out to me, showing his frustration. I was surprised at the anger in his tone. I hadn't known Taehyung very long, but he gave the impression of a cheerful person.
I knocked on the door frame, interrupting whatever Jimin was about to say. I heard footsteps approaching and then the maknae of the group stepped into the entryway with Taehyung following behind him.
"Yoongi-hyung!" Jungkook said, excitement filling his voice.
He wouldn't be so excited to see me if he knew that I just heard everything they said.
I pushed the thought away. I needed to keep my eavesdropping a secret. I shouldn't have listened in to their conversation at all, it was rude of me.
"Jimin will be going with you, if that's alright," I nodded and Jungkook smiled in response.
Taehyung clapped his hands together. "Great. Well he should be out any second," He looked behind him, his voice hinting at his impatience.
While I waited for Jimin, I took a moment to look at the two in front of me. They had the same color hair. The color seemed to be similar to that of mine and Jimin's eyes, but it was a lighter shade. Jungkooks hair was parted in the middle, showing a bit of his forehead. Taehyungs hung down, the light strands covering his eyebrows, which were furrowed in frustration at the moment.
"Where is he," Taehyung whispered to himself before turning around.
"Jimin, Yoongi-hyung is here! Time to go," Taehyung yelled into the apartment, the sound echoing off the walls of their mostly-empty living room.
I heard the shuffling of feet on carpet and knew that Jimin was coming.
"Sorry, I couldn't find my phone," Jimin said as he rounded the corner, finally coming into view.
Taehyung nodded, but looked suspicious, "You have the list?"
Jimin nodded and pulled a slip of paper from his jacket pocket, waving it in Taehyung's face. Taehyung frowned at him, ushering him out the door before he and Jungkook disappeared back into the apartment.
Jimin stood in front of me, suddenly very interested in the floor. Ignoring his obvious discomfort, I started to walk towards the stairs.
"The store's about a 10 minute walk from here," I said, looking behind me to make sure Jimin was following before pushing open the door to the stairwell.
The sound of our steps echoed off the concrete walls of the silent stairwell, neither one of us speaking. I made no move to break the silence and neither did Jimin. I walked into the lobby and held the door for Jimin, who mumbled a quiet thank you before brushing past me.
Following him out of the building, my breath caught in my throat. All around me was a sea of color. I found myself wishing that Namjoon was here so I could ask him what each one was called. Pulling out my phone, I snapped a picture of the sky. I quickly sent the picture to Namjoon, asking him what the light color behind the clouds was. I knew he was on a date and I felt kind of bad for interrupting it, but my regret was quickly overshadowed by my own awe.
I had all but forgotten that Jimin was there until he tapped my shoulder. My face grew hot from my embarrassment. I had just gotten completely carried away and Jimin probably thought I was crazy now.
Turning away from him, I started walking, "This way. Don't get lost."
We walked in silence, my thoughts too preoccupied by our surroundings for me to initiate a conversation. If Jimin minded, he didn't say anything. Lost in my thoughts, I walked almost on autopilot, my body taking the turns to the store without much conscious thought from me.
Once we arrived, Jimin went inside to shop while I sat on a bench outside, content to just look around a little longer. As I watched the people bustling about on the street, my phone dinged and a silly picture of Namjoon in cat ears popped up on my screen. I unlocked my phone and opened his messages:
"With a certain pink haired boy again are we? ;)"
"BTW, the sky is blue. Clouds are white. The sun is yellow. Now shoo, I'm on a date."
Blue, I thought, looking up at the sky, finally able to put a name with the color. I was a bit embarrassed that I didn't know the names of colors at my age, but it's a bit hard to learn them when everything just looks like different shades of gray to you. Back when Namjoon first learned that I was color blind, he kept bringing me different items and asking what color I saw it as. We were children so he quickly became frustrated when I always answered gray, then he would return with another item.
One day he brought me a pen and when I answered that it was black, he exclaimed that I could see colors and called me a liar. I had gone home crying that evening. When my mother heard what happened, she had taken us over to Namjoon's families house to explain. I still remembered the wonder on his face as my mother explained to him what Achromatopsia was. Namjoon had loved gaining knowledge even as a child, so after that he was fascinated with my eyesight.
I chuckled, remembering the rocky start to our friendship. Looking at us now, you would never think we started off with him making me run home crying.
A shadow fell over me, breaking me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see Jimin standing in front of me, shopping bags in hand. Standing, I took some from him.
"You don't have to do that, hyung. I can carry them," Jimin said.
"Aw so he does speak," I sighed, causing his eyebrows to furrow, "Don't worry about it. I'd just feel bad if I made you carry them all."
I started walking back towards home, hearing Jimin's footsteps quickly approaching from behind me. When he was right beside me, I tried to make conversation with him.
"So how's the new apartment?"
Jimin laughed dryly, "I love Taehyung and Jungkook, don't get me wrong. But living with them is gonna be crazy. Jungkook's always playing games and they're constantly flirting. I'm gonna be a third wheel in my own house," Jimin sighed.
"They're a couple?" I asked, unable to hide the surprise from my voice.
"Not yet," Jimin laughed, "But they might as well be. Instead they're in denial."
"Ah, I know what you mean," I thought back to how Jin and Namjoon used to be, feeling sympathy for Jimin. I hated even going out with them back then, I couldn't imagine what it would be like living with them.
"Yeah. I try to tell them to just get together already. But they're so stubborn," he shrugged his shoulders.
I laughed. "Don't worry, it will happen eventually. And when it does, you can boast about how you knew it before even they did."
After that we fell into an easy conversation, going back and forth about his new roommates and work. Though the walk to the store had been quiet, the walk home was the complete opposite.
When we finally arrived back at his door, I was almost sad to part ways. Handing his bags back to him, I waved goodbye and walked down the hall to my door.
Unlocking my door, I walked back into the comforting silence of my own apartment. Removing my shoes and coat, I walked into the living room. Sinking into the soft cushions of my couch, I let myself think back on what all I had felt today.
Suddenly inspiration hit me. I shot up from the couch, quickly making my way to the door of my studio. I shut the door behind me, booted up my computer, and lost myself in the music I was making.
I had been cooped up in my studio for hours when I heard a knock at my front door. Removing my headphones, I stood up, my legs shaky from sitting for so long. As I walked across the living room, I heard another knock. As I drew closer, I didn't even have to question who it was as color once again seeped into my vision.
I opened the door, not surprised to see Jimin standing there. His cheeks lifted as he smiled at me, still looking a little uncertain.
"Hi, hyung! I was wondering if I could ask you for another favor?" Jimin asked.
"What is it?"
"Well you see, um, I bought this earlier at the store -" he brought out a box of hair dye"- but Tae and Jungkook refuse to do it for me, saying they're afraid of staining their hands. Would you mind doing it for me? You can come over to my place if you want, if you don't wanna run the risk of ruining your stuff."
I stepped to the side, stretching my arm out behind me to motion to my living room.
"You're already here so might as well just come in and do it here. I don't really care about staining my stuff. What color is that anyway?"
"Orange," Jimin informed me, as he walked into the entryway.
Orange, I thought, making a mental note in the back of my head to remember the name of the color.
I led Jimin to the kitchen since it was the one place that didn't have white carpet. I had chosen this apartment because of it's monochrome color scheme and a splash of orange on my carpet would definitely be noticeable.
I pulled out a chair, motioning for him to sit down. When he did as I said, I went to the closet and found the towel we had used for Namjoon to dye my hair. I had kept it just in case we decided to do it again, a decision I was now happy I made. I draped the towel over his shoulders before walking to the bathroom to grab vaseline.
Returning to the kitchen, I moved to stand behind Jimin. He handed me the box of dye and I placed it on the table beside the vaseline. Dipping my fingers into the vaseline, I grimaced at the slimy feeling of it.
"I'm going to put vaseline on your skin to keep the dye from staining it," I warned.
"That really works?"
"Yeah, Namjoon does it for me when he does my hair."
"Wow," Jimin said, wonder in his voice.
I placed the vaseline on Jimin's ears and around his hairline, a shiver coming over him as I touched his warm skin with the cool balm. I wiped my hands off on the towel, then opened the box to retrieve the gloves that would protect my hands.
"Since we're going darker, we don't have to bleach my hair first right?"
"I don't think so -" I look over the box just to make sure "- seems like the dye already has the bleaching chemicals in it, so you should be okay."
Jimin nodded, getting comfortable in the chair while I mixed the dye as the box instructed. I lightly pull Jimin's head back so I can have easy access to the front of his hair. I apply some dye to his hair then run my fingers through the soft locks, spreading it evenly through his hair. Jimin relaxes as I massage his scalp, a soft sigh escaping his lips.
It's a shame he's getting rid of the pink. I hope the orange looks as good on him.
The thought surprises me. Why should I care what color his hair is? I focus on my hands, working to keep my thoughts in check. Once I had evenly coated his hair, I pulled the supplied shower cap over his hair.
I giggled at the sight of Jimin in the shower cap. He looked like a little old lady. As I laughed at him, Jimin's face showed his curiosity.
"Why are you laughing at me?"
"You... You look... like an old lady," I finally got out between laughs.
Jimin's cheeks flushed as his embarrassment settled in.
"Yeah..well... well you act like an old man," he said quietly, trying to have a good comeback.
It did not have its desired effect though, all it did was cause me to laugh harder. Once my laughing fit had subsided, I motioned for Jimin to follow me out to the living room. Plopping down on the floor, I patted the space beside me. As Jimin sat down, I turned the TV on. Handing him the remote, I told him to choose whatever he wanted. He turned on some animated movie and we settled in to wait for the timer to go off.
When the timer finally went off, we were so into the movie that we jumped at the sudden noise. Laughing at ourselves, I led Jimin to the guest bathroom. I showed him where all the towels were and brought him a hair dryer for after he got out, then I left him alone to shower.
As I shut the door, I heard the sound of the shower running. I made my way back to my studio, needing to save my work just in case something happened. Of course I got carried away once I got in there. I lost track of time listening to the melody of my new song and almost died of a heart attack when I heard a voice behind me.
"So this is where you were. I've been looking for you. What is this room anyway?"
I turned around to look at Jimin, ready to yell at him for scaring me, and lost all my will to yell at him. I had been worried for no reason apparently, as the new hair color looked great on him.
Jimin watched as I stared at him, emotions flitting across his face too quickly for me to put a name to them. Pulling my eyes away from him, I finally answered his question.
"This is my studio. This is where I do all my work."
"Don't you do that from the company building," he asked, confusion filling his voice.
"No, I only go there to meet with trainees and for special occasions. The company and I have a... understanding. So I do most of it from home."
Jimin nodded, thankfully not asking any further questions. Running his fingers through his newly colored locks, he smiled at me.
"So what do you think? Does it look good?"
"I thought the pink looked good, but, surprisingly, this looks even better," I said automatically, not thinking. As the words left my mouth, I regretted them. My face started to get hot from embarrassment.
Jimin looked at me, his eyes thoughtful.
"Yoongi, hyung. I wanted to apologize for the other day," he said, unusually serious, "I shouldn't have asked you out. Of course you would say no, you haven't known me very long."
I opened my mouth to speak, but apparently Jimin wasn't done yet.
"I just wanted you to know though, that I'm not giving up," he gave me a devilish grin before continuing, "You told me that you didn't want a boyfriend. Well I'll keep working until one day you do. For now, we can just be friends. But one day, you'll be mine. Thank you for helping me today."
I stood there, frozen after his confession, as he turned and walked away, bidding me goodbye. When I heard the front door open and close, I thought of his words.
"One day you'll be mine."
What did I get myself into?
