Chapter Index; Better

chapter index; better

after the passing of your mother, you find solace and happiness through your friendship with Park Jimin. Everyone can see the strong magnetic pull between the two of you, except, well, the two of you.

The friendship with Jimin became a lifeline, a connection to the normalcy that felt lost after your mother’s passing. However, once you see the sparks ignited, you have to learn how to grieve and to love whether or not your best friend stays in your life.

pairing | park jimin x reader

genre |  fluff, angst, slow burn short story

wordcount | 29,029

↳   1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 8 || 9 [completed]

a/n: i will admit that i wrote this when i was super young but i loved writing so excuse my attempts of being funny and cringe. 

Hiyaa, will you finish Better? It’s such an amazing story to be incompleted. I hope you can find it in yourself to complete it and bless us one day. Hwaiting💪

hellooo! thank you for reading! <3 i finished both series, better and too young :) i hope you enjoy reading them.

jungkook and jimin making sure taehyung won’t fall 🥺

hoseok @ ptd on stage soundcheck

better || nine

summary: life with your best friend, park jimin can't get any better than this :)

word count: 1235

genre: bestfriend!jimin, college!au, bestfriends to lovers!au - fluff

one || two || three || four || five || six || seven || eight || nine

“Took you guys long enough,” Taehyung said, opening the door to let you and Jimin enter their apartment. “You guys have no idea how long we’ve been waiting.” 

Before you could comment that they made it to the apartment twenty minutes after everyone else, you noticed all the guys and Tiffany gathered in the living room, sitting in a circle as if they were going to play duck duck goose. There were two visible pillows close to each other, probably for you and Jimin’s placement seats. 

“What is this?” Jimin asked, lightly tossing his black suit jacket onto the couch. He then grabbed your coat from you, settling it down on top of his. “Are you guys starting a cult in here? Should I turn off the lights and get the candles?” 

Sitting down, you noticed Taehyung had disappeared from the room. “Why did Tae just leave?”

“You’ll see,” Joon said. “Everyone has been waiting for this moment.” 

Taehyung came out of his room, holding a brown briefcase in one hand. He placed the briefcase in the middle of the circle. You and Jimin exchanged puzzling looks with each other, not understanding what was happening while everyone else was giggling in excitement to see the contents of the briefcase.

“Can you kill my curiousity and explain what is going on?” You asked.

“We may or may not have been placing bets on when you two would finally realize you're madly in love with each other,” Tiffany mumbled under her breath, avoiding eye contact with you. “Because EVERYONE knew you guys weren’t just best friends.” 

Your cheeks were flushing with embarrassment as everyone else agreed with Tiffany with mischievous grins on their faces. “You cannot be serious.” 

“Do you want to read the rules and agreement?” Taehyung asked, unfolding a piece of paper from his back pocket. He handed the piece of paper to you and Jimin to look at.

“You carry that around with you everywhere you go?” Jimin asked, raising his eyebrow. "Just in that back pocket?"

“Well, where else am I going to put it?”

You wanted to shout that he didn’t need to keep it on time at all, but you had already looked down at the paper, surprisingly impressed at how it was written as if it were a real binding contract. Reading out loud, you read,

Entry Fee: Each participant must contribute a nominal entry fee to join the betting pool. To participate, players must play a $50 fee. This fee serves as a token of commitment to the game. Selection of Dates: Participants must select a specific date or range of dates when they predict the best friends will transition from best friends to a romantic couple. The chosen dates must be recorded clearly to avoid any disputes later on. If the date (that a participant chose) has passed, yet nothing has happened, then this participant is able to place another prediction if they wager more money. For example, if Hobi put in ‘March of senior year’ and the time has passed, then he will not win the money and will have to place a new bet if he wanted to participate again. 

"Oh my god, how much money did you guys put in there?" Looking away from the paper, your jaw dropped to the floor, not believing what was happening. “Please tell me you guys only placed one prediction.”

"Just keep reading, Cousin," Taehyung pleaded. "I need my money back as fast as I can."

The paper continued to read:

Betting Deadline: All entries must be submitted before a predetermined deadline, ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and make their predictions. The bet will end when they are a couple or if they marry other people. Judging Criteria: The transition from best friends to a romantic couple is defined by the moment when they publicly acknowledge their romantic feelings for each other or officially begin a romantic relationship. Although the two may do things more as best friends, they are not defined as a couple until it is officially told.   Winner Determination and Prize Distribution: The participant who accurately predicts the closest date to their transition from best friends to a romantic couple is declared the winner. The total prize pool, comprising the accumulated entry fees, is awarded to the winner(s) following the official confirmation of their romantic relationship. Celebratory Gathering: Upon the successful resolution of the bet and the announcement of the winner(s), all participants gather for a celebratory gathering or party to commemorate the occasion and revel in the joy of the couple's newfound romance. This fosters a sense of camaraderie and solidarity among friends, regardless of the outcome of the bet.

"I mean, I guess before we open everyone's date, congratulations you guys!" The room was filled with laughter as Jungkook applauded. "It is a celebration, you know." He pointed behind him, gesturing to the assortment of snacks and drinks laid out on the table. All the snacks and drinks were all your favorite or Jimin's. “It’s not a celebration without food.”

"We also want to give a big shoutout right now to our sponser, Seung-hyun. He provided all the snacks, drinks and gave us all pints of ice cream.”

"You cannot be for real!" You exclaimed. "You told this bet to Seung-hyun?”

Jimin covered his face of embarrassment with both his hands.

Seung-hyun, the owner of your favorite ice cream shop back from home, had secretly been wanting you and Jimin to be official, and you couldn’t believe it.

Everything seemed like a fever dream.

"Jimin, baby, of course I had to for our boy, Seung-hyun,” your cousin said. “He’s been a fan since day one.”

Flipping to the back of the paper, there was everyone’s bets. A lot of them crossed out. There were almost thirty entires, meaning that was almost $1500 in the briefcase.

taehyung: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 the year for real hobi: when jimin breaks up with yuna, when jimin breaks up with irene, when y/n breaks up with jae, when jimin finds out about jin and y/n, when jimin breaks up with jessica, when jimin confesses when y/n’s dad comes back in town after his breakup with jessica tiffany: spring break, summer break, drunk at a party before spring break second year joon: around christmas during university first year, around christmas during university second year, around christmas before everyone graduates from university seokjin: new years, valentine’s day where they’re both single, white day, when jimin dumps girlfriend #5, graduation jungkook: when y/n travels abroad, when jimin travels abroad, during the time taehyung is abroad, new years yoongi: never

Hobi and Joon, realizing they won, both reached for the briefcase at the same time. “You guys couldn’t have waited for two more weeks or so,” Jungkook groaned.

And at that moment, with everyone you and Jimin both loved, all laughing and cheering, you knew that life with Jimin couldn’t get any better than this.

Despite all the countless moments of missed opportunities and untold feelings all those years, the timing finally felt right for this exact moment. The power to heal the grief in your heart has finally let you see the chemistry and connection everyone else seemed to see.

The next chapter of your life is now going to be filled with shared dreams, laughter and a new kind of love with Jimin.

________

the end! thank you for reading <3 (i am terribly sorry for the long wait). this story will hold a special place in my heart :')

hopefully one day i can rewrite this story and make it into something way better. so crazy to think i started this years ago. i miss bts and can’t wait for them to come back home <3 the best is yet to come :)

yoonjin bullshitting, a thrilling saga: seokjin