Park Jimin X Named Reader - Tumblr Posts

Dangerous | Chapter 9: Brisé

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Bad Boy!Jimin, Bartender!Reader College AU

Pairing: Jimin/Named Reader

Rating: M | Minors DNI

Chapter Warnings: references to sexual assault and past injury, cursing

2 weeks later (Audition in one week)

Jimin (9:22 am): Can we please talk? Please stop ignoring me.

Jimin (9:22 am): I'm worried about you.

You locked your phone and walked up the stairs to the library. Over the past few weeks, you'd neglected your other classes because you rehearsed for the audition day and night. While that did not change, it also meant that your normal end of the semester tests were coming up. And, even if you passed the audition and got into the dance program, they wouldn't accept you without satisfactory grades in your other classes.

Making your way to your favorite corner of the library, you took out your textbooks and laptop, hoping to finish your assignments before dance class in the early afternoon. It was easier to through yourself into your schoolwork than answer your texts or face Jimin.

You'd only seen him at dance class since he left your apartment the morning after everything went down. When you woke up the next morning, you emerged from your bedroom with a headache and to the smell of eggs cooking on the stove. The darkness under his eyes told you that he stayed awake all night.

"You need to eat well this morning. Your body went through a lot." He sat down the breakfast in front of you. "I Googled everything and the drug should be out of your system soon, but eating a lot will help."

He'd practically begged to stay with you, his brown eyes matching the kitten you shared. Yet. you still forced him to leave after breakfast, not able to meet his eyes again. You spent the rest of the day in bed, sleeping off the headache and trying to prevent the memories of that night from coming back.

"Hey, stranger," someone said, taking a seat across from you. You looked up from your textbook and saw Namjoon's dimpled smile. It caused you to smile you too.

"Hey, it's been a while," you said. Namjoon didn't come to the club as much as the rest of Jimin's friends. They all said it was because he was too busy juggling making his own music and being one of the top students in the entire university. "How have you been?"

"Fine," he said, relaxing back against his seat. "Everything going okay? You seemed kinda stressed looking down at your anthropology book."

You immediately put on a smile, even though you could tell by his look that he didn't believe it. "Oh, it's fine. The audition is in a week, so I've just got a lot on my plate right now."

"You know, you should talk to Jimin about it. He went through this already, he could probably offer you some good advice."

You lowered your laptop screen halfway. "Oh, uh, yeah," you said.

"Why haven't you talked to him lately?"

"He's told you?"

"Of course," Namjoon said, taking out textbooks from his backpack. "He's worried about you and wanted my advice." Namjoon paused and looked up at you. "He, uh, didn't go into detail about what happened. Just that it was something bad--"

You nodded, seeing from the sincerity in his eyes that he had a good idea of what happened. "If I tell you why I've been avoiding him, do you promise not to tell Jimin?"

Namjoon's expression hardly changed, unfazed by your request. He gave a short nod. "So, this whole thing kinda started as a way to get back at him for everything that happened in high school. But, after everything, I don't know, I think I'm starting to like him." You felt the rock that fell into the pit of your stomach roll away when you said those words out loud. "It's not just cause of what happened a couple weeks ago, he just--he's changed."

You closed your anthropology textbook, knowing no homework was going to get done. Folding your arms over the book, you rested your chin on top of them.

"I'm glad you're starting to figure out how you feel," Namjoon said. "You know, I think Jimin would accept you if you told him."

Your gaze wandered over to the other tables where students worked with headphones in or discussed group projects. "I'm not ready to do anything about it. I want to remember how it feels to be alone for a little while." Sighing, you looked back at Namjoon. "Plus, I'm starting my new job soon and the audition is soon. It's not the best time to start something like that anyway."

Your phone alarm went off. "I need to get to dance class," you said, packing up your things. "Mind if I walk with you?"

You shook your head, smiling at the way he seemed to just want to keep you company. Walking out of the library, you headed for the Dance building.

"I'm glad we got the chance to talk," Namjoon said. "I'll let Jimin know you're doing okay, but I won't give him any of the details." The two of you stopped outside the Dance building. "Do you want to go for lunch after you audition? My treat and maybe it will calm your nerves to have plans afterward."

"Okay," you said, giggling at his obvious concern. "It's a date."

The doors to the building opened and another student nearly ran into you. When you made eye contact, you barely had time to react before Jimin gave you a curt nod and an apologetic smile before propping open the door and heading back to the classroom.

[][][]

1 week later

Nobody talked. Yet, the sounds in the room echoed off the walls. The sound of tapping feet, beats counted under breath, and the lacing up of shoes again and again. You'd considered buying new slippers for the occasion, but you had not tied them in so long, you were afraid you would forget.

"Kim Inna."

You stood and walked into the auditorium. The seats were empty except for the first row where a handful of professors sat and the three Dance major TAs. Trying not to look at Jimin, you climbed on stage, feeling the muscles in your shoulders tense. The lights prevented you from making out faces totally, but you felt Jimin's gaze on you.

You introduced yourself and got into position at center stage. The muscles in the back of your neck tensed as the music started up. Trying to relax, you began the performance, letting your body steer you in time with the music.

The first part was a mix of hip hop with a little contemporary mixed in. Nothing that would stand out. About a minute into the song, it shifts and so does our body. Your calf tenses as you move to stand on one leg, bringing your stance to balance on your toes, distributing the weight evenly across your body. Your arms straighten outwards and you extend the other leg.

It was a simple move that you practiced hundreds of times. The position didn't hurt too much, but as began twirling, you feel the familiar pull in your heel, shooting down your foot. The choreography planned for the pain and you plummeted towards the ground, catching yourself with the palms of your hands and bringing your chest to the ground.

The position mimicked the way you'd laid on stage after you Achilles snapped. Despite the pain in your ankle, your arms had given out too. Rolling over onto your back, you got up with your good leg and the strength of your core. The move had taken countless tries to perfect, your head coming up from the ground last.

The rest of the performance went by in a blur. The pain clouded your vision towards the end and when the music stopped, you looked up, only barely making out the figures of the judges. You could feel your limbs throbbing with pain.

"Thank you," you said, bowing and walking off stage. You knew Jimin would know the story you were telling. As you walked off the stage and your view of the lights shifted, you saw Jimin's Adam's apple bob with worry. You didn't have to meet his eyes to feel their worry.

[][][]

You fell to your knees once you made it backstage. Breaths tumbled from your mouth and you tried to catch them. Your eyes watered at the ache in your muscles and a sharp vein of worry stabbed you that you might have injured yourself again.

You couldn't even think about what the judges thought or if you were going to make it through. Running your hands through your hair, you tried to stand up, looking around and hoping no one was around to see you like this.

"Inna," Jimin said, his soft footsteps coming from deeper backstage. He must've come around.

You looked up at him. "What are you doing? You can't just leave being a judge--"

"The TAs are switching off," he said. "I've been there all morning."

Somehow, the conversation brought back some of the feeling in your legs and you managed to stand up, walking over to a chair nearby. Jimin pushed a wooden crate belonging to the drama department under your feet. Grabbing a folding chair, he sat down in front of the box, spreading his legs around it.

His hand came to hover over your legs. Jimin looked up at you, meeting your eyes. Lines formed on his forehead and his fingers floated in midair.

"Can I touch you?" he asked, keeping eye contact.

You nodded, allowing yourself to release your posture and slide down in the chair. Jimin's hands gently massaged your calves, working from the knees down and back up again. When he reached your ankle, he carefully took two of his fingers, gently rubbing them over the Achille's tendon.

The throbbing in your muscles dulled. The feeling of Jimin's fingers against your skin made you try to stifle the moan that left your lips.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

"I'm a double major in kinesiology."

His voice sounded curt, so matter of fact. It alerted you to the way Jimin had thrown up his guard around you. Was he scared of kissing you only for you to go make out with one of his friends? Of reaching out to brush his hand against yours only to watch you flirt with another guy?

It should feel like a victory. A lift in your chest. This was exactly what you wanted, for Jimin to dance around you, feel the way you did all those years ago. But, now, you just feel like a half-rotten apple under a tree.

"Oh," you said, thinking back to when Jimin had tried to get you to dance ballet again. The way he carefully watched the way your leg shook and how he held you when you tumbled down.

"You think it's psychological too, huh?"

Jimin's hands left your skin and the air almost felt cold, empty. He stood up, holding out his hand to help you up as the music for the next audition started. You took his hand and carefully stood up, feeling steadier and the pain subsided to just a dull throb in the back of your ankles and knees.

"Pain is pain, Inna. It doesn't matter where it comes from or what causes it."

[][][]

It was 7 pm when you reached the cafe where Namjoon wanted to meet. You'd never been to this cafe before, but it was cute and had a book exchange bookshelf. It seemed exactly like the kind of place that Namjoon would invite you.

You didn't see Namjoon yet, so you ordered a bubble tea and sat down in one of the booths. You scrolled through Instagram, seeing all the gorgeous photos taken during the auditions. It broke your heart knowing that only about half of those who auditioned would get in. Many dance majors at your school auditioned multiple times before getting their spot.

The bell on the door dings and you look up, expecting to see the tall lanky man who invited you here. Instead, it was a teenage girl and her mother, who didn't notice your disappointed look as they approached the counter.

Namjoon made your stomach flip in knots in a way you hadn't experienced for years. You weren't attracted to him until he approached you in the library two weeks before. His hair laying a little haphazardly and the way his eyes smiled before his lips.

You weren't sure if you truly liked him or not and you were not ready to jump into a relationship after Chul-soo. Yet, as you unlocked your phone and saw a screen blank of texts, or any notifications at all. Your heart sunk.

The bell rings again. This time you look up and meet the eyes of Jimin, who looks as confused as you imagine you look. He runs a hand through his hair and sits down across from you.

"Have you seen Namjoon?" Jimin asked, looking around the cafe.

Your phone dinged as your lips parted to reply. Jimin's followed suit.

Namjoon (7:25 pm): You need to talk to him, Inna. I'm sorry I had to force it this way, but I know you miss him. Take advantage of this time.

Jimin looked up from his phone, his gaze looking everywhere but at you. "I-I have been wanting to talk to you, Inna," he said. You'd never heard his voice shake like that like he was about to break out into tears. "Are you doing okay after--?

You stayed silent. You weren't okay, hadn't been for the past month since that night at the club. You'd had to quit your job and find a new one, were in the process of getting a restraining order against Chul-soo, and you felt bubbling in your stomach at the thought of meeting Jimin's eyes. Things were far from okay.

You tried to hide the tears, taking a sip of your bubble tea. The sweet honeydew flavored tea and boba providing momentary relief from the sour taste of anxiety on your tongue.

"I've been worried about you. Every time you didn't respond to a text, I just worried you were in trouble. And I wouldn't be there to help you."

"Jimin, don't try to guilt me into responding to you. I want to be left alone." Jimin sighed. "I know that's not true. But, I understand if you don't want to talk to me. I just hate having to check Instagram or text Namjoon to make sure you're okay."

"I don't owe you anything just because you helped me. You know I'm thankful, Jimin. But, I-I can't trust you again after our history. I know it's stupid. It was years ago and it shouldn't matter. But, it does, Jimin." You paused, your fingers collecting the condensation from the plastic cup. "I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. I know you can deal with douchebags at the bar on your own. And watching you perform today, it was amazing, Inna. You're amazing. And I know you can do all that on your own. But that doesn't mean you have to."

You look down at the boba in your cup and stir it around, hoping it would somehow spell out what you should say or do. Looking back up, you met his eyes, feeling like you kicked a puppy.

"I don't want to do it with you, Jimin."

Throwing your bag over your shoulder and scooting out of the booth, you made your way out onto the street. You wonder if this was how Jimin felt when he embarrassed you that night. If it felt like his heart was shattering when he met your eyes. Getting home, you collapsed on the couch falling asleep with Jackson purring on your chest.

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