Synopsis: Jungkook works a seasonal job at a theme park. He expects the same old drudgery as usual. What he doesn't expect is a flirtatious actor who makes him question everything he thought he knew about himself.
Though he had sworn to never return, Jeon Jungkook was again working a seasonal position at the Busch Gardens theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia. He was cursing himself for not even applying to the Tampa, Florida location so that – if he had to work a job he hated – at least he could be in a place of sunshine while he did it. Williamsburg was just welcoming the chill of fall and, used to the hot sun of California, that slight chill was already a bit much. He reminded himself to go and buy a large coat soon before the cold of November hit.
He was currently working through a contract for the theme park's annual Howl-o-Scream event and that was fine but he had also signed up to work through their following event, Christmastown, and that was going to be hell if he didn't get the proper attire soon.
He was a show technician; his specialty and focus was in theatrical lighting as his ultimate goal was to be a professional lighting designer and win a Tony Award one day. But he still had a long way to go. Because Busch Gardens didn't give a fuck about his lighting know-how. They already had their lighting designer so they had assigned him the position of spot op* - the same position he had been placed in last time. He didn't even have the dignity of being light board op*. Both jobs were just as easy – read mind numbing – but being light board op still held a little more prestige than spot op. Being a spotlight operator was akin to just pointing a large, glorified flashlight at moving pieces on a stage. A trained monkey could do it. Which is what working at Busch Gardens made Jungkook feel like. But it was pretty good money for someone just starting out, which was why he had come back.
“Have you guys seen the new performer who's playing Jack the Ripper in Monster Stomp? Apparently, he's some twink who came all the way from Korea. All the gay men are in love with him and the girls want to be his best friend.”
Jungkook was sitting in a smoking break area with a cigarette between his fingers. It was a habit that he normally didn't partake in, but being back at Busch made the small tubes of nicotine seem pretty appealing. He lazily blew a stream of smoke out as he listened to his friends for the season talk about what he hated most. Their work. He wished he could at least get a break from it during his break but...apparently not.
His friends consisted of other show techs. A large redhead with a beard – he was the tech captain and light board op (Jungkook envied him and he hated envying him; it was pathetic. But that was what Busch Gardens had reduced him to), a black haired girl who had tattoos along her forearm, and a blonde man with shoulder length hair and a heavy Southern accent. He was the one that brought up the new performer.
“He's Korean?” the girl – Jennifer – asked.
“An Asian is playing Jack the Ripper?” the large redheaded man – John – asked. “Jack is from England.”
“Our show has Jack the Ripper singing famous pop ballads,” Jungkook chimed in. “I don't think we're going for historical accuracy here.”
“Touche,” John conceded.
“Oh, that's right,” the blonde man said as if he just remembered. “You're Korean, right, Jungkook? He's your people. You excited to have another Asian around?”
Jungkook rolled his eyes.
Jungkook's mother had moved to America while he was still in her belly. He had never even been to Korea, although he really wanted to go. And as an Asian in an American world, he had heard every Asian joke there was and all of their variations. Hardly any of them were as funny as people thought. “There are plenty of Asians here,” Jungkook said. Most of them were Chinese, but Jungkook chose not to split hairs.
“Yeah,” James – the blonde – said. “But they're all park ops. There's not a single show tech or performer here that's Asian besides you. And now this new guy.”
“And he's an OG,” John said. “The real deal. Straight from Korea. He's a real Asian. You're like...” John scrunched his nose in mock disgust. “American.”
Jungkook shook his head, glad that none of these people were anybody in the public eye. If the Twitterverse heard their unfiltered conversations at any point in time, they'd all be cancelled. “You're all problematic as fuck.” Jungkook spoke his thoughts aloud to a round of snickers from the group. “But that's what I'm most curious about,” Jungkook said, ignoring what they had been saying earlier. “Why did he come all the way from Korea to come here? To Busch Gardens?” He said Busch Gardens as if he had just inhaled a giant whiff of rank garbage.
“Who knows?” John said. “But let's get back to work. Break's over.”
Everyone groaned but they stood up. Rehearsal was scheduled to start next week and they had to get the stage ready before then.
* * *
Jungkook's first time meeting the new performer was on Sunday, the day right before rehearsals were to begin.
On Sundays, it was a bit of a Busch Gardens tradition for show techs to meet at a local bar called Paul's to socialize, get drunk, and decompress – not necessarily in that order. Jungkook didn't always go to Paul's; he preferred to stay in and play video games. But on this particular Sunday, he decided to go. He wanted to meet more of the people he would be working with and he had also heard that there was a pretty actress who had been asking about him lately. And, frankly, he wouldn't mind having a semi-regular hookup to share his bed with this season.
So Jungkook dressed to attract attention. He pushed his long, dark hair into a half-up style and threw a large black coat over a fitted turtleneck sweatshirt that showed off the muscles he had worked hard to form. His jeans were also fitted and black. There were rips at the knees and that annoying fall chill nipped him there, but he figured he could briefly deal with it for the sake of style and possibly seducing a beautiful woman.
He definitely attracted attention but he hadn't anticipated that it would be from...
“Park Jimin.”
A man he could only describe as pretty stood in front of him with his arm outstretched for a handshake. Almond shaped eyes, plush lips, a button nose, and hair dyed silver made up the features of the performer gracing him with a smile and interested eyes.
“Jeon Jungkook,” Jungkook responded, taking Jimin's hand in a gentle grip. It was as he gripped his hand that he realized how smooth, small, and delicate his hand looked and felt. That was actually a good description for the entirety of Park Jimin: smooth, small, and delicate.
“Jungkook,” Jimin repeated, testing the name on his tongue. A small smile graced his thick lips as he spoke. “So you are Korean. I've seen you around and I assumed so but I wasn't sure. Until now.”
Jungkook's lips quirked up into a one-sided smile and he shifted on his feet. Jimin's gaze made him feel a little shy. “Ah,” he said. “Yeah. I'm Korean. But I've never been. I want to go though.”
“Mm...” Jimin responded, watching Jungkook's lips more than his eyes while he talked. Jungkook blushed under the attention and Jimin smirked, noticing it. “Well, maybe one of these days I can take you.”
Jungkook chuckled. He was still standing at the bar. He had just placed his order when Jimin came up and introduced himself. He glanced over Jimin's shoulder to see a table full of people waiting for the other man's return. He was apparently very popular. “Why does it sound like you're offering to be my sugar daddy?” Jungkook joked. He accepted the drink that the bartender slid into his hand and turned away from the bar to walk to a table that was not yet occupied. John, James, and Jennifer said they would be coming tonight too; he planned to hold seats for them.
Jimin gestured for the table beckoning him to come back to wait just a moment as he followed Jungkook to his table. “Maybe I am,” he said in response to Jungkook's question as he sat down at the table alongside Jungkook.
If Jungkook had questioned whether he was being hit on before, he knew he didn't need to question any further. Jimin had made his intentions pretty clear with that statement. And things only got clearer with Jimin's next question.
“Are you gay, straight, or bi?”
Jungkook's lips lifted into another small smirk. He had never been hit on by a man before; it was really quite flattering. “I'm straight,” he answered.
“That's too bad.”
Jungkook expected him to get up and leave, but he continued to feel a stare piercing the side of his face. He looked over to see Jimin looking at him intensely, his chin resting on the palm of his hand.
“So what do you do?” Jimin asked. “Are you part of the crew on Monster Stomp?”
“Yep,” Jungkook responded with a firm nod. “I'm the spot op.” He couldn't help the bitter edge that creeped into his voice at the admission.
If Jimin heard it, he didn't let on. “Spot op...” Jimin said. “So your whole job will be to focus on me. I like it.”
Jungkook smiled, his nose scrunching up slightly. Jimin smiled in response. “I haven't picked which spot I'm going to be on yet,” Jungkook said. “I may be on Leah the whole time. Who knows?” Leah was the name of the main female cast member; she was also the person Jungkook had been expecting to run into tonight.
Jimin pouted and with the way his thick lips protruded so perfectly and his cheeks bunched naturally, Jungkook couldn't help but to think that he was cute. He giggled. “Spot me, please,” Jimin requested. And just as soon as he pulled a cute persona from his back pocket, he snapped right back to something a little more...mature. Jungkook was enthralled at the sudden change and the way he slipped between both traits as if it was as natural as breathing. “I want your focus to be on me the whole time,” Jimin said, his eyes flashing with mischief and invitation.
Jungkook searched his mind for a witty comeback, wanting to engage in a back-and-forth of playful banter as he usually did with his friends but he found his mouth forming a simple, “Okay.”
Jimin's brows hitched in surprise before he recovered and giggled.
And that became the normal dynamic between Jungkook and Jimin.
During the next couple of weeks, everyone observed the way Jimin completely had Jungkook wrapped around his finger. The teasing started when, during the first week of rehearsals, Jungkook told the stage manager that he wanted to be placed on whichever spotlight would be following Jack because “Jimin wants me to spot him”. That led to the stage manager respecting Jungkook's wishes by stating to the other spot op and Jungkook's friend, John, that “Jungkook wants to spot his boyfriend”. That led to John teasing Jungkook in front of everyone during break saying that, “Jungkook has been dickmatized” and “we lost another one to the gay agenda”. And Jungkook couldn't even tell him off because Jimin was there and everyone had been congratulating him on what a good job he was doing and Jungkook didn't want to dim his glow by getting offended over his friend's dumb jokes. Especially since, apparently, Jimin had thought they were funny. He had been doubled over with laughter and his cheeks that puffed out when he smiled had resembled little apples.
“You're really going to be spotting me just because I asked you to?” he had asked Jungkook afterwards, his head tilted to the side and his bottom lip pulled between his teeth.
Jungkook wanted to pridefully state that it wasn't just because Jimin had asked him to, but his pride got lost beneath Jimin's stare. “Yes,” he responded. He cleared his throat. “I mean...it's not like I had a preference anyway.” There. A little pride saved.
Jimin giggled. “Thank you,” he said, a shy smile pulling at his lips. “I'll make sure to perform just for you.”
Jungkook smiled. He knew it was just lip service, but it was still pleasant to hear.
After that, everyone began to jokingly call them husbands.
If one was invited to a party, the other would get an invite by way of the following: “Tell your husband he can come too.” Or: “Bring your husband along.”
That's how, a couple of weeks later, Jungkook found himself sitting on a couch in the middle of a raging Halloween/It's-almost-opening-night party with Jimin sitting in his lap and feeding him pieces of candy while he played a board game with three other members of the cast and crew. He opened his mouth absentmindedly, waiting for another piece of candy to be placed inside, while he stared intently at the Parcheesi board and contemplated his next move. Jimin teased Jungkook by holding a piece of candy corn right outside of his reach. Jimin giggled when Jungkook moved forward suddenly and engulfed the entire candy corn between his lips – Jimin's fingers and all.
“You two are cute,” one of the female crew members Jungkook was playing the board game with stated. “Have you made it official yet?”
“No,” Jimin said. “It's not gonna be official until Jungkook gets me a ring.”
Jungkook couldn't see Jimin's face well from where he was sitting, but he could practically hear the pout in his voice.
“What kind of ring do you want?” he asked.
Jimin turned more toward Jungkook with a smile already forming on his face. He knew he was going to get what he wanted.
'Brat,' Jungkook thought.
“Will you really get it for me?” Jimin asked.
“Mm,” Jungkook replied. He lifted Jimin's hand from his lap and studied it. “Give me your ring size too. Your hand is tiny.”
Jimin snatched his hand back and pouted. “Just for that, I'm not giving it to you.”
“What?” Jungkook laughed. “You're the one who wants the ring. Do you not want the ring anymore?”
Jimin continued to pout. “No, I want the ring,” he admitted reluctantly.
“Then I need the ring size.”
Jungkook could tell from Jimin's face that he was caught in a conundrum, but he was too stubborn to admit it or give in. He simply scoffed and uttered another, “Not giving it to you.”
“Me saying your hand is tiny wasn't supposed to be an insult. It's cute.”
That seemed to offend Jimin even more. He faced Jungkook squarely and said, “I'm not cute! I'm playing Jack the Ripper for God's sake!”
He huffed angrily and stood from Jungkook's lap.
Jungkook was left bewildered. He had no idea when or why Jimin's playful anger had turned real. He ignored someone's utterance of, “Aww, their first fight”. He was a little upset himself now. “What a diva,” he muttered, not even knowing why he was trying to placate the other man so much. Maybe he was playing along with their little game a little too often; he was getting confused. So when Leah appraoched him soon after with a drink and a smile, he accepted her offer for a dance and didn't attempt to search out Jimin until he was ready to go seeing as Jimin was his ride.
But when he asked about Jimin's whereabouts, he was informed that the other man had left at least an hour ago.
As he took an Uber back to his place, he proceeded to text the other man.
Jungkook: Where are you?
He didn't receive a response back until a couple hours later when he was back home and settled into bed.
Jimin: Home.
Jungkook scoffed and immediately typed in a response.
Jungkook: Why'd you leave without me?
Jimin: What do you mean?
Jungkook's brows furrowed and he sat up onto his elbow, new upset coursing through his veins. How dare Jimin play clueless after he just deserted him at a party? That he had invited him to?
Jungkook: You left me. I had to Uber home.
Jimin: So?
Jungkook scoffed again, angrily. This was getting ridiculous.
He punched a response into his phone.
Jungkook: If I knew I was going to have to spend money on an Uber, I wouldn't have gone out in the first place. You invited me out and drove me there. You should have driven me home.
Jimin: Oh, lol. Sry. I assumed you'd just go home with Leah or something, idk.
Jungkook stared at the text in confusion, wondering if the jealous tone he was imagining in Jimin's voice was the actual tone that would be coming through if they were speaking verbally. He quickly typed a text back.
Jungkook: If I was going home with Leah, I would have told you I was going home with Leah.
Jimin: Oh. Sorry.
Jungkook stared, wondering if that was all he was going to be getting for an apology. He chewed on his lip and hovered his thumb over his digital keyboard, wondering if he should let Jimin know that he was still a little upset or if he should just wish the other man goodnight and call it a day. He was about to press his thumb down to do the latter when three dots indicating an incoming response appeared. Jungkook waited for what else Jimin had to say, expecting more sincere words of regret. Instead, what he got was...
Jimin: You were ignoring me all night, though.
“What?” Jungkook sat up in bed and quickly typed out another message.
Jungkook: When did I ignore you? I was with you all night until you left me on the couch!
Jungkook waited in mild frustration for Jimin's next text to come in.
Jimin: * sigh * I guess. But you played board games and didn't even ask me to dance.
Jungkook: I didn't know you wanted to dance.
Jimin: Would you have danced with me if you did know?
Jungkook: Of course.
The texting conversation went quiet for a moment; Jungkook stared at his screen, wondering if Jimin's petulance was fading.
When he received a smiling face emoji with a little blush across the cheeks, he couldn't help but to smile in return. He shook his head, embarrassed at himself. 'What am I doing?'
He laid down, feeling content with ending the conversation there which is why the notification of another text surprised him.
Jimin: Are you going to tell me goodnight?
Jungkook rolled his eyes fondly.
Jungkook: Good night.
Jimin: :) Good night.
The good night texts became another regular thing between them.
* * *
On opening night, Jungkook was awed. Jimin had been great during rehearsals, yes, but he apparently hadn't even been giving one hundred percent. Watching Jimin perform for a crowd was a transcendent experience. Not only did he sing and dance amazingly, but he embodied the character of Jack the Ripper perfectly. He walked with a saunter and stared at the scantily-dressed dancing girls as if they were prey, wielding the prop knives with confidence and reverence. During the last show of the night, he licked the blade after he mimed the act of slitting the female lead's throat and Jungkook felt a strange movement in his stomach. He attributed it to gas.
After shutting down his spotlight for the night, Jungkook made his way down from the third floor to the backstage area in preparation to go home. Many of the performers were still milling around since they were paid by the hour and everyone wanted to milk every hour for all it was worth. So Jungkook wasn't surprised to see them all there.
He was surprised, however, when Leah approached him with her bag slung over her shoulder. “Hi,” she said, a large smile on her glossed lips. “Would you mind taking me home?”
“Uhh...sure,” Jungkook said. “Did you not drive here?”
He was aware that she had a car; he had seen her driving it from the parking lot on multiple occasions.
“No,” she replied. “I rode with Cameron this morning.”
Cameron was one of the drummers in the show. The drummers performed with knives on a casket at one point in the show to add a bit of excitement. They were cool dudes.
“Okay,” he said after a cursory glance told him Cameron wasn't around. “Let me grab my jacket; then we can go.”
As Jungkook went to go pick up his jacket from the back of the couch where he had previously draped it, he was stopped by a tapping on his shoulder. He turned around to see Jimin standing there. He barely had time to register it before he was asking him, “Are you coming to the opening night party at my place?”
Jungkook balked.
“There's a party at your place?” he asked. “I didn't know; why am I just now hearing about it?”
Jimin shrugged, a small smile pulling the corner of his lips up. “It was sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision borne from excitement. All of the performers are feeling kind of energetic from being in front of an audience.
“Oh, that makes sense.” Jungkook glanced around the venue for Leah who had gone backstage to grab her own jacket before leaving. “Um. I'll give Leah a ride and then I'll come over.”
Jimin lifted his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. “Oh,” he said. “Is that what you two were talking about a minute ago?”
“Yeah,” Jungkook replied with a nod. “You all live in the same area, right?” Jungkook asked. He knew that most of the performers were provided housing in a nice area where four were allocated to one large house. “I can drop her off at her place and then just...jog over.” He smiled lightly, pleased with his plan. But his smile dropped slowly when he saw that Jimin wasn't as pleased.
His lips were pursing into a steadily growing pout.
“...What?” Jungkook asked.
Jimin shrugged again, the pout not leaving his face. “Nothing.”
Jungkook narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Doesn't look like nothing,” he muttered.
“I mean...” Jimin shrugged yet again, a movement that was meant to show nonchalance that apparently wasn't there. “I guess I just expected my husband to celebrate with me on opening night. I don't know.”
Jungkook stared at Jimin, wondering if he was serious or if they were still playing their game.
“I will celebrate with you!” Jungkook said. “After I drop Leah off. It won't take long.”
Jimin pushed his hand through his hair, a frown still on his face. “I feel like she's going to try to keep you there.”
Jungkook took note of Jimin's downcast eyes and his stomach dropped unpleasantly. He didn't like seeing Jimin look downtrodden. But he also didn't like how much he was affected by Jimin's own moods. It scared him. He didn't know what it meant. He was feeling more and more confused as to the nature of his relationship with Jimin. He originally thought they were just having a bit of fun, but he was starting to become concerned that Jimin was taking this more seriously than he was. He licked his lips to salve the suddenly parched feeling of them and started to ask Jimin a much needed question when Leah appeared at his shoulder again, interrupting him.
“Ready to go?” she asked. She spared a glance Jimin's way but otherwise ignored him.
“Yeah,” Jungkook said. Leah placed her hand on his arm to nudge him toward the doorway and he only had time to send Jimin a quick apologetic look before he followed her outside.
When he pulled into the housing village and parked in front of Leah's house, he received a text.
Jimin: I'll be waiting.
He contemplated the text for a moment, his attention only breaking from it when he felt Leah's hand brush across his knee with a purpose. His focus moved from the screen to her face. She didn't need to speak; her eyes conveyed her intent. Unbidden, Jimin's pout entered Jungkook's mind.
“Are you going to the opening night party at Jimin's?” Jungkook asked, his question offering a slight delay so that he could have a little bit of time to consider his course of action.
Leah's hand pressed into his knee to further drive home the obvious hint she was trying to give him. A little toss of her head sent her voluminous, wavy curls over her shoulder. “I wasn't invited,” she said. “Besides...I kind of had other activities planned...”
'I feel like she's going to try to keep you there.' Jimin's downcast eyes.
His text. I'll be waiting.
Jungkook mentally shook the images away, frustrated. Why did he keep thinking of Jimin in this situation? He had meant to start something up with Leah all along so why did he feel guilty? He didn't have any kind of responsibility. He didn't owe Jimin anything. They weren't real.
Leah was leaning forward. He smelled her perfume and felt her breath before the press of her lips against his. Her lips felt pleasant and soft, but he thought of another soft pair of lips different from hers. She pulled away and took his hand. “Come inside with me,” she whispered.
I'll be waiting.
Jungkook internally sighed. This was ridiculous. His mind should not be filled with Jimin like this.
To Be Continued...
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