Chapter Text
“We’ve gotta go to the shoe museum.”
Jimin blinks, her long eyelashes fluttering as she levels a disapproving glance in Jungkook’s direction. “Excuse me? The what museum? No.”
“I haven’t even told you anything about it yet.”
“You don’t need to. I am not going to a shoe museum.”
“But… the boots—”
“Jungkook. We don’t need to be attached at the hip during this entire trip, remember? If you want to go to some niche museum dedicated to the weird shit that people wear on their feet, that’s on you. I’ll gladly shop while you do that, and we can just meet for drinks after.”
“Okay, fine. But you’re gonna come to the aquarium with me, right?” Jungkook’s eyes go extra round as he puts on his most convincing pout.
“I will. You know I don’t like touristy stuff, but I can’t say no to jellyfish. Love those little weirdos.”
“They are slimy and delightful,” Jungkook murmurs with a nod, absorbed in his phone as he scrolls through a page outlining Toronto’s most popular tourist attractions.
They’re hanging out in Jungkook’s spacious studio apartment, making last-minute plans for their trip around the world, which is rapidly approaching — only three and a half weeks away now. Jimin is sprawled across the king-size bed on her stomach, her feet absentmindedly kicking in the air as she types away on her laptop, making notes in their itinerary spreadsheet. Jungkook is sitting propped against the headboard, one knee up, dark hair falling over his eyes as he stares down at his phone. The floor-to-ceiling windows behind them frame the gorgeous Seoul skyline, the tall buildings twinkling as the sun slips beyond the horizon.
They’re together more often than not, and Jungkook has joked that Jimin may as well just move in at this point. His luxury apartment is a lot nicer than the tiny hole-in-the-wall she lives in all the way across the city, and she often crashes on his couch just because she can. They’ve been best friends since university, and they both stuck around in Seoul after graduation, helping to keep each other afloat in what can sometimes otherwise be an unforgiving city.
It’s hard for Jungkook to believe it’s finally almost here… their glorious, well-earned vacation. They’ve been dreaming about it for years, ever since they were in school, toiling away in the library and fantasizing about what it would be like to run away and explore countries they had never seen before.
And Jungkook has been patient. He’s been able to afford the trip for a while, but Jimin needed more time to save. After graduating with his degree in computer science a few years ago, Jungkook had gotten an entry-level job at a soulless, boring corporate venture. As he rode the subway to and from work every day, fiddling with his phone and attempting to tune out the drone of voices and rattling train surrounding him, he’d been struck with an idea for an app. A game, to be precise. And that’s how it was born, his baby, his most prized invention: Otter Chomp Chomp.
It was a product of boredom and loneliness. He didn’t have many friends left in the city besides Jimin, so at night, he worked on coding the app. He remembered how popular Flappy Bird had gotten some years back, and he figured maybe, if he got lucky, he could throw some banner ads at the bottom of the app and hope for a little extra pocket money to make his expensive Seoul rent a bit less painful.
It didn’t even take him that long. After about a month, it was finished. Otter Chomp Chomp was a simple game. Jungkook named the main character Bobo, and Bobo is, predictably, an otter. The main premise of the game is guiding Bobo down the river, trying to eat as many fish as possible while avoiding obstacles like rocks and logs in the water. Bobo makes a cute nom-nom noise every time he snags a fish. If you hit anything, you die and have to start over. It’s honestly kind of infuriating, as far as games go, but Jungkook understood that people are masochistic at their core and love to suffer at the hands of a challenging game, so he rolled with it.
And, oh, did it ever pay off. He released it without much fanfare — of course, his family and close friends all downloaded it and played it and cooed about how adorable Bobo was. But after a couple of weeks passed and his ad revenue was in the pennies, he accepted that it was a flop. Suddenly, though, things changed unexpectedly, and it started taking off. His friends told their friends, who told their friends, who told their friends, and Jungkook woke up one morning to find the daily download stats were in the thousands. They climbed higher and higher each day, to Jungkook’s disbelief, until there were tens of thousands of people downloading the app every single day.
His ad revenue spiked high enough that he started receiving daily deposits, waking up every morning to find deposits of millions of won in his bank account that wasn’t there before. Once the app became popular outside of Korea, that’s when it got really nuts. Companies contacted him asking for licensing agreements to produce Bobo merchandise. He started seeing Bobo everywhere — there were Bobo stickers on Kakao Talk, Bobo plushies at the store, candy with Bobo’s face on it. And of course, he was paid royalties on all of it.
He had more money than he knew what to do with, and he ended up quitting his job. He knew the app would likely fade in popularity as quickly as it rose, and he wouldn’t be able to survive off the app money forever, but it was enough to sustain him without working for a number of years, and he was happy to say goodbye to his unfulfilling job.
So this gave him the perfect opportunity to go on the trip and he and Jimin had always dreamed about. He wasn’t working, so he didn’t have to worry about how to get a month off of work. He was practically swimming in money, so he could plan everything out exactly how he wanted, see all the things he wanted to see, and book upscale accommodations (which was a relief — he’d stayed at a hostel once before and never wanted to do it again.) He and Jimin had settled on a list of places to hit over the course of a month: New York City, Toronto, Jamaica, London, Paris, and Tokyo.
Jimin, however, was stubborn. It’s one of the reasons Jungkook loves her so much, but it did delay their trip significantly. She absolutely refused to let him pay. There’s no way she would be able to afford everything exactly the way Jungkook was hoping to plan it, so she eventually caved and agreed that he could pay 50% of her portion. It took her a long time to save up and accumulate the time off at work, but finally, she did. Everything has finally been planned, and the trip, after years of anticipation, is now just around the corner.
“Are you staying tonight?” Jungkook asks her, sliding off the bed and shuffling over to the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water. The kitchen is all white marble and absolutely immaculate, a huge island glittering in the center with silver flecks in the countertop. This apartment was his most expensive purchase after the windfall, but he didn’t feel that bad about it — it was an investment, after all.
“Probably,” Jimin says, stifling a well-timed yawn. She gently closes her laptop and rolls over, flopping onto her back and stretching her arms above her head. “Can I sleep in the bed with you? I think I’m too comfortable to move.”
“You’re lucky I love you,” Jungkook grumbles good-naturedly, turning off the light in the kitchen and heading back over towards the section of the apartment that serves as his bedroom. He picks up a decorative pillow and lightly tosses it in the direction of Jimin’s head. “I’m gonna start charging you rent.”
“I will gladly pay you five thousand won per month to stay here.”
“You think this place is only worth five thousand won per month —”
She smothers a giggle with the pillow, rolling over onto her side and shrieking as Jungkook leaps onto the bed and starts to tickle her sides. He knows that’s her ultimate weakness, and in no time, she’s begging for mercy and declaring surrender.
“I hate you so much,” she pants, tears in her eyes from laughing too hard.
“I know,” Jungkook says, flicking off the bedroom light switch and climbing under the covers on the other side of the bed. “Goodnight.”
——
When Jungkook wakes up the next morning, Jimin is already gone. He sleeps in pretty late now that he’s not working a regular job, and it’s almost 10AM by the time he rolls out of bed. Jimin probably left a couple of hours ago to head back to her apartment and get ready for work.
Jungkook crawls out of bed, yawning cutely and stretching his arms, flat stomach on display as the hem of his oversized t-shirt rises with the stretch. He pads over to the kitchen and starts his morning routine of brewing coffee and making the same breakfast sandwich with egg and cabbage that he eats every single day. One perk of not having to go to work is that he can cook and eat whatever food he likes — although he does order delivery perhaps a bit more than he should.
There is a con, though, and that’s having totally unstructured and unscheduled days. If he’s not careful, he easily ends up bored out of his mind, sprawled on the couch and flicking through the TV channels mindlessly. He’s worked hard to establish a routine. He goes to the gym in the mornings, does any necessary chores or housework when he gets back, spends the afternoon working on whatever project or hobby is keeping him occupied at the time. Lately, it’s been painting. When the evening arrives, he’ll make dinner or order takeout, and Jimin usually comes over most nights. They binge watch dramas or play games until they get too tired and fall asleep.
He can imagine he might grow tired of this at some point, but so far, it’s been pretty sweet.
He sticks to the routine today, spending about an hour at the gym doing cardio (which he hates, but he suffers through twice a week). He takes a quick shower when he gets back home, then cleans the kitchen, takes out the garbage, and sweeps the floor. He’s just plopped down on the couch for a quick breather when his cell phone starts ringing. He glances down at the screen, brows furrowing when he sees a strange number he doesn’t recognize. That’s a common occurrence on the second cell phone he’s dedicated to business matters, but not on his personal one.
He answers. “Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Jeon Jungkook?”
“Yes,” he says, a questioning tone in his voice. “Who is this?”
“I’m calling from Gangnam Hospital. This is in regards to Park Jimin. You were listed as an emergency contact in her phone.”
Jungkook feels like he’s going to be sick. His words come out in a breathless rush. “What happened to Jimin? Is she okay?”
“She will be okay, so please don’t worry too much as I tell you what happened. She was hit by a car when she was riding her bike earlier this afternoon. It was a hit and run. She was knocked from the bike, and she’s broken her right leg badly. They rushed her into surgery as soon as she got here, but she’s out and recovering now. She just woke up and started asking for you.”
Jungkook pales and doesn’t respond right away, overwhelmed with so many emotions simultaneously — intense worry for Jimin, unspeakable rage towards the driver who hit her, incredible relief that she’s alright. He takes a deep, shaky breath, collecting himself. “Should I come? Am I allowed to see her?”
“Yes. As long as it’s before 6PM, she can accept visitors.”
He sighs in relief. Even if they’d not allowed him to see her, he would have gone and sat in the waiting room anyway. Jimin doesn’t have any family in Seoul — her parents and siblings are all in Daegu, so Jungkook knows that’s why Jimin had him listed as one of her emergency contacts. He’s the only one she has here. And he’s showed up for her time and time again. Now will be no different.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Jungkook hangs up the phone, springing off the couch to go change into jeans instead of the ratty sweatpants he’s currently wearing. Anxiety runs through his veins like electricity, and he combs his fingers through his hair, pacing. He’s on autopilot as he quickly pulls on a hoodie and sneakers, grabs his keys and locks up the apartment.
It’s only about a fifteen minute drive to the hospital, and he’s on edge as he finds a parking spot in the garage and power-walks to the visitor entrance. A friendly receptionist lets him know Jimin’s room number, her kind and sympathetic voice low and soothing, clearly sensing how frantic Jungkook is feeling. It’s just a short elevator ride and trip down two hallways before he arrives at Jimin’s room. He pushes open the door and steps inside.
She looks like shit. She’s awake, propped up and half-sitting against some pillows, face contorted like she’s in pain. She has a few stitches on her cheek and bruises on both her arms. Her legs are under the blanket, so Jungkook can’t really assess the damage there. Her lids are heavy, but she brightens visibly when Jungkook enters.
“Jungkook,” she manages hoarsely, her eyes immediately filling with tears.
“Shhhh,” he quiets her, rushing to her bedside and kneeling down to her level. He reaches out with both hands and encloses her hand gently with his. “How are you feeling?”
“I don’t know,” she chokes out. “I’m still processing everything that happened. Everything hurts.”
“I’m sorry that you were alone when you woke up,” he tells her quietly. “They didn’t call me until you were already awake.”
“It’s okay,” she sniffles. “I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Me too,” he tells her, trying to swallow back his own tears and be strong for her. Seeing his best friend in this much pain is incredibly difficult. “You should get some rest, though. There’s still a few more hours until they’ll make me leave. I’ll just sit here with you.”
“Okay,” she tells him faintly, lids already falling closed as she leans her head back against the pillows. It’s only a few minutes before she falls asleep, and Jungkook pulls over a chair from across the room, planting it by her bedside. He sits there, scrolling through his phone, trying to occupy himself, but his mind won’t allow him to focus on anything. He attempts to deal with some work-related emails, but can’t find the words to respond. All he can think about is Jimin, how much pain she must be in, and whether they’ll ever find the person who hit her.
A couple of hours pass before Jimin wakes up again. Jungkook is staring at the wall, zoned out, and doesn’t even notice she’s awake until he hears her croak out his name.
“Jungkook.”
He startles, turning towards her and reaching out for her hand again. “Hi. You okay? Need anything?”
“Our… our trip,” she says weakly, her face crumpling.
The realization hits him like a ton of bricks.
He had been so worried about Jimin that the trip hadn’t once crossed his mind. He hadn’t thought about it at all. He was too preoccupied. But of course. The trip is so soon.
He swallows thickly. “Maybe… maybe you can still go?”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “They said I probably won’t be walking for at least two months. I’ll be doing physical therapy.” Her voice quivers.
“Oh, Jimin,” Jungkook breathes, harrowed by that news. “It’s okay. We’ll reschedule it for when you’re feeling better and walking again, okay?”
She just stares at him. “No. Everything is non-refundable. You should still go, Jungkook.”
“By myself, though?” He isn’t sure how to feel about that. As much as he’s always wanted this trip, he never imagined himself going alone. A month spent traveling around the world by himself sounds more lonely than it does like an adventure. It was supposed to be him and Jimin. This is not how it was supposed to happen. The more he thinks about it, the more upset he gets.
“Let’s not talk about this right now,” Jungkook declares softly, reaching out to brush some stray hair away from Jimin’s face. “You just focus on resting and getting better. I’ll figure something out.”
———
Three days later, Jimin is still in the hospital, but she’s feeling much better. Luckily, Jungkook’s flexible schedule means he can spend pretty much all of his free time there during visiting hours, and her parents came into the city as well, so she hasn’t had to be alone much.
It’s just Jungkook hanging out in her room this afternoon, legs sprawled wide in a chair by the door, reading trashy articles out loud from some weird magazine her mom had brought her for entertainment. When he reaches the end of one and takes a deep breath in preparation to begin the next, she cuts him off.
“Jungkook. Can we talk about the trip?”
He closes the magazine, sighing. “If you want to.”
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and I really, really would prefer that you still go. I would feel incredibly guilty if you didn’t go because of me.”
“I get where you’re coming from, but I don’t think I would have fun by myself.”
“Well… about that. I have an idea.”
Jungkook looks at her expectantly, crossing one leg over the other.
“What if you found somebody else to go with?” she asks hesitantly, testing the waters.
He shakes his head. “Not possible. I double checked the cancellation policy for all the flights, and they’re non-transferrable. The tickets can’t be used by anybody except you.”
“That’s not exactly true.”
Jungkook raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I checked into it, too. I’ve not provided my passport info for any of the bookings yet. All they have is my name. That’s it.”
“Okay…? And?”
“There’s literally millions of people whose surname is Park.”
Jungkook’s face contorts into one of disbelief once he realizes where this is going.
“And also tons of people named Jimin,” she continues, clearly proud of herself. “Surely, there must be other Park Jimins. Even here in Seoul, there have to be a ton. So what if you found another Park Jimin to go with you?”
“Jimin, you have officially lost it. What meds do they have you on?”
“Stop!” she says, laughing. “I haven’t lost it. I’m being serious. My tickets are just going to go to waste. And you said it yourself — you don’t want to go alone. Personally, I think this idea is genius.”
Jungkook is silent for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek in thought. He can’t decide if the idea of going on vacation with a complete stranger is better or worse than going alone. He supposes it depends heavily on who the stranger is and what they’re like. And whether, for example, they’re secretly an axe murderer or not.
Suddenly, he remembers a key piece of information, and he groans.
“Are you forgetting we booked a single room for everything to help make it cheaper for you?” Jungkook whines. “We were going to share a bed the whole time. I’m supposed to share a bed with a stranger?”
She shrugs. “Most Jimins are girls. You could go with another girl, and make sure she knows you’re gay. It won’t be that awkward.”
“How would I even do this? Like, how would I even find somebody?”
She ponders for a few seconds. “You could post on social media, and ask people to share it. You have tons of people following you because of Bobo. I bet it would get shared pretty widely. Plus it’s really weird and crazy, and people love that kind of shit.”
“I can’t believe you actually have me considering this.”
She squeals. “I can’t believe it either, honestly. I thought you would shoot me down right away. I guess I underestimated the sway I have over you when I’m in such poor physical condition. It’s so easy to make you do my bidding.”
“So basically, I’m a pushover,” Jungkook says flatly, fighting back a smile.
“No, Jungkookie. You’re just sweet. Too sweet for your own good, actually, but that’s a conversation for another day. Can I help you write the post?”
“Right now?” he asks, eyes going wide. “You’re not even going to let me think about it?”
“If I let you think about it, I know you’ll chicken out. Come on, at least put up the post. You won’t be on the hook for anything. It’s just checking for interest.”
“You know me too well,” Jungkook mutters, laughing to himself and shaking his head. “Okay. Okay, fine. Jesus, this is crazy.”
Jimin is grinning widely, and she sits up straighter in bed, reaching for her phone. “Let’s do it.”
They work together on the phrasing, and when Jungkook begrudgingly presses the ‘send’ button, the post reads:
Seeking a Park Jimin
Is your name Park Jimin?
Are you in need of a vacation?
If so, you’re in luck! I’m looking for someone named Park Jimin to accompany me on my month-long vacation, all expenses paid. Stops in NYC, Toronto, Jamaica, London, Paris, and Tokyo, departing on May 13 th .
My dear best friend, who is also named Park Jimin, was supposed to accompany me, but she was involved in a horrible accident and can no longer attend. Don’t worry, she’s not dead. She does have a metal rod in her leg now, though.
Anyway, the tickets are in her name, and non-transferrable, so they can only be used by someone else named Park Jimin, which is why I am specifically looking for a Park Jimin.
I am fully aware that this is absolutely nuts, but she’s forcing me to do it.
If you feel compelled to share this, please do. Send me a message if you’re interested. My DMs are open. I just have one request: don’t be a serial killer. Thanks in advance!
Jungkook practically throws his phone across the room after it’s posted. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“I’m literally so excited,” Jimin exclaims giddily, clapping her hands together. “I mean, I’m also like, high on morphine, so I might be more excited than what could be considered appropriate, but I’m so excited.”
“Try to keep your expectations reasonable. I might not even get a response. The trip is in three weeks. I think most people wouldn’t be able to take a month off of work with such short notice.”
“I know what you mean, but I have a good feeling about this. Just trust me.”
“You know I do,” Jungkook says with a sigh, reaching out to ruffle her hair fondly. “I just hope I won’t regret this.”
————
As Jimin predicted, the post blows up.
It gets hundreds of shares before Jungkook has even woken up the next morning. People are absolutely tickled that he would do something so insane. The thing is, though, there haven’t been any takers yet. Although there have been plenty of comments questioning his judgement or complimenting him on his adventurous spirit, there’s no Park Jimin.
Jungkook doesn’t go to the hospital today. Jimin was discharged this morning, and she’s now resting comfortably at home with her parents back in Daegu. Not having her in Seoul feels really strange and sad and plants a nagging feeling of loneliness deep in Jungkook’s chest that he tries to ignore. It also makes him realize how disappointed he is to not be bringing her on the trip. Hell, he’s not even sure if the trip will be happening at all.
In summary, he’s moping.
When the afternoon arrives, he’s lying flat on the couch, staring at the ceiling, dark hair fanned out against the white couch cushion, TV playing something in the background that he’s not paying attention to, too busy wallowing in his own dismay. His phone is lying on the coffee table and has been dinging all day. He’s purposely not been checking it obsessively, despite the urge to check and see what’s happening with the post. His curiosity is piqued, though, when he hears the particular variety of ding that is associated with a DM.
He reaches out lazily, not wanting to move, stretching his arm out and just barely managing to wrap his fingers around the phone in order to grab it. When he unlocks the screen and reads the message, his heart speeds up a little. It’s from someone named Park Yeji.
hi jungkook,
first, can i just say how much i love bobo??? seriously, i’m like, so obsessed with bobo. i have a bobo pillow on my bed and every night before i go to sleep, i tell him all my hopes and dreams. i’m convinced he’s responsible for my latest promotion at work. i love him.
anyway, the reason i’m messaging you is because i saw your post about looking for a park jimin to go on vacation with you. as it turns out, i have a cousin named park jimin who lives here in seoul, and he would be the perfect candidate! due to some, umm, recent circumstances, he has a lot of free time, and i think a vacation would really do him some good. i even checked with him about it and he was open to the idea. he recently deleted all his social media, though, so he can’t message you on here. that’s why i am messaging you instead!!
since he doesn’t have social media anymore, i’m attaching a picture of him so that you know he is a real person. i am also attaching his number so that you can text him.
he might not be in the best spirits right now, but he’s one of the nicest people i know and i think he would really enjoy this trip! please reach out to him!
send bobo my regards,
yeji ♡
Jungkook is skeptical, a multitude of questions already running through his mind — What are these recent circumstances? Why isn’t he in good spirits? Why did he delete his social media? — but he opens the first attachment anyway. When he does, he feels like the wind has been knocked out of him.
This Park Jimin is, well… he’s gorgeous. Gorgeous is an understatement, actually.
He’s with a girl, perhaps Yeji, although it’s not clear exactly who she is. They’re standing in front of the Han River, and his head is thrown back in laughter, a bright smile on full display, eyes scrunched shut. He’s wearing a black shirt that shows off his slender, muscled arms. His body is toned and lean, and his blonde hair is blowing in the breeze. He looks like he could be a model. Jungkook reaches up to brush his own hair out of his eyes, and in the process, realizes he’s gone little slack-jawed.
This is a bad idea, right? Inviting some guy that he actually finds attractive? Some guy he doesn’t even know at all? Surely, this isn’t wise. There are a million ways this could go wrong. The plan was half-cracked to begin with, but this would be off the deep end.
Before those thoughts can even finish computing in Jungkook’s mind, he’s already entered Jimin’s number as a contact in his phone and sent him a text that reads:
Hi. I heard you want to go on a trip with me?
Let the adventure begin.