Pluto Rooms | Jikook

I'm a Good Noodle!

"He's hiding."

Eunmi greets Jimin with these words as he hops excitedly out of the Camry that Hoseok let him borrow for the weekend. The drive down to Busan was painstakingly long and filled with the fast-paced beats of Kpop to accompany his anticipation. His AC couldn't stop his hands from sweating against the wheel, and he was uncomfortably hot the entire ride. Imagining the fun he'd have with Jungkook this weekend made him so impatient that he even cut off a semi on the highway for the first time ever.

Thanks to his wonderful smartphone, the spoken directions to Jungkook's trilevel home weren't too difficult to follow. The mid-summer sights were gorgeous too, with verdant foliage and skies as blue as the ocean. The distractions proved to be therapeutic for his racing mind, and he made a pact with himself not to have one thought about Gyuri this entire visit.

On the way, Jimin carefully formed his excuse for having to leave Busan early on Sunday: Yeonjun is calling in sick last minute and boss needs me at work tonight. I'm sorry, Jungkook.

The lie feels heavy in his mind, but it's a believable one and he knows Jungkook won't take it personally. It'll only take a few hours out of their Sunday anyhow, which won't impact their time together too much.

"Jungkook's hiding?" Jimin faces Eunmi while bouncing on his feet. At his heels is a wide pink duffel bag with a fluffy pillow sitting on top of it. "How does a guy in a wheelchair hide?"

Eunmi shakes her head, smiling. "Jungkook has his ways...and I may have helped him a little."

"Haha!" The sun is almost directly on top of them, beating down heavily on Jimin's skin. He fans himself as he takes in the home, which is only slightly larger than the duplex that Jimin currently lives in. Compared to Jimin's old Busan home, Jungkook's is higher up in the hills, more secluded from the other houses.

It's a light shade of blue, hugged by low hanging trees. Birds chirp loudly from the trees, which have dangling, red-painted bird houses on their branches. Pots of jade plants bloom with white flowers next to the quaint black mailbox. Jimin finds himself gawking at its serenity out here on the outskirts of Busan. His house growing up felt cramped and was right on top of the next house, as per usual in the colorful neighborhoods of the city. Here, it's so much more open than the city...it's freeing.

At a second glance, Jimin sees that the porch is wheelchair accessible, with a wooden ramp extending towards the driveway. I bet the rest of the house had to be renovated to be wheelchair accessible for Jungkook. "Can you give me a hint at where he's hiding? I've never been here before, how am I supposed to know where to go?"

"I'll help you out." Eunmi glides over to him, taking the duffel bag and pillow in one arm. "And I'll bring your bag and pillow into Jungkook's room while you're looking."

Jimin reaches out for the duffel. "No, that's okay--I can carry my stuff in Eunmi-"

"I've got them and that's that!" The woman leans away from Jimin's hand, dodging his fingers. She speeds up the ramp to the porch and Jimin follows, grinning like crazy. Eunmi is such a fun mom. No wonder Jungkook loves her so much. My mom would watch me haul my bag inside the house on my own and probably comment about how much she loves the sparkly zippers on it without lifting a finger to help. Gosh, I miss my mom. "Now go and find my son before he starts fake crying!"

"Okay! Okay!" Jimin jogs to catch up with Eunmi. The Camry beep beeps as Jimin locks it over his shoulder, his hands jittering with excitement. They enter the cool house and Jimin internally blesses the air conditioning. He's instantly met with a living room--a wide open space with various paintings hung up on the room's warm sunset walls. Jimin kicks off his shoes on the doormat and claps his hands a few times. "I'm coming for you Jungkook!!"