stranger than fiction (1)
→ 📖 pairing: assistant!jimin x novelist!reader
→ ☕ genre: enemies to lovers, angst, fluff, eventual smut
→ 🚬 word count: 3k
→ 🍝 summary: you are a reclusive author who wants nothing more than to be left alone so you can write at your own pace. jimin is the youngest executive assistant at Lucky Coin Publishers, and he’s never once been intimidated by a writer or their current project. that is, until he’s assigned to help you complete your latest novel. and you aren’t pleased about it.
→ 🍷 content warnings: profanity, smoking, jimin is very determined, reader is very grumpy, sexual tension.
→ 🖊 a/n: loosely based on a relationship from the movie stranger than fiction and also the tv show black books. thanks for reading :)
series masterlist → next chapter
chapter 1: satan smoking a cigarette
Jimin has worked with many, many authors, but none of them have ever been this elusive.
The publishing executives said you would be a difficult case, that you were a bit of an eccentric. In fact, when Jimin asked one of his supervisors about you and your...colorful reputation at the publishing house, all he had to say on the matter was “that woman is Satan smoking a cigarette.”
Jimin had been told that he was the sixth person to be assigned to you. No one knew why, but apparently you had a vendetta against anyone connected to Lucky Coin Publishers. A category which Jimin unfortunately fell under.
But, being the perfectionist that he was, and never one to back down from a challenge, Jimin accepted the seemingly impossible task. A task that no one else from the company has accomplished so far: getting you to finish your latest novel by the end of the year.
Jimin tried calling 42 times over the course of three days. You had no personal number, even though it was the year 2002 and most people with your level of notoriety and fame owned a cell phone by now, or at least a pager.
The publishers were beginning to get anxious, considering the fact that you hadn’t given them anything to work with in over three months. Not one draft, not one page, not even a clipping of meaningful prose. And, considering the book’s set release date, this was quite the problem.
So, here he was, asking around the quaint yet utterly reclusive community of Hidden Village. The name being as ironic as its residents. For it was a town of starving artists, retired creatives, and obscure literary celebrities who were fiercely protective of their anonymity. It was a place for strange, solitary people to live in peace and blissful privacy.
Something Jimin was about to disrupt.
He’d traced your location as far as your apartment number, given that the publishers were so antsy and had given him clearance to be a little invasive, but no one had answered the buzzer.
Now, if Jimin was any less determined, any less qualified given his history, he might’ve given up after the first few failed attempts. But, of course, he was Park Jimin, the youngest executive assistant in the company’s history. And he wasn’t about to let that title slip away.
So he walked the cobblestoned streets in the fading afternoon sun, searching the street signs for Red Herring Road.
When no one answered the buzzer, Jimin tried a few of the neighbors. One of them was a grumpy-sounding man who told him check the cafe a few blocks away, or the museum, or the bar, or the bookshop. But Jimin figured he’d try the cafe first.
He found it after just a few minutes of walking. An ivy-draped awning in the narrow street, shading a few little tables and chairs. A teapot-shaped sign over the door read:
Jam & Bread: coffee, sandwiches, pastries.
This must be the place, Jimin reassures himself, straightening his sleeves and perfecting the curve of his hair.
As he approaches, he sees that there’s only one person inhabiting the small cafe.
A woman, sitting outside, hunched over the crowded tabletop.
None of your books have an “About the Author” section, let alone a picture of your face on the back cover. But he recognizes you still, from that one interaction four years ago.
You’re dressed in heavily oversized, layered clothing. A sweater here, a scarf there, a wool coat hanging off the back of your chair.
It’s a bright yet chilly afternoon, so you’re dressed warmly with a pair of sunglasses on your nose.
A sea of papers is spread out in front of you. Open books, notepads, a few loose leafs, and sticky notes scattered all throughout. And to your right: a foamy latte in a large mug with a fluffy chocolate croissant.
Jimin prepares himself for the interaction to come. Because, from the looks of it, you clearly don’t want to be disturbed.
But Jimin knows that if he wanted to succeed, he’s going to have to do just that.
You’ve decided, over the course of several run-ins with your editor, that semicolons are bastards that have no place in any of your works. You make a note to exclude them from all future manuscripts.
This particular novel has proven to be more difficult to complete than all the others, you’ll admit that much. Maybe it’s because your most recently published book catapulted into unexpected (and probably undeserved) fame, meaning that the next thing you put out has to be even better or you’ll be a disappointment to everyone.
Now, you’ve never been one to easily cope with high expectations, or anyone expecting anything good out of you at all, so this newfound situation was especially overwhelming.
This book has loomed over your head like a storm cloud, like a deep depression, threatening to destroy your mental state at the drop of a hat.
Then, just as you’re getting into a groove, another damned interruption.
This time, it’s a young man in black dress shoes. The obnoxious squeak from the overly-polished leather is the first thing that grabs your attention.
You look up from the page you’re currently annotating, barely bothering to disguise your irritated expression.
He’s standing there in a tailored green coat that molds to his shoulders and thin waist. Then there’s the rings on his fingers and the ridiculous perfection of his hair: dyed blonde and styled up out of his face.
He’s beautiful, tantalizing. It's slightly infuriating.
“Excuse me,” he begins in a voice much lighter and silkier than you expected. “Are you Miss Nin?”
Nin, it was the pen name you’d chosen so many years ago. From Anaïs Nin, the author famous for her diaries and erotica. Even now, most people you know refer to you by that name. It makes life a little easier, living life through someone else’s name.
You survey the young man, trying to determine what exactly he wants. Nothing good, no doubt.
“No, she lives down the street,” you say, testing the waters. “Just around the corner, you can’t miss it.”
You say it with a pleasant smile, hoping he’ll take the bait. Because once he turns the street corner, you can escape through the alleyway and make it back to your apartment.
But the young man scans you up and down, calculating. After a few moments, he gives you a sly smile.
Authors are such bad liars, he thinks to himself. They spend so much time thinking up fiction in their works that there’s none left for their real lives.
And, of course, he already knows well who you are.
“No, I think you’re sitting right here, Miss Nin.”
Your genial expression drops in an instant. So that’s how it’s going to be.
You look at him over the rim of your sunglasses.
“And you are?” you say, clearly not amused.
Something very small in Jimin’s mind deflates. You don’t remember him.
But he shakes it off in an instant, slipping back into his professional persona.
“Park Jimin, pleased to meet you,” he answers cheerfully, holding out his hand to shake.
You glance at it once.
“A horrible judge of character on your part,” you reply dryly.
“I’m the assistant your publishers hired,” Jimin says, still friendly as ever.
“Oh, the spy,” you spit, beginning to gather your things.
“The assistant,” he corrects gently.
“I don’t need an assistant.”
You snatch all the stray papers and shove them in your tote bag, along with the three books, two journals, three notepads, and the six loose pens that were strewn about.
“I provide a number of services, whatever you need to—”
“Oh, such as watching me like a vulture and nagging me every time I get distracted, those kinds of services?”
By now, you’ve gathered all your belongings and have moved on to donning your scarf and coat.
Jimin watches you curiously. There’s a strange quality about you, the same one he saw when the two of you met the first time.
Maybe it’s the way you look at him with such quiet intrigue, or the way you rush to gather the immense amount of books and papers that you apparently carry in your bag. Whatever it is, it seems that he can’t take his eyes away from you.
“Miss Nin, I’m sure we can find a way that I’d be of use to you,” Jimin says as you shrug your bag onto your shoulder.
“I can help you with any organizational needs you might have, any—” the rest of his sentence trails off.
Jimin watches in fascination as you grab the full mug of coffee, tilt your head back, and down the entire thing in a matter of moments.
Then, you wrap the croissant in a napkin, dig in your wallet for an extremely generous tip (which you tuck under the vase of flowers on the table), give whoever is inside the cafe a friendly wave, and set off marching down the street.
He scrambles after you.
“Listen,” you begin impatiently. “I don’t need the publishers breathing down my neck and I certainly don’t need an “assistant” lurking around my workspace. So, if you would be so kind, please vacate the premises before I commit the stereotypical and turn you into an unlikable character that gets killed off in my next work.”
You pick up the pace as you stalk down the street, bristling at the fact that the publishers felt the need to send yet another spy after you expressed your intense dislike for them.
“Miss Nin, if you would just listen for a moment—” Jimin tries, but you’re quick to interrupt him again.
“Look, I’m sure you’re good at your job and all, but I simply have no need for any kind of assistant. I work best alone, even though the publishers refuse to acknowledge that. I’ve told them time and time again that outside involvement just slows me down. So, thank you for coming all the way out here, but you can tell the publishers that I dismissed you and I’ll take the heat from there.”
You say it all without looking at him, staring straight ahead like you’re hoping it will make him magically disappear.
By now the two of you have reached the mass of apartments, all in shades of old brown and faded cream. A criss-crossing system of fire escapes crawls up the sides of the building. The whole structure looks ancient, with peeling paint and chipped stone.
You approach an ivy-covered wall and stop at the door where Jimin started his search not too long ago. With the hand still holding the napkin-wrapped croissant, you punch a very long sequence of numbers into the keypad next to the buzzer.
A beep. You yank the door open and try to slither inside without him following you. But Jimin jams his foot through the gap before you can slam it shut.
“Miss Nin, please,” he pleads. “I really think I could be of help to you if you would just let me.”
There’s a moment where you stop to look at him, and something in your expression suggests that he might’ve gotten through to you.
Jimin’s breath catches in his throat when he sees how your lips part slightly, how your eyes flick over his with that same silent, enigmatic question.
He has to admit, something in his internal rhythm skips in that moment. Maybe this is the start of something—
“Nah, I’m good,” you say, whipping around and leaving Jimin hurrying after you after a pause of shock.
The room you’ve both entered is not what Jimin thinks of when he imagines the lobby of an apartment building.
There are checkered marble floors, shiny and polished despite the outward state of the building, and a number of large, stylishly modern leather couches scattered all throughout the large room.
But there’s also stacks of boxes lining the walls, countless empty picture frames propped up against each other, and cobwebs hanging like drapes from the ceiling.
You’re rushing up the stairs now, which stretches and spirals far above.
Jimin uses the curling iron railing to help him catch up to you. His professional shoes click against the marble, and the sound only adds to your annoyance.
He’s a persistent one, you’ll give him that.
“Trust me, Mr. Whoever You Are,” you say, somehow walking even faster. “You wouldn’t enjoy working with me. I’d make sure of it.”
Jimin is a little distracted. Not only by the incredible speed that you’re maintaining, but also the interior of your apparent “apartment building.”
Paintings crowd the walls, all in old intricate frames, a thick layer of dust over the landscapes, portraits, and impressions. It looks more like a museum than a place to live.
As Jimin follows you up the great, winding staircase, he can’t help but wonder why you’re so resistant to the idea of an assistant. It instills a small flame of curious determination in him.
He matches your pace, just a few steps behind you, as the two of you pass a massive cracked mirror leaning against the railing.
“Maybe I could come to that conclusion myself?” Jimin says, hopping up a step so he can stand next to you, trying to catch your eye.
But you keep on pretending he’s not there, staring straight ahead with the rigid focus only a writer possesses.
Higher and higher you climb, passing more curious things, like a broken chandelier surrounded by crystal shards, then a pile of rotting wood planks.
The sound of your footsteps remains steady while Jimin’s start to slow from exhaustion.
Either you’re completely unfazed by the incredible number of steps, or you’re very good at hiding it.
Jimin pauses, chest heaving, one hand on the railing as he leans over to catch his breath. He hears your steady footsteps carry on.
He looks up to see you reaching towards a rusty door at the end of a long hallway. Digging around in your bag, you pull out a bundle of jingling keys, almost immediately finding the right one and slipping it inside the lock.
Swinging the door open, you disappear behind it as Jimin springs into action again.
His hand slips between the gap just before the door closes and automatically locks.
What he hopes to see is the inside of your apartment, a refuge from the long stretch of exertion that lays behind him. But what he finds is more stairs.
This stairway is less grand. No marble floors or fancy railing, just a narrow tower of concrete steps and unpainted walls.
He follows you up the stairwell that twists this way and that, until the two of you reach yet another door.
“Go home, kid. I have no use for you,” you say dismissively, sifting through your key ring to unlock the door.
That does it. The last of Jimin’s patience flickers out like a candle flame.
The lock clicks open, and you try to slam the door in his face, but he extends his arm and plants his hand firmly on the wood.
The sound and force of it makes you jump, whipping around to face him.
His face has changed. A moment ago, it was soft and pleasant. Now it’s hardened and dark, his eyes piercing into yours like icicles.
“Miss Nin,” Jimin begins, voice sharp enough to cut. “I’ve been an author’s assistant for three years. I’ve helped eight authors complete more than eleven books, and I’ve never gone back to the publisher to ask for more time.”
He straightens, adjusting his coat while maintaining that same icy eye contact.
“Now, I will available to you whenever you may need me. And you will find that I can be very....persistent.”
You narrow your eyes at him.
“Here’s my home number, my mobile number, and my pager number. I don’t take calls past eight p.m. and I don’t tolerate the use of narcotics.”
You raise an eyebrow at that, begrudgingly taking the business card he hands you with all his information.
“I believe the novel is set to release early next year,” Jimin says in a fake nonchalant tone. “Which means you have until the end of December to come up with a final draft.”
The mention of a deadline makes you bristle, setting him with a glare.
“So, until you put the last punctuation mark on the very last page, I will be here. Ready to assist you.”
A moment of tense silence. You glaring at him, him staring right back with a slight, smug smile.
You move to retreat into the doorway.
“Oh, and Miss Nin?” Jimin interrupts, sounding pleased with himself. “I get paid whether you like me or not.”
You slam the door.
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