Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Min Yoongi was what they called the school's Resident Bad Boy.

Honestly, he hadn't meant to be one. He was really just an ordinary guy who wanted to be left alone.

He didn't give two shits about what other people thought of him, so when he had first entered high school, he willingly isolated himself from the rest of the students. Yoongi simply couldn't bring himself to care about the affairs of others most of the time.

But then someone decided that it would be a great idea to scoff and denounce him as lower than a human just because he was a huge introvert. He had beared it at first, trying to ignore their actions. But as things got more heated, a nerve in him ticked and he finally decided to lay a punch on the other.

More punches were thrown when the guy had called in reinforcements. But Yoongi, with his small stature and quick reflexes, could dodge oncoming attacks with relative ease and retaliate. He came out of the fight almost unscathed, with only a couple of large bruises and scratches, while one of the other party almost got sent to the hospital.

Needless to say, he got punished alongside those idiots that provoked him, though Yoongi thought that it was worth it. At least those fuckers cowered in fear every time they saw him now.

Because of the incident, goody-two-shoes students tended to avoid him, wanting to steer away from trouble. If you look into his eyes he'll beat you up, they said. Yoongi heaved a huge sigh of relief at at that, hoping that he could finally be left alone in peace.


But Yoongi was attractive, with bleached (yes, he dyed it against the school rules, because why not?) bangs sweeping across his forehead. His milky, pale skin was soft to the touch, and his feline-like eyes enhanced his facial features. The silver rings that adorned his fingers and the piercings that were lined up on his ears sparkled when the sun rays reflected off the silver, making Yoongi stand out even more.

There was a large gaggle of ditzy girls, and even a handful of boys, that were attracted to him. They all lusted after the concept of bad boys, loving the thrill and danger that they thought Yoongi could bring in their lives. Yoongi wondered if humanity was beyond saving, because it was at least half of the school population that claimed to have fallen for him.

It wasn't as if he fought with every living being. After that incident, he only had a few more fights, but that was only when someone had provoked him badly. They only served to enhance his bad boy image though.

He hardly had a romantic bone in his body, and he had never actually been romantically interested in anyone in his entire life. But a nasty rumor had spread that he slept with almost all the popular and most desired students, and them being the attention seeking whores that they were, they confirmed the rumor even when it was 100% false. But the damage had been done, and now everyone thought that his sex game was The Bomb™.

Students practically threw themselves at him after that, and Yoongi honestly wanted to cry. Why couldn't he have just led a normal, peaceful life? He even heard that he had his own personal fanclub set up, but he didn't want to know the accuracy of that rumor.

Kim Namjoon and Jung Hoseok came into the picture in his second year. Although Yoongi preferred solitude, he was immensely glad that he found like-minded people who shared his taste in music and didn't judge him instantly for his actions and personality. They became fast friends, and the three of them were almost inseparable.

"Hyung, the more you say that you would never fall in love, the harder you'll fall when it happens, you know," Namjoon said with his philosophical mindset after Yoongi had complained about a love letter, sprayed with a sensual scent from the most expensive perfume brand, that had been shoved into his locker and stunk up his shoes.

Yoongi snorted. "Psh, never."

Yoongi may have let his guard down for Namjoon and Hoseok, but he never let anyone else into the walls he built up around himself after that.

Yoongi had entered his third and final year with a breeze.

Not to brag, but he thought that he had the mind of a genius. He barely handed in his homework and assignments, always dozing off in class (yes, he actually attends classes; he even has a near perfect attendance rate), but yet he aced every single one of his exams. Yeah, he was a genius, alright.

Obviously, his teachers wouldn't even want to hold him back another year if they didn't need to. He was the type of student that was a nightmare to them, and his teachers couldn't wait for the day he graduated.

Holding his meal in one hand, Yoongi walked up flights of stairs to be met with a barricade, where a sign that clearly wrote "NO ENTRY" was placed in front of the door. He jumped over the poorly placed barricade with ease, and pushed open the wooden entrance. The door let out loud creaks that announced his arrival. He was met with the sight of his two friends sitting across one another, heartily shoveling down food into their mouths as they filled their empty stomachs.

"Hey Joon, Seok," Yoongi called out and walked towards the both of them.

"Hey hyung!" Hoseok exclaimed with glee, and gestured for him to join them quickly. Namjoon nodded at his presence and gave him a smile that displayed his dimples fully.

Yoongi took a seat in the middle of the two, forming a small triangle, and crossed his legs. He placed his lunchbox (he totally wasn't a cheapskate, his mother just makes too much food every dinner) on his lap and unfolded the cloth that protected it.

"Hoseok was just telling me about the freshmen this year," Namjoon said.

"Oh right, you signed up for the orientation programme," Yoongi recalled as he turned towards Hoseok.

"You remembered!" Hoseok beamed a radiant smile at him. "Yep! I, Jung Hoseok, had been elected to be part of the orientation committee, and my orientation group is a huge bundle of joy!" He declared proudly, puffing out his chest in the process.

The school organized an orientation event every year for the new students to be better able to adjust and adapt themselves in their transition to high school. The older students willingly volunteered themselves to be part of this event, largely because they were given the permission to skip lessons. But Hoseok mostly wanted to help out around school. Being able to skip lessons without breaking the rules was more of a bonus to him.

But it was slightly different this year. The government implemented a policy to create an all-round conducive environment for the disabled, so schools, being under the government's control, were highly encouraged (more like forced to, in Yoongi's opinion) to align their school programmes slowly to match this policy.

Which was why Yoongi's school now had a programme for blind high schoolers. They had been spending part of their budget on equipping themselves with the proper facilities and equipment for the blind, and they claimed that it was for the greater good of society so that these poor blind students wouldn't have to fork out expensive fees to go to a special needs school. Yoongi admitted that it was a valiant plan, but knowing his school better, he figured that their intentions was to create a better reputation for the school so that more people would be admitted in.

"So have you met anyone from the special programme?" Yoongi asked.

"Nope, not yet," Hoseok replied. "I heard that there's only one that got admitted into the special programme anyway, but it's probably because every other school has almost similar programmes since it's a state thing."

"Oh, actually," Namjoon chipped in, "I think I saw the blind student along the hallways! I mean, he had a walking stick, so he's probably the guy, right?" The other two nodded before Namjoon continued. "Hm, he was wearing sunglasses too." He paused to think for a moment. "Well, I suppose he does have to hide his eyes from the strong sun rays."

The elder hummed in response. Namjoon and Hoseok continued chatting about the freshmen, and Yoongi continued to eat in silence. He didn't really care about new students, everyone enters and graduates school before you know it anyway.

"Oh Yoongi-hyung," Namjoon nudged the older with brightened eyes, seemingly having thought about something. "Which category do you think the blind student falls under?" He asked, intrigued. "Do you think he'll be scared of you, or become another member of your fanclub?"

Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. "First of all, no such fan club exists, or should exist. People should spend their precious time more wisely." Yoongi pointed out in disgust. "Secondly, I'm not interested in blind kids, so I don't care."

"That's so rude!" Hoseok squawked indignantly. "I hope the poor boy never, ever meets you."

Yoongi simply shrugged nonchalantly.

Yoongi was late for his class. Very late.

Now, usually he wouldn't care. Technically speaking, he was already late, right? The extent of his lateness was only a small detail. It wasn't as if rushing when he was already late to begin with would reverse time or something.

But this was his physical education class he was late to. His teacher had previously threatened that he would force Yoongi to run ten rounds around the track if he was ever late again, and he was pretty damn serious about it. That's four whole kilometers, and Yoongi still needed to go through the tortuous class.

Nope, Yoongi didn't want to waste precious energy on pointless running. It wasn't as if he didn't he didn't have the stamina for it; on the contrary, he had excellent stamina, being in the basketball club and all. But hardly anyone, Yoongi included, appreciated extra exercise.

Yoongi could only hope that if he wasn't that late, his teacher would cut him some slack and at least reduce the number of rounds. He ran (ironically) towards the field, choosing to go through the small walkway at the back of the school as a shortcut.

The walkway was surrounded by high cobblestone walls, and Yoongi had to make a sharp turn towards the right to the field.

He sprinted with all his might, and thought that he might even be able to break national records with the speed that he was launching himself against the air currently. But going so fast only meant that Yoongi didn't have time to react when he realized too late that there was an approaching figure on the other side of the turn.

"Shit, who the fu -"

His eyes widened as he helplessly slammed into the other, and they both crashed towards the ground.

The other's books flew into the air, and landed as heavily on the floor, making thundering claps. One narrowly missed Yoongi's head, but it just dropped on his shoulder instead before it slid to the ground with another thump.

Yoongi winced in pain, rubbing the sore spot on his shoulder. His eyes flew open. He really didn't have the time to be sitting on the ground now, crash or not.

"I-I'm so sorry!" He heard the other exclaim, and Yoongi looked at him. The other wasn't directly facing him since he was busy fumbling about with hands, trying to feel the ground for his books as he collected them one by one.

"Uh, it's fine," Yoongi replied, picking up the book that hit him in the shoulder hard. He flipped through it curiously, only to see that the pages was filled with small dots scattered throughout the book. "Is this Braille?" Yoongi asked as he closed the book, stretching out his hand to pass it to the other.

Alright, Yoongi was going to hand him this book, leave the other to pick up his own shit, hightail out of this place, and -

The boy turned to face him, one hand grasping the air to feel for the outstretched book, before he felt the hardcover and took it from Yoongi. "T-thank you," the boy whispered sweetly and shyly. "Yes, its Braille. The headmaster told me that the school bought some Braille books so I borrowed them."

- And holy shit, suddenly Yoongi had all the time in the world. Who cares about punishment? He could run twenty rounds, no sweat.


The other student, in all his glorious form, looked up towards Yoongi as he said his thanks. Rosy pink dusted across his slightly round cheeks, and he was biting on his cherry plump lips in nervousness. His raven locks got slightly messed up from the crash, but it still looked silky and fluffy.

And his eyes. His pupils were a glassy grey, but for some reason, Yoongi found them ethereal on the other. He would willingly gaze into them if the other allowed him to.

So this was the blind student. Wow, Yoongi might need to eat his own words for lunch now.

Pretty Boy (as dubbed by Yoongi), felt Yoongi's continued presence in front of him, cocked his head to one side in bewilderment as to why he was still there.

The younger suddenly realized that there was a possibility that Yoongi was staring into his face, and he felt overly conscious. He ducked his head away, and bent down, carefully placing the book that Yoongi handed him with the other two that were stacked up on the floor behind him.

Yoongi's eyes couldn't help trailing up and down the other's curves that were all in the right places. His eyes then fixed themselves on the younger's ass, and Yoongi had to bite on his tongue to prevent himself from whistling at the sight of how perky and round it was.

No dirty thoughts, no dirty thoughts...

"Sorry, I guess you saw my eyes..." Pretty Boy mumbled, jerking Yoongi out of his trance. "Um, please don't be scared because of my eyes. My sunglasses fell somewhere, I'll just look for it and you don't have to see them again."

"What? No!" Yoongi found himself bursting out, startling the other and even surprising himself. "I mean, no," the older repeated again in a more gentle yet firm tone. "I, uh, think your eyes are beautiful."

The blind student looked dumbfounded for a moment, before he finally let out a soft, airy giggle, and Yoongi swore that he almost died.

"Thanks, I guess. People always say that my eyes are creepy, so I usually hide them," he said in a small voice. "You're the first to say they're beautiful."

Yoongi shuffled his feet awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. He hadn't even expected himself to just blurt out the compliment, but it just slipped out. Yoongi's eyes darted around, before his eyes landed on a pair of sunglasses on the ground.

The older walked to the object and picked it up, but found that one side of the temple tips had broken off. "Hey, the tip broke off," Yoongi told the other. "I'm sorry. I was the one that crashed into you."

"O-oh..." The boy murmured sadly, taking the broken sunglasses from him and shoving it into his pocket, creating a visible bulge at the side of his pants. "It's okay, it can't be helped," the younger reassured Yoongi. "I just hope people won't freak out too much when they see my eyes."

Yoongi snorted. "They'd be idiots then."

He didn't want the other to remain sad, just because he was careless enough to run into him. "Actually, I have spare sunglasses in my locker. I can lend them to you if you don't mind," Yoongi suggested.

"That'd be a huge help!" The blind student exclaimed in return, his eyes forming tiny crescents as his lips tugged into a grin, and Yoongi felt his heart clench. "But aren't you rushing off somewhere?"

"Oh, er, nah. I was just practicing my running. Gotta keep in shape whenever and whereever, you know?"

"Alright then," Pretty Boy let another giggle slip out of his lips at Yoongi's obvious lie. "Thank you."

"Okay, uh, I'll hold onto you then? To lead you, I mean. To my locker. Since I broke your sunglasses," Yoongi said awkwardly and grabbed onto the other's hand, holding it firmly.

The younger's hand was smooth and small, and their hands slotted perfectly into one another's, like they were made for one another. Yoongi wished that he could hold onto this hand forever.

The tips of the other student's ears went red as his mind started registering what Yoongi just did. "Um? It's just my sunglasses that broke, I can walk just fine," he squeaked. "I have a walking stick after all. I think it fell somewhere around here?"

Fuck. Yoongi cursed at his own stupidity,  and he rapidly let go of the other's hand. "Sorry," he mumbled again, his heart mourning the loss of the warmth in his own hand.

He picked up the walking stick and awkwardly shoved the object into the other's hand. "At least let me carry your books for you," Yoongi offered, his eyes flitting to the three books piled on top of each other. They weren't a lot, but he wanted to be helpful in some way. "Braille books are heavier than normal books, right?"

The other nodded shyly, and they started to make their way to the hallway.

Yoongi fumbled with his locker combination with one hand, while trying to keep the books steady with the other. He didn't want the other to think he was weak if he had chosen to put the books down on the floor.

There wasn't a person in sight in the hallways, since it was technically still lesson time. Yoongi wondered what Pretty Boy was doing outside of class, but wasn't curious enough to ask.

"Are you okay?" The younger asked, hearing Yoongi's grunts. "Here, you can pass my books back to me," he said and stretched out his one arm, his other hand still on his walking stick. Yoongi reluctantly handed the books back to Pretty Boy.

With two hands this time, Yoongi finally managed to unlock his locker. He rummaged about for his sunglasses, fishing them out after a few moments.

To be honest, those sunglasses of his weren't cheap. He had spent a long time saving up for it, since he had engraved silver letterings into one side of the temples. Yoongi had placed it in his locker as something of a good luck charm and to keep it safe, but he had never actually worn it.

But here he was, so willing to lend it to someone he just met. Yoongi surprised himself sometimes.

Yoongi turned towards Pretty Boy, wanting to pass the sunglasses to the other, but realized that his hands were already full. He opted to put it on Pretty Boy himself.

Carefully perching the sunglasses on the younger, Yoongi saw Pretty Boy visibly stiffen at the sudden touch before he relaxed himself. Yoongi couldn't help but drag his fingers across the other's cheeks, and he chuckled as he noticed those very cheeks redden again.

"I should go," Yoongi announced, turning away to close his locker.

"W-wait!" Pretty Boy exclaimed, and Yoongi raised a brow, facing the other again. "What's your name? I need to know to return your sunglasses to you!"

Yoongi's face suddenly contorted with worry as rumors that surrounded him flashed through his mind. He didn't want Pretty Boy to know who he really was. If he did then there was a chance that the other would become scared of him and stay away. And somehow, even though Yoongi would have preferred that at first, he didn't want that to happen anymore.

"Uh, it's Min Namseok," he shot out an answer in a panic, and wow did Yoongi want to slam his head in the wall for his creativity.

"Okay! I'm Park Jimin!" The other introduced himself with a beaming smile, revealing a cute, crooked tooth.

At least Yoongi now had the name of Pretty Boy to take to his deathbed; dying from either his teacher's gruel punishment that awaited him in a while or slowly by someone with the name of Park Jimin.

Jimin walked into his classroom, heading for his seat that was in the left most row. He placed his books down and put his walking stick leaning against the left side of his table so that nobody would trip on it.

He sat down, about to reach for one of the books to start on it before class started, but he heard the people dragging their chairs to sit in front of him and beside him.

"Chim chim! Where did you go?" The student in front of him asked. "We didn't see you in the class before. Don't just disappear suddenly, you'll give me a heart attack!"

"Don't be overdramatic, Tae," Jimin chuckled at his friend's antics. "The teacher excused me from class because the headmaster wanted to see me. I just went to the library to borrow these books after that."

Taehyung, Jimin's bestest and closest friend, had been with him ever since they were young, even before he had lost his sight. Taehyung had been protective of him since then, always looking out for him. Jimin had learnt to care for himself long ago, but Taehyung's presence never failed to make him feel more at ease.

"Ooooh, the school has Braille books?" Jimin heard a gasp from the side. "Aren't they like, super expensive? And the school already gave you audio books too."

"Well, I am in the special programme, Kookie," Jimin reminded the other.

Jungkook, Jimin's trusted friend after Taehyung, moved in beside him when they were in middle school. He was a year younger than them, but he had been studying overseas sometime before the middle of his elementary school, so they had allowed him to skip a grade.

Jungkook and Taehyung had gone to the same middle school, but Jimin had to go to a special needs school because of his disability. The two still spent as much time as they could after school hours with him, of course, but Jimin was happy that he could finally attend the same school as his friends with this programme.

"Are you adapting to the special programme though? Is it even helpful? How do you even do maths without your usual things?" Jungkook spat out question after question.

"Aish, so many questions!" Jimin whined with a frown. "You guys know I'll be fine, but thanks for worrying about me. I can calculate and formulate my answers pretty quickly in my head by now, so maths is no problem for me!" he explained. "Anyway, I'm allowed to record all my lessons, and I'm given extra help everyday, so yeah, I'm fine."

"Huh, it sounds like you'll end up getting better grades than me," Jungkook stated and Jimin could practically hear the pout in his voice and the older giggled.

Jimin suddenly felt a small tug on the sleeve on his shirt, before he felt another, and another, each tug increasing in intensity with every persistent pull.

Jimin shifted his attention to Taehyung before his best friend ended up ripping off his sleeve. "Yes, Tae? Do you need something?"

"Where'd you get those sunglasses, Chim?" Taehyung inquired. "They're not yours, right?"

"Ah nope," Jimin replied. He was about to tell the two about his encounter with Namseok, but was interrupted by Taehyung.

"Wait, wait, let me see those sunglasses, Jiminie! There's an engraving on the left side," Taehyung exclaimed suddenly in a burst of excitement. Jimin complied, turning his head to the right and leaned forwards towards Taehyung since he didn't want to take off the glasses with other people around. His best friend fell silent for a moment, so Jimin assumed that he was trying to decipher what was on the engraving, before Taehyung started squealing. "Oh my God, Kookie come look at this! It says First Love, damn."

"F-first love?" Jimin squeaked out, sensing Jungkook move closer to him, probably trying to get a look at the engraving.

"Holy shit, hyung," Jungkook wheezed. "I can't believe you already snagged someone's heart when school just barely started. Who's the lucky person?"

"That's not what happened! I stole nobody's heart!" Jimin defended, completely oblivious to the fact that he did in fact steal it already.

He began telling his friends animatedly about his encounter with the guy called Namseok. Taehyung and Jungkook couldn't stop laughing throughout his story.

"Awww, looks like our Jiminie has a little crush~" Taehyung cooed, and the youngest made hums of agreement.

"I do not!" Jimin replied with an embarrassed huff and crossed his arms. "I'm just stating facts; he does have a really nice voice and his hand was soft and he smelled nice, but that doesn't mean I like him," he argued, but he could feel his own face burning up in contradictory to his words.

"Yeah, yeah," Jungkook said, unconvinced by Jimin. "What did you say his name was again?"

"Min Namseok. Have you guys heard of him?"

"Nope," Taehyung said, popping his lips at the 'p'. "We've heard of a Min Yoongi though."

"Oh? Who's he?"

Jungkook leaned in, cupping a hand around his mouth, dramatically whispering scandalously. "They said he's the school's bad boy. He even has a fanclub!"

"Wow, how does a delinquent even get a fanclub anyway?" Jimin laughed at that. "Have you guys met him?"

"We've seen him along the hallways. He looked really cool, to be honest!" Taehyung commented enthusiastically, describing him to Jimin so that he could vision it in his mind. "Bleached hair, silver rings, piercings, and the bad boy aura. Oh, and people staring at him like he offended or completed their lives."

"I want to be friends with him, I think he's fucking awesome," the youngest inputted, before he got disappointed. "Ah, but he'd never look twice at ordinary freshmen like us."

"Are you kidding? Maybe the both of you should just join his fanclub then," Jimin teased his friends. "But seriously, I would stay away from him if I could. He sounds like trouble."

"You say that because you've already got a mysterious cutie for you," Jungkook cackled deviously and Taehyung joined in the laughter.

Jimin simply blushed, not bothering to refute the statement as his mind drifted off to the student with a low, raspy voice.

Chapter Text

During the late afternoon, when the skies had turned a soft shade of orange as the sun began to hide behind the clouds, Yoongi sighed softly.

Almost everyone had headed home already, since lessons had been long over. Yoongi chose the seat nearest to the windows, hoping that he would be able to kill as much time by looking at people going out of school (he totally wasn't hoping to see someone in particular). But seeing people with their friends just made Yoongi want to jump off from the classroom windows and escape from school himself.

Yoongi wouldn't do that, obviously. He wasn't about to break his limbs because of school. And his basketball coach would kill him for injuring himself before a practice match against a pretty reputable school.

He stared idly at the teacher sitting in the front desk who paid no attention to him. Yoongi leaned his head against his hand, nodding off tiredly before his hand gave way and his whole body slumped against the table wearily.

Bored with nothing to entertain himself with, Yoongi's eyes fluttered open, and he decided to watch the second hand tick away as he counted down in his heart.

One more minute...

The shrill bell finally rang, disrupting the quiet that filled the room. Yoongi let out a cheer in his mind and he stretched his arms, feeling more awake now that he was finally released.

The teacher looked up from her work that was sprawled on the front desk, and gave Yoongi a stern look. "I hope you've learnt your lesson to not be late, Min Yoongi," she said steely, before letting out a condescending laugh. "But let's be real, this isn't your first time here nor will it be your last."

Yoongi narrowed his eyes at the teacher who started to gather her things, his eyes following her every movement with a dangerous glint. He didn't appreciate being looked down upon by anyone, including teachers, just because he had a reputation around the school. When she finally left, Yoongi rolled his eyes and let out an annoyed huff.

Yoongi's physical education teacher had sent him off to run ten rounds on the track,  but the bastard had added detention time after school as well. As such, Yoongi was trapped in an empty classroom with no one other than another teacher that was stuck with detention duty. Her glares made him think that she thought he was one huge burden, but hey, Yoongi hadn't purposely asked for detention, did he? She should blame her colleague instead.

At least he got to meet and talk to the world's cutest guy.

"Heeeey, Yoongi-hyung!" He heard a cheery voice call out his name moments later. He turned to look at the door, and saw two heads poking out.

"You two haven't gone home yet?"

"Nah, Hoseok was confused about some things in class so we were in the library revising," Namjoon explained. "He wanted to continue studying so we thought we would wait a while for you to be released from detention and ask if you wanted to come over to my place too."

Yoongi hummed in agreement and started to pack his own things quickly, not wanting his friends to wait for long. He made a mistake of briefly glancing out of the window as he zipped his bag close. Yoongi's eyes caught on to a familiar walking stick, and he did a double take at the figure that was slowly making his way out of school.

"Hyung, what are you looking at?" Hoseok asked curiously, walking towards the window, clearly impatient from waiting. Yoongi whipped his head around to look at Hoseok and frowned, realizing that his eyes had lingered a little too long on Jimin.

"Nothing," Yoongi mumbled, praying hard that Hoseok would believe him and not look out of the window.

But of course, the world was against him and Hoseok did peer outside the window. "Oh, that's the blind student!" Hoseok announced. "He's the one you saw, right, Namjoon?"

Namjoon, having trailed behind Hoseok and entered the classroom, looked out of the window as well. "Yeah, that's him," he nodded in confirmation, and continued. “I’ve seen him a couple more times after orientation, actually. He was always with two other guys; they seemed close.” Well, at least they didn't mention anything about Yoongi staring at him. "Oh hey, did he change his sunglasses? It wasn't this design when I saw him the other day."

Fuck . Curse Kim Namjoon and his extraordinary memory.

Yoongi swung his bag over his shoulders and pushed his chair back under the table, hoping to get their attention to leave before Namjoon could tell that those sunglasses belonged to him. "Come on, Joon, Seok. Let's go," Yoongi urged his friends.

"Mmm, okay, Yoongi-hyung," Namjoon said as he teared his eyes away from the window. "I feel like I've seen those glasses before, I just can't remember where."

Thank fucking God you can't , Yoongi silently thanked in his heart.

But his happiness was short-lived, for Hoseok opened his mouth to reply Namjoon after a few seconds of silence. "Hey, I feel like I've seen those pair of sunglasses too," he inputted, still staring out of the window at Jimin. Hoseok lifted his fingers to his chin, thinking. “Those silver letterings…”

“Wait, what did you say?!” Namjoon shouted, spinning around so fast to look out the window again. He pressed his hands on the window pane so hard, Yoongi was sure that the younger’s fingerprints would be permanently stuck there forever. But he didn’t have time to be concerned about Namjoon’s fingerprints or toeprints or whatever now, he needed the ground to swallow him up this instance because Yoongi was so sure that the younger had already figured it out, and he wanted to be spared of the impending interrogation from his friends.

“T-that design and silver engraving… Oh god, I remember now. Yoongi-hyung, isn’t that pair of sunglasses yours?” Namjoon spluttered out, clearly shocked that the blind student had one of Yoongi’s possessions.

God damn it, why isn’t the ground doing its job yet?

Yoongi bit back a groan as he heard Hoseok started squealing in excitement. “Oh come on, sunglasses are a pretty common thing to have. I can list five people off my mind that own a pair,” he tried to reason out with his friends, hoping with futile effort that they would drop the case.

“But Yoongi-hyung, it’s not every pair that has customized engraving specifically on its right temple,” Namjoon gave his own logical explanation. “And I very much recall that your pair just so happens to also have a customized engraving specifically on its right temple.”

“What’s this, what’s this?” Hoseok chirped in excitedly. “And someone said they didn’t have an interest in blind kids!” When a flash of defeat flashed through Yoongi’s eyes, Hoseok and Namjoon high fived each other in glee. “Details now, Yoongi-hyung. We want to know everything,” Hoseok demanded, enunciating every word.

Yoongi didn’t bother holding back his groan this time, and he let out a heavy sigh. He plopped his bag on the table and dragged his chair out of its slot under it, and sat down. Namjoon and Hoseok each grabbed their own chairs, eagerly anticipating a very juicy storytelling session from the elder. Yoongi stared at his friend with an annoyed look, before he told them his encounter with Jimin.

“What the heck! You almost twisted my wrist when all I wanted to do was to hold it and take a closer look at the engravings!” Hoseok yelled playfully with a feigned wronged expression on his face when Yoongi had reached the part where he lent Jimin his pair of sunglasses. Well, Yoongi had been protective of that pair, and he did almost twist Hoseok’s wrist regrettably when he had showed it off to his two friends. He hadn't even shown it to anyone else apart from Namjoon and Hoseok up till the encounter.

But hey, it was justified. The pair of sunglasses cost him an arm and a leg after all. Yoongi just felt that Jimin was worth more than his entire life in the spur of a moment.

“Sheesh, I said I was sorry,” Yoongi apologized insincerely to the younger.

“It’s fine,” Hoseok said with a smile. “I’m just glad that someone actually managed to melt that icy heart of yours!”

Namjoon nodded, pleased at the fact that Yoongi was currently experiencing this new emotion of infatuation. “So is there anything else interesting that we should know about him?”

Yoongi paused for a moment, going through his mind. “Oh yeah,” he recalled and snapped his fingers, casually pointing out. “I told him that my name was Min Namseok, just FYI.”

The smiles on Namjoon and Hoseok’s faces suddenly faltered and their lips twitched, and they fell into an unnerving silence as compared to when they were whooping and adding in comments throughout the entire recount. Slowly, they turned to look at each other, their smiles fixed stiffly on their faces. When they made eye contact with one another, their smiles dropped so fast, and they whipped their heads back to stare at Yoongi so rapidly that the older thought that their necks could possible snap.

“You did WHAT?!” they roared in unison, and Yoongi let out a sheepish grin.

Yoongi tapped his pen on the miniature table repeatedly, looking across the table at his two friends. He had already read through his notes not one time, but two whole times , which was unbelievable in itself because since when did The Min Yoongi ever revise? Unfortunately, his friends were busy ignoring him and doing their own work like the diligent students they were, so he had nothing better to do.

"Do you think his friends will help me score with Jimin?" Yoongi asked his friends, breaking the silence and hoping that his friends would stop ignoring him. Just because he inwardly complained about them being nosy moments ago doesn't mean that he wanted them to ignore him.

Both his friends remained silent for a few moments, leaving Yoongi to listen to the whirring of the ceiling fan awkwardly.

Hoseok briefly looked up from his work to glance at him after what seemed like forever. "Maybe they would if you weren't stupid enough to give Jimin a fake name," he taunted. "And you had to combine all three of our names. Jimin is never going to find a Min Namseok to return the sunglasses to, let alone his friends helping you."

Yoongi sighed. "I'm sorry for my lack of creativity," he mumbled reluctantly. "But I really didn't want him to know my actual name. Otherwise, he might be scared of me. He's probably heard the rumors by now."

"You actually apologized," Hoseok gasped, a little shocked since Yoongi would know that they would have forgiven him regardless. "Yoongi-hyung, I thought you knew better than to let those annoying rumors get to you." Letting out a little laugh, he teased, "I think our Yoongi is changing from this new feeling called infatuation. I'm surprised!"

"Oh come on, Seok," Yoongi retorted. "You're one to talk; you almost pissed in your pants when I went up to you to talk for the first time. And all I did was tap your shoulder."

"I did not ! I would've been startled regardless - it was 6am in the morning when nobody else should be in school and the sky was still dark!" Hoseok fired back with a huff, and Yoongi laughed at his response.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night. But I'm still not telling Jimin my name," the older said stubbornly.

"Hm," Namjoon started, interrupting them and bringing the topic back at hand as he placed his pen cap back on his pen. "But every time I see him, he's with two other guys. Isn't it feasible that he might be dating one of them?"

Hoseok elbowed Namjoon hard in his sides, and the latter let out a little ‘oomph’, clutching the attacked area. "Ignore him, Yoongi-hyung," Hoseok said, both second years turning to look at the elder. "He doesn't know what he's talking about -"

Hoseok cut off his sentence midway as he realized that something was off. Yoongi's mood had suddenly changed. The Min Yoongi was actually looking a little lost and upset. Yoongi furrowed his eyebrows, and sighed for what seemed to be like the hundredth time today. "He's right though," he said defeatedly. "Who wouldn't fall for a guy like that?"

A pregnant silence washed over the room, and Hoseok and Namjoon turned to look at each other. They didn't even need to say anything, but they both knew that they had the same thoughts in their mind: Holy shit , this might be more serious than just a simple crush.

"It's okay, you never know, Yoongi-hyung!" Namjoon exclaimed, trying to salvage the situation.

"Yup, don't count your chickens before they hatch, hyung!" Hoseok nodded, encouraging Yoongi with the hopes of cheering the other up.

"That's not how you use that idiom," Namjoon said with a frown. "That idiom actually means that -"

"Yeah, yeah," Hoseok interjected, dismissing the other with the wave of his hand. "Anyway, Yoongi-hyung, it doesn't matter whether you can get the help of Jimin's friends or not, you can count on the both of us to help you!" Hoseok guaranteed with a smile as Namjoon nodded, his grin only growing larger when Yoongi returned a rare, genuine smile of his own.

Yoongi was in his room, fumbling about with his phone over the weekend like any normal student would as he lazed around in his bed. He had been scrolling through his social media accounts, but he found himself ending up on Google not long later.

Typing in brief keywords, he turned his body and held his phone above his face as he lied on his pillow with his stomach facing up. Yoongi read through articles about the blind, and curiously wondered about the cause of Jimin's blindness. If he was honest with himself, Yoongi would admit that his mind had been filled with thoughts about the younger non-stop since their meeting.

But obviously, Yoongi was too much of a wimp to actually start a conversation with Jimin. Even when he had walked past him in school a few times (he almost walked into the wall once, eyes occupied with looking at the other, but that was a secret), Yoongi couldn't find the guts to actually head up to him and strike up a conversation.

What could he say anyway? He never did meet the younger in private again. It wasn't as if he could, in public, enthusiastically say, "Hey, it's me, Min Namseok, you remember the guy that crashed into you and literally fell for you? Yeah, that dude." People would definitely stare and start judging him again, and worse still, new rumors might arise. Yoongi didn't care anymore about rumors since he was going to graduate soon anyway, but he didn't want to ruin Jimin's fresh highschool life.

He continued browsing through more articles, before a picture of a blind lady appeared in one of them. Yoongi's eyes zoomed in on her walking stick, realizing that it had a strap on it.

"The cord loop of the strap may then be placed around the user's wrist, allowing them to have both hands free without dropping or losing their walking stick," Yoongi read aloud from the article.

Huh, Jimin's didn't have a strap, he thought. The younger's walking stick did fly a distance from him when they had crashed into one another.

Yoongi wondered if he should buy a strap for Jimin, weighing the pros and cons of doing so. But Yoongi, after racking his brain, couldn't come up with any cons, so he decided to just go for it. Opening a new tab in the search browser, he started searching up places nearby that sold the item.

Minutes passed as he narrowed down the various shops that sold the strap for a walking stick. He let out a puff of accomplishment, ready to set out to purchase it.

Just then, the door to his room suddenly slammed open with a thud, startling Yoongi. His hand jerked and his phone dropped on his face at the unexpected, loud sound, the edge of his phone hitting his nose. Yoongi let out a soft whimper of pain and swore to himself in his head.

"Hyung, hyung! We've got the deets for you!" Hoseok practically shouted as he bubbled with excitement, dashing into the room like he owned it. Namjoon followed closely behind him.

"Dude, what the fuck?” Yoongi cursed. “Did someone die? If not, why are you creating noise pollution in this sacred room of mine?"

“Oh?” Hoseok said as he stopped in front of Yoongi’s bed, crossing his arms and looking away with closed eyes in defiance. “I guess someone doesn’t want information about a particular cute blind student then.”

As soon as those words came out from Hoseok’s mouth, Yoongi immediately scrambled up from his lying position in his bed, kowtowing to the younger. “I’m sorry for offending you, please tell me everything you know, oh Great One,” he pleaded. “I’m all ears.”

Hoseok chuckled heartily and proceeded to sit next to Yoongi on his bed. Namjoon simply put a palm to his face and groaned. “Why are so many people afraid of you? You’re nothing but an extra, seriously,” he joked and went to sit next to Yoongi on the other side.

“Rude,” Yoongi scoffed, shifting his legs such that it dangled off the bed. “Anyway, tell me.”

Namjoon began telling the third year about the information that he and Hoseok had gathered about Jimin, from his class to his favourite food. Yoongi raised an eyebrow and called them stalkers, only to be smacked. Hoseok had apparently asked his friends who had Jimin in their orientation group about him, while Namjoon knew a junior that was in the same class as the younger, so the two were able to conveniently ask about Jimin for their favorite senior since they had promised to help.

“Anyway, his favourite color is light blue,” Hoseok stated. “I don’t know if he’s actually seen colors before or not, but just remember that either way.”

“Okay,” the elder nodded, taking in all the information provided to him and storing it in his mind. “Is there anything else?”

“Nope,” Namjoon replied, shaking his head.

“Perfect,” Yoongi said and jumped out of bed. “You two are going shopping with me then.”

“Taetae!” Jimin greeted as his friend picked up his phone call and returned a greeting.

“What’s up, Jiminie?”

“My mom just went to the store to buy me new sunglasses,” Jimin replied casually. “So I can finally return those sunglasses to Namseok-sunbaenim.”

“That’s great, Chim!” Taehyung answered. “So I’m guessing you need help to locate him?”

Jimin bobbed his head, even though Taehyung wouldn’t be able to notice it through the phone. “Yep! You know me so well, Tae,” he chirped into the speaker.

“But of course!” Taehyung said proudly. “Alright, Kookie and I will go look for the dude on Monday, and we’ll let you know when we find him.”

Jimin thanked Taehyung profusely before he hung up, trying to contain the large grin on his face but failing at it because he was actually feeling rather thrilled and eager to meet the senior again.

Chapter Text

“Oh my god, which first year got on their nerves?”

“Holy shit, is someone going to end up in the infirmary again?”

“What are they doing? Isn’t it too early in the school year for a fight to happen?”

They - Yoongi, Hoseok and Namjoon - were currently hiding behind a pillar, with Jimin’s classroom just around the corner. They had already been there for a whole half an hour, which was literally half their lunch break, and Yoongi could tell that the two second years were growing more and more impatient with every literal passing second.

Sacrificing lunch to stand behind a pillar (why a pillar, they had no idea), Yoongi wanted to pass his gift to Jimin without anyone else in sight. The third year had come up with a plan: he would wait until Jimin left the classroom, before casually following behind him and grabbing his attention when they reached a more remote spot.

Clearly, there were many flaws with that plan of his, and Yoongi knew it. One of which being that it was lunch break, which meant the entire school population was on break, for goodness sake, so there would hardly be any spot without at least one student. Unless you counted the rooftop which the three of them always occupied, but there was no way a blind student would climb flights of stairs, even with the help of his friends, to go to the rooftop.

But Yoongi was desperate, and this called for desperate measures.

Namjoon and Hoseok had desperately tried to bring across the flaws of the older’s plan to him, and convince Yoongi to just man up and pass the strap to Jimin, but their words had fallen on deaf ears.

To prove their point, at least a hundred students must have walked past them, with hands cupped against their mouths to gossip about them so that it wouldn’t reach their ears. Obviously, they hadn’t put a lot of effort into lowering their voices, for the trio heard it all. Those students had imagined that a first year annoyed Yoongi, and that he was out for blood, waiting for the right moment before pouncing on him.

Yoongi couldn’t be bothered to clear any of the newly-formed, mindless gossip though. He was more concerned about something else.

From where he was, he could vaguely see three figures left in the room through the frosted glass beside the door. Everyone in the class had already left the room in a hurry (they had probably heard the warning that Yoongi was outside shooting daggers at their classroom) except for those three. The third year was sure that Jimin was one of the three since Yoongi had been there since the bell rang, and the younger had not left the room.

Yoongi groaned loudly. “Fuck! Why isn’t he leaving that classroom?”

“Stop being such a coward,” Hoseok whispered harshly into the elder’s ear. “Just go into his class and give it to him already!”

“Hell no, people will see!” Yoongi hissed back sharply, causing the other to let out a rather audible ‘tsk’.

“Yoongi-hyung,” Namjoon spoke, trying to be the calm and sensible one among the three of them. “Do you remember when I said that I’ve always only seen Jimin with his two friends? And you said before that you had never met Jimin again in private after that one time you met him, right?” Yoongi nodded. “Those other two are probably his friends. So what exactly are the chances that Park Jimin would actually leave that classroom and go somewhere more private without his friends?”

“He has to eventually, I’m sure,” Yoongi insisted, gripping the sides of the pillar tighter. “Everyone has to take a piss.”

“Are you actually counting on his bladder for him to leave the classroom? Really, Yoongi-hyung?” Hoseok asked in disbelief.

Yoongi hushed the younger as the door of the room slowly opened. “Shhh, the door opened, he might be leaving.”

The three of them looked from the pillar to see two guys leaving the classroom, hitting one another playfully with wide grins as they chatted about something enthusiastically. Yoongi’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, since neither of the boys were who he was looking for.

“Oh!” Namjoon let out a little gasp, and pointed out. “Yup, those are the two guys I always see Jimin with, so they’re definitely his friends. They’re good-looking, right?”

Yoongi squinted his eyes at the two boys as they walked further away from them. “Hm, I guess so. I don’t care about them, though. Stop cheating on Jin-hyung and concentrate on the matter at hand, Namjoon.”

Namjoon huffed in response. “Don’t drag my boyfriend into this. You know, since his friends left, it means that Jimin is alone in class, right?”

Yoongi’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh shit, you’re right.”

Yoongi’s nerves kicked in suddenly, making him groan internally. He licked his lips in anxiousness and his hands started to feel clammy. Yoongi turned to look at his surroundings, noting that Jimin’s friends were no longer in sight anymore. There weren’t many other people lingering around anymore either. The third year stared intensely (read: glared) at the remaining people, and they didn’t hesitate to scurry off when they felt his eyes boring into their souls.

“What are you waiting for?” Namjoon urged when Yoongi didn’t budge from his safe haven behind the pillar.

A million worried thoughts flashed through his mind with Namjoon’s question. What if Jimin didn’t remember him at all? What if he wouldn’t accept the gift? He was barely an acquaintance after all. Shit, was he supposed to call himself Namseok again? What if he -

“Dude!” Hoseok called out, jolting Yoongi from his thoughts. “You should go now, before his friends come back.”

“You know what?” Yoongi started, wiping his clammy hands on his pants, and turned around with his back facing the pillar. “I think it’s okay. I mean, it’s probably too soon. He probably doesn’t want to be associated with me. I’ll just, um, leave. Yeah.” The senior shoved his hands in his pockets, feeling the soft fabric of the strap in one of them as he tried to walk away.

His efforts to leave were futile though, as Hoseok had reached out immediately to grab his shoulder and stop him from chickening out. “Min Yoongi, I did not raise you to be like this,” the younger seethed.

“You’re younger than me, Seok, so of course you didn’t,” Yoongi replied snarkily, trying to pull away from the other’s vice grip.

“He’s right, Hoseok,” Namjoon nodded in agreement.

“You’re supposed to be on my side, Namjoon!” Hoseok squawked, before shifting his hand from the elder’s shoulder to his arm. He forcefully pulled Yoongi’s hand from his pocket with the strap coming out together, and grinned in victory as he snatched the object from his clasped hand.  "Alright, you may go now!" Hoseok cheered as he dashed straight for the classroom, taking matters into his own hands.

"Oi!" Yoongi yelled after the younger, but it was too late to stop him.

Jimin felt chocolate oozing out of his bun as some of it dripped onto his finger. He hurriedly licked the sweet substance off, and proceeded to shove another mouthful of his bun hungrily, feeling the satisfying taste of chocolate spread throughout his mouth.

He relished in the temporary peace and quiet, since his usual rowdy company had left for some place for a while. They had said they had wanted to check out some things but hadn't disclosed anything further much to Jimin's annoyance, so he waited for Jungkook and Taehyung to be back while finishing his meal.

Jimin swallowed and with his mouth wide open, he moved his bun closer to him with his two hands again for another bite.

At that very moment though, with his jaw still slack, the door slammed open which jolted the first year. Jimin briefly wondered whether or not it was one of his friends who had forgotten something, since they had only been gone for a minute or so. He just hoped that it wasn't the same person that was bugging him recently.

"Um, who's that?" Jimin called out hesitatingly, nervously anticipating a reply as he held his breath.

(A little part of him hoped that the voice that came after would be a deep, raspy one.)

The response came swiftly, and Jimin would admit that he let out a small sigh of disappointment when his ears picked up on an unique, cheery voice instead. It was unfamiliar to the first year, and Jimin was rather sure that he had not met anyone with that voice before.

"Hello!" The stranger greeted. "You don't have to know my name, but if you want, you can just call me your matchmaker~!"

Jimin raised an eyebrow curiously at that, a little weirded out. "Did Taehyung or Jungkook send you or something?" He asked, thinking that this could be a prank by his friends since they could get rather childish at times. If it was, Jimin swore that he would end them.

"Uh," the stranger said, a little taken aback by the question. "No idea who those two are, but it doesn't matter. Anyway!" He exclaimed, regaining his composure, and Jimin could sense him moving nearer towards him as the other's voice grew increasingly louder. "I have a gift for you. From your secret admirer. Not me, of course!"

"A gift?!" Jimin squeaked out in surprise. He felt a hand gently move one of his own hands away from the bun, and a foreign object was placed in his palm. Jimin ran his thumb across the item, with a confused look on his face as he tried to find out what it was with his sense of touch.

It felt like a thin strip of cloth, but there was a part that was cool to the touch though, and he could definitely tell that there was something like a knot as his thumb moved further up the cool spot. He dragged his thumb all the way to the other end at a quick pace, and felt another new sensation. The smooth texture contrasted with the slightly rougher one from the cloth.

Before Jimin could further ask questions though, like who it was specifically from and what even was the object, the same cheery voice spoke up again, distracting him from his thoughts. “Wait, is that chocolate? In a bun?”

“Yes? I, um, have a sweet tooth. It’s good!”

“Oh, that’s great to know,” the other replied enthusiastically, before going back to the main topic at hand. “Anyway, I hope you like the gift! He spent a lot of time choosing it, you know.”

Feeling his cheeks heat up, Jimin stammered, “H-huh? Who’s he?”

“Looking at those rosy cheeks, I’m sure you know deep down in your heart who he is,” the voice teased cheekily. “Well, I’ll be on my way now. My idiot hyung is standing at the door gaping stupidly at you with my other smarter friend.”

“Wait, don’t leave yet!” Jimin raised his voice a moment too late, hoping to stop the other from leaving. However, only silence greeted him, signalling that his ‘matchmaker’ had already left. The first year pouted and placed the gift on the table as he resumed eating. He could only get some answers from Taehyung and Jungkook now.

“I’m never talking to you again.”

“Yeah, yeah, love you too, hyung!”

After what seemed like forever, the loud booming voices of his friends could finally be heard. Jimin tapped his foot impatiently with his chin rested on his hand as he heard the chairs scrape against the surface of the floor.

“Woah, Chim, where'd you get that?” Taehyung asked in amazement, eyes drifting to the object on the table as he sat down. “That strap is gorgeous. It’s sky blue - your favorite color!” Before Jimin could reply to his question, Taehyung excitedly delved into a more vivid and detailed description of the object for his best friend, with Jungkook adding in his own inputs here and there.

"It even has your name," Jungkook said as he lifted Jimin's index finger to slowly trace the smooth area of the strap. Jimin let out a small gasp. "It's holographic, so the material is nice to touch."

Jimin pressed his lips together, trying to contain the happiness bubbling inside him. It was a thoughtful and meaningful gift to him. Jimin knew that he would get teased again, but his lips threatened to form a full-blown smile. He failed in his attempts to prevent it though, and he let out the widest smile.

“Someone I didn’t know gave this to me when you two left,” Jimin explained, his cheeks still a light shade of pink, once Taehyung stopped talking.  “He said that he was giving it to me on behalf of a secret admirer.”

"Ah, that's cute!" Taehyung cooed. He took his best friend's walking stick from the side of the table and fumbled with it, attaching the strap with a grunt. "Done! Any idea who it was?"

“Hah! I bet it’s that Min Namseok dude!” Jungkook interjected deviously. "His face is so red! Jimin-hyung definitely thinks that it's him too then."

Taehyung joined the youngest in a round of laughter. "Stop it!" Jimin whined, clapping his hands on his ears in a childish defiance. When the laughter died down, he spoke again. "Where did the two of you go anyway?"

"Oh, about that..." Taehyung drawled. "We were actually going around to ask people whether or not they've heard of Min Namseok, to make you happy and all." He let out a sigh and continued sadly. "We asked a few people, but I suppose he isn't really popular because no one knew who he was."

Jungkook hummed and went on after Taehyung. "Yeah, he's probably really low profile. But looks like he made you happy anyway after all!'

"It's fine, guys!" Jimin reassured them, pretending that the youngest hadn't said the last part. "It's probably hard to find him with only a name anyway." His friends let out murmurs of agreement.

"We were gonna ask more people, but we heard someone say that Min Yoongi was lurking outside our class!" Jungkook suddenly exclaimed. "We rushed back, but there wasn't anyone outside anymore. Dude, I missed my chance to meet him."

Jimin let out a soft giggle. "What, you wanna be his underling or something? Maybe you should go check out his fanclub registration details after all."

"If I ever do, I'm dragging the two of you with me!" The younger retorted.

"Well, I wouldn't mind," Taehyung started slowly as he placed Jimin's hand into his own. "But I think our Jiminie's admirer wouldn't like it if his sweetheart joined someone else's fanclub."

"Tae!" Jimin squeaked out, embarrassed. He paused for a moment before gasping. "Ah! I should've passed the sunglasses to the guy just now! I'm still wearing it."

"I think it's better that you didn't pass it to a stranger, you know. It's nicer to personally thank your beau personally. You'll leave a better impression that way!"

"Yes, yes! Tae-hyung and I will continue looking for him. Anyway, he didn't look for you to take back those sunglasses, so he probably doesn't need it back yet. Just keep it on!" Jungkook urged. "Show everyone who you belong to!"

"Guys!" Jimin pouted, puffing out his cheeks. Jungkook merely cooed as he reached out to poke the elder's cheeks, and Jimin playfully swatted his hand away.

Chapter Text

"The Hunger Games are going to start soon," Hoseok suddenly announced, lifting his head up from his meal to look at the other two sitting on the opposite end of the table from him.

"Oh right, it's that time of the year again," Namjoon replied with his mouth full of rice. Hoseok directed a disgusted look towards the other for a moment, hoping that chewed rice wouldn't accidentally be spit onto his face. His expression flashed back to neutral again, and he peeled his eyes away from his fellow batchmate to look at Yoongi. "Hyung, you should take part in it this year."

"And why should I?" Yoongi scoffed. "You know I've never cared about that shit, I don't get why everyone else bothers. 

The Hunger Games in their school didn't exactly involve murders and death like the one portrayed in the books or movies, but it was close.

Apparently, in the previous school years, the cafeteria lady proved to be a surprisingly excellent patissiere and to fuel her interests, she had gotten permission from the principal to make and sell her specialty: cream puffs.

No one knew her secret recipe (if she even had one) or her masterful techniques of creating the extraordinarily delicious treat, but the cream puffs of hers were so tasty.

The filling was smooth and rich, and the appropriate amount of cream was squeezed into the tender crust such that it wasn't too little or too much. With every bite, the combination melted in their mouths and one never seemed to be enough to satisfy them.

It was said that even people with completely full stomachs and a severe lack of a sweet tooth ate it, and they had no regrets. Everyone loved it.

The demand of the cream puffs were so high that it frightened the head of the school. Although he himself admitted that it was exquisite, the image of a school of students eating sweets every day wasn't a good one, and thus he had decided to limit the selling of these puffs to only once a year.

The cafeteria lady was glad that she was still able to spread the enjoyment of her treats, but as the years passed, she found herself lacking the same youth and energy to create plenty of the delicacy for people to purchase and enjoy.

When Yoongi entered the school, the lady already had obvious strands of white hair sticking out from her natural black color and there were wrinkles on her face. The amount of puffs she sold decreased every year, but the number of people that desired it were still the same - one large horde of students.

Since each person was only limited to one purchase, the competition to get their hands on those puffs was so intense that people would get pushed, shoved or even trampled in the mad frenzy to get to the front of the queue when the cafeteria lady started displaying them. Hair and limbs would be pulled in order to prevent others from getting ahead, and further injuries would be formed. It was easily dubbed as the Hunger Games in their school.

There were some that steered clear of this competition, not letting their curiosity and desire overwhelm their sanity, and Yoongi was one of them.

The third year appreciated sweets as much as an average person would, but he had never took part in this crazy mob. He wasn't willing to sacrifice himself just for one cream puff. Others would argue that it was the cream puff, but really, Yoongi didn't care or bother. He would rather go to an expensive shop and purchase one at an extortive amount than throw himself to the wolves.

Yoongi hadn't met them yet, but Hoseok and Namjoon had actually tried when they were first years. They told him that they had failed miserably, of course. Namjoon actually ended up with a huge scratch on his face because somebody had decided to use a thick tree branch as a weapon, and it did not end well. Hoseok still had a picture of Namjoon with that ugly wound on his face as a remembrance. It was a traumatic experience.

After that incident, the two seemed reluctant (especially Namjoon) to ever participate in the Hunger Games again, so why was Hoseok still bringing up the issue? And he had suggested to Yoongi that he should join. Him, of all people. 

"People with a sweet tooth would definitely love to try the cream puff at least once in their life, right?" Hoseok asked instead of directly answering Yoongi.

"Well yeah, even I want to, and I'm not crazy over sweets. But never again will I try," Namjoon solemnly swore.

Hoseok let out a laugh at the memory, before speaking up again. "So when I went into a certain classroom to pass a certain something to a certain someone," he said ambiguously, much to Yoongi's annoyance, but it was clearly quite obvious what he was talking about. "They told me that they had a really sweet tooth. Don't you think they would love to try the cream puff?"

Yoongi froze completely, holding his chopsticks midair with his mouth wide open. Food was slowly slipping out his chopsticks, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Ah, so Jimin has a sweet tooth? You know, research shows that people who like sweets are agreeable, friendly and compassionate," Namjoon stated. "That's interesting to note."

"That's like, the opposite of Yoongi-hyung!" Hoseok joked, and both fell into fits of laughter. "Oh well, that just means that opposites attract then." Namjoon nodded in response.

Yoongi remained silent while his friends chattered on, not paying attention to what they were saying or joking about him. He was actually seriously considering his choices after Hoseok had raised up the suggestion.

Was he willing to throw away everything and mindlessly plunge himself into danger for his own self satisfaction? Very clearly, no. Was he willing to throw away and mindlessly plunge himself into danger for Jimin? His common sense told him no but his heart screamed yes.

"So hyung," Hoseok nudged the third year after a while. "Are you going to do it?"

Yoongi snorted. "If you think I'm going to actually take part in the stupid event for Park Jimin," he said coldly and paused, creating a dramatic silence. Hoseok and Namjoon unconsciously held their breaths as they waited for him to continue. "Then you are absolutely right. I'm going to get my hands on that fucking puff if that's the last thing I do."

The two second years cheered and high fived each other. "Good luck Yoongi-hyung!" Hoseok exclaimed, taking the elder's hands into his own and shaked them firmly. "What flowers would you like for your funeral?"

"I'll definitely not forget you, hyung" Namjoon inputted jokingly. "You shall be remembered in our hearts and minds."

Yoongi forced Hoseok's hands off his own, slapping the other's knee lightly. Covering his face with his hands, he groaned extremely loudly. "God fucking damn it, what has my life become?" He didn't get an answer though, and only obnoxious laughter could be heard.

Pushing the door that was slightly ajar with his shoulders, Yoongi entered the room hurriedly. His friends had said that they needed to have an emergency meeting, and Yoongi was worried that something bad might have happened to either one of them, or even both.

Regardless of what people tended to say, he did care for his friends.

Unfortunately, he got caught up back in school since a girl had demanded to see him, dragging him all the way to the courtyard in front of at least a dozen people to confess.

Namjoon and Hoseok had gotten used to these scenarios, so all they did was to shout a reminder to the third year (while he was being dragged away) to be at Hoseok's house after he was done with whatever that was going to happen. They didn't even try to save him!

Sadly, Yoongi's glares didn't work on her. She probably thought that public pressure would give her more of a chance than the others had. She was fairly pretty, but she was also so proud and arrogant, making it seem like Yoongi should be glad that she was confessing and that he should be glad that she wanted him.

Pretty or not, Yoongi rejected her anyway. That made it the fifth time he was rejecting someone, and it was barely the start of the year. She threw a fit, screaming at him at the top of the lungs, and Yoongi couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was a reflex, really, but the girl noticed it and intensified her childish tantrum.

He tried to walk away and honestly, he wasn't being heartless. He just didn't want to create a scene by reacting to her anymore than he should. The other party, however, had latched onto him, refusing to let him go.

Yoongi spun around to face her with such a cold expression that the people nearby that saw it felt a chill down their spines. "Let go of me," Yoongi demanded through gritted teeth, letting out a menacing growl in the process.

The girl finally let go from her shock and newly found fear, freeing him from her vice grip. Yoongi internally sighed with relief, but his ears did pick up on harsh whispers from students that had witnessed the scene, criticizing how badly the third year had rejected her. He did also catch on phrases like 'the ice prince' and 'dreamy', but he intentionally tried not to put two and two together.

Great, he had become the subject of gossip once again. But because he was such a caring and thoughtful friend, and even though Hoseok and Namjoon never tried to save him from that girl and the annoying gossip that followed, Yoongi still headed straight to Hoseok's house after that in worry to partake in that 'emergency meeting'.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Yoongi asked anxiously as he shut the door. He may or may not have ran quite a bit.

The two second years sat around a wooden rectangular table that Hoseok had placed in the center of his room on top of a fluffy mat. The table's legs were designed to be very short, and he had used small cushions as seats instead of normal chairs. Namjoon was seated at the end of the table, with Hoseok on his left side. The older of the two gestured at Yoongi to take a seat on the other's right side, so Yoongi complied, still glancing worriedly at the both of them.

"Alright guys," Namjoon clapped his hands to gain the attention of the other two boys. "Now that hyung is finally here, we can start. We'll need a proper plan so that Yoongi-hyung won't actually get killed when the sales of the cream puff start."

The worried expression on Yoongi’s face vanished faster than the speed of light. "Oh for fuck’s sake, so this emergency meeting is for me?" Yoongi groaned in disbelief, rolling his eyes. "And I thought it was one of you that got into trouble."

"Hyung, your love life is the one thing that's in trouble if we don't have this meeting. Of course it's about you!" Hoseok exclaimed.

"This is ridiculous," Yoongi retorted. "I won't actually get killed, the both of you are exaggerating."

"Well, no you wouldn't, but do you or do you not want the cream puff?" Hoseok snapped back.

An awkward silence filled the air, before the third year spoke up slowly. "Yes... Yes I do," Yoongi admitted reluctantly. Shit, he really wanted to see the smile on Jimin's face again. "But I can do it myself, what's this stupid conference style planning supposed to be?" Yoongi asked with a frown.

"Oh Yoongi-hyung..." Namjoon patted the senior's shoulder with a pitiful look on his face. "We're not trusting you to get things done yourself after the strap incident anymore. Once is enough."

The third year growled at that, but neither of his friends seemed to be taken aback or even cared. They simply resumed discussing ideas and started to formulate a plan.

He could settle things on his own if he really wanted to. He was just a little mentally unprepared that day, okay? He supposed having his friends help wouldn't be too bad, though. Hopefully. Hoseok did help to give Jimin the gift when he had chickened out after all.

"Okay, so every year she starts selling at 11am," Namjoon started, pulling Yoongi out of his thoughts. "But hyung's class before that is history, and that particular teacher always drags the lesson, so what are we going to do about this?" He asked, circling some words on a piece of paper with a red pen.

"I can just skip that dumb lesson," Yoongi proposed. How else would he be able to leave early anyway? Before 11am annually, people would start raising their hands to excuse themselves to go to the toilet when they actually wanted to rush out to buy the cream puffs, and this obvious trick had been observed by all the teachers, so leaving the classroom during the class before 11am on the day of the Hunger Games was banned.

"Are you sure?" Namjoon queried for clarification. "But Yoongi-hyung, you rarely skip classes. Late, yes, but not skipping them. Like, I don't even remember the last time you skipped." Hoseok hummed in agreement.

Yoongi shrugged. "It's fine. Like you said, I rarely skip right? So they shouldn't care if it's just one time."

"Sureeee," Hoseok said, dragging the word as he was still a little reluctant at the idea of Yoongi skipping his lessons. Yoongi already had a bad reputation after all, but he decided to brush it aside, hoping for the best. "There will definitely be many others who would skip classes as well though, so we need to consider that."

"I don't think anyone would actually try to fight hyung for the cream puff, to be honest. But just to be safe, let's think of other alternatives if it doesn't work out as we would like it to," Namjoon advised.

"Alright, how about this..."






"Jiminie, have you heard about the Hunger Games in our school?"

Jimin raised his eyebrows in curiosity, not having heard of the school having such a particular event.

Taehyung and Jimin were going to the latter's house to hang out together. Jungkook had gone to sign up for basketball tryouts, so he would only head to Jimin's house much later. They were going to wait for him at first, but surprisingly, for an unknown reason, the tryouts were overflowing with interested parties so Jungkook had told the both of them not to wait up as the sign up process might drag further than necessary.

Walking to his house, his best friend had a firm grip on Jimin's arm while he held his walking stick with the other hand. He had slipped his hand through the strap until it reached his wrist, and Jimin's heart fluttered a little every time the material brushed against his skin.

"I wasn't aware that our school promoted death and murder, Tae."

Taehyung snorted. "Not like that, Chim." He began telling the other about the anticipated unofficial school event. "Since we don't have classes during that time - thank goodness - Jungkookie and I will be dashing into the crowd to get them. We'll try to get two to split in between the three of us."

"It sounds chaotic," Jimin said, his brows creasing to form a frown.

Taehyung hummed in agreement. "I've heard that it can get pretty dangerous, so you should stay in class."

"Yes, yes," Jimin nodded exasperatedly. Taehyung always fussed over him too much for his own good. "I was planning to anyway. Go have fun with Kookie! All the best~"

Taehyung was about to reply, when suddenly, both boys felt someone throwing their heavy weight on them, pushing them downwards a little before they stabilized themselves. His hands were each draped around one of their shoulders, with his head resting between them.

"Oh my God, you are never going to believe this!" The newcomer - which turned out to be Jungkook - screamed excitedly into the other two's ears while wheezing. He had ran all the way from school to catch up with his friends, eager to spill the news as soon as possible.

Both Taehyung and Jimin winced and covered the respective ear that Jungkook had yelled into, but the youngest took no notice. "Did something nice happen, Kookie?" Jimin asked.

"Hell yeah!" Jungkook exclaimed as he removed his hands from the other two's shoulders. Taehyung let go of Jimin's arm, moving slightly towards his left to create a space for Jungkook to walk with them. "Okay so, can you guess why the basketball club's overspilling with signups?"

"Huh, I don't know. I mean, our middle school's basketball team was kinda dying off. Maybe this school's cheerleader team is filled with hot girls?" Taehyung hazarded a guess.

"Oh, I don't actually know about that," Jungkook shrugged, before his eyes brightened up once again. His body literally bounced in exhilaration as he urged them to make another guess.

Taehyung and Jimin threw out another few guesses which were all incorrect, and gave up. "Just tell us already!" Taehyung huffed impatiently.

"Okay, okay. Brace yourselves now," the youngest said and paused, trying to create suspense, but it only led to another annoyed huff from Taehyung. "It's actually because the Min Yoongi is in the basketball team!" Jungkook finally announced, teetering with excitement. "I need to get into the team."

"Well, I'm sure you will," Taehyung said with a nod. His previous annoyance had vanished and Jimin could hear the gentle smile in his tone. "You've always been good at sports."

"Yes, just do your best, Kookie," Jimin encouraged with a soft giggle. "We'll be there to cheer you on."

Jungkook held on to their promise.  "Okay, I'm going to give it my all. It's in a couple of weeks, be there!"

The day arrived swiftly. Yoongi lingered near the door of the cafeteria so that he could dash in the very second the doors opened to signal the start of the sale.

Although he appeared calm and composed, he was actually internally dying from jitters and nerves, even if Hoseok and Namjoon had already run through their plan together with him a number of times. He couldn't even remember the last time he felt this way before Park Jimin crashed into his life.

Failure to get the cream puff would equate to having no excuse to talk to Jimin again, which meant that he would not be graced with the smile of an angel, and Yoongi would sincerely crave death if he denied himself from such an opportunity again.

On the other hand, success in getting the cream puff would equate to having to actually talk to Jimin, and Yoongi was sure he would do something embarrassing again which would completely ruin his chances with the boy.

Either way, both scenarios seemed bad. Honestly, he had only spoken to the boy once. How did he become like the protagonist of a shitty shoujo romance anime after the encounter?

Yoongi glanced nervously at the watch on his wrist. One minute left. He felt a sweat bead rolling off his forehead as he shoved both his hands into his pants' pockets. Lifting his head to glance at his surroundings, he wasn't surprised that he wasn't alone. Hoseok was right, he wouldn't have been the only one that skipped lessons.

The third year narrowed his eyes at his competition and faced them with a scowl, swearing under his breath. He wasn't about to let them grab his chance. The other students nervously flitted their eyes away from Yoongi, not wanting to meet his gaze. Some of them knew better than to actually provoke him, after all.

With under ten seconds left to 11am, Yoongi began to walk towards the door with a steady pace. Sensing others following behind him, he gradually increased his pacing, not wanting others to catch up. Unsurprisingly, no one had the guts to actually overtake him.

At 11am sharp, it was as if a magic spell had been casted, and the doors flew open. Yoongi immediately threw his body forward, sprinting professionally (kudos to his devilish basketball coach) into the cafeteria.

The delicious smell of newly baked pastries wafted through the air, and Yoongi's eyes locked onto the sales counter in an instant as he made it in with little to no difficulty. The fresh cream puffs were slotted inside nicely a baby blue paper bag decorated with little silver stars, and placed nicely and neatly in a huge tray on the counter next to the cashier.

There weren't a lot of cream puffs available this year either, it seemed. A brief glance at the tray made Yoongi estimate that there were about twenty-five of them.

The third year zoned out a little, as his ears began picking up on the thundering sound of footsteps from inside of the cafeteria, which signalled that a stampede - consisting of students that were released from classes - was probably on its way.

Yoongi spun his head back to the counter. He realized that a few of the puffs were already gone, and that there were already people pushing and shoving to pay for the treat. Damn, how did he not notice them overtaking him?

Without another moment of hesitation, he continued to push on forward. The third year stretched out his hand to grab on to the nearest cream puff, and he couldn't help but to grin in satisfaction even though the pastry wasn't even for himself.

Just then, he felt the weight of the cream puff under his hand vanish. Yoongi's eyes widened as he realized that someone else had swiped the delicacy away from him, and a sudden burst of anger bubbled within him.

"Dude, what the fuck?" Yoongi growled menacingly, and met the eyes of the Thief™ head on. "That cream puff's mine."

Despicably, the other student just directed a complacent smirk at the third year. "Too bad, dude," he echoed smugly. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Yoongi could really think of several things he wanted to do to him. Like landing a punch on the other to wipe that smirk off his face, for instance. But the third year just rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance, reaching out to grab one of the last few cream puffs before they were all gone. He'd be even more angry at himself if he couldn't even get his hands on the pastry when he was so close, and he could very well control his temper if he wanted to, contrary to what others might think.

With a boisterous roar of laughter from the bastard when Yoongi backed down from his provocation, the third year still felt anger simmering in him. Yoongi took a few deep breaths to calm himself down while he paid for the pastry.

Thankfully, the moron was gone by then. Yoongi pushed and nudged his way out of a huge disappointed (the cream puffs were sold out by the time he paid) crowd with the paper bag held closely to his chest.

He overcame an obstacle, but now he had to overcome another, and this was going to be a hell lot harder than going against a mad mob and almost getting into another fight for one measly cream puff.

Yoongi had to actually face Jimin.

Hoseok and Namjoon had feared that his cowardly ass would back out once again, so they refused to meet up with him in the event that he had actually gotten the cream puff. They said that they would be waiting for him at the rooftop as usual, and if he hadn't gotten his hands on the puff, then it was too bad. But if they saw him going back to the rooftop with said cream puff still in his hands, and not with Jimin, they were going to push him off the roof. And they looked dead serious about the threat.

Yoongi didn't exactly want to die young. He had goals and dreams. But at this moment, his nerves kicked in again and he was seriously contemplating just shoving the pastry into his mouth so that he wouldn't have to face Jimin or his friends. It was a perfect loophole!

With a sigh, he debated against his silly thought, and began his search for the boy. Yoongi honestly had no clue where Jimin would be.

Feeling his phone vibrate in his back pocket, he took it out to see a text from Hoseok in their group chat. "We saw Jimin in his class just now. Think he's alone."

Well, at least Yoongi wouldn't have to wander about aimlessly now. He slipped his phone back into its original place and proceeded speedily to the classroom.

Yoongi gulped as he nervously twisted the doorknob, slowly pushing the only thing that was separating him from Jimin open.

Right, he could do this.

The first thing that his eyes were blessed with was a mop of fluffy raven hair. Jimin's head was resting on his arms that were placed on the table, and he appeared to be sleeping.

Jimin was indeed alone in the classroom. Ignoring the part of him that felt like backing out, Yoongi made his way to the younger's table with light footsteps. There was no reaction from him though, so the boy was likely still asleep.

The third year smiled a little as the corner of his eye caught on to the rainbow shine elicited by the holographic part of the strap that he had given Jimin, clearly elated that the younger liked his gift enough to use it.

Yoongi then wondered if he should just leave the cream puff on his table and leave, or wake up the sleeping boy to pass him the pastry. He didn’t really want to disturb Jimin from his rest, but if he chose to leave it on his table, there was a risk that someone else would come in and take away the cream puff while Jimin was still asleep. Thieves were still an existing threat in this school. Yoongi decided on the latter.

Yoongi gently nudged Jimin’s shoulder a few times in attempt to wake him up. The younger continued to remain unresponsive with the first few nudges, before he began to stir. Slowly, Jimin lifted his head up from his arms.

“Mmm… Taehyung? Jungkook?” Jimin slurred a little on his words, having just woken up. He rubbed his eyes, and Yoongi thought that action was the cutest fucking shit he had ever seen. “You guys are back already? That was fast, did you manage to get what you wanted?”

"Um, sorry, I'm not your friends," Yoongi said awkwardly, noticing Jimin's breathing hitch. Had he done something wrong already? With a tinge of panic, Yoongi hurriedly continued. "I, I just got something for you. Here." Yoongi pushed the paper bag into Jimin's (small and adorable) hands, and the younger let out a small squeak of surprise.

"W-what's this?" Jimin asked, dragging his fingers across the paper bag. He noticed that there was an opening, and when Yoongi didn't reply, he sniffed at it curiously. "It smells good!"

"It's a, uh, cream puff. People said it's good, you should try it," he hastily mumbled.

Jimin's jaw dropped, revealing his crooked tooth. God damn, could he stop with those cute actions? Yoongi was already dying internally. "Wait, you mean those cream puffs from the Hunger Games? But those are so hard to get! I can't accept this!" Jimin  exclaimed, placing the paper bag on the table and pushing it away from him, trying to make Yoongi take back the pastry.

"What? No, it's for you!" Yoongi argued and picked up the paper bag from the table, shoving it into the younger's hands once again.

"But -"

Yoongi shushed the boy, and he fucking pouted. That pout was going to kill him one day. "No buts, just eat it already."

"O-okay," Jimin murmured and shifted up the pastry from its paper bag with two fingers. His cheeks were once again a lovely rose pink, and Yoongi briefly thought that the color had become increasingly appealing to him. Jimin took a bite and let out an astonished gasp. "It tastes amazing, oh my gosh!"

"Does it now?" Yoongi replied, amused. The boy nodded his head rapidly and Yoongi let out a chuckle at his enthusiasm for the pastry.

"You should try it too!" Jimin suggested, and stretched out his arms with the pastry still on his hand. Yoongi stared at him for a moment too long, and Jimin cocked his head to one side. "Come on."

"Uh, no, it's okay -"

Jimin shushed him this time. "You bought it! You should at least try it," he urged with another newly formed pout on his face. Damn, that pout was effective on him.

"Alright, alright," Yoongi gave in. The third year leaned in, and placed one hand on Jimin's to move the pastry closer to his own mouth. Taking a small bite from the cream puff, his eyes widened as the sweetness of the cream exploded in his mouth.

"H-how is it?" Jimin asked a little nervously. Weird, his cheeks seemed covered with a deeper shade of pink than before.

"It's really good," Yoongi admitted.

Jimin let out an airy giggle, and his beautiful eyes formed small crescents. "That's good," Jimin said with such a sweet voice that Yoongi suddenly thought that the cream puff was no longer sweet. A brilliant smile so radiant that it could outshine the sun lingered on the younger's face as he ran his hand through his hair, and Yoongi confirmed that he was a goner then. "Do you want another bite?"

Yoongi blinked, snapping out of a trance. "Oh, no it's fine. You eat it. I need to go now anyway, my friends are waiting for me."

"Ah, I see," Jimin mumbled a little sadly. "Thank you for this though! You're the one that gave me the strap too, right? It's really nice of you."

"Mmm, no problem."

The first year fidgeted with the paper bag nervously. "Will you come around and talk to me sometimes?" Jimin asked so softly that Yoongi had barely heard it. "I mean, if you want to, of course!"

"Sure, if  you want me to.”

Damn, I'd do anything for you,  Yoongi thought. 

“I do want you to!”

"Okay then," Yoongi nodded with a small smile on his face that grew larger when Jimin sent him another angelic grin of his own. "I will."

"Ahhh, I got cut on my arm!" Taehyung wailed, and Jimin could hear his best friend from outside their classroom.

He heard the door open, and Jimin laughed. "I could hear you from outside, Tae. It didn't go well?"

"No it didn't!" Taehyung replied with a huff. "The crowd was crazy, and by the time we were halfway to the front, everything was sold out!"

"It's alright Tae, you tried your best!"

"Well, the best didn't seem to be enough," Taehyung replied, seemingly disappointed with himself. "I wanted to get at least one for the three of us. I thought we had the upper hand since we had no classes beforehand."

"It's fine, Tae-hyung, there's always next year, yeah?" Jungkook said, trying to cheer the other up. Taehyung let out another sigh, before Jungkook spoke up again. "Anyway Jimin-hyung, when we were in the crowd, we saw Min Yoongi!"

"Aish, him again?" Jimin laughed at the youngest's fanboy crush on the school's bad boy.

"Yeah! He actually managed to get his hands on a cream puff. I never expected any less from him," Jungkook declared proudly, as if he had accomplished the feat on his own.

"That's nice. Here, you guys can try the cream puff too. I saved some for you," Jimin said and pushed the paper bag forward to them.

Jungkook and Taehyung let out the loudest gasp he had ever heard. "H-h-how?!" Jungkook managed to stutter out. Taehyung remained silent, and Jimin guessed that he was probably still in shock.

Giggling, Jimin fondly replied, "Namseok-sunbae gave it to me. Go on, try it."

"Wow, you snagged someone good, hyung!"

Unfreezing from the shock that he received, Taehyung uttered out in disbelief. "I can't believe he managed to get his hands on one!"

Jimin divulged what had happened when his friends weren't around. He didn't realize that while he was speaking, he had a large smile on his face the entire time until Taehyung pointed it out.

"Wouldn't it be funny if it was actually Min Yoongi that gave you the cream puff though?" Taehyung suggested with a laugh.

"What? No way!" Jungkook replied instantly, joining in the laughter. "That seems impossible." He paused briefly. "Oh, did you return Namseok-sunbae's sunglasses, hyung? You're not wearing your glasses."

"Oh!" Jimin let out a small gasp. "I forgot... I was sleeping before he came, so I took them off."

"Well, it's okay," Taehyung spoke teasingly. "After all, he did say he would come around more often and talk to you."

Jimin smiled dreamily. "I sure hope he does."

Chapter Text

Jimin had never been so disappointed in his entire life.

He was extremely smart as a child (he still liked to think that he was), and had always scored the highest grades. But once, he had surprisingly failed Chemistry, and Jimin had been really disappointed.

Jimin had continued studying hard to ensure he maintained his excellent grades to get into the same middle school as Taehyung. But then, he received the unfortunate news that he had lost his sight and might possibly never be able to see again. He got rejected from the school as they weren't able to provide any facilities for the blind, and he had to be sent to a special needs school. Jimin had been extremely disappointed.

And now, even though he thought that he had been successful at first, Jimin had probably managed to put off and turn away someone that he might actually like deep down in his heart.

It was the epitome of disappointment.

"Tae!" Jimin whined for the upteenth time. "Do you think I came off too strongly?"

"It's not like you ordered him to stick with you 24/7, Chim. Just relax!" Taehyung reassured his best friend yet again. He was so close to searching up random reassurance quotes or motivational pep talks online to recite it to Jimin. The other had been fretting non-stop about his so-called "desperate situation".

Jimin had managed to work up the courage to politely ask Min Namseok if he could perhaps spend more time with him, to talk more with him, and the other had actually agreed!

But the thing was, it had been days since the promise had been made, and the senior had never appeared before him again. Jimin's hopes were dashed.

"What if --"

"Park Jimin, listen to me," Taehyung sighed and grabbed hold of Jimin's shoulders. "You're freaking out over nothing! No, there isn't anything wrong with asking someone to spend more time with you, and yes, your request was perfectly valid and normal." He released Jimin's shoulders. "Now, is there anything else you want to hear?"

Jimin meekly shook his head.

"Good!" Taehyung exclaimed and took Jimin's hand gently, turning it such that his palm was facing upwards, before he drew a smiley face on the other's palm with the tip of his index finger.

Jimin registered his friend's drawing in his mind which indicated that the other was grinning at him. Taehyung's small action caused delight to bubble within him, and Jimin couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle.

"Why are you so fixated on him, anyway? I thought you said that you didn't have a crush on him?"

"I don't!" Jimin insisted and puffed out his cheeks. "I'm just... Sad that he hasn't come around to talk. Also!" He said as he tapped on the sunglasses that were perched on his nose. "I need to return this to him."

"Sureeeee," Taehyung teased in a singsong manner, dragging the word. He sounded so unconvinced that Jimin could literally sense his friend wiggling his eyebrows, and he playfully smacked the other's arm.

A few moments of silence passed before Taehyung spoke up again. "Actually, I was thinking, is he even a senior?" Taehyung wondered aloud. "You assumed that he's older than us, so we went along with it, but maybe he's our year? 

"O-oh? What makes you think so?" Jimin asked, caught a little by surprise.

"Well, Kook and I have asked quite a few random seniors that we bump into along the hallway about Min Namseok, but we've gotten only negatives," Taehyung explained. "He could be a first year, and that might explain why none of the seniors have heard of him."

Jimin hummed, deep in thought. "That does make sense. I just had this feeling that he was older, so I went along with it."

"Yeah, but that just means that we have no leads now," Taehyung sighed exasperatedly. "We need to look for more clues!"

Jimin laughed, feeling infinitely better than he did before, and he latched onto Taehyung's arm like a baby koala with a bit too much force. "Alright Mr. Detective, I'm counting on you! But first, let's go meet Kookie, he should be done speaking to the teacher by now."

"Okay, okay! But oh my God - Chim, let go, I'm gonna fall!"

It had been days since the Hunger Games, which meant that it had been days since Yoongi had last spoken to Jimin and promised the boy that he would actively look for him to chat.

This, however, also meant that it had been days since he broke said promise.

It wasn't as if Yoongi didn't want to look for Jimin. He hoped the other didn't think too badly of him for breaking his promise, or even worse, think that Yoongi didn't want to be seen with him.

In fact, the last meeting showered him with a bit more courage, and Yoongi had actually been planning to spend more time with Jimin the very next day.

(Hoseok and Namjoon still couldn't get over the shock that Yoongi had actually managed to get ahold of the cream puff and successfully passed Jimin the delicacy, but they clapped him on the back nevertheless.)

Unfortunately, life hated him. 

Alright, maybe it was just the school and its shitty staff who thought Yoongi was a devil sent from hell to torment them.

The third year thought that it would be fine for him to skip one lesson, considering the fact that he literally had a perfect attendance (better late than never) until then. Though his teacher thought otherwise.

He should have really taken into consideration Hoseok and Namjoon's doubt and worries about skipping class.

It was sort of upsetting, really. Yoongi hadn’t even been the only one that skipped classes. It was just his luck that every teacher hated him.

His History teacher, the one teaching the class he had skipped, found out the reason behind his absence and dished him a severely harsh punishment. It had spread like wildfire across the staff room, and all the other teachers supported and even cheered for the severity of the punishment, claiming that perhaps ‘he would learn his lesson now’. They probably used this disciplinary action as a role example for his future punishments to come.

Great. Everything was just peachy. All Yoongi had to do was to clean every single one of the boys' toilets on the upper floors thoroughly. Every single day for one month during all of his breaks, and after school when he didn't have basketball practice.

On the bright side, him skipping lessons and getting into trouble again was all for Jimin, and he did see his smile again, so it was a plus and was all worth it. He supposed it wasn't too bad since there were only three washrooms that he had to clean across the upper floors.

If only it wasn't so dirty . How do those toilets even reach this level of filth in the first place?

"Do these guys realize that they have to aim?" Yoongi mumbled to himself and wrinkled his nose in disgust as he walked into one of those toilets. Sighing, he grabbed the mop and continued on with his cleaning duties.

"Hyung, you're still here?" Namjoon asked as he stepped into one of the toilets that Yoongi was assigned to. 

Before his punishment, Yoongi could usually be found on the rooftop as it was peaceful and quiet. But now, with Yoongi unwillingly stuck in these toilets for so many hours a day, Namjoon and Hoseok could easily find him in one of the washrooms.

Although they did feel bad for their senior, they told him it was a laughable and amusing change, much to the elder's frustration.

"No, Joon, it's just my spirit talking to you. My body is at home, lying on my bed comfortably," Yoongi deadpanned. "Of course I'm still here, where the fuck else do you expect me to be with this shitty punishment?"

Namjoon snorted and let out a small laugh. "You wish you could be at home. I thought maybe you'd have finished and went to the music room."

Ever since the punishment, Yoongi frequented the music room after he was done cleaning all the disgusting toilets. There was a piano in the room, and playing it helped to ease away some of the frustration that Yoongi built up. Cleaning toilets till they were sparkling wasn't easy.

"No shit," Yoongi replied, grinning back at his friend. "So what brings you here to this sacred sanctity of humankind?"

"That's a nice way to refer to a toilet," Namjoon said. "Very much like you. Anyway, Jin-hyung called me just now."

"And?" Yoongi raised an eyebrow.

"He told me he's coming back home soon for a few days, so he wants to have a meal with all of us at least once," Namjoon explained briefly. "You're fine with that, right?"

"Yeah, it'll be nice to see him again after so long," Yoongi said, a fond expression on his face. "You must be excited."

"Yeah I am," Namjoon smiled widely, fully displaying his dimples. "Anyway, I got to find Hoseok now to ask him as well."

"You know, you could've just texted us, right? You’re such an old man. Live with the times, grandpa."

"You’re the actual grandpa. And that's not as sincere!" Namjoon retorted, before smirking. "Also, I wanted to see you cleaning up the toilet."

Yoongi grumbled under his breath as Namjoon got ready to dash out of the toilet before the elder could lunge at him.

"Don't forget to stock up on condoms!" Yoongi yelled as loudly as he could, deciding to embarrass the other instead of taking action, as Namjoon made his way out of the door. "You and Jin-hyung are gonna need them!"

"Hyung!"

Jimin might be blind, but he wasn't stupid. 

Obviously, he couldn't see the faces and emotions of the people around him. But he had grown to sense them, to roughly read the mood without his sight.

Plus, Taehyung and Jungkook acted like his eyes. If something was off, he would know through them.

And that's how Jimin knew that people were obviously jealous of the extra attention and care that he was getting from the school because of the special programme. It was quite easy to sense the green-eyed monsters growing in some of his classmates as well.

"Thank you for your help!" Jimin bowed with a small smile on his face.

"No problem, Park Jimin. You're a hardworking and good student. Feel free to look for me anytime!" His teacher replied cheerfully, oblivious to his real thoughts on his mind.

Jimin sighed as he walked out of the classroom, dropping the forced smile on his face immediately once he wasn’t facing his teacher. 

In this school, with so many students and limited staff, it wasn’t easy to get extra help from the teachers whenever they needed it. They had to book a time slot with their respectives teachers days prior from the meeting, and they weren’t always available because they had other students to cater to as well.

But for Jimin, the teachers, as his classmates liked to put it, were at his ‘beck-and-call’. He was given the privilege of being the priority.

Bitterly, he thought that he would rather have all his senses than get extra help from the school. He never understood why they wasted their time to be filled with envy, especially when they had all five senses to utilize for their learning. Jimin believed that it was a tradeoff - the privilege of being put first and the privilege of being able to see.

Don’t get him wrong, he was immensely grateful towards all of his teachers for the extra help that they could provide him with. Without them, he knew that he would never be able to keep up with classes, let alone stay ahead.

But today was just one of his bad days. There was this one particular guy in his class, Heonwoo, who was so full of himself. Being one of those envious people, he kept bugging Jimin to no end, always being persistently annoying and calling him names that were sometimes a little too much for Jimin to handle.

It wasn’t anything too overboard that Jimin couldn’t ignore and maintain a thin smile on his face to fuel Heonwoo’s anger though. Heonwoo probably expected him to break down one day, but no, Jimin had lost his sight, not his dignity.

It was just… Tough at times. And today had been made worse by Heonwoo again.

Jimin let out another tired sigh, hearing it echo through the empty hallways together with the sound of his walking stick clicking against the floor.

It was already relatively late, and most of the school population had already went home. It was a non-club day after all, and Jimin himself would already be home by now if he hadn’t stayed back to clarify a few things with his teacher.

Which was why the first year was rather surprised when he heard a lovely, melodious tune drifting from one of the rooms. Someone was playing the piano so late into the afternoon, and it did definitely pique his interest.

Jimin had never heard such a melody. It definitely wasn’t a classic, and he didn’t think that it was a piano version of some of the recent released songs either.

The tune started softly and soothingly; easy on the ears of the listener, before the pacing got faster and more aggressive, as if the pianist was throwing out all his raw emotions into the piano piece. The tune was clear and loud, as the sound rebounded throughout the walls of the empty hallways, and Jimin could thankfully enjoy every note played.

Jimin was impressed, and now more curious. Whoever the person was behind the piano was definitely talented. It had been a tiring day, but the least he could do to brighten his day up was to get the name of the piano piece so that he could listen to the melody on repeat. Maybe he could even get the name of the talented individual.

The melody dropped an octave lower as it reached its peak, and once again smoothly transitioned to a calm and peaceful tune. Jimin walked nearer to the room, with the aid of his ears to direct him. Recognizing that his destination was likely the music room as it was around the vicinity he was in, he proceeded to said room.

The masterpiece came to an end as the pianist played the last few notes, just as Jimin pushed the door open to the music room slowly.

“H-hey, um…” Jimin started, a little nervous as he trailed off. He clutched the side of the door with both hands and hid his body behind the wooden entrance, only showing half of his face to the unknown pianist. His overwhelming curiosity led him here, but was he invading the other’s personal creative space?

There was an awkward silence, and Jimin panicked a little because did he even get the correct room? He could be speaking to an empty room for all he knew - that had happened before and it was embarrassing, to say the very least.

“...Jimin?” the other finally spoke, getting rid of the silence. “What are you doing here?”

And oh, Jimin could not help but let out a soft gasp when he heard the voice. It was the same raspy and deep voice that he had been dreaming of (though he would not tell a living being that). The voice of the very same person whose sunglasses he was still wearing, who had so sweetly given him a delicious treat, and vehemently avoided looking for him to talk.

“I, I, you,” Jimin stammered, his voice refusing to cooperate as incoherent words tumbled out of his mouth. “You -”

“Are you okay?” the elder (was he?) asked, and Jimin couldn’t help but feel the heat shoot up to his face. He probably looked like a fool in front of the other.

“I’m fine!” Jimin managed to exclaim.

The other let out a small hum and Jimin heard him pat the piano seat a few times. He had most likely shifted himself to make a space for Jimin to sit on, and so the younger pushed the door open wider. Jimin shuffled his feet to where the other was, roughly recalling where the piano was situated at the back of his mind.

He didn’t exactly memorize the exact square metre that the piano seat was, so Jimin fumbled a little as he stretched out one arm to find the seat.

If anything, Jimin would expect to just accidentally collide his arm against the piano hard, or maybe even fall flat on his ass by completely missing the seat when he attempted to sit down. What could probably go worse than that, right?

What Jimin definitely had not expected were large hands on his waist, so gentle and warm. Jimin couldn't help but widen his eyes a little at the sudden contact, but he found himself relaxing into the other's touch soon after. The elder treated him so delicately, carefully guiding Jimin to the seat.

Usually, Jimin would hate people treating him like a fragile object; he was blind, not broken. But with the third year, this was somewhat different, perhaps even comforting.

"There you go," the elder whispered into Jimin's ear as he finally came into contact with the cushion of the piano seat.

Jimin placed his walking stick leaning on the side of the piano seat. The younger couldn't contain the goosebumps that spread across his skin. "There I go," Jimin responded bashfully, then bit on his lips in a nervous excitement.

He heard the senior let out a low chuckle. "So what brings you here?" the elder repeated his question from earlier.

"Oh! Oh right, um, I heard someone playing the piano and I got a little curious, so here I am," Jimin explained, fiddling with the hem of his sweater.

Wow, Jimin wore a sweater since the weather was getting colder, but it had gotten embarrassingly hotter since he stepped into this room. Plus, it wasn't helping that one of the elder's hands was still firmly put on his waist.

"So my song led you here?" The elder asked with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment. "That's cute. Now I feel like a pied piper."

Jimin pouted. "Excuse me? Are you calling me a rat?"

The elder laughed and Jimin felt the other remove his hand from his waist, and then feeling those very same hands cupping his cheeks. The elder squished them, eliciting an embarrassed squeak from Jimin.

"If anything, I think you're a different type of rodent," the senior said, before he squished Jimin's cheeks again. "A hamster definitely, with these fluffy cheeks."

"Namseok-sunbae!" Jimin cried out, flustered.

"Hyung."

"Uh?"

"Call me hyung," the elder stated firmly once again.

"Namseok-hyung?" Jimin tried, wanting to hear how it sounded like when he said it.

"No, no, just call me hyung, drop the 'Namseok'", the elder corrected.

"Okay..." Jimin agreed a little tentatively at the weird request. "Hyung."

"That's better," the senior declared and ruffled Jimin's hair.

"That means you're older than me?" Jimin asked. He just wanted to confirm it, see if Taehyung's theory had been right or wrong.

He heard the elder scoff. "Obviously. I'm a third year."

"So I was right!" Jimin exclaimed. "I had this feeling that you were older, maybe a third year, but my friend told me that you might not be."

"Huh. What makes your friend think that?" the other questioned.

"That's 'cuz you're a mystery, hyung!" Jimin giggled. "They tried asking around about you, but no one has heard of you."

"Oh? Why'd you ask around about me?" Jimin could practically hear the smirk coming out of the other.

"I, well, I needed to find you to return these glasses to you," the younger blurted out the most convincing excuse he could think of on the spot.

As he said that, Jimin slid off the sunglasses that was perched on his face, wanting to return them to its original owner. He had kept them for much longer than he was supposed to.

"Wait, no," the elder stopped Jimin before he could return the sunglasses, putting his hand on Jimin's own. "It's fine, you can continue using it. Looks better on you than in my locker anyway."

Jimin paused. "But... It's yours, hyung."

"S'fine. It's mine, so I want you to keep wearing it."

Jimin nodded, slightly dumbfounded. He was about to put on those sunglasses again, since he was still conscious about showing his eyes, but he was stopped again.

"Wait, no."

"What is it this time, hyung?" Jimin laughed. "Do you want your sunglasses back after all?

"Nah, I'm a man of my word," the elder claimed. "The glasses do look nicer on you, I'm serious." Jimin felt heat creep up his neck. "But I don't want you to wear them when you're around me, deal?"

"What? You said I looked good in them, but you don't want me to wear them around you?" Jimin gasped, feigning hurt. "You liar, if you're a man of your word, then I'm the next prince of England."

The older student snorted. "Minnie, you already look like a damn prince, so obviously, I did mean what I said."

"M-minnie?"

The elder fell quiet. "Oh sorry..." he apologized after a few silent seconds. "Did you not like that?"

Jimin shook his head rapidly. "No, I do! It's cute." Fluttering his eyelashes shyly, he went on. "I'll take them off if you want. But why?"

"I thought I made it clear when we met," the older student answered without a moment of hesitation. "Your eyes are gorgeous."

"Hyung!" Jimin shrieked, not expecting such a brazen answer. His hands flew up to hide his most likely red face in embarrassment. He swore he heard the other coo faintly.

"Awww, is Minnie being embarrassed now?" the elder teased, trying to pry away Jimin's hands from his face. "Come on, show hyung your face."

The two playfully bantered, before they fell into a comfortable silence. Apparently, the older student mentioned that Jimin looked like he was about to combust at any moment, so he stopped with his teasing.

It was nice. This was nice. Perhaps the day didn't turn out to be so bad, after all.

As someone who tended to keep to himself most of the time, Jimin didn't let anyone into his walls easily. Many of the people surrounding him either only felt pity or jealousy towards him.

But with the senior, it was different. The elder treated him like any other human being, and he treated him a whole lot better than most.

Jimin felt really comfortable around the older student.

That was what Jimin thought at this point now, anyway. But a small doubt threatened to take root in his heart.

The senior didn't actually approach him to talk to Jimin himself. Jimin had been the one that stumbled upon him when he had been playing the piano.

It wasn't the first time that Jimin had tried to be friends with someone, but failed because really, who would want to be seen with a blind boy?

Was the senior just like all the rest too?

"Um, hyung?" Jimin started out uncertainly, licking his lips in nervousness. "Why didn't you come to look for me? You said you would. Didn't you say you were a man of your word?"

"Oh, about that..."

The senior lamented about how he was stuck with harsh toilet cleaning duties as a punishment, and moments later, Jimin wondered why he even doubted the elder in the first place.

Between his fits of laughter, Jimin asked, "How'd you even get this punishment anyway?"

"Bah, I bet the teacher just hates me," the older student said a little evasively, but Jimin didn't pursue it. "Maybe it was because of that one time I complained about how boring his lessons were outside of class, and he was walking behind me and heard everything."

"Gosh, hyung, why'd you do that?"

"Excuse me?" the elder scoffed. "I have a right to freedom of expression. And I didn't know he was right behind me! Oh my God - listen, my friend knew the entire time and he totally did not bother telling me that the fucking teacher was five feet behind us."

"Are you whining?" Jimin brought a hand to cover his mouth and gasped loudly in disbelief, before falling in another bout of laughter.

"I am not!" the older student huffed in annoyance. He waited for Jimin to finish laughing, before he continued. "Anyway, I won't be able to freely find you for another two weeks or so."

"Aww," Jimin jutted out his lips. He couldn't stop the pout that formed on his face. He wanted to spend more time with the senior, and he felt disappointment starting to overwhelm him.

"Actually, if you want to, I usually come to this room on non-club days, so if you wanna, maybe you could drop by?" the elder suggested. "If you want to, of course," he emphasized again. "Sorry Minnie, I did promise I'd go find you."

"I want to!" Jimin exclaimed, before his voice dropped to a whisper. "I want to spend more time with you..."

"Sorry, what was that?"

"N-nothing!"

"Okaaay," the elder said, unconvinced, but didn't push it. "Hey, it's getting late, I need to go now. You staying?"

"Oh, what time is it?" Jimin asked. He didn't feel like any time had passed at all.

There was a moment of silence, in which Jimin assumed that the other was checking the exact time for him.

"It's 5.45pm," the other announced, proving Jimin's assumption correct. "The sun's already almost setting outside."

Jimin stood up abruptly. "It's so late?! You're right, it's about time we go. My mom's gonna think I disappeared."

He heard the other chuckle. "Want me to walk you home?" he offered.

"Wow, what a gentleman, hyung," Jimin teased with a grin on his face. "But it's fine, I can manage."

"Alright Minnie," the elder replied. "Stay safe. You go ahead first, I need to put back the seats and whatnot to its original positions. Kinda messed them up a little before you came in."

"Mmhmm," Jimin hummed in agreement. He slid on the sunglasses, letting it perch on his nose again and reached out for his walking stick. "I'll see you here again, hyung?" Jimin asked for confirmation before he left.

"Of course, Minnie."

And that day, Jimin went home with a smile.

Chapter Text

Hi all, this is not an update, and sorry to cause any disappointment, but I'm disappointed. 

I've been brought to attention that there is a similar fic to this, but instead of yoonmin, it's jikook. It was about bad boy x blind boy as well, and the start of the fic was identical, up to when the pairing met. 

Their story shares a lot of similar elements in the first half of mine such as...
- Jungkook/yoongi being popular when he's a bad boy
- Jungkook/yoongi being disinterested but having rumors that he's good in bed
- Joon being his friend despite him being a bad boy
- Jungkook/yoongi being late for lessons and bumping into jimin, causing his sunglasses to drop.
- Jungkook/yoongi finding jimin's eyes beautiful
- The school accepting blind people in accordance to the law
- I'm not one to claim emojis, but a chick and bunny representing each pov? Isn't that similar to my chick and turtle?
- Jungkook/yoongi not being interested in a blind boy at first then changing his mind when they meet
- jimin having gone to the library before class to get Braille books, thus holding a bunch of books
- yoongi/jungkook holding jimins hand after he knocked him down
- jungkook/yoongi even having a fanclub despite being a bad boy

After confronting the author privately as advised by a few, the author did not reply, but silently took down her own copy of the fic. If you are reading this: while I am grateful that you have done so and hope that you have learnt your lesson, this incident has severely demoralized me as a writer. Moreover, it is disheartening that I found out this issue a day before my major exams, and that you had bookmarked this fic on my birthday of all days. 

To all others who are reading this, please please never try to plagiarize or steal another person's ideas, regardless of how different your story is afterwords, or how much effort that you have put in. It's wrong. The issue has been resolved, but the damage has been done. 

To the anon who had commented on my fic to tell me about the issue: I've deleted your comment so that no one will know who the other author is, for confidentiality's sake :) but I greatly appreciate that you have told me about the matter!! 

I won't be deleting this chapter, as a warning to others not to steal any of my current or future fics, and also other authors' fics. Not to worry, I'll still be finishing this fic after 22nd Nov when my major exams end. 

Thank you for everyone's love and support for this fic ♡

Chapter Text

"Holy shit, you actually had a long, proper conversation with another human being?" Hoseok widened his eyes deliberately and faked a loud gasp.

"Hell yeah I did, talking to him was so nice that I forgot how to be awkward - wait, what the fuck, I talk properly to the both of you too," Yoongi retorted Hoseok's childish remark. 

"Hah, you just admitted you're usually awkward!"

"That's nice, hyung," Namjoon added, swerving the conversation back to the subject at hand before the two began to go at each other back and forth again. "So have you told him who you actually are?"

Yoongi fell silent, and the two second years let out painful groans.

This time, with a twist of their promise, Jimin sought for the senior everyday in that little music room of theirs (Jimin knew it didn't belong to them, but the two had spent more than enough time alone there that Jimin couldn't help but call it theirs).

He didn't think that he would be heading to that room everyday. Perhaps every other day, but not everyday.

They had exchanged numbers, but the other did absentmindedly mention that he didn't really enjoy talking on the phone - being more of a fan of texting - and well, Jimin didn't want to impose on the elder.

Jimin was the opposite. He preferred talking on the phone because it was less troublesome and he could actually hear the voice of the other person on the other side of the call, rather than hearing the monotonous and robotic audio of his phone reciting the incoming text messages.

Thus, Jimin found himself seeking the elder's company more often than not. He really enjoyed the third year's company. Talking to him was smooth and easy. Jimin realized that the other rather enjoyed playfully teasing him - not the mean way, but the type that made his heart flutter a little - and the younger couldn't help retort with a few impish remarks of his.

The best thing was that the elder didn't judge him like all the others did (with the exception of Taehyung and Jungkook, obviously). The other treated him gently, but not as if he was a fragile object that could be broken at any moment. He was a good listener, and the younger felt that every part, every side of him was accepted, even when he had his bad days.

It was somewhat frighteningly shocking to Jimin. He had barely known the senior for long, but he had already willingly let down so many of his walls that were so sturdily built to keep others out over the years. Jimin felt like he could tell the other everything and trust him to keep it a secret.

He couldn't really explain it, but it was different with the senior than with Taehyung or Jungkook. Taehyung and Jungkook were dear friends to Jimin, but for some reason Jimin's heart didn't exactly like the word "friends" labelling the elder and him, even though his mind reminded him that it was logical.

Jimin thought that the elder brought out a different side of him. It was rather confusing. Whenever he wasn't with the elder, Jimin was confused with feelings regarding the other. But when he was with him, Jimin felt right, like everything had fallen nicely into place.

Jimin was clearly enamored with the elder, constantly desiring the warmth that he felt from the elder when he leaned close to him, or when the third year gently guided Jimin's fingers to the piano keys with his own hands to release a few melodious notes.

But at the same time, Jimin couldn't prevent the heat that rushed up to his face whenever he was around the third year - like when the other would cheekily play with Jimin's cheeks, or when he got a tad too close and breathed down Jimin's neck.

The fact that the tiny crush he had for the elder - when they first literally crashed into one another, and that he had denied - was evolving at a rapid pace seemed so unreal. But deep in his heart, Jimin knew, he knew that he wanted something much more with the elder.

He imagined, at times, how nice it would be to have something special with the elder, but then deliberately disrupted his fantasies. Why would the third year want to get romantically involved with someone disabled?

So Jimin never sought to do something to clear his doubts and confusion, only continuing to seek the elder for his company as he allowed himself to be satisfied with what he currently had with him.

A couple of weeks flew by quickly, and the day for Jungkook's basketball tryouts came.

Jungkook was practically bouncing in excitement on that day, booming with confidence and readiness.

Taehyung and Jimin had promised to come for the tryouts to support and cheer the youngest on, and they kept it.

The two went to the basketball court after lessons, making their way to the bleachers. Jungkook had already went ahead of them to prepare for whatever that he had to for the tryouts.

Taehyung told Jimin that the court was relatively empty when they had entered, with a few other people - likely friends and supporters like Taehyung and Jimin - seated in random seats. They did get there rather early, after all.

"Come on, let's sit at the front!" Taehyung exclaimed, leading Jimin carefully down a small flight of stairs to the front.

"Alright Tae, do you think Jungkook can see us from there? Are there any railings or pillars blocking us?" Jimin asked the other just in case.

"Don't worry, he probably should unless he gets too focused on the tryouts," Taehyung reassured him.

Jimin hummed in response and the both of them settled in their seats. The two boys fell silent, with Taehyung likely messing around on his phone again, so Jimin closed his eyes to take a short rest before the tryouts, feeling himself dozing off.

Jimin found himself awoken abruptly by the blare of the speakers. The music that blasted from the speakers echoed throughout the court, and Jimin felt his own seat vibrating from the music.

He realized that the loud music was not the only sound that was invading his sense of hearing. While he was asleep, the court must have filled up with a crowd of students. There were so many people running around, their shoes creating a drumming, thundering effect when they hit the ground. Cheers and screams filled the air, everyone preparing their voices for the actual event. Jimin swore he heard the ruffle of skirts and pompoms in front of him, most likely the cheerleaders going all out, rehearsing their routine before the start of the tryouts.

Jimin was confused, and a little surprised. These were tryouts... Right? The atmosphere he sensed felt more like an actual match.

"Do you know what they're doing for the tryouts?" Jimin raised his voice, hoping that Taehyung could hear him over the noise. He tapped his friend's hand with a finger to get his attention. "Aren't tryouts usually... You know, private? The basketball club is the only one where spectators are allowed to watch the tryouts. There are too many people here!"

Taehyung's answer wasn't immediate, so Jimin guessed that he didn't know as well. "I'm not sure," Taehyung replied, half-shouting himself as well. "But with the amount of people screaming 'Min Yoongi' here, I suppose he's playing today?"

"But aren't these tryouts?"

"Yeah, well, let's just wait to find out!"

Jimin slumped back in his seat, still confused. Well at least they came early and got front row seats.

The tryouts were, to put it simply, a blur for Jimin.

Everything happened so quickly. Once the shrill of the whistle was heard, signalling the start, people began to scream and cheer twice as loud. It was deafening.

Taehyung, poor Taehyung, was trying to describe what was happening to Jimin through the noise but it had been hard.

Jimin managed to hear enough from Taehyung that apparently, those that had signed up for the tryouts were going against the school’s official basketball team, and that Min Yoongi was in that very team, which explained the huge crowd.

"Hey Tae, your voice is going to go hoarse at this rate, you can just grab my hand when Kookie appears and I'll cheer for him, okay?" Jimin shouted at Taehyung, worried about the state of his best friend's voice.

"What?! You want to grab a cookie? Now's not the time, Jiminie!"

"I said, just grab my hand when Jeon Jungkook appears and I'll cheer for him! You can describe what's going on later after the tryouts!" Jimin shouted again exasperatedly.

"Oh, okay!" Taehyung shouted back.

It wasn't long before Jimin felt another hand grab his own. Taehyung started hollering Jungkook's name loudly, so Jimin did as well.

The craze and frenziness made the whole event feel like an eternity. Although Jimin was glad to be cheering for Jungkook, the noise was giving him a headache and he wanted very much to retreat to the music room to relish in the peace and quiet that contrasted the current state of the basketball court.

Taehyung grabbed his hand once more, and Jimin took a deep breath and started screaming Jungkook's name again.

"That was insane!" Taehyung exclaimed, still high and giddy from the adrenaline.

The two were walking down the bustling hallway, filled with students who were rushing out from the basketball court. Jimin held on tighter on his walking stick, afraid that he would be knocked over again.

Taehyung continued to ramble on about what had happened during the tryouts. They didn't know if Jungkook had made it on the team yet, but Taehyung mentioned that the entire match had been exhilarating, even though it had only been the tryouts.

Jimin couldn't imagine what it would be like for an actual competitive match.

"And then Jungkook did a three pointer - hey, are you listening? You look worn out."

"Oh Tae, you know I don't listen to at least half of the things you say," Jimin teased, and then angled his head towards Taehyung's direction and gave him a gentle smile. "I'm just kidding, I always listen to you. But yeah you're right, I am tired."

"You should go back home first and rest then," Taehyung suggested, slinging an arm around Jimin. "I can explain to Kookie."

"You're still heading over to his place then?"

"Mmhmm."

Jimin considered his options for a moment, before he spoke up again. "I, uh, I'll head to the music room first then go back home. You guys can go ahead. Say my congratulations to Kook for me, he probably got into the team!"

"Music room? Oh, you want to see that Min Namseok guy again, huh. How cute, do you need him to sing you a lullaby with that killer voice of his?" Taehyung laughed as Jimin found himself heating up.

"I don't need someone to sing me a lullaby to sleep!" Jimin pouted. "It'll be bad if he was, uh, waiting for me or something and I didn't turn up!"

"Of course, have fun on your date!" his best friend replied in a playful tone and Jimin knew he was unconvinced. At least he didn't press further.

"It's not - aish, never mind. Now could you please let go of me so that you can shoo to Kookie and I can finally go to the music room?"

“Okay, okay,” Taehyung said and then paused. His arm was still around Jimin, yet to let go. “Jiminie, you’re really going to meet this Min Namseok right? You’re not being harassed by…”

Jimin frowned and rebuked the other in a serious manner before he could finish his sentence. “I’m going to meet Namseok-hyung, Taehyung. Not anyone else.”

Taehyung sighed and finally let go of Jimin. “Fine, but if that person calls you out again, I’m gonna kill him.”

Jimin’s frown was quickly replaced by a beaming smile on his face as he let out a small chuckle, thankful for Taehyung’s concern over him. “Killing is illegal, Tae, but yeah, don’t worry, I’m not afraid of him.”

Yoongi was tired.

Factually speaking, he shouldn’t be. He was a trained sportsman, and playing one simple match (not even an actual competition!) shouldn’t have worn him out this much. He had been through game after game during the championships, his coach gave them ample training and made sure every member of the team didn’t overexert their muscles.

The captain of his team had wanted those first years who signed up to go through a match against the main team so that the coach was able to carefully sieve out the actual skillful players that they could recruit. It had been like this for the previous two years as well. With Yoongi in the club, there were bound to be plentiful of students with no actual skills or interest wanting to join just to be in the same club as Yoongi.

And well, Yoongi was part of the main team. He couldn’t just opt out of the tryouts.

Yoongi was grateful enough that his coach had adamantly refused to kick him out of the main team, let alone the club, despite his bad reputation through the years. At least his coach could recognize actual talents.

But this time round, the tryouts was different! In the past, Jimin hadn’t been there in any of his matches. Which likely explained why he messed up big time, and his present state of weariness.

It was a funny story - Yoongi had noticed Jimin sitting in the front row cheering for someone else that wasn’t him (sadly), proceeded to get flustered, threw at least two balls in the other opposing team’s hoop and failed to backup multiple rebounds. Heck, he almost tripped on nothing when he was running past Jimin’s seat before his coach furiously called for a timeout. It was then when Yoongi realized that hey, Jimin didn’t even know he was playing, that allowed the third year to play as his usual skillful self again.

He still got an earful from his coach though.

So Yoongi was tired. He wanted to go back home and lay on his bed to sleep for 24 hours straight (read: lay on his bed to think about Jimin for 24 hours straight), but pushed himself to head to the quiet, little music room instead.

He knew he was a little later than usual, so he wasn’t sure if Jimin would still be there (if he even went there in the first place), but figured that it was best that he went to check. Yoongi wouldn’t want to miss a single conversation with the younger after all.

He pushed the door to the music room open. Yoongi immediately brightened up, smile evident on his face and his eyes crinkling, when he saw Jimin sitting on half of the piano seat absentmindedly pressing on random keys of the piano.

“Hey, Minnie,” Yoongi called out, elated to see the other after a tiring day. Even if Jimin was the reason for his tiredness, but the younger didn’t need to know that. Jimin stopped playing and turned around to smile at him, acknowledging the elder’s presence.

“Hyung! I thought you wouldn’t come!” Jimin greeted as Yoongi went on to sit beside the younger on the other half of the piano seat. “You smell like… soap? Did you take a bath?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I had club activities. Got sweaty.”

“Huh? Hyung, you should’ve told me! You shouldn’t have came here, you’re probably tired from club activities. But wait, I thought today was a non-club day?” Jimin asked curiously, brows creasing in confusion. “Oh no, don’t tell me I mixed up my days?”

“No no, you’re fine Minnie, it is a non-club day. It’s just that my club had tryouts today…” Yoongi explained before shutting his mouth promptly, realizing his slip up and hoping that Jimin wouldn’t have noticed. It would be easier for Jimin to find out about his real identity if he told the younger his club, and Jimin never actually asked so he could avoid the topic. Sadly, Jimin noticed.

Jimin was everything that Yoongi wanted in a partner and Yoongi was, well, Yoongi. Yoongi knew he didn’t have any chance with Jimin as soon as he knew about his reputation. Would the younger even want to remain friends with him?

“The only club tryouts that’s happening today is the basketball club’s though, are you part of that club, hyung? You should’ve told me! I would’ve cheered for you too,” Jimin’s lips formed a small pout, shaking Yoongi out of his negative thoughts.

Yoongi found it endearing that the younger was upset because he wasn’t able to cheer for the elder, but he didn’t want Jimin to continue having a pout on his face. “Sorry Minnie, I forgot to tell you. But it’s fine, you were busy cheering for your friend anyway.”

Jimin perked up. “Oh, so you saw me! Do you know if my friend got into the team?”

“Jeon Jungkook, right? Yeah, he did.”

“That’s great, I knew he would,” Jimin grinned, clearly proud of his friend, before he redirected his attention to Yoongi once more. “So hyung, are you any good at basketball?”

Yoongi snorted. “I’ll have you know that I’ve already gotten many scholarship offers from universities who are after my basketball skills so yeah,” Yoongi said and puffed his chest out a little, “I think I’m good.”

“Scholarship offers, gosh! I wish I could see you in action,” Yoongi saw Jimin smile a little sadly before the younger shook off his sad expression quickly. “So are you going to accept any of them?”

Yoongi fell silent.

This was a rather sensitive topic to him.

“I, I don’t know,” the third year admitted after a while. To be honest, Yoongi felt like time was running way too fast, and he couldn’t believe that he was already in his graduating year. His future wasn’t exactly a fun topic for conversation either, but shockingly, Yoongi found himself going on. “I probably won’t. Basketball is a hobby, but producing music is actually what I want to do in the future. But my parents, they uh, aren’t actually very supportive of either me playing basketball or producing you see. Said they would disown me and whatnot if I didn’t pursue something honourable.”

“Oh hyung…” Jimin replied, a little lost for words. “Maybe you should try persuading them to let you do what you want? It’s your life, not theirs to control.”

“I tried! I tried, but they refused.” Yoongi continued helplessly. “And they’re almost never home anyway, so it’s hard to even keep on trying.”

“That doesn’t mean you should give up!” Jimin suddenly raised his voice, and Yoongi’s eyes widened in surprise. “Hyung, I, you know I wasn’t born blind. But then one day I was, and I thought too that everything was hopeless. But here I am now, I didn’t choose to give up even when there was no hope for my eyes; I managed to survive all these years without sight.”

“Oh Minnie… What actually happened?” Yoongi asked in a small voice.

Jimin’s breath hitched, and Yoongi couldn’t help but cringe at the previous words that escaped his mouth.

“My dad, he… My dad and I were going to a picnic - my mom stayed behind - and it was a really beautiful day, hyung. But there was an oncoming car…” Jimin paused to regulate his breathing. “The driver was drunk, and he crashed into us. He was let off with only 5 years of jail but I lost my dad and my sight on that day, pretty funny huh?” The younger let out a small, empty laugh.

“It’s not funny, Jimin, how could they have let him off with only five?” Yoongi questioned in disbelief. He knew the legal system was unfair most of the time, even when the news twisted it to seem fair, but he was still rather astonished.

“I don’t know either, hyung. But the last thing I saw on that day was the sky, so that’s the reason why my favorite color’s blue. And it’s also the reason why I want to be a prosecuting lawyer in the future.” Jimin paused again, tears threatening to spill and falling deep in thought. “Hyung, do you think someone disabled can… Become a lawyer?”

“I think you can be whatever you want if you set your mind on it, Minnie,” Yoongi replied with no hint of hesitation, cupping one of Jimin’s smaller hands with his own large ones and stroking it gently with one thumb.

Jimin calmed down gradually. He gave Yoongi a shaky smile of gratitude. “You should use that mindset for your own aspiration, hyung.”

Jimin never failed to surprise Yoongi.

“Yeah… Maybe I should,” the elder nodded. “Thanks for listening, Minnie. I didn’t actually expect myself to tell you all of this.”

So Jimin now knew about the complex things in his life but doesn’t actually know his real name and identity. Weird.

“Me neither, hyung, but I’m glad I did. Is it strange that I trust you so much?” Jimin let out a small giggle at his own question.

“It’s strange but it makes me happy.”

“Me too, hyung. Me too.”

“Hyung wouldn’t lie to me, stop it Jungkook! He’s already told me things that are personal to him, he wouldn’t lie!”

“But I’m telling the truth, Jimin-hyung, please believe me, there isn’t anyone in the basketball club called Min Namseok!”

“I’m leaving, and don’t come near me until you stop lying to me! This prank isn’t funny!”

“Jiminie, Jungkook really isn’t lying, this isn’t a prank - Jimin come back!”

A few days flew by after his fight with Taehyung and Jungkook.

It had been a long time since they actually fought, but Jimin thought that they went overboard with their pranks this time.

The third year had a special place in his heart, and now Taehyung and Jungkook - who shared special places in his heart as well - was telling Jimin that the elder was lying about his identity all these while? Sounded like bogus to him.

Jimin was genuinely down, so upset that he even stopped going to the music room and simply returned back home alone each day, sulking.

Perhaps deep down in his heart, he didn’t want to confront the third year as well.

The bell rang, signalling the end of another school day. Jimin walked out of the classroom and down the hallway as usual, heading to his locker to place a few books inside before he headed home. Thankfully, it was a club day which meant Taehyung and Jungkook were busy with their own clubs (Jimin was excused from needing to attend club activities) and they wouldn’t have time to try to find Jimin.

Jimin knew a small back alley to the main gate that was a longer walk to the main gate but allowed him to avoid walking past the basketball court, and he took that path instead so as to at least avoid running into Jungkook.

Being alone reminded Jimin a little of the days when he was young, when he only had Taehyung and yet tried to shut the other out of his life. Another wave of sadness overwhelmed him in the relatively empty hallway as he shut his locker door close, and started to proceed home.

“You got the best of me -” The shrill sound of his ringtone suddenly filled his ears when Jimin was walking past the (quite eerie) back alley, causing Jimin to jump a little. He fumbled around for his phone in his back pocket, fishing it out but hesitating to pick up the call.

It could be Taehyung or Jungkook trying to reach him again. He should really set different ringtones for each contact one day.

Sighing, he decided to answer the call. It would be bad if it was a teacher calling him and he rejected the call.

What he didn’t expect was the root cause of his fight with his friends to call though.

“Hello? Minnie, are you there?” the third year asked from the other side of the call.

Why was the third year calling? He said himself that he didn’t like to call - unless his preferences were really lies as well? Was Jungkook really telling the truth?

“Yeah… I’m here, hyung. Do you need something?”

“Uh, no, I just wanted to check up on you. You didn’t come to the music room for the past few days so I was wondering if something happened?”

Jimin felt a little guilty at that. The elder was always looking after him, so there could be no way that he was lying. But then again, Taehyung and Jungkook had always been looking after him as well, and Jimin felt really conflicted.

“O-oh, nothing happened, hyung,” Jimin replied, trying to rack his head for an excuse. “It’s just that, well…”

But Jimin never got to even offer the elder any excuse. A hand clasped on his face, covering his mouth and pulled him back as his body forcibly landed on another body. The grip on his phone loosened out of shock, causing the device to fall on the ground with a loud thud. His walking stick dangled from his wrist with the strap that the third year had given him, as Jimin struggled to escape from the strong grip of the other.

“Well, well… And who are you talking to?” the person holding on to him whispered into his ear, and Jimin freezed up in horror as he realized who that person was. And said person definitely wouldn’t be alone either.

“Minnie...? Minnie? Jimin what the fuck happened, answer me! Where are you?!” the third year yelled from the other side of the call, clearly having heard the sounds of struggle coming from Jimin.

But Jimin wasn’t able to answer. Not when he was still trapped, his phone out of his reach.

Chapter Text

“Eugh…” Jimin let out a groan as he raised his forearms to block an attempted punch to his face. Learning martial arts long ago when he was really young granted him better reflexes, but he had a sight disadvantage now. He could only rely on his remaining senses, which forced him to focus on defense. It was only slightly working though, considering that he had taken quite a few blows.

He knew that he wouldn’t last against his assailants. The shock of being suddenly approached had caused him to drop his phone, and he was pushed towards a wall before he could attempt to locate and retrieve it. He didn’t know where his walking stick was either. Jimin really regretted walking through such an isolated path, it would be futile to shout for help.

But with his pride on the line, Jimin refused to go down without a fight.

“Don’t you think you’re being stupid now for someone that’s supposed to be smart ?” The person that threw the punch taunted, with a chorus of spiteful laughter by the others that seemed to be on standby. He could feel the rest surrounding Jimin to ensure that he couldn’t scurry away.

“You’re not being so smart either, are you, Lee Kangdo?” Jimin sneered back.

He just hoped that perhaps, someone would find him.

An unsettling feeling began welling inside Yoongi.

Something was definitely amiss. He didn't think that Jimin would be the type to suddenly hang up on another. And Yoongi definitely heard a foreign voice before the call had been cut. Perhaps it could have had been one of his friends? Or Jimin’s hand had slipped?

Despite his own self-reassurance that everything was okay, Yoongi couldn’t suppress the feeling that things weren’t fine.

The third year was caught in a dilemma. He had called Jimin in the locker room since he had a few minutes to spare before his training started, not expecting such a situation to present itself. He knew there wasn’t enough time to check up on Jimin, at least, not enough time if he chose to be on time for basketball training. The inter-high matches were going to start soon and he knew he’d have to be in tip top shape before that and train as much as time allowed but…

Part of him knew he was going to regret not searching for Jimin. What if something had really happened?

It was irrational though, he didn’t even know the younger’s exact location. And who was he to check up on the other personally, especially if Jimin might have been choosing to avoid him? He was the one that suddenly stopped showing up on his own accord, he might have wanted to be alone.

“What should I do…” Yoongi muttered, biting his lip with a strained expression. Sitting on the room’s benches in his team jersey and shorts that was half covered by a white, loose jacket, he couldn’t help but worry. Looking down at Jimin’s contact on his phone screen, he hesitated a moment before pressing the dial button again, putting the phone against his ear.

Ring… ring… ring… The user that you are trying to call is currently unavailable. Please try again later, or leave a voice message after the --

Yoongi grunted in frustration, ending the call. “Damn it!” he cried in exasperation. Shoving his phone in the pocket of his jacket, he stood up and stomped towards the door.

“Oi, training’s gonna start, where’re you heading off?” Yoongi heard one of his teammates call out.

“If Coach asks, just tell him I’m going to settle something. It’s urgent,” he hurriedly replied.

“Hey, Coach ain’t going to be happy--”

But Yoongi had already rushed out aimlessly, slamming the door behind him before his teammate could finish his sentence.

Deciding to take another path to avoid bumping into one man that would most definitely drag his sorry ass back to the basketball court for training, he recalled that there was a small alleyway at the back that allowed him to swerve away from the court. No one ever took that path, so even he had almost forgotten about it. Yoongi made a smart guess that Jimin would be on his way home, making up his mind to go through that path to head to the main gate and begin his search from that area.

Running towards the passageway, he hadn’t expected to hear boisterous jeering. He wasn’t that out of touch from humanity right? The whole school population knew that hardly anyone used this path because it was so musty and dark, and such a long detour from the main gates.

A single sweatdrop beaded on his forehead and trickled down his face as he saw a group of guys in a circle, obstructing his path. Yoongi forced his body to come to an abrupt stop before he could run into anyone of them. He couldn’t tell what was going on since his sight was blocked by the backs of the other boys, but he needed to go through.

Yoongi was slightly confused, but he was in a rush. “Hey, can you let me through?” He asked in an urgent tone, putting a hand on one of the boy’s shoulder that was in front of him.

“Huuuuh?” The other drawled, slowly turning his head around and shifting his body to look at Yoongi. The movement allowed his line of vision to clear, and Yoongi’s eyes widened at the sight of two familiar faces. All eyes and attention turned to him instead, every individual present wondering who it was that disrupted them. “Can’t you see we’re in the middle of--”

Yoongi didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence before he laid a solid punch on the other. He didn’t have to be a genius to put two and two together. The other boy clutched his cheek in pain, staggering back a few steps after the impact.

“What are you guys standing around for? Get him!” The boy in the centre, who Yoongi assumed was the leader, commanded. Yoongi swore that he had seen him before, and he racked his brain for where he had last seen the messy and wavy brown hair that covered most of the other’s forehead.

Yoongi was more concerned about the one on the ground though. It was a face that Yoongi looked forward to see everyday, a face that always invaded his thoughts. The face - Jimin’s face - was bloodied and bruised.

“B-but, Kangdo-hyungnim, t-that’s Min Yoongi,” he heard one of them stammer nervously.

“So? Don’t be cowards, he’s just one person,” the leader, Kangdo, hissed. “He’s nothing, really, I mean, he got a cream puff taken away under his nose.”

Ah, Yoongi thought, realizing why he was so familiar, the Thief™.

“You sick fucks!” The senior found himself raising his voice. “Who’d stoop so low to pick on someone that’s blind?!”

“Blind?” Kangdo chuckled menacingly. “So what if he is? You think someone that’s blind would be pathetic, would be the lowest of the lowest, but this little bitch,” he seethed while grasping and pulling on Jimin’s hair, forcing the other to gasp in pain. “He’s at the top. What a surprise, huh? Gets extra help and all, aces everything, everyone else is so accommodating to him. But no, someone elite should be at the top, I’m supposed to be at the top.”

Yoongi saw red. He hadn’t been this angry since his first year, when he had last gotten into a fight. Adrenaline pumped into his veins, and he was prepared to finish off everyone that had dared to lay a finger on sweet, kind Jimin. He knew it was wrong to fight, and the school wouldn’t be so kind on him the second time. But his blood didn’t stop boiling.

“Get your hands off him!” Yoongi roared.

“Get him, I said!” Kangdo shouted at the others. Yoongi could tell that his followers were hesitating in engaging an actual fight with him, but he supposed they were more concerned about the consequences of disobedience.

They charged at him anyway. And Yoongi let himself loose.

Yoongi panted heavily, looking at the huge mess that he had caused. He was confident of his strength, but there still had been quite a number of them, making them formidable opponents.

Blood trickled down his hands. Black and purple splotches began spreading over his knuckles and body, scratches decorating his pale cheek. He hadn’t come out of the fight unscathed this time, considering the fact that he focused on rendering his opponents unable to fight instead of delivering severe injuries to them. At least his opponents were on the ground whimpering in anguish either way.

He was aware that he was going to get into serious trouble. He had acted in the heat of the moment. But he pushed those thoughts aside, walking towards Jimin who was still on the ground, shuddering slightly.

“Are you alright, Minnie?” Yoongi rasped, crouching down. He placed a hand on the younger’s cheek, caressing it. It hurt him to see the other so scared, to see him with injuries littered across his body.

“I-I’m fine,” Jimin managed to utter. “Will be, anyway. But y-you, I could hear...”

The senior wrapped his arms around the other, enveloping him in a warm hug. No one was going to come yet anyway, so they had a little time before someone discovered that a fight took place here. “Don’t worry, everything will be okay. You’ll be okay. We should get you treated though. Doubt they’ll be bothering you anymore. How long were they disturbing you for?”

“Since the first day, to be honest,” Jimin murmured, sighing in relief as he melted into Yoongi’s hug. “My friends knew they were being annoying, but they haven’t really done anything physical until today.”

“Where are your friends then?” the third year asked.

“We aren’t really on talking terms now because they--” Jimin’s breath hitched, and he paused for a moment. “Oh God,” the younger continued, “They were right, you, you were lying to me. You’re not Namseok-hyung, there isn’t even such a person that exists, right?” Jimin let out a cold, emotionless laugh. “You had fun lying to me, right? You’re the same as them!” He shouted, pushing the elder away.

Yoongi was floored. He hadn’t realized that he would expose himself in this way. He really hadn’t thought this through. How was he going to explain himself?

“J-Jimin, I didn’t mean to, really,” Yoongi said, trying to reason with the younger. “It’s just that, you know.”

“No. No, I don’t know!” Jimin cried out. “I don’t know anything anymore. Why?”

“Listen, Jimin,” the third year took a deep breath, mustering his courage before continuing. “I’m sure you’ve heard of my reputation. Everyone knows. Even I know I don’t have a good rep. Even if it’s mostly untrue, no one bothers to listen.” Yoongi cupped the other boy’s face. “You were the best thing that happened to me in a long time. I didn’t want to risk losing you at all, so I decided on a whim to lie to you about my identity. I hope you can it in your heart to forgive me, I really didn’t mean to lie.”

There was a long, pregnant silence. So many thoughts were racing across Yoongi’s mind, he knew he was a goner.

“... I would’ve listened. I’m not like the others,” Jimin finally opened his mouth to speak.

Yoongi’s body slumped, losing his stiff posture. He was so relieved that the first year didn’t seem to completely hate him. “Yeah, I guessed so. I knew you would, but I was too stupid. You’re too nice for your own good,” Yoongi managed out a small smile. “But that’s why I like you.”

Another pause.

Shit, shit, shit! Mission abort! Yoongi thought.

Yoongi withdrew his hands from the other’s face immediately. He could see the younger’s face turn completely red, but he was in no position to laugh considering that his own face was the same color.

“You are really stupid!” Jimin huffed, cheeks puffed out to form a pout. “But I guess I’m stupid for liking someone this dumb too.”

Yoongi’s eyes widened. He didn’t expect that his feelings would be returned. And he hadn’t expected himself to be brave enough to lean in to gently kiss away the younger’s pout either, but he did anyway.

“So, uh, does this mean we’re dating now?” Yoongi chuckled nervously.

A huge, beautiful smile grew on Jimin’s face. “Hm, kiss me again and we’ll see!” the other laughed merrily, his expression vastly different from his previous, sombre mood.

Before Yoongi could lean in to give his beloved another kiss though, his teammates had found him. Yoongi completely forgot about his basketball training. “There he is, guys! Oi, Coach is super pissed, what were you-- Oh my God, Yoongi , what did you do?!”

“Oh shit.”

Yoongi did get into trouble, but not as deep as he thought it would be. He did think that he would have been expelled for the damage that he had done, but thankfully, he wasn’t. It was lucky that Yoongi had concentrated on knocking the first year students out instead of delivering really painful hits to vital spots (except for maybe that first punch to the face, but no one needed to know), so the school decide to just suspend him for a period of time since he wasn’t the provoker. Jimin had testified for Yoongi that he had been protecting him.

They did extend his toilet cleaning responsibilities too, though. He now had to clean those disgusting toilets until he graduated, as part of his punishment. Yoongi was in despair, since the time could have been used to go on dates and spend time with Jimin instead, but he was grateful that the school still let him represent the school in matches.

Yoongi, of course, was the MVP of the matches in inter-high basketball competition as usual. Even though he had missed some training sessions due to suspension and some injuries lasting from the fight, he now had a cute boyfriend that cheered for him every match. They clinched the gold medals for inter-high, going on to the nationals, but eventually lost to the nation’s powerhouse.

Yoongi had been scouted again for his talent, being offered a scholarship for music production if he was to continue playing for the university’s basketball team. It was for the top university of the Arts, and the elder had managed to convince his parents to let him pursue the path he desired with the help of Jimin. They too, had fallen in love with sweet and angelic Jimin.

As for Jimin, he made up with Taehyung and Jungkook. The three of them were in tears, hugging each other and smearing mucus on one another. Taehyung and Jungkook were all over Yoongi too, gushing about how he had rescued Jimin, though they did also threaten and warn him to never lie again.

“Bros before hoes, Jiminie!” Taehyung had said.

“Oi, I’m not a hoe!” Yoongi retorted in disbelief.

The three first years became fast friends with Hoseok, Namjoon, and even Seokjin when he had come back home to visit. “So that’s how the name ‘Namseok’ came about!” Jimin guffawed. The six of them jokingly ganged up against Yoongi as he groaned for the upteenth time, but Yoongi really couldn’t be happier.

Jimin did have his own insecurities, fearing that Yoongi would eventually leave him for someone better, someone that could actually see. But nevertheless, Yoongi was always there to reassure him of his love for the younger. They easily became the school’s power couple. No one, even Kangdo, dared to lay a finger on Jimin with Yoongi as his boyfriend.

They were in love, and it was all that mattered.

When Yoongi graduated, and had to move away for university, Jimin was definitely in distress. He loved Yoongi, and so he initiated a breakup, wanting Yoongi to be able to ‘go on with his life without a burden’.

The elder refused to accept the breakup and was in constant denial. They argued bitterly, screamed at each other at the top of their lungs, and shed so much tears. Both of them didn't want to let the other go, but they couldn't communicate well enough.

“Jin-hyung, I’m just scared,” Jimin admitted shakily. It was easier for the younger to confide in Seokjin because he had been in a long distance relationship for a couple of years. “You understand, don’t you? The feeling of not being able to know what your partner’s up to. I have it ten times worse because I literally can’t see what he’s doing already!”

“You just need to talk to Yoongi, Jimin, talk!” Seokjin encouraged. He understood that long distance relationships were hard, even more so for the younger, but he tried to help patch things up. “Communication is really important, he loves you, so you don't need to be insecure about anything. As long as you continue to trust Yoongi, you guys will be fine.”

“Is it really that simple?” Jimin whimpered from under his blanket. Seokjin had spared some time during the weekend to make his way back home to visit the two individually. He hadn’t seen Yoongi this happy in a while, so he really wanted them to get back together.

The elder was honest with Jimin. “No,” he confessed, “It won’t be. But why stop trying? You need to fight for your own love.”

It wasn’t as easy for Seokjin to get to Yoongi.

Namjoon and Hoseok had tried to force themselves into his room, but they didn’t succeed. Seokjin tried too, but even then Yoongi wouldn’t let the eldest in.

He ended up kicking down Yoongi’s door and screaming since the weekend was almost up. “You fool. Yoongi, you're the world's biggest idiot, can you stop moping and go get your man back?!”

With the help of their friends (especially a raging Jin-hyung), the two ended up getting back together.

Love does grows with every hiccup along the way.

“This is such a huge bed, hyung!” Jimin exclaimed as he put his walking stick aside and started rolling around on Yoongi’s bed. Yoongi had brought Jimin over to the small apartment that he had rented, which was slightly nearer to his university. His first year in university hadn’t started yet, so he reckoned that he’d invite the younger over first. “Did my darling gain too much weight after the buffet we had yesterday?” Jimin teased impishly, crawling over to Yoongi to wrap his arms around him when he felt a certain area of the bed dip down slightly.

“Don’t be silly, a single bed would’ve been too squeezy for the both of us,” Yoongi replied, squishing the other’s cheeks in retaliation. “Would be hard to cuddle then.”

Jimin was going to have to get used to his future residence anyway.

“Huh? What does that mean?” Jimin cocked his head to the right, looking slightly confused.

“The best law school is near my current university. You work really hard, Minnie. I know you’ll be able to get in easily, so I decided to just invest in a queen sized bed,” Yoongi explained.

“Awww, hyung!” Jimin gushed, his cheeks tainted pink. “Are you asking me to move in with you already?”

Yoongi leaned in to place a kiss on Jimin’s nose. “You know.”

“I know, hyung.”

Despite how busy Yoongi was in university, he made sure to make an effort to constantly call the younger to make sure that he was doing fine in school. Jimin’s gotten addicted to being loved, after all, with Yoongi always spoiling him.

Both knew that Jimin’s insecurities would threaten to arise again at some points of time, seeing as Yoongi was rather popular in his new school (his old reputation had been left behind, thank goodness). But Jimin made an effort to speak to Yoongi before the monsters could take over completely. They wouldn’t be gone forever, but their love made those incidents rarer.

Taking into account Seokjin’s advice, both sides made an effort, and so their love continued to blossom as they supported one another emotionally and mentally.

It wasn’t long before Jimin graduated as well. It didn’t come as a surprise when his results had granted him a spot in the top 1% of his cohort, allowing him to pass with flying colors.

What came as a surprise though, was an offer given to him to participate in a risky experiment.

Scientists had pulled through, inventing a new technology that could fully return someone’s eyesight after they had lost it in an accident. It was still in a trial stage though, and it came with its own risks, but if it was successful, Jimin would be able to get his sight back. The younger had been one of the rare few that was selected.

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Taehyung had asked.

“I’m sure,” Jimin gave his friend a gentle smile. “I know I’ll still be taken care of even if things don’t go well.”

“What.” Yoongi responded apathetically to Jimin’s idea.

“I said, please bring me to a hair salon, Yoongi hyung!” Jimin repeated, mustering the cutest voice he could. “I want to dye my hair silver!”

“...No.”

“What!? Why?” Jimin cried out in shock. It had been a long time since Yoongi had actually said no to him.

“That means that your black fluffy hair will be gone forever! Why do you even want to dye it anyway, you’re already pretty as you are,” Yoongi tried to reason with the other. No way was Jimin going to get rid of his natural hair. Over his dead body.

Jimin snorted. “Don’t be dramatic, hyung. I can dye it black back in the future. If the experiment’s successful, my eyes won’t be dull in colour anymore.” Jimin’s face flushed a little in embarrassment. “But I want something to remind me of the colour. It’s one of the first things that you said to me was beautiful when we met, after all. So yes, silver!”

Reluctantly, Yoongi gives in and brings the younger to a hair salon, watching in tears as Jimin’s lovely, black hair became silver.

“Wow, you’re a grandpa now, Minnie,” was the first thing Yoongi said to the other when the hairstylist was done.

“Stop it, hyung, it’s silver, not grey!” Jimin exclaimed. He knew that the elder was just joking though. Yoongi couldn’t stop gushing over how lovely he looked after, completely forgetting about his natural hair color.

Jimin didn’t know that Yoongi had dyed his own hair silver to match with him too though, wanting to keep it a surprise.

The day of the surgery. Jimin was in a bout of jitters, and so were everyone else.

His mother had called, crying because she wasn’t able to leave work but reassured her baby boy that he would be fine, and that she would be there to see him as soon as she could. His friends had called, all taking time off to rush down from various parts of the country. And his lover had refused to let go of his hand the whole time before his surgery, even wanting to go in with him to the operating theatre. Yoongi was ultimately held back by Jungkook though.

Jimin was knocked out by the surgeons with general anesthesia once the operation started, so he didn’t have a grasp of time at all. But for Yoongi and his friends, time seemed to as if it could stretch on to an eternity.

When the doors of the operating theatre finally opened, everyone present stood up instantly and rushed over to the nurse that walked out of the room calmly.

“I understand that all of you want to see him, but I can only allow one to go in first,” she emphasized on the word. All held their breaths as she went on to explain. “The experiment was a success,” she beamed as everybody began cheering, “But the patient’s body hasn’t quite adjusted to his new surroundings yet. Which is why I can only allow one person in while we remove the bandages from his eyes.

The group of friends murmured amongst themselves. “I hope I’m not being too selfish, but I want to be the first to see him,” Yoongi declared after being initially silent.

His friends simply laughed at him, Hoseok patting his back. “Of course, hyung,” Taehyung chirped. “I’m sure that’s what Jimin wants too. But I’m gonna be the second person, okay?”

“Hey! I want to be the second!” Jungkook protested.

The two continued to bicker while Yoongi went into the operating theatre, chuckling to himself as he faintly heard Seokjin intervene and saying that he’d be the second if the two youngest continued to argue.

Jimin had been in darkness for a long time now. He had grown to be used to the absence of light. There were time when darkness made him feel lonely, but other times it had become his friend, providing him comfort.

Even though it had been unfortunate when the darkness had enveloped him, it did allow him to become so much closer to Taehyung and Jungkook. It allowed him to go to a school where Yoongi was in, allowed him to meet the elder. It gave Jimin chances to make more friends, to become who he was today.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t miss the light though.

When his bandages were finally removed, he opened his eyes slowly and carefully. There stood a man beside him, his beloved, with his silver undercut, his cat-like, sharp eyes, his button nose and his gummy smile gracing his face. 

“Hi, Minnie,” the man said gently as sunlight shone in through the window, and Jimin swore the other was almost glowing.

“Hi, Yoongi-hyung,” Jimin replied bashfully.

And at last, Jimin saw the light.