Work Text:
+
"Come over after school today?" Taehyung asks Jimin, swinging his schoolbag back and forth as they walk into the courtyard, leading them and their group of friends into school. "You could see Tan. He's doing well."
"Sure!" Jimin replies cheerfully despite it being a cloudy, gray morning in December. He smiles at several students who glance his way and earns himself hesitant smiles back.
They split up to prepare for class, go to class - nothing special happens, as usual - go to lunch with the guys, and then Jimin is headed to sciences.
This is when things start to take an interesting turn.
"Jimin?" his professor calls him back when the day is nearly over; there is only one class left. "Stay for a second?"
"Yeah, of course, sonsaeng-nim," he replies, a little confused. Was it a grade he got? Because he can't afford any bad grades at the moment. His stomach twists at the thought.
"Jimin-ah, I was wondering if you could help tutor Min Yoongi, a classmate of yours? He's struggling with the content we've been learning..." she explains, looking slightly apologetic. Jimin immediately relaxes, because thank god it doesn't have something to do with him. "...and in all the other classes, too."
"Yes," he agrees, thinking of the fellow student.
He admits that he doesn't know too much of the student, but he's definitely heard a lot; Min Yoongi used to be the jock of high school. He used to be athletic; he used to be looked-up to and liked. People used to envy him. His grades weren't too bad, either.
Jimin knows that Yoongi's two years older than him, but he shouldn't be surprised. He's been brought up two grades, so everyone in his classes is older than him. What else?
Jimin knows that Min Yoongi's changed.
He sees the elder with his head down, wearing his baggy sweatshirts and sweatpants-probably covering up his countless tattoos. Jimin has only gotten a few glimpses of his face. If he's not mistaken, Yoongi changes his hair color every once in a while... he thinks back the blinding tuff of grey hair he saw once under the other's hood a few weeks back, and then to the mint green hair. Rumor is that he has dark, reddish-brown hair now?
When he leaves the classroom to head to maths, he decides to confront Taehyung first, and then Yoongi.
"Hey, Tae? I can't come over today, sorry," he starts, and then explains the situation to his friend. Taehyung gets it; he always does. Jimin feels thankful.
And with a final "watch out, Jiminnie, he scares me", Jimin is off in search of Min Yoongi.
After asking around and looking for him without success, he jogs out - and sees Yoongi walking on the other side of the street, hands in his pockets and head down. As always.
He hesitates-he admits he's a little bit scared. Jimin scolds himself for being such a coward.
But he doesn't want to yell out for him, so he runs up to him.
"Hey! Hey - can you wait a moment?" he asks, a little out of breath, jogging up to Yoongi, who seems to not notice him.
Jimin searches the elder's face-nothing much. Even his expression doesn't show anything.
"I'm Park Jimin, and I gotta tutor you."
The other doesn't respond, but when he realizes that Jimin isn't going to go away, he shakes the earbuds out of his ears and mutters, "and?"
"And... um, that's it," Jimin says dumbly.
Yoongi rubs his temples. "Sorry, what is it? Oh, right - Jimin. Sorry, Jimin, I don't need help."
Jimin is taken back by shock. The man is rude, that's one thing he now knows about Yoongi.
"Okay, then," he says, dumbfounded, and turns the other direction with his tail tucked between his legs.
+
In class, Jimin can't focus. He's not able to focus - lately, all his attention is directed right towards Yoongi, who's sleeping in the corner of the room like he does every day.
These few days, Jimin starts to notice things about the elder, like the way he shows little to no reaction to his grades and assignments but scrunches up his nose in that way of his every time he encounters the smallest obstacle, how he's always the first one to leave class despite always dozing off.
Strangely, Jimin feels the need to confront the male again, even though he was the one Yoongi was rude to. So he does, at exactly the same time and same day the next week.
"Hello? It's me again," Jimin greets once he scrambled up to the elder after the last class, not letting his smile slip off his face. "Can you come home with me today, for tutoring?"
"Fuck off."
The words hit him harshly like a slap to the face, but Jimin tries to get over the shock.
"Uhm, no," Jimin says firmly even though his voice wobbles dangerously. "You need tutoring."
Yoongi's eyes dart to him even though his face doesn't move and he keeps walking. He seems to be thinking about it.
He is thinking about it because he mutters a "you aren't going to leave me alone, aren't you" nearly a minute later.
"As I said, you need tutoring," Jimin supplies, looking hopeful.
Yoongi shuffles a little and grunts: "no."
"That's not a valid answer."
"...fine, whatever."
"That's great," Jimin grins. "My car is that way, meet me there in two minutes!"
Then he runs to his locker and puts his stuff away real fast. He's the first one to reach his car and has to wait five minutes for Yoongi.
Jimin smiles and opens the car door for Yoongi, who steps in with a sigh.
+
Why is Jimin being so nice to him? No one's ever nice to him.
Anymore.
This is extremely sketchy.
Yoongi narrows his eyes at Jimin in the car, body tense and ready to run out. But Jimin seems nice.
That doesn't mean he should relax.
Jimin plays music to fill in the silence between them, and in a few minutes, they are at his house.
In silence, they walk to the entrance and Yoongi watches Jimin fumble with the keys.
Y'know what? He could be doing something else right now. This is giving him fuckin' anxiety.
But Jimin is leading him inside, and he follows him inside. What else could he have done?
Yoongi nearly jumps when an elderly woman approaches them from what looks like the kitchen.
"Hello, Jimin-ah, oh, you've brought a friend!" she smiles, grasping Yoongi's hand. "Come inside!"
Yoongi feels slightly awkward, but he keeps on a stoic, rather hard expressionless face.
"That's my mom," Jimin smiles when they're upstairs. "Sorry about that, it's kinda embarrassing sometimes."
Yoongi doesn't say anything.
Break the silence, Jimin thinks. And so he tries to.
"First - sit!" he motions to the bed, and Yoongi stiffly sits on the very edge.
"Well, okay. Um... what do you want to start with first?"
"What do you mean?" Yoongi replies, sounding bored.
This is the most Yoongi's said to him ever, so Jimin is elated.
"Uhh... tutoring, I guess," Jimin says, scratching his neck. He's never really felt this awkward with anyone else - why is he so damn awkward?
"Oh," Yoongi says. "I don't know."
"Well, we could start with science. Did you bring your notebook or anything?"
"No," Yoongi says simply.
"It's okay, I've got mine."
Jimin flips the pages until he reaches the pages they've been reading recently. "Okay, so where do you need help on?"
Yoongi looks at the pages, pauses. He looks a little confused.
"I thought we were on page 200 or something?" he asks.
"No, 369?" Jimin replies, saying it like a question.
"Oh."
It's silent for a second, and then Jimin continues. "Anyway, do you know any of this?"
Yoongi doesn't even spare a glance at the book Jimin is holding. "Nope."
"Well, here - what do you remember about page 200?"
Yoongi takes a second to remember. "I didn't really get it."
Jimin is surprised; they read page 200 about two months ago, and it was easy. He feels uncomfortable, and can't control himself. He blurts: "do you even care about science, then?"
He adds: "No offense, sorry, you don't need to answer that. In fact, completely disregard that. Sorry. I'll help you."
Yoongi doesn't look at him. Instead, he picks at his fingers. But a few seconds later, he can't seem to stop himself either.
"No, I don't give a fuck about sciences or any other subject. And like I said, I don't fucking need help."
More intimidated than ever, Jimin can't stop himself from blurting out-
"Then...what do you care about?"
Yoongi hesitates. "Why should I tell you?"
Jimin's eyes widen. This isn't going well.
"I mean, I don't really have anything to talk about, so..." he forces a chuckle.
Jimin doesn't like him anymore.
This is the first thing Yoongi thinks and inside, he slightly completely and utterly freaks out in the inside.
This is the person in a year to try to talk to him, and he's gotten rid of that chance. Well done, Yoongi.
So before he can stop himself, he blurts out: "Rapper."
"What?"
"I wanna be a rapper."
Yoongi knows he shouldn't have said that the second it left his mouth. Nothing he says is beneficial to him. Jimin widens his eyes, and Yoongi internally cringes. He waits for the worst...
"Really? That's so cool; I wanted to be a singer in the future!"
Yoongi's genuinely shocked, and suddenly it seems to Jimin that even though his expression doesn't change the awkward atmosphere around them earlier is somewhat gone.
Now, he wants to tell Jimin everything - how he's already technically an underground rapper, about his part-time job, about everything.
But, don't trust strangers.
"And now you don't?" Yoongi inquired, not able to stop himself from talking.
Jimin sighed, running his hands through his hair. "It's complicated. I still kind of want to, but school's a lot more important."
Raising his eyebrows, Yoongi asks, "not for me."
"That's kinda clear," Jimin replies, suddenly smiling slightly. "Ahh, let's start working - look at the time."
A few hours later, Jimin is more confused than he was at first. Half because of reviewing too much, and half because Min Yoongi is confusing.
"Hey, wanna come over tomorrow? We could finish this chapter."
Yoongi hesitates again, but nothing he does seem as cold anymore.
"Sure."
Jimin grins, and the grin stays there even as he left.
That wasn't so hard after all, right? Yoongi can imagine his mother smiling, and he thinks "yeah, that wasn't."
And he walks those two miles back to the shed with a lighter-a little lighter, mind you-heart.
+
The alarm under the hay in the shed suddenly beeps, the sound muffled by the hay but still audible, and Yoongi groans. ten, nine, eight, seven, six... he counts in his head, and when he reaches one, he forces himself to sit up. He stretches and stands up and gets ready to change for the day ahead.
"Ah, fuck," he says calmly when he sees that he has only two sets of clean clothing left, shrugging his hood on to cover his white-blonde hair.
Yoongi curses when he sees the alarm - he's going to be late again. School starts in eight minutes, and it takes at least ten to run to school. Hell, he doesn't even have the energy to run to school. He needs a cup for coffee.
He just prays to God that his father doesn't see him through his window. If he did, then he won't be able to make it into school today without a broken bone. Literally.
didn't I tell you to leave? he can imagine his father snarling, and Yoongi shudders. But the thought leaves him when a car pulls up next to him. The window slides down, and Yoongi squints at the window. He didn't put his contacts in today.
But it's Jimin voice that is carried out of the car. For a second Yoongi's relieved it isn't Jae-Hwa and his friends again, but then he thinks, what are the chances?
"Hey hyung, want a ride?" Jimin grins. Yoongi's heart does a backflip, attacked by the hyung part. Next to him in the drivers' seat sits one of his friends. Jimin reads his thoughts and adds, "oh, this is Hoseok."
Hoseok doesn't look like he wants to meet Yoongi (he isn't surprised, most people at school know of his reputation), but he gives a half-hearted wave and shivers. Nudging Jimin, he mumbles, "can we go already?"
Jimin glares at him, then turns back to Yoongi.
"I'm waiting," he jokes.
Yoongi thinks better of this and weighs out the pros and cons.
Pros: he can get to school on time. There's a heater in the car.
Cons: this might all be a joke, and if it is, (it probably is), then he'll have to try extra hard to look nonchalant, and he doesn't want all this trouble.
But he can trust Jimin, right?
No, probably not. He's only known Jimin for one day. Do not trust strangers.
"I'm good," he replies, and maybe he's imagining this, but Jimin looks a little disappointed.
"Okay," Jimin smiles, and they go on with their lives.
+
Yoongi's late to school, again.
The secretary hands him the slip of paper, Yoongi's headed to class - but at least he won't have the face his former friends.
He slips inside, ignoring the snickers and glances that come his way. He catches Jimin's interested look, and he returns a bored, uncaring expression.
And here he goes again.
Yoongi sets his head down on the desk and returns to his sleep.
Once during the first part of the school day does Jimin walk towards him, but when he sees Jae-Hwa and his gang coming, too, he runs.
+
Jimin's still kind to him, for some odd reason. It's as if nothing happened; as if he had never turned down his offer earlier this morning.
They get closer. Jimin digs way deep and finds a kinder, softer version of Yoongi underneath the cold, and he likes what he finds. He learns that none of the rumors are true - Yoongi-hyung isn't an assassin, or a spy, or a part of a gang, although he certainly has a bad boy image. He visits Yoongi at work, both at Wawa and underground, and he cheers him on.
"YoonMin" is what everyone calls them. They're opposites - sun and moon - but become inseparable.
Yoongi cannot believe Jimin, and his mother - he can't believe they welcomed Yoongi into their lives despite what they've heard about him. They're like no one he's ever met.
The elder's also learned a lot about Jimin. Jimin sings to him, sometimes, and Yoongi understands why his mother doesn't stop pushing him to get out of his shell to sing. He made Jimin promise him to sign up for a singing group.
Yoongi's grades have gone up a decent amount, and he's met the "squad". Although he constantly looks grumpy about having to participate in their Friday Night Outings and their sleepovers and everything - they all know he secretly enjoys their company.
Yoongi doesn't necessarily need tutoring anymore but joins Jimin afterschool every day nonetheless.
+
Three classes left. Only three, and sixteen - no, fifteen minutes left of lunch in the corner of the courtyard.
Yes - even though he's technically a part of the "squad", he prefers to stay alone - and eat alone. Because who wants his company?
Yoongi sighs heavily and tries to shrink away when a group of people walks by. He waits for them to go away.
But they don't. This is a first.
Yoongi pauses the song on his phone.
The one closest to him slides over to sit next to him, the others following - and Yoongi identifies the smell.
He smells of pine. Of mint. It's very familiar.
He curses internally because of course, it has to be Jung fucking Jae-Hwa.
Yoongi brings his face up to eye him with those cat-eyes of his and waits for them to leave.
Jae-Hwa looks like he's going to say something, but instead, he delivers a blow to Yoongi's shoulder.
Yoongi crumbles a little but collects himself. He gets rid of the pain on his face quickly.
He's gotten hit by a car, once, while walking home one day - injured his shoulder. Never fully healed.
Jae-Hwa and the others chuckle. "No lunch? I'm not surprised. Fuckin' poor."
Yoongi's blood is boiling, but he says nothing. He gets up and tries to walk away, but he doesn't get far before one of Jae-Hwa's rip his earbuds apart from him. It takes his phone, too. And Yoongi worked hard for that phone. He bends down to pick it up, but the other's foot kicks it away from him.
i'm not like this anymore i'm not like this anymore imnotlikethisanymore he chants to himself. No fighting. He promised his mother.
Yoongi reaches out for his foot, and his arm, it gets kicked, too and he's angry and he sees his phone get kicked down the drain and something snaps inside of him.
He swings his arm - and it connects with the other's face, causing him to lose his balance and cradle his jaw in pain. Yoongi is satisfied, but that satisfaction disappears when he sees the others coming towards him. He can take them on, but he would get expelled.
It's tempting, but he promised his mother that he would stay in school.
He runs, but suddenly - he crashes into warm arms.
"Wha-?" he gasps, out of breath, when he sees that it is Jimin that catches him.
What a fucking coincidence. Yoongi wants to laugh, but he now feels the pain of the kicks on his body settle in.
He's dimly aware of what's happening, but he can see Jimin stepping in front of him, protecting him.
Yoongi doesn't need protecting; doesn't need Jimin to get involved. But he can't get himself to stand up.
"Stop!" Jimin commands, spreading his arms out wide to stop Jae-Hwa.
Jae-Hwa listens to Jimin, surprisingly.
"As you say," he says slyly, surprising everyone and stalking off. Jimin ignores him and bends down to face Yoongi.
"You alright?" Jimin worries, concern etched all over his face. Yoongi wants to smooth them out, like bedsheets or crumpled paper.
All he does is grunt. He's embarrassed. This happened in front of Jimin.
Jimin bends down lower, and their faces are inches apart. Yoongi's breath hitches, but he says softly but harshly:
"You can leave now."
Jimin's eyebrows shoot up. "And leave you alone?"
His friends and some other people linger after lunch is over. All are eyeing him carefully.
"I'll leave," he replies simply. That's right.
It's time to leave.
Jimin doesn't understand. But of course; Yoongi doesn't blame him. No one does.
"For home?" No. "You can't just leave."
I will.
Jimin grabs his elbow, steering him inside. He waves off his friends, and they walk all the way over to the nurse's office.
That's when Yoongi starts to panic.
"No-not the nurse," he says firmly. "I'm fine."
Jimin considers this, then says, "Okay. I'll bring you home. I'm a part of student government; 'll tell them that you can't drive yourself, which is kind of true."
"That's a lie," Yoongi protests. "I'll be fine."
But he can't change Jimin's mind. Jimin seems to be the only person that can control his every move. It's not fair.
Eventually, they make it into his car again, and then Yoongi relaxes. The familiar scent of Jimin multiplies and spreads and surrounds him.
He starts to drift off, with nothing and everything on his mind, and then, before he knows it - they're at Jimin's.
He groans and rubs at his eyes. Jimin gives him a soft smile.
"I didn't want to wake you, and I don't know where you live, so."
Yoongi is fine with that, and they head inside together up the shiny front steps to the younger's porch.
Jimin's mother is more concerned than delighted, and Yoongi is reminded of his own mother greatly.
"Why are you home so early-oh!" she gasps when she sees Yoongi. "Yoongi-ah, right? What's wrong? Ice packs!"
"She knows my name?" mumbles Yoongi tiredly to Jimin when she disappears into the kitchen. But he doesn't know Jimin's mother is still listening.
"Of course, honey!" she chirps. "Jimin talks about you all the time!"
They both choose to ignore this, and she returns with ice packs and cookies and soup and everything Yoongi wanted ever from a mother.
"Here-" she shoves them at Jimin. "Take care of him. Emergency kit's in the bathroom if you need it."
Jimin shoots another apologetic smile at him and leads him into his room. They both sit gingerly on the couch, and Jimin sets the ice pack on Yoongi's wrist and shin. He looks very worried when he sees the wince Yoongi immediately tries to hide.
They're both quiet - then Jimin asks, "What's on your mind?"
This time, Yoongi doesn't try to stop himself.
"I'm leaving," he starts quietly. "Tomorrow, I guess - when else? Don't know where, don't know how, but I guess I'll just go. I'm just - no one cares for me here. I'm failing school, I'm flat broke - and I just need to leave.
"I'm tired of the shed, tired of sneaking in and out but I don't have any other choice and I'm not accepted anywhere. Y'know, Jimin-ah? My mother was murdered here, my brother left me stuck with my father, he's in another country now, and I don't know where, a-and my father-" the words come out like a flood, and suddenly,
Yoongi's crying.
He's tired of keeping up this image. He cannot force himself to have that toughness anymore...he just can't. He gives up.
He gives up.
Jimin's shocked at first, but he thinks to what his mother told him once: everyone's fighting some sort of battle, Jimin-ah.
And now he knows what she means.
"Yoongi-hyung," he says, "Yoongi-hyung. Come here."
And he welcomes Yoongi into his arms. He tries something new and kisses his temple.
Yoongi weeps; he breaks down; he's on the verge of a panic attack. But Jimin's there to wipe his tears away and to run his hand through his hair and sings sweet nothings into his ear - he always liked to sing people to sleep - and finally, when he presses another kiss to his sticky forehead, Yoongi's quiet.
"You can stay with me. Forever. It'll be okay."
Yoongi doesn't reply. He wants to thank him for the effort.
But he's unfixable.
When it seems like he's asleep; he's even tricked himself into believing he's unconcious, he whispers:
"Don't worry; I'll never forget you, even after I leave."
+
Jimin lends him everything he needs. He's fine with it.
The next day, they don't go to school, which is fine with Jimin's mother. And Jimin calls Yoongi's boss and convinces him to let him off for a little while.
Jimin acts like everything's fine, but it's not.
He needs to find a way to fix Yoongi up.
They go on a movie-marathon, starting with the Marvel ones and then with the Disney classics, and although Yoongi complains about it, they both know he enjoys it. Jimin starts giving the elder reassuring kisses to the cheek, to the forehead, to the nose - but never the lips. He doesn't want to push Yoongi into a relationship if he doesn't want one.
They're both fine with that, for now. Yoongi's mind is on other things.
They're in the middle of Snow White when Jimin catches him looking out the window longingly.
"Are you still planning on leaving?" Jimin asks softly, choosing his words carefully.
Yoongi nods. "No point in staying here, right?"
Jimin can't force him to do anything, but he can help steer him in the right decision. So like he says, he needs a new plan.
Later, that night, when Yoongi's buried in Jimin's chest, Jimin closes his eyes and thinks.
+
Jimin has a solid plan when he wakes up, he guesses. But the warmth that was with him in the bed last night isn't here; Yoongi's out of bed.
He thinks that he's just downstairs at first, probably making breakfast or something (although he never would've thought that Yoongi would be one to get up early to cook), but after fifteen minutes without any signs of movement or sound, Jimin's a little frantic.
He goes downstairs - then races upstairs again - his belongings are here, for sure - but where's Yoongi?
Gone; disappeared; vanished.
Not here.
Jimin throws on some clothes, not caring what he put on, and runs out, hair whipping in the wind.
And he comes back empty handed at two am the following day.
+
Cell phone rings, and Jimin picks up. He doesn't really care who it is, but he guesses, and guesses correctly. It's his mother.
"Out again?" she asks, concern lacing her voice.
Jimin agrees, and sighs. "I still can't find him."
"Are you sure he just left?"
"Maybe. The other night he was telling me-telling me that he wouldn't forget me if he left, I dunno," his voice cracks and he sits down on the edge of the sidewalk.
She seems at lost for words, but tells Jimin nonetheless: "don't give up. He'll come back one day."
That's what everyone's telling him, though.
+
Jimin assumes Yoongi's gone. Because school's almost over, and Yoongi still hasn't showed up. It's been two weeks and six days.
He's changed, both physically and mentally. He's no longer that scrawnly, short nice kid down the block; he's handsome, now - that's how the others put it. Handsome, but still short and still nice.
He's joined an after-school singing group, to keep his promise. But he still dreams of Yoongi coming back, although he doesn't expect it to happen anymore.
Jimin's friends has set him up on dates, but he's never found anyone that can even be compared to Min Yoongi's rough, closed-off, but sweet personality.
Jimin goes the end-of-school-year party with his friends. He's has a good time, more or less. It's fun. But it could be more.
"Jimin-hyung! Protect me!" Taehyung yells as he sprints past him with Jungkook following closely behind. He sighs half-jokingly, half-longingly. He wishes he had this energy; they've been going on with this chasing game for atleast an hour.
Seokjin and Namjoon are making out in the corner, Hoseok, and Tae and Jungkook and some other students are playing this old board game in the other room, and Jimin's getting more drinks for them in the other room, which is also quite crowded, when someone taps his shoulder.
Not knowing who it could be, he turns around, and his eyes widen. It's Jae-Hwa.
"Nice seeing you here," he smiles creepily.
"What do you want?" says Jimin with venom in his voice, and Jae-Hwa says, "feisty."
Jae-Hwa's grin widens and he asks: "Dance with me?"
"No. Is that all you wanted to say?" Jimin replies uncertainly, eyeing Jae-Hwa warily. But he's not done yet.
He grabs a fistful of Jimin's sweater and tries to pull him over to the dance floor but Jimin refuses and he pulls harder, harder -
and someone comes to save him, his unknown hero's fist connecting with Jae-Hwa's cheek.
Jae-Hwa's down, and when he raises his head again, his eyes widen. Jimin looks behind him to look at what Jae-Hwa was gaping at, too.
He finds a dirty, bruised, bleeding Yoongi standing before him, giving what he hopes is a hopeful smile.
"It's me."
Jimin's heart is pounding, and so is Yoongi's and spectators are holding their breaths and it's just like a movie as Jimin lets out a rather loud sob and stands on tip-toe and cups his cheeks before he can stop himself, not caring about the coat of dirt on the elder's pale cheeks and kisses him full on the lips.
It's forever and too short and sweet and full of need at the same time, and when he sets his heels down on the floor, again, there are hoots from the doorway.
They both turn around and see Jimin's friends and people from their grade and strangers and god-knows-who smiling at them. Hoseok shouts: "I knew it! I knew he'd come!"
There are a lot of "I told you"'s and a lot more smiling when Jimin pecks Yoongi's cheek and smooths his hair again.
Suddenly, everything's a lot more fun, a lot brighter, a lot better, with Yoongi. With Yoongi, who scowls and curses and acts grumpy and is depressed but inside is a sweet little baby and a lot more than what everyone thinks of him, and it's all perfect.
"You're explaining later," he whispers in Yoongi's ear later, when they both think no one's watching.
All Yoongi does is smile, and Jimin smiles back.