Chapter Text
Prologue
Rain. Heavy rain. That’s all Jimin could feel. Cold, heavy raindrops washing over his small figure. He curled up tighter against the wall, but with no roof over his head, his lethargic movement barely made any difference. It’s cold, he thought, his brain fuzzy from hunger and cold. Mom, Dad, it’s cold. Pick me up, please. I promise I’ll be a good boy this time. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please. Please…
“Hey.”
Please…
“I said, hey!”
Jimin jolted when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. In front of him was another little boy, looking equally shocked. While his clothes weren’t in good shape, they’re still much better than Jimin’s.
“W… what do you want?” Jimin crouched back, suspicious. Having lived on the streets for a good while now, he knew that no one with good intentions would pass by that dirty back alley.
The little boy just cocked his head slightly. “Are you alone?”
Jimin didn’t respond.
The boy turned around and called out, “Hyung!”
Another boy who was walking a few meters ahead with a broken umbrella stopped and turned. “What is it, Tae?” He walked back, sighing.
“I found this,” the little boy—Tae—pointed at Jimin, as if Jimin was a toy.
“It’s a person. Don’t refer to a person as ‘this’, it’s not polite,” the boy corrected him. It was clear that the boy was several years older, not only from his build but also his demeanor. He stared at Jimin. Uncomfortable, Jimin shied away.
“I found this person,” Tae corrected, sounding proud. “His teeth were going like this.” Tae chattered his own teeth to show the older boy.
“Of course, he must be cold. Hey, are you alone?”
Jimin didn’t reply.
“What’s your name?”
Jimin still didn’t reply.
“Hyung, maybe he can’t talk.”
Jimin frowned. He clearly replied to this boy before.
“Is that so?”
Jimin glared at them. He wasn’t going to be mocked for being someone he wasn’t.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” the older boy said, his tone softening upon realizing Jimin’s fear. “We’re alone, too.”
The older boy smiled at Jimin. His smile was sad but reassuring.
Jimin could feel the tension inside him loosening. “You… you’re not bad people?”
“Well, not necessarily.” The older boy kept his smile. “I’m Seokjin, and this is Taehyung, my little brother. What’s your name?”
“…Jimin.”
“Jimin? What a nice name,” Seokjin said. “Say, Jimin, if you’re alone, do you want to come with us?”
“Yes! Come with us! We have bread,” Taehyung grinned. Jimin’s stomach growled just from hearing him say the word “bread”. He hadn’t eaten anything that's not from the trash can for days, and bread sounded heavenly under those circumstances.
Seokjin chuckled. “You must be hungry. Come. It’s cold here. We don’t have much, but at least we have a roof over our head.” He extended his umbrella, sheltering Jimin from the rain. “What do you say?”
Please…
“I…”
“There they are!”
Seokjin and Taehyung turned their heads. “Shit, they’re here already?” Seokjin hissed under his breath. “Tae! Let’s go!”
“Come on!” Taehyung pulled Jimin.
“Wa—wait—”
In an instant, the three boys were running. Jimin didn’t know what he was running from; all he knew was that Taehyung’s hand was warm, and the sight of Seokjin’s back in front of him was somehow comforting. Without Jimin realizing, he was running on his own, without being pulled, and Taehyung and Seokjin were grinning at him, and he was grinning back at them.