I just spent WAY too much time trying to figure out what day it is in this fic.

... it's November 4, 2020 in case you were wondering... Thursday.

Also hehe Precious is at 777 reads atm hehe

It's just Jimin, Y/n and Namjoon on the bus on the way to the dance studio Hoseok works at. Taehyung went home and Jungkook had to go to a study group for school. Out of all of Jimin's friends, he's the youngest, and the only one that hasn't graduated yet. He's got a year and a half left before that.

Though technically, Jimin might have to retake senior year, since he almost died and then missed half of it.

Jimin sits in the middle between Y/n and Namjoon, his knee bouncing up and down like a jackhammer, his hand squeezing hers, smiling like an idiot.

Y/n lays her head on his shoulder and he calms down a bit, holding his leg still and letting go of her hand to wrap around her shoulders instead.

The dance studio they arrive at is called "Choom!" Jimin has to translate that for Y/n since she can't read the sign. It looks fairly nice from the outside, and when they walk in, the lobby is filled with the smell of lemons- probably some cleaning chemical.

"We're here to see Hoseok," Namjoon says to the lady at the front desk.

"Right this way," she says, bowing a little and gesturing to a set of stairs to her right. "He should be on his break right now. There are no classes until four."

Jimin squeezes Y/n's hand, his heart beating erratically in his chest. He's so excited to see Hoseok again. He's the only one that dances as well as Jimin does, and they often practiced together when Jimin could escape his house.

It was much more difficult to practice alone when he was in America. Hoseok FaceTimed him a couple of times to practice, but Jimin hardly had time to dance even on his own.

Namjoon leads the way up the stairs and into a large dance studio with warm wooden floors and a large mirror wall. Hoseok sits alone in the middle of the room, on the floor, stretching his legs while he looks down at his phone laying face up on the wood.

"Hoseok," Namjoon says. "Look who I brought."

Hoseok looks up, and the moment he sees Jimin, his bright smile makes an appearance on his shining face and he springs to his feet faster than lightning.

"Jiminah!" Hoseok cries, and Jimin dons another smile to rival the one on Hoseok's face. He runs toward his old friend and they meet in a fierce hug in the middle of the room, tumbling over onto the hardwood floor in a bundle of limbs.

Hoseok's laughter fills the air, and Jimin's joins with it quickly. He's so happy to see Hoseok again.

"I missed you so much!" Jimin says.

"I missed you more!" Hoseok replies. "I haven't found a dance partner like you since you left!"

"It's because I'm the best."

"Psh, you wish you were the best," Hoseok pinches Jimin's nose and then lets go of him, rolling over and sitting up on the floor. "I was so worried that you wouldn't make it!"

Jimin sits up and nods. "I'm here," he says. "It's been a while since I've danced though."

"You're going to need to stretch and exercise a lot before you can dance again, Jiminah," Hoseok says, looking Jimin up and down.

"I know," Jimin pouts. "I need to keep track of my weight."

"Your weight? No- actually you look a lot skinnier now. I mean that you were in a coma for months, so your muscles may not work the way they used to."

Jimin shrugs. His eyes travel up to Y/n, who's standing awkwardly by the door with Namjoon, a smile on her face. He beckons them over and then looks back at Hoseok.

"Wanna finally meet the love of my life?" He asks. Hoseok looks up and sees Y/n, and immediately jumps to his feet again. When Y/n is close enough, he throws his arms around her in a hug that startles her and makes her eyes go wide. She looks at Jimin, who laughs.

"He's just excited," Jimin says to her. "He's like that."

Y/n relaxes and Hoseok pulls away, hands on her shoulders, to examine her.

"Waaahh, so cute!" He says in English. Y/n laughs shyly, her smile now awkward and confused.

"Yes she is," Jimin says, sending her a wink. She blushes. He gets up and strides toward the two. "Isn't she beautiful?"

Hoseok lets go of Y/n's shoulders and nods. "I like her, she's adorable." He sends her another smile. "So she's the one you talked about so much while you were gone."

"Mhm," Jimin hums. "And I really love her."

"Waaahh Jiminah," Hoseok says, ruffling his hair. "You're in love, you're so grown up."

Jimin smiles and reaches for Y/n's hand.

"Y/n," he says. "This is Hoseok. He dances, if you couldn't already tell."

Y/n gives him a shy wave. "Hi," she says with a small voice. Jimin brings her arm around his waist and wraps his around her shoulders.

"He was excited to meet you," he says.

"Hello," Hoseok says, in a higher voice and a heavy accent. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Y/n says.

"Thank you," Hoseok says. "For taking care of Jimin."

Y/n smiles.

"When did you learn English?" Jimin asks.

"I practice," Hoseok says. "I can say hello, nice to meet you, thank you very much, and good bye!"

Jimin wonders if his accent was that pronounced when he first learned. Y/n's smile seems to brighten as Hoseok says that.

"Perfect," she says.

Namjoon walks over to meet them in the middle of the room, slipping his phone into his pocket.

"Alright, I've gotta go grocery shopping," he says, rubbing his hands together. "Y/n, are you coming or do you want to stay here and watch them dance?"

Y/n's eyes widen. "Right! Groceries." She looks at Jimin. "I'm gonna go with him since I'm contributing to like, half of what he buys," she says. "I'd love to stay and watch you, but I'm sure you want to practice first."

Jimin nods. "Okay," he says. She'll come back later, most likely. "Hey, before you go." He points to his lips. Y/n smiles and stands on her tippy toes to reach his face and plant a kiss on his mouth. Before she can turn around and walk away, Jimin cups her face and leans down to kiss her for longer.

If she's going to be gone for longer than five to ten minutes, he wants to give her lots of love before she goes.

He just feels like he needs to do that.

When he pulls away, he looks into her eyes, mesmerized by the way she looks at him. Her cheeks are pink, probably because the others are just awkwardly standing around and watching.

"Be safe," Jimin says. "Don't forget your mask. And text me when you're on your way back."

"Mmhmm," she hums. "Have fun here then, and be safe too," she says. "Love you."

Jimin lets go of her face and nudges her toward Namjoon. "Love you too!"

"Ugh, so sappy and gushy," Hoseok teases while the other two head out. "Keep the PDA on the down-low will ya?"

Jimin slaps Hoseok's arm with the back of his hand. "Suck it up," he says, grinning. "I've gone way too long without her."

"Anyway," Hoseok says, walking to the middle of the room again and sitting down on the floor. "Let's get you set up."

•••

Hoseok let Jimin borrow a pair of joggers comfortable enough to exercise in, and together, they stretched for about an hour. The stretching felt nice. Until they started warmups.

Jimin hates to admit it, but after like, fifteen minutes of doing simple exercises to get his blood running, he already felt weak and tired.

He figured he'd be fine. He could push through.

After warming up and practicing some basic dance routines for a few hours, Jimin finally catches a break. Y/n texted him and said she was on her way to Namjoon's apartment with the food, and when Jimin wondered what took them so long, she said they stopped by some other places on the way back for other necessities. She also said she was going to take a shower and clean up before coming back to see Jimin.

At four, a tiny class of little kids wearing fun colored face masks came in for some basic level dancing. Hoseok let Jimin watch, and when the kids practiced on their own, Jimin got to help them if they had any trouble.

Jimin remembers when he was that small and got into dancing. He didn't think his parents would let him, but they did, and it became one of his modes of escape when he needed it, as well as his deepest passion.

Actually, his deepest passion is reserved for Y/n. But before her, it was dancing.

After forty-five minutes, the kids' class ended and all of the students left.

Hoseok and Jimin rested, drank copious amounts of water, and stretched again before they got to working on harder routines. Hoseok kept pushing Jimin to take breaks and drink lots more water, and suggested that he just go home after a while because spending all day exercising might put too much stress on his body.

Jimin doesn't want to go home. He wants to stay here and get into the old dance routines that were his favorite before the coma.

Hoseok doesn't let him. He makes sure Jimin doesn't go past a certain difficulty. He says that if he tries to do something too hard, even if he's done it before, his body might not comply and it'll lower his confidence.

Sure, that makes sense. But Jimin is certain that it'll be just like getting back on a bike. Like muscle memory. He knows he can do it.

So, naturally, when Hoseok has to go home, and Jimin is left alone in the dance studio for a while, he tries it.

He picks a song on the studio's MP3 player that he knows pretty well, and walks to the middle of the room, falling into position almost naturally.

It feels a little awkward, because it's been a while, but standing like this, breathing, waiting for the song to play... it feels like home. And Jimin missed it.

Thirty minutes.

That's all it takes for him to grow pissed.

Thirty minutes of vigorously starting the song over and over- he eventually just left it on loop- was all it took for him to find out that Hoseok was right.

Jimin can flow through most of the routine fairly well. However, when he gets to one part right in the middle, when the second chorus begins, he is supposed to jump, spin, land gracefully on his feet, and flow swiftly into the next move.

And he can't do it.

The first time, he thought it was just a simple mistake. So he restarted the song and went through the whole beginning again, and when he got to that one part again, he failed yet again.

The jump was easy. The spin made him dizzy. When he landed, he rolled his ankle and fell to the floor.

Every time. Every. Single. Time.

As he started over again and again and again, his frustration made it difficult to focus, and he found himself faltering in other steps. Failing faster and sooner after each and every replay, even during parts he had clearly nailed minutes before.

Thirty minutes passed and he was pissed. Fifteen more flew by and he still couldn't get it right.

Ten more minutes, and this time when he collapses, he doesn't get up.

Jimin stares at the ceiling. Calm down. He thinks, panting. I need to calm down. He should practice the move a couple of times and then build it into the choreography.

So that's what he does. He breathes heavily on the floor for a moment, his ankle sore from rolling to the side too many times, before he stands up and starts again.

Jimin pauses the music and flows through the move slowly, working through the mechanics of it before trying again a little faster. He does it again and again, still a little frustrated, and after another twenty minutes, he manages to get it right.

Jimin does a little happy dance as he makes his way across the floor to the MP3 player to start the song again.

He runs it through, completely prepared for the tricky part, and when it comes, he jumps...

He spins...

He lands.

On his knees.

Jimin yells and slams his fist on the floor, so frustrated that he can't get it right. And before he can comprehend what's happening, tears are streaming down his face.

He used to be able to run this through perfectly. It was easy. It was one of his favorite choreographies to dance to. It was nowhere near hard to learn, and he never had so much trouble with that particular move- even when he first learned it.

So what is happening to him? Why can't he do it?

Jimin buries his head between his knees, wraps his arms around his legs, and sobs.

If he can't dance, what can he do? Dancing is the one thing he has always been good at, and now he can't complete a routine that used to be so simple to him.

Jimin hears a sack drop on the floor next to him and before he can lift his head up to see who it is, a pair of warm arms wraps around his shoulders.

Jimin knows it's Y/n simply by the warmth of her arms and the way she breathes.

"How-how long have you been here?" He asks, sniffling and wiping his face on his sleeve before lifting his chin and meeting her eyes.

"For like, fifteen minutes," Y/n says. "Thought I'd watch you for a bit before coming in. I did text you."

Jimin sniffles and buries his face in his knees again.

"What's wrong?" Y/n asks. "You only let yourself get like this when you're alone."

Jimin wonders if she is implying something deeper.

He looks up at her face, at her eyes. Those pretty eyes that make him feel so happy, so warm and in love.

"It's stupid," Jimin says.

"It's not."

"It's just this dumb choreography," Jimin says. "I can't get it right."

"It's alright, Chim, you haven't danced for like, almost a year," Y/n says. "It's not like you all of a sudden suck at dancing. You've been at it all day. You need a break."

She's not wrong.

But Jimin doesn't want to take a break. He doesn't want to go home until he gets it right.

"I brought food," Y/n says. She picks up the sack and scoots away from Jimin so she can set it down between them. Inside is a bunch of Tupperware filled with different foods. The clear lids are fogged over from the steam, meaning the food is still warm.

Yum, but Jimin already ate a lot today, when they saw Jungkook again, and he couldn't get rid of it afterward- though the exercise probably worked it off anyway.

"I'm not that hungry," Jimin says.

"Namjoon said he isn't the best cook, and I definitely don't know how to make this stuff, so if it tastes weird, it's not my fault," Y/n says, eyeing Jimin warily but choosing to ignore his statement completely. She begins setting up the Tupperware between them and opening the lids. Steam billows out of each one, warm, yummy smells wafting out underneath Jimin's nose.

"Y/n," Jimin mumbles, doing his best not to give in to his craving. He's starving. He wants the food. But he can't have it. "I'm really tired, and I want to get the dance right at least once before we go home."

Y/n meets his gaze and wordlessly hands him a pair of chopsticks. She looks exhausted. He feels exhausted.

When Jimin doesn't take the chopsticks, Y/n opens his hand, presses them into his palm, and curls his fingers around them, never once breaking eye contact.

Jimin stares back, almost scared to protest. There is a primal challenge in Y/n's eyes, as if she's daring him to refuse again.

She isn't going to let him move an inch if he doesn't eat his food.

Yet she doesn't say anything. She doesn't say it's okay, she doesn't say he can just eat later, she doesn't ask him why he doesn't want to eat, or mention anything about his constant weight-watching.

She already knows. She's just waiting for him to tell her himself. She's waiting to catch him in the act.

That's why Taehyung came to find Jimin in the bathroom at the restaurant so soon after he left the table.

She's so close, and Jimin is scared of that.

He tears his gaze away from hers and looks at the food, which makes his mouth water just by looking at it.

It's to make her happy. If Jimin can forget about all the other stuff he usually thinks about when he eats, if he just doesn't think about his weight, it'll be easier.

He'll eat because if he doesn't, Y/n might actually cry. He can see it in the way her nose twitches, turning pink, and the way her hands shake, clasped tightly around her own utensils.

Jimin lowers his chopsticks slowly and picks up a bit of rice, then leans down and puts it in his mouth.

Whatever Y/n said about it not tasting great is not true. It could just be because Jimin doesn't eat that much anymore and his tastebuds will accept anything at this point, but it's the best rice he's tasted, like, ever.

Which is weird, because white rice is kind of bland.

"Mmm," he hums, looking back up at Y/n.

Her entire suspicious and warning demeanor dissolves, as if the prior exchange hadn't happened, and a smile breaks onto her face. She takes a bite of food herself.

"See?" She asks. "It's not the best, but it can't be that bad."

She says it as if her worries were all about the taste and not his eating issues. He's sure she's only playing that card because she's waiting for him to tell her himself. She is the type that waits, until she has her evidence.

Like when she confronted him about Sharon. The amount of evidence she had to back up her accusation was enough for Jimin to believe he could trust her and tell her everything.

Only this time, this isn't about trust. He already trusts her.

It's more than that.

"It is the best," Jimin says. He beckons her forward, and when she leans close, he kisses her swiftly and then picks up some more rice. "Thank you for bringing this."

Y/n reaches forward and swipes her thumb under each of his eyes, which are still wet from his tears.

"Food usually tastes better after you've cried," she says, dismissing his compliment.

Y/n's phone buzzes on the ground next to her leg and she picks it up and looks at it.

"Ah," she says. "It's Namjoon."

She holds her phone up. "Smile," she says. Jimin smiles and holds up his chopsticks, and Y/n takes a picture and lowers her phone.

"You're cute," she mutters, sending the picture. Jimin picks up one of the food containers and holds it under his chin so he doesn't drip anything on the floor.

"What did he want?"

"He wanted to make sure I got here safely," Y/n says, putting her phone away.

"Did you come by yourself?"

"Yeah, it's not that far."

"Namjoon didn't offer to come with you?"

"He was in the shower. I left him a note."

Jimin frowns. "Don't do that," he says. "Don't go anywhere alone. What if something bad happened to you?"

"I made it just fine. The bus stop is like, not that far from here, so it's not like I walked far."

Jimin puts his chopsticks down and cups Y/n's face, lifting her head up so he can look her in the eye.

"Yes, but we're in a busy city," Jimin says, "it's dark outside, and you are very pretty. I'd feel much better if you didn't go anywhere alone like that."

Y/n stares back at Jimin, lips pursed, eyes innocent and shiny.

"Okay," she says quietly. "I won't."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Jimin lets go of her face after giving her a kiss and returns to his food. "Thank you for bringing this."

"Of course," she says. "You've been here all day. You don't seem as tired as I thought you'd be. Anyway. How was your day with Hoseok?"

•••

When Y/n and Jimin finish their food, he helps her put all the Tupperware back in the sack before he gets up and brushes himself off.

"I want to stay here until I finally get it," Jimin says. "Are you gonna stay here or do you want to call Namjoon and go back home?"

"I wanna watch you," Y/n says, standing up after him. "Besides, I wouldn't make Namjoon come all the way over here just to ride the bus back home with me." She picks up the sack and carries it to the edge of the room.

"Okay," Jimin says. "It might get boring though." He heads back to the speaker on the opposite side of the room to turn the music back on.

"It won't get boring," Y/n says. "I think I'll enjoy this."

"Watching me suffer?"

"No," Y/n says. "Whatever you were doing earlier looked great. Which is impressive, because of how long it's been for you."

"I'm not as good as I want to be," Jimin says. "It's an easy dance. But I can't get this one move right."

"I know why," Y/n says. She strides across the room to where Jimin is, ignoring his raised eyebrows. What does she mean? She stands in front of him and stands on her tippy toes, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to bring him down to her level.

She kisses him right on the mouth, one hand sliding up his neck and into his hair. When she pulls away, she gives him a smile that makes his insides feel warm.

"I think that's what you're missing."

Jimin smiles back and kisses her again, hands curling around her waist.

"You know what? I think you're right."

"Alrighty then, dancer," Y/n says, backing away. "Show me your moves."

Jimin lets go of her hands and walks to the middle of the room again to run through the move slowly. He feels a little awkward at first, with Y/n watching, but after a minute or two, the awkwardness goes away. It's just Y/n. She'd never judge him.

After several minutes of practicing the move, he stops, panting, and looks at Y/n.

"Can you play the song on that thing?" He asks, nodding to the MP3 player. "From the beginning?"

Y/n picks it up and plays the song. Jimin flows through the moves, just as flawlessly as before, and once again, as the chorus approaches, he prepares to do the dance move.

Perfectly this time. He thinks. This time I'll get it.

Besides, Y/n is watching. She gave him a kiss for good luck. He has to show her how good he is at-

Jimin's foot hits the ground too fast and hard and he stubs his toe. He falls to the ground, knees rubbing painfully against the wooden floor through his joggers, and he freezes.

Then he slumps, head between his knees, and heaves a sigh. Don't cry don't cry don't cry.

The music stops once again. Jimin hears Y/n's footsteps as she nears. She sits down next to him and wraps an arm around his back.

"That was so good," she says. "I don't know much about dancing but you clearly have a talent for it."

Jimin shakes his head, still between his knees.

"I still can't do it."

"It looked fine to me."

"I think you forgot the part where I fell."

"You did it perfectly earlier," she says. "Before you mixed it in."

"Yeah but I can't mix it in. I've tried so many frickin times and I keep failing."

"Okay, I mean, to be fair, you just woke up from a-"

"It doesn't matter. I can't do it."

"Because you're out of practice."

"It's an easy choreography."

"Teach it to me."

Jimin lifts his head up and looks at Y/n.

"What?"

"You said it's easy. Teach it to me then."

"When I say easy..."

"Is it not easy then?"

Jimin frowns. "It... takes some skill."

"Right. People who dance with higher skills tend to have a lot more strength built into their bodies. You've been asleep for a year. You just need to build strength again, and you'll get better." Y/n places her chin on his shoulder and looks up into his eyes.

"It'll also help if you eat more."

Jimin purses his lips.

"I'm serious," she says, standing up. "Teach it to me. Worst case scenario, I make a fool of myself- which is probably what will happen. Maybe teaching it to me will help you somehow."

"Are you sure?" Jimin asks. "It's pretty late, are you sure you don't want to go to sleep or something?"

"I'm not going to sleep until you come home with me, and if you won't leave until you get it right, then I'm gonna stay and help you as best I can."

Jimin blinks, contemplating Y/n's answer.

"What did I ever do to deserve you?" He asks.

"You love me better than anyone else. Now come on." Y/n holds her hand out for Jimin to help him up. "How hard can it be?"

See, I told you I wouldn't be too long *finger guns*

I meant to edit and publish this yesterday but I had the aisle seat on both of my plane rides and I felt awkward in the open like that (as if anyone would peek over my shoulder and read my stuff like a creep). Anyway, when I got home, I was exhausted, so I just went to sleep (it was the BEST sleep I've had all week).

I don't have a plan for the next chapter yet, but I'll think one up as soon as I can!

Have a good day/night!<3

-L