Yeesh sorry I took so long (again). I knew what I wanted to write in this chapter but I didn't know how I wanted to write it. Also school is coming up next week for me :/

Y/n

Jimin agreed to teach you the choreography he had so much trouble with, and you noticed that with every time you copied him, his confidence rose. That would most likely be because you look like a moose on two legs when you dance.

Within the hour, he finally completed the whole thing perfectly.

What frustrates you though, is how far he pushed himself to get there. Clearly he passed his limits a while ago and was running on pure willpower.

You yourself were winded within minutes. You don't understand how a person could have the energy to dance as much as Jimin does. The only reason you didn't call time out and sit out for the rest of the time was because you wanted to help him learn it as fast as possible so you could go home and go to bed. It's a good workout though, and one you clearly needed.

If you got that tired that fast, how was he able to do it all day? You're sure that he's used to dancing like this for hours on end, committing to vigorous practice until everything is perfect, but as of right now, he shouldn't be able to. Not if this is his first time dancing after the coma.

And with how little he eats...

You won't be surprised if he wakes up in the morning with the sorest muscles he's ever had. You just hope he doesn't get sick again.

He kept dozing off on the bus back to Namjoon's apartment, his head lolling this way and that every few moments before he woke up again to remember where he was.

And now, at the apartment, around ten minutes past nine, you sit in the living room while Jimin sleeps away in bed down the hall.

You aren't tired enough to fall asleep. You have nothing to do and definitely won't wake Jimin up, so here you are on the couch to enjoy some peace and quiet for as long as it lasts.

Namjoon said he has to get up early tomorrow morning, so he went to bed early, but he let you have the TV to yourself as long as you kept the volume down (thin walls).

The world feels a million miles away to you now. You're in someone else's home, all alone in the dark, sitting on the couch, watching your comfort show with the volume down so low you almost can't hear it.

But it feels good, in a way. It feels calm. It feels peaceful. You feel like there should be something wrong. No, something definitely isn't right. But that's buried beneath your desire for comfort. You choose to ignore whatever anxious feelings brew in your chest.

You don't feel happy or content though. Not exactly. You sit on the couch in the quiet, eerily calm. You are dormant. Asleep, but perfectly awake. Unaware.

It is like this for hours. Time doesn't pass by way too fast, as it usually does, nor is it too slow. This is one of those instances where time passes exactly as it should. The seconds that tick on don't make you anxious for more or for less. The reaching minutes don't guilt trip you into trying to sleep. The hours flow the way they should, right in front of your eyes where you can see and feel everything that you do.

You hear the faint noises of cars and sirens out the living room window, on the other side of sheer, brown curtains. You see the red light of the smoke alarm on the ceiling out of the corner of your eye, blinking periodically, endlessly. You glance at the stove in Namjoon's kitchen occasionally to read the time displayed in bright blue.

1:55

Your own tiredness makes your vision blurry, and the light of the numbers on the stove bleeds into the darkness around it, reaching past the confines of the little screen it is trapped in.

1:56

You are so focused in the scenery around you that you almost miss the sound of a door opening and closing down the hall, meaning someone is awake.

The sound of quiet footsteps padding on the hallway carpet, accompanied by a dragging- like a blanket trailing on the ground- grows nearer and nearer until you see Jimin's figure appear at the end of the hall.

You turn your head away from the TV to look at him. He is clad in a pair of basketball shorts and a white T-shirt that goes down to his thighs. He has the duvet from the guest room wrapped around him, so bunched up at the top that it mounds over his shoulders like a football player's shoulder pads. The rest of it reaches the ground just barely, only a corner of the blanket dragging behind him.

His hair was wet when he went to sleep, because he took a shower, and now it is dry and pushed up on one side because of the pillow. It's adorable, and you're not sure why it doesn't make you giggle.

He stops at the end of the hallway when he sees you, then wordlessly starts toward you. His feet make soft sounds as they pad against the kitchen tiles before they reach the living room carpet, echoing around the room just a bit louder than you think is normal.

Being tired tends to heighten your senses like that.

Jimin plops down on the couch cushion next to yours, jostling you a bit, and watches the TV for a brief moment to see what show it is. Then he turns his body to the side so he's facing you, sitting crisscross on the couch to your left.

"You haven't changed." His voice is quiet, and a little rough.

You turn your head to look at him, eyebrows raised, and let out a quiet, "huh?"

"Your clothes. You're still in jeans."

You glance down at what you're wearing.

"Oh. Yeah."

"Are you okay?"

"Hm? Yeah."

Jimin frowns, a million thoughts running through his mind. Are you mad? Did he do something wrong? Did he slip up or something?

"It's late," he murmurs.

"Mhm," you hum.

"It's cold without you."

"Oh." Once again. He's always cold. You wonder why that is.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jimin asks, growing anxious to receive something other than a short answer.

You shake your head.

The silence drags one long moment to its full length, almost suffocating Jimin. You can tell by the way he shifts nervously in his spot.

You don't mean to make him anxious. You're not really sure what's up with you either.

You just... want... quiet.

Jimin leans forward and opens up his blanket, then reaches around you to close you into it's warmth, his hand resting on your shoulder.

The blanket is warm, but he isn't.

His skin is pale white and ice cold.

He never eats or drinks anything.

He's the same, yet so, so different.

You curl up against him, the cold seeping into your own skin, and press your ear against his chest.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heartbeat is slow and steady, and comforting.

He folds his arms over you and pulls you closer to him.

After a few moments during which you sit in silence, listening to his heartbeat, you finally sit up and look into his eyes.

And then you remember.

"You told me at the restaurant that you would explain what happened last night," you say.

"Last night?" Jimin asks. His eyebrows are drawn low in thought, but then he raises them when he remembers too.

"Oh. You mean the call."

"Mmhmm," you hum. "I'm curious. What happened?"

Jimin purses his lips.

"It was your brother, right?" You ask, as if trying to remember. But you already know.

This is the part where he tells you that it wasn't his brother.

Jimin stares at you, his expression unreadable. You grow slightly anxious, because every moment he is quiet is a moment that he takes to decide whether or not he should tell you the truth. His hesitation makes your stomach sink, because you know.

You know what he is hesitating to tell you.

"Mmhmm," Jimin hums. "It was."

And there it is.

You were so sure that he would admit to his lie and apologize, and tell you what his doctor told him yesterday.

But he ultimately decided not to.

Why did he decide not to?

What is he scared of?

"Is everything okay?" You ask, masking the doubt in your voice by raising your pitch.

Jimin nods.

"He... he told me that he's been spending the last couple of months with our aunt and uncle- I've never met them though- and we just... talked for a bit."

He's extending his lie further.

It makes your heart hurt.

"I miss him," Jimin says. "That's what made me cry."

"Ah," you say quietly, as if you haven't been stabbed figuratively in the chest. "Did you make plans to see him soon? Since he's in Seoul too?"

"I told him I didn't know what Namjoon and the others were planning but that I'd call him again later."

It just slips off the tongue so easily, doesn't it? As if he spends no thought to the words he is saying.

"Well I hope you get to see him again soon."

"I want you to meet him," Jimin says. "I think he would like you."

"I hope so," you say. "If he was one of the big reasons you endured everything your parents did, you must love him a lot."

Jimin nods.

You feel like you're lying too. Pretending that you don't already know he never called his brother. But there's not really much you can do until he says it himself.

What is he so afraid of that he has to hide it?

You don't really feel all that mad at him for lying. He must have reason, right? If anything, it worries you.

What did his doctor say?

"Let's go to bed," you mumble, suddenly exhausted from all the stress. "I'm tired."

And Jimin must be sore already from dancing so much.

You return to the guest room with Jimin and change into your jammies in the bathroom, then get in bed and sleep in his cold arms.

Regardless of whatever lie he told you, you still feel at home here. Wrapped around each other, like you're supposed to be. Nothing could ruin this feeling.

"Good night," Jimin whispers. "I love you."

"I love you too."

•••

"Annyeonghaseyo I'm Jin, how are you?"

The man standing in front of you, like the rest of Jimin's friends, has a super heavy accent that makes everything he says kinda cute. This guy seems a lot more confident though, and he greets you with an aggressive bow and a dazzling smile that comes exclusively with a wink.

You can already tell that you're gonna like this guy.

"I'm good," you say shyly, matching his smile with one of your own. "How are you?"

"I am great," Jin says. he looks to your right at Jimin (with whom he had an endearing reunion with the biggest hug) and says something in Korean.

"He says he's sorry he doesn't know a lot of English," Jimin says. "And he thinks you're cool."

Your smile brightens and you squeeze his hand.

"It's alright," you say. "I'm not personally inconvenienced because he doesn't speak lots of English. I actually feel kind of bad that all of your friends have practiced enough to say hello to me and I haven't done the same."

Jimin smiles. "Well I can help you with that," he says, then relays your words to Jin, and together you all sit down on a park bench to talk while you wait.

You woke up this morning to an alarm at around ten, and spent the next thirty minutes trying to wake Jimin up. He didn't want to. He said he was sore all over (haha called it) and was so tired, and asked to sleep more and meet friends later.

It took forever to get him up.

It took even longer to convince him to eat something for breakfast before leaving. At least he eventually caved in this time. You're happy about that.

Now that he's out here, at a park to meet Jin, he seems pretty happy.

His brother is supposed to come here later. You're a bit nervous to meet him too. So far, all of Jimin's friends like you. Now for his brother. Jimin says he should know a fair amount of English, since their parents pushed them to learn it so that they could do one year of high school in America.

No matter how much you hate his parents, you're happy that they did that at least. Jimin's time in America was short and not very enjoyable, but at least it brought you two together.

And now, at least he isn't trapped and suffering anymore.

He might actually still be suffering...

But you're doing your best to put an end to it. He deserves every good thing you can possibly give him and more.

Jimin leans back into the park bench, hand clasped in yours, talking to his friend and laughing. You close your eyes and lean your head on his shoulder, a warm smile twisting across your lips.

Eventually, since there isn't much to do while the two talk beside you, you fall asleep on Jimin's shoulder. That is, for at least an hour before he shakes you awake again.

You sit up groggily and rub your tired eyes against the sunlight, and it takes a minute to remember where you are.

"Yeah?" You ask.

When you move your hands away from your eyes and look around, you realize that you are not where you fell asleep.

You're on a bus with no other people on it- which is weird, because it's a popular mode of transportation- and when you look around you, you realize that even Jimin is gone.

Where'd he go? How did I get here? Who woke me up?

You get up immediately. You have to get off of this bus. You find it difficult to stand, because of how crazy the bus is driving along the road, and almost get thrown to the side a couple of times. It takes several minutes to finally stagger to the front and look out the front window.

You're in...

You're in a desert.

There's no driver behind the wheel.

What the fu-

You hear a groan behind you, and whirl around to see Jimin on the floor of the bus. He's hunched over, hugging himself tightly while he shivers, eyes hooded from exhaustion, looking up at you pleadingly, as if he's begging you to help him.

You hurry back down the aisle and crouch down next to him, suddenly very anxious on the inside.

"Jimin, how did you get here- what happened to you?"

Jimin doesn't answer. Instead, he curls up and huddles closer to you. You wrap your arms around him, because he's freezing, and ask him again.

"Chim, what happened? Where are we?"

Jimin doesn't seem to hear you, because instead of answering, his eyes close and his head falls limply on your shoulder.

For a moment, you sit there with him, wondering what to do.

And then you realize that he isn't moving at all.

He's not even breathing.

"No no no no." You pick his head up and cup his face, trying to look him in the eyes, but his eyelids are closed and his face is so, so cold. Tears well up in your eyes. Not again, no. Is this another nightmare? Are you dreaming again? This can't be real.

"J-Jimin please, don't-"

"Y/n?"

The voice comes from your left, warm and familiar, not dead. Jimin.

Your eyes fly open and you lift your head up quickly, bumping into something hard.

"Ow!"

You're still at the park.

It was just a dream.

You look to your left to see that Jimin and Jin are still there- Jimin is frowning, rubbing sorely at his chin.

"What- I... I fell asleep, sorry," you mumble, still trying to piece things together in your mind. "Did I hit you?"

"Yeah," Jimin says, tilting his head and moving his hand away from his chin. His skin is reddened, but it doesn't look like it'll bruise. "Jeez, that hurt."

"Sorry," you mumble. "I didn't mean to."

"I know, it's okay. I was just trying to wake you up," Jimin says. He presses the back of his hand to his jaw where your head hit his, then moves it away and tilts his head again at you. "Another nightmare?" He asks, his expression softening.

How did he know?

You glance at Jin on Jimin's other side, because you think he must be bored, but his eyes are on his phone. You look back at Jimin and nod.

"More of the same?" He asks.

You nod again. "I'm okay though," you say. "I-"

Your phone buzzes in your back pocket. You pull it out to look at it, and see that it's Jimin's brother. This morning, Taehyung said that Jihyun texted him to say that he was free today, and then put his number in your phone so he could contact you guys.

You hand the phone to Jimin, since it's all in Korean. He takes it and reads it.

"He says he can't come here today, but we can meet him at a convenience store. Apparently he isn't allowed to go very far."

"I don't have a problem with that," you say. "We can go."

Jimin looks at Jin and says something in Korean, and after Jin replies, Jimin answers his brother's text.

"Sweet," he says, suddenly looking more excited. "We should start heading over there now then."

•••

By the time the three of you reach the convenience store, Jimin's little brother is already there, sitting on a chair by the window. You only know this because as soon as Jimin walks through the door, Jihyun stands up and starts rushing toward him. A huge smile crosses Jimin's face when he sees his brother, and he opens his arms for a big hug.

After over a year, they finally get a reunion.

Technically though, they probably saw each other at least once when Jimin was taken home by his parents, but that doesn't count. Jimin admitted he doesn't remember much about going home.

When they pull apart, Jihyun pokes Jimin's stomach, and you don't need a translator to tell that he's asking why Jimin's so skinny. He wouldn't be if you could help it. They speak for a minute in Korean, catching up and talking about whatever, and you stand behind Jimin exchanging awkward glances with Jin.

More like you make awkward eye contact and Jin throws you a smile, finger guns, and a wink.

He has a lot of charm.

Finally, after a while, Jimin speaks in English.

"Jihyun there's someone I want you to meet," he says, turning around to face you. He takes your hand in his and pulls you up beside him. You give his little brother a shy smile and a small wave. You'll never get used to meeting new people.

Jihyun looks very much like Jimin, to the point where the only noticeable difference is that he is smaller, younger, and has puffier cheeks. Jimin did too, but not since before the coma. You miss it.

You've known Jimin for a very long time and now you finally get to meet a member of his family that didn't torture him.

"This is Y/n," Jimin says, a giddy smile on his lips.

"Oh," Jihyun says, looking at you with an empty expression. It makes you feel a bit anxious, but you're sure it's because he's shy too.

"So you're his American girlfriend?" Jihyun asks. His accent isn't as heavy as all of Jimin's friends, but it's still there. Their voices are very similar.

You nod.

"And you figured out about his situation while you were dating?"

You nod again.

"She did," Jimin says. "I don't know what I would have done if I had to keep it a secret for much longer."

Jihyun ignores Jimin's comment and asks you another question.

"And it never once occurred to you that you should call the police?"

Your smile disappears.

"I- what?" You ask, your voice embarrassingly quiet.

"You never called the police," Jihyun says. He fixes you with a glare that makes your stomach twist into knots. "Jimin went through all of that pain and suffering in America because you didn't think it would be smart to call the cops. He almost died because of it."

"Jihyun!" Jimin says, with a voice much more fierce than you've ever heard it. He goes off on his brother in Korean, speaking so fast that you aren't sure even Jihyun will understand.

Jihyun doesn't like you.

Your heart sinks in your chest.

One of the most important people in Jimin's life doesn't like you.

The worst part about it is that you don't think he's wrong.

After the whole incident that left Jimin in a hospital bed for months, you questioned yourself the same way. Why didn't you just get the police involved? Why didn't you get him the help he actually needed?

When you went back to school, students that liked Jimin and were in all his classes asked you the same questions.

You knew why you didn't do it. He told you not to. Simple as that. But was it worth him almost dying for? You could have prevented a year of suffering for the both of you if you had just helped him the way you should have.

"Am I wrong!?" Jihyun asks, clearly mad at his brother. "You could have finished out your whole school year without almost being killed and it's all her fault that didn't happen. No girl is worth that much."

Jimin pulls you behind him, holding your hands tightly with his own, and continues to scold his brother in Korean. You've never heard him so mad- other than when he fought Gavin the first time.

But Jihyun is right again. No girl is worth that much. At least, you weren't. You shouldn't have been. After he left, you didn't even act human, much less like the girl Jimin fell in love with.

You purse your lips and try your best to hold back tears. It's all coming back again. All of the bitter, sour feelings that put you through hell after Jimin was taken away. The feelings you felt when you broke the mirror and yelled at your close friends and family. The feelings that made you curl up every night and cry until you had nothing left in you.

"Jimin, you could have done so much better than that anyway," Jihyun says. "Normal girlfriends don't hide your secret away and put you in danger."

You press your forehead against Jimin's back and shut your eyes tight. If you think about happy things, maybe the bad feelings will go away.

But as Jimin starts berating his brother again, you let go of his hand and pull on his sleeve to get his attention. Jimin turns to face you, his face switching from angry to calm and gentle in the blink of an eye.

"It's okay," you mumble. "He-he's right."

Jimin's frown returns. "No he's not," he says sternly. He turns back to his brother, angry once again, says something in Korean, then turns back around and pushes you toward the door.

"We're leaving," he says.

"No, it's fine," you say. "You shouldn't argue with your brother, you haven't seen each other in forever."

"Forget about it," Jimin says. "If he wants to talk to me, he'll learn to respect you." He opens the door and drags you outside, followed by a very confused Jin.

"It-it doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does, Y/n!" Jimin says exasperatedly. He doesn't slow down until you reach a bus stop, where he pushes you onto the bench and sits down next to you. "It matters a lot."

"I don't- I don't want you guys to argue because of me," you mumble, feeling hot all of a sudden and like you're about to break down. Your nose twitches and begins to run, making you sniffle.

"That's his fault," Jimin says. "Not yours."

Jin asks Jimin something, and Jimin answers in Korean. They converse back and forth for a minute, and then Jin leans down to give Jimin a side-hug. Then he stands up straight and looks at you.

"I will see you later," he says in his heavy accent. "Be happy, okay?"

You sniffle and nod, giving him a weak smile, and wave good bye.

You and Jimin watch Jin leave, and when he's far enough away, you turn back to face Jimin.

He stares back at you with narrowed eyes.

For a long moment, you stare at each other in silence. It feels as if Jimin is waiting for you, daring you to say something in his brother's defense.

You don't speak for a while. When you do, you repeat yourself.

"I don't want you to be on bad terms with him because of me."

"It's not because of you," Jimin says immediately. "He doesn't know what he was saying."

"He did," you say, sniffling. "I said the same things to myself a lot while you were gone. I still don't know why I didn't just... do something."

"If you called the police, they would have opened a case, arrested Sharon, and sent me home. End of story."

"But what if I said something about your parents too? Would that have been so hard for me to do?"

"You wouldn't have been able to prove it from all the way back in America," Jimin says. "I love you, Y/n, but if you did that, I don't know if I'd have forgiven you for it. You kept my secret because I asked you to. I trusted you to keep it, and you did."

You purse your lips, not sure how to respond to that. You still think you should have done something. Even if he would have hated you for it, you could have saved both of you a lot of pain.

Jimin reads that right off of your expression and shakes his head, furrowing his eyebrows and leaning closer to you.

"Y/n, don't fall for it," he says, but his voice is much gentler now. Like he's begging you to listen to him. "You-you're starting to believe what he said- how can I let you believe that?"

You don't answer, for fear that your voice will shake. Every time you feel upset like this, Jimin's soft voice hits you hard enough to break the dam holding back your emotions. Every damn time he speaks to you like that, you can't help it. And it's really starting to frustrate you right now. You can't cry out in public. You can't.

"Y/n," Jimin murmurs. "Hey, listen to me. We already agreed that we wouldn't blame ourselves anymore. Remember?"

Stop talking like that. You think, but you can't push the words out of your mouth. You're trying your best not to cry, and here he is making it well near impossible.

"Y/n?" Jimin holds one of your hands in both of his and rubs circles on your palm with his index finger. "Look, I'll make up with Jihyun later. If he admits he's wrong. He's my brother and it's not like I'm gonna be mad at him for forever. But right now that's not important. Promise me you won't blame yourself."

You scoot closer to him and bury your head in the crook of his neck. You don't want to answer him. Not when you're this close to crying. You shut your eyes and lose yourself in his scent.

Jimin wraps his pinky around yours and kisses the top of your head.

"I'm counting this as a promise," he murmurs, squeezing your pinky lightly. "Don't break it, okay? We keep doing that. We keep blaming ourselves for something we can't change."

You nod in agreement, and Jimin wraps his arm around your shoulders to keep you close to him.

"Now let's go back to Namjoon's and get you something to eat okay?"

Thanks for sticking with me here :)

Have a great day/night!<3

-L