Jimin let the weekend slip by without talking much to anyone. And he felt guilty about it, especially with how many messages he was receiving from Yoongi and Namjoon - and Namjoon had, at one point, stopped by Jimin's house but conveniently at that time Jimin was out of the house - but he just needed the time to himself. To think. To feel. To think about how he felt.

To get his act together. To realize some things.

It was a gradual and painful realization he arrived at. But he got there, and he already firmly decided for himself he wasn't going to hide it under a mask any more.

That realization.

Come Monday morning, he walked to school a bit earlier than normal, prepared but not ready to talk to Yoongi.

Prepared but not ready. That perfectly described his situation right now.

It wasn't even 7:30 and Jimin was in his classroom, waiting. Twenty minutes later Yoongi came in.

"H—Jimin, hey."

Tentative in voice and manner, Yoongi approached Jimin's desk and slowly slid into the empty one in front of him. Class didn't start till 8:15. He could afford to talk for some time.

"You got me worried, Jimin."

Hearing Yoongi's voice again. Those thoughtful words, that tender tone. Jimin pursed his lips.

"Are you okay-"

"I'm sorry for ignoring you."

An apology. Yoongi's heart felt a little weak at the sound. "It's...it's okay, Jimin, like I said, I was just...worried." He paused, sweeping his gaze over the other boy's face. "...how are you?"

"Tired."

Yoongi let out a tiny breath of air through his nose as a sort of brief, forced expression of amusement, but more so he only felt concerned. "I can see that. You've got bags under your eyes."

"Mm." Jimin gave a slow nod. "Didn't sleep much."

"Why not?"

"Thinking."

"About?"

You. "A lot of things."

"I see..."

Sighing again, Yoongi tried to hold back his urge to just grab Jimin and hug him right now, but really that's all he wanted to do. And it was all he had wanted to do the past couple days, too. But especially now. On top of the dark circles on Jimin's pale complexion, the boy's eyes looked so, so heavy. Yoongi could so clearly see and feel the emotional stress Jimin was under. He had a feeling he knew exactly what it was about, too.

"Yoongi?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you after school?"

"You can talk to me now, Jimin."

"No. Privately." The boy shrunk into himself, hanging his head low. "It's important."

It struck something in Yoongi. A chord of some kind, one that sent an echo down every blood vessel till it reached his heart. He thought he knew. His confidence on the matter was almost 100%. And yet still, anticipation and curiosity tugged furiously at his brain and danced on his nerves.

"After school, where?" He asked. "Just outside?"

"We can go to the Golden Spoon," Jimin said. His eyes remained fixed on his desk in front of him. "That's always been a comfortable place to talk."

"Okay, that's fine."

And so Yoongi had to endure the wait. Anxiety nipped at his mind like cold wind on uncovered skin. He shivered at the thought of bad news. Honestly, he didn't even know where he was getting these negative expectations, when again, he felt he already knew what this was about.

It wasn't often, but Jimin could be unpredictable when he wanted to be.

Yoongi just hoped this would be the good kind of unpredictable, if unpredictable at all.

He found himself watching Jimin's every move with an extra careful eye. Namjoon did so, too. And the two close friends had talked, very briefly earlier, and all Yoongi could gather from the two's conversation was that Jimin assured Namjoon that 'he'd be okay eventually.'

Eventually wasn't okay enough for Yoongi. He wasn't comfortable enough with eventually.

He needed to know that Jimin wasn't mentally abusing himself this whole time.

*

"Jimin-"

"Quiet walk to the coffee shop, please."

At the end of the day, he got cut off, abruptly, but politely, and in a way that made Yoongi only more curious and worried about his friend. He didn't want to risk making Jimin upset so he listened and kept quiet.

They walked in silence. Side by side. Not a single word uttered, but that didn't stop Yoongi from taking frequent glances at Jimin to make sure the boy's expression didn't change.

Well, he wanted it to change. But he feared if it changed at all it would be because tears started to form in his eyes.

After a twenty minute walk that felt more like an hour, they arrived at the coffee shop and Yoongi made no hesitation to insist he would wait in the small line for their coffees. To his relief, Jimin agreed, and quietly made his way over to an empty table and sat down.

Soon enough, so did Yoongi.

"Wake-up call, extra cream and sugar."

He offered a small smile as he set the drink in front of Jimin.

"You ready to talk now?"

Jimin stared at the coffee for a long moment before offering the slightest nod. "Mm."

An additional two minutes of silence followed. But Yoongi chose to be patient.

"...at the party, what I said to you..."

Those words, in their own way, confirmed Yoongi's hypothesis. He tried to relax his nerves but truthfully he didn't feel any less anxious about this. "You mean about being tired?"

Jimin's empty gaze skimmed his coffee as he took the lid off to let it cool. "In a sense."

"...Jimin, are you feeling alright-"

"I want to come out."

A part of Yoongi expected the boy to start crying. But no, even as Jimin held the other's gaze firmly, Yoongi saw no trace of tears. He could still see that scared little boy behind those beautiful eyes, though. There was no hiding that.

"It's not just that I want to, either," Jimin added, his brow furrowing. "I-...I need to."

"You never need to rush yourself, Jimin."

"I'm not rushing myself." He bit his lip in an attempt to stop it from quivering. "I've had enough time. I've waited too long, and if I wait longer, it'll get worse. I'm tired of pretending. I'm so tired..."

The tears were here now - not in physical form, but they could be heard in the boy's voice. Jimin's voice was crying, and if he could, Yoongi would have cradled it just then.

He would have cradled Jimin...

But since he couldn't, and since he had failed to that drive home from Minseo's house, Yoongi carefully reached out to take Jimin's hand.

And Jimin let him. But he tore his eyes away.

"Yoongi?"

"Yes, Jimin?"

"Can you be there with me? When I tell them...can you...be there?"

His heart ached and was warmed at the same time. "Of course," he replied. "I'll be right beside you. If that makes this any easier for you."

"Thank you, Yoongi."

"You don't need to thank m-"

"Yes, I do."

Yoongi almost flinched. Such an unexpected harsh tone of voice, Jimin spoke this in, one that commanded attention but in a kind way.

"Yes...I do..." Jimin repeated, more weakly this time. "I do need to thank you." His lips quivered again. "Yoongi, I don't think you realize just how much of a difference you've made in my life. I've said it before, I owe you everything at this point."

"Jimin, you don't owe me a-"

"Shut up!!"

His outburst drew the attention of the several other customers in the shop at the time. A few wary glances we're thrown and under-breath muttering ensued, but neither of the boys thought much of it at the time.

"...Jimin-"

"I'm sorry, Yoongi."

He was so unstable - teetering on the edge of something Yoongi feared the boy would fall into if something good didn't happen soon.

He squeezed Jimin's hand.

"It's okay."

"It's not-"

"It will be."

Jimin finally looked at him. And those eyes, those mesmerizing eyes of Yoongi's, somehow, in the midst of this mental storm, kept him grounded.

"I swear it will."

Cross my heart and hope to die.

"If no one else is there for you, know that I will be."

Because I love you.