"Jimin! You didn't have to defend me back there! I could've handled them myself!"
"Handle them yourself? Face it (Y/N), you're weak against them! I can't let them keep hurting you all over and all over again!"
For being friends for a long time, that was their first-ever fight. Was it stupid? Yes. This fight did make them understand each other better however, this shaped their relationship to a whole new level, in a negative way.
Jimin saw her getting beaten up again but instead of standing there like last time, he took the initiative to get himself part of the problem.
When they saw the boy running towards them, they decided to target him instead. The bullies were smart, they knew exactly what to do to make the poor girl break down even more. It wasn't that hard to decipher, they knew her weakness was her only friend.
Jimin wanted to protect her.
(Y/N) wanted to protect him.
Jimin hated seeing her in pain.
(Y/N) hated seeing him in pain.
Jimin would rather get himself injured instead of her.
(Y/N)... would rather endure this suffering instead of him.
"Don't you know how frustrating it is to see you bandaged up and all covered with wounds? Don't you know how I feel seeing you like this? I just want to protect you from them but it seems as if you don't want me to!"
"Jimin you're not understanding! I'm glad, no, super thankful that you're doing this for me but I don't want you to get injured! Of course, I already know that I'm weak! That just makes me an easier target to handle... and I'm completely fine with it."
"What the hell are you saying? You're completely fine with them beating you up?"
"As long as you're safe, then I'm fine. You're already dealing with so much stuff about your family, seeing me get bullied should be the least of your concerns. Don't worry! I'm tougher than I look like."
She smiled.
He didn't.
'You idiot... you're the one suffering more than me.' He thought to himself. It was relatively close to the truth but the cause he was thinking about was way far from it.
Yes, she was enduring more pain than him, but for a completely different reason.
-
Jimin broke off the heartfelt hug as he gently pulled away from her. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. Has she really woken up? For 2 horrible weeks, his mind was only fixated on her. Not at his job, not at the current scandals about him, and surprisingly not even the cans of beer. Just like Jungkook was claiming, he did have a mental breakdown.
Perking up at her friend, (Y/N) observed his facial features while a soft smile formed on her lips. The way the corners of her eyes crinkled up as she grinned made his tensed complexion immediately soften up. There was some sort of effect related to her that made Jimin react like that.
Unfortunately, her bright smile soon faltered as she took a closer inspection of his cheek. The area turned into a dark purple, blue, and hint of red right before her eyes. The idol took notice of this and instantly backed away while covering his cheek with the palm of his hand. However, just a simple touch of his hand against the bruise propelled him to groan out in agony, making the girl more worried.
"Jimin?" She meekly called out, "What happened to your cheek?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it-"
The sensation of her small hand placed over his fairly larger hand sent a chill running up his spine. He felt his mouth go dry and immediately gulped down, making his Adam's apple bob up and down. The warmth radiating from her hand to his cold one made him feel something he had never felt before.
How is she doing this? She just barely woke up...
"Can I see it?" She begged in a soft yet desperate tone. How can he deny that request?
Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away from his cheek, the exposed skin now in full view. She let out a gasp as her eyes widened in shock.
"What happened? Did you get into a fight?" Jimin broke off eye contact as he looked away from her intense gaze. How was he supposed to tell her about what happened right in front of her room? The man furrowed his eyebrows in thought as he began to space out. A frown shaped on her lips as her arm extended out towards his face once again. The tips of her fingers gently caressed the spot but that only made him experience more discomfort.
"Does it hurt? Do you need to see a doctor?" Withdrawing her arm back to her side, she examined his face once again and found even more injuries. A small slash was indented on his plump lips, there was a large swollen bump on his forehead but it was barely noticeable due to his bangs, and lastly, blood was smeared on the other side of his cheek. Not to mention, his hair was very messed up and out of place.
However, the blood didn't look like it belonged to him.
'How have I not noticed earlier?'
Jimin watched her (E/C) eyes looking at each injury on his face. He observed her slightly gaped mouth, the scared look displayed on her eyes, and even her hand that was clutched against her chest.
His hand subconsciously stretched out towards a strand of her (H/C) hair that was hovering over her face. Gently placing the strand behind her ear, he left the palm of his hand resting on her cheek as a small smile appeared on his face. It seemed to calm her down but her face couldn't hide the blush surfacing on her cheeks.
"Stop worrying about me. I'm fine, it doesn't hurt that badly." He responded in a monotone manner as his face came closer to hers. However, (Y/N) backed away as she yanked Jimin's hand away from her face. Although her heart was beating at an unnatural pace due to the sudden contact, her chest began to throb as well.
'Why is he acting like this? This isn't how Jimin normally behaves...'
Jimin seemed taken aback but soon realized the mistake he has done. The idol straightened his back as he clicked his tongue at himself for his change in behavior.
"Jimin, why are you acting like that?"
The topic of Jimin's injuries immediately subsided as this was now the most important subject to discuss. He too wanted to know the answer why but it went unanswered, like all the other previous questions.
"I'm sorry (Y/N)..." He finally said after a long break of awkward silence. "I shouldn't let you feel this way, after all, you just woke up from a coma..." He wasn't lying about that, he certainly did not want her to have these kinds of emotions bundling up inside of her just when she barely woke up. Wouldn't the stress make her go unconscious again? His eyes quivered as his bangs fell over his eyes to cover them. He didn't want her to end up in the same situation again. Unable to wake up.
She observed him quietly. "Did something happen to you during those 2 weeks when I was asleep?"
His breath hitched. Other than the fight that happened, there was another problem that happened.
"It's... nevermind."
Jimin patiently waited for a retort coming from her but all he received was silence. As he looked back at the (H/C) haired girl, he saw her body trembling as if she's trying to keep herself calm.
"(Y/N)-"
"Alright then..."
He widened his eyes in shock. Normally, his childhood friend would nag at him for always keeping his difficulties a secret but this was a first coming from her.
Has she given up?
"Jimin." She called out, causing the man to look at her. "Why can't you tell me what's wrong?"
Of course, she hasn't given up.
"It's complicated..."
"Even if it's complicated you could have faced and solved them during these months..." Her hand grasped tightly on the thin white blanket. It, unfortunately, reminded her of that dream of her inside that bathroom stall.
"(Y/N), can we not argue right now? You just woke up, you need to make yourself relaxed." Taking a few steps towards the edge of the bed, he sat down and wrapped his arms around her again. It was so unexpected and uncharacteristic of him to do it but his body made him commit the sudden gesture.
Luckily, (Y/N) wrapped her arms around him as well, wanting the feeling of comfort coming from him.
"Jimin, why are you acting like this?" She asked again. The male however ignored her question as he scooted closer to her.
"Can you answer me, please? I can't handle it anymore... you're making me so confused..." She murmured, gripping onto Jimin's hoodie.
"Why are you confused?" Jimin asked.
"How can you not tell? These past months, I've been suffering so much since you've been yelling at me, ignoring me, and getting Jungkook involved but recently you've started to change ever so slightly. You don't understand how happy I am about that but I'm also scared..." Her face buried deeper into Jimin's chest as she felt herself listen to the sound of his rapid heartbeat.
"I'm scared that you'll go back to the way you were again."
He retracted his arms back to his side but (Y/N)'s arms were still encircled around him. Surprisingly, he didn't budge or do anything to stop her from hugging him. It felt nice yet it made him feel guilty. The girl's heart began to throb once again.
"I'm confused about your behavior as well." She continued, "There were a couple of times when I thought you seemed to be back to normal... when I thought that I've made some improvement... but then later on you would get angry again."
Pulling herself away from his body, both of them stared deeply into each other's eyes.
"I just want you to trust me..."
'(Y/N)...'
He felt tears beginning to brim the corners of his eyes as he quickly looks away from her.
Of course, he trusted her. His friend since childhood and until now, how can he not trust her? But for some reason, he still didn't have the courage to tell her why.
It was all family issues anyways, (Y/N) shouldn't get involved in it.
He just wanted to protect her. He didn't mean to hurt her. How come he's just realizing this now?
He thought his father was the problem for his behavior, which is technically true but after some time, he had come to realize that someone else has taken a part of it.
(Y/N).
No matter how many times he had pushed her away, she still kept coming back to him which made him even angrier. That idiot Jungkook came along the way as well.
At that moment, Jimin wanted to vent out to her about what has been going on but he just couldn't.
-
"My son, if you ever tell anyone about this... I'll make you suffer until you can't handle living here in this cruel world."
-
She unwrapped her arms around him but when she did, the male immediately stood up. Even though his bangs were covering his eyes, she could see how much he's trying to not break down.
"I do trust you (Y/N)." He began, "As much as I want to tell you what's wrong, I just can't. I'm sorry..."
A shaky sigh left her lips.
As the idol looked at his friend, the facial expression she was making made his heart drop. It even made it shatter into a million pieces.
She was smiling.
He wasn't.
"I understand... as much as I hate it, I'll wait until you tell me what's wrong. Even if it might take a couple more months, I'll still wait."
The one aspect that Jimin doesn't have is not thinking deeply into people's words. He felt extremely terrible but not as much as the person in front of him.
'Why are you lying to him, (Y/N)? Why aren't you arguing at him?'
She thought to herself, struggling to keep the smile on her face to turn into a frown.
'Aren't you the desperate one who wanted to know why he was feeling like that? Aren't you the impatient one who would try to call Jimin every single day?'
"You're going through a lot of stuff... I understand if you don't want to talk it out..."
Jimin watched her.
"You really haven't changed at all." He murmured, causing the girl to flinch because of his sudden deep tone of voice.
"W-What do you mean?" She stuttered.
Before Jimin could answer, the door erupted a clicking noise. Both of them turned their heads around to face the door, thinking that someone had entered the room but to their surprise, no one was there.
"Am I hearing things?" She asked out loud as nervous laughter left her mouth.
"You're not the only one..."
"Oh!" The girl suddenly exclaimed, causing the male to direct his attention back to her. "I just suddenly realized, have you seen Jungkook? He was here before I woke up."
The man felt his jaw clench as he gritted his teeth in anger.
"No, I haven't seen him." He quickly answered, which made him look really suspicious.
However, the girl only shrugged her shoulders and let out a whisper.
"I wonder where he is... Also, you should see the doctor, your face needs some treatment."
-
Carefully closing the door, the doctor sighed out as he began to walk away from the duo. He had never seen such an interesting scene in front of him even though he didn't know what was going on. The pair looked sad so he was supposed to feel sad, right?
As he turned around the corner, he felt a hard thud clash against his body, causing him to drop his clipboard.
"Oh, I'm sorry!"
"Doctor, you shouldn't be eavesdropping on people's conversations."
A loud gasp left his lips as he stared at the taller male in front of him in surprise.
"O-Oh, Mr. Jeon! I didn't know you were watching me..."
A forced smile displayed on his lips but the look on Jungkook's face made him unable to keep the smile from lasting any longer. A dark aura illuminated from the younger male as he took a menacing step towards him.
"How much did you hear?"
"I-I didn't hear anything-"
His legs began to shake uncontrollably like a scared dog as he took a step back. However, Jungkook took another step forward, overshadowing the doctor's presence.
"Okay okay! I don't know much about what's going on but I heard that Mr. Park is having some problems..." He raised his hands up in defense as he nervously laughed.
"If you tell anyone about this, you understand what's bound to happen, correct?"
The doctor rapidly nodded his head as his heartbeat drummed through his ears. However, it soon faded away as a big smile began to form on Jungkook's lips.
"See you later doctor!"
He bowed down as he walked away but as he turned the corner, he glared at the doctor from the corner of his eye. The older male stood there in shock because of the sudden change in behavior.
'Celebrities do know how to portray different personalities...'
As he continued to stare at the floor, he felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he began to fan himself with the clipboard.
To him, that interaction with Jungkook felt like a K-drama scene.
-