A few weeks later, I was coming back from my dance practice late at night. The colours of the world were now hidden under the shadows of the night. I was listening  to some music while walking, not thinking about anything particular.

Suddenly some movement on the left caught my sight. There were some shadows moving  in a dark alley, it looked as if someone was being beaten up.

 I stopped abruptly and pulled out one earphone from my ear.

“You think you can just do what you want, huh?! “ a man was shouting while hitting the other person “That's not how I raised you!! And you dare to call yourself my son!!!”

The son didn't seem to defend himself in any way, he just took the punches without a sound.

I couldn't take it anymore. I run to that guy and grabbed him by his wrist just as he was about to land another hit.

“That's enough. Stop it.”

I looked him in the eyes, hoping to look intimidating while actually I was really scared at the moment.

The guy looked about 40 years old. He was handsome, but his eyes behind the dark-framed glasses were terrifying, filled with pure rage.

 We fought with our gazes for a while, my instincts telling me that I should run away as far as possible, but I stood my ground and finally, it was him that averted his eyes with a snort. He glared one last time at his son and left.

 I watched him go away, and only when he disappeared around the corner I quickly turned around. The beaten boy was sitting on the ground, leaning against the wall, lifeless. His face was covered by hair. I lowered myself to become face-to-face with him.

“Hey, are you okay?“ I asked softly.

I raised my hand and brushed away the hair from his face. And suddenly I froze, because I recognized that face. It was the face that was constantly present in my thoughts for some time now.

But it didn't look as I remembered it, beautiful and with that stunning smile, that I couldn't seem to stop thinking about lately.

Right now, he looked tired and wrecked. After I overcame the first shock, I realised that he wasn't moving. 

“Jimin? Hey, Jimin, wake up.” I shook him lightly.

He didn't react. I lowered my ear to his lips and fortunately I heard shallow breathing. I didn't think long, I put him on my back and took him into my apartment.

***

Fortunately, my apartment wasn't far, because, although Jimin wasn't really heavy, when we reached it, I felt as if my shoulders were going to fall off.

I put him on the couch gently in the living room and went to the kitchen to get some ice. When I returned, I saw him sitting up, blinking in attempt to adjust his eyes to the bright light.

“Jimin, you’re awake”

He focused his gaze on me and just stared for a second, probably trying to understand what was going on.

“Jungkook?” he said weakly. He looked around. “Where are we? Is this your apartment?”

“Yes. I figured you wouldn't want to go home right now.”

I walked over to him and sat beside him on the couch.

“ Can I?” I asked uncertainly, pointing at the pack of ice that I was holding.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks.”

I held the ice pack against the particularly large bruise that was starting to show on his cheek. I moved closer to him and started to examine the rest of his face with my other hand, watching his reaction in case he showed any sign of pain.

“ Your face seems to be fine, apart from that one big bruise. But that should be gone in few days” I said, looking at him with a smile, relieved.

 I thought it would be a lot worse.

“Thank you.”  he smiled back weakly.

I felt my lips stretch even more, I was more than happy to see him wear that expression again. 

Then I saw his expression changing, his cheeks becoming a little bit pink. He cleared his throat.

 “I can hold the ice pack myself, you know.”

Suddenly, I realized, that our faces were really close, one hand keeping the ice pack against his bruise while the other was still holding his other cheek. I quickly backed away and cleared my throat, taking my hands away.

“Well, your face seems fine, but I'm really worried about your body. - I continued, ignoring the butterflies that decided to suddenly fly around my stomach. “ It seemed like he... like it took a lot of damage. “

 I decided to avoid mentioning his father. Jimin averted his gaze, his expression once again subdued.  I cursed myself mentally.

“ Do you feel like any part of your body is in some kind of particular pain? “ I asked, pretending that I didn't notice his reaction.

“Well, I don't know... “

I watched him stretch and turn a little, checking his body. He then tried to stand up, but only hissed and sat back.

“ What's the matter? “ I asked quickly, alarmed.

“ Well, everything seems to be fine, apart feeling a little sore. Only my ankle... “

“ Which ankle?” I cut in, lowering myself to his feet.

 “Left. “

I took of his left shoe and sock. I didn't fail to notice that it had a cute kitten printed on it and felt a little smile creeping up my lips. But I slapped myself mentally and concentrated on his ankle. It was swollen.

“ It looks sprained.”  I diagnosed.

 “ It must've happened when I fell...” his voice trailed away.

I looked at up him. He was looking somewhere on the right, lost in thoughts.

 I felt a pang in my heart when I saw the pain in his eyes, how torn apart he looked.

“Wait a second.” - I stood up and went to the bathroom.

I was back quick with a bandage. I squatted down before the sofa and gently put his foot on my knee. I started to patch it up carefully, trying to not bring him any more pain.

 “ You seem quite good at it.”

 I looked up and saw that he was watching me. He seemed to relax a little.

 “ Yeah, well, I'm quite good at everything I do, no need to be surprised” I teased to brighten the atmosphere a little. He giggled and my heart grew. I wanted him to feel better. I wanted to make him forget and smile. Even if it was just for a moment.

“ Then I'm lucky to be in your care”  he answered with his beautiful smile and I couldn't help but smile back. I lowered my head and concentrated on the bandaging once more.

“ Aren't you going to ask? “  

I didn't answer at first. I finished the bandaging and put his foot away gently. Then I looked at him.

“If I were you, I wouldn't want to talk about it right now” I answered shrugging my shoulders. 

“ Thank you”  and I thanked heavens when I saw a  small, grateful smile lit his face up once again.

“Do you want something to eat? I have some pizza in the fridge if you want” I asked standing up.

“Pizza sounds great” his smile widened, and now his eyes were barely visible.

 I swear that I felt my heart stop for a long few seconds. My cheeks suddenly became hot.

“ Th-then I will get it quickly, wait a minute. “

 I quickly turned around and nearly run to the kitchen to hide my face. There, I regained my breath. I grabbed two slices of pizza and returned to the living room. I sat beside Jimin and handed him the plate.

“Do you want to watch some tv or something? “ I asked to break the silence.

“ Sure”

 I grabbed the remote and turned the tv on. We watched some idol gala while eating in silence.

“ So, you live alone?”

He was almost finished with his slice. He must've really been hungry.

“ Yeah, my parents are abroad. Working. “

 I tried to hide the bitter tone in my voice but it didn't seem to work very well as he looked at me with a weird look in his eyes. 

“Oh, I see. “ he simply answered and went back to eating.

I felt a pleasant surprise that he didn’t start with the “oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know” or “oh, you must be really lonely" . I hated when people pitied me.

 We watched the idols mostly in comfortable silence, our stomachs satisfied. It seemed that he felt as comfortable with me as I was with him.  At one moment, Jimin leaned against me and I was hoping that he couldn't feel the slight arrhythmia that I was having for a moment.

After a while, my eyes started to close on their own will. I decided it was time to say goodnight.

“Jimin…”- my voice trailed away.

He was already sleeping, his lips slightly parted. He looked so peaceful and cute that I felt a smile spreading on my face.

I gently pushed him away and stood up to pick him up bridal style and took him to my bedroom. I laid him gently in my bed and covered him with the blanket.

I brushed away the hair that was on his face gently and just looked at him for a second. He was so beautiful, even with the bruise. But he looked so tired and fragile, as if he could be broken by the slightest gust.

 I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his forehead. I figured he wouldn't know, since he was sleeping. I got up, intending to go out, but I felt him grab my hand. I looked at him surprised. His eyes were half-opened and sleepy, but still filled with the remains of pain.

“ Can't you... stay? Just for a little… “

He looked so vulnerable, like a child. I hesitated for a second, but I decided to lay next to him. He pressed his head against my chest and I felt his hands wrapping around my waist. I felt my t-shirt get wet.

 He was crying.

 I hugged him tight and kissed his forehead again, trying to give him some comfort. He seemed to calm down, his sobs subdued. After a while, he seemed to have fallen asleep and was breathing steadily. I gently caressed his hair as I felt sleep coming to me again and closed my eyes.

Jimin felt so warm and vulnerable in my embrace.

For the first time in quite a while, I felt really peaceful.

As I held Jimin tight, I felt the flower in my heart grow another petal.