"-imin?" Jimin was tired

"Jimin?" Tired and sweaty. 

"Hey Jimin!" Jimin snapped out of his tired day dream haze and flinched slightly when he noticed Jhope right in front of his face; his hand hanging limply in the air as if to touch Jimin. 

Jimin dropped his eyes to the floor and said "Sorry Hobi...I'm a little out of it"

"A little out of it? I know you've been dancing all day without a break as usual. I don't even know how you're still standing" Jhope sighed and threw his arm around Jimins shoulders. "You haven't eaten either!" Jhope scolded with a frown tugging at the edge of his mouth.

Jimin laughed slightly and reached up to poke at Jhope frown "I'm fine Hobi! I promise! I'm just not hungry yet" Jhope scoffed and suddenly leaned all his weight on Jimin body. Jimin stumbled a little and wrapped his arms around jhope body to hold him up "A-ah Jhope! You're gonna fall!"

"you make me use up all my energy worry about you!" Jhope whined and then suddenly straightened up and said in a rarely used serious tone "Don't think I don’t know that you don’t eat for days on end and I know you got kicked out of your apartment last week by your landlord. Even after he said he would be patient while you get another job! So where, exactly, have you been sleeping young man?!" 

Jimins eyes widened in panic and he brought his arms up in front of himself as if to fight of an attacker, still avoiding eye contact "N-no! I..." Jimin sighed softly and dropped his arms when Jhope crossed his arms angrily. "I DO eat!” He defended. “I just don't feel hungry very much....and alright, yes, I don't have an apartment anymore b-but I have been staying with other friends and sometimes the shelter" Jimin said quickly, muttering the last part hoping Jhope wouldn't hear. But, per usual...Jimin has terrible luck because as soon as he finished his sentence Jhope was gasping in surprise. 

"A shelter?! No no no that won't do!" he quickly grabbed Jimins wrist "you are coming home with me! I tolerated that you were skin and bones because you said you were working on getting another job but this?!? This I can't ignore!" He basically yelled and started pulling Jimin towards the Practice room door. The few remaining stragglers from the previous dance class turned to see what the commotion was and Jimin felt his face heat up. He bowed in apology a few times as he weakly struggled against Jhopes pull.

"J-Jhope! No-stop for a second! Where are we going?!" Jhope abruptly stopped causing Jimin to stumble into his back. He stepped back quickly as Jhope whirled around and smiled brightly! "I'm taking you home with me!" Jhope sang in a cute voice. 

Jimins stomach dropped. He couldn't go there! Jhope was always talking fondly about how close-nit his family was and how big their neighborhood gatherings were. Jimin didn't want to intrude and have anyone think he was being rude by barging in on their home.  

Jhope sighed and tugged Jimins wrist lightly when he saw jimin start to panic again. "Look I’m not.... I’m not asking you to join a gang or something...." He stared at Jimins face. That didn't seem to appease Jimins panic at all. So he stepped closer and dropped his voice. "Jimin?" He lightly traced Jimins check forcing him to meet Jhopes eyes for the first time that day. "I just want to know you're safe, ok? Just for one night.... help me sleep better just this once?" He pleaded softly. Jimin felt the guilt swell. "My family is having a small BBQ tonight so please just come eat and spend the night with us. I'm a friend right? You trust me?" 

"you know I do!" Jimin said softly and dropped his eyes again, already knowing he was going to give into the guilt. He hating making the older worry. Jhope was the first person he met after leaving home and coming to Seoul. When he had found out that Jhope owned a dance studio, Jimin felt that passion for life he thought he had lost coming back. The older had taken him under his wing and let him use the studio for free. Jhope had never question Jimin on where he came from or why he came to Seoul with no money and no luggage. "I just don’t want to take advantage of you anymore then I already do"

"Advant-" Jhope cut himself off and cuffed jimin lightly around the chin with his knuckles, smiling happily again "I'd like to see you try pipsqueak!" Jimin giggled softly as Jhope walked over to the wall lined with mirrors grabbing both of their backpacks (Jhopes new and Jimins ragged) and then came back to grab Jimins wrist again. "I'm carrying these so don't argue! This is the 'Stop Worrying Jhope Time' right?" 

Jimin rolled his eyes and went willingly this time. He really didn't feel hungry but he knew he should eat something anyways. He was starting to get a headache and his body was feeling a little achy so he assumed it was because he didn’t eat anything in a while. 

He didn’t have the means to pay for his anything as he had lost his job the week before. He had gotten a delivery job in the first month he was in the city but they had recently laid everyone off when the owner went bankrupt. Gambling, he had heard. Jimin had made a deal with his previous landlord to pay two months’ rent as soon as he got another job. Jimin had thought everything would work out but the erted old man had kicked him out not even two days later when Jimin had not returned his not-so-subtle advances. It's not like jimin could fight him anyways.... he had a fake ID and no social security card. Jimin had no savings left and no job prospects to be seen. No one wanted to hire an 18 with no experience and no home address. 

He had no choice and hated to disappoint Jhope after everything he had done. He would join them for dinner and then leave as quickly and quietly as possible. Jhopes family was huge and loud so Jimin decided he would just slip away when Jhope was distracted by one of his brothers. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jimin was right! The gathering at Jhopes house was large and loud. He could hear them before they even turned down their street. As they walked up the long drive way packed with cars, Jimin slowed briefly to stare at the 5 beautiful motorcycles sitting at the very top. Jimin had never ridden one but had always been very curious as to why anyone would think being on one was fun. By the time he caught back up with him, Jhope was pushing open the wooden side gate to reveal the two story house. He saw a few dozen people dancing, chatting, and drinking with music in the background. There were even a few children playing tag. The grill was already going with food coming and going continuously. 

"Come on!" Jhope smiled and continued to tug him passed the people and into the house. He was pushed into a large living room with couches and recliners lining the walls that had even more people sprawled on them. "This is my family!" Jhope spread his arms wide as if to show of some artwork and grinned.

"u-ummm" Jimin looked nervously around. "There really is a lot of them..." 

Jhopes grinned fell slightly. "huh?" He looked behind him and made an 'aha' face. "Oh not these bums." Someone grunted, affronted, and Jhope kicked them as he pulled Jimin a little further into the room towards the long couch pushed up against the main wall. The couch held 4 men that seemed to be in their early to late 20s like Jhope. There was a blonde, black, brown, and white haired man sitting huddled together in deep conversation that they horridly paused as Jhope exclaimed, much too loudly as usual: "THESE are my family!". 

And with that Jhope was gone. 

Jimin blinked.

The 4 men blinked.

Jhope had swiftly disappeared up the shadowed staircase without so much as a backward glance. 

"who the are you?" A black haired boy about the same size as Jimin asked harshly. Jimin slightly curled in under their intense gazes, wrapping his arms around himself with his eyes firmly on the floor at their feet. 

"Well?" A tall gangly man with light brown asked with a slightly puzzled, boxy grin. 

"J-Jimin" He mumbled and the blonde hair man with the broadest shoulders Jimin had ever seen smiled and stood up exclaiming "OH! You're the friend he's always worried about! I'm Jin" And then engulfed Jimin in the warmest hug he's had in a long time. 

"Oh so he's the homeless one Hobi is always try to shove food into." The black haired one snarked. Jimin felt his face heat up in embarrassment for the second time that day.

"Min Yoongi!" Jin released Jimin and reached back to slap Yoongi on the back of the head. "Manners!" He scolded. Yoongi just shrugged and looked away causing Jin to jump on top of him, pinching and tickling as Yoongi grumbled and yelled for him to get off. 

Jimin looked on wide-eyed and everyone else in the room laughed loudly. Someone grabbed his should causing him to flinch again: it was the tall gangly one with the boxy smile. He quickly let go and held his hands up "Sorry!! I didn't mean to scare you." He held his hand out "I'm Taehyung...call me Tae if you want."

Jimin shook his hand with a small smile. "Nice to meet you Tae." 

"ugh you are cute!" Taehyung grabbed him in a bear hug like Jin had. 'Jeez these people are all touchy feely.' Jimin thought.  

"And that grump is Namjoon!" Taehyung pointed to the remaining man sitting at the center of the couch with white/silver hair that had yet to say anything. He seemed to be glaring at Jimin and it only seemed to intensify when Jimin tried to send a small wave. He quickly dropped his hand and his gaze, locking his hands together in front of him when they started to shake with nerves. Taehyung noticed but decided to ask Jhope about it later instead of asking Jimin. 

"Jhope probably went to shower. He hates how gross he feels after practice usually." Taehyung stated trying to calm Jimins nerves. 

"Do you want to take one too?" Jin asked out of breath, seeming to finally be done torturing Yoongi. "It might be awkward since this is the first time you're in this house but from the way Jhope has been talking, you might find yourself here a lot more. So you should probably get used to it now" He grinned when Jimin looked unsure. "Tae can you show him to your shower and get him some clothes that might fit?" 

"Don’t touch any of my stuff!" Yoongi muttered and Taehyung and Jin shot him a glare.

"Come on!" Taehyung beckoned Jimin up the stairs. "There’s four bedrooms up here! Yoongi has the room downstairs because he doesn't like going up and down the stairs all the time. He also works on music until all hours of the night so Namjoon banished him to the basement." Taehyung start to explain trying to loosen Jimin up a little. "This room is Jins" He pointed to a dark room on the left and then nodded to the one on the right. "And this one is mine! The door at the end on the right is Jins." He pointed downt he hall. "The master bedroom is Namjoons since he’s owns the house and he’s our leader."

"Leader?" Jimin questioned.

"Uh..." Tae looked at Jimin a little nervously and the coughed awkwardly. "Anyways just avoid trying to go in there. He doesn’t like strangers going in." He said avoiding Jimins question. 

He growled playfully in the back of his throat when he noticed another closed door with light shining under it. He banged on the door with his fist and yelled over the running water "Hobi you're so mean! You left poor Jimin here to deal with the grumps downstairs!" There was a sound of a curtain being thrown back and Jimin could hear Jhope cursing as he slipped on the tile. The door cracked and a wet Jhope peeked through. 

"Are you ok?" Jimin said with worry written on his face. Jhope waved him off.

"I'm ok! I'm ok! Sorry I just left you but I felt gross!" Taehyung grinned. "Told ya" He sang in Jimins ear and wrapped his long arms around Jimins shoulders. Jimin just stood there awkwardly. 

"Hey paws off! He's my friend!" Jhope reached through the crack in the door swiping at Taehyung. Taehyung just pulled Jimin back out of reach.

"Nope! You lost privileges when you ditched him! Jin told me to show him into my room and into my shower. Bye Hobi~" Jhope groaned and slammed the door as Taehyung pushed Jimin over to his room.

"My room has its own bathroom! I won it fair and square!" He said happily, basically skipping behind Jimin.

"How did you win it?" Jimin honestly wouldn't have been surprised if they had a wrestling match over it.

"Rock, paper, scissors!" He said simply and jimin snorted lightly with a shy smile. 

Taehyung continued to push him until they were in Taehyungs room which had darker blue walls and clothes and clutter here and there. "Go shower and I’ll try to find you some cloths. Mine will probably be a bit big but no one will bite your head off for it. Go go!" He pushed Jimin into the small bathroom when Jimin stayed in the same spot. 

Jimin sighed slightly in relief when he was finally alone. His nerves were draining and his headache was a lot worse now. 'well I might as well take shower since I’m here...the ones at the shelter is always cold anyways' Jimin thought as he the water and waited for it to heat up. He showered quickly and when he stepped out he noticed a stack of cloths on the counter. They were obviously a bit too big for him and the sleeves of the hoodie kept falling when Jimin pushed them up so he just gave up and left the warm bathroom. 

He made his way back down the stairs looking around for Jhope or the other two nice ones: Jin and Taehyung. He stumbled on the last step as he came face to face with the silver haired one Namjoon. Namjoon caught him lightly around the waist to keep him from falling but, again, he did not speak. He merely set Jimin back on his feet, drew himself to full height (which was a good bit more then Jimin), and then brushed passed him up the stairs.

Jimin was still staring after him when he heard his name being called excitedly. Jhope was rushing towards him with two plates stacked with food.

“I can’t eat all that!” Jimin gaped. Jhope just pushed the food into his hand and pulled him into the kitchen to eat on the island. “You can and you will!” He stated stubbornly taking a huge bite of food.

Jimin started in on his plate of food, eating slowly so his stomach didn’t hurt. He hadn’t had this much food at one time since he left home so he was savoring it but was glad when Taehyung came over and announced that he would be their garbage disposal. He leaned into Jimins side and picked pieces of food off of Jimins plate as he lead them in a slow sway in tune with the music. At some point alcohol was brought out and when Jin offered him one he politely declined. He had experience in what alcohol lead to and he would never willingly walk down that path. He did, however, watch in silent amusement as the others slowly got drunk. He leaned back against the far wall and sipped the soda he was given instead, clutching his dirty practice clothes.

The party had moved inside when it started to sprinkle outside so the living room was filled with dancing, drunk people. With Jhope, Jin, and Taehyung right in the center dancing carelessly. Yoongi was even pulled into the fray and he seemed to drop his guard as he danced weirdly for a few minutes to make the others dance. He then broke off and watched the party from the same couch he was on before with a fond smile on his face. Namjoon had not reemerged from upstairs.

Before he knew it the night had passed quickly and it was already almost midnight. Jimin had thought it was probably a good time to slip out unnoticed so he inched around the edge of the room towards the door they had come in from. The rain had graduated from a drizzle to a downpour so he pulled Taehyungs oversized hoodie up to cover his neck more and made a mental note to wash the borrowed clothes at the laundry mat and give them back as soon as possible. Usually his walk to the shelter from the dance studio wasn’t that bad but Jhopes house was in the opposite direction so he mentally prepared himself to walk the 3 miles back to the shelter.

As he passed the back alley next to the house he saw a shadow move and he was immediately on edge. Crap. He forgot one of his most important rules. Don’t get caught alone late at night. There was no one around to hear him yell for help. He tensed, ready to turn and run when he heard a deep, raspy voice say from the shadows “Leaving without a goodbye?” Jimin relaxed slightly but still took a step back when he caught site of silver hair. Namjoon.

"I...uh..yeah. It's late" Jimin watched as Namjoon leaned against the stone wall, one leg braced behind him with his arms crossed, uncaring of the pouring rain. He eyes were softer now but still just as intense.

"Jhope is gonna be dissapointed. So will Tae and Jin. They like you." He said casual as his eyes flicked back towards the house where Jins cackle could be heard. Jimin could help it when his eyes fell alone the lines of his neck as it flexed and then kept falling down the length of his body. Namjoon shifted and his jacket fell open slightly. Jimin gulped when he notice an empty gun holster looped through his black belt. Where was the gun? Namjoon followed his gaze and straightened up; suddenly looking as intimidating as he did sitting on that couch.

Jimin took another quick step back and said shakily "y-yeah well I don't want to overstay my welcome. Besides its probably better they be disappointed now instead of later but tell him thank you for me please. You have a lovely home." He said and turned to go, missing the look of concern on Namjoons face.

Yoongi stepped out from the shadows next to him and he joined Namjoons as they watch him disappear into the dark rain.

"So? Do you think he's like the others?" He questioned.

Namjoon sighed. "No. At least I hope not."