A sense of sadness and relief crept into your heart the following morning and the days after that. Sad that you’ve let someone hurt you, but relieved that you’re no longer giving them the ability to do so. Afterall, you’re a fiery girl that would never let a little cold ruin your Summer.

 

You’ve been ignoring Jimin during activities and avoiding him as much as possible during break periods. You could even tell that he has attempted to approach you a couple of times but failed.

 

Do you miss the rest of the bangtan boys? Yes. Do you miss Jimin? Maybe a little.

 

Maybe you just missed the idea of having someone to bicker with.

 

But one thing is for sure, you do not miss being Jimin’s pet.

 

--

 

You were pretty good at everything: running, hiking, climbing, etc., but today’s activity is one that you dread every Summer. If there was one thing you were bad at - more so feared -  it was swimming.

 

It's not that you hated bodies of water like lakes or oceans - in fact, you thought they were beautiful - it's just that you feared the possibility of drowning.

 

Kind of like how you felt about Jimin. You’d find yourself admiring him from afar, but wouldn’t want to get too close in fear that you’d possibly get hurt again.

 

But there’s another reason why you’re afraid of swimming.

 

Most camp advisors have already been notified of your concern, prior to this day. So they allowed you to do whatever made you feel comfortable; whether that be to sit and watch, or stay by the shallow pools.

 

Thankfully, these activities were done with indoor pools and not the lake.

 

On your way to the changing rooms, you saw Jimin walking towards you from the opposite direction. You instantly your heels and tried to reroute. But before you could get away, he quickened his footsteps and caught you by the arm.

 

You immediately shook him off. “Don’t touch me”

 

“(Y/n), please”

 

You quickly spun around and glared at him. “What do you want?”

 

”Can we talk?” he pleaded.

 

“I have nothing to say to you” you brushed passed him and headed to your original destination.

 

He ran in front of you to keep you from walking. “Okay then you don’t have to talk, but please listen”

 

You rolled your eyes and waited for him to speak.

 

“I wanted to thank you for finding my mother’s ring-“

 

“You’re welcome. Now get away from me” you tried to step around him but he blocked your path yet again.

 

Jimin grabbed your shoulders. “(Y/n), I’m sorry, okay?”

 

“Wow Jimin, I didn’t know you were capable of using those words” you marked sarcastically.

 

Frustration was growing on his face as he dropped his arms and pushed his hair back. “I didn’t mean what I said that night”

 

You raised an eyebrow waiting for further explanation.

 

“I really was worried about you” he confessed, causing your heart to soften. “And you’re not just a ‘pet’ to me”

 

“Then what, Jimin?”

 

He hesitated to answer.

 

You shook your head at his silence, as you’ve learned not to expect anything from him anymore.

 

“Look, can we just start over?” his desperation was kind of cute and entertaining.

 

“No way in hell am I going to be your pet again-”

 

“You won’t be” he paused. “We’ll be friends”

 

You contemplated it for a bit. “Does this mean we’ll be nice to each other from now on?”

 

He nodded.

You laughed, causing Jimin to be confused. “We can be friends. but being nice to each other? Gross” you scrunched up your face.

 

Jimin smiled in relief, making your heart skip a beat.

 

“Now get out of my way, I need to change” you finally pushed passed him.

 

Little did he know, you were smiling to yourself as well. You didn’t know why, but you felt a tinge of hope again.

 

--

 

Returning from the changing room in your cute one-piece swimsuit, you seated yourself on one of the benches by the sidelines.

 

There were several camp advisors monitoring today for each section: water volleyball, diving, and open swimming - where you were free to do whatever. Cabins 20-25 were divided into three groups; each group starting at different sections and rotating every thirty minutes.

 

You decided to dip into the shallow pool as you watched everyone enjoy themselves.

 

Gradually, your eyes landed on a wet, shirtless Jimin playing water volleyball with some bangtan members.

 

The way he pushed back his wet hair and the way the water droplets would drip down his body are the reasons why you could feel yourself getting warm again and slightly aroused.

 

After thirty minutes had passed, Jimin’s group rotated to the open swimming section. This meant they’d pass by you on the way to the recreational pool, so you panicked and tried to escape before anyone could see you. But instead, you paced back and forth, unsure of which direction to run. Ultimately, looking like a lost idiot.

 

You halted as Jimin approached you, giving a weird look.

 

You instinctively put your hands up and tried to block the view of his body, as if you weren’t clearly hitting on him earlier. “Don’t come near me”

 

He grabbed onto your wrists and lowered them, making you look at him. “Why? I thought we were good”

 

“We are, I just-” you squirmed under his grasp.

 

“You just can’t handle looking at me?” he smirked.

 

You got your hands free and pushed his chest. “Tch, don’t be so full of yourself” you tried to hide your blushing face as your eyes subconsciously lingered over his figure.

 

“Why don’t you take a pic? It’ll last longer” he said with a smug face.

 

“Shut up already” you raised an arm, threatening to punch him.

 

He chuckled at your embarrassment and slowly realized that you weren’t participating in the activities.

 

“Wait, are you not gonna swim?”

 

You sheepishly rubbed the back of your neck. “Me? Umm… no”

 

“Why not?” he tilted his head.

 

Should you lie? Nope. That never works.

 

“I can’t swim” you admitted.

 

Jimin tried holding in his small fits of laughter. “You’re kidding. The girl that’s pretty much good at everything, can’t swim?” he lifted an eyebrow.

 

Did Jimin just compliment you? It was so out of his character to say something like that to you, that you were actually surprised and flattered.

 

Before you could further confirm your inability to swim, Jimin took you by the arm and began dragging you to the recreational pool. “We’ll see about that”

 

Your eyes widened and you started to panic, as you tried escaping from his grasp and resisting his pull. “W-wait! No, stop!”

 

Despite how much you were fighting back, he believed you were joking and continued to ignore your cries for help. He finally brought you to the edge of the pool and was close to pushing you in until you heavily clung onto his arm.

 

“J-Jimin, please don’t” you said on the verge of tears because of how scared you were.

 

Jimin’s mischievous expression turned into one of concern as he watched how much your legs were trembling. He immediately stopped and looked at your terrified face.

 

“(Y/n)... are you afraid of swimming?”

You couldn’t bring yourself to look at him, so you gave him a shaky nod.

 

He grabbed your shoulders and made you face him. “I’m sorry, I’ll stop. But if you want, I can help you”

 

There was sincerity in his eyes, and for once, you felt like you could actually trust him. You knew you were going to have to face your fears one day, you just didn’t think it’d be today. At least now, you wouldn’t have to face it alone. Jimin would be with you.

 

After some deep thought and hearing there was only fifteen minutes left of open swimming, you agreed to his offer.

 

He held your hand as he slowly walked you into the shallow side of the pool, making sure you were following his lead. Little by little, your entire abdomen was submerged in the water.

 

“You okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah...” you mumbled shyly, still unable to look at him.

 

“I’m gonna go towards the deeper end now” he proceeded to move further.

 

You squeezed his hand tighter in brief panic, afraid that he’d move too far too fast.

 

“Don’t worry, I got you” he reassured, taking your arms and wrapping them around his neck from behind. You were in a piggy-back position, except you let your legs move freely underwater.

 

Even though you were still terrified on the inside, Jimin had a way of making you feel more comfortable and safe in this moment. You couldn’t even tell if your heart was racing from fear or from his skin contact. Thankfully, he wasn’t able to see your flushed face.

 

“Jimin…” you rested your chin on his shoulder.

 

“Hm?” he hummed as he continued to float on his toes in the middle-depth of the pool.

 

“Why are you doing this for me?”

 

He was silent for a while before speaking.

 

“I want to help you, just like how you helped me with my fear of heights”

 

You took a moment to recall the bungee-jumping activity and ended up confused. “But I didn’t do anything”

 

“That’s true. You were just being you”

 

“Bwoh?” You lifted your chin from his shoulder, magically feeling an uncontrollable flutter in your heart and butterflies in your stomach. You tried to make sure you heard him correctly.

 

Jimin suddenly rotated his body to face you, causing you to loosen your grip and place your hands on his shoulders. You gasped lightly as you felt his arms snake around your waist to pull you in closer.

 

You got nervous as his eyes wandered your face and down your body.

 

“S-stop looking at me like that” you shook him lightly, trying to get him out his trance; but instead he held you tighter and locked eyes with you.

 

His voice was low and almost a whisper. “(Y/n)... I li-”

 

A whistle blew, interrupting Jimin’s sentence.

 

“Time’s Up! Move on to your next section!” a camp advisor instructed.

 

No wait, what was Jimin gonna say???

 

--

 

A/N: I love this chapter so much! Probably my favorite and the one I’m most proud of so far :D I hope you guys enjoyed reading it just as much as I had fun writing it <3