Jimin is in the dance studio again.

 

He needs to get this choreo perfect. He can’t let anyone down, not to mention embarrass himself in front of thousands of people if he falls.

 

He gets into position. His arm is placed over his face, shielding it from view. His foot is in front of the other, legs crossing at the knee. The first beat plays in the room, but he stays still. He imagines Seulgi spinning centre stage, her arms turning over her head gracefully.

 

The next part comes and Jimin stays still again, as he imagines the other dancers joining in with Seulgi, their arms twisting as they kick their legs high, skirts flowing around them. They all spin and this time Jimin breaks into the dance, his arms come up and he throws his head back. He lost himself in the music again. He dances from his heart this time, the music wiping his worries away.

 

He spins and jumps across the floor, arms flowing gracefully around him. His eyes are closed this whole time, like they will be during the performance. He doesn’t want to risk opening them and seeing sea of people staring back at him. This too flows from his mind as he walks to downstage center. He waits until the heavy beat hits, vibrating against the glass mirrors and shaking his ribs before he jumps across the room. His head is thrown back again, his arms spread out to the side. His hair blows as he jumps, but he pays it no mind. His feet touch the floor and he slides to upstage left, his arm across his chest. The jumps are his favourite part in this routine. They make him feel like he is flying. Flying across the sky with hundreds of other birds. This ends as his feet touch the floor though, momentarily bringing him back to earth before his next jump. This time it is a handless cartwheel. He has done it thousands of times, but he worries that one day he won’t jump well enough and he will end up on his back.

 

However, today is not that day as Jimin runs into a cartwheel, head perpendicular to the floor. He feels like he is falling slowly as he opens his eyes briefly to stare at the floor before closing them again. His feet come around and plant themselves against it. He opens them again and he is standing in position, ready to slide across the floor gracefully.

 

He moves to his final place and raises his arms back to their starting position. The music slows to a stop and Jimin is standing frozen. His chest heaves and his hair shakes, but again, he pays it no mind until the song is completely over.

 

His eyes are open now, staring at himself in the mirror. He looks for things to critique. Maybe his arm is too high, leg not stretched enough. He adjusts himself to his liking, and looks back into to mirror.

 

Perfect.

 

Jimin walks over to where his stuff is sitting on the floor and grabs his water bottle. Now all he has to do is perfect it again with the pianist. He gulps down the water, adam's apple bobbing to accommodate it. He’s sweaty, but he doesn’t mind, reaching to grab his towel from his bag. He wipes the sweat from his forehead and chest, breathing heavily as he does so. He just needs to take a shower, then he could meet everyone else.

❁

 

Jimin is walking up the stairs to the meeting room now, hands in his pockets as he thinks about Yoongi. Maybe he should go to the beach later, he might be there. Would it seem weird if he showed up?

 

Actually, you know what? this. He turns right around and walks back down the stairs, right out the front doors. Jimin hasn’t skipped the meeting ever since he joined it 3 years ago. Oh well, they will survive without him, he thinks. He doesn’t really feel like seeing her today, with that string on her finger and a smile on her face. He knows she probably isn’t meaning to flaunt the fact that she has a soulmate, but that's what it feels like to him. He’d rather not deal with that today.

 

He’s walking along the road that leads to the beach now, hoping that Yoongi is there or at least going to the beach. Jimin would like it much more if he got there before Yoongi so he doesn’t look like he was following him. The path to the beach is desolate today, way too cold today for normal people to come to the beach. The wind billows as he walks, dark clouds looming in the distance. He brought an umbrella just in case. The path is narrow, hills looming over him on both sides, covered in vines and grass, though they are dead now.

 

The path ends and he walks out, a large expanse of blue starring back at him. The waves are high today, roaring as they slap the shoreline. Jimin fights against the wind as he walks, but he keeps at it. His feet rush to make contact with the sand before he’s thrown back by the wind. He looks up for a brief second before sand is thrown in his face. No one is there, but still he walks. One foot in front of the other, legs straining against the harsh wind.

 

Finally, he makes it to the shore line. He stands for a few seconds before deciding to sit. A lower centre of gravity makes it harder to fall over. He just sits there. His arms are crossed over his legs and somehow he finds a sense of calm in this. The wind doesn’t seem so harsh anymore. The violent sound of the wave calms him. The cold air isn’t as stinging as it was when he was walking. He stares far into the distance, trying to see beyond his eyes. He knows he can’t, but he tries. He imagines boats struggling to get through the waves, seamen being thrown around on board, helpless against the rage of the waves. He thinks of a much larger boat, slicing through the waves with ease. No one is being thrown around, no waves splashing on deck. For some reason, the larger boat reminds Jimin of Yoongi.

 

Jimin looks down the shoreline. Yoongi isn’t there. He looks the other way. He’s not there either. He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting there, but if Yoongi isn’t coming today, it's better for him to leave before he gets thrown into the waves. He might be further down the beach, Jimin thinks, standing like he was last time.

 

He starts to get up, brushing his pants off when a hand slams onto his shoulder.

 

“What are you doing here?” Yoongi’s voice is harsher than last time and Jimin flinches as he turns to face him.

 

His face is shielded by a hat and Jimin has a hard time trying to figure out what he did wrong.

 

“Did you not check the weather? There’s supposed to be a monsoon today?” His mouth is grim as he stares at Jimin, obviously displeased by his actions.

 

His backpack is heavy on his shoulders as he stares at Yoongi, his mouth splitting in response. He can’t even get a word out before lightning is racing across the sky and slamming against the sand. A split second later and a cloud seems to explode somewhere as rain comes pouring from the sky, drenching them in seconds.

 

Yoongi is a quick thinker, Jimin thinks, as he pulls him across the sand towards a car parked at one of the entrances. Jimin struggles to keep up as he is pulled across the sand.

 

They get to the car and Yoongi practically throws Jimin inside in his haste to get out of the rain.

 

Jimin is startled as Yoongi gets into the car, the door slamming behind him.

 

“I’m sorry for dragging you.” Yoongi bows his head to Jimin from where he sits, his hands on his lap.

 

Jimin thinks as he sits there. If Yoongi hadn’t came and pulled him out of the rain, he would’ve sat there. He tends to lose himself sometimes, and that had been one of those times.

 

“It’s okay, thank you.” He smiles at Yoongi as he pulls on his shoulders to get him to sit upright. It always felt weird for him to see people of the same age bowing to each other.

 

“Wait. Sorry, I didn’t ask. How old are you by the way?” He scratches the back of his head as he waits for an answer.

 

“21.”

 

All at once a whoosh of air leaves him as he leans back against the seat. He’s so glad they’re the same age. It would’ve been awkward if he was older than him and he was being informal to him.

 

“Oh good, me too.” Yoongi smiles at him this time, leaning against the door. He takes off his hat and ruffles his hair, trying to dry it in the warm air from his car. He doesn’t seem to be angry now. His eyes are calm as he looks at Jimin, the brown in them seems to be darker today, though that could because it's dark in the car.

 

“Are you okay? Why were you out there?”

 

Jimin feels like he can’t tell Yoongi that he was waiting for him, so he lies.

 

“Oh? I kinda just felt like taking a walk to the beach. School was stressing me out.” Jimin shrugs his shoulders as he says this.

 

“Understandable.” Yoongi doesn’t question it. He just sits there with his hands behind his head. Jimin doesn’t know how he can be so comfortable with someone he just met, but he appreciates it. He appreciates how he doesn’t ask him why he was there.

 

He was there for Yoongi, yes, but he was also there for himself. He needed a break from school. Sometimes it’s good to go to places that calm him down. He doesn’t need anyone to be there with him. If it’s someone Jimin likes that's good, but if he’s there by himself that's good as well.

Now he sits with Yoongi, and he’s calm.

 

Actually, he’s happy. He’s happy for the first time in a while. Truly happy.

 

Jimin smiles.