“Honey?” the middle-aged woman knocks on a mahogany door before leaning her ear closer in an attempt to detect a response.  “Are you awake?”

            “I am, Mom,” the familiar voice rings from the other side, and the woman cannot help but smile.  “You can come in.  The door’s unlocked.”

            The mother nods, even though her son cannot see her doing so, as she turns the knob and pushes the door open just enough for her to peep her head through the small gap.  She finds her son sitting on the edge of his bed, neatly adorned in his school uniform—a white button-up shirt, an evergreen school coat, black pants, and a matching green tie.  He holds something in his hand though, and as the mother takes a closer look at the object of question, she realizes that it is a picture frame.  The woman sighs to herself as she enters the room and approaches her child.

            “The uniform suits you, sweetie,” she comments as she takes a seat beside him, fixing his bangs with her delicate fingers.

            “Thanks, Mom,” he averts his gaze away from the photo to send his mother a smile.  “That’s good to know, since I’ll be wearing this for a few more years.”

            And just like that, the boy casts his head back down toward the photo that is still resting in his hands.  He isn’t aware of his sigh that follows.  However, his mother hears it, and almost immediately, her expression falls.

            “I’m sorry about what happened,” she says as she takes one of her son’s hands into both of her own.  “I don’t know what Dad was thinking.”

            “It’s okay, Mom.  It wasn’t your fault after all,” the boy smiles once more, but doesn’t bother to take a glance at the woman.  “Whether or not Dad wants to come back doesn’t matter.  I’m sure we can make a living here.”

            “That’s not the point, honey,” the woman sighs.  “You had so many friends that you had to abandon.  Jungkook was so heartbroken to hear the news of our departure.  And now you’re enrolling in a new school in the middle of the year... You’re going to have to suffer the experience of being a new student and… and this is definitely not what you deserve… I’m so sor—”

            “Mom…” the boy embraces the trembling woman.  “Mom, it’s okay.  I’ll be fine.  You know me.  I make friends easily.  Just try to focus on not losing your current job, okay?  I’m sure you won’t need to struggle much either, since you know your way with words so well.”

            The mother smiles a tiny bit as she blinks a few tears away before they can fall.  “You’re so understanding, Jimin.  What did I ever do to deserve a son like you?”

            “I love you, Mom, but if you don’t let go of me, I’ll be late for my first day,” he mentions in response, causing the woman to let go of him immediately.

            “That’s right!  Breakfast is already on the kitchen table… although it may be cold by now,” she chuckles as she guides her son out of the room and toward their destination.

            Jimin eagerly finishes the homemade croissant that his mother had prepared, with the woman sitting across from him, informing him on her schedule for the day. 

            “I won’t be home until a little after dinner, so if the wait is too long, you can just fry some spam and rice.”

            “Spam and rice, okay,” Jimin takes his last mouthful before hastily grabbing his newly-purchased backpack by the front door and announcing his departure with a stuffed mouth.  The door is shut before the mother can even say goodbye.  She chuckles a bit at herself.  Jimin was her caring and energetic son; she was convinced that he’d change many lives during his own lifetime.

            Jimin doesn’t realize when he starts taking bigger steps, but eventually, he notices that he is hurriedly striding toward the bus stop slightly further down the street.  The area is already flooded with neighborhood students by the time he reaches it, all of them wearing identical clothing similar to his own.  One by one, they glance at him, but after realizing that they can not recognize him, they return to their own conversations.

            However, he notices a boy that evidently appeared different from the rest of the crowd.  The student stood several feet away from the bus stop in his own awkward silence, refusing to his head upward even at the loudest sound or movement.  What really brought questions to Jimin’s mind though was the fact that the boy wore a black oversized hoodie over his torso.  The article of clothing seemed thin and dirty though, so Jimin struggled to understand its purpose.

            Feeling an urge to make the boy feel more welcome, Jimin decides to approach him and possibly get a better look at his face in order to comprehend his emotions.  It startles Jimin though when he inches closer to the said boy only to have him shoot glaring daggers back at him.  Apparently, this stranger had been aware of a new student’s presence, but had simply chosen not to look at him.  At that moment, Jimin feels colder than the January air can permit him to feel, as the boy’s gaze successfully petrifies him.  He remains still then until the school bus arrives and honks at the students, waking Jimin from his daze as he boards the vehicle.

            “Seat’s taken,” a female student mumbles as she places her hand on the seat Jimin had supposedly chosen, causing the boy to remake his decision.

            He glances down the aisle to realize that the bus was entirely packed.  He hears a small laugh from somewhere in the back of the bus before a boy with a raspier voice calls out at him, “You new to this city?  Our neighborhood holds the last stop before the bus reaches school, okay?  Remember that!”

            Jimin nods, although he is unsure which direction the nod should be sent toward.  He grabs the straps of his backpack with nervous hands before putting on his problem-solving smile and walking down the aisle.  Eventually, he finds one empty seat; however, he realizes the one occupying the space beside it is none other than the cold student he had encountered just seconds before.

            “Is this seat taken?” Jimin nonetheless asks, not because it is the only seat left, but because he is still curious about the stranger.  Unfortunately the boy does not even bother glancing at him.

            “Hah!  You’re going to take a seat beside him?” a boy seated closer to the front of the boy scoffs aloud.  Jimin shrugs this question off though as he removes his backpack and takes a seat anyway.  He’s not sure if the boy beside him just flinched or not though.

            “I’m Jimin,” he suddenly decides to introduce himself as he turns to the boy and smiles.  Jimin almost immediately notices the stares he begins to receive from the rest of the bus’s occupants.  The stranger continues to gaze out the window with his hands inside his hoodie’s pocket, his backpack still attached on him for some unknown reason.  Jimin nonetheless doesn’t give up.  “What’s your name?”

            This time, the mysterious boy does give a response—he side glances at Jimin before focusing his stare on the passing houses once more.  However, his quivering lips do open slightly this time, and that’s when Jimin notices how unhealthily pale the boy’s skin is.  Jimin is about to ask a question out of concern, but is interrupted—and further startled—by the sound of the boy’s broken voice when he responds, “Taehyung.”

            Jimin doesn’t fail to immediately identify what the stranger’s voice reminded him of—his mother’s voice just a week before.  It sounded more than broken; it was sad, hopeless, and desperate for someone to help.  What bothers Jimin though is that he doesn’t expect the voice to be that depressed; he had thought that this Taehyung guy was just a cold boy that preferred isolation more than company.  But at that moment, he realizes that the teen was in need of a company that would do more than just speak with him.

            “You’re actually talking to that freak?” another voice hollers from down the aisle.

            Jimin doesn’t take long to comprehend the boy’s situation.

            They arrive at the school gates fifteen minutes before the first class session begins.  Jimin observes as the rushed students pile their ways out of the crowded bus, purposefully shoving each other in order to make their ways to the vehicle’s tiny door.  Meanwhile, Jimin chooses to remain in his seat until the bus empties out a bit more.  He takes a glance at Taehyung, but the boy doesn’t notice him, because his eyes are closed.  For the first time, Jimin cannot tell if a person is sleeping or in pain.

            “Hey, everyone’s gone,” he gives the resting boy a small nudge until Taehyung’s eyes flutter open.  He blinks at Jimin in what seems like slight surprise before his expression returns to its initial coldness.

            Jimin leads the way to the door and hops off the steps.  He turns to look at Taehyung; however, the student does not even cast him a glance.  Finally admitting defeat, Jimin decides to just continue walking.  He is just about to forget all about this boy named Taehyung until he hears a loud shuffling behind him, followed by a loud thud and a few chuckles.  Horrified, he remains still for a good three seconds before deciding to turn toward the source of the noises.  Jimin immediately covers his mouth with his hand as he rushes over to the boy on the ground.  The mischievous students who had done the damage flock away at the sight of the person approaching them, leaving Jimin kneeling alone beside the victim.

            He hears harsh panting and attempts to brush the hair away from Taehyung’s face in order to read his expression, but a whimper stops him.  Jimin backs away immediately, because he knows that underneath the cold aura, Taehyung was vulnerable, fragile, and in need of help.

            “I got you, trust me,” Jimin whispers gently, in an attempt to avoid intimidating the boy.  He reaches out once more toward Taehyung’s arm in order to try to help the boy up, but the latter’s voice stops him.

            “Don’t touch me.  I’m okay.”

            “A-Alright…”

            Jimin decides that the best thing to do at that moment is to listen to the student below him.  How was he going to have the boy trust him if he wasn’t going to hear him out?  After a short sigh, the teenager stands up, watching for a bit as Taehyung struggles to get himself together.  However, he doesn’t monitor the whole thing, because he knows Taehyung wouldn’t appreciate it.  So Jimin walks off to class.  He misses the slight hiss that sounds when Taehyung places his body weight on his arms in order to get himself up.  He doesn’t know that Taehyung has a wounded arm.

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A/N: Sorry this took so long... it's probably a total let-down, too... I'm not satisfied... but I'll work at it. ><