Jimin gasps for breath as he rolls under a desk, keeping still until the thunderous footsteps fade into the distance. He glances at Taehyung, who threw himself onto the floor a couple meters away. Both boys nod and get onto their feet.

                  “Am I clean?” the latter asks, craning his neck to observe the back of his laser tag-branded vest.

                  “You’re fine,” Jimin replies, resting his gun against a chair. “Man, the football team won’t chill.”

                  “Right?” he scoffs. “I can’t believe they’re taking it so seriously. It’s just a game, sheesh.”

                  Jimin turns on his phone. “Well, pizza is at stake here. According to the school’s Twitter, only fifty people are left standing.”

                  “Damn, we’re only halfway there? I guess it’s time to tag some nerds then.” Taehyung opens the classroom door and warily scans the hall, confirming its lack of humans. “Grab your weapon, let’s go.”

                  The other boy grabs his gun, which is essentially a cheap laser pointer packed into an old water blaster. Apparently, the student council blew a majority of their budget on the pizza instead of the actual lasers. “I got your back, bro.”

                  His friend grins at him. “Same to you, dude.”

                  They head down the hallway together, Jimin cautiously looking in one direction while Taehyung faces another. It’s quiet; just minutes ago there was screaming from all sides as the boys’ football team went head-to-head with the chess club. The friends were unfortunate enough to get caught in the barrage, but escaped without a scratch.

                  “So what if there’s no one else?”

                  Jimin frowns. “What do you mean?”

                  “Like,” Taehyung pauses when they think they hear something. They notice the bird tapping on a window and move on. “What if we’re the only ones left standing? Only one of us gets to be first place, you know.”

                  “I doubt it. The archery team is still in the game,” Jimin says, rolling his shoulder. “But I dunno, maybe we can go out like The Hunger Games. Shoot each other at the same time.”

                  He snorts. “I like it.”

                  Minutes later they run into a group of math fanatics, followed by the ensuing gunfire. They escape by narrowly shooting down the quadratics lord and fleeing into the boys’ washroom—a safe zone.

                  “Ugh, finally…” Taehyung groans, immediately dashing to a urinal and reliving himself. “Hiding in the lockers earlier was not a good idea.”

                  “But it was yours,” Jimin remarks, fixing his hair in the mirror.

                  “Yeah, don’t rub it in. How many people are left?”

                  “Less than twenty,” he says after checking his phone. “Apparently the archery team got demolished.”

                  “The archery team?!” Taehyung is so shocked he actually stops peeing for a moment. “What the hell? They’re the best shooters in school! Who shot them?!”

                  “Who knows?” Jimin glances at the washroom door when it swings open. “Probably another team… Hey Hoseok, Sungjae.”

                  “What up?” Hoseok greets, setting his gun on the floor before going to a urinal. “Nice to see you two alive.”

                  “Can’t say the same for you.” Taehyung nods towards Sungjae, a kid from Hoseok’s class who follows in after him. His vest is completely covered in laser marks. “What’d you do, bribe everyone to shoot you?”

                  Sungjae rolls his eyes. “Funny. I got wrecked by the ambush you were just talking about.” He pulls his vest off and scrutinizes it. “It was actually ridiculous.”

                  “Did you see who did it?”

                  “Nah, they were sneaky. Like an assassin.”

                  “Like ninjas,” Taehyung breathes, zipping himself up. “Looks like we got ourselves some rivals, Park Jimin.”

                  “Not rivals,” Sungjae retorts, “rival. There’s only one person.”

                  They both stare at him. “… What?”

                  “Yeah, there’s only one nugget doing the ambushes,” Hoseok chips in. “I was on the balcony when Sungjae got shot. There’s one person running around in a freaky mask tagging people like a in’ freak. They call ‘im the Fart because they’re silent but deadly.”

                  Jimin squints. “Who’s they?”

                  “Me n’ Sungjae.”

                  Taehyung snorts and nudges him. “Let’s go, Park. We got a ninja to shoot down.”

                  “Hey wait, let me join you kids too,” Hoseok says, still peeing. “Sungjae is useless to me now.”

                  “Hey!”

                  “No way,” Taehyung says. “Three’s a crowd, and I don’t trust you. Let’s go!”

                  Jimin grimaces as they walk out the door. “Aren’t you going to wash your hands…?”

                  “RUDE!” Hoseok’s cries echo down the hall. “DON’T YOU REMEMBER WHEN I GAVE YOU THAT SLICE OF BREAD ON LAST WEEK? YOU OWE ME ONE!”

                  Taehyung returns with a scream before they’re off. “IT WAS RAISIN BREAD, YOU GROSS !”

                  As they tread through the barren warzone, the feeling of being watched overwhelms them. There is no one in sight, perhaps skulking around like they are. With only about twenty people scattered across the school, they’re more cautious than ever before.

                  “No sign of life,” Taehyung whispers when they enter the east wing. “Where is everyone?”

                  Jimin looks behind him. “Hiding, probably. Just be careful, the Fart could be anywhere.”

                  “I’ll shoot him down with my mad skillz—!”

                  “Wait.”

                  Taehyung freezes mid-stride. “What?”

                  “Hands up in the air.”

                  Jimin whirls around, at once startled by the barrel of a gun pointed directly at his nose. He stiffens and squeezes his eyes shut. “P-Please don’t hurt me!” he squeaks.

                  He hears a girl laugh. “Relax, I’m on your side.”

                  His eyes flutter open, blinking profusely. “Ch-Chanmi? You’re the Fart?”

                  “… Excuse me?” Chanmi frowns and lowers her weapon. “The what?”

                  “… N-Never mind.”

                  “Wait,” Taehyung interrupts, still holding his gun up. “So if you’re not the Fart, who is?”

                  “The Fart is ambushing people and tagging them by the m-masses,” Jimin explains when she looks confused.

                  “Oh. It’s not me, my team got wiped an hour ago.” Chanmi points to the upper balcony on the third floor. “I ran and hid up there for a while, sniping people.

                  Jimin stares in awe. “Cool.”

                  “THAT’S WHAT SHE WANTS US TO THINK!” Taehyung screeches. “It could be a ruse!”

                  “It could be,” she says. “But you’re being super loud and people are going to— hey, watch out!” Chanmi grabs Jimin’s arm and yanks him to the side, leaving Taehyung standing out in the open. A red light is shot onto the back of his vest, effectively rendering death upon thy soul.

                  Jimin watches as his friend falls onto his knees. “TAE!” he cries, while Chanmi barrel rolls across the floor and fires her gun. She shoots down the masked perpetrator with a single hit.

                  “… I got the Fart,” she breathes. “I got the Fart!”

                  “Y-Yeah, but the Fart got him,” Jimin stammers, wobbling over to the guy who lies flat on the floor. “T-Tae. Speak to me, buddy.”

                  Taehyung’s voice croaks as his hand reaches towards the ceiling. “… I can see the light…”

                  “Yes,” Jimin sobs. “We’re sitting under a light…”

                  From across the hall, the Fart stands up and walks over to them. Chanmi’s shot is marked across their vest in a smooth line. They slide the mask off their head, revealing the face of a familiar freshman. “Hello.”

                  “… Jungkook?” Jimin squints up at him. “H-How did you manage to shoot so many people by yourself?”

                  Jungkook shrugs. “I seem to have a knack for mass murder.”

                  They stare as he casually walks away. When the kid disappears around the corner, Taehyung holds Jimin’s hand and coughs. “… T... Tell Beyoncé… to dedicate me in her next album…”

                  “Okay. Okay.” Jimin sniffs, lacing their fingers. “Okay. Y-You were a good solider. I’ll never forget about you.”

                  Taehyung thumps his chest and holds up two fingers. “Peace out world,” he says before going limp.

                  “Tae.” Jimin covers the guy’s eyes with his hand. “You’re in a better place now.”

                  “… Okay, wrap it up,” Chanmi sighs from where she was gawking. “We’re going to attract people the longer we stay here.”

                  “Okay.” Taehyung gets off the floor and dusts himself off. “I’m going home.”

                  Jimin nods. “I’ll get that pizza.”

                  “You better.”

                  He watches his friend dawdle off before glancing at the girl beside him. “I guess I’m solo.”

                  “You can join me,” Chanmi suggests with a soft smile. “Snipers lead lonely lives.”

                  Jimin grins, but not without a blush. “O-Okay.”

                  They leave the east wing and go up to the third floor balcony, which looks over the vast main hall; some people can be seen striding through before fleeing into the shadows.

                  Chanmi sits down and pats the floor next to her. “I never got to ask, but how was the Winter Concert?”

                  Jimin takes a seat as well, leaning against the wall. “It was good,” he answers.

                  “Just good?” She looks off into the distance. “You had fun with Yoongi-sunbae?”

                  He blinks, and then nods. A slight smile appears on his face. “Yeah.”

                  “That’s nice… you guys are friends, huh?”

                  “Yeah…”

                  She looks at him. “Are we friends?”

                  Jimin stares at her. It’s a bit of an odd question, so he tries to avoid offense. “O-Of course!”

                  “But we’re not anything beyond that, right?” Chanmi fumbles with her hands. “We… We dated once, but I’m nothing more than a classmate to you, right?”

                  Suddenly, all his words are out of his throat; he can’t speak. “I-I—?”

                  “If I asked you out,” she inhales. “If I asked you to date me, to be my boyfriend, what would you say?”

                  This is too sudden. He doesn’t have time to process her words. Even if he did, what on earth was he supposed to say? “… Ch-Chanmi, I—”

                  She sighs. “It’s… It’s okay, forget about it. I just didn’t want to have these thoughts anymore. I don’t want to think I have a chance with you when you’re thinking about someone else. I-I give up.”

                  Jimin doesn’t move while she stands to leave, though his hands are trembling at her tear-stricken eyes. He doesn’t understand what just happened. He doesn’t know what to do. He likes Chanmi, but to what extent? There aren’t many people he thinks about, if not her.

                  It takes a while for him to get on his feet, holding onto the wall for dear life. He decides to go after her. He doesn’t know what to do should he see her again, but perhaps apologize. Yes, apologize for being a ing idiot in her time of vulnerability.

                  As he strides down the hall, Jimin feels like his heart is going to burst out of his chest. His hands are still shaking and he’s breaking out in sweat, frantically looking for the girl as his vision blurs. He can’t consider anything else. So it’s not a surprise he can’t hear someone calling his name a distance away.

                 “Jimin? Jimin!” Yoongi frowns when the other boy ignores him, only to frown harder when he notices the look of terror in the younger boy’s eyes. He jogs over and grabs his shoulders, holding him steady. “Hey. Hey! Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ing ghost.”

                 Jimin can’t focus his gaze. He whimpers, “n-n-no, I’m—!”

                 Yoongi stares at him before in a breath. “… Oh. Oh, . You’re having an attack— ok, no, um… breathe? Jimin. Jimin, look at me. Look at me.”

                 He blinks several times before looking into the older boy’s eyes, still shivering in his skin. “I-I—,” he stammers, feeling light-headed.

                 Yoongi wraps his arms around him and starts his head. “Okay, let’s breathe. Ready? One, two, in… Okay, breathe out… You’re going to be alright. You’re going to be just fine. Breathe.”

                 His sanity returns, although a bit slowly, so he gripes the ends of Yoongi’s sleeves until he can see clearly again. He blinks back tears and keeps releasing shaky sobs. It’s warm.

                 “… You good?” the guy asks after a minute of breathing. He’s still brushing through his hair.

                 Jimin makes a sound of affirmation before deciding he’s stable enough to stand on his own. “… I-I’m sorry, I just—”

                 “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” He grins. “I just want you and your noggin to be okay.”

                 “Mm… Th-Thanks.” Jimin looks at the wall, suddenly embarrassed. “What a-are you doing at school? I-I thought you were going on vacation during the b-break…”

                 “My flight leaves tomorrow, but I heard the school was throwing this sick laser thing so I decided to play a bit. Which reminds me.” Yoongi lifts up a laser pointer and tags him. “You’re out.”

                 Jimin stares at him before looking down at the initials ‘MYG’ printed over the left side of his chest. “… Oh,” he says flatly.

                 Yoongi snickers and ruffles his hair before running off. “Get some rest!”

                 The results of the game were later posted on Twitter for all to see; Taehyung unfortunately landed fifteenth place, but Jimin’s rank of 7^th was enough for Hoseok to take them up on the party-crashing deal. Hoseok himself ranked 4^th while Chanmi got up to 9^th.

                 Yoongi, on the other hand, topped the list with first place and only god knows why Jimin thinks that number couldn’t be more appropriate. 

min yoongi wrote his initals over jimin's heart i'm— bYE
also i really feel chanmi :')